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Friday, October 29, 2010

San Seh Noodle House (Timog/Tomas Morato Rotonda)

Last mornight, Beloved and I ate breakfast at San Seh Noodle House. This cozy little place is located at the rotonda of Timog Avenue and Tomas Morato. We were there at around 4am in the morning because we broke our body clocks and became nocturnal for the past week. Hungry, we were deciding between the more popular fastfood usuals, Chowking or McDonald's; or 24 hour pizza places open in the area, Yellow Cab or Shakey's. We noticed that this place was open as well, so we risked trying it out.

We expected this place to specialize in noodles since we saw their chef hand-pulling noodles from the front window. It was pretty entertaining to watch and good to know that we're getting our noodles freshly made. So we ordered just that—a couple of bowls of their Braised Beef Noodle Soup for 125 Php each. They do serve non-soup noodles such as stir fry, but that part of their menu we didn't touch. We did have an order of their Sharksfin Dumpling for 55 Php.


Dezaato Pan (Tomas Morato)

After dinner at Sushi Katsu, we went to Dezaato Pan for dessert. Dezaato Pan is a cafe that serves bread, coffee, gelato and the most aesthetically-pleasing cakes. It's usually beside a Tempura Grill restaurant. Dezaato means `dessert` while Pan means `bread` in Japanese. I decided to go here because of the parfait but sadly, the Tomas Morato branch didn't have it. Instead, I got their Green tea gelato while Inggo got the French Vanilla gelato for (55php) each. There are other unique flavors which was priced a bit higher than what we've ordered. I also got the Choco Otaku bread for (50php) for takeout. The bread here is self-service similar to Bread Talk. Oh, and the bread gets a 30% discount if its past 7pm.


Monday, October 25, 2010

Sushi Katsu (Tomas Morato)

Beloved and I had dinner at Sushi Katsu earlier tonight. This might just be one of the few remaining Japanese restaurants we've yet to try. I've heard some positive feedback from a couple of friends, so I'm expecting something. However, Japanese restaurants are usually the same old stuff with some kind of specialty or gimmick. Because it's in the name, I assume that the sushi here is higher than par. We've passed by here a couple of times in the past couple of months, and both those times, the place was closed. Tonight, however, it was open. Although we weren't really feeling like sushi, Beloved in particular wanting curry, we decided to take the opportunity to try it out.

Their menu was a bit more expensive than the competition. Also, there were a lot of stuff in their menu I find exotic to the usual Japanese restaurant menu in the Metro. In particular, they have Salmon Toro (250 Php) or salmon belly sashimi there. They also serve horse meat sashimi, which I don't know if it's legal in this country. We ordered the former because we were craving for raw fish, but didn't the latter because it was pretty expensive. Beloved ordered for herself their Chicken Curry Omurice (280 Php), and I ordered for myself their Hiyashi Tempura Soba (300 Php). For our drinks, beloved had their Iced Tea (70 Php) and I had their Cold Japanese Green Tea (70 Php).


I was surprised that their Japanese Green Tea came in a jug. It's definitely the drink to order when you're here, but maybe the hot incarnation. It was basically water with a sudden kick of bitter green tea. Beloved's drink was also not your usual instant sweetened one—in fact, it was a bit sour.


In addition to our drinks, I guess everyone receives complementary Miso Soup. It was quite hot and had that soothingly salty taste, perhaps more soothing than the usual miso soup from your usual Japanese restaurant.


Sunday, October 24, 2010

World Class Persian Kebab (Tomas Morato corner E. Rodriguez)

After the event we went to last night, me and Beloved and our friends passed by World Class Persian Kebab. I've never heard of this place before even though we've basically eaten at every affordable place at Tomas Morato. My friend says this is the best place for Persian food at extremely affordable prices as well. He also mentions that this place is open 24 hours. When we got there, I realize why I've never seen this place before. It is located at the corner of Tomas Morato and E. Rodriguez, the side of Tomas Morato we have little reason to go to. Perhaps this visit to World Class Persian Kebab would give us reason now.

The menu comprises of the usual Persian/Mediterranean fare—kebabs and shawarmas made of chicken, pork, or beef, and random ox parts like the brain and tongue. Because I wasn't very hungry, I just had their Beef Shawarma with Cheese (50 Php). Beloved, after seeing the ox tongue in the menu and because she loves lengua, ordered that for herself (80 Php). While I wasn't hungry, I certainly was thirsty, so I tried their Mango Yogurt Shake (45 Php), and beloved had their Watermelon Shake (30 Php).


