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.

Amici (Tomas Morato)

Beloved and I ate at Amici a couple of times over the past couple of months. The first time was dinner on a whim, looking for what's open. Amici happened to sound satisfying as I was craving pizza that day, and so we went.

For those who don't know, this Italian place serves genuine Italian dishes not limited to pasta and pizza. They also carry risotto, isalata, zuppa, and their own gelato brand among other house specialties, or il favorito dela casa. I wanted to try out their Artichoke and Portobello Flatbread Pizza, but they were out. Instead, we settled for their Truffle Mushroom Pizza (435 Php). Because it felt like it wouldn't satisfy the two of us, we also got their Mediterranean Blue Cheese and Walnut Salad (205 Php) from their selection of insalata. Finally, Beloved ordered their Cafe Mocha (125 Php) because she wanted to.

Domo - Unlimited Tuna Sashimi (Tomas Morato)

Beloved and I had dinner at Domo a few weeks ago. We've been here before and we actually had quite a pleasant experience. The reason we're revisiting was because a week before, we learned that they offered a promotion. We already knew they offer unlimited tuna sashimi, but now, they're offering at a cheaper price. Since we it was now reachable for us compared to before, we decided not to let the chance pass us by.

The cost for this unlimited tuna sashimi, which normally was priced over 1K Php, was priced at 699 Php for this promo. We learn a couple of things: First, this unlimited tuna sashimi promo was different from their usual, more premium unlimited tuna sashimi offering. Second, you can add 100 Php to make this unlimited tuna sashimi promo to a Unlimited Tuna and Salmon Sashimi promo (799 Php). Since we usually like salmon more than tuna, it's an easy addition to spend.

Hanuri (Tomas Morato)

Beloved and I had a second dinner at Hanuri a few weeks ago. Yes, you read that right, and if you're curious as to why, find out in a later blog. Anyway, our stomachs weren't satisfied although we already had pleased palates, so we weren't very picky. It was already a bit late at night, so our choices were limited even though we were at the foodie haven of the Tomas Morato area. We noticed the sudden influx of Korean restaurants at the McDonald's side, and one of them happen to be open for 24 hours. Since we know that most modern Korean restos are generally generous with their servings. Since we needed nourishment more than something to tickle our palates; not that Korean food is bad, I just find it monotonous in flavor—either spicy or sweet.

We found that their menu is relatively more pricey than the place I consider to be the best value Korean resto. It's still quite competitive against something like Kogi Bulgogi. One unique item in their menu, which is what we ordered, was their Shabu Shabu (390 Php), which, according to the menu, was good for two. We also ordered a bottle of Soju (150php) for the heck of it.

Wangfu Chinese Bistro (Tomas Morato)

Beloved and I had dinner at Wangfu Chinese Bistro weeks ago. This Chinese restaurant replaced (thankfully) Teriyaki Boy at the second floor of the building across McDonald's Tomas Morato. This is actually the second branch in the same street, the first being in Il Terazzo. Beloved had a chance to visit that place, and wasn't that pleased with the serving size considering the price. So I had a pretty good image that this place isn't your budget friendly Chinese place.

The menu isn't a purely Chinese list. Some of their items have obvious influence from other cultures. Also, I confirmed that this was indeed one of the pricier Chinese places we've visited. I guess the direct competition would be a place like Lugang Cafe. We ordered their Hongkong Beef Curry (368 Php), Chicken and Mushroom Clear Soup (228 Php), Hakaw (98 Php), and Seafood with Dried Scallop Fried Rice (248 Php). For our drinks, Beloved ordered their Teh Tarik (78 Php) and I ordered Calamansi Juice (78 Php).

Steveston Pizza (Tomas Morato)

Beloved and I had dinner a couple of times at Steveston Pizza. This place, relatively new, located at Tomas Morato, popped up in our Facebook news feeds with pictures from friends that was gastronomically pleasing. Aside from knowing that it's a pizza place, and that they serve scrumptious-looking pizzas, we knew nothing more than that. We had quite the surprise learning that they only serve one size—foot-diameter pizzas at not-so-scrumptious looking prices. A couple of them was even priced at 1.3K Php—yes, at the same size!

