Starr's Famous Shakes (Esteban Abada, near Katipunan)

After our dinner at Brickfire, Beloved somehow convinced me to try out Starr's Famous Shakes just a floor below on the same building just at the side. Obviously, they serve shakes. Although they tagged themselves "famous", this was actually the first time I've heard of them. Anyway, since I was in a good mood (and still hungry), we passed by.

Their menu is basically filled with shakes—milkshakes, to be exact. I thought this was a breath of fresh air from all the "healthy" milk-and-slash-or-tea places popping up all over the place. However, they do offer healthier options with yogurt milkshakes and smoothies which can be substituted with most of their menu. Instead of the healthy add-ons that milktea places offer, such as tapioca pearls and jelly, they offer similarly sweet and-slash-or nutty toppings and mix-ins.

Anyway, Beloved ordered their White Choco Vanilla Bean sugar-free milkshake (95 Php), which I was eying on, and I settled for their Vanilla Crisp Milkshake (95 Php),  which was on the special menu and basically just their Vanilla milkshake with toppings added. However, since this was just +15 Php to the regular milkshake, and a single topping costs 20 Php, I though it was a fair promo. Since I was still hungry, we also ordered their Belgian Fries (55 Php).

Brickfire (Esteban Abada, near Katipunan)

Beloved and I had dinner at Brickfire last night. We've been pretty interested in this place after passing by when it first opened a few months ago. However, even though Katipunan was a pretty close place to ours, it was still a pretty difficulty commute. Since money is not as much as an issue now as it was before, and after learning that their menu was not as expensive as expected, we took the chance to try it out.

The place, while among the roomier places we've been to, was packed full. We were lucky to have a table available when we arrived. Their menu was a single page, consisting of three specialties, some main dishes—all meat dishes, pasta, and some sides. I ordered one of their specialties: Cowgirl Annie, "Saddle" size, which is the larger of their two offerings (250 Php). I upgraded it to have two prawns (100 Php). Beloved ordered their Salisbury Steak (110 Php). We also ordered some of their sides, because they sounded appetizing and had appealing prices. We got their Brickfire Salad (150 Php), Tofu Tempura (95 Php), and Jalapeño Cheese Stick (40 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).