The Sweet Spot (Maginhawa Street)

Beloved and I had dinner at The Sweet Spot a couple of weeks ago. This place is one of the first to lease a newly-opened building near the corner where the police station of UP Teacher's village was. I've passed by this place a couple of times before, and noticed that they didn't really offer only sweet stuff, as anyone sane would assume from the name of the place. In fact, I thought one of their items was interesting. Anyway, because we were feeling adventurous, Beloved and I went.

Their menu was quite small, and we learn that this was more of a bistro or cafe than a full-fledged restaurant. Their dishes have a nice ring to their names and they have a wide array of coffee- or tea-based drinks. I ordered their Honey and Whiskey Glazed Pork Belly (285 Php). Beloved got the menu item that I thought was interesting—their Asahi Fish and Wasabi Chips (220 Php). We also ordered their Truffled Cream of Mushroom Soup (90 Php). For our drinks, I settled for their Matcha Green Tea Mint (190 Php) and Beloved asked for their Iced Mocha (120 Php). Note that we didn't get our receipt until later.

π Breakfast and Pies (Malingap Street, near Maginhawa Street)

Beloved and I had dinner a couple of times this past week at π Breakfast and Pies. This is a new place found at Malingap Street, at UP Teacher's Village. This place is located beside Pino and Pipino. In fact, I believe this place is owned by the owners of the aforementioned place, as well as BRGR: The Burger Project. Since we've been to these places and had pleasant experiences, we had quite high expectations of the place, even if it has just opened up, I believe just a week ago.

It's pretty obvious what their specialty is: Breakfast and Pies. The first time we went, their Menu didn't have permanent prices, all just penciled on. However, it was pretty much complete with what you expect from breakfast—pancakes, waffles, corned beef, bacon, et cetera. They, of course, also have a big enough selection of pies. Since both Beloved and I enjoy waffles the most for breakfast, we ordered their Gourmet Waffle Chicken and Waffles (205 Php 165 Php). In addition, we also ordered their Steak and Eggs (625 Php 595 Php). Now, it's usually Beloved who gets more excited with the drinks. This time around, however, I noticed a peculiar drink in their menu. I immediately ordered that, their Cereal Milk (75 Php 125 Php). Beloved settled for their Celery Cranberry Juice (75 Php). Finally, we also tried their Banana Cream Pie (105 Php), just so we can experience the full... uh... experience.

Snack Shack (V. Luna Extension, near Maginhawa Street)

Beloved and I had brunch at Snack Shack. I've been to this place many times before, and have been wanting to visit it with Beloved because she holds the camera. Now, I'll try not to spoil much before we get to the pics, but I'm quite excited writing about this one.

The place is literally a shack. Located at V. Luna Extension, close to Savemore Supermarket, it's a very small place where only a maximum of four people can be accommodated with the bar table. However, the place is really made for take-outs and stand-ins (and perhaps deliveries). As for the "snack" part, there's actually just four (then, when we visited now there's five) items on their menu composed of two categories: burgers and sausages, both in buns. There are two kinds of burgers, their Quarter-Pounder with Cheese (70 Php) and Half-Pounder with Double Cheese (135 Php). Yep, you read that right—that's a quarter pound burger for less than 100 Php; by far the best deal pound-by-pound of all the burger places we've been to. As for their sausages, there's the mildly spiced Bockwurst with Cheese (90 Php) and the curry-spiced Currywurst (90 Php). Now, they have the spicy Hungarian (90 Php).

You can customize your burger with different add-ons for 20 Php each: Jalapeño peppers, Blue cheese, Cream cheese, Garlic ranch, Garlic chips, and Barbecue sauce. You can also add Extra cheese for 15 Php. Beloved had their Half-Pounder with Double Cheese with Blue Cheese add-on (155 Php total) and I had, as I have always had since I first visited, their no-frills attached Half-Pounder with Double Cheese (135 Php). I had their Bockwurst before, so this time, I also ordered their Currywurst (90 Php) just to try it out.

Crazy Katsu (Maginhawa Street)

Beloved and I had afterbrunch at Crazy Katsu some days ago. This one's a bit overdue, being one of the few restaurants accessible to us located in Maginhawa. Unless you're not familiar with Japanese food, you would probably know by now that this place specializes in the Japanese "katsu" style of cooking. I'm actually quite familiar with the menu, despite not having the chance to eat here before. They basically have all sorts of katsu dishes plus some other Japanese favorites that go well with said dish.Our orders comprised of Chicken Katsu Curry (190 Php) for Beloved, Katsudon (150 Php) for me, a couple of orders of their Miso Soup (30 Php), and an order of their Gyoza (120 Php).

