THE PICKIEST EATER IN THE WORLD

AND THE WINNER IS...

2012-02-14T12:00:00.004+08:00

So the winners have finally be drawn! Congratulations to all Five people that won, including the four people who won the four Gift Certificates from Box O' Rice, and the Grand Prize winner that snagged the Gift Certificates worth P5,000 from Cathy Valencia Skin and Body Center.

Watch this Video to see the draw for yourself!

Once again, thank you to everyone who participated, and a special shout out to Cris Villarosa of Box O' Rice for the consolation prizes, and Jo Chanco of Voice Of The South for the Grand Prize!

Thank you to www.myfoodtrip.com for their support, as well as everyone who helped spread the word about the Giveaway!

Now that I'm done with my first "Giveaway", I can plan the next! Hopefully the next one will be even better!

The winners of the Box O' Rice GC's are as follows:

1) Golda Ajero - GC's for Two (2) Regular Meals & Two (2) Junior Meals

2) Warren Alulod - GC's for Two (2) Regular Meals & Two (2) Junior Meals

3) Jagger Camungay - GC's for Two (2) Regular Meals & Two (2) Junior Meals

4) Mary Jay Javier - GC's for Two (2) Regular Meals & Two (2) Junior Meals

Please remember that this can be availed at Box O' Rice Katipunan Branch!

And the Grand Prize Winner of GC's worth P5,000 from Cathy Valencia Skin & Body Center is.....

KRISTINE CONCEPCION!!

Congratulations everyone!

I'll be emailing you within the next two days to coordinate the distribution of your prizes! Till the next Giveaway!!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY EVERYONE!

2012-02-14T09:22:00.002+08:00

Considering all the expenses we've had for the past few months, Rina and I decided that we wouldn't be doing anything fancy for Valentine's Day. Last year, we celebrated a little earlier when we went to Lemuria, courtesy of the wonderful people of My Food Trip. "Going out to eat" isn't exactly a new concept in our book, and we never really celebrate it on the day itself, mainly because traffic is hell on Earth during V-Day evenings, so it's no big deal.

But still, Rina deserved something special.. A simple "Show Of Love" from me.. And nothing in my house says "Love" more than BACON.

I decided to make a special breakfast for her, and did a little something to let her know how much I love her. I couldn't find Bacon Roses, so I went for the next best thing I could think of.

It wasn't much, but she loved it. Of course she loved it even more after we fried it up immediately after taking this picture.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY EVERYONE!!!

SMILE AND SAY... SANDWICHEESE!

2012-02-13T11:30:00.000+08:00

Are you one of those people that can't have a meal without rice? Rina and her sister Chaikka, as well as a lot of my officemates absolutely refuse to have lunch or dinner without it. Me, on the other hand, I'm completely ok with a sandwich or burger for lunch. Maybe it's my fondness for bread that helps create a sense of satisfaction in my meals with a sandwich in lieu of rice, because sometimes, I actually even prefer it to a rice meal. I'm always on the lookout for a good sandwich, which is why I was immediately drawn to places such as Chuck's Deli, The Cheese Steak Shop and Elbert's Cheese Steaks.

I found out that one of my (and it seems everyone's) favorite restaurants, Bannaple, spawned a younger sibling right beside its first Katipunan branch, called "Sandwicheese", and I was immediately intrigued.

So last Saturday, after we took Baby Rain to the doctor for her check up, my tummy started grumbling. I told Rina that I wanted to check out Sandwicheese.

Because she was taking care of Rain whilst we were in the car, she wasn't really paying attention and she said, "Yes, yes, I want to go there." I asked her if she heard what I said because she was distracted with Rain and she said, "All I heard was 'Cheese'".

Sandwicheese is a cozy nook with refreshing homey feeling. A sunroof covers the place, so the atmosphere is bright and vibrant. The dining area isn't really all that big so if you're a big party, things might get a little cramped (which is fine, depending on who you're with). Remember that its along Katipunan, so parking might be a little difficult, but as you'll see, it will be totally worth it. :)

THE FOOD

As I mentioned in my Elbert's Cheesesteak post, for some strange reason I like sandwiches wrapped in paper. It kinda reminds me of those Deli sandwiches that I would see in sitcoms (Joey's Meatball Sub in particular).

I'm a firm believer that a good sandwich begins with its bread.. And thankfully, Sandwicheese's Cornmeal Bun knocks it out of the park. The bread was soft, yet served as a perfect casing to the meat that was laid inside it. Me being me, I ordered the Hickory Shredded Pork (P160).

The medley of garlic cream cheese and parmesan bounced off the tanginess of the hickory sauce that bathed the shredded pork just beautifully. The carmelized onions helped quell the strong flavor of the hickory sauce from going overboard. I enjoyed this so much, I didn't even realize those sneaky bastards snuck in a piece of Romaine lettuce in it.

For Rina, I ordered the "Dripping Roast Beef" (P160). Like the Shredded Pork, they used the Cornmeal bun so we were already off to a good start. With its thick topping of cheese, it kinda looked like my Smoked Pork Sandwich.

But breaking the sandwich apart revealed it was nothing like Hickory Pork. I get what they meant by "Dripping" because the beef strips were so juicy, it got me thinking that some of its own juices were poured into it. If my order had a robust flavor of hickory, this was mild, creamy flavor, which had a light tinge of acid from the sun dried tomato cream cheese.

Since we had Baby Rain along with us, we brought her Yaya Tata with us as well. She said she didn't want anything too far out or heavy so I ordered her the Grilled Cheese with French Onion Sandiwich (P130) from their vegetarian sandwich selection.

The whole wheat Panini was toasted just right, with the Panini grill marks leaving wonderful golden brown streaks down its back. Lifting the top slice revealed a generous amount of caramelized onions laid on a bed of cream cheese.

A lesser man would've been too embarassed to say, "Yaya, can I have a bite of your sandwich?", but it looked so darn good I said what the hell (I ended up with two bites).

Perhaps the only thing I can say about Sandwicheese is that.. In my mind, a good sandwich meal should be accompanied by a side order of french fries or homemade chips. Sandwicheese doesn't have fries. *Gasp*.. blasphemy! (Although they do sell small bags of Lay's).

For you non-meat eaters (aka weirdos), Sandwicheese also has some salads to choose from.

Of course, my little angel slept all throughout our food trip..

SANDWICHEESE MENU

THE PICKIEST EATER ANDROID APP!

2012-02-10T14:56:00.001+08:00

After getting all excited about it only to have it not function correctly when i finally completed it, I finally finished the First Official Pickiest Eater App for Android! I'm using a Galaxy S2 so I haven't made one for iPhone yet, but who knows, maybe some day.

The App features a RSS Feed to my blog. Flckr account (skip that, because im still working on it). Vimeo Account, Twitter and Facebook page!

I've tried it myself and it works fine, but I did notice that it takes awhile to load, so please be patient. If new bug fixes come along, I'll update the app as well.

Disclaimer: The app works fine on my phone, but like I said, it takes a bit long. If you think the app is screwing up your phone or something, delete it immediately.

But like I said, on my phone it works fine :)

Android Users can download the App here:

http://174.142.192.87/builds/00054/54238/apps/ThePickiestEater.apk

Please let me know what you think!

POPCAKES BAKESHOP POPS UP!

2012-02-08T12:00:00.000+08:00

You know you want me

Since Valentine's Day is coming up, I was doing a little research on what Valentine's Day gifts were out there that I could get for Rina and perhaps even write about. I stumbled on to my friend Bea's Facebook account and remembered she has home based cake business, called "Popcakes".

One quick look at their facebook page, and you'll see that Popcakes comes up with some of the most creative pastries you can imagine. They specialize in customizing designs of their cupcakes, cakes to your liking. The more far out your idea, the better a challenge for them! Of course, their trademark is their signature "Popcakes" which are designed chocolate cakes, placed on sticks so they look like lollipops.

I bumped into Bea last week during the wedding of our friends, Ted and Karen, and I asked her about what Popcakes had in store for Valentine's Day.

Lucky for me, she decided to show me instead :)

The following week, Bea sent me a two boxes of some of their Valentines Day Popcakes, which were clearly absolutely adorable gifts to give away on V-Day (I initially typed in "Hearts Day" but I wouldn't have been able to live with myself if I published a post using that term)!

The first thing you should know is that it comes in a lovely, colorful box, so you don't really need to worry about packaging. (Guys know what i'm talking about it. Usually we're like, I just plunked down 1k for a gift.. you mean I've got to wrap it to?!). With the Popcakes Box, you can give it as a gift as is.

The first box Bea sent me had a whole of different designs that were reminiscent of those old school Valentines candies, except when you bite into it, you'll discover its actually a moist chocolate cake on a stick!

"XOXO"

"LOVE ME"

"BE MINE"

And this adorable little Cupid!

The second box was filled with a whole bunch of lips on sticks, which turned out to be Popcake's "Kissing Game".

Each of the twelve Popcake kisses in the box were labeled with a different type of kiss. The idea of this is you give one to your significant other with the intention of wanting to replicate the kiss (I still have a bump on my head from Rina and I trying to do the "Spiderman Kiss").

The box even comes with a list of the kisses, and how to..

umm.. ya know.. "execute" them.

Apart from the designs, two notable things about the Popcakes was the ability of its "coating" to hold together, even after biting down on it, and even after leaving it in the refrigerator for a couple of days, the cake itself remained moist and tasty!

The beauty of Popcakes, is that they are more than willing to listen to your ideas of what designs you would want for your cakes. Bea is a production design graduate (whom I cheated off from in College), so I know she's got mad skills when it comes to the creativity department. It can be anything you want. Yes, ANYTHING. In case you're wondering, they've done stuff for Bachelor and Bachelorette parties too, so they're not afraid to be a little bit naughty.. if you know what I mean *wink wink* (I was trying to be subtle).

The price range for regular popcakes starts at around P35 pesos, while customized Popcakes start at P45 pesos. Prices may change depending on the design. You can check their Facebook page for a list of their existing designs! I just saw that they're also doing Edible Roses for Valentines Day!

For more information on Popcakes Bakeshop, you can contact (632) 710.6791 and www.popcakes.biz. But once again, I strongly suggest you check out their Facebook page as well :)

THE SOLE OF MR. ROCKEFELLER

2012-02-06T12:25:00.000+08:00

A few years ago, (way before my blogging days) my boss brought my to a restaurant at Greenbelt for a meeting, called "Rockefeller". The place featured oysters and ribs, among many other things. I don't recall what dish I ordered that day, meaning it wasn't very memorable to me. But what did ingrain into my psychosis for years to come was the dish that my boss ordered: The Alaskan Sole Fillet with Garlic Noodles.

Early last year, I thought they had closed up shop already, because I saw the doors being boarded up. Thankfully, I saw from my friends at En Route that they actually just did a little renovation (and I suspect, new management).

A couple of weeks ago, Rina took me to work so she could run some errands as well, so I decided to invite her to lunch at Greenbelt, together lunch buddies, My Giant Joel and the Lovely Donna. I hadn't visited the place in over a year, so I was ready to be reunited with my Sole Filet.

The renovations seemed to open up the place a little bit. The interiors, however were beautifully crafted and still had the mobster movie feel of the old structure, but just not as confined as it once was. The lighting was still a bit gloomy for me, and the place still gave a bit more of a stiff feel.

THE FOOD

Though more often than not, my trusty Galaxy S2 is usually more than enough to suffice, the dim lighting at Mr. Rockefeller made the pictures a little anemic at times, so please forgive me.

STARTERS

As expected, Rina ordered the Cheese Puffs (P90 for 8 pcs). Lightly coated with cubes filled with rich cheese - Yup that's got "Rina" written all over it. I'm glad she got it though, because it was actually really quite tasty, without being too heavy. A good choice to start the meal.

Since we were at a restaurant that specializes in Oysters, Rina felt it would be remiss of us not to try it. I wouldn't be the Pickiest Eater in The World if I willingly ate a dish that looked like a giant booger, right? So as you can imagine, I ordered the dish for her, but passed on tasting it myself,choosing to focus on the Cheese Puffs instead.

She enjoyed the oysters' freshness and naturally, the baked cheese.

ENTREES

MEAT

Joel ordered the Boneless Spareribs, something that I had contemplated ordering (Apart from the Sole Fillet). Joel let me taste a bit of it, and though the meat was tender enough, the flavor was nothing really special. It had a sweet BBQ sauce that wouldn't set this dish apart from any other run of the mill restaurant.

I ordered Lamb BBQ for Rina and I to share. Thin strips of delicious lamb grilled just right so that its natural flavors shine. In lieu of mint Jelly, it had a thin mint sauce that complimented the smokiness of the lightly charred lamb meat. It also came with a buttery rice pilaf.

