Omakase - Revisited (Il Terrazo, Tomas Morato)

Beloved and I went to Omakase today. Yes, again. The reason basically was we were craving for their rolls. Also, ever since we ate there, the only thought in mind was we had to go back here. So we did. When we got there, the place was full, and there was a waiting queue for those wanting to eat there. Even then, we still waited just to eat there. This just shows how good the place is.

As expected, we ordered their rolls. This time, we ordered a platter of three: the GDR Platter (575 Php). Beloved didn't have anything to eat yet for the day, so she ordered Tempura Udon (230 Php) for herself. As for me, I also ordered 3 pieces of their Ebi Tempura (160 Php) since, if you've read my last review, I've wanted to taste their tempura after tasting their batter. We also ordered iced teas (55 each), and asked for their hot tea. Unfortunately, the hot tea didn't come, maybe because it was a full house and they prioritized larger tables.

Anyway, the platter came first. GDR basically stood for its contents: Golden sun, Dynamite, and Rising sun rolls. The sauce included was the same as last time: their own mayonnaise with teriyaki sauce topped with sesame. The Rising sun roll, the one at the back, was the one we ordered the last time we went, and it's still divinely delicious, even though they traded their avocado with mangoes, apparently they were out of it as well. The mangoes rendered the roll a bit sweeter than the last time, but it's still a wonderful treat.

Omakase (Il Terrazzo, Tomas Morato)

Beloved and I had dinner at Omakase tonight. We don't know of this resto, and just Googled it up with `Tomas Morato restaurants`. This was the second top rated entry at the "I'm feeling lucky" site, so we decided to go there for the heck of it... or maybe after looking through the menu and seeing cold noodles there and beloved was craving for it. Anyway...

Obviously, beloved ordered cold noodles for herself—Hiyashi Udon (175 Php). I had a hard time ordering since there's a lot of stuff in the menu. I could tell, however, that they specialize in maki, or sushi rolls, since a couple of their pages are dedicated to it, and there's a couple of dozen different variations in these pages. They even have three different samplers of three different rolls. Along with that, they also have a decent selection of nigiri (hand-pressed, the `usual` kind) sushi, temaki (cone-shaped) sushi, and sashimi, with samplers as well. After a hard time deciding, I settled for their Rising Sun maki (200 Php). I also ordered cold noodles, Zaru Soba (185 Php), for myself. For drinks, we ordered bottomless iced tea priced at 55 Php each.

Kamirori (Katipunan)

Beloved and I spent our Valentines dinner at Kamirori. This restaurant was a childhood favorite of mine, but I can barely remember their food since the last time I went here has been over a decade. The first Kamirori at Katipunan ave., which our family used to freqeunt, was gone. They apparently moved somewhere at the inner streets of the avenue, and since, I haven't been able to return. When the Petron Square at Katipunan opened, Kamirori opened a branch there as well, giving me a flash of childhood memories and cravings. If you haven't figured it out yet from its name, Kamirori is Japanese. I have no idea what it means, and if you ask me, I'll answer, from my little knowledge of the language, God from "Kami" and little girl from "rori"—Little girl god.

From the almost bare memories of my childhood, I have no idea why I loved this resto. But I do remember that this was the place which triggered my love for tempura and, eventually, Japanese food. I have no memories if their food was good or what, but I do remember we frequent it, so it has to be good somehow. Of course, the older people used to pay for my orders, so I have no idea of their price. I was surprised that their prices were fair I ordered their Tendon (135 Php) or tempura over a bowl of rice, and beloved ordered Hiyashi Ramen (110 Php) or cold ramen. We also ordered their Mixed Sushi (300 Php) and a couple of bottomless iced tea (50 Php each) to wash everything down.

Burger Ave. (A Venue Mall, Makati)

Last Saturday, me, beloved, and company went to Burger Ave. Three of us had one mission in mind: to beat the "Ridiculous Challenge". One of my friends told me of this resto, and the challenge. The moment he told me about it, I wanted to try it out as soon as possible. Once we were able to decide on a date, we went there in a group. We embarked on the challenge with different strategies in mind—I decided not to eat anything beforehand, another decided to eat meagerly, while another ate at McDonald's fifteen minutes before our journey. We also decided to walk there from Rockwell to further increase our hunger. Did it work? And what the heck is this challenge anyway?

Once we got there, beloved ordered Blue Cheese Burger (140 Php) for herself. It wasn't a value-meal kind of store, so she also ordered a glass of soda (40 Php). I didn't try it out, since I was prepping for the challenge, but I told her to leave a bite for me, if I still had space for it.

Now, the challenge. Three of us took it. When we got there, there was a middle-aged lady who was taking the challenge. I sort of gained hope learning that it's mostly meat and the bun wasn't that thick. It also wasn't the biggest burger I've encountered in my life, maybe just a close second. My companions also thought that the challenge was doable. Perhaps beating the record wasn't possible (1 minutes and 28 seconds for that particular store), but the five minute mark was plausible. What do we get when we finish the Ridiculous Burger (270 Php)—1 pound, 3-patty burger—within the allotted time? We get our money back, and we get to have our pictures posted in their wall/album of fame.

While I don't have pics of the burger itself, we've recorded our battle in video, which you can watch below:

Yes, we failed. My primary enemy was perhaps underestimating the mass of the meat. It was pretty heavy, and hard to swallow because of the heat and meatiness. By the time the clock was at 1:30, I still had about a third of the burger left, so I decided to enjoy my meal instead. It was pretty much a burger done right, except with three patties and gooey cheesy sauce.

Ironically, although it was a massive 3-patty burger, it didn't really fill me up. Perhaps because I haven't consumed anything for the day, I still had space for their French Fries (50 Php) and Onion Rings (50 Php). I was dissatisfied with the quantity of their fries, and it wasn't really crunchy. I liked the fact that they keep the skin on, though. Their onion rings, on the other hand, was divine. It was pretty crunchy and had the delicious caramel-sweet onions in all its flavorful glory. And unlike the fries, their serving was decent.

Seafood Island (Cubao)

Beloved and I went to Seafood Island today. Although from the name you can assume that they specialize in seafood, they also specialize in grilled and barbecued favorites. This was the first time we ever tried this, so it's basically a blind selection out of the blue. Or maybe we tried this because of the pirate crab mascot.

Anyway, there were plenty of items on the menu. Sadly, they don't provide pictures, so it's pretty hard to choose. We ended up ordering their Tuna and Crabmeat Sisig (195 Php) because we like crab and beloved wants fish, Pork Liempo (165 Php) because I was craving for pork belly, and their small serving of Crab Rice (135 Php). We also ordered a couple of glasses of red iced tea (55 Php each, non-refillable).