Our drinks arrived first, and I must say, this is one of the more delicious and refreshing shakes I've tried. The mango is there for the sweetness, and the yogurt adds a sour kick to the thick concoction. Beloved's loved hers as well, noting that they actually use fresh fruits in their drinks.


Slice n' Dice (Timog)

Beloved and I went to an event last night. But, before going to the venue, we passed by a nearby Slice n' Dice steakhouse nearby. I've eaten in this franchise before at different branches—particularly the Visayas Ave., Kalayaan, and Katipunan branches, so I pretty much know what to order and what to expect. I've also eaten here while they were still named "In n' Out", so I pretty much know that this place has been around for quite some time. The particular branch we went to is found at Timog Avenue at the section closer to GMA. This is basically a budget restaurant specializing in T-bone steak. The prices are quite affordable with generous serving sizes, so it's always one of those places we go by every once in a while.

While the gist of their menu is the T-bone steak, they do have sides and other dishes. Beloved ordered for herself their Cream Dory with Rice and drink (132 Php). I ordered their regular T-Bone Steak (99 Php), which doesn't come with anything. That in mind, I also ordered their Sirloin Rice with a drink (62 Php) and mistakenly ordered the larger serving of their Kangkong Stir Fry (95 Php).


Monday, October 11, 2010

Johnny Rockets (Tomas Morato)

Earlier tonight, Beloved and I ate at Johnny Rockets. This burger place has been a "want to go but I know for sure this is gonna be an expensive place" kind of resto in my list. Heck, I've never gotten the opportunity to see the menu even though there's a Johnny Rockets at Eastwood and practically all other restaurants provide prices for their food outside to lure you in. Just that is a sign that this is gonna be an expensive place. What made this a "want to go" place was, aside from being a burger joint and me being a burger aficionado, the fact that they serve eat all you can fries—another food item I can practically fill my belly with. Anyway, another branch opened up at Tomas Morato just recently. For some reason, Beloved and I took earlier tonight the opportunity to try it out.

As expected, their menu is filled with burgers. I was also overjoyed with the fact that all their burger items come with said all you can eat fries. They boast that their patties were 1/3 pound ones, and they do have quite a few selections varying in different toppings. The downside is their cheapest burger and fries combo is a little less than 300 Php. That was expected by me, anyway. After a hard time deciding, I just went for their Rocket Single (345 Php), and Beloved had their #12 (335 Php). Our drinks cost a whopping 110 Php each for Lemonade and Iced Tea. They're refillable, though. My father once said to me that this place has the best shakes and malts, but seeing as they're priced almost as expensively as our food, we decided to pass on that.


Octoboy (Tomas Morato)

Beloved and I had dinner at Octoboy last night. This is a relatively new Japanese restaurant in Tomas Morato that specializes in okonomiyaki or Japanese pancake/omelette with random stuff on it. It is found at the second floor of the newly-renovated place where Grilled Tomato is. Beloved heard from a friend that it's pretty good here. Also, Beloved thought that their mascot is cute, so we took the opportunity to try it out.

We discover that Octoboy was in a dry run, but it didn't bother us unlike the time Bubble Tea was since we didn't have a loyalty card for this resto—not that they offer any in my knowledge. Also, while their okonomiyaki pretty much defines their menu, they still have the usual Japanese staples such as donburi and sushi. Because we wanted to know if this place can be considered to fill our cravings of raw fish, we ordered their Salmon Sashimi (180 Php). Of course, we ordered their okonomiyaki. After a hard time choosing, we went for their cheapest and probably most authentic one: their Octopus Okonomiyaki (285 Php). Finally, thinking we needed some sort of starch to go with the pancake, we decided to also order their Chicken Yakiudon (355 Php). Our drinks were a couple of cans of soda charged double its worth that it's not worth mentioning and would probably skip the next time.


I was pretty disappointed in the amount of Salmon Sashimi they gave us—just six not-so-thick slices from the fillet. I'll admit that they're pretty fresh and has that creamy, melt-in-your mouth texture that I crave for in sashimi.


Their Chicken Yakiudon arrived in a sizzling plate. Don't be fooled by the utensils—those are used for serving. So, yes, it's a pretty damn big plate, good for maybe two to three. The chicken was superb. It had a strong smoky flavor and tender meat coated in a crispy exterior. The noodles were pretty good as well. They had a very mild sour and very mild sweet flavor in every noodle. My only complaint with this dish was the slab of red ginger, certainly not my kind of palate cleanser and this dish certainly didn't need any.


