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.

Mezza Norte (Trinoma Mindanao Avenue Parking Lot)

Me, Beloved, and some friends visited relatively new (-ly transferred) food fair Mezza Norte at Trinoma's Mindanao Ave. Parking Lot. This used to be located at UP-Ayala Technohub, but moved here. I was convinced by many not to visit while it was still at Technohub due to the lack of space over the amount of people there. I did not receive the same complaints when it moved to Trinoma about a month ago.

Unlike the "usual" food fairs, this one opens relatively early from 4 p.m. up to 3 a.m. from Friday to Sunday, or, more accurately, until Monday morning. When Beloved and I arrived, at around 7 p.m., the place was already packed full. Although there were arguably a larger amount of tables and chairs compared to food markets I've been to, almost every one of them was occupied. Luckily, our friends arrived earlier and had a table reserved for us.

The best recommendations I've had were the steak from Juana Bowl and a sausage on bun dish from another stall. Sadly, the latter was no longer a tenant. So we went for the former place first. Although we originally went for their U.S. Rib Eye Steak (190 Php), the salmon they were cooking alongside with it smelled wonderful. So, Beloved ordered the steak and I ordered their Norwegian Salmon Belly (190 Php). It rained heavily moments after our order. Luckily, most of the fair was tented. Unluckily, it flooded some parts, making them inaccessible. The walk here from our table was among the flooded parts, so it was a bit of a nuisance, especially since my shoes weren't really waterproof.

Oishinbo (Little Tokyo, Makati)

Beloved and I had dinner at Little Tokyo's Oishinbo a few nights ago. This restaurant is among the "inner" places here, meaning you can optionally eat outside and have communal orders from any other place there. However, we chose to eat inside and was offered a seat beside the counter. We happily obliged.

Now, Oishinbo, unlike the rest of the places in Little Tokyo we've been to, is a bit different in that it doesn't have a specific Japanese food specialty. However, I found their menu to be practically complete. This was specifically good that night because we weren't really fancying anything in particular. In fact, the reason we went to Little Tokyo was because this was what came up after putting possible choices at decideforme.com. Like Hana, it was a bit more casual than Urameshi-ya and Seryna, having a homely Japanese family-owned home restaurant appeal to it. I smelt tempura on our way in, so I decided to order that in Japanese dinner box form: Ebi Tempura Bento (390 Php). Beloved ordered their Cold Ramen (380 Php). We also got their Salmon Sashimi (390 Php) and a couple of different yakitori, similar to what we had at Seryna, because the grill was just in front us and looked appealing: Shiitake Yakitori (90 Php) and Enoki Bacon Yakitori (120 Php).

Yang Chow (Eton Centris, Quezon Avenue)

Beloved and I had dinner a couple of times at Eton Centris Walk's Yang Chow. If you know your basic food knowledge, you know that this is a Chinese place just from the name. Beloved has been here a couple of times before, but these were my first two times trying it out.

Our first visit greeted us with a full house, and we had to wait a couple of minutes for a table. Luckily, since there were just the two of us, we got seated before a big party that came before us. It's apparent, though, that their setup is your typical Chinese tea house meant for big Chinese families. Their menu consists of the usual and slightly unusual Chinese fare, conveniently printed on the paper placemats. It was actually a pretty difficult choice due to the huge list of dishes available and the somewhat lower price tags compared to the competition. We settled for the following: Hakaw (90% Shrimp) (75 Php), Shark's Fin Dumpling (65 Php), Sesame Fried Butchi (45 Php), Yang Chow Fried Rice (180 Php), Seafood Vegetable Soup (200 Php), Mixed Seafood with Beancurd in Clay Pot (200 Php), and Abalone Mushroom with Broccoli (220 Php). Beloved also ordered their Chinese Milk Tea (60 Php), and I got their Chinese Lemon Tea (70 Php), which was essentially iced tea.