Gayuma ni Maria (V. Luna Extension, near Maginhawa Street)

Beloved and I had dinner at Gayuma ni Maria last night. We've known this place, which is located at the Savemore end of Maginhawa Street, where it meets Anonas and becomes V. Luna, for a while but never had a chance nor reason to visit it. Beloved got to try out one of their cakes called "Better Than Sex" during one of the food fairs we attended. Aside from the name, she didn't really found it special. After looking at the menu through the web, Beloved finally found a reason to go.

The reason for going was basically the names of their dishes. Beloved was giggling hysterically as she read through the online menu. When we got there, through a porch that you occasionally see during Halloween, we found ourselves in a similarly themed dining area. The online menu was a bit outdated, especially when it came to price, but the reason, the silly naming, was still there. Beloved planned to order their version of tom yung goon called "Unrequited Love", but settled for their French Kiss (295 Php), which was a beef tongue dish with mushroom-sauce. I was going to order their "Holding Hands While Walking Pa-Swing Swing Pa" or "H.H.W.W.P.S.S.P." for short, solely because of the name. However, I was recommended to order their I Love You, Cross My Heart (215 Php), instead, and I chose to do so since it looked a bit more satisfying, despite being both chicken dishes. We also ordered their Peek A Boo (145 Php), a pumpkin soup, because all the other appetizers we wanted to try weren't available.

Van Gogh is Bipolar (Maginhawa Street)

Beloved and I had dinner at Van Gogh is Bipolar a couple of nights ago. This, for the lack of better word, strange restaurant is located on Maginhawa Street. The last bit of the previous statement would foreshadow this review. At first, I thought it felt very formal since we had to make a reservation beforehand and the price tag was among the steeper ones we've tried. However, since Beloved has been to this place before, she told me that it wasn't, so, at least, we didn't have to wear something formal, especially since we had to remove our shoes beforehand.

To start off with the strangeness, the dinner was entitled Cuckoo Gastronomique Nights. As for the place itself, there were no signage or anything aside from the "open" sign outside the door. In fact, it resembles more of a unit at an apartment complex on the outside. We were the first guests there, I guess since it was pretty early, and we were greeted by the owner and host of the place, Jethro. After removing our shoes, entering the place itself continues the strangeness of this story. It was more of a home than a restaurant. The ambiance felt homely despite having plenty of eccentric decorations: mismatching furniture from antique to modern, movie posters, mostly nude photography, a collection of strange hats (which guests are encouraged to wear) and aprons (which I wouldn't recommend wearing, but it's up to you), scientific instruments, rugs and drapes, a ceiling lamp made with a parasol, globes, clocks, a corner littered with vandalism made by the visitors, a huge collection of teapots, and other things you would expect (or not expect) from someone who travels and collects stuff around the globe. The soft lighting and choice of music added to the homeliness of the place.

We (I, since Beloved already knew about it) were (was) asked to read the house rules by the door. Apparently, there were no servers, and self-busing is required. What surprised me more is that the place can and will only accommodate twelve people at a time. We were asked where we wanted to stay—either at one of the three small candlelit tables for two at the living room or one big one at the dining room. We chose one at the living room which I later found out to be a converted sewing machine. Then, we were allowed to make ourselves tea using one of the many teapots and your choice of tea leaves depending on your mood. Might I add that they weren't your usual tea leaves—he offered dried leaves from plants you would find outside one's home, such as guava, mango, or guyabano. Now, to order, we were asked to choose between four to eight courses varying in prices. We chose the four-course offering, which Jethro explains really is more of a five-course offering, priced at 777 Php with a choice between either a "Happy" fish-based meal or a "Chill" meat dish as our personalized main course. We had to write it down on paper, ring the bell, wait for the kitchen window to open and give the paper.

Sancho's (Maginhawa Street)

Beloved and I had dinner at Sancho's last night. This Spanish restaurant, according to Beloved, is related to Dulcinea. Although we only had breakfast there, I had a chance to peek at the menu and I was expecting above average prices here. Nevertheless, we were prepared to pay whatever the cost, so we decided to eat here at one of the few places we've yet been to at Maginhawa Street.