SEAFOOD

I have yet to try their other meat dishes or even their burgers, but to me, it's Mr. Rockefeller's Seafood that stands tall in their menu.

Once Rina saw Gambas Risotto on the menu, she started missing the taste of the one she had at Chelsea Market, and had hoped that this came close to it. Well, she finished all the shrimp on her own, but she was kind enough to leave me some risotto to try (i'm kidding, I don't eat shrimp). Though it isn't to the level of Chelsea just yet, the risotto was quite creamy and cheesy. The light acid on roasted peppers offered a wonderful breaker to the richness of the cheese.

Joel also ordered the Fish & Chips, after seeing the waiter bring it out for another table earlier. With its sheer size, it looked like a little battleship, so it immediately caught our attention. It had a nice coating of breadcrumbs, that would reveal a beautifully cooked white fish. Although I do believe they would have benefited from using a slightly thinner fillet, because the chunkiness of the fish would help the dish lose it's crispiness. (It was just pretty much the ends were that were the crispiest parts)

Oh and another thing, I absolutely loved their french fries! It was deliciously crispy, and had a unique texture to it. I was contemplating ordering a side order for fear of me picking them off from Joel's plate one by one before he even got a chance to try it.

Donna ordered the Baked White Fish.. and then I found yet ANOTHER fish dish from Mr. Rockefeller that blew my mind. The harmony of the fish, cheese and butter baked to perfection. The fish just virtually melted in your mouth. The flavorful rice it came with was also a nice touch to the dish, and added a bit of acid so the creaminess doesn't overwhelm you.

This might not have been as phenomenal as the one I had at Cookbook Kitchen last year, but it does come quite close.

Finally I was once again reunited with the Alaskan Sole Fillet. There was something slightly different with the consistency of the sauce from the last time I tried it. Even flavor-wise, the sauce was a bit more "citrusy" than I remembered. But it doesn't mean the dish still didn't kick ass the way it used to. The Sole fillet was cooked immaculately, and the sauce had a zesty, yet creamy flavor to it that just immersed the fish into awesomeness.

The garlic noodles are amazing. I'm so glad they offer it in the menu as a stand alone order, because if they didn't I was gonna write to Mr. Rockefeller himself and suggest it. The light kick of garlic offered a wonderful counter-punch to the richness of the sauce, and it worked together just perfectly.

A meal with Joel isn't complete without some form of dessert, and he ended up ordering this rich chocolate cake.Chocolate lovers will love this, because it was chocolate upon chocolate upon chocolate. It was decadent and moist with a deep choco flavor. To me it was average, but that's mainly because i'm used to the awesomeness of Oz Cakes, so my standards for cakes are pretty high.

Among all the valuable lessons my boss has ever taught me, I would have to say that this is one of the ones that stuck with me the most (I'm sure he won't be happy to hear that). The next time I go, I'll probably give their burger or ribs a whirl!

OTHER PICS

My beautiful wife with the lovely Donna

My work lunch Buddies...
The lovely Donna and My Giant, Joel!

THE RECIPES KILLER COMBO: RECIPES BY CAFE METRO

2012-02-01T12:21:00.000+08:00

In case you're new to my Blog, I just wanted to let you know that as of today (February 1, 2012), The first ever Pickiest Eater In The World Contest Giveaway is underway, and you can find out the details on how to join by clicking out the post HERE. Get a chance to win Gift Certificates for P5,000.00 worth of services from CATHY VALENCIA SKIN AND BODY CENTER! Guys, if you need pogi points with your girls, this could be your chance! (Unless you wanna use it yourself of course.. Umm.. We're not here to judge)

In case you were wondering, It's a table napkin.

Not some woman's underwear.

Though Recipes is easily one of my favorite "Go-to" restaurants, I still haven't been able to blog about it just yet. I first discovered it through My Giant, Joel, who told me it's the favorite restaurant of his daughter, Gwen. He told me that I should try their famous vegetable dish, called "Gising Gising", which happens to be the favorite dish of his daughter, Gwen. Naturally, the moment I heard the word "Vegetable", I balked, but he simply said, "Dude, just try it. I guarantee you'll like it". Whenever they ask Gwen where she wants to eats, she has chosen Recipes so many times that the waiters at the Trinoma branch already know him by face.

I trust the man with all my heart, and guess what? He was right. Ever since then, Recipes is always one of the first places I suggest to friends whenever they ask me where to eat around the Greenbelt area.

My dear friend Rain suggested we finally go to Recipes to treat out our friend Dolps, who once again moved heaven and Earth to make sure our project deadline wouldn't be missed.. also giving me a perfect chance to finally blog about it.

We got to the Greenbelt 3 branch around 12noon, and it was already jam packed. Word of advice to those who haven't been here yet, I strongly suggest you go around 11am or 6pm.. BEFORE the meal hours because the place gets full really quick. Although there are tables outside in the al fresco area, you can expect those to get snapped up right away as well.

Yes, the food is THAT good.

I'd like to say that the ambiance is nice and cozy, however, if you go during the height of rush hour, expect to have to speak at higher decibel level than usual. So if you're thinking of going there for a meeting or an intimate night out with a girl you're trying to impress, you might want to rethink your plans. However if you're looking for a full on food trip, then Recipes can do you no wrong.

Whenever I go there, there are three dishes that I NEED to order, if not, the universe will explode. I call this my "Recipes Killer Combo" (Corny I know, but I can't think of anything better at the moment).

THE FOOD

*Quick Disclaimer*: Rina wasn't with me during the taking of these photos, so forgive me if they look a bit too orangey for your liking! I guarantee you everything looks awesome in real life :)

I always tell people that I can easily go without plain rice in my meal. However when it's any form of fried rice,then that's a whole different story. Recipe's Cafe Metro Garlic Rice (P48) is awesome. It's sticky, and smooth, and has a dark brown color because it was fried in soy sauce or some sort of seasoning. When it gets to your table, I bet you can't stare at it for very long without taking a spoonful of it alone.

Once you have your garlic rice, you're set to take on the mains.. starting with.....

#1 Gising Gising

You CANNOT go to Recipes without ordering their Gising Gising (P170). This is stuff of legend. I'll say it again, Joel was right on the money. Honestly I don't know what vegetable was used to make this glorious creation, nor do I care. I love the mix of the veggies with the coconut milk, that gives it a distinct creaminess that I find so addicting. We asked ours to be only mildly spicy (They change levels of heat based on your request), but I heard this can get so spicy, it will definitely well the hell up out of you (Hence the name?).

I can't think of a vegetable dish that I love more than this.

#2 General's Chicken (P215)

Wonderfully tender breaded cutlets of chicken deep fried to crispy perfection then glazed in an amazing sweet sauce. The dish is served with little slices of eggplant that offers a nice contrast to sweetness.

Easily one of my all time favorite chicken dishes. Sorry, Colonel, but the General outranks you.

#3 Crispy Tilapia with Tamarind Sauce (P220)

The beauty of this is in its simplicity, really. Deep fried strips of crunchy tilapia that just melds with the sweet tamarind sauce flawlessly. I don't know if they just used cornstarch to bread the fish, but it brought out my feral side, because I found myself chewing on the fish bones until every last morsel was gone.

Something my friends ordered was the Lechon Kawali with Kangkong (P215). I don't know if i've ever mentioned this before, but although I'm a big fan of pork, Lechon Kawali is one of the few pork dishes that I'm not too fond of. Mainly because they all usually taste the same, whether you order it at a restaurant or at home. This one was no exception.

Crunchy pieces of deep fried pork laid on a bed of Kangkong.. It was ok, but If it were up to me, I would've just ordered another bowl of General's Chicken.

(Oh and for the record, my mom makes the best Lechon Kawali known to man)

My Recipes Killer combo (without the Lechon Kawali, mind you) could feed around three people and it would set you back around P250 per person. Trust me it's totally worth it.

PIX

With my buddies Bril and Super Dolps!

My dear friend Rain, the Lovely Donna, and my buddy Mel, showing us how he auditioned for the part of "Rum Tum Tugger" in the musical, "Cats"

RECIPES MENU

BABY RAIN'S FIRST DAY OUT! MAKANMAKAN: ASIAN FOOD VILLAGE

2012-01-30T11:49:00.001+08:00

In case you're new to my Blog, I just wanted to let you know that as of today (January 30, 2012), The first ever Pickiest Eater In The World Contest Giveaway is underway, and you can find out the details on how to join by clicking out the post HERE. Get a chance to win Gift Certificates for P5,000.00 worth of services from CATHY VALENCIA SKIN AND BODY CENTER! Guys, if you need pogi points with your girls, this could be your chance! (Unless you wanna use it yourself of course.. Umm.. We're not here to judge)

So it was Chaikka's (Rina's sister) birthday last Saturday, so she and Rina had planned a family outing at Manila Ocean park, mainly because my Father In Law has a fascination for Marine life. Apart from it being Chaikka's birthday celebration, this day also marked the first time Baby Rain would be going on a Baby's day out, so Rina and I were doubly excited.

Rina and I have agreed that we wouldn't be taking Rain out to public so much while she's an infant, however this was a special case because it was her Ninang's birthday, and since we would ALL be out, Rina wasn't too comfortable with the thought of leaving Rain at home knowing Chaikka wouldn't be nearby in case of any (god forbid) emergencies (Chaikka and my dad in law lives in the same village we do).

Naturally, they asked me where we could eat around that area, and I immediately suggested "Makanmakan: Asian Food Village", which I had been hearing some very good things about. Lucky for me, my in laws were up for it.

In fact, this lunch was extra memorable for me, because It reaffirmed that choosing Rina as my wife, was the best decision I had ever made. Not just just because she's so amazing.. but because her family and I get along so well..

How well? Well let's just put it this way.. I find it hard to believe that I would find another family that would order three types of Pork Spareribs for lunch.

See what I mean? Destiny.

I'm not sure if Makanmakan is the default cafe of H20 Hotel, the hotel built into Manila Ocean Park. But what I did find weird about my visit there was a small issue: The dilapidated menus were very unbecoming of a restaurant situated in a hotel. It was all tattered, and taped together almost like it got ran over by a Mack truck.

Apart from that though, it was hard to find fault in anything else. The place is spacious and beautiful.. Elegant and casual at the same time, and it reminded me a lot of Food Republic, in Singapore. The service was impeccable, most noticeably Captain Waiter Johnathan, who help ensure that our visit to Makanmakan would be a memorable one.

THE FOOD

STARTERS

We started off the meal with Makan Makan Supreme Thick Soup (Good for 2-3 P400, good for 4-5 P550), which is filled with bamboo shoots and assorted seafoods. It could have been a result of the 2 1/2 car ride that Don took us on just to get to Manila Ocean park, but my Father in Law really went to town on his bowl, finishing two in a matter of minutes. I tasted it myself, but not really my cup of tea.. or bowl of soup for that matter. So living true to my moniker, after a quick spoonful, I was done.

My dad in law also ordered the Roasted Duck Salad (P180). I could smell the strong acid of the vinegar dressing from far away, so I knew I shouldn't taste it for fear of a hyper acidity attack.

The dish had lovely colors and the vegetables they used looked fresh, and the duck seemed to be cooked just right. Again, my dad and law seemed to enjoy it very much. But it was a salad so I took a glance at it and looked the other way (hehe).

Now THIS is what I was waiting for. I took a small bite into the warm, Roti Prata (P120) and was sold. This was absolutely delicious. It was moist and flaky.. everything I was looking for in an Indian Flat bread. The bread itself was already a wonderful treat, but when dipped into the lightly sweet curry sauce, magical things happened in my mouth.

In my entire life, I can safely say that the best curry I've ever had is the one my mom and my yaya makes. Makanmakan's curry sauce is the closest I've ever tasted to it, so that was a great effort on their part. Chaikka, who supposedly isn't so fond of curry, found herself ordering ANOTHER plate of this FOR DESSERT.

DIMSUM

A nice note about Makanmakan is that they have good selection of Dimsum, at very reasonable prices! Their Hakaw (P105 for 4 pieces) featured plump pieces of shrimps wrapped up and steamed to juicy goodness (according to Rina).

I ordered some steamed Siomai (P95 for 4 pcs), which was pretty good.. but nothing spectacular. Nothing you couldn't get from North Park or the like. Although it did give me something else to dip into the curry sauce when the roti prata was all gone.

Chaikka ordered the Cheung Fun Shrimp (P120), which was minced shrimp and chinese Chorizo, enveloped in a soft wrapper and steamed. It was also doused in a delicious sweet soy sauce, that made the dish even tastier. Due to my aversion to shrimp, I didn't really try this, but I did get a taste of the sauce and I even ended up mixing some with my rice.

