Bar 12-21 at Morton's The Steakhouse

Great meals are hard to forget. 
Morton's is one of the best names when it comes to steak.
During a trip to LA, I was awestruck my uncle brought me here during
"happy hour" or power hour as they call it. It's a great way to experience Morton's without paying an arm and a leg as Bar Bites are as low as $6 - $7 per order. The food is awesome! If I lived in LA, I'm here every happy hour (Happy Hour is from  Sunday - Friday from Open - 6:30pm and 9pm - Close)

Posting some great stuff we ordered at Morton's. Good times!

Jumbo Cocktail Shrimp

Its a pig, no it's a lamp...

Iceberg Salad

Truffle Parmesan Fries

Three Prime Cheeseburger Sliders

Spinach, Crab & Artichoke Dip

6250 Canoga Ave.
Woodland Hills, CA 91367

Now Open: IHOP in BGC

What can I say about Ihop? The lines are long, the food is overhyped, but I love the atmosphere. I noticed that food has dipped since the American trainers left. When we ordered pancakes it was overcooked, and I hope its just an isolated case.

My first experience was quite pleasant actually but sadly the food sucked when we came back so we'd rather go to Pancake House instead, because in this business consistency is key.

Here are some of the photos from my first and second IHOP visit. (I noticed the fried chicken became pricer)

banana and strawberry pancakes

bacon omelette

chicken caesar salad

fries

fried chicken is still very good

The Chicken Rice Shop in the Philippines

The Chicken Rice shop is a Malaysian chain that offers favorites like Hainanese Chicken Rice, Nyonya Paiti, Honey Barbecue Chicken and and more. Here in the Philippines, it is operated by the Pancake House Group. Our dining experience was quite pleasant, and in CRS, they offer a casual dining experience.

Hainanese Chicken

Nothing spectacular about the soup and rice

Taste-wise and price-wise, their Hainanese Chicken is so-so, but its tender. The soup sucks because it lacks flavor sort of like the free soup they give in Chinese fastfood restos, and the rice slightly ok. The chicken is good, although I have tasted better.But if you compare this with Wee Nam Kee's. This one fits the budget, especially when you're craving for Hainanese.

But when you taste the Honey Barbecue Chicken, now you're talking delicious. Their Barbecue Chicken is made like Asado or Barbecue Pork, because the meat is tender, the caramelized glaze is bit sweet you have combination of flavors that tickles the palate.

They also have desserts and group meals for families and friends.

For Hainanese that won't break the bank, go to Chicken Rice Shop.

Chicken Rice Shop
G/F Robinson's Place Manila

Harbor Square, Manila

Spoon Rating
2.8 out of 5 for the Hainanese
3.5 out of 5 for the Barbecue Chicken

Shakey's delivery sucks

our photoshoot

Heeeere's Pizza no. 1

Pizza number 2

Pizza number 3

We had a shoot last April 19 and the ad agency ordered Shakey's pizza delivery.
Our delivery arrived in this shape. Very lousy, Shakey's.

Going loco over Poco Deli

Poco Deli serves the best comfort food. The small deli/wine bar/dessert place is one of those secret places tucked at foodie paradise Kapitolyo Pasig. And they've opened in Ayala Triangle!
Poco serves some of the best sausages I've tasted and I heard the owner mentored at Mickey's (before the owner of Mickey's) passed away. Speaking of sausages, Poco's has my favorite Nurnberger pork sausages (same as Mickey's) And they also have the famous their bacon (a whole block) and bacon rice. Their menu has expanded to pasta, pizza and other stuff. But this bacon thing is to die for. Imagine bacon as big as blocks? You bet! At Poco's you get the whole liempo part. And if that's not enough the rice has enough bacon bits to last you till Timbuktu. You have to taste it to believe. We were so happy to find Poco's in Makati that we dined here for 2 straight nights. Just imagine the pounds I gained from eating all that bacon! Their tapa is good, too!

Poco Deli is located at Ayala Triangle beside Kanin Club and Kapitolyo, Pasig  

gelato...

strawberry gelato with macaron on the side, a simple pleasure and a divine indulgence, don't you agree?

Xin Tian Ti - the new place for authentic unlimited dimsum

I'm not ashamed to buy deals online, especially for restaurants.
when deal grocer offered theirs, it was indeed a good deal you must not miss.

for only 688 (deal price) you can eat all the dimsum you want
xin tian ti's system works like this. instead of a buffet setup they have
checklists. now tick all the stuff you want and they will serve them in one go.
btw the dumplings are ordered by the piece and they are steamed per order.
while stuff like spareribs and squid come in a small plate.

the menu consists of
yang chow fried rice
fish congee
meatball congee
fried noodles
roast duck noodle (last time it was overcooked)

steamed Spareribs
steamed Squid

the must tries:
hakao (with generous shrimp and the wrapper is paper thin)
stonefish dumpling
bird's eye dumpling
xiao long pao (soup dumpling)
fried teochow wantons
special dumpling soup

other stuff
vegetarian spring rolls

dessert
coffee pudding (really good)
malay cake (nothing malay about it they use sponge cake)
buchi
snow balls (very good)

Xintianti is located at the Crowne Plaza Hotel
Robinson's Corporate Center Ortigas

MOMO is mo yummy

I've been noticing Momo every time I pass through Ayala Triangle but I've never tried it, until one December evening when the place was packing them in.

One gaze at the menu and I was surprised, I thought everything was pricey, but it was ok and everything's good to share but we were hungry so we ordered and ordered.

First up is soup - Herb Pumpkin Cream (150) with lots of bacon and real bacon, mind you, not the bacon bits that's imitation meat and served in a plastic bottle. The soup was so-so but it soothed the hungry tummy of 2 people who waited 45 minutes just to get a table.

roasted beef for two

Next, we ordered their Slow Roasted Roast Beef Fingers, (400+)
the beef was tender and it had generous amounts of squid rings and mashed potatoes. The beef tasted like stew. It's like stew and steak in one. It was good value for the money and filling at the same time.

fish and chips... yummy

We also had Fish and Chips, humongous beer battered fish. Also had a choice between ketchup and malt vinegar as sauces. Good, good, good but not as perfect as Mamou's.

I've heard horror stories of Momo but I was wrong. Momo is delish!
A word of advice though: don't eat alone at Momo, the food is indeed good for sharing.

A quick reunion at the Plantation

Located at C. Palanca Street, you can find the Plantation tucked in among the concrete jungle of Legaspi Village, Makati. On that street that screams Gweilos and The Balcony (formerly Bistro 101), Plantation holds in own with its menu of great food served at popular prices.

That January night we had a mini reunion of ad agency mates. My boy Siegfried who came home for a vacation after another 2 year stint at DDB Bahrain and Qatar is missing pork, really bad.

I ordered the Mediterranean Porkchops (195), their must try dish, Two big chops with sauce on the side and rice pilaf. Served at my table it was wafting with an inviting smell, calling me to"eat me at once." It was delicious, the pork was grilled perfectly and the sauce is just enough, I wanted more of the rice, though. My friends had chicken parmesan or parmigiana although I'm not a big fan of tomato-based dishes, They too were raving about it.

We also had nachos. and double orders of wedges, now the wedges were the bomb! ansarap
Beer was Buy one Take one before 10. So we helped ourselves with extra orders to last us til midnight.

hello 2013

got a new job, and my blog is sporting a new look.
let's see what's cooking in 2013. can't assure everyone that i'll be here everyday but i'll still write about food and travels