Banchetto (Ortigas)

Beloved and I went with a company of friends to Banchetto last night. Banchetto is a once-a-week food fair located at Emerald Road, Ortigas, on Saturday 0:00 hours up to 11:00 am, and yes, that's Friday 12mn. We've wanted to go here for the longest time, but beloved's schedule didn't allow us to do so until today.

Anyway, if you've read the last paragraph, Banchetto is a food fair. There's all kinds of food to be found here. Most are grilled stuff, Filipino favorites, or canteen-style foods, but there are also selections of desserts, pastries, and practically anything you can find in a blue-collar plate. Since there were so many stalls around, I decided to not specify them. It's impossible to scour the entire place in one go for someone with a small stomach like me. The smell alone was enough to fill up your appetites. But I did try out a lot of stuff. Oh, and I apologize if the pictures came out a bit dark, it is a night food fair after all.

Grilled Tomato (Tomas Morato)

Today, our company ate at Grilled Tomato—a somewhat hidden Mediterranean restaurant in the middle of Tomas Morato. Me and beloved have been searching for this store for quite a while, but have never found it even though we practically travel the road all the time. It has a black and white sign, so it doesn't really stand out.

Anyway, Mediterranean means kebab, gyros, and the like. The store specializes in these. I found that Ox Brain was part of the menu, and is probably their specialty. I didn't dare try it, though, since the last time I had brain wasn't a pleasant experience (pig, not ox, though). I decided to get a 2-Piece Kebab Meal with Rice and refillable iced tea (130 Php), so that I can compare with another Mediterranean restaurant I used to frequent. Price-wise, this store is a bit steeper, but if the servings are greater and better tasting, then it might justify the tag. I also ordered a side of Pita Bread (15 Php) and Grilled Tomatoes (20 Php), so that I can turn one of the kebabs into a burrito-gyro.

Beloved ordered a Fried Dory Meal with Rice (130 Php) and Iced Milk Tea (50 Php). The rest of our company practically ordered the entire meal menu, one of us ordering the Ox Brain. We didn't manage to taste or take a picture of that though, but it still piques my curiosity.

Asian Twist (Retiro)

Today, my beloved brought me to Asian Twist, a casual restaurant at the corner of Retiro and Speaker Perez streets. Its dishes comprise of fusions of different Asian cooking styles, from Korean, Japanese, Chinese, to Filipino, hence, their sub-name "Fusion Restaurant".

First and foremost, I must say that I do not fancy Korean food. Korean, for me, basically means one of two things: sweet, sesame-flavored barbecued meat; and hot, spicy, fermented kimchi. I despise the latter specialty.

Now, I was pretty much aware that when Korean is listed in a menu, it usually has something to do with kimchi. However, seeing as the entire menu either had Korean or "hot and spicy" in its description, and since I was craving a bit of fatty pork, I decided to try out their "Bibimbap Bagnet" (175 Php). Beloved ordered her usual in this resto, the "Creamy Seafood Bibimbap" (175 Php), pictured below.

Tender Bob's (SM North EDSA)

After scouring both Trinoma and SM North EDSA for a place to eat, we settled down to Tender Bob's at The Block. I'm quite a steak lover, and likes my steak bloody and not burnt. You can't really have steak in our country the way I like it without worrying for microbes and the quality of meat. I would only dare have my steaks rare in this kind of restaurant, and so we did.

We ordered US Angus beef rib-eye steak, 5oz each... about 1/3 pounds. I had mine medium rare with baked potato wedges, and beloved's medium well with mashed potatoes. It was only a short wait before our orders were served.

The outside was colored golden brown, and not burnt. It was obvious to me that the meat was grilled plain, maybe only salt and pepper applied to it. The next thing I did was checked the inside of my steak. Since it was pretty thin, it was almost cooked through. There was some pinkness left, but still enough to put a smile in my face.

Red Mango (Trinoma)

First and foremost, I apologize for the quality of the pictures on this post. Might as well apologize for the entire site, as we do not really have a high-quality camera and only use our mobile phones to capture images. I hope my wordy reviews make up for it.

Anyway, just this Sunday, we went to Red Mango at Trinoma. There's always a long line to this walkway store and most feedback we get from it is positive. Bearing the long line, we decided to try it out. Beloved ordered a small plain yogurt (80 Php) with blueberry toppings. Even though it's labeled small, the serving is quite generous.