SPARE RIBS NO. 1

As I've mentioned before, for as long as it is on the menu, Rina WILL order Tausi Spareribs (P95). These were quite tender, and easily ripped off the bone, and had a delicious flavor to it. This would have been appreciated more had we not tried Kanzhu's version a few months earlier, becoming Rina's barometer for Spareribs with Tausi excellence.

Chaikka wanted the Crabmeat Fried Rice to go with her meal. Since I don't eat crab unless it's in the form of a Crispy wanton from P.F. Chang's, I decided to go with the classic Yang Chow fried rice (Both are P275 good for 2-3, P455 good for 4-5) . It had all the components of a good Yang Chow, but nothing that would set it apart from the different Chinese restaurants across the metro.

The Hainanese Chicken (Single Plate, P160)could go head to head with Wee Nam Kee, and only loses out in the battle of Chicken Rice. The chicken itself was cooked to a delicate white color, and had a subtle yet delicious flavor chicken that was enhanced by the ginger sauce. (I stayed away from the Chili).

SPARE RIBS NO. 2

The birthday Girl is a big fan of Salt and Pepper Spare Ribs (P350), so she didn't hesitate upon seeing Makanmakan had their own version. It was fried perfectly so that it was crunchy on the exterior, but immaculately white on the inside, with the juices evident when pierced through with a spoon. The peppers gave the dish a tinge of spiciness, but not enough to get even the weakest of tongues running for water. It came with a chili vinegar dip that I stayed away from, and instead, used to curry sauce from time to time hehe..

SPARE RIBS NO. 3

Apart from the Roti Prata, the other dish I requested for was the Fried Coffee Spareribs (Good for 2-3 P390, 4-5 P630) . This was a masterstroke on my part because even Rina, who isn't a huge fan of sweet dishes, thoroughly enjoyed it as well!

The ribs were amazingly tender, and I had no problems slicing through it with the edge of my spoon. The coffee sauce had a delightful sweet, yet smokey taste to it that just seemed to work.

I would have no problems going back to Makanmakan, and perhaps the next time, choose more diverse entrees, however I would definitely order the Roti Prata again, and would recommend the Fried Coffee Spareribs.

As funny as it sounds, this was pretty much the highlight of my day, because I wasn't really impressed with Manila Ocean Park (But that's a whole different story). Don't get me wrong, the wonders of the marine animals were truly a sight to behold but.. I wasn't really too pleased with the crowd, and apart from that, I'm still on the fence whether parks like this is actually a good idea.

Call me old fashioned but I'm a firm believer that all animals belong in their natural habitat, but that's just me. :)

OTHER PIX

"Over Here we have soy chicken.. and here, pork asado..."

Rina wasn't too pleased to hear me teaching Baby Rain

about the different meats at such a young age..

Even the thought of riding a bike didn't faze her.

Baby Rain with Ninang "Birthday Girl" Chaikka

and Ninong "Beautiful Eyes" Don.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NINANG CHAIKKA!

MAKANMAKAN MENUMENU
(hehe)

THE MOUTH OF THE SOUTH: SODERNO AT MOLITO

2012-01-26T19:37:00.000+08:00

In case you're new to my Blog, I just wanted to let you know that as of today (January 26, 2012), The first ever Pickiest Eater In The World Contest Giveaway is underway, and you can find out the details on how to join by clicking out the post HERE. Get a chance to win Gift Certificates for P5,000.00 worth of services from CATHY VALENCIA SKIN AND BODY CENTER! Guys, if you need pogi points with your girls, this could be your chance! (Unless you wanna use it yourself of course.. Umm.. We're not here to judge)

Though my long awaited trip to P.F. Chang's would have been the main event to a normal man, but not to me. P.F. Chang's was only Phase 1 of my plan for that Saturday. The second phase got set into motion later that evening, when we made our way to Soderno at Molito in Alabang.

Though I've been to Soderno's siblings, Mercato Centrale and Distrito numerous times, this would be the very first time I would be visiting the Southern incarnation.

The reason I wanted to go to Soderno was for the food (naturally), however, Raquel and Julio wanted to check out the "lifestyle" section of the market, because they were interested in getting a stall for their business, "Bug & Kelly: Rock Inspired Kids Wear".

Soderno looks like a mini Mercato Centrale, with an airconditioned tent that has some of the fashion booths and dessert stalls in it, that leads into the outdoor (but still covered) area where most of the food stalls are located.

Perhaps the only problem with Soderno's setup is that the seating area is nowhere near enough to accommodate the large volume of Soderno's customers. Throughout my entire stay there.. Roughly around an hour and a half, we didn't get to find an available table, and I ate my meals standing up.

THE FOOD

PANZAROTTI

The first stall that caught my attention was "Panzarotti", which featured a selection of what I assumed were Calzones, including one with a white sauce, called "Bianca". I say "Assume" because there's nothing there that specifically says it is indeed in fact, a calzone.

I think the Bianca was made specifically for me. Apart from the creamy white alfredo sauce that is tummy friendly for me, It was filled with bacon, and corn, and a little mushrooms. What made this even better was the deep fried pocket that encased the entire filling. It was thin and crispy, and had a beautiful crunch to it with every bite I took.

CHICAGO DEEP DISH PIZZA AND PASTA

Something that I've been seeing a lot of while i've been making the rounds at the food market circuit is Chicago Deep Dish Pizza and Pasta. Unfortunately though, they didn't have a white sauce variant so I was wary to try any of them.

Naturally, I was intrigued by the Meat Lovers Deep Dish Pizza (P150 a slice) the most. I was about to order one of those huge slices, when Rina gave me the evil eye. Like I've mentioned before, Pizza is my personal kryptonite, because the tomato sauce messes me up, so I ended up not trying it.

The sheer size of it though is very impressive, which my friends Leslie and Jerwin described as two thick crust slices of pizza placed on top of another and topped with cheese. Flavor-wise, I decline to comment because I didn't get to try it... Yet ;)

MAECHIBOG

I was going around the aisles looking for something to eat when I came across the booth of 'Maechibog", which specializes in beef products.

Throughout all my visits to Mercato, I've tried two different Roast Beefs. One I absolutely loved, the other one, well.. not so much. I was curious which side this one would fall under.

Watching them slice the beef up though was very encouraging, because the knife cut the meat like a hot knife through butter. The crust of the meat light charred color to it, while the meat had a nice pink color with the perfect marbling of fat.

The gravy that was poured on the meat was a bit thicker than what I'm used to. In fact it came off a bit gelatinous, but taste-wise, this was phenomenal. The beef just melted in my mouth. It was so good that all of a sudden I found myself eating standing up. I refused to wait for a table to free up. I normally don't like marble potatoes, but these were cooked just right, and had a heart flavor that was brought on by Maechibog's smart move of resting them in the roast beef pan, so it soaked up all the juices of the meat. For P130 bucks, this was a steal.

Raquel was walking around in search of the Black Paella that she had heard about. She finally found the stall of Case Goni, but ironically, despite the fact that she was talking about it all day, she ended up NOT ordering the Paella Negra. Instead, much to my delight, she ended up ordering the Wagyu Paella.

The Wagyu Paella was quite good, with the rice having the stickiness that I usually look for in Paella. It seemed to be more soy sauce based instead of tomato, so that was plus points for them in my book. I would have preferred it if the strips of Wagyu beef were bigger. But something Raquel brought up rang true for me. As good as the dish was, the flavor was a bit too rich, and your taste buds were looking for a breaker. Maybe some roasted peppers would have done the trick.

Nonetheless, I still think this was a brilliant idea, and kudos to_____ for thinking it up.

CARNIVORES SNACK SHACK

How could I NOT make a beeline for a food stall called "Carnivores" Snack Shack? And when I saw what they were serving, Cheese steaks and instead of fries, Mojo potatoes, It felt like the mother shop was calling me home.

For it's price, the meat was surprisingly tender and I liked their use of Ciabatta bread for the bun. They were very liberal with their creamy cheese sauce as well. For P110 bucks, I think that's a great deal!

BIG DADDY JAY'S ALL AMERICAN BBQ

Though it's a bit pricier than the other stalls, "Big Daddy Jay's" Ribs is definitely a stall you should stop by.

The dude behind the stall explained the process of making the ribs is an intricate one, which includes curing it for nearly 24 hours and smoking it for another 4. which explains why the meat virtually falls off the bone.

WICKED BITES

Rina and I were looking for what we could have for dessert, and we stopped in our tracks as soon as we saw the booth of "Wicked Bites".

Why, you asked?

FRIED OREOS & FRIED TWIX, THATS WHY.

Holy crap, these women are insane. I've heard of Fried Oreos before, but Twix?!? Are you frickin' kidding me??

Oreos are dipped into a bucket of batter and dropped into a deep fryer until the exterior becomes lightly crispy, yet soft to the bite inside

After a sprinkling of confectionery sugar your Oreos are ready to be devoured.

The coating is pretty amazing. The closest way to describe the taste of it would be that it's similar to the dough of "Li'l Orbits" doughnuts, complete with the hint of cinnamon.

The Twix undergoes the same magical process and in my opinion,
has its awesomeness enhanced by infinity point five.

At these rates, I don't understand how I wasn't stealing from them!

Rina with the wicked ladies of Wicked Bites

Wicked Bites' Deep Fried Goodies were a perfect way to cap off a memorable food trip at Soderno!

Although the place needs a bigger seating area, the food choices helps to alleviate that issue. Going to Soderno made me miss Distrito even more! Don't let the distance phase you. It doesn't matter if you're from the North.. If you love food, there's no excuse.. You have got to make at least one trip to Soderno! I promise you.. It's totally worth it!

SOUTHERN HOSPITALITY

We bumped into my cousin's wife, Eileen at Soderno!
After a bit, we saw my cousin Tonito too, but we weren't able to get a pic :(

hadn't seen my old buddy Roland in quite a while,
so it was great to bump into him!

You and the family are looking good, buddy!

It was awesome to bump into Big Daddy Vic!
Also known as "Extra Rice Please"!
We're both members of the MyFoodTrip Community,
but this was the first time we met face to face!

Bro, Rina and my sister loved your isaw!

The Pickiest Eater In The World Likes This

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR AT P.F. CHANG'S PHILIPPINES!

2012-01-23T11:50:00.000+08:00

In case you're new to my Blog, I just wanted to let you know that as of today (January 19, 2012), The first ever Pickiest Eater In The World Contest Giveaway is underway, and you can find out the details on how to join by clicking out the post HERE. Get a chance to win Gift Certificates for P5,000.00 worth of services from CATHY VALENCIA SKIN AND BODY CENTER! Guys, if you need pogi points with your girls, this could be your chance! (Unless you wanna use it yourself of course.. Umm.. We're not here to judge)

The only reason why she looks so tall is cuz she's wearing heels.

And umm.. I'm wearing "flats".

My sister Raquel and I made plans during the Christmas break for me to visit her over at the South. I hadn't been to Alabang since my trip to The Wooden Horse Steak House so I thought it would be fun to find a place to eat over at the other side of the metro. At first I was targeting one of those hole in the wall restaurants around BF, but I found out through Rina's friend that there was a restaurant that was opening in Alabang Town Center (Not at The Fort, as I originally heard through the grapevine) - one that I had seen and heard about quite often, but never got to try. Wouldn't it be a cool way to celebrate the Chinese New Year weekend at the newly opened P.F. Chang's?

And as a lover of the Chinese Cuisine, I swore to myself that as soon as P.F. Chang's opens its doors in the Philippines, I owed it to myself to finally get a taste of what the fuss is all about. So on January 19th, 2012, P.F. Chang's finally opened for business at Alabang Town Center.

Two days later, I found myself speeding down South Super Highway on my way to Alabang.

I never fail to get lost whenever I'm at Alabang Town Center, but as I think eating at P.F. Chang's was really meant to be, because Rina and I found it immediately even without asking for directions. On our way there, we bumped into Julio and Raquel, so I asked them if they already knew where it was. Raquel said, "Of course, you can't miss it. Just look for the soldiers!". Lo, and behold, as we turned the corner, the imposing statues of the Terracotta Warriors were lined up right before the structure, helping hype up your P.F. Chang's experience. Also present, was the famous 11 foot statue of the majestic stallion that guards the door of the restaurant.

The horse symbolizes the forbidden city in China. (I don't know why, but that's what their website says.)

The interiors were simply breathtaking. Naturally, the area had the strong influence of the orient in its decors, most noticeably the beautiful tapestry on the wall, however the robust wooden finishing gave the place a strong stamp of the Western world. Considering that they had the whole building to themselves, the place was huge, and could fit approximately 245 guests.

