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.

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.

Caffe Dolce (Banawe)

I love to drink (but not the alcoholic kind!). I love going to milk tea places, coffee shops and cafes so its no wonder that when I discovered a new cafe at Banawe: Caffe Dolce, I asked my friends to meet up there after work. One thing unique about this one is that this is a vegetarian cafe.

I was the first one to arrive since it only took a few minutes to go to Banawe from work. I found out that its located on the second floor of Hong Kong Cafe (which sadly closed down). When I got to the second floor I was very impressed with the interior design of Caffe Dolce. Ghost chairs paired with white table tops for the dining area, red velvet accent chairs for lounge, and wicker furniture for the verandah part decorated with floral arrangements, chandeliers, a floral accent wall, and a water feature. Very shabby chic-x-modern style. But I didn't just went here to praise the interior, so I ordered their Iced Caffe Mocha (135php) and Steak Panini with Salad (199php) since I would be expecting Hannah in an hour or so.

Greens Vegetarian Restaurant and Cafe (Scout Castor Street, near Tomas Morato)

It's been a while since our last nomnom adventure. I guess it deserves some sort of explanation. I got a job, you see. No, it's not really keeping me busy. However, I've yet to receive my first paycheck. We've been planning this nomnom trip since one of our friends recommended this to us, but we never had the money to do so. Luckily, Beloved managed to keep some, so we took the opportunity earlier today to eat at Greens Vegetarian Restaurant and Cafe.

This place is located near Tomas Morato, at one of the Scout street annexes, which is no wonder we've never seen this place before. From its name, it's safe to assume that it's not a place that carnivorous people will enjoy. Being a carnivorous person myself, I wasn't expecting to enjoy it, but a couple of weeks ago, a co-worker offered me a vegetarian barbecue which I actually enjoyed and I found to be better than the real thing. It's not from this place, though, so that's another place to visit someday.

That, plus the tip from our friend made us decide to go there for dinner. It was just a short way from Tomas Morato, and once we arrived, we were greeted by a green facade of vines and nature. Inside its gates was a garden of greenness, and what looked like a house. Actually, it was a house transformed into a resto-cafe. The place itself felt... green. No, not because of the shrubbery, but because it was dimly lit, perhaps to conserve energy, and the colors they used for their interiors had pretty earthy colors.

As expected, their menu is filled with vegetarian stuff. It ranges from the usual salad, to the unusual vegetarian appetizers, to the even more unusual meat substitutes. I was pretty pleased that their choices of appetizers include a sampler plate, which includes three appetizers of your choice. To sample everything except for a couple, we had two orders of their Three For All sampler (80 Php each), one containing Potato Patties, Fried Mushroom, and Chicharon, and the other containing Potato Patties (no, this is not a typo), Veggie Sticks, and Crunchy Bean Curd Wrapper. We also had an order of their Greens House Salad (105 Php). I also ordered their Greens Vegetarian Barbecue (75 Php), because it was my first real meal of the day. This comes with your choice of either plain, java, or brown rice, and I chose the last one, just so I can have an exclamation to the healthiness of the place. Finally, we ordered their Veggie "Beef" and Broccoli (185 Php) to share. Yes, it really has quotation marks in the beef. We wanted to order their Vegetarian Sisig, but Beloved didn't want to eat rice and would rather have broccoli.