Cafe in the Park (Century Hotel Manila) *

I remember during the late 90's and early 2000's, the weekend buffet at Cafe in the Park

Decades later, there still is a buffet at Cafe in the Park but the place looks so old it the 90's clock just stopped ticking. The good old charm of Cafe in the Park chefs are still there, and holding on to my plate I take a deep breath, as I look at their spread during a Sunday lunch to celebrate an aunt's birthday. 

The food selection is in a terribly sad state although some are cooked deliciously. The lechon kawali station is the crowning glory here but after one round this was never replenished. The service was really bad and the waiters were either non existent or they were really undermanned. A pity that the place has suffered as well as the food, avoid at all cost.
. 

 

Farmacy Ice Cream and Soda Fountain **

If you're around the BGC area, you won't help but notice the Farmacy,
the ice cream and soda fountain near Wildflour.

I love the 1950's era charm of the place. The interiors will take you back in time
when ice cream parlors were the rave. Think Pops' Choc'lit Shop of Archie comics.

The area is quite narrow as there are only rows where customers can have their ice cream fix. You may also have it by the bar or al fresco where more tables are set up. (Please be warned that there are a lot of mosquitoes outside, I don't know why)

Farmacy serves different flavors of their home-made ice cream, in scoops or in sundae,
soda fountain classics like thick milkshakes are also available.

3 scoops: Cheese, Double Milk Chocolate, Straciatella

 Ice cream flavors include: Vanilla, Cheese, Double Chocolate, Black Sesame, Strawberry, Banana, Melon, Starciatella, Butter Pecan, Mint Chocolate Chip, Green Tea and more. They also have sorbets like calamansi.

We ordered different scoops to try and I can't help but notice their ice cream melts easily.
The ice cream is too sweet for my taste but the Double Milk Chocolate is spot on. 

At night, Farmacy is a great place to hang out with friends, beer and local craft beers are served. Check this place out and do tell me the flavors you like




Farmacy Ice Cream & Soda Fountain
4th Avenue corner 26th Street, Bonifacio Global City

The Lowdown on the KFC Double Down Dog

Double Down Dog poster from KFC Philippines twitter account

From the mad, evil genius behind KFC's Double Down comes another innovation of carnivorous cholesterol madness - The DOUBLE DOWN DOG!

Why waste precious tummy space on bread if you can have both meat and hotdog in one go? For pure double chicken madness, they use a Purefoods Chicken and Cheese hotdog to double your chicken pleasure, plus another dollop of cheese sauce on top!

To make things interesting they will only be releasing 50 of these meatwiches
on select branches per day. Get ready for the lines!

We tried one out at the SM MOA branch.
It was only prepared upon order and comes in set meal for Php 129 with a small Coke and any fixin.




At one glance the Double Down Dog isn't really that big, but it sure is tasty.
The Double Down Dog was dog-gone after it was gobbled it down for less than 5 minutes and there's this weird feeling like you'll want yo order another because of the size.

And the DDD didn't look a bit like the one in the poster as you can see below.
You have to hold the wrap so the chicken will stay in place.
I swore I would've enjoyed it more with a dipping sauce of gravy - for
extra heartbreaking fun. Unless you have a deathwish, do not order this every mealtime.

Conquer it at your favorite KFC branch before its gone.

Sambokojin is love ***

If Dad's Buffet marries Saisaki, Sambokojin is going to be the offspring.
Named after the Japanese Kitchen God, Sambokojin has a buffet spread that features a wide array of best-loved Japanese and Korean favorites, an elaborate sushi bar, plus Yakiniku, the Japanese way of grilling. Notable mention is their Kamameshi, Beef stew, different katsu and furai.

With the number of prepared dishes, you might skip the Korean barbecue and head on to the buffet. But do not miss those pieces shrimp in foil.

Rates are affordable for what they offer:
Php 599 for lunch Monday - Friday
Php 699 for dinner Monday - Friday
Php 749 for lunch and dinner on weekends

Kid rates are about Php 330
and senior citizens 70 years old and above get 50% off.