Still, that didn't stop us from ordering. Our first visit didn't contain any of the most-expensive-pizza-we-ever-saw offerings. Aside from the premium "C" pizzas, there were the more affordable Pizza Classic, the healthier Margarite Tree, Colours, and The Journeys. We settled for one of their Colours priced half of their "C" pizzas: their Green Pizza (699 Php). Yeah, if you compare it to the competition, it's still quite expensive. We also ordered their Angels or Oven Baked Chicken (180 Php for 6 pieces), and had them Spicy. The server warned us that their "Spicy" meant Spicy. We took no heed and ordered drinks.

Nomama - Revisited (Scout Tuazon, Near Tomas Morato)

Beloved and I had dinner at Nomama a few weeks ago. We've been here before, and although we went here because they boast their "artisanal ramen", we were more pleased with their artisinal non-ramen dishes. You can read more about that here. Anyway, why did we go back here? I don't really know, but for some reason we ended up here.

Luckily, in fact. The day we went, they had a promo wherein we buy a large bowl of Prawn Ramen (445 Php), and we get a free junior bowl of any of their other ramen for 1 Php. We did just that and asked for their Ox Tongue Ramen. Since we were quite pleased with the appetizers we ordered the last time, we also asked for their Tuna Spring Roll (320 Php) which was the only one left that we haven't tried and wanted to. Finally, we also asked for their Miso Salted Caramel Ice Cream (150 Php).

Brooklyn Pizza (Tomas Morato)

Beloved and I had dinner a couple of times at Brooklyn Pizza, Tomas Morato. We always pass over this place whenever we go to Tomas Morato for other food adventures. Lately, I've been wondering why. I've heard little about this place, but from the outside, it looked like a decent enough pizza parlor that serves Buffalo wings. After Googling up their menu and finding out their somewhat reasonable price tag, we finally made time to try it out.

As I've mentioned, their prices were not too steep for a pizza place. We were even luckier the first time we went because they had a promo that features most of their menu. Their Barkada Summer Promo, priced at 799 Php, offered a choice of some of their 14" pizzas, a choice of some of their pastas, an order of Buffalo Wings, and 1.5 liters of Pepsi. Although there was just the two of us, and I would've forgone the included beverage, this was too good of a deal to pass. So we settled for their Vegetarian Pizza and White Shrimp Pasta.

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.

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.

Thaipan (Scout Dr. Lazcano, near Tomas Morato)

Beloved and I celebrated Valentines day at Thaipan. We didn't really plan on going. In fact, we didn't have any reservation. We just decided on a whim to go to Tomas Morato and check out food places where there are seats available and preferably haven't tried yet. This place, while a bit of a way from Tomas Morato, was the first one we checked out. There were many reservations, but, luckily, we were accommodated immediately.

From its name, you can guess that this place specializes in Thai dishes. We haven't really been to plenty of Thai places, but most of the times we did, we had a pretty good experience. We decided to order both dishes we are familiar with and dishes that are new to us but sounded good on the menu. We ordered their Thaipan Selection Appetizer (350 Php), which offered both stuff we know and don't; Tom Yung Kung (145 Php), which is something we know of only phonetically different; Stuffed Cabbage Roll with Ground Pork (230 Php), which is new to us; and Phad Thai (310 Php), which is basically our cornerstone for Thai restaurant critique. We also ordered their Thai Milk Tea (95 Php) and Thai Mango Coconut Smoothie (110 Php).

Nomnomnom (Tomas Morato)

Yesterday, Beloved and I had a very late brunch at Nomnomnom. Actually, I should call it afterbrunch, since it was already afternoon, yet it was our first meal of the day, so I'm coining that term. Anyway, we haven't really researched about this place beforehand, but we do know that this place served healthy food according to friends and acquaintances who had tried this place before. I was sort of expecting a vegetarian restaurant like Greens. Since it was just located at Tomas Morato, near E. Rodriguez, it really wasn't a risky venture.

