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Saturday, February 26, 2011

Rodic's (UP Diliman Shopping Center)

So, I promised some affordable places that deserve either fame or notoriety. Here's one of them. Being a UP Student since birth, and being a grandchild of a former UP Diliman employee who lives in the Campus, Rodic's is practically my Thursday diner. I've experienced Rodic's since it still served its signiture silogs (fried rice with egg) on their signiture metal plates when they were still just over 20 Php. If you're a UP Diliman student and haven't eaten here or at least heard of it, you're either a freshman or a liar.

Rodic's haven't changed much. Present day, they still serve said silogs on their metal place at the same two-floor location at UP Diliman's Shopping Center. They still proudly hang the cartoon poster of ancient UP Diliman featuring hallmark landmarks including their place. They still take orders weirdly, shouting over the counter, remembering every order, and serving you on your table. While they've expanded quite a bit, now accepting catering orders, this place stayed almost entirely the same aside from a few staff changes and, of course, their prices. Now, their silogs cost 70 Php per plate. But is the quality the same?

When I was younger, I fancied their Jumbosilog, which is a plate of a lone but huge natural-casing hotdog with the usual fried rice and sunny-side up. Nowadays, I order either their Baconsilog, obviously with bacon, or their Campus-famous Tapsilog, which has their original dried cured beef that many people would agree to be their specialty. Today, I decided to order both.


Friday, February 25, 2011

BluFish (Eastwood)

First off, I apologize for the lack of posts recently. Beloved's been busy with her practicum, and I'm broke. The good news is that Beloved passed her practicum and I'm very happy and proud about that. Also, I've also decided to write about affordable food places that deserve to be written about to compensate for my financial problems. This post won't be one of them, though.

A couple of days ago, me, my mom, and my brother ate at BluFish in the Eastwood Mall. I have no idea what they serve, but I assumed they specialize in fish or seafood. I was correct. I was a bit turned off by the prices, but mom insisted, so we sat down at a table covered with a brown paper.

The brown paper made me think seafood boil, and indeed, they do have that in the menu. The prices, as I've mentioned, weren't as appealing to me as other seafood places I've tried, not that I've been to many seafood-specializing places that I'd crave to dine in again to aside from Gumbo. Also, I found it a bit weird that the server explains they specialize in crab while having "Fish" in its name. Anyway, because mom insisted, we ordered their Paella Valenciana (685 Php), Beer Battered Calamari (295 Php), Brazillian Tenderloin Steak and Lobster (995 Php), and finally their Classic Caesar Salad (365 Php) which we opted not to have either the seared tuna or grilled chicken that supposedly comes with it. It might seem a lot for three people, but we'll most likely manage with my brother with us. And it might also sound expensive all in all, but it's very rarely that we get to eat out.


Friday, February 11, 2011

President Tea House (SM North EDSA)

Beloved and I had an early dinner at the President Tea House in SM North EDSA Annex. I'm not particularly certain why, but I do know I wasn't craving for anything other than french fries. While this place obviously does not serve said delicious deep-fried potato snack, this seemed a safe place for those not craving for anything in particular. Oh, and Beloved sort of wanted dimsum, so....

Being a Tea House, President serves Chinese cuisine. Once we got seated, they gave us a pot of herbal tea with plenty of bitter bits still in the mixture. At least we'd save on beverages, I thought. Not that it's a particularly expensive place. Their prices are what I thought was average for most tea houses. Their dimsums are priced at the 75-100 Php price range, and the rest of their menu seemed to be good for at least two people.

Anyway, Beloved ordered for herself their Braised Beef Mami priced at 140 Php. Because of how it's priced, I expected it to have a similar serving to other noodle houses we've eaten at. I wasn't really feeling soup that day, so I just asked for their Yang Chao Fried Rice (180 Php), which was good for two to three, according to the waiter. The rest of our orders consisted of their dimsum. We picked four—their Hakaw (85 Php), Scallop Dumpling (85 Php), Stuffed Beancurd (75 Php), and Seafood Sotanghon Roll (85 Php). Finally, Beloved also ordered a glass of their Cold Milk Tea (45 Php).