From the same group that brought you Dad's, Saisaki, Kamayan, this is buffet done right and priced right.


Check out the pics:

Sushi/ Maki

Cherries on top

Sushi

These went to my plate

Prepared food

This tastes like Bon Chon Chicken

Takoyaki station

Different types of okonomiyaki

Different types of gyoza

different types of katsu

Meats for barbecuing

Enjoyed my Sambokojin experience tremendously.

The food is cooked in small batches, so you get your food freshly prepared.
Lines are quite long so please be ther early.


Sambokojin West Avenue

Address : 15 West Avenue, Quezon City
Contact no.
(632) 372-8846 / (632) 921-2873
0917-8948845
Operating Hours:
Mon-Fri 11:30am – 2pm / 6pm – 10pm
Sat –Sun 11am – 2pm / 5:30pm – 10pm
 
Here's the map from their website:




Sambokojin EDSA

Address : 207 EDSA, Greenhills, Mandaluyong City
Contact no.
(632) 726-4466 / (632) 726-4520
0917-8964465
Operating Hours:
Mon-Fri 11am – 2pm / 6pm – 10pm
Sat –Sun 11am – 2pm / 5:30pm – 10pm

Magnum Opus Fine Coffee BF *

One of the most basic rules of a coffee shop is to serve your coffee hot.
No matter how good your coffee gets, everything is ruined with a lukewarm cup.

Magnum Opus is one of those small artisanal coffee places that emerged from BF. It has good reviews on spot, a loyal fanbase and a small arsenal of coffee flavors in their menu.





Being a former barista myself, I understand brewing a great cup takes some time. But I thin one must also be careful not to dwell on it too long. Temperature is important and hot coffee must be served immediately.



Sadly my Magnum Opus experience did not live up to my expectations. The Belgian Heartbreak, one of the famous coffee blends with Coffee and dark chocolate was like its namesake. It broke not just my heart because we ordered two of this. Our order took more than 20 minutes, and that was not even a busy night. The coffee was cold. The barista, I noticed was multi-tasking, she was the cashier, she made the coffee and scraped the used ground coffee without washing her hands at all. Screw the reviews, I'll stick to my Toby's Estate, thank you.

This Belgian Heartbreak just broke my heart

Congee and more at Meylin Pot and Noodle

After all the merry-making and binge eating, give your digestive system a break from too much fat. Head on the Meylin for a light meal of congee- the comfort food of champions and victims of indigestion.

Mey Lin may be known as a place that serves hand-pulled noodles but it has lugaw and the Sichuan/ Taiwanese viands that go with it. You can start off with a light order of plain porridge or lugaw. Or you may opt to go Taiwan-style and try the one with sweet potato. The congee is bland but not watery because this is unsalted and not cooked in broth.

Sweet Potato Congee

Here are some dishes that goes best with this:

Squid with Special Sauce Php 295

 This is Mey Lin's signature dish, I don't know how they do it, but the light soy sauce on thinly-sliced squid is a taste to ponder.

Oysters in Tausi Php 290

This is not just oysters, they're stir-fried with sliced green peppers, chili peppers, and tausi peppercorns. Spice alert!

Dried String Beans Php 230

The light string beans is lightly fried on minced garlic and tauso. We always tried this at home but we can't duplicate the taste.

Special Mention is the elusive Soyed Minced Pork. You can find this in the Jupiter branch but it is not always available everywhere. Mey Lin has been around for decades, and the quality of the food hasn't changed. Delicious

Average spend about: P 300 per person
if you go sharing, less if you order noodles.

Meylin
G/F Jupiter Place Bldg.,
136-138 Jupiter St. Bel-Air, Makati  
(02) 899-8999

Sarsa Now Open In Moa

If you're having a hard time finding a parking place at Sarsa in BGC, they now have new branch at SM Mall of Asia, the restaurant just soft opened last week. And everything's cash only.

