Coffee Shop Love: Yardstick

My good friends know that one of the things that make me happy is coffee. I get so giddy whenever I'm in a coffee shop. 

My favorite Dragon Lady, T, and I went to Yardstick after having a filling dinner at Your Local. 

I have been here already when I tried the Mayura burger. But since I was in a hurry and was awkwardly alone (I was the only person without a companion for over 30 minutes when I visited) I wasn't able to try their coffee except for the Yard Shake which made my throat itch. 

This time, I tried the White Coffee (PHP140) and a slice of Revel Bar (PHP80).

They served the coffee without any sweetener and T encouraged me to taste it sugar-free and it was... eeek! Okay, I like my coffee sweetened. 

Restaurant Discovery: Your Local

Legaspi has transformed into another foodie destination. With quaint coffee shops and charming restaurants, this is one area I just have to visit. A few weeks back was my first trip in this area and I visited Yardstick and Local Edition. My favorite Dragon lady and I also planned visiting Your Local as it has been getting great reviews. It took longer than we planned but we finally got to pay the place a visit last week.

Hello, Your Local!

Since the place is usually packed, reservation is important. I made a reservation for two at 6 p.m. on (an apparently rainy) Saturday. Placing a reservation was smooth as after 3 minutes or so, I’m done. However, I got a call two days later telling me that my reservation is good until 7:30 p.m. only if I wanted a table (as they accidentally gave me bar seats). WHAT THE HECK? That made me upset as I don’t want to be constantly checking my watch while enjoying my dinner. But the woman assisting me was able to arrange things for me after I expressed my annoyance with the situation. [Case closed.]

The place was quite dark. I guess it sets that chill ambiance the young crowd wants.

We immediately ordered our food as we were both hungry. We settled for the Carrot Cake (PHP280) as appetizer, Torched Salmon Donburi (PHP390) and Chorizo Sandwich (PHP490) for main course. We also got Strawberry Lemonade (PHP190) and Sea Salt Lemonade (PHP160) for drinks.

Coffee Love: Local Edition Coffee & Tea

I love coffee. I can drink five cups a day and still be a-okay. Fine, I will be giddier than usual and laugh at mundane things but hey, my heart still beats at a normal rate (at times). But aside from salmon sashimi, a good coffee place is my weakness. I get so thrilled whenever I discover a quaint new coffee shop.

Since the Dinner in the Dark will start around… well, dinner time, my favorite Dragon lady and I decided to visit one coffee shop after a quick stop at Lusso. T recommended that we try Local Edition Coffee &Tea and I got curious with it since I saw a few food bloggers post a lot of photos of the coffee with Iced Gem Biscuits. It is kind of a blast from the past seeing that snack. I’m sure the 80’s kids could relate.

When we arrived, the place was almost empty as there were only two other tables occupied.

We approached the counter and stared at the menu. We noticed that there are steps to making your coffee. First, the base—coffee or tea. Second step is to choose the preparation. Last is where you could customize—level of sweetness, hot or cold, and strong or regular. T and I both chose Flat White coffee (PHP135). We also ordered an Oatmeal cookie (PHP60) for us to munch.

It didn’t take long before our coffees were prepared.

I skipped the sugar this time around as we were told that the coffee isn’t bitter and is naturally sweeter compared to other coffee. True enough, it wasn’t that strong and I was able to finish my drink without sugar.

Love at First Bite: Pink Egg Episodes' Mayura Wagyu Burger

I love burgers! I eat it with my hands and not utensils. (Well, fine, except when the restaurant is too posh or when the burger is too darn fat that even my widest *aaaah* will not make half of it fit in.) And I got so giddy when I saw the post of J about this Mayura Wagyu burger. The photo alone made me drool and since they only have limited quantity of the patties, they have to pre-sell tickets. Limited burger patties? Too tempting to let it pass. So I bought the last two tickets! And I sure had a hard time finding another person to get the extra ticket from me given it cost PHP1,000. (Thank you, N!)

Mayura Wagyu is known to be a brand of full-blood Wagyu beef. These cows stay in a 5-star cow hotel and sleep on comfy sawdust-cushioned floor while listening to soothing music and are fed with Cadbury chocolates and gummy bears. By living the good life, these happy cows make our tummies happy too.

It was Pink Egg Episodes' turn to make foodies happy the second time around when they had a part two of their pop-up event that features this top grade burger at Yardstick in Makati.

I arrived a few minutes after 11 a.m. and the place was packed! There were no tables available so I was forced to get a bar seat instead after getting my ticket.

After 20 minutes or so, I finally got my burger and it sure was big hence the need to use the utensils. 

Vietnam in Makati: Вà Nôi’s

I hate it that I’m easy to bribe. RESTAURANT YOU HAVE NEVER TRIED BEFORE seems to be the magic word. Thus when a friend told me that we’ll be trying this restaurant I haven’t tried before (or maybe I did but it has been years ago and my tummy memory failed me), I begged my mom to allow me to go (yes, I still ask my mom for permission). But, the plan to dine in a Japanese restaurant became… a Vietnamese dinner.

The inner nerd in me usually prevent me from socializing at night thus I lead a home-work-home life (or the level up version home-work-corporate event-home life). But whenever people invite me to try out new restaurants, I AM ALWAYS GAME (as long as it’s near). 

Thus, one Thursday night, we went to Makati, near Greenbelt 2 and walked along the dark streets of Legaspi Village. Some of our friends were already waiting inside Вà Nôi’s, a hole-in-the-wall Vietnamese restaurant located at Greenbelt Mansion.