Tito Chef in BF

Dads.
Lolo Dad's.
Lola's Best

The list of restos paying tribute to our loved ones seem to go on and on.
You can add Tito Chef to that list.

Opened in June last year at BF Homes,
Tito Chef is a restaurant/ bake shop that offers culinary treasures at affordable prices.
Each dish was beautifully plated.
But be wary of ordering too much, because the tables will get filled quickly because the plates are just too big and heavy.

The setup is casual dining, with levelled up menu entrees,
but you can drop by for a dessert or two,
The entrees are priced about 200 - 400.
Not bad.

But how's the food?

Truffled Mushroom Puree Php 150

Crispy Bagnet Salad P 230

Crunchy Calamari Php 280

Smothered Pork Chop Php 250

For a resto with 4-star Zomato rating, I'd say everything was average to above average.
The food was presented very well.
But some things just don't do it for me like the Truffled Mushroom Puree
which was bland as bond paper and the anchovy dressing of the salad was too strong.
The pork chop was a bit ok.
The servings were strictly for one and you might feel "bitin" if you're sharing.
However, the menu still has a lot of promising items to try.

Tito Chef
President's Avenue
BF Homes Paranaque

Spoon Rating
2.8 out of 5 spoons

Why we keep on going back to Yabu

When you're the master of something, better make it consistent.
And this is one rule that Yabu abides by, that's why they're on top of the game.
 
And I've been to different Yabu branches, and the consistency and flavors remain the same.
No wonder there are long queues of people waiting to savor their katsu (pork chop).

Yabu takes pride in its katsu, deep-fried and breaded with the skill of a master. Trust me, I've been to other places, no one else fries the katsu like Yabu does.

Try the 3 Sauces for the salad: Wasabi, Vinaigrette and Goma

Like a ritual, you grind the sesame seeds and pour tonkatsu sauce

Choose from 2 kinds of chops
The Rosu has a fine layer of fat
While the Hire is has none

Katsudon! Rice overload!

12o g Hire Katsu

If you're ready to splurge you can try the Kurobota Pork,
which is the "Angus" of pork (Php 575 for 120 g). This one has the super tender, melt-in-mouth taste with every bite, but the local ones are as delicious.
(It's a 500 pesos porkchop, my God, it better be good)

Yabu's Katsu sets comes with unlimited rice, cabbage, fruits, cucumber slices and Miso soup.

90g Hire Katsu

Don't miss the ala carte stuff too
The creamy crabcakes were good, especially the softshell crab.

They used to offer this Soft Shell Crab set. Now its available alacarte

They also serve great desserts like Lava cake. (still looking for pic)

You can't go wrong with Yabu, they have great food, excellent service, and unlimited servings of rice and salad. Come in hungry, leave with your tummy very satisfied. Expect long lines.

Spoon Rating
4.5 out of 5

Yabu
Moa
Megamall
SM Aura
Southmall
Robinson's Magnolia

Whatta food at Watami

If there's a global restaurant chain that's doing it right, its Watami. Found in Hong Kong and Singapore, Watami has 2 branches in the Philippines - one in Mall of Asia and one in Glorietta.

Watami offers affordable good Japanese food with a more modern menu compared to traditional ho-hum usual Japanese fare. From food to presentation, everything was right went we went here. Here's what we ordered:

We had the Tonpeiyaki (Php 295) its like Japanese omelette with cheese and cabbage but the taste reminds me of cheesy takoyaki! This one is very good, although it may be a bit pricey for an appetizer, This one is super good!

This one's the Deep Fried tofu with Tempura sauce in stone pot (Php 175)
Kinda expensive because its just 4 pieces of tofu, but it was served piping hot and we finished it off right away.

Self-grilled short ribs (Php 295)
They give you the grill, the tender ribs and lots of butter. Do magic, voila! Hello delicious.

Not in pic
Pepper beef rice in Stonepot (php 190)

Sort of like Pepper Lunch and they serve the pot with thin slices of beef and corn and rice.
This time we let them do the cooking. This was good too.

This one was worth the trip, don't miss Watami. This place is my current favorite.

Spoon Rating
4.5 out of 5

Watami
2nd Floor Seaside Drive
Mall of Asia

Highlands Prime Steakhouse MOA

You can see the steaks being grilled through this glass

Lamb shanks

Make mine Surf and Turf

We were here to celebrate the birthday of our uncle.
The Highlands Prime Steakhouse is the Manila equivalent of the members-only
Tagaytay Highlands. The restaurant retains the log cabin ambiance for the diners in Manila to savor. 

To savor the experience, we complemented the steaks and ordered prawns on the side.
We had the rib-eye steaks split to two, so everyone can have Surf and Turf! 
The steak is of course, delicious and the tender, and the meal superb. Cheers!

