Queen J Left..

..so it's the beginning of a new phase for me because I'm officially on a diet.

To support Earth Day on 22 April, I will be a vegetarian for the week. According to research, gas emissions from livestock raised for human consumption is 4 times that of gas emitted by cars. Hopefully, I will be able to keep this up after this week. Hmm...will keep you posted about that.

To accommodate my Filipino-food-addicted big sistah, we went to Abe again in Serendra. I was surprised to find the place packed on a weekday. Good business!

So while waiting, Queen J and I had cupcakes from Cupcakes by Sonja. Last year, I tried 4 and vowed never to buy again because the cupcakes were simply too sweet! But I was weak and easily tempted and hungry and forced to wait for a table in Abe so I ordered Berries N' Cream. Yum! Way better than I remembered!

(Photo by Dad, Queen J had a choco cupcake w/ vanilla icing)

Abe time was crispy pata time. If The Day After (lechon paksiw) was that good, the ingredients used to make it should be even better. Of course, I wasn't wrong. Tee-hee. The crispy pata was crunchy on the outside but tender on the inside. It was not too salty and had just a little bit of spiciness. The best part was it wasn't too greasy, which is what I love most about Abe.

We were all woozy from lunch so we stopped by my other fave, TCB&TL! I only had black coffee as I couldn't take the taste of dairy after our crispy pata lunch, and I was delighted to discover that even their plain black coffee was perfect! Both Queen J and I became addicted to this coffee shop.

Yum! I love how visible TCB&TL's logo is in this pic. Thanks, Dad!

If it's not been mentioned yet or it's not all that obvious, here's a little note about our family. Once we discover a fantastic resto, we keep going back to try different dishes from the menu.

Breakfast in UCC Coffee again. This time I tried their Chicken Adobo so as to avoid ordering one of the many processed breakfast choices such as tocino or corned beef. It was a good choice; the chicken adobo was delicious! The chicken was cut up in tiny pieces, and the sauce is both sweet and salty and with just a hint of vinegar. Mmm..

Later in the week we went to Astralis by Diamond Hotel in Powerplant. Dad loved the interior; the place looks as posh as a hotel restaurant. We ordered Baked Camembert with Phyllo Pastry Php 280, mushroom spaghetti in white sauce for the veg parents (this was a special request not in the menu), and tenderloin steak with mashed potatoes Php 600. I'm still not quite sure what phyllo pastry is except that it's made from flour and water (source: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O39-phyllopastry.html) so I'm guessing the phyllo pastry was the white crunchy shavings in the appetizer rather than the green sweet thing. Hmm..so what then was the green sweet thing?

In a nutshell, the food was great. The taste of each dish was drawn from the natural ingredients used to create it. The price was just right for the whole package which includes the place, the quality of the service and the food. The baked camembert was a great idea. Now I have a new way to eat my cheese in addition to eating it straight out of the fridge.

We went to SNR for some pizza and churros. Loved that their churros are baked and not fried. Loved the cheese pizza too, very juicy! I ordered Cafe Latte Shakerato (not quite sure where the shakerato term came from) in Cafe Enzo, a stall selling Lavazza coffee and some pasta and sandwiches inside SNR. Very pleased that my Php 100 beverage tasted far better than Starbucks here. I only wished they put a little less milk and a little more coffee in the mixture.

The Ultimate Junk Food Run

The culprits are Le Big Sistah, a.k.a. Queen J, and yours truly. This afternoon's super guilt-filled junk food fest included:

1. 1 lemonade from Auntie Anne's Php 65

2. 1 order of boneless chicken with java rice from Reyes BBQ Php 115, super yum! The peanut sauce made the chicken taste even better!

3. 1 order of buko (coconut) halo-halo with ice cream from the buko stand in Theatre Mall fast food Php 65

4. 1 large cheese fries from Potato Corner, Php 40

5. 2 pcs choco glazed doughnuts and 1 cup black coffee from Krispy Kreme, Php 174

The result: muchos guilty and lotsa promises of dieting and exercising from now on. Hmmm...