They are located at the second level of the Entertainment Mall near Sperry store. Don't miss the food in this place. This is one of best places for Filipino/negrense cuisine. They also have a Kilawin bar (for our non-filipino readers, Kilawin is a filipino style of ceviche)


 

Must tries: 

Sizzling Kansi, Roasted Kalabasa, Panit or Grilled Chicken Skin

Sizzling Kansi -Yummy 

Sarsa 
2F South Veranda Entertainment Mall 
Tel 0915 307.1426.

Kain Manila's Best of The Best Holiday Eats of 2014

It's the season for binge-eating, merry making, and more eating.
Presenting a list of tummy pleasers to try and re-try this holiday season.
Love your tummy, it's the holidays.




1) Pho Hoa's Tenderloin Beef on Rice Php 320

Savory bite size tenderloin pieces on top of rice and a sizzling plate.
There's Jalapaneno, loads of garlic and butter in there, nice!
Careful not to burn your tongue, very hot.

Available at Pho Hoa.


 

2) Yellow Cab's Aglio Olio Pasta with Shrimp Php 375

When you say Yellow Cab pasta, it's usually Charlie Chan, but surprise your
tastebuds with their Aglio Olio. Dried tomatoes, garlic and shrimps, who wouldn't love this?

Available at YellowCab nationwide




3) Bamba Bistro's Steak ala Manila Php 690

You haven't tried excellent tapa until you tried Bamba Bistro's Stealk ala Manila.
This one's actually a marinated angus sirloin served on a bed of garlic rice
and creamy truffled eggs. Just imagine tapa is steak form. The beef is tender and the
vinegar does the magic. Definitely heaven in a bite,

Bamba Bisto is located at Aguirre St. BF, Paranaque.




4) Ippudo's Akamaru Shinoaji Php 390

If God created ramen, this would be it. Firm ramen noodles,
fragrant garlic oil, and hints of spicy miso paste. Worth the long lines.

Ippudo is located at Megafashion Hall, SM Megamall




5) Sarsa's Sizzling Kansi/ Bulalo  Php 350

This dish helps you stay young. Haha, If you haven't tried Chef JP's masterpiece, its about time you experience the intense flavors of this dish, It's sizzling, It's bulalo. What more can you ask for?

Sarsa is located at Forum South Global, BGC




6) Hai Kang Seafood Restaurant's Singaporean Curry Prawns with Mantou

We only have 3 words to describe this dish "OH-MY-GOD"




7) Golden Fortune's Thai Prawn Puffs

We fondly call this fried flying saucers for they take long to order but it'll be flying into your mouths in no time. Dipped in sweet mayonaise, this fried darlings have sliced prawns and chives inside.



8) Banapple's Savory Longganiza with Caramelized Onions Php 190

Thumbs up to Banapple for serving up one crave-worthy longganiza. This one's full of garlic it'll drive all the vampire grouches away.

Banapple has branches in Katipunan, BGC, Market, Market, Ayala Triangle



9) Maple's Savory Pancakes P 390

Maple gives you the best of both worlds - pancakes that are both sweet and savory. Good for your tummy and tastebuds.

Maple is located at 2nd Floor San Antonio Plaza, McKinley Street, Forbes Park, Makati



10) Poco Deli's Bacon Slab Php 380

Two large slabs of bacon, smothering bacon bits on rice and two fried eggs.
We're definitely in bacon heaven on this one.

Poco Deli can be found at Kapitolyo Pasig and Ayala Triangle



11) Polly's Chocolate Cake

For us, probably the best and most moist chocolate cake in the country. ( All right, a toss up between this and Bacolod's Calea)

Also available at Betty's Ice Cream kiosks in Glorietta

12) Mama Lou's Special  Php 450

If you  love Chef Chris' Panizza, Mama Lou's version  is as good and lighter on the budget. \
The pizza is paper thin and crunchy, and you roll it into a big wad and bite, big guy.