In my own, humble opinion, P.F. Changs was successful in transporting you into a world of their own.

I'll be honest with you. Since they had only been fully operational for two whole days, I was expecting the service to be terrible. But nothing could have been further from the truth. Our server, the lovely Aira, was a delight to have around (and quite easy on the eyes, so that kinda helped), as was all the other members of the front of the house. They were all pleasant with a cheerful disposition, and kept things casual. You had your usual, "maa'm and "Sir", but they were more than willing to engage you in conversation, and playful banter which made you feel so welcome.

The American staff was noticeably present to train the local crew, and were unafraid to get in on the action. But the Pinoys really did a great job in implementing everything they learned. I hope they keep it up when the American staff leaves in Feb.

Aira showed us the different types of condiments and seasonings that is served with the food, which included chili paste, chili oil, soy sauce, hot mustard and vinegar (did I get it right, Aira?).

Then she came up with her own concotion for us which she called "Aira's Bliss Sauce" (or something to that effect) which Julio enjoyed because of the spicy kick it had, courtesy of the generous helping of hot mustard.

So, we had all our condiments in place, so it was time to get our game face on and see what this P.F. Chang's was really all about.

THE FOOD

STARTERS

The first dish to arrive was the Crab Wonton (Can't remember the price, sorry). On a normal day, I wouldn't have even bothered trying this because I abhor crab, but my sister said to me, "You keep talking about wanting to try P.F. Chang's, now that it's finally here, you won't try all the dishes?". That made perfect sense, so I said to her, Rina and I will share a wonton.

Then I closed my eyes and took a bite. I opened them up again, turned to Rina who was waiting for her half of the wonton and said, "Get your own, woman!".

This is perhaps the ONLY crab dish that I have ever eaten in my entire life. And I LOVED it.

In fact, just last week, my cousin Paolo took me to a Chinese restaurant and I even refused to eat their Cream of Corn and Crab soup, even though the crab meat were actually just tiny little bits.

But this was gooooood. The crab meat was mixed into some sort of cream and spices, rolled up into a little pocket and deep fried beautifully. Basically I liked it because it didn't taste anything like crab. It came with a sweet plum sauce, but I enjoyed it more with the sweetish soy sauce.

Of course, you CANNOT go to P.F. Chang's without trying their signature dish, Chang's Chicken Lettuce Wrap (around P285 I think). This is the dish that put P.F. Chang's on the map. Although my request for them to replace the lettuce with bacon was rebuffed, I said I was going to try it anyway.

The ground chicken was laid out on a bed of crispy rice noodles, and was mixed with shitake mushrooms and minced water chestnuts.

Perhaps the only thing that was giving me apprehensions was the lettuce. Although in the scope of the vegetable world, lettuce is the lesser evil, but it's still a vegetable nonetheless. Before Raquel could give me the same speech she did with the Crab Wonton, I filled up my lettuce cup with chicken and prepared myself for consumption.

Again, despite it being wrapped in lettuce, it was actually really good! The meat had a nice harmony of sweet and saltiness that balanced each other just right, and you got the crunchy of the lettuce and noodles in every bite. I can't imagine any other situation in which I would be eat lettuce so willingly.

But truth be told, in the end, my dislike for vegetables got the better of me and I found myself eating the delicious chicken meat with rice.. Speaking of which...

P.F. Chang's fried Rice (P209 w/ chicken) is pretty darn awesome. It was soft and sticky with a nice blend of spices and soy that gives a touch of flavor that won't overpower your entrees. It's actually really good even just alone (but eating it alone would mean missing out on other great dishes hehe).

Something that was proven to me during my visit to P.F. Chang's was- When it comes to the Sweet and Sour Pork (P265 good for 2) department, we totally smoke the Americans. The dish had a nice sweetness to it, but the meat itself was a bit too chunky and the coating easily peeled off.

By no means was this awful, but I've had far better from other local restaurants. I actually enjoyed Harbor City's legendary sweet and sour and even North Park's version more.

Due to his high cholesterol, Julio has gone on a diet, so he chose a dish that he felt would be the most "healthy" for him. I don't know if this is healthy or not, but.. He chose wisely.

I loved the Ginger Chicken with Broccoli! First off, they used thin slices of chicken breasts that were so moist and juicy, you wouldn't notice that it was white meat. It was bathed in a lightly sweet thin ginger sauce that help the chicken meat come alive in your taste buds. If you mix the sauce with the rice, you're golden!

The broccoli.. well.. The Broccoli was there. Julio said it was good. *shrug*

Even though we had a pork dish already, we decided to go with the Mu Shu Pork (P385 to P400 I think) as our second dish. Its basically minced pork with shredded scrambled egg, mushrooms and bean sprouts, served in a warm Chinese Pancake.

The waiter asked us if we wanted him to wrap it for us. Since we had no clue how it was supposed to be wrapped, we were game. He started off by placing hoisin in the center than spreading it out.

He dumped the meat inside, folded the sides, spread more hoisin, and viola! You have a neat pocket of meat on your plate!

It looked easy enough, right?

Then he let me try it.

As you can see from his reaction, I got the very first step wrong. Being the carnivore that I am, I went for the meat instead of the sauce.

So I thought I was getting the hang of it, and started becoming cocky. Of course when I started to try to fold it, I realized that I may not have gotten everything exactly the way it should be.

In the end, it was nowhere near as orderly as the first one the waiter made, but Rina was still proud of my efforts!

Raquel, on the other hand, asked me to get the hell out of there already and let the waiter do his job so she could eat the darn thing! The Hoisin gave it a sweet touch, and the mixture of different flavors brought on by the chicken, egg and vegetables were a delightful combination.

Something we realized after devouring most of the dishes was that, everything we ordered had a tinge of sweetness to it. Maybe next time we should take that into consideration hehe.

Oh, before I forget, Julio ordered the "Buddha Feast" (P195 good for 2), which was basically stir fried vegetables with some baked tofu in it. He seemed to really like it a lot (He's my brother in law, and I love him dearly, but I often worry about poor Julio).

He bet me that I couldn't down a forkful of the vegetables. I must admit it was a valiant effort on my part, but in the end, Julio won.

(But only because I was already really full!)

Ground Floor Dining Area

Because we were so excited just to be there and engrossed in our conversations with Raqs and Julio, Rina and I completely forgot to take pictures of the menu! But as soon as they update their website or post it on their FB or something (Or when I go back, because I plan to again), I'll post it.

Second Floor dining area

"Chili's" rate would be a good price range, with dishes ranging from P350-P500. Except the Beef and lamb dishes though.. which goes from around P500 and up.

You can check out their menu (without the prices) HERE.

The man behind the legend, Phillip Chiang was here for the opening of the first branch in the Philippines. I told Rina if by chance he's there at the restaurant when we visited, I'd ambush him for a picture. Unfortunately, according to Aira, he had already left.

There are a few more dishes that I really want to try, so I'm considering going back there really soon!

PHOTO ALBUM

Hanging out with my Stoner friends, the Terracotta soldiers.

No matter how macho the horse looked, to Rina it was a "Good Horsey".

Julio and Raquel's day out without the kids!

Of course a drop of water falls from the sky, and on to my shirt,
right on my nipple just before I take a picture with a beautiful girl.
And it was a sunny day too, so I have no clue where that drop of water came from.
I had to explain that I wasn't lactating.

Oh, in case you were wondering who the beautiful girl was in this post's cover photo was, that would be Diane, a member of P.F. Chang's U.S. Crew.

We decided to be just friends,
because the distance was a bit too much for her to bear.

And when I say "Distance", I mean "Height difference".

See you again very soon P.F. Chang's!

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!

NEXT POST: PART II OF MY TRIP TO THE SOUTH!

CRASHING THE STOCK MARKET CAFE!

2012-01-19T13:11:00.001+08:00

Just before the Christmas break began, my lunch buddies, (My giant) Joel and the lovely Donna couldn't figure out what to do for lunch (Which is becoming more and more of a problem these days). Since the Christmas season was looming upon us, the last days at the office were a little bit slower than the usual, so everyone in general was feeling lax. Joel asked if we wanted to go out for lunch for a change. The last time we went out, we ended up in Ma Maison, which wasn't so bad, but a member of the Bistro Group of Restaurants, the group that slighted me a couple of years ago.

To us, "going crazy" for lunch means driving off for a quick lunch at the nearby Greenbelt. This time, however, Greenbelt wasn't going to cut it for us anymore. Joel suggested we head off to Bonifacio High Street foar a change.

After strolling a little around High Street we realized that the restaurant choices around that area isn't something you can't find around Makati Business District. Fridays, Brother's Burgers, Italianni's.. There was one restaurant that I knew was there that I hadn't tried yet.. Stock Market Cafe.

We checked out the menu and decided on there.. Not knowing I was about to be in for a big surprise.

Joel had been here a year or so ago, and remembered enjoying it. But Joel being Joel, he has no recollection what it was he ate there, apart from the huge crepe for dessert. With it's white interiors and huge picture windows, I found the place to have a relaxing atmosphere.

We ordered our food, and we were minding our own business when the waitress walked up to us and asked if we would like to avail of their discount card for the group of restaurants their under.

I felt a little pinch in my gut and asked, "What's the name of our group?". She replied with a smile, "The Bistro Group, Sir". I buried my face into my hands and shook my head. Once again, I unknowingly walked into the lair of my nemesis, The Bistro Group. Yes, the same owners as Flapjacks, Krazy Garlik, Pig Out and the most recent, Ma Maison. The same people that didn't give me my card after I purchased it from them.

I explained to the waitress my gripe with The Bistro Group, but she assured me that If I purchased the card today, I would leave with the card TODAY as well.

In the end, I stuck by my principles and decided not to sign up for them once again.. Not until I get an explanation of what happened to the first card I purchased from them.

THE ENTREES

Joel ordered the Pork Tenderloin Madness (P475). By nature, I tend to stay away from tenderloin cuts because of its lack of fat, which was the case with this dish. Though the pork actually did have a nice charred flavor to it, and the Barbeque sauce it came with was very tasty, but as meat does when there's too little fat in it, it came off to me as a little dry.

Joel was pleased when he saw in the menu that it came with a side salad, which turned out to be just a couple of leaves of lettuce, a couple of onions and some stuff that looked like dried cranberries.

I was contemplating between getting the Porky Chops (P595) or the country style spareribs. Since the Porky Chops had Canadian Bacon in it, that eventually won out. I was pleasantly surprised with the size of the dish. But taking the price into account, then I guess I DESERVED two Pork Chops instead of one. This is actually good for two people (Or in my case, one RichieZ). The chops were fried into a gorgeous golden brown, and it was topped with a rich mushroom ragout, which I felt the porkchop could have used a little bit more of.

Inside the chops revealed a stuffing filled with rich cheese and Canadian bacon. The creaminess of the cheese enveloped the smoky bacon and was a nice contrast to the dry crispiness of the breading. It was actually quite good, and I almost didn't finish both pork chops! (I'm lying. I could have taken on three.)

Donna ordered the Southwest Fish and Chips (P395), which had a rather unique presentation. Four large pieces of fish were placed in four separate bowls and filled with french fries and White Corn Nacho chips, then placed neatly on a huge platter alongside two different types of dips.

I'm assuming the light "pepperiness" of the bread coating is what made this "Southwestern", but regardless of the name, it was quite delicious. The beautifully crunchy golden exterior gave way to a spotless piece of white fish. The fries tasted similar to Mcdonald's twister fries, and the corn chips also had a nice salty flavor. The fish went well with the garlic dip (I think it was aioli). Perhaps the only comment I had was, considering the price, I think they could have come up with a more creative second dip aside from "Ketchup". A Honey Mustard, maybe? Or a Southwestern BBQ sauce? But apart from that, one of the better Fish and Chips I've ever tasted.

DESSERT

Even before ordering a single entree, Joel declared he would be ordering the La Sorbonne for dessert. The La Sorbonne (P275) is a huge battleship of a crepe, filled with fresh mango, banana and ice cream. The crepe itself was light and delicate, with a touch of sweet, milky flavor. I prefer my crepes a little bit more done though. Truth be told, I honestly didn't think this was anything special. I could get something better at La Creperie for much cheaper.

If you're the type of guy like me that would willingly eat whipped cream straight off the spray can, then you'll enjoy the Banana Explosion (P275) . It's basically fried bananas that was coated in a special "butter" (I think they may have meant "batter"), laid out on a bed of whipped cream, drizzled with strawberry and chocolate sauce, with a scoop of ice cream in the center. This had a whole lot of potential to it, but I feel that they needed to make a deep fried bananas crunchier. it was a bit underdone, making the interior of the deep fried bananas barely distinguishable from normal bananas.

