Top of the Citi Makati by Chef Jessie, Where dates and I do's happen ****

Guys, if you need a place to impress your date, you don’t need to get out of the city for a killer meal with breathtaking views of the city.

Treat her to a 360 degree view of the city at TOTC

The Top of the Citi in Makati is sure to impress even the iciest of hearts. Open to the public after
5:00 pm, it is located at the 34^th Floor of the Citibank Tower in Valero Street, Salcedo Village.

Grab a table alfresco (best to reserve) and treat her to a romantic meal under the moon and stars, relaxing mood music, and a 360 degree view of the city. If you want to keep it private, you can lounge around the main dining area where it’s more quiet.  The view from the top can’t be sweeter than this.

Run by Chef Jessie Sincioco, the food is as blissfully good as the desserts the chef are known for. Must-orders include the Chilean Seabass and the Tessie Tomas salad, named after the famous comedienne. My wife swears by their Cordon Bleu, which she never ceases to order when we’re here. After tasting her Cordon Bleu I was not surprised because it takes great skill to have the dish crunchy outside and at the same time moist and tender inside.

Chicken Cordon Bleu in Lemon Butter Sauce P 750

Grilled Seabass and Grilled Ostrich in Wine Sauce

Coffee Souffle

Dessert was Souffle, the scourge of any dessert chef. This dessert is hard to execute and
we have looked in dismay at other restos for even serving this. At Top of the Citi they had done this perfectly every time. 

Come and experience some of Chef Jessie's favorites at Top of the Citi.
The place is quiet yet not somber, one of the perfect date places for me.
Expect a few marriage proposals next table, after all, great things happen...
under the moon and the stars.

The author at Top of the Citi

Chef Jessie's Top of the Citi
34th Floor CitiBank Tower
8741 Paseo De Roxas,  
Salcedo Village, Makati  
(02) 750-5810 to 12

Open from Monday to Friday

Mmmm... Mama Lou's Italian Kitchen! *****

BF Paranaque never ceases to amaze me. There's so many good restaurants here. We discovered an amazing Italian Restaurant in Mama Lou's, it's an old house at Tropical Avenue that they transformed into a casual dining Italian place. It's located at the far end of Aguirre Street, near BF International the streets are not well lighted because this is the far end of BF, but there is ample parking and the area is well guarded.

The interiors are quite simple and there's a framed black and white picture of Mama Lou on the wall.
The place has earned its keep as one of the must-visit restaurants in Summit Media's Eat Out Now Restaurant Guide.

 

For starters, they served bread with 2 kinds of dip, pesto and pomodoro.

Bacon Poutine (Php 195)

My heart was racing when I saw Poutine on the menu. Canadian Fries and with bacon!
The fries were not the commercial type frozen ones, you can see it with the uneven cuts. It was fried just right and not too soggy. A light gavy is poured over the fries with cheese curds. And when you bite into it, boom! Hello delicious! I wonder if they serve a larger portion of this.

Caprese Bruschetta Php 225

Their Caprese Bruschetta is filling but could use a thinner bread. The bread can become hard after a few minutes of toasting. Chopped tomatoes, mozzarella, basil, it's messy to eat but it's an enjoyable mess.

Chef's Special

Craving for Panizza? They have very mean version of it. They serve pizzas with the thinnest and crunchiest crust. The toppings are generous and of course arugula and alfalfa sprouts. One more point
for Mama!

Spaghetti Seafood Olio Php 295

For pastas, the Spaghetti Seafood Olio sauce is a must-try. It's very light and tasty and they were generous with the seafood. If you like things light, how about trying this Spaghettini Pomodoro Basilico? With just tomatoes and basil, less is indeed more.

If you're not from the South, this place is indeed worth the trip, great food selections, homey ambiance at affordable prices. A great place to bring your family and friends.
There is also a branch at Solenad 2 at Nuvali.

Budget: about 300 - 400 per head
Spoon Rating: 5 Spoons

Mama Lou's Italian Kitchen

B1 L36 Tropical Ave. cor. Palace St., BF International

Las Piñas, Metro Manila

(02) 519-1977

Lido Cocina Tsina's Pugon Baked Asado and more

I remember the old days when my Mom and Dad would take me to have breakfast at Lido on Sundays. The place looked at old and stuffy but they had really good fried rice, and the smell of coffee lingered.

Fast forward to years later, Lido would take the route of Savory by splitting the business to Lido and Salido. Lido is the more modern casual dining version, a leveled up version of Chowking to some, but for me, the place still has the memorable food of yesterday.

Located at UN Avenue, beside Tempura, this used to be the old location of Alex III. Lido still has the great rice toppings I've grown to love. And their siphon coffee is of course, one of the best.

Lido's Asado (iamge from their FB page)

When you say Lido, the word asado follows. Known for their asado, Lido serves it even early in the morning. The asado is tasty, tender, and works well even without the sauce. Unlike in other establishments, their asado is not food-colored and has the signature char brown color.

Asado Primera

 Their Asado Primera has slices of tender pork asado, and very sumptuous egg fried rice
 on tomato sauce. Although this is served for breakfast, you can order this all day upon request.
Also available are an army of rice toppings with their signature brown sauce. After tasting one too many, everything may taste the same.