Sea Bass

check out the menu  and the prices here
http://www.zomato.com/manila/highlands-prime-steak-house-mall-of-asia-complex-pasay-city/menu

Highland's Prime Steak House 

2nd Floor, North Wing, Mall of Asia Complex (MOA), 

Pasay City

02 5560768, 02 9013243

 

Four Seasons Claypot Pot Rice 四季煲仔飯, in Yaumatei (廟街, 油麻地) Hongkong

the queue during 7 pm

the menu says it all

rows of claypots waiting to be served

The oyster are big

Oyster cake in duck egg batter, delicious!!

They say that if you want a good dining experience, follow where the locals eat. I have read good reviews of the claypot rice in HK, but I never thought this one was near our hotel. If you're in the Yaumatei, make sure to visit Four Seasons Claypot Rice at Arthur Street. I've even read that the great Anthony Bourdain even ate here and loved it.

But... this place looks like a hole-in-the-wall and the tables are cramped.
But judging from the fragrant smell of claypot rice wafting in the air, and the people patiently waiting for their turn, it looks like its worth the wait.

Spareribs and Sausage Claypot rice

Chicken and Salted Fish Claypot rice... yummy

Claypot rice is literally toppings like chicken or sausage over fragrant rice and cooked in the famous stoneware originating from the southern regions of China and Malaysia. Four seasons offer you a no-frills setup in their menu, there's an English Menu but most of the stuff they serve are already in the wall.

You add the soy sauce last then mix the rice

Surprisingly, turnover is pretty fast and we already have a table in 10 minutes (well its communal). After scanning the menu, we settled with the classics -

Spareribs and Chinese Sausage Claypot rice HK $32
Chicken and Salted Fish Claypot Rice HK $ 32
Duck Egg Oyster Cake (2pcs) HK $25

First to be served were the Oyster cake since the claypot rice took 20 minutes to cook.
This was absolutely one of the most delicious things I've ever tasted.
It was fried perfectly, and the batter was crunchy and not over-oily. The oysters were big and my tastebuds were excited. This indeed is a must-order in their menu, and there goes my cholesterol level.

Then came the claypot rice. When I opened the lid, the fragrant aroma immediately seduced my appetite, the spareribs and sausage balanced each other out. It was delicious. But one difference I noticed is that they don't cook it with the the soy sauce and let you add it to your desire. Tip: You have to mix the rice immediately when you open the lid, to prevent the bottom from getting burned, but that was the burnt rice best part for me, in Tagalog we call it "tutong"The chicken with salted fish was even better, this is one of my unforgettable meals in HK. Try this just in case you're in HK.

4 out of 5 spoons 

Four Seasons Claypot Pot Rice 四季煲仔飯
46-58 Arthur Street , Yaumatei

The Ice Kacang at Chicken Rice Shop

The Philippines may be known for halo-halo. But other countries have it as well, Japan had its flavored shaved ice as early as the 1900's, Malaysia/ Singapore has its own Ice Kacang.

The Chicken Rice Shop may be known for their Hainanese delights, but leave room for dessert. Their version of Ais Kakang (read as Kachang) has a sweet blend of raw sugar syrup, coconut milk, red beans and ground peanuts. This one is satisfying and its a steal for P 70.  

Chicken Rice Shop
Can be found at Harbor Square near CCP,
Robinsons Place Ermita and Katipunan

Wildflour... more than just Cronuts

People are wild over cronuts. You know, the flaky, oh so wonderful, buttery crossover between a croissant (kwa-san) and a doughnut. And when you're at Wildflour at the BGC, expect long lines.

But guess what, if you want to avoid the lines, and you just want to find out what the hype is all about, here's a tip, get a table and order a drink and of course, order your cronut to go (they allow two per table, and more if there are remaining from the batch that people are lining up for)   By the way, they have 6 maximum order per person. These cronuts don't come cheap. These fried babies cost about 120 pesos to 150 pesos each.

Tiramisu Creme Brulee is <3 p="">

Strawberry and Chocolate Cronut

Baguette with salted butter

Scanning their menu, they have all day breakfast, poached eggs, homemade sausages, etcetera, etcetera, but since we came here for dessert, you chose the Tiramisu Creme Brulee. This one takes home the award for Best Dessert ever, digging into it, the globs of chocolate inside will definitely send you to chocolate heaven. This is really, really good.

And of course we ordered chocolate and hazelnut cronuts and we were "lucky" enough to get vanilla.


The vanilla cronut is oily and buttery biting into it, you can taste a cream filling sort of like biting into an eclair. But when we tried the chocolate, now I was testament that this dessert is worth the hype and the long lines.

Visit Wildflour at G/F Net Lima Bldg, 4th Ave cor 26th St Fort Bonifacio, Taguig
Next time we'll be back for the Croque madam and the Chocolate pot au creme

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

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.