Thursday, October 7, 2010

Frostbite (SM North EDSA)

When Inggo asked me what I want as my reward for passing my thesis, I answered "ice cream". So we looked for an ice cream shop at SM North Sky Garden yesterday, after dinner at Koryo. We settled for Frostbite because I was too tired to walk. Frostbite uses the brand "Fruits in Icecream" for their creations. They have Coffee Bun with Icecream, bibingka, waffles and the like. I chose their Caramelo bowl for 90 Php.


Koryo (SM North EDSA)

Beloved and I had dinner at Koryo last night. This is a newly-opened Korean barbecue resto-bar at SM North EDSA's Sky Garden that kept handing out free garlic potatoes in front of their joint. The transparent glass let us see the flames from their grill, which made it quite appealing. However, the fact that this is Korean=kimchi makes me have second doubts. I cast these doubts aside and hoped that their flavors would be on the sweeter half of Korean food, rather than the spicy side.

The way of ordering here is similar to school canteens or cafeterias—you choose your meal and pick the side dishes visibly kept on warming trays. The meal choices, as expected, consists mostly of barbecued meat. However, there were also a few selections of udon soups. I ordered for myself their Beef and Chicken Barbecue Combo (195 Php). My order comes with a couple of scoops of seasoned rice and a couple of side dishes, and I picked their Fish Cakes and Garlic Potatoes. Beloved ordered their Seafood U-don (225 Php)—yes, it really had a hyphen in its name. Our drinks were large non-refillable Iced Tea for beloved and Mango Juice for me (55 Php each), although they did have quite generous servings.


Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Marina (Timog)

Beloved and I had breakfast at Marina yesterday. Marina is a seafood bar and grill, which makes it pretty ironic that we went here for breakfast. I haven't personally tried said bar and grill portion of the place, but I saw a tempting advertisement at Timog boasting a 120 Php breakfast buffet promo at said branch. Still, I thought it was pretty doubtful since I knew Marina was a seafood grill, and I thought they would serve refurbished leftovers from the night before. However, I cannot deny that 120 Php is pretty much cheaper than any other available breakfast place that can actually make us full, so we decided to take advantage of it.

It probably needs no introduction, but we dug straight in. It was actually only 119 Php for the buffet and we also had the option to add 25 Php for free-flowing coffee, which we also partook of.


Monday, October 4, 2010

Miguelito's Fried Ice Cream (SM North EDSA)

While wandering around SM North EDSA's annex after dinner at Persia Grill, me and my friends passed by an interesting stall at the 5th floor. The stall was called Miguelito's Fried Ice Cream. The thought of "fried ice cream" wasn't really weird for me, because I've had deep-fried ice cream before—ice cream wrapped in batter then deep fried. However, I soon learn that this was no deep-fried ice cream—this really was "fried" ice cream, and the thought made me very interested. Upon learning how cheap it was, we decided to try it out.

There were plenty of flavors to choose from—practically anything you can find from the peddled dirty ice cream and some of the common ones you get from Selecta or Nestlé, such as double dutch and black forest. The main difference is they come in powdered form. The server blends it with water and then "cooks" it on a cold pan, spreading it out onto a large, thin pancake shape. The mixture freezes and then scraped into rolls of ice cream. You then get a choice of syrup and one topping for the 25 Php cup, again, with plenty of choices to choose from. I had a cheese-flavored one with caramel syrup and rice crispies.


Persia Grill (SM North EDSA)

My friends and I celebrated one of our companion's birthday at Persia Grill on SM North EDSA's Sky Garden a couple of nights ago. I guess it's pretty obvious that this place specializes in Persian food, such as kebabs and the likes. What made us decide to go here was a promo involving beer, bongs, and food. And, yes, I did say bong, as in the one you smoke weed in. Except Persia Grill's bong doesn't have weed in it, just the water and the smoke.

Anyway, we ordered for our group the said promo which includes, as I've said, 6 bottles of beer, a bong called Shisha, and Nachos for 499 Php. We also ordered individual meals for ourselves. Weirdly named rice meals dominate the menu, and the rice they use are long grained ones. Because I was quite interested in said rice, I had for myself an order of their Lamb Biryani for 295 Php. My friends ordered kebabs, which is relatively affordable at only 199 Php.