Classic Asado Rice on brown sauce P 175

Macau Rice (P 195) - like Chopsuey has seafood, chorizo and pork asado

3 Cup Chicken (image from their FB page)

Spareribs

Minced Beef Soup

Lido's Siphon Brewed Coffee (image from Lido's FB page)

Se Po /4 Treasures Rice (image from their FB page)

Beef Brisket Mami  (image from their FB page)

They also serve dimsum and noodles. With branches all over the metro, Lido is a great place to unwind, whether you want to dine with the family or a quick lunch break. Instead of just going for Chinese fastfood, why don't you drop by Lido?

By the way, there's a breakfast crowd at the UN Avenue branch during weekends, expect lines.

Budget: about 150 - 200 per person

With branches all over the metro:
Jorge Bocobo St. UN Avenue Delivery number
254- 5436
Z Square, Banawe
Greenhills
Las Pinas
Cainta
BF Paranaque
Bacoor Cavite

Uno Seafood Wharf Palace, Excellent Chinese food at Escolta ****

Sometimes the simplest meals are the unforgettable ones.
If a restaurant can turn simple dishes into great ones, just imagine what they can do their masterpieces.

Uno's Dimsum is served in carts, HK-style

Located in Escolta, Manila, the former business district, Uno can be easy to find because there are only two Chinese Restaurants in the area, Uno and Crown Prince. Anyway to cut the long story short, Uno is the more established and Crown Prince is the rookie.

Their menu is simple and the pricing is a bit higher than other Binondo Chinese restaurants. But the quality of the food is evident. And if you're a seafood lover, you can tell the difference.

Live Crabs are available in their "fishtanks"

For lunch, we ordered a few Chinese restaurant staples. We usually order the Set Lauriat Menu but it was just the four of us. Plus we also had to steer clear of the must-order “Chicken Pie”.

First up is the Sweet Corn and Crabmeat Soup. (Php 320) Crab and Corn Soup is so common among Chinese restos, once you’ve taste one, you’ve tasted all. But the key difference here is the use of crab, while others are using crabstick, or imitation crabmeat. Uno’s version comes with generous pieces of crab. It is filling and delicious and worth the price; that is why this is well-liked by both kids and adults.

Seafood Beancurd Hot Pot. (P400) This one has scallops, prawns, sliced cuttlefish, fish fillet, tofu and did I mention lots of scallops?  Great with lots of rice so you can savor the sauce.

Fried Spareribs with Salt and Pepper. (P300) Every Chinese resto has their version of this dish. I love the tender and juicy spareribs fried to perfection. The seasoning is not overwhelming and tastes great dipped in vinegar or on its own.

Fried Pork Intestine (P 240) This dish is not for everyone. My dad loves this dish and to prevent untoward smell and taste, scallions are placed inside. This is your friendly neighborhood special deep fried isaw. Tastes crazy good.

Shhh… Here’s a foodie  tip: Ask the waiters here if they serve free dessert like in Golden Fortune, of course they do   Choices range from a cup of almond jelly or fruits. They gave us free almond jelly.

Another tip: They give 10% discount if you pay in cash.

Enjoy! For the benefit of those who are curious, here’s a picture of their famous “Chicken Pie” It’s a square tray and good for about 6 to 8 people. Php 520 an order.

Budget: P 300 to P 400 per person
less if you're coming for Yam Cha





Uno Seafood Wharf Palace
270 Escolta St Sta. Cruz, Manila  
(02) 232-1054

What's up with Kulinarya Rockwell?

Restaurants come and go. But the ingenious ones never stop reinventing themselves.
Kulinarya has been one of the long time tenants at the ground floor of Rockwell,
this casual dining place has withstood changes by constantly updating its menu and the look of its store. The Kulinarya Kitchen doesn't look like the Kulinarya I remembered, the new store is brighter and seems to be designed to attract a younger crowd. But the East meets West dining concept remains.

The appetizers were a welcoming sight.
Order the Chorizo and Cheese dip, this dish is one of their best.
The dip came with tortillas and chips, which we can't stop dipping into the gooey cheese.

Chorizo and Cheese dip Php 400

We also tried their Fresh Mushroom soup. It's creamy yet earthy, but filling. But I'm not a big fan of mushroom soup.

Fresh Mushroom Soup Php 175

We also ordered gambas since we brought along a child who kept asking for shrimp, we gave in.

Bad choice. Of all the dishes to fail in, Gambas was fairly easy to do, but ours not only arrived in bad shape, the shrimp we’re not fresh, it was overcooked and the sauce so bad.

Fresh Shrimp Gambas unappatizing and overcooked Php 285

For Mains, we had the Surf and Turf Platter, which has tender roast beef and baked shrimps thermidor. The beef was tender, and the shrimps were ok. It's just the stupid gambas that ruined our appetite.

Surf and Turn Php 895

We also tried their Seafood and Chicken Paella Risotto . Despite the wait, this one was also so-so. And the shrimps were also overcooked. The rice was soft but the flavors were not locked in.

I'm quite torn if I were to rate this place. It was a hit and miss and I 

used to love their Salpicao back then. I just hope they're not leaning too much 
in making this place into another KXP (their down--scaled sister restaurant) 
So next time, I sticking to the classics.

Average per person about P 350 -400 per head

Check out their menu here
http://www.munchpunch.com/kulinarya-kitchen-power-plant-mall/menu

Restaurant Hours:
11AM to 9PM (Mon to Thu), 11AM to 10PM (Fri)
10AM to 10PM (Sat), 10AM to 9PM (Sun)
Happy Hour - 3PM to 6PM Daily

P1 Power Plant Mall, Rockwell Center
Makati City, Philippines 1200
Telephone Nos. 898-1738 | 898-1864
Email: info@kulinaryakitchen.com