Last night, we were supposed to dine at Greens at 92 Scout Castor, Tomas Morato, so my parents could indulge in fresh vegetarian dishes. Unfortunately, the place was so tiny, my dad declared it to be inappropriate for Sunday dinner.

In a desperate attempt to make something out of a failed trip to Tomas Morato, (I personally never liked going to this side of town) we went to Taste of LA beside Greens where N took me about 3 years ago.

Taste of LA's ambience is that of an old-style Filipino home full of wooden tables, floors, posts and panels, very old-Spanish glam. At night, the whole place, which was dimly lit, was very dark. My dad took this opportunity to take some scary, Halloween-appropriate pictures of Queen J and me.

(Thanks Dad for the wonderful pics!)

The 3-cheese pizza, which was cooked in woodfire, had a very thin and crunchy crust. Not greasy, no MSG (according to the menu), yum. We also ordered chicharon bulaklak, sisig, salpicao, garlic rice, and pomodoro. Overall experience, nothing remarkable except for the pizza and too expensive to be making a second trip in the future except probably for an order of their scrumptious pizza.

As planned, Ma, together with her 4 friends, celebrated their 25th friendship anniversary at Spiral Cafe in Sofitel Philippine Plaza on Black Saturday night. The verdict: the cafe was full but unbelievably understaffed. The food was sadly not good enough to cover up this disappointment. And champagne and wine were not served that night to my further disappointment..tsk tsk

Friday and Saturday spent in Asiana Greenville Resort in Clark Field. Hello sunburn! Loved the huge "junior" villa that can fit up to 6 persons and the balcony with wooden furniture. The place is tiny and cute--small cafe serving Korean food, small pool, mini-golf. If I loved hosting parties, I would rent the whole place for me and my friends.

More on breakfast: UCC Coffee breakfast. Pretty much the same as Bizu breakfast, but coffee was not refillable and there was no bread basket. I ordered corned beef hash served with some veg, 2 sunny side up eggs and garlic rice and a cup of coffee. I looked at my meal with trepidation seeing as the corned beef hash was fried till it was dry and dark brown, in other words greasy. Turns out my meal was a plate of guilt-filled goodness--hoorah to fried Filipino breakfasts. eek

I hope that I will not be writing about this much food in my future entries, otherwise, I should start tasting rather than eating.

Love Cont'd

According to my InTouch horoscope last week, "Pisces: Kicking back and enjoying life's simple pleasures allows you to totally rejuvenate your soul and sets the stage for a peaceful week. Luxury without expense works in your favor."

In this regard, I want to preserve my zen status by noting only the things I love rather than including instances that caused me to pull my hair or grit my teeth.

Sunday was family day. Sis flew in from HK on Friday night and we were finally complete, so Sunday was like a celebration of sorts for the for the four of us. This is the first time in two years that our family can all be together without having to live in cramped spaces, think HK mini apartments, and no one has to sleep on the floor.

First stop was The Cake Club by Diamond Hotel. Ma and Pa had been dropping this name time and again since I arrived but they decided to wait for Big Sistah (Queen J, that's Dad's nickname for Sis) to come so we

can all go together.

The Cake Club is located in Powerplant Mall outside National Bookstore. The Cake Club is owned and managed by Diamond Hotel so the menu is the same but cheaper. True enough, the prices of the coffee there are very competitive; Php 95 for the Iced Cafe Au Lait I ordered versus the Php 85 short black decaf Americano I ordered from Starbucks a couple of days ago. Additionally, The Cake Club is a sit-down type of coffee shop but there is no service charge.

The coffee blend used is called Sumibi and the thick milk and the ice did not dilute the taste of the coffee. Great coffee, check.

We ordered a slice of baked cheesecake (the reason we were there in the first place) and a slice of supermoist chocolate cake. The first bite of the baked cheesecake was unbelievably heavenly; I have truly never tasted cake this good. The base is not the usual graham cracker base and the top is not special so the focus of the taste is purely on the cheesecake in the middle. To say that my first bite of the supermoist was just as unbelievably heavenly is a cliche, but it truly was. To put it simply, the supermoist is chocolate and cake in one. It is neither too chocolaty rich it can pass as a chocolate bar nor is it too sweet or soft like chiffon cake.