We found out that it wasn't really a vegetarian restaurant, although they do boast healthiness in their menu items. They call their food "happy", and most of them are mostly veggies if not for some seafood and chicken choices. There's no beef or pork, though. Some of their menu items reminded me of Gayuma ni Maria, where there is some sort of humor involved, such as Tinapasta (pasta with tinapa—smoked fish), Malinomnom (log pizza with smoked fish, kesong puti, red egg, and onions), and Nuggets Mo? (a veggiemeat nuggets rice meal). We didn't really go for the humorous choices, since majority of their menu were pretty normal, or not as humorous. We ordered their Shrooms (110 Php), Prom Pasta (160 Php), and Smoked Salmon Pizza (310 Php), which felt varied and filling enough. We also got a pitcher of their Flavored Iced Tea (130 Php), which honestly, although tasted different, was a bit too sweet for me and Beloved.

Pho Hoa (Tomas Morato)

Beloved and I had dinner at Pho Hoa last night. Some back-story is required: You see, I've been in this place before. Now, being a food blogger, I frequent threads on community sites that are related to food. Often, when "what is a food that you must eat at least once in your life" question pops up in these sites, one of the most frequent answers was "pho". Now, as I've said, I've had pho before from the said place, but as I recall, or, more appropriately, forget what made it special. In fact, I vaguely remember it being quite awful. Nevertheless, this has been one of my food adventure missions after being a food blogger and hearing such comments. Last night, we finally made the decision to try it out.

Their menu consists mostly of the specialty Vietnamese noodle soup. A page is conveniently dedicated explaining the basics of enjoying the dish. After reading it, I opted to order their Pho Nam, Gan, Bo Vien, which is basically beef flank, tendon, and brisket soup, To Lon size, or large for 295 Php. Beloved ordered their spicy Pho Bo Kho, or beef stew, also To Lon at the same price. For our starters, we ordered their Gui Cuon, or vegetable spring rolls with pork and shrimp (129 Php), and we also ordered their Chien Dau Hu, or tofu steak in mushroom sauce (240 Php).

Yoogane (Il Terrazzo, Tomas Morato)

Beloved and I had dinner at Yoogane a couple of nights ago. This relatively new Korean restaurant opened shop at the same building on the same floor of one of our favorite Japanese restaurants. Beloved had the chance to eat here before, and forewarned me of the spiciness of their specialty, Dak Galbi. Since our recent Korean restaurant ventures proved deliciously fruitful, I gave it a shot.

Every table is equipped with a stove. Beloved explains that the Dak Galbi is cooked in front of you. Although unlike other Korean or Japanese barbecue places we've been to, this place have cooks cooking for you. All of their specialties include chicken plus some other meat. We decided to order their Marinated Chicken Galbi & Assorted Seafood, which came in 900php and 1200php variants. Obviously, we chose the former. I should add that this is the only menu item that has this tag, the others are priced 300Php or less, but I assume these are only good for one. We chose this since this was the only one that came with seafood. Aside from that, we ordered a couple of side dishes, their Assorted Add Ons (200 Php) and Beloved asked for their Udon Noodle (90 Php).

Nomama (Scout Tuazon, near Tomas Morato)

Beloved and I had dinner last night at Nomama. This self-proclaimed Artisanal Ramen place is located at Scout Tuazon street at Laging Handa village. We walked from Tomas Morato through A. Roces Ave. to get there. Since it was an artisinal ramen place, I expected ramen of high quality. Of course, we expected to pay a bit more than I'm used to. Since Beloved was prepared, and was too tired from the walk to go further, we stopped by.