Surprisingly, their menu was priced accordingly to cater the main demographic of the area: students. I was expecting their dishes to be above the 200 Php line, but most of them were below that. Since I'm not really much of a Spanish food person, I took a long time choosing what to order. However, I already know what Beloved wanted. Since she is on a mission to try out all the ox tongue dishes from all the restaurants in the Metro, she ordered their Lengua Estofada (185 Php). As for me, since the only Spanish dish I really like was paella, and since it also happened to be in the menu, I ordered their Paella Valenciana (250 Php for the smaller one, good for one to two people). I was warned that it will take 20 minutes to cook, but I didn't mind. Finally, we asked for their Garlic Mushrooms (130 Php) as our hors d'ouvre.

Leona Art Restaurant (UP Teacher's Village, near Maginhawa)

Yesterday, me, Beloved, and friends partook in an all-you-can-eat pizza promo at Leona Art Restaurant. This place located at Teacher's Village is actually a place I've never heard of before until a couple of days ago when a friend linked me a picture of said promo. Since it was a pretty affordable deal, and since we were free at the time of the promo, we decided to try it out.

The art cafe is located near Maginhawa street, at the corner of Matimtiman and Magiting street, just a short walk from the Ministop at Maginahawa. Leona offers the usual cafe food fare, and, of course, a selection of grilled pizzas in ten or fourteen inch variants. Sadly, they don't offer all their pizzas for the promo, which is understandable because of the tag. Anyway, for 199 Php, they will serve up four of their pizzas: Three Cheese, Pepperoni, Onion and Pesto, and Hawaii, for your table to share.

Don-Day (Malingap Street, near Maginhawa Street)

Me, Beloved, and friends celebrated one of our friend's birthday at Don-Day. This Korean barbecue place is located right across Pino, a walks way from Maginhawa Street. We've been wanting to try this since we've heard about it, especially when we learned about its price.

Anyway, the place itself isn't really praiseworthy. It looks like your usual open-air pares place devoid of air conditioning. However, upon entering, you are greeted with a whiteboard menu boasting it's small selection. On top is the Samgupsal Buffet, priced at 299 Php. This consists of a buffet of Korean food fare plus unlimited pork for you to grill at your own table, similar to YakiMIX or, perhaps more appropriately, to Sambo Kojin, only much, much more affordable. They also have the  Don-Day Buffet priced at 199 Php selection which removes the said unlimited pork, and just provides with a buffet of regular Korean food fare.

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.

'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.

BRGR: The Burger Project (Maginhawa Street)

First off, Happy New Year to my readers. Thank you very much for visiting, and I appreciate all current and more future visits. I know me and Beloved aren't really professionals or anything, using only our cellphone cameras to take photos and my lengthy or Beloved's chirpy writing, and we just do this for fun (and maybe some loose change). Still, we appreciate it that you find time to read our reviews, and we promise to take time to do more, and then some.

That said, Beloved and I decided our first nomnom adventure for 2011 will be on BRGR: The Burger Project. This somewhat newly-opened burger joint is located on Maginhawa Street, Teacher's Village. It's a pretty accessible place from where I live, and I've been actually wanting to go here since its opening a few months back. I've heard plenty of praise from friends who've tried it, especially with their unique method of ordering, which I'll explain later. What has taken me aback from trying it out sooner was the budget: I was warned that it's not really a very affordable place. Since Beloved got plenty of ang paos last Christmas and New Years, we finally had the chance to do so last night.

It's a pretty cozy and roomy place for a joint in Maginhawa St., where most of the places are pretty crowded. They have tables both inside and out, and their bright sign and interiors make the place even more inviting. They have a step-by-step process painted on their windows explaining how to make your own BRGR. We went to the counter to try it out for ourselves.

We were given the form above and a pen to fill it up. The first step consists of selecting your choice and quantity of meat; which can be Angus Beef (at most 125 Php per patty), 100% Beef (95 Php each), Chicken (95 Php), or Tofu (75 Php); and from one to three patties. While I was pretty curious of their Tofu burger, I was pretty hungry, so I decided to build mine with double Angus Beef. Beloved had two of their 100% beef patties for hers.

Next step was choosing the bun. The choices are Poppyseed (free of charge), Potato (additional 15 Php), or Oatmeal (additional 15 Php). I just ticked the Poppyseed, and Beloved decided to use the Potato bun.

Step three consists of choosing your cheese. Each costs 35 Php, and can be either Bleu, Mozarella, Graveria, or Cheddar. I assume you can tick more than one cheese, but I just had Mozarella on mine. Beloved put Bleu on hers.

The fourth step had customers picking premium toppings, which costs 25 Php each. These toppings are Bacon, Chili Con Carne, Caramelized Onions, Canadian Bacon, Pepperoni, Onion Rings, and Guacamole, the last one was seasonal. I put Bacon on mine, and Beloved passed on this step.

