Cafe Via Mare (Tomas Morato)

Beloved and I had an afterbrunch at Cafe Via Mare a few days ago. Beloved noticed that there's a lack of Filipino restos in our blog. That's really not the reason we went here, though. We were deciding on a place to eat at that we haven't written about yet at Tomas Morato. This happens to be one of the places left. We also found out that their prices were not as steep as we originally imagined. Craving for Filipino food wasn't really the reason, but we rarely do. Since we had a lousy time on our previous adventure, we were hoping this place delivers.

I'm not really fond of the stew dishes of Filipino cuisine, which majority of is. I do, however, like the grilled or deep-fried dishes. We got something from both: Inihaw na Liempo (265 Php) for me and Ensaladang Bagnet (175 Php) for us to share. Beloved ordered their Tortang Alimasag (185 Php). She also asked for their Puto Bumbong (65 Php) with Quezo de Bola topping (23 Php). We also ordered some special drinks: Iced Cafe Mocha (95 Php) for Beloved and Calamansi Juice (65 Php) for me.

C2 Classic Cuisine - #Unlicrispypata (Missouri Street, near Greenhills)

Me and a couple of friends partook in C2 Classic Cuisine's Unlimited Crispy Pata promo yesterday. This limited time promo is being offered by the restaurant's Greenhills branch at Missouri street. Since crispy pata is mainly a dish known for causing instant hypertension, myocardial infractions, and cerebrovascular accidents, sometimes leading to death, I really wanted to try it out.

The mechanics were simple, you pay 299 Php for Unlimited Crispy Pata. If you have leftovers, you pay double. The usual rules such as no sharing applies. What we were curious about was how this will be delivered, since eating an entire deep fried pig's leg felt like a surmountable task in itself.

Rufo's Famous Tapa (Eastwood)

Beloved and I ate at Rufo's Famous Tapa a week ago. We were supposed to go to The Marketplace, pending a follow-up visit before we review it, only to find out that it was temporarily unavailable. Also, this was delayed because Diablo III. Anyway, since this was among the only choices at One in the morning, we decided to go ahead and try it out.

The place specializes in famous Filipino 'silogs and other strange but familiar Filipino dishes. Their main specialty is their tapa, or cured beef, which is probably obvious from the name. Despite being called famous, I have actually never heard of this place before, and I decided to try out the so-called Rufo's Famous Tapa (108 Php). Beloved had their Corned Beef Ala Rufos (75 Php) and we also ordered their Mushroom Adobo (104 Php). Finally, Beloved eyed one of their desserts and ordered it too: their Black Sambo (35 Php).

Pino (Malingap Street, near Maginhawa Street)

Beloved and I finally got the chance to eat at Pino a couple of nights ago. I say finally because this place is pretty close from home, once located at Maginhawa, then they moved to a street nearby, and we've been wanting to try the place out for years. This somewhat Filipino cuisine place apparently also owns BRGR: The Burger Project, so we really were expecting much from it. We've also heard praises of their bagnet, so I was making sure to order that.

True enough, the place was packed. Luckily, they had tables outside to accommodate us. They provided us with menus both from their main restaurant and their vegetarian restaurant, Pipino. The menu was filled with Filipino delicacies, some with a sort of Asian twist. As planned, we ordered their Kare Kareng Bagnet (245 Php), which is basically twice deep-fried pork belly in peanut sauce, usually prepared using oxtail or beef. Beloved ordered for herself their Kalderetang Lengua (195 Php), which is basically beef tongue in a tomato-liver sauce, usually prepared using goat meat. We also ordered their Wasabi Onion Rings (145 Php) from their main menu and, finally, their Mushroom Salpicao (80 Php) from their vegetarian menu.

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.