It was a fairly simple and open place. I first noticed that half the kitchen was open to the patrons, and its staff was busily working on food. Beloved noticed that the floor did not have any tiles or whatnot, and was just bare cement. It didn't bother me, of course. What concerned me a little was, for a ramen place, it had just half a page worth of ramen selection. They have plenty other somewhat unusual Japanese offerings. We noticed one of their offerings called Prixe Fixe Menu (575 Php) offered three courses: an appetizer, either a greenery or a raw composition of your choice; a ramen; and a kit-kat bar for dessert. We both decided to take that offer, since it practically meant free dessert. Beloved chose their Thai Green Curry Ramen, because their Ox Tongue and Chili Tofu ramen wasn't available, and their Tuna and Avocado raw composition. I ordered their Nomama Ramen and Beef Tataki with Chips. Hint: my latter order wasn't part of their "greenery" offerings.

North Park (Scout Dr. Lazcano, near Tomas Morato)

Beloved and I had "breakfast" at North Park near Tomas Morato yesterday. I say "breakfast" with quotes because it was our first meal of the day. However, it was already nearing night time. This Chinese restaurant is actually pretty common in that most malls have one of these. We never tried the place, however, for since we don't usually crave for Chinese, and when we do, it's usually just the dimsum. Anyway, being one of the few restaurants at Tomas Morato area we've yet to try, we went there for the heck of it, and also because I felt the need for something hot and soupy due to a mild cold.

The place isn't exactly on Tomas Morato. This place can be found behind Alfredo's Steak House, another restaurant we haven't tried yet. Anyway, we were led upstairs, and on the way, I got a glimpse of their noodle offerings. They actually serve six types of noodles. I cannot remember all of it, but luckily, it was also displayed on their menu-slash-placemat. While choosing our orders, they served us hot tea, which was what I expected from any decent Chinese restaurant or tea house. Their menu have the expected dishes, such as noodles, dimsum, rice, and various Chinese mainstays. Of course, we went here for the soup, specifically their noodles. Beloved got their Nanking Beef Noodles (163 Php), and asked for their Flat Shanghai Noodles. I ordered their Ultimate Noodles (249 Php) with their Hong Kong Noodles. Finally, we also asked for their Prawn Dumplings (223 Php for 6 pieces), and had them steamed rather than fried.

Ryu (Tomas Morato)

Beloved and I had dinner at Ryu last night. This relatively new Japanese ramen and curry restaurant opened up at Tomas Morato, beside California Berry. The signage was deceivingly small, making me think it was a small place, especially beside the large and colorful one of its neighbor. However, this was located a bit inside, and it was actually a pretty large area compared to its sign. More surprising was the amount of people eating—we had to wait to get seated and even more people followed after us.

Anyway, their menu was what I expected from their sign. They had ramen and Japanese curry rice. Variety-wise, they're not as plenty as ramen-only specialty stores or curry-only specialty places we've been to, but they had all the expected variants. They also had some sides from your usual Japanese restaurants, such as gyoza and tempura. We decided to take each of their specialties. I had their Shoyu Ramen (270 Php) and Beloved ordered their Tori Karaage Curry. I really wanted to try their shrimp and pork gyoza, but they were out of it, so we ordered their Tempura (270 Php) instead.

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.

Dulcinea - Breakfast (Tomas Morato)

Beloved and I had breakfast at bakery-slash-Spanish restaurant Dulcinea a couple of days ago. Beloved used to frequent this place for the Spanish food with her family. However, this is the first time for her trying out their Breakfast menu. Same goes to me. While walking around Tomas Morato in the morning, looking for a place to eat, we find out that this place is opened, so we went inside to satisfy my early morning hunger, despite Beloved's warnings that this might be a pretty steep place.

Their breakfast menu was surprisingly Western. Well, I'm not really familiar with what Spanish breakfast consists of, but there were a couple of Spanish dishes in the menu. However, perhaps more surprising was that the prices weren't as steep as I expected, and they also come with free coffee or hot chocolate. My favorite breakfast dish was there, so I ordered it: Bacon and Eggs (165 Php). Beloved's second favorite breakfast dish was also present, so she ordered it: Corned Beef Hash (165 Php). Finally, one of Beloved's favorite desserts was also on the menu, so we ordered it: Churros House Specialty (95 Php).