Donna ordered the "Flaming Fruity" (P295), assuming that it was some sort of a Flambe' dish. Despite the fact he brought it out in a frying pan, we were told by the waiter it was not, because it could possibly be dangerous. So since there were no flames here, it was just "fruity" (So why'd they call it that?).

I actually didn't like this at all. It was basically just a thick cut of plain pineapple, slices of plain bananas, that were bathed in a caramel that lacked punch flavor-wise, and succeeded in getting in between every single tooth in my mouth and hardening, making it difficult to remove afterwards.

In the end though, our sweet tooth(s) got the better of us, and we worked together to finish our respective desserts (except for Donna, but mainly because the caramel made the dessert virtually impossible to eat without fearing a trip to the dentist).

Lunch Buddies, The lovely Donna and my Giant, Joel!

I could easily see myself liking a lot of the dishes The Stock Market Cafe has to offer (Like the burgers and ribs), however the price range is a bit too rich for my blood, so I doubt I'd be able to try them all. I would recommend their entrees to a friend, but their desserts? Nah.. I've had much better for far cheaper.

MENU

THE PICKIEST EATER IN THE WORLD'S 2012 CONTEST GIVEAWAY!

2012-01-16T11:58:00.000+08:00

Yes, This is what I wear to work. Thank you Mrs. Mosuela for the pic!

As I've mentioned in my New Year's post, 2011 has been a wonderful year for me and my family. The most notable achievements were of course, the worry-free pregnancy of my wife, Rina, and the safe birth of my daughter Rain. That's pretty much all I could ask for from God, but thankfully he didn't stop there.

In the blog front, our site was selected as a Finalist in the Philippine Blog Awards, The Pickiest Eater site has hit an all time high in terms of hits per day, and just a few days ago, we finally hit 900 "likes" on Facebook. So as you can imagine, things have also been going quite well.

Sometime in December, a regular visitor of the Pickiest Eater Facebook page, "Perris Will" mentioned that I should hold a giveaway for my readers. I actually held something similar a couple of months ago with the help of my Myfoodtrip family, and we gave away passes to the movie, "Rakenrol". I mentioned that I did intend to host another give away very soon, as a Thank You to everyone that has helped make 2011 a banner year for The Pickiest Eater In The world.

So here we are, my Blog's first solo Contest Giveaway!

When I started this blog, I aimed for it to be my version of Man V Food.. You know, pig out food that usually catch the attention of the most manliest of men. That's why you can imagine how baffled I am that as of this writing, a whopping 67% of my followers on Facebook are female! Not that I'm complaining though ;) (I love the ladies hehe)

So it's only fitting that for my "Thankful" themed first blog give away, I pay tribute to the ladies with Gift Certificates to Cathy Valencia Skin and Body Centre (Courtesy of our friends from Voice Of The South)!

Don't get me wrong, Men are eligible to join the contest too, whether for their girlfriend or for themselves! (We don't judge, here at The Pickiest Eater In The World)

The winner will receive a Cathy Valencia Skin and Body Centre Gift Certificate worth P2,000 for her and an additional P1,000 GC for three of her friends!

So that's P5,000 worth of Cathy Valencia Skin and Body Centre services!!!! (and they said I couldn't count)

Also, four lucky readers will receive consolation prizes, In the form of Two Gift Certificates from "Box-O-Rice" Katipunan Branch for One (1) Regular Flavored Meal and One (1) Junior Flavored meal (Try their Beef Salpicao if you haven't yet)! Reminder, the GC can only be redeemed at the Katipunan Branch.

There is a possibility of MORE consolation prizes coming in, however these are the only sure ball ones that I have in my hands as of this writing, and I'm not one to put all my eggs in one jockey- No wait, it's "Count chickens before they hatch", sorry- So I'll just update you all when I have other GC's with me!

So how do you join, you ask?

   Basically it's like this.. I've told you all what I am thankful for.. Now I wanna hear from you!

All you have to do is:

1) Like The Pickiest Eater In The World Facebook Page
(if you haven't yet.If you have, go straight to #2 you overachiever, you).

2) Share this post on Facebook:

- Just click on the Facebook "Share button" located below the title of this post.

- If you're already logged on to Facebook (chances are, you are hehe)
the "Share This Link" window will open with a "Write Something" box in it.
If not, the login window will appear first.

- In the box, type " @The Pickiest Eater In The World CONTEST GIVEAWAY: I am Thankful for ________________." Then Tag Three friends

In order to tag people, and the Pickiest Eater Page, don't forget to type the "@" sign before their names so their profile names become clickable for a tag via the drop down selection.

So basically it should look like something to this effect, with the required  tagged page and three names of your friends in blue:

Example:

" The Pickiest Eater In The World CONTEST GIVEAWAY: I am Thankful For Bacon. Kevin Bacon Sir Francis Bacon Bartolome Concepcion"


Of course, replace "Kevin Bacon, Sir Francis Bacon, and Bartolome Concepcion" with names of your friends, and you're good to go!

Please note that Facebook Profiles that aren't set to "Everyone" won't be visible to me, so set it to public for the meantime .

Upon announcement of the winner, the link shall be verified once more, so please do not delete the shared post.

The winner shall distribute the Gift Certificates to his/her friends at his/her sole discretion (meaning the winner can actually choose to keep all the GC's), however three friends must be tagged.

3) At the comment box of this blog post, Post your Name, URL Link of your shared post and Email address.

No info at the comments box below, no entry!

4) This contest is open to all readers in the Philippines.

But it is important to note that Cathy Valencia Clinic branches are only in Luzon, and the Box-O-Rice consolation Prize can only be redeemed in the Katipunan branch.

1) San Juan
2) White Plains
3) Alabang
4) Quezon City
5) Makati

(There's one in Tokyo too but I imagine that it's going to be a bitch of a commute hehe).

5) One entry per person only!

However, the tagged friends are welcome to enter the contest.

6) The contest starts today, January 16,2012 and ends Midnight of February 12, 2012.

The winner will be notified through email and will be announced on February 14, 2012 here in my blog, The Pickiest Eater Facebook page and Twitter account.

The Gift Certificates will be mailed to the winner, however, if a weekend meet up is possible, that would be even better so I can take some pix for the blog post!

7) Winners will be chosen through Electronic raffle software.
(I'm still figuring out which one is the best hehe)

To be clear... I know you'd find it hard to believe by looking at my face and body, but, I am not connected with Cathy Valencia Skin and Body Centre clinic in any way (Shocking, right?). The GC's were given to me by the good people from "Voice Of the South" specifically for the use of this blog giveaway.

The GC's from Box-O-Rice was given to me by the owner of the Katipunan branch, and that is why it's specific only to that Location.

So a quick Run-down:

1) Like the Pickiest Eater in The World Page (If you haven't yet)
2) Share this post on your facebook wall, and tag The Pickiest Eater In The World and Three friends and tell me what you're thankful for
3)Post your name, email address and url link of your wall post at the comments box below.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me at pickiesteater@gmail.com!

So what are you all waiting for? It's that simple, right?

May the best man or woman win!!

Once again, THANK YOU EVERYONE!!

THE KITCHEN KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOR

2012-01-13T11:04:00.000+08:00

As I've mentioned in the past, ever since my company moved its office from the convenient Palanca St. to their further out Arnaiz Avenue, I've been on a never ending quest to find some great places to eat. The area is actually packed with a wide array of choices, but some of the nearby places aren't as price friendly as that of Palanca (I'm talking about you, La Regalade). Palanca had places around it for every budget. Broke? The dependable "Mang Inasal" is just a few steps away. Want a place with nice ambiance without spending too much? You could be at the reasonably priced, yet classy places like Bob's and The Plantation in a matter of seconds. Worst case scenario? Head on over to Greenbelt, just a couple of blocks down the road.

        Lunch time isn't such a big deal for us, because we have Makati Cinema Square and Waltermart nearby. It's nowhere near the vicinity of Greenbelt in terms of food choices (and cleanliness) but both do have a respectable selection of restaurants (Try Aida's chicken if you haven't yet).

         The problem is dinner.

        When 7 to 8pm hits, we're all so exhausted, the thought of having to go out again just sounds too taxing, and you start to looking for food delivery instead. You have to understand that in my line of work, while everyone else is on their way home, 8pm to us could just be the height the action. So Sometimes we don't even eat until midnight. It's easy for me to just dial McDonald's or something, but a lot of my office mates need a decent rice meal to get them through the night.. That won't cost them an arm and a leg.

        That's when we discovered "Kitchen Knight'.

Kitchen Knight is a food delivery service that serves the Makati area whose novelty is they only deliver at night.. from 6pm to 3am in the morning. Which I think is brilliant, because with the amount of Call Centers in the country today, the nation's food delivery requirements has become a 24 hour thing. Off the top of my head, I can't think of any other restaurant that delivers into the wee hours of the morning apart from McDonald's. But the big difference between Kitchen Knight and the Golden Arches is that, the Knight serves home cooked meals, as opposed to processed meat (as delicious as that processed meat is).

I'm a sucker for fast food, particularly McDonald's, but what I noticed about my midnight runs to Mickey Dee's is that, you feel so sleepy and groggy after. Come to think of it, that's what happens to me when I eat it in the afternoon, too. (Depending on how much you eat) Kitchen Knight offers a selection of Breakfast favorites, and Japanese, Korean and Thai food that is filling enough to get you through the night without giving you that heavy feeling before you hit the sack.

Sounds interesting, right? And I haven't even mentioned the prices yet.

THE FOOD

KOREAN

The first thing that caught my attention when I saw Kitchen Knight's Menu was the Chapchae Noodles (P85). Ever since I made her try it, it's been one of Rina's favorite dishes, so I wanted to see if this was worthy of my wife's taste buds. The noodles had a nice bounce to it without being too tough. The medley of chicken and veggies came together nicely into a good Chapchae dish. Perhaps my sweet tooth got the better of me, because I would have preferred a little bit more hints of sweetness to it (but I managed to rectify it a little bit, as you'll see below). But on the whole, this is something I wouldn't be ashamed to take home to Rina.

Portioning-wise, you'll be shocked to that your P85 bucks will get you this much food. My Dear Friend Rain and I actually shared this (as a side order, of course)

My first real entree from Kitchen Knight was the Korean Beef Stew (P95). I was pleasantly surprised with how tender the small cubes of beef were! Given the price, I was bracing myself for a little resistance from the beef as I would bite down into it, but I was happy to see that biting through it left no remnants in between my teeth (I usually save those bits for my midnight snack. Gross, I know. I'm kidding.). The stew itself had the right blend of sweetness to it that I was looking for from the chapchae. The stew sauce was so good, I ended up mixing it up with my rice AND noodles. The spiciness of chili peppers would kick in at just the right time and wasn't overpowering at all.

Great Value for money!

My Giant Joel ordered the Chicken Bulgogi (P85), which turned out to be nothing like any Bulgogi I had ever seen before. I'm used to Beef Bulgogi being something along the lines of what I had at Kogi Bulgogi a long time ago which was closer to Barbeque. It turns out that Chicken Bulgogi is more of a chicken stir fry in a thick, sweet sauce. The fillet chicken cubes were cooked very nicely, and the sauce complimented the meat very well, however it needed a dash or so of salt.

Again, good value for money!

BREAKFAST

I've mentioned in one of my first blog posts how I loved longganiza, and my office mates were raving about how good Kitchen Knight's is. So one night, I ordered some for myself. And I was not disappointed. The Longganiza meal (P65) comes with a fried egg and garlic rice. The meat again had a wonderful sweetness to it (I told ya I like sweet food) and had a nice texture to it. Don't expect much from the serving, but at it's price, you can afford two orders and that should be enough to fill up your belly.

I was thinking to myself that if this was store bought longganiza, I'd like to know where it was bought at. I ended up finding out in one of my twitter conversations with Kitchen Knight, it was mentioned that their longganiza is homemade, and The Knight felt that it wasn't even perfect yet! I dunno.. I think they did a pretty awesome job.

Another dish that everyone loves is their Pork Tapa (P65), which also comes with garlic rice and a fried egg. The beef strips are seasoned beautifully, and were very tender. It had a nice saltiness that enhanced the flavor of the pork.

Again, the price makes the portion size understandable and easily solvable.

JAPANESE

I recently tried their Katsudon (P85) and also enjoyed it very much. Once again, the price really impressed me, because this didn't look like it was skimped on at all. It had beautiful colors of the green and red onions, not to mention the egg and breaded pork. The sauce was nice and sweet (but I wouldn't have minded it being a little sweeter.. hehe) and the mixture of the eggs, onions went very well with the cut of breaded pork. Perhaps my only qualm was the pork didn't have the same tenderness as the other dishes, which could easily be torn off with the provided plastic forks and spoons. This called for just a little more work.

