Restaurant Love: Wooden Spoon

I've heard of Wooden Spoon from my great friend N and from my colleague M. I still remember how M described one of the dishes...  
“Tilapia that tastes like Crispy Pata” to which we all reacted... “Really now?” Yes, we were pessimistic foodies then. 

My favorite Dragon Lady and I celebrated Children’s Day last May and planned on having a kiddie lunch as well. Unfortunately, most of the restaurants in Rockwell do not really offer much variety for kids except for the usual Jollibee and McDonald’s. While on the lookout, we 
spotted Wooden Spoon and I remembered M’s happiness when he shared his find, “Crispy Pata Fish”. I admit, I was really curious with 
that so I asked T if we could have lunch there instead and she agreed.

The place wasn’t packed given it was 3 p.m. when we got there. We noticed though that the crowd seemed to be a bit... more mature.

Ordering was a breeze as we were famished. We decided to go with Crispy Pata Fish (PHP245, small), Shrimp Pampango (PHP239), 
Garlic Rice (PHP125), Reyna Blanca (PHP75) and Iced Tea (PHP55).

The Crispy Pata Fish did not disappoint. It looked like your usual fish but the texture was totally different. It had the crispy yet slightly 
chewy skin. The flesh was tender and flavorful. It tasted just like your usual crispy pata but healthier.

Grandma Approved: Mangan Restaurant

Filipino cuisine will forever have a special place in my heart. I am not being biased or what but there’s really something so comforting with eating Filipino food. Could it be the umami?

One Saturday, I had a girls’ lunch out with my mom and grandmother at Robinsons Galleria. Since my grandmother isn’t that adventurous with food, we decided to head to Mangan, a Filipino restaurant.

There wasn’t much people eating and it was lunch time when we arrived. I guess those new restaurants at BGC and Shangri-La’s east wing are eating other malls’ share of hungry tummies.

It didn’t took us long to decide what to order. We ordered my grandma’s favorite Sinigang sa Bayabas Bangus (milkfish) Belly (PHP280) and Gatang Sigarillas (PHP120). After some thought, I also ordered Lechong Babi (PHP240) as it goes well with the veggies I ordered.

While waiting and munching on the complimentary crispy shoestring sweet potatoes (where some were oddly wet), one of the servers approached us. He shared that they are selling PHP300 gift certificates and if we buy now, we get free puto bumbong. (It made me wonder if he saw my excitement when I saw that they sell puto bumbong.) I then asked if the GCs have an expiry date and true enough the GCs are valid until November this year. I told him that this is against DTI rules as gift certificates should be treated like cash as it was bought with cash, at full amount. The server just… smiled then asked if I still want to avail of it. Uhm…

Charmed By A Girl Named Maria

I missed doing all-day food trips thus I decided to organize another one last February 4 and target stops were Gayuma Ni Maria, Pino, Pipino, and Sancho. Yes, we’re back at Maginhawa for another Quezon City food trip. (And to help me accomplish one of my goals this 2012.)

My friend H and I met early as we both live a bit far from Quezon City. We were expecting that it will take us an hour before we reach Maginhawa. Wrong! We arrived around 10:30 am and not a single FOOD establishment was open. (I just had to emphasize food as Ricky Reyes opens early.)

We decided to roam around instead and I got to see other restaurants I was not aware of. There was this vague sounding restaurant that I have to try next, a cute café called Zombie Café and I heard that there’s this place offering pizza all you can. (The phrase “eat all you can” never fails to entice me!)

Soon, restaurants started to open and we met up with our tour guide, yet another foodie who lives a few steps away from Pino. Lucky guy!

 

Our first stop was Gayuma Ni Maria as we planned on eating something heavy as it was almost lunch time.

Unexpected Exotic Food Stop: Mesa Filipino Moderne

New Year’s Resolution #2: Eat more exotic dishes! Partly checked.

My friend and I met up one Saturday afternoon to pamper ourselves and to simply pig out afterwards. Yes, you could call this one of those blissful moments where you just spend and spend then regret afterwards when you start getting rid of those receipts fattening your wallet and realize that your wallet is very “anorexic”.

 

We met around 12:30PM to have lunch together and I suggested Mesa simply because I have never tried dining there before. She was actually interested to try Yabu: The House of Katsu but I had to literally drag her to the other side (corner actually) for selfish reasons.

Pinoy Food Master: Pepita’s Kitchen

I’ve been saying this for quite a lot already but I want to say it again. I love my job! I get to try new food, meet interesting people, and try more new food because of my work. I love love love it! 

Last Thursday, some of my officemates and I went to the lovely home of Dedet de la Fuente and tried her Pepita’s Kitchen Lechon Degustation. We arrived at around 7PM hungry and desiring lechon like never before. 

I heard that they have really good lechon as these were stuffed (yes, stuffed!). I never thought of having stuffed lechon as it alone was enough to get me stuffed.

We waited for a few more people from press and we started off with Pinoy Patè and Pinoy Caviar. It looked pretty ordinary but the taste of these two were just so addicting!

The Pinoy Patè was made of bihon. Who knew that bihon can be transformed into pate, and a good one at that? It had this grainy texture that went well with the crackers. It was not salty at all and was quite light. Quite a delightful appetizer.

 The Pinoy Caviar on the other hand was made of balut. It seemed to be a bit oilier and it tricked some to think that it was fish or liver. 

First Bite: Cookbook Kitchen

I woke up at 4am craving for bulalo. This is the moment when I realized that my tummy has finally taken over my mind.

Random craving. Random dinner plans. Random desserts.

 

I told my friend about my food craving and he suggested that we get bulalo for dinner. However, that didn’t push through because my mom told me that she will cook bulalo for breakfast tomorrow. I just can’t resist homemade meals.

Thus we decided to go to Cookbook Kitchen instead.

As Cookbook newbies, we checked the menu thoroughly. Yet, we were still clueless on which ones to try. We opted to ask the server choose for us. “What are your bestsellers?”