Hot Star Large Fried Chicken (near Katipunan)

Beloved and I had afterbrunch, or perhaps more of a brinner (dinner as breakfast, coined by me), at Hot Star's somewhat newly-opened Katipunan Branch. It's not actually at Katipunan itself, but on one of the side roads, F. dela Rosa to be precise. From the title, you can probably assume what it serves: Large Fried Chicken.

Now, I'm not virgin to this place. Our office had lunch here the day before, and I've seen how Large their Fried Chicken was. I didn't order their chicken and rice combo, however, and instead opted for their chicken sandwich. While hefty, it wasn't as huge as the chicken that came with their rice meals.

Anyway, they offer four kinds of "Large Fried" meals, named simply "HS" followed by a number. Beloved ordered their HS1 which was their Original Fried Chicken for 110 Php. To this she added 35 Php for rice and drinks and additional 10 Php to upsize said drink. I ordered their HS4 which was their Large Crispy Fish, also for 110 Php. Instead of adding rice and drinks to mine, I also ordered their French Fries (60 Php) and had their Combination Ice Crush (45 Php) for drinks.

Wee Nam Kee (Trinoma)

Beloved and I had dinner at Wee Nam Kee. This Singaporean-Chinese restaurant opened its doors at the topmost floor of Trinoma. Most Singaporean places we've been to specializes in Hainanese Chicken Rice. This place offers similar specialty as well as one dish I've wanted to try since learning about it. After learning the prices were fair, we took our seats.

The menu was actually not as varied as most Chinese places we've been to. Most of their menu is dedicated to the said Hainanese Chicken Rice dish. In fact, there were two kinds of said dish: one yellow and other white. According to the waiter, the yellow one used imported chicken from Vietnam raised specifically for this dish. As such, it's priced at a premium. We decided to get that—their Yellow Chicken (388 Php). Beloved also ordered their Chicken Rice (40 Php). As for the dish I mentioned earlier that I wanted to try, if you've been reading my blog, you know that a couple of blogs ago, I was quite interested in the Cereal Prawn (395 Php) dish from Wangfu. Since this place offered that, I ordered it. I also ordered their Chicken Noodle Soup (215 Php), because it looked nice in the menu and I didn't want to eat rice.

Manang's Chicken (Tomas Morato)

Beloved and I ate at Manang's Chicken. Although they dub themselves "Ang Bagong Fried Chicken ng Pinoy", they basically use a smiliar recipe as Bonchon Chicken's or Chicken Charlie's, which is the Korean Soy Fried Chicken. I actually enjoy this style of cooking, but they usually lack in the amount of meat for what you pay. I've heard of reverse from this place, where there's plenty of meat to eat, but I've also heard some negative reviews from friends, claiming the chicken meat itself tasting poor and old. Last Saturday, out of whim, we finally get to try it out.

I finally understood why some of my friends thought the chicken meat itself was poor—they deep fry the chicken twice. This would probably make the chicken less tender and have that "old" texture. Knowing that, I decided to order the part which has more skin over meat—the wings. I ordered their 6 Pieces Wings Meal (199 Php). The chicken can have original, mildly spicy, and extra spicy coating. I asked them to give me at least one of each. Beloved, although she claimed she was craving for chicken, found another item in their menu that she fancied more, so she ordered their Sesame Beef Rice (122 Php). Both our orders included rice and drinks, but I also ordered their Small Barkada Bucket of Chips (170 Php), which came with four dips. Since they only had three choices, I asked for at least one of each.

Peri-Peri (SM North EDSA)

Me, Beloved, and friends celebrated a Holiday's party last Saturday. We met up at SM North EDSA and decided to have dinner at Peri-Peri. This is among the original food places that opened up when the new Annex building re-opened. Beloved and I never had the opportunity to try out this Portugese grilled chicken restaurant, but our friends did. Garnering no negative reviews, and with the fact that they offer unlimited soup and drinks for 49 Php, there was little hesitation from me.

As I mentioned, this place serves grilled chicken. Apparently, "Peri-Peri" is the sauce they use to make this chicken. According to the menu, most of their stuff has some spiciness in it, but you can ask your chicken to be grilled mildly spicy, hot and spicy, or lemon garlicky. I concluded that the best value offerings are the 235 Php "Everyday Platters", so I got their Everyday Platter B. Beloved got their Everyday Platter D. We also asked for the unlimited soup and drink add-on. Oh, and we also got a couple of appetizers: their Mozzarella Sticks (155 Php) and Shrimp Diablo (168 Php).