But flavor-wise, it was delicious, and yet ANOTHER great value for money.

My supervisor, Miss Menchu ordered their Yasai Itame (P75), which is a vegetarian dish. As you can imagine, I didn't try it. Hell, I didn't even look at it. I can imagine that this would please Vegans everywhere though.

BEST SELLERS

If there there was a sisig that was created with me and my taste buds in mind, Kitchen Knight's Pork Belly Sisig Ala Pobre (P85) would probably be it. It had little bits of fatty pork belly coated in a thick sweet sauce, mixed with with some chili peppers, and you get awesomeness. Although it's still manageable for me, as a personal preference, I would turn the heat down a little bit. But nevertheless, this is something that I plan to order the next time I give Kitchen Knight a call.. Which could very well be tonight. Hehe

The Korean Beef Stew is tied with the Beef Caldereta and Popping Boba for the Most Expensive item on Kitchen Knight's Menu.. at a whopping P95 bucks (You read that right). As of this writing, there is nothing above P100 bucks in Kitchen Knight's menu. I hope that doesn't change any time soon.

The other day at my office, while my office mates were around me doing their own work, I pretended to be on the phone ordering Kitchen Knight and all of them stopped what they were doing, turned around and said, "Hey I want to order!! Pa-Join!!"

I know I've said it more than once, but I'll say it again. Great Value for Money!

(They also have a dine in restaurant now.. go to their facebook page for more info)

********* UPDATED **********

An important note that Michy from I Am A Dekaphobe reminded me about was Kitchen Knight's use of Styro boxes and plastic spooons and forks. This was something that I thought of before doing the post, but because I was distracted with the food, I totally forgot to put it into writing (no excuse, I know).

I don't want to interfere with how Kitchen Knight runs their business, but from a customer's standpoint, I honestly wouldn't mind paying an extra 5 or more bucks if it meant getting the meals in a more environmental friendly package.

Just a thought :)

BACON. IT'S MORE FUN IN THE PHILIPPINES.

2012-01-11T14:25:00.001+08:00

Nuff' Said.

TAPAS TIME AT BASTY'S

2012-01-10T12:57:00.000+08:00

The biggest drawback of coming from a family that specializes in the art of cooking Spanish cuisine is that it's very difficult to find a restaurant that impresses me. The extensive culinary knowledge of my legendary Grandmother was passed down to my mother and her sisters, who in turn did their best to impart their wisdom to their children. These are cooking techniques that have been used from generation to generation, for classic Spanish dishes such as Paella, Lengua and Gambas. My mom could whip out some of the best these dishes you would ever try. Can you imagine restaurant quality food.. As your home cooked meal.. on a daily basis? (My dreams of having a Ryan Reynolds physique never had a chance)

In a nutshell, that explains why it took me over a year to blog about my first Spanish restaurant.

Though I was absent the day my mom taught my sisters and brother how to cook, the love of food which has become my family's most valued inherent trait lives (arguably the strongest) inside of me. So after receiving a free voucher from the wonderful people at The group buying site Groupon Philippines for a dinner at Basty's (Thanks Joey and Kev!) as their token of appreciation for becoming a finalist in the Philippine Blog Awards, I thought it was the perfect time to do my first post on a Spanish restaurant.

The voucher Groupon sent me came at the most opportune time, because Rina and I had just discussed taking her dad, her sister Chaikka and Chai's BF Don out for dinner as a thank you for all the support they've given us when Rain was born. Chaikka and Don never left my side on that day we took Rina to the hospital, and I could have very well lost my side if I had to deal with the stress of wondering how Rina was doing in the labor room all by myself.

Not to knock on the Colonel, but I didn't want this to be a simple bucket meal treat, but at the same time, I didn't want to spend too much. So I needed a respectable place that wouldn't cost me an arm and a leg.. and based on the menu of Basty's that I found on their Facebook page, it seemed just that.

Though we made reservations, I was a bit concerned upon entering, because the place looked hella cramped. Since Basty's is located at the same building as Eat Well, my memories of claustrophobia during our visit there came rushing back into my head.. That was until Rina assured me that we'd be seated at the larger dining area upstairs.

The place had a cozy feel to it, with its brick wall interiors and abstract paintings. They made use of large glass windows to give the illusion of space.

Like Eat Well, the floor area of Basty's isn't very spacious, however, unlike Eat Well, Basty's didn't jam as many tables as it could into the dining area at the expense of their customer's comfort. We got there a little bit before 7 so we ended up having the top deck pretty much to ourselves, with the other customers choosing to stay at the ground floor, where the bar is.

Since we were in a Spanish restaurant, we decided (unconsciously) to go all tapas style, where we all order small plates, place it in the center, and then it's a free for all (except for me, since I was footing the bill).

THE FOOD

STARTERS

The free bread that came during the start of the meal was nowhere near the vicinity of how kick ass Buenissimo and Italianni's were. This was basically wheat(?) French bread that was left in the toaster a few seconds too long. The Flavor was decent, but it was a bit dry.

I hoped that this would not be indicative of how the meal would be.

Then came the Gambas con Chorizo (P230) which instantly erased any doubt I may have had in my mind about Basty's. Ok i'm going to put this out there. You guys have come to accept the fact that I'm a picky eater, and there are some things that I don't eat.. and Shrimp is one of them. But since this was Gambas Con Chorizo, I summoned up the courage to give it a go, and had my mind blown away with how good this was. Granted, my concentration was focused more on the chorizo than the actual shrimp, but it had a wonderful blend of spices and acid that made even the sauce, poured over rice, a meal in itself.

And they weren't stingy with the chorizo bits either. They had a nice amount of fat in it. I almost didn't notice there was shrimp in it!

One of my favorite Spanish dishes is Croquetas. This is something I've grown up with, so like other Spanish dishes, my standards for this is very high. My grandmother's version was basically shredded chicken and mashed potatoes, rolled up into a ball a fried up. Apart from the home made version, the Croquetas I've tried around the metro that stood out is D' Marks. I wanted to see how Basty's incarnation of Croquetas would fare against my memory of my two favorites.

And it turns out.. I have a new favorite. I ordered the Croquetas de Jamon Serrano (P165) for us to try.. and holy crap were these good. The exterior of the croquetas had a beautiful light golden color, while the potato inside was unbelievably creamy and smooth. You could taste the Jamon Serrano only in subtle hints, but the star truly was the potato.

This was so good that I had to order yet ANOTHER plate of Croquetas.. Chorizo this time. My only comment about the Chorizo Croquetas (P175) is, I couldn't tell them apart because the savory part of the dish got overpowered by the awesomeness of the potato. Also the sauce, which tasted closer to Aioli for me than bechamel, was a great companion to the croquetas, but it could honestly stand alone without it.

ENTREES

FISH

Chaikka ordered the Pescado Con Vino (P275) which was oven baked dory in a lime butter sauce. For me, this lacked a little punch.. Perhaps maybe a little more salt, because it was border-lining on bland.

The Fish Fillet with Tartar sauce (P265), which My father in law ordered surprised me with the generous portion size. The fish was cooked perfectly, with the crunchy coating giving way to the tender white fish underneath. At first it may come off as in need of seasoning, but when added with a bit of the Tartar sauce, it comes together nicely.

POULTRY

Don ordered "Sebastians Chicken" (P285), which oddly enough requires a 25 minute lead time to cook, but they managed to serve it in 15. It was a little bit oily for a "roasted" dish (even if it was olive oil), and is one of those entrees that won't dazzle you with flavors that will explode in your mouth, but will instead settle into your taste buds and you find yourself looking for another bite after a few minutes.

The chicken was roasted just right, and in my opinion, maybe a dash of salt would've helped, but on the whole, this was quite good.

Maybe I was expecting something to the effect of Krave's "Pinwheel Steak", but for some reason I ordered the Hanging Tenderloin Steak (P380). It's odd for me because my least favorite cut of beef is tenderloin.

Luckily enough, Basty's didn't let me down, and came up with a tenderloin dish that is so tender and juicy, it made me forget there wasn't too much fat on it. The beef was topped with a thin mushroom gravy, that didn't skimp on the mushrooms either. My butter knife sliced through the beef the greatest of ease, which was impressive considering the mean wasn't that thin either.

I enjoyed the dish, however I'm still on the fence about the price, especially considering there are other less expensive dishes on the menu that were just as stunning. But if you take portion size into consideration too, then it kinda does balance out.

If you read my Boracay Post of our visit to Valhalla, you'll know that Rina loves her Beef Salpicao, which is why it came to no surprise that this is what she ordered. I was a bit taken aback when she first said she was contemplating getting the Chicken Cordon Bleu, but as she always does, she decided on the Salpicao (P325).

This was pretty amazing. The cubes of beef were so soft and buttery,it was like they would melt in your mouth. The kick of the sprinkling of toasted garlic just comes in and enhances the natural flavors of the beef. When every morsel of beef was gone, Rina grabbed more plain rice and pour the salpicao sauce all over it, and continued to devour it the same way she did when there was actual beef in it.

You can't think of Spanish Cuisine without thinking of Paella. And again, among the the dishes of Spain, one of the hardest things to impress me with is this. My mom makes great Paella, and two of my aunts sell a different variety of it for a living.

But despite my fear of hyper acidity because of its tomato content, I figured a post on a Spanish restaurant would not be complete without some Paella in it (You see the pains I go through for you guys?!). But what Paella would be fitting for The Pickiest Eater In The World?

The "Mixta" (P300) is a Mixtya (see what I did there?) of Chicken (yay), Pork Chorizos (YAY), mixed vegetables (boo) and even proudly states in their menu, "No Seafood" (I eat fish, but any other form of shellfish is out of the question for me, and I actually find it cumbersome when its mixed in a paella).

Again, this was goooood. The Paella was cooked just right, so it was nice and sticky, and the chorizos gave it a strong meaty flavor to it. When taking into considering that Don, notorious for his servings of rice that make a Jeepney driver go "DAMN", and I really pummeled this dish and there was still more than enough for everyone, the personal size is a great deal (Get what I mean about the Hanging Tenderloin Steak?).

Something about this Paella, however, was too good to be true. I'm no expert on the cooking part, but if I recall correctly, Paella takes around at least 30 minutes to cook, and maybe an extra five minutes to rest.. but they brought this to us within 15 minutes. The amazing part was, it didn't taste pre-cooked.

So I dug deep into the paellera, and tried to find everyone's favorite part of the dish.. the little burnt bits at the bottom of the pan, which is usually the mark of a good paella.

I'm not complaining but, I don't know how they did it in such short time. I was pleasantly surprised to find the burnt bits present, and absolutely delicious.

I gave up and decided to just leave it be.. and just enjoy the wonderful food at a very charming place, with some special members of my family.

Though they take pride in being more of a "Fusion" restaurant than an authentic Spanish one, make no mistake about it- Basty's knows how to cook Spanish food. The prices are VERY reasonable, and (especially if you get a table upstairs away from the drinkers hehe) has a very soothing ambiance. We didn't realize time flew by because we were having so much fun!

Before I forget to mention it, their service was impeccable. Our waitress, who seemed to be holding the fort down all on her own, did a masterful job of balancing BOTH floors. which was impressive because some of the guys downstairs were getting a little bit tipsy. Questions about dishes were answered confidently and orders were served promptly, so kudos to both the front of the house and the kitchen.

Thanks again, Dad, Chai and Don for your support!

Thank you GROUPON PHILIPPINES! You guys truly are awesome!

Much love from Me, Rina, and Baby Rain :)

MAD MEATS: A BACON ODYSSEY

2012-01-05T12:28:00.000+08:00

               My legendary love affair with bacon began at a very early age. It is something that I could easily eat not just for breakfast, but for lunch and dinner too. People think I'm joking when I say I would prefer a plate of bacon over a USDA Grade Tenderloin Steak, but it's true. Crunchy, soft, thick, thin, it matters not. Growing up in a family thats into the hotel business, I've been fortunate enough to have experienced a lot of breakfast buffets in my lifetime, and the first thing I always seem to look for, no matter what other amazing dishes were laid out, was the bacon.

          So when my wife told me about her friend's home-based business that specializes in different types of homemade bacon, I was immediately intrigued. I know some home-based Tapa, and even sausage vendors, as well as a wide array of pastry sellers, but surprisingly, no bacon. Rina didn't really need to twist my arm to get me to order a batch to try, saying it would be a nice change to blog about another home based business instead of a restaurant for a change. I told her that if I didn't like it I wouldn't blog about it.