I thought it couldn't get better than this. Actually not really, but almost.

Last stop, dinner at Abe in Serendra. Abe, which is run by The LJC Group, is Filipino dining at its finest. We ordered The Day After (lechon paksiw) and sisig. My parents, who are both vegetarians, ordered vegetarian Gising-Gising and Bicol Express (the shrimp and other meat were requested to be taken out) and Lumpiang Pica Pica. The sisig was not the usual sizzling kind with chicharon bits. The taste was purer and I was able to identify the taste of the pig's ear and liver. The lechon paksiw was tender while the skin was still crispy and the sauce was peanut-y with hints of vinegar. First reaction: YUUM. I tasted Ma and Pa's GG and BE but not the Lumpia. Most commendable was Abe had been able to bring out the combined taste of the vegetables in the BE so it was tasty even without the shrimp or meat. Another YUUM.

Fortunately, I only have the chance to eat Filipino food once a year, twice at the most. Even though Abe successfully minimized the greasiness of their dishes, I was so sleepy after dinner I was K.O. in the car, perhaps from too much meat or too much flavoring or both.

I think after all the good food yesterday, I'll be satisfied for the rest of the week but Holy Week is coming and so are many visitors from HK. I heard we'll be going to Spiral Cafe in Philippine Plaza this Saturday. Uh-oh.

Love, Like and Neither

Last night, we tried John and Yoko in Greenbelt 5. John and Yoko is a Japanese fusion restaurant that serves a lot of original Japanese dishes such as California maki, ebi tempura, and katsudon as well as many new creations like the dragon roll and the dynamite roll, two of the dishes we tried last night. The other two dishes we ordered were salmon sashimi and seafood omelette. While the place is hip and happening with groups of people waiting outside to be seated, I myself might not be going back to dine anytime soon. Japanese food with all its simplicity, think salmon sashimi, relies largely on quality and freshness so while I am all in favor of innovation and creativity, I prefer to go back to Japanese food that is authentic and uncomplicated.

Right now, I am loving Sugi in Greenbelt, but not the one in Greenhills Shopping Centre. I went to Sugi Greenbelt a couple of weeks ago and I was impressed with the food, the service, and even the complimentary green tea. The only thing I would probably complain about was the lack of air conditioning. We had salmon sashimi, tempura maki, golden mushroom and asparagus wrapped in bacon, and sukiyaki. The salmon sashimi was the best; it was so fresh it was the kind that melted in the mouth. The noodles in the sukiyaki were cooked just right, and the soup was both savory and sweet. Wonder when I can go back there..?

I am also loving The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, particularly the White Chocolate Dream Latte. Sadly we do not have TCBTL in Hong Kong so while I am here it will be my default coffee shop rather than Starbucks.

Another discovery is the breakfast in Bizu. While their breakfast dishes are quite pricey compared to many others, (the average price of a Filipino breakfast of garlic rice, longganisa, a large slice of tomato, 2 eggs and bottomless coffee is Php 295) Bizu was able to minimize the oil in the normally greasy Filipino dishes. Bizu uses Lavazza coffee beans from Italy, so far one of the best blends I have tried. Finally, the service was unquestionably good; the people were courteous, quick and professional.

N took me to Stock Market in Bonifacio High Street last week. N and I have always shared the same taste in food, and I love him for taking me to Stock Market for their Prime Burger and Grilled Pesto Shrimp with Crab Roe Risotto. We also ordered the tomato and mozzarella cheese fondue and a pie topped with vanilla ice cream and dried pineapple shavings for dessert. The Prime Burger with a patty that was half an inch thick and very little fat was indeed prime, and the pineapple slice in the burger was a unique addition that gave it a special sweet and sour taste much like what pineapple did to Hawaiian pizza. Finally, there are no words to describe the grilled shrimp with pesto sauce; it was simply.. delectable.

Some disappointments were the pasta in my previously all-time favorite Cibo, coffee in Starbucks, noodles and dim sum in Gloria Maris Greenhills, and garlic longganisa in Contis.