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.

Sentosa (Tomas Morato)

Beloved and I had dinner at Sentosa last night. This Singaporean-Chinese restaurant is among the newer ones in Tomas Morato, albeit this one has been here awhile. Still, I think it's not yet been a year since its opening. Anyway, what kept us from eating here are a couple of things: first, we don't know what to expect from a Singaporean restaurant, this being the first one we've to try; and, second, their windows consist of different fish tanks where they keep their fresh seafood, and we have no idea how many people are eating inside without taking a peek at the door to find out if people actually eat here. For some unknown reason, we did finally eat here last night, and what follows is the experience.

I was sort of pleased to find out we weren't the only customers there. And when we did go in, many other tables followed suit. As expected, their dishes consists of many Chinese and Southeast Asian food, ranging from the Thai, Malay, Lao, and a couple of pure Singaporean dishes. To be honest, aside from Thai food, I have little knowledge and experience of other Southeast Asian cuisine, which might sound weird coming from a Southeast Asian blogger. Their prices are a bit higher than the usual Chinese restaurants I've been to, but only by a nudge.

Since we wanted to try out "real" Singaporean food, we got a couple of what we know, or at least heard, of. Beloved ordered their Singaporean Laksa Noodle Soup (230 Php) and I got their Hainanese Chicken Rice (220 Php). We also got a couple of dimsum: Crystal Prawn Hakao (95 Php) and Siao Long Pao (125 Php). Finally, our drinks consisted of Thai Iced Tea (90 Php) for me and Chrysanthemum Iced Tea (85 Php) for Beloved, the latter being bottomless. We wait for our orders with complementary peanuts.

BonChon Chicken (Regis Center, Katipunan)

Me and family had dinner at BonChon Chicken last night. I've only recently heard of this place, which apparently recently also sprung up everywhere for some reason. All of my loved ones who have tried this place say that it's fantastic. Mom had heard that their chicken is addictive, and they claim to be the best chicken in some parts of America. However, from what I've heard, this place is apparently a Korean fried chicken place. A pretty accessible one opened up in a somewhat newly-opened building at Katipunan Ave., and that was where we ate.

It was a fast food-style of ordering, with two counters and a couple of screens showing their menu. Their chicken come in bulks of different pieces, with the thighs, legs, and chops at a same price-per-piece and the wings at a cheaper one. They can also be mixed-and-matched. I do not recall the exact prices, though, since we got their set meals. Each comes with two of the larger cuts or three of the wings plus rice and drink. Also, you have a choice of spicy or sweet style of cooking. Some of their side dishes confirm the Korean side of things. They have Chapchae, Korean stir-fried noodles; Bulgogi, sweet barbecued beef, in burrito or shawarma form; and Kimchi, that extremely spicy Korean staple, in salad form. While they do have non-Korean exclusive sides, such as Fries and Calamari, we were about to find out that this was indeed a Korean fried chicken place.

Our orders were their BonChon Chicken meals. Mine were two chops for 145 Php, my brother got two thighs for 145 Php, and mom had three wings for 135 Php. We had half of them sweet and the other half spicy. We also got a couple of their sides: Calamares for 125 Php and Chapchae for 75 Php. For the prices, I thought they were pretty affordable...

Kenny Rogers Roasters (SM North EDSA)

Beloved and I had early dinner at Kenny Rogers a couple of days ago at SM North EDSA. You know, I'm pretty torn about writing this one. For one, Kenny Rogers is borderline fast food, and I don't really review fast food places simply because I wouldn't want to bore people writing countless entries about McDonald's. Unless it's an obscure place nobody knows about and I feel that everyone should, I draw the line there. Second, and more importantly, I believe everyone knows this place and I bet everyone has tried it at least once. I usually write about the more unknown places I don't see advertised on the tubes or paper. It was beloved that swayed me into writing this, as our particular stay here was a somewhat interesting one and that the number of times she'd been here is less than half the number of fingers on one of her hands—and both her hands have a full set of five. So with that, I shall continue.

Kenny Rogers specialize in, obviously, roasted stuff. Once, they were known only for their roast chicken and baby back ribs, but through the years they've started diversifying their menu. They boast that their food is healthier than usual since they're all roasted or grilled. What made our particular stay here interesting was our choices. Beloved ordered for herself their Low Calorie Meal (185 Php) and I got their High Fiber Meal (185 Php). We also grabbed a half-dozen box of their Corn Muffins (70 Php).