           So ladies and gentlemen, you're about to thank me for introducing you to the best bacon you've never heard of... Mad Meats.

               I don't pretend to be the leading expert in Bacon.. a "Baconneisur" as my friend Leslie calls it.. but since buying Bacon has become a hobby of mine. I actually buy different brands of bacon at the grocery in the hopes of finding out which is the best. Unfortunately I'm limited by what is available at the grocery.

Sidenote:

In my bacon odyssey, so many different brands with varying tastes..

Mekeni, the Pampanga based meat shop, actually has a good smokey flavor to it, especially when compared to it's other Pampanga Rival, "Tita's", which to me tastes closer to Tocino than Bacon.

Mekeni Bacon is a bit lean, focusing more on the meat than the fat. Also, it's a bit cheaper than the other brands, so that's plus points.

I was surprised with how Swift's Delicious Bacon came out. with Swift being an international brand, I had high expectations for them.

However, the bacon was a bit to thin and flimsy for my liking. The taste was delicious, and it was more fat than meat (which is how I like it) but even when it was cooked crispy, it seemed to look really sad.

My favorite among the grocery store bought bacon would probably have to be Purefoods Maple Flavored Bacon. It has a wonderful coating of sweetness brought by the Maple flavoring to it, and has an even amount of fat to meat ratio.

Evidence of my liking the bacon can be seen by my lack of pictures of it. I only realize I was supposed to take pictures of the bacon after the whole pack is finished.

I've tried a whole lot of other brands of Bacon, from "Vida", "Pampanga's Best", and "Virginia Farms" and I never thought I'd find a bad bacon until I tried "King Sue" (Go for the King Sue "Hickory Smoked" in a box, not the one in the vacuum pack).

MEANWHILE, BACK AT MAD MEATS...

Mad Meats is the brainchild of my wife's high school batchmate, Martin Adriano who honed his craft at the Center for Asian Culinary Studies. I know this guy takes pride in his work because he asked Rina to give him a little more time for our order, because he wasn't satisfied with the curing process just yet. I appreciated that he takes his preparing bacon as seriously as I take eating it.

Once you see a pack of Mad Meats, anything you see in the grocery will look absolutely pathetic. It comes in vacuum packed to ensure freshness. I ordered the Belly Bacon (See Price list at the bottom of the page), which is sweet smoked bacon with loads.. and I mean LOADS of fat :D

Mad Meats smokes the bacon by using a variety of woods, depending on its availability. The types of woods can range from Santol, Caimito, Mabolo, Cinnamon, Mango and Narra. For my batch, Martin used Mango wood to enhance the sweetness of the smoke.

I just gently laid out the bacon strips in a pan and watched it sizzle. The aroma alone was enough to send my belly growling like a grizzly bear.

The cuts were slightly uneven, however that's exactly what helped add to the bacon's charm. Apart from the fact that it was, of course, bacon.

The cuts were a lot thicker than regular bacon, making it seem almost liempo-like. Because of it's thickness, you can't really get it as crispy as thinner bacon without drying it up or burning it. But we did manage to get the ends to a nice crispy texture, with the skin on top letting out an awesome crunch.

I made sure to get the "burnt end" part of the bacon, which had the biggest chunk of fat.

And when I say big, I mean BIG. Anyone else here a "Taba" lover?

Our friend, Dreaming of Dinner, experimented with the bacon, making an ice cream dish and pasta with it. Every time I would suggest a dish to Rina, she would politely decline. So we would always end up just eating it straight up with fried rice and french fries on the side.

We felt it would be blasphemous to serve the bacon
any other way than in its natural state.

Mad Meats is definitely the Limousine of the Bacon world.
It may be pricier than what you'll find in the grocery,
but you won't find quality like this in the supermarket.

Throughout this entire pictorial I tried staying in character and being "MAD" the whole time..

But in the end, Bacon just brings a smile to my face!!

THE NEW CONTACT NUMBER IS : 09178987805

OPERATORS ARE STANDING BY!!

PRAY FOR MERCY AT ZARKS BURGERS!

2012-01-02T11:50:00.000+08:00

You are looking at the largest Cheeseburger that I have ever eaten in my entire life. A cheeseburger so ridiculously huge, finishing one in a single sitting could very hazardous to my health, and that's why it is aptly named, "The Tombstone".

But you know me.. ever the daredevil.. You can't get me to eat a Cesar salad or anything with brown rice, but a towering, more-calories-than-a-buffet, greasy burger is something that shall never, EVER be denied.

Ladies and gentlemen, Welcome to Zark's Burgers.

It wasn't supposed to be like this. This wasn't the plan. My intention was to take Rina out on a romantic dinner cruise by the bay, as we closed out the ending of a blessed year in style. The only problem is, two things went wrong along the way.

The first being, the crowd over at "Prestige Cruises" wasn't exactly what we had envisioned when going on a "cruise" (even one that just takes you around the bay), and I'm just going to leave it at that.

The second reason was, the boat ran into some problems after docking, and the crew refused to let her go back out to sea. If you wanted to avail of the dinner on the boat, you still could, however, you won't be leaving the dock.

Now, Rina has seen "Titanic" too many times (OK Fine! I have too! But only because their love was so pure!) for her to get broken up over not being able to go on a cruise around the bay, and in some way, we were both looking for a way out of going to on the cruise without hurting each other's feelings. When I found out that we could get a full refund of what I paid for, I told her, "Let's get the hell out of here".

I could tell she was somewhat relieved on not having to go on the boat anymore, and she immediately said, "Let's go anywhere.. It doesn't have to be fancy". Given the fact that we were in the Baywalk area, not too far from Taft avenue, a light bulb went on in my head.

This was like a homecoming of sorts for me, because I spent.. well, quite admitedly, a little more time than I should have at the College of St. Benilde. The crappy part about this was, all these kick ass places weren't there when I was a student. Oh well, I'm just glad to be away from school

We got to Zark's around 8:30pm, and there were four tables occupied. Which was pretty impressive considering it was a holiday, and school was out for Christmas break. The interiors were rather drab and outdated, as you would imagine a small burger chain that intends to keep their prices reasonable to students would be.

With the cheerful demeanor of their staff, you would think that they were a member of the La Salle Pep squad. Technically they didn't have to honor my CashCashPinoy voucher because I failed to make reservations ahead, but since the place had available seating, they made an exception, with the simple reminder to book in advance next time, to avoid future inconveniences.

Apparently, the place gets really packed during lunch and dinner hours, Especially when school is in session. So it seems we really lucked out.

It only took me around five seconds to determine that the man behind Zark's Burger, must be clinically insane to have designed such a menu, because it was clear that he did so with complete disregard for his or anyone else's cardiac muscle. Your cholesterol level raises even by just holding the menu. It was basically Zark looking at all the junk food he can get his hands on, and saying, "Screw it, let's make a burger!"

You know what's even scary? The menu is something I could see myself conceptualizing if I had my own burger joint, and it's something I definitely would try, no matter how decadent the burgers may be! Hell, even the shirts for sale are coincidentally, a collection of my life mottoes!

Their roster of burgers were divided into two categories, "Minor League" and "Major League". The Minor League had your usual burgers that were dressed up with various toppings. Perhaps the most interesting one for me was the Floyd Chicken Burger, which is a burger topped with FRIED CHICKEN SKIN, with cheese sauce or BBQ Rhum sauce on the side.

In the Major League section, there's no way I could pick just one. I wanted to try them all. From their Deep Fried Burger to their Candy Bacon Burger, Rina swore Zark's could be my brotha from anotha motha!

Rina took a look at their menu and wanted to order a simple Bacon Cheeseburger, but I would have none of it. If you wanted a bacon cheeseburger, we should've gone to Wendy's. We're at Zarks Burger, For gosh sake.

I took the menu from her and said, "Fear not, I shall order for you, young grasshoppa.." Which is ironic because it was my ordering for her that actually instilled fear into her. I took a look up at the wall and knew what I had to order for her

THE BURGERS

Ok, first I want to talk about what I'm assuming is the two common denominator with all of Zark's burger- the beef patties and the buns. If you're expecting molded, perfectly shaped US-Grade Beef Patties, you will be sorely disappointed. Zark's makes no attempt to go head on with all the other burger joints out there that claim their beef was made from the best cows in the universe. Though the patties may be a bit peppery, it's got good flavor, but it breaks apart easily. Don't get me wrong, they are still good beef patties, but I would definitely not place their beef patties among the best I've had.

Also, I'm not a big fan of their Hamburger buns. It's the type I'm not too fond of where the top bun is smooth - however, this version was admitedly soft and not dry like other types I've tried that had the same texture.

But trust me, you won't think about any of those things once the burger is placed in front of you.

All you will see is awesomness on a plate.

   Case in point.

I took Rina's need for bacon into consideration and took it a step further, by ordering her the Jawbreaker (P250) one of Zark's most popular burgers. The Jawbreaker is a triple cheeseburger topped off with Bacon & Spam. If you can finish this battle ship of a burger within five minutes, you get it free. Which is good because that extra P250 will come in handy when paying for your hospital bill later that night.

   The burger was so huge, Rina stared at it for around 30 seconds before finally looking up at me and saying, "I don't know how to eat this. Where do I start??".

   I handed Rina a fork and a knife, and after her first bite, she kept bobbing her head up and down in obvious approval. The smokiness of the bacon and the light tangyness of the spam went well with the grilled flavor of the beef. And being the cheese lover that she is, the cheese sauce passed her standards of quality and quantity, with flying colors.

However, there was no way she was going to finish that in five minutes.

I set up my own showdown with the biggest, baddest burger that Zark's had to offer, and I won't lie to you, when they brought that first burger out, I was a little bit intimidated. It looked like it would be a tough challenge, but nothing I couldn't handle. And then I found out that it was actually Rina's order, not mine.

And then they brought out the Tombstone.

The first thing that came popped into my head after gazing at the Tombstone (P500) was.. "ARE YOU FRICKIN' KIDDING ME!?". Never in my life have I seen a burger so huge.. so unadorned yet so beautiful.. It almost made me sad to know that I was going to eat it. Then all I had to do was take whiff of the beautiful aroma it was emanating to change my mind and say to myself that this burger deserves to die a violent death in my mouth.

The Tombstone Challenge was to finish this behemoth in ten minutes and win a T-shirt. This was one challenge that I had to back away from. Hell, I was hesitant to do it when I thought the Tombstone was the Jawbreaker, and the Tombstone turned out to be twice the size!

The Tombstone is something straight out of Man V. Food, and could very well give Adam Richman a run for his money. The four burger patties were so thick, when weighed all together, totals a whopping two pounds. Each patty had a slice of melted cheese placed on top of it, and then it was drowned in a thick cheese sauce before place the top bun on it.

When you look closely at it, you could see the juices flowing out of the patties, and the cheese sauce bubbling as it slides down into your plate.

There was no way I was going to even attempt taking on the 10 minute challenge - not against a burger that was almost as BIG AS MY HEAD.

Though the Tombstone is a delicious, meaty burger, I only managed to finish the top bun and the first patty and half of the second. Had I pushed myself further, I might have seriously blown an artery.

Oh, before I forget.. their fries, a variation of thick cut fries that were cooked to a crisp, were delicious, and the perfect companion to your burgers!

DESSERT

We deliberately chose not to finish our burgers to make even just the smallest room in our stomachs for Dessert. We didn't want anything too heavy, so we opted for a Krispy Kreme Ala Mode Sandwich (P95), which pretty much tasted like.. well... Krispy Kreme with Ice Cream in it. We probably would have enjoyed it more if we didn't just have THIS just the day before.

And so concluded the latest episode of my Burger Wars. In terms of ingredients, Zark's Burger's may not be as sophisticated as its competition, but that's exactly what makes them so awesome.

I admire them because they cut through any pretentious bullcrap and just serve up what people want.. the most absurd burgers ever seen in the Philippines.

Zark's Burgers, I have an eerie feeling you'll be seeing me again very soon.. *wink wink*..

THANK YOU 2011.. BRING IT ON, 2012!

2011-12-31T15:17:00.002+08:00

The year has had its share of ups and downs, however I can say without a shadow of a doubt that 2011 has been the best year of my life, simply on the strength of the birth of the beautiful baby girl you see above.. My daughter, Rain.

The year 2011 brought so many things for me to be thankful for, it would be remiss of me to post anything else except one reflecting on the wonderful year that was.

The first and most important thing that I am thankful for would have to be the worry-free pregnancy of Rina, and the safe delivery of Renee' Amelie Barbero Zamora.. My daughter, Rain. On that alone, I believe I am the most blessed human being on the face of this Earth.

The second thing I'm thankful for is

the fact that I was blessed with such a wonderful family..

