Chicken Charlie (Katipunan)

Beloved and I had dinner, or breakfast in my case, at Chicken Charlie. This fried chicken place is often compared to BonChon Chicken; its followers say that this is the original one, the first incarnation a long time ago at Banawe. I apologize beforehand for comparing Chicken Charlie to BonChon throughout this review, but since they are quite similar, it cannot be helped. Anyway, I haven't been to this place before, but from what I've heard, the chicken here is pretty good.

Its Katipunan branch is located at the second floor of the Oracle Building, making it slightly inaccessible compared to other food places on the street. I'm hoping this is the reason why when we went in, only one table other than us is occupied. Similar to Bonchon Chicken, they serve chicken bundles by the cuts. However, this place only serves drumsticks and wings. Although they also serve set meals, such as two drumsticks, rice, and drink, my quick math told me that ordering the bundles would be better. So we ordered their 4 Pieces Drumsticks + 4 Pieces Wings Combo (315 Php). Their chicken comes in either Soy Garlic or Hot Sweet sauces. We took half of each. We also got their Fries (39 Php) and Beloved got a cup of rice for 17 Php.

Stackers (Eastwood)

Beloved and I had dinner at Stackers last night. This burger cafe is found at the edge of Eastwood City Walk, right across the newer Eastwood Mall. Coincidentally, this burger cafe is also found right across Johnny Rockets. However, I always find Stackers to be almost always full compared to its competition. Last night, we get to find out why.

As a burger place, it doesn't really diverse much aside from them using Australian beef. The name "Stackers" apparently comes from you being able to stack your patties, up to three. This really isn't something new. The usual fries are also present, and there are also different sides such as chicken and fish, also not really that unusual to find. Still, I've heard nothing but praises from this place. Anyway, I didn't order one of their "Stackers". Instead, I got their Jack Burger (228 Php). Beloved got their Fisher's Burger (148 Php). We also got a couple of orders of their Crispy Chips (45 Php each). And for our drinks, I ordered their Vanilla Milkshake (95 Php) and Beloved got their Auss'm Vanilla (135 Php).

Magnum Ice Cream

Jumping the Bandwagon, I finally decided to write about the latest craze: Selecta/Unilever's freshly-imported Magnum Ice Cream. A few disclaimers: I am not a dessert lover. I do, however, fancy vanilla-flavored ice cream over other flavors. I've been reserving this post until I manage to taste all three varieties, and since I got treated again today, I can finally surely say that this ~60 Php Ice cream bar is simply over-hyped.

I first tasted the Chocolate Truffle variety early this month out of my own pocket at 55 Php from 7-11. It was claimed to be the best tasting of the lot. My first impression was from the size, or lack thereof, of the thing. It was... not as big as I wanted, comparable to a pinipig bar only costing five-fold. I let that stride because it's supposed to have a taste premium for its supposedly unique flavor. Sadly, it also failed in that aspect. This is something I've tasted before, and something I've had better of. I would've preferred my chocolate dark and bitter. I got essentially the opposite: sweet and milky. While I do admit that it tastes good, it just doesn't deliver a unique taste for such a costly ice cream bar. Hint: this tastes oddly similar to the plain chocolate ice cream of a certain ice cream brand with "Bunny" in its name.

Mr. Miyagi (Timog)

Beloved and I had dinner at Mr. Miyagi last night. Similar to YakiMIX and Sambo Kojin, this relatively new yakiniku place is an eat-all-you-can smokeless grill and buffet. The place opened up at Timog Ave. late last year. Since they are priced similarly to their competition, we decided to try it out to see how they differ.

As I've mentioned, they are priced similarly to YakiMIX and Sambo Kojin at 599 Php for their Eat-All-You-Can Smokeless Grill and Buffet for a weekday dinner. For weekends and holidays, it is priced at 649 Php and for weekday lunch, it is priced at 499 Php, making the latter the best deal. We also opted to pay an additonal 75 Php each for bottomless drinks—green iced tea for me and plain iced tea for Beloved. After sitting down, we immediately went to their buffet with me having my Yakiniku Buffet Strategy™ in mind to maximize belly space at the best possible pace.

Merry Moo (Eastwood)

After our dinner at Ramen Bar, we found ourselves strolling around Eastwood Mall. Since it was a Saturday, the Gourmet Market was open around the walkways. This market is basically a food fair featuring unusual treats. One such treat we found was ice cream made by Merry Moo. According to Beloved, this is one of the best artisan ice cream places in the Metro.

It didn't really strike me at first, but after seeing one of their flavors, I wanted to try it out. Each cup costs 75 Php, but I thought this price was worth our curiosity. So we did. I ordered a scoop of their Candied Bacon and Beloved had their Sea Salt Caramel.

Ramen Bar (Eastwood)

Beloved and I had dinner at the Ramen Bar last night. Since we're Japanese food lovers, this is a restaurant we didn't want to miss. However, the visit had to wait a while because we had little reason and funds to go to Eastwood. After solving the fund problem, we decided to ignore the lack of reason and just go for it.

The place itself felt very welcoming, especially with the table layout that encourages communal eating. Tables weren't separated per table, but rather by row. Although the separate chairs provided some distance, it's as good as being put in a long table with benches. Another clever thing I noticed is their menu, which doubled as their placemat. Obviously, it's dominated with Ramen, although there are some donburi and Japanese appetizers. Also, I noticed a board near the chef's window which contains some items not listed in said menu-placemat. Anyway, their ramen ranged from 120 Php to the more expensive 380 Php. The waitress explains that the cheaper ones are smaller than the over-200 Php bowls. The toppings and soup base also differed. I got their R.B.S. #01 (380 Php) and Beloved got their Sapporo Miso Ramen (320 Php). We also ordered their Chasyu Boat from the menu board.

Cafe Monaco (Banawe)

Me, Beloved, and Hannah had dinner at Cafe Monaco a couple of days ago. This quaint cafe is located at Banawe corner Retiro, which is a place I don't really have plenty reason to go to. Beloved and Hannah, however, lives nearby which makes this their territory. Anyway, Beloved explains that this place has been here for a long time and has a pretty big following, which I could see from the amount of people at the place wanting to go in but couldn't because all the seats were taken.

Hannah was already inside when we went in, which solved the seating problem for our part. She had already ordered a Nutella Creppe (100 Php), which is part of their selection of crepes filling up an entire page of their menu. Aside from the expected desserts and coffee, the place also specializes in Korean and, recently, according to Beloved, Japanese food and Pinoy silogs. Because Korean was their specialty, I decided to order their noodle dish: Chapchae (130 Php). Beloved also ordered their Bibimbop (140 Php), a Korean rice bowl, and their Kimbop (120 Php), a Korean rice roll.