Next was choosing basic toppings, which cost 20 Php each. They are Mango Salsa, Pineapple Slices, Jalapeño Pepper, Sun Dried Tomatoes, Egg, Sliced Onions, and Sauteed Mixed Mushrooms. This time, it was me that passed on this step while Beloved ticked the box for the Sauteed Mixed Mushrooms. They also offer free toppings, consisting of Lettuce, Tomatoes, and Pickles. I ticked all of them and Beloved had the first two.

Finally, for the burger at least, they have you choose your sauce, costing 15 Php each. Because we already had cheese on ours, we both passed on this step. Anyway, for the curious, the choices were Wasabi Mayonnaise, Pesto, BBQ Sauce, Buffalo Wings Sauce, Teriyaki Sauce, Special BRGR Sauce, Marinara, and Garlic Sauce.

You then have to name your order for a personal touch and you're done! I named mine Ramburger after my name, which, to review, had Double Angus Beef (235 Php), Poppyseed Bun (free), Mozarella Cheese (+35 Php), Bacon (+25 Php), Lettuce (free), Tomatoes (free), and Pickles (free) for a grand total of 295 Php. It was essentially a Double Angus Mozarella Bacon Cheeseburger. As for Beloved, she named hers Blue Tomato, consisting of 100% Beef Patty (95 Php), Potato Bun (+15 Php), Bleu Cheese (+35 Php), Sauteed Mixed Mushrooms (+20 Php), Lettuce (free), and Tomatoes (free) with a total price of 165 Php.

Of course, that's just for the burger. They also have sides, milkshakes, and beverages to go with them. Beloved ordered their Onion Rings (65 Php) and Vanilla Milkshake (145 Php). I asked for their Fries (60 Php).

The Vanilla Milkshake arrived first. To put it simply, it's a tall glass of vanilla ice cream in thick, liquid form topped with whipped cream. Beloved obviously didn't have any complaints.

Our sides arrived next. Their Fries weren't really french fries, but more like potato wedges. The outside was deceivingly tepid. When we bit in, it was piping hot! While it was good, I was pretty disappointed that it wasn't crispy as I expected fries to be.

Their Onion Rings was the better side that night. They were large rings of onions, the largest one can almost fit Beloved's hand. They were crunchy on the outside and the onions themselves were sweetly caramelized.

Friuli Trattoria (Maginhawa Street)

Beloved and I ate at Friuli Trattoria for dinner. Yes, I know I said it'll be a while before our next nomnom adventure. But because Starcraft II's Southeast Asia server lags like hell, it didn't really take plenty of my time. Anyway, Friuli is an Italian joint found in Maginhawa St., one of the closest pizza places from home. It's also our family's restaurant, so I might be a bit biased. I hope you trust that I won't be despite saying that this is my favorite Italian place, as I'll try to back that claim up. I've basically tasted everything on the menu, but recently, they've renovated and added a lot of brewed coffee-based drinks on the menu. It's also been a while since we went here, so we did.

Friuli boasts an affordable menu with some not-so-common varieties of pizza. There's also pasta, which basically comes in two white, two red, and one green varieties. I'm not really big into pasta, and when I do order pasta, I just get the Pesto. But they say they're good as well, especially the Putanesca. I'm digressing, so I'll just say it straight: you go here for the pizza. While we usually order the more affordable ones because of the mantra I follow: pizza is about the crust and not the toppings; we decided to order one of the more premium ones: Spiced Romano (229 Php) because I sort of missed it. Because we're not ordering pasta, we just got their Mozarella Sticks (130 Php) as a side. For our drinks, I had Italian Soda (50 Php) and beloved tried the Iced Caramel (75 Php), one of the newer coffee-based ones. That's it for our meal, and if you add it all up it comes less than 500, which is quite affordable comparing it to our usual food adventures.

Good Burgers (Maginhawa Street)

The first time I saw Good Burgers was near a pancitan restaurant we frequent along C-5. Their tagline "Hot Chix With Big Buns" always caught my attention, but I never did bought from them. The first time I tasted their burgers was when my mom bought them home one day for lunch. The first time I actually went there was with beloved yesterday on the way home from a party at a friend's house.

Anyway, I digress. On to the important stuff: the munchies. Good Burgers. What makes it good? Well, for one, its burgers are only made of either chicken or veggie meat. But is it really good taste-wise?

I only got to take a glance at the menu because of hunger. I believe the prices range from 60 to 120 Php, depending on the size of the burger and the condiments. Both of us chose the "3 Cheese" burger, with beloved having chicken patties and me taking the veggies. It costs 120 Php for the biggest size.