Hanayo (Scout Lozano near Tomas Morato)

Beloved and I had dinner at Hanayo. It's actually the second time we've been here, but we didn't manage to take photos the first time, which happened early last year. Found just a skip away from Tomas Morato, this Korean grill is similar to the likes of Don-Day, one of the food places I exclaim highly due to the budget buffet they offer. This isn't as inexpensive as Don-Day, however. When we first went, the buffet, which includes on-your-table grilling, only costed a bit more than 500 Php.

When we went, the weekend price costs 630 Php per head. I guess it's to be expected due to inflation. Nevertheless, the offerings remained the same. We sat down on a table and immediately went to the buffet table.

Nanbantei (Bonifacio High Street)

Beloved and I had dinner at Nanbantei. This Japanese restaurant is located at Bonifacio High Street, a place we rarely go to. According to Beloved, this is not the only branch of this place, and her uncle frequents the same restaurant's Greenbelt branch, which is another place we rarely go to. This place specializes in yakiniku, or Japanese barbecue. What differs from the norm is that this place isn't a buffet like YakiMIX or Sambo Kojin, nor is it a barbecue place where you grill stuff on your table. Instead, it's just your typical sit-down restaurant specializing in yakiniku.

Most of their menu consists of these yakiniku offerings, basically meat or veggies on stick, grilled Japanese-style, each having two pieces per order. However, they also serve platters which are collections of their yakiniku offerings for a cheaper overall cost. We ordered their Best Sellers Platter (985 Php). We also ordered two different kinds of their rice offerings. Beloved got their Yakimeshi or Japanese Fried Rice (110 Php) and I got their Shiitake Rice (100 Php) because it sounded interesting. Because they also had a promo on their cocktails, taking 50% off the price, we got those as our drinks: Japanese Mojito (175 Php normally) for me and Hibiscus Mojito (150 Php normally) for Beloved.

Woorijib (Kalayaan Avenue)

Beloved and I had dinner at Woorijib a couple of days ago. I was badly craving for pork belly, and since samgyupsal seems to be the most cost-efficient way to consume as much pork belly as I can, we considered going to Don-Day. I did a quick Google search for samgyupsal and Quezon City, and this place was among the first to pop up, receiving quite favorable reviews. It was located at Kalayaan Avenue, just a couple of jeepney rides away from home. Because I felt that Don-Day would be better for when there's more than the two of us, I urged Beloved that we try this place out instead.

Unlike Don-Day which is essentially a Korean buffet specializing in samgyupsal, Woorijib is a full-fledged Korean restaurant. However, all the tables seem to be ordering either their pork belly samgyupsal or beef version of it, since there is free endless side dishes, veggies, and soup. Beloved was leaning to the beef version, but since they probably wouldn't allow mixing up the two (or would make us pay for both for each of us), I convinced her to that: their Samgyupsal (299 Php). Beloved also ordered their Kimbap (200 Php), since, as I've mentioned, this place isn't really a Korean buffet. I felt that this was unneeded, seeing the grand feast the other tables were having, but I let Beloved have her order since she did agree to the pork.

Rub (Scout Rallos, near Tomas Morato)

Me, Beloved, and Hannah ate at Rub a couple of nights ago. This small restaurant is located beside H Cuisine, located beside Beloved and Hannah's new favorite place near Tomas Morato: Serenitea. Apparently, this place has been here for quite a while, but we never knew about it until recently because it's not found at Tomas Morato itself, rather at one of the inner streets, specifically Scout Rallos. Spoiling everything, this place specializes in barbecue, specifically barbecued ribs. Beloved has been wanting to eat ribs for quite a while, so this provided an opportunity. We were a bit surprised to find out that the place was full, and we had to wait two tables to be served before we were let in.

As I've mentioned, this place is all about barbecued ribs. They serve singles, for two, or for four, at incrementing prices and side dishes. We ordered their Family Brunch (685 Php) rib platter, consisting of said ribs good for four people plus three different side dishes. There were nine different sides, and we chose their Fresh Potato Fries, Garlic Spinach and Mushrooms, and Roasted Garlic Mashed Potato. Since this didn't include drinks, we also got a pitcher of their Iced Tea (110 Php).

Tempura Japanese Grill - UnlimEATed Grill (Tomas Morato)

Beloved and I had dinner at Tempura Japanese Grill a few days ago. Yeah, this post makes this place the most reviewed place on this blog. However, this is good reason, though. There have been drastic changes to the place. They now offer both a Japanese buffet, which I believe comes in a per-order basis on selected dishes, and also a unlimited grilling promo, separate from the buffet. Since, after all this time, we've yet to try the "Grill" portion of the place, we, well, I decided to take the opportunity to try it out.

They named their grilling promo "UnlimEATed" (499 Php per person), which comes with both unlimited drinks and rice. Similar to other yakiniku buffets, their choices range from pork, beef, stuff wrapped in beef, seafood, and vegetables. Unlike the conventional, though, where the raw food is placed at a buffet table for you to grab what you want, theirs come in a per-order basis. Yes, you can order as much as you want, but this presents a problem I found in Zensho—you wouldn't be able to gauge your appetite. Anyway, they ask you to choose from one of their sampler platters: all meat, all seafood, and combination; and then choose from their single orders. Since the combination platter essentially comes with everything they offer save the veggies, I chose that.

Beloved didn't join me. Instead, she ordered her usual Tempura Udon (210 Php) and their Salmon Sashimi (195 Php). We won't bother reviewing the udon, since she's been ordering that ever since and it hasn't changed much save for the slight price increase.