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Monday, March 28, 2011

Hapadog (SM North EDSA)

Last Saturday, Beloved and I discovered that The Great British Take Out is no longer at its usual spot in SM North EDSA's Sky Garden. A quaint hot dog place took its place. It was called Hapadog, and they specialize in dogs—not the animal, but the sausage sandwich. Apparently, their hotdogs were Japanese of some sort as the store itself had the tagline "original Japanese-style hotdogs". Because the tables were in the open, we curiously watched as a customer ordered something that required lighter lighting. Thus, we opted to try it out.

The menu presented us with a catalogue of hotdogs. We were quite shocked at the prices; their cheapest hotdog, the Hapadog, was priced at 155 Php for an entire dog. You can order half a dog for 5 Php less than half a price. I didn't opt to do so because it was my first meal for the day. Instead, I ordered that in full. Beloved ordered their Californippon priced at 175 Php. Finally, we also got their Yoko Ono Temple, one of their drinks, at 65 Php, hoping it was the thing that required lighting their previous customer had.


Thursday, March 24, 2011

The Real Thing Diner (Tomas Morato)

A couple of days ago, Beloved and I had lunch at The Real Thing Diner. This resto is perhaps one of the newer ones in Il Terrazzo, which you've probably read us visit a couple of times for Omakase. Beloved read about this place having mixed reviews, but one thing's clear: they serve some pretty unique stuff, to foreshadow everything. A hint, perhaps, is this resto is inspired by Coca-Cola.

When we arrived, we were the only ones there. Funny, I thought, since the place received quite a lot of press in the newspapers and blogs. Maybe nobody reads them anymore? Anyway, we sat down in the Coca-Cola colored chairs and tables in the Coca-Cola themed room filled with Coca-Cola paraphernalia with a television set playing a seemingly endless Coca-Cola commercials from all around the world. Perhaps the only thing not Coca-Cola in the place was the music.

And the food? Mostly Coca-Cola product infused, of course. Another reason we wanted to try the place out. To play it safe, I had their Coca-Cola BBQ Burger (249 Php), because Coca-Cola sounds safe in a barbecue sauce. This comes with my choice of potato wedges and criss-cut fries. I chose the latter. Beloved had something a bit more daring, Eight O'Clock Apple Green Tea Dory (249 Php). This one comes with a side of veggies and another side of her choice. She had their mashed potatoes. Because we didn't want to waste the opportunity, and because Beloved didn't have dinner the night before and this was our first meal of the day, we also asked for their Coca-Cola Seafood Jambalaya (229 Php). No sides this time. Our drinks probably don't deserve any particular mention, but I do like to share that they serve Coca-Cola products mixed with coffee, milk, or eggnog.


Tuesday, March 22, 2011

'wich kraft (Magiting Street, near Maginhawa Street)

If you see the picture below, you might get spoiled, and I assume you're already spoiled because you're most likely to look at the picture if you didn't after I mentioned that. So, no, I didn't go back to Twistix, but I did find another place that serves these deep-fried potato spirals on a stick. Anyway, while going home yesterday, I passed by Magiting Street at UP Teacher's Village on the way to Maginhawa. At a somewhat hidden corner beside I Love Froyo, I saw it—a poster of the said genius of a snack. 'wich kraft, which specializes in sliders and schubligs, apparently also serves this deep-fried potato spiral thingies.

Unlike Twistix, which I assume name their product the same as their... uh... name, 'wich kraft conveniently names their deep-fried potato spirals on a stick Potatwist. I thought it was a pretty playful name, and because it's pretty affordable—50 Php for their large, I decided to try it out.

As said, their largest is at 50 Php. They do have small and medium sizes at 30 and 40 Php respectively. Similar to Twistix, they also have some flavors to choose from—cheese, barbecue, sour cream. I decided to forgo the flavorings and just have salt with mine.


Sunday, March 6, 2011

Twistix (UST)

So, to continue my affordable-foodstuffs-that-deserve-fame-or-notoriety promise, I present another sub-100 Php review. Although affordable, I'm not really certain it's worth it, but I'll get to that later. Anyway, I heard from a friend who lives in Cebu that a certain snack item exists here in Manila that he'd want to try out when he visits here. Ironically, I have never heard of said snack item, but when I saw its picture, I immediately asked all my friends if they know where to get it. A friend said that they are sold at Robinsons Galleria, but then Beloved finds out that UST also has these things. Because I had little reason to go to Galleria, I decided to try out the said snack item with Beloved at UST.

I'm not sure if this place has a monopoly of this, which I doubt, but it (the place) was called Twistix. It's a humble stall located deep within UST's carpark complex's ground floor. So what is this said snack item? I'm not sure what it's called, to be honest, but I called it "potato spiral thingy", due to the picture friend from Cebu showed me. For convenience, I'll call it Deep-Fried Potato Spiral on a Stick in this review.

Twistix serves this snack in three sizes. The smallest is 50 Php and the largest 70 Php, with another size in between. They boast that it's 100% natural potato, and you actually do get to witness it making. Because it's a long journey for me, me and Beloved ordered the large one to share with.