Meaning my supportive siblings, Ryan, Raquel and Rose..

My parents that have stood by Rina and I through thick and thin..

My in-laws that have welcomed me into their family with open arms...

My "first born", Schatzi..

that has been really incredible throughout the birth of his "sister", Rain.

Sometimes you can tell he feels neglected, but in some way,

you can also tell that he understands.

I am thankful for the wonderful set of friends I have that joined me in my countless food trips throughout the year..

Selflessly dealing with my pickyness and finicky food choices...

Never lacking in suggestions for new places to try and the most far out dishes to eat..

And the unwavering encouragement they give,
that fuels me to push my blog to greater heights..

I'm thankful that I was able to travel abroad one more time
before Rain was born..
Making it our last family vacation out of the country
until Rain is about four or five years old..

I'm thankful that my blog has come so far
over the course of a year and a half.

After winning the "Mr. Myfoodtrip" award last year,
My blog became a finalist in the 2011 Philippine Blog Awards.
Though we didn't win, as cliche as it sounds,
it truly was an honor just to be nominated
(Too bad though, I wanted to get up on stage and
thank Fanny Serrano for my hair and Make-up).

I'm thankful to everyone around the world
that has taken time to stop by my blog,
and those who have "liked' my facebook page,
Or have followed me on Twitter.

I hope I can continue to keep you entertained
in my pursuit of some of the best food in the country.

And lastly, I can never say this enough..
I am (again) so thankful for my wife and daughter.
They are both my inspiration in everything I do,
Rain has only been in my life for ten weeks,
but I cannot imagine my life without her.

Rina is my soulmate, and partner in everything I do.
Nothing is worth doing if I can't do it with her.

As I look back at all these things that I am thankful for..
The family.. friends..
Does it come to anyone's surprise that I call myself,
"The Luckiest Man In The World"?

Thank you, God for all the blessings you've given me in 2011.
I'm so excited to see what 2012 will bring.

WE FINALLY MEET, PAPA JOHN'S

2011-12-30T11:55:00.000+08:00

This was the picture that made me realize how badly I needed a haircut

Pizza is my own personal Kryptonite. When I get even a small dose of it, I'm out of commission within minutes. Sadly, that's how my body works. I'm hyper-acidic, so it's something I've had to deal with for quite some time now. The Pizza that hits me the hardest is Yellow Cab, which unfortunately for me, is my favorite pizza chain in the Philippines.

Despite my troubles with Italy's gift to mankind, I was psyched when I found out Papa John's Pizza was opening in the Philippines earlier this year. Whenever Rina and I would talk about going there, she would just say something like, "I don't want you getting sick. Let's go somewhere else for now". Months passed and Rina and I never got around to visiting their restaurant in Galleria.

And then, a month or so ago, my dear friend Rain tells me that they opened a branch just down the street from my office. So all bets were off. One Friday evening, a few of my workmates and I got done with our work early and decided to make take that jeepney ride down the road to the newly opened Papa John's. Rina said it was fine, because she was busy with our baby Rain, and my dear friend Rain had her Digicam.. so we were set!

But knowing that it could spell doom for my fragile stomach, I realized this what Frodo must have felt when he brought the ring into Mordor.

Perhaps the only drawback about going to the smaller Arnaiz branch of Papa John's, is that I won't be able to see what the interiors of the original Galleria Branch looks like. The branch in Makati was a small corridor that had enough space for our group. But as long as my group got a table, I guess I had nothing to complain about, because by 7:30 or so, the place was packed.

The place is the "Express version" of Papa John's, cuz it's so cramped but I didn't care because I was going there for The Pickiest Eater In The World Blog.. not "Real Living".

STARTERS

Whenever my dear friend Rain is in a restaurant, and there are Mozzarella Sticks (P129) on the menu, expect it to be ordered. Papa John's version was alright.. nothing spectacular, and in fact a bit on the dryer side. Flavor-wise, it could have had a bit more oomph to it (but maybe that's why it came with a side of Pizza Sauce).

More than the Mozzarella sticks, I enjoyed the Cheese Sticks (P99) more, which was ordered by my friend and fellow blogger, Osh. This is actually closer to a plain cheese pizza than it is Mozzarella sticks. The dough was wonderfully soft, and topped with a light garlic sauce and covered in baked cheese. I loved how the "Cheese Sticks" had burnt cheese hanging from the edges. You had a choice between the garlic dip or the pizza dip, and for me, the garlic dip is the wiser choice. (more on that later)

The trend i'm getting here is that the dough of Papa John's is their secret weapon, because everything I had that was connected to their dough, was a knockout. The Bacon and Mushroom Rolls (P129), which I'm sure will come to no surprise to anyone, was my side order, and I'm glad I was right on the money.

The pizza dough was sliced and rolled up with a mixture of bacon, cheese and mushrooms, and baked into golden brown perfection. Biting into it lets out a little crunch, but the softness of the cheese and savory taste of the bacon just melts into your mouth.

They also have a Pepperoni roll version (P129), but come on, you know you want the one with Bacon. ;)

My friend Bianca ordered the Beef and Bacon Rice meal (P160). I don't know if this is exclusively for the Philippines, but I thought it was a good idea. Any Rice meal that involves Bacon is a good idea. This tasted pretty much like a pizza already, with the flavors of tomato sauce and cheese being the strongest components of the dish. It was actually quite good, but If i'm going to be ordering a pizza already, I wouldn't be interested in ordering this, especially for the price.

Ok, the people at Papa John's need to know that we Pinoys take our Chicken Wings very seriously. We have homegrown places here like Sunrise Buckets and Wingman that specializes in Chicken Wing Awesomeness, so these sad pieces of wings they served us just wasn't gonna cut it. Flavor wise, Papa John's Chicken Wings (P169) were a little bland, and considering the price you pay for four measly wings, I wouldn't recommend this to anyone.

PIZZAS

Before we go any further, let me point out to you that this little bowl with liquid golden goodness is going to be your best friend throughout your stay at Papa John's. I would advise you to keep it close to you, and if possible, do NOT share it with anyone. It's a simple concoction of butter and garlic, but it just blends perfectly with your pizza, you're never going to want to eat pizza ever again without it.

Being the sweet talking carnivore that I am, I persuaded everyone to order a 14' inch "All The Meats" (P580 for 14 inch). The crust, as expected, was baked just beautifully, and the they weren't stingy with the medley of meats thrown into it. The flavors of Pepperoni, Italian Sausage, Beef, Ham and Bacon just exploded in your mouth. And the cheese was an amazing coating to the entire pizza.

I think I would have enjoyed the Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza more (P555 for 14 inch) had I not ordered the "All The Meats", because they ended up tasting a little bit similar, except the Bacon Cheese Burger had less meat and instead, more bits of Tomato. It was also a delicious pizza, but kinda redundant with my initial order (which wasn't the fault of Papa John's by the way).

Concerned for my health, my dear friend Rain suggested we get the Grilled Chicken Deluxe Pizza (P580 for 14 inch), which uses carbonara sauce instead of the usual tomato. Genius. The sauce was amazingly creamy, and was complimented by the large pieces of Bacon, Ham, Shredded Chicken and Mushrooms.

This was my absolute favorite and I'm so happy that it's white sauce!

It's awesome knowing that there's a Papa John's just down the road from us, and that their reputation is well deserved. I'm going to try the Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza next!

PIX

All pizzas are hand rolled right before your eyes (there's a viewing area) so you know you're getting the freshest dough and ingredients possible. (I think the dude on the left thought I was crazy).

One big happy family!

Wait.. where's Rain? (oh yeah.. taking the picture)

My Girls, Donna, Rain (there she is!), Osh and Bianca

My boys, Mark, Ted, Patrick "the Predator" and Mel

BELATED HAPPY BIRTHDAY OSH!

THE LITTLE PRINCESS THAT SLEPT THROUGH CHRISTMAS

2011-12-27T12:00:00.000+08:00

Despite what the picture above may imply, I have no intention of running for public office. I actually just wanted to share with you how my daughter Rain's first Christmas (Eve & Day) went. If I recall correctly, this is actually the first time I'm posting pictures of Rain ever since she was born. However I do talk about her, and post different food features on a daily basis on my Pickiest Eater In The World Facebook page, so if you haven't "Liked" it yet, please do :)

Rina and I visited her relatives in her aunt's house that thankfully is in a village that just a ten minute drive from my parent's place. For some, it would be the first time a few of Rina's relatives would meet Baby Rain in the flesh, so Rina was naturally stoked to introduce our little princess to them.

Our evening with Rina's side of the family was nice because a good number of Rina's relatives hadn't met Rain yet, so we were all excited for them to meet the newest member of the family. This was the first time for Rain to meet her Tita Aouie and cousin Enzo...

And her Ninang Rosalyn, who's been based in the States for awhile, but has been getting so gigil with the pictures of Rain we've been posting on facebook..

As well as the other cousins.. Third, Ambiel, Ia, Antawn, with their mommy Nikka, and Aouie and Enzo..

Unfortunately, we had a commitment with my side of the family to be back by around 9pm for the opening of gifts, so we couldn't stay as long as we wanted to.

But you can imagine how excited I was to come home and realize that Baby Rain had a huge pile of gifts from her titos, titas, and grand parents waiting for her! (of course she was out cold by this time)

A few of you asked me what my family had for our Noche Buena feast, and so I decided to share it with you before I started talking about my daughter again (when I start talking about her, I can go on non-stop. But then again, I'm like that with food too)

The menu isn't very much different from what we had last year, which was an absolute feast because we had more guests. This year it was just immediate family, for the first time in two years we were complete, because my niece Cara that studies in the States came back for the Holidays.

Unfortunately we all forgot to take a family picture together. (D'Oh!)

Anyway, back to the food:

ENTREES

Christmas is not complete without my sister Rose's Roasted Leg of Lamb. Whenever we go to a hotel buffet, I usually target the leg of lamb first and foremost, so I know for a fact that the one my sister makes can easily go toe to toe with some of the best in the country (She studied in the UK so that was money well spent, Dad).

Guess what Rina had for breakfast last Dec 24th? Christmas Ham. Guess what she had for Lunch? Christmas Ham. And guess what's the first plate she attacked during Noche Buena? You guessed it. Ham. But wait! You think this is over? Guess what she had for breakfast the Christmas day? Ham. Guess what she asked for breakfast on December 26? Ham.

It's an addiction, I tell ya.

One of my all team seafood dishes is easily the Oven Baked Cream Dory with Roasted Garlic and Olive Oil that has become a family tradition. Even if you're not a big fan of fish, I guarantee you will love this. Pour the olive oil and crushed garlic on a steaming plate of white rice, mash it up, and scoop it up with the fish.. Christmas in your mouth.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that my mom makes the best pork BBQ in Metro Manila. Once I find the time, I plan to turn this into the next BBQ empire, Mang Inasal style. Anyone who has tried it knows I speak the truth.

So stay tuned for that.

You guys have no idea how relieved I was to find out that my brother would be making a creamy Four-Cheese Baked Macaroni instead of the usual tomato based Canneloni or Lasagna that my sister makes. The two latter dishes are excellent,mind you, but since it's tomato based, I end up spend Christmas morning with a acid attack. My brother used a beautiful blend of Mild Cheddar, Vintage Cheddar, Colby cheese, and Pecarino Romano, to come up with this fantastic dish. The toasted bits of crumbled bread was a nice touch to it also, giving every bite a lovely crunch.

SIDES

Since we had all those proteins to wolf down, we needed some carbs to go with it. Good thing we had some of my mom's classic silky smooth mashed potatoes and buttered corn..

And my sister's Cinnamon Spiced Candied Sweet Potatoes.. that is so good, it made me regret all the times I fought with her when we were young.

DESSERT

Since everyone seemed to love the Mango Torte of Dulcelin last year, my mom decided to bring it back for a repeat performance. I can't eat mango because of my acids, so i had to stay away from it.. which was fine because it meant more room for..

My brother's creme brulee! Once again, I say this with all sincerity.. This is THE BEST CREME BRULEE YOU WILL EVER TRY. And again, I'm stressing that this is an objective opinion, and I'm not saying it because my brother makes it. But believe me when I say that it is frickin' awesome.

(Is it just me or does my nephew's yaya look like a female wrestler?)

Whilst we were having dinner, little did the children know that Santa dropped by and delivered their Christmas gifts! Watch "pile" is for everyone of the grandkids, Rain, Matteo, Gael, Xavi, and Zoe. (Cara is in college so Santa forgot about her) After the kids ate dinner, the Gael walked back into the living room to go to the bathroom. The moment he saw the chests, he ran back down to the downstairs cabana where everyone had been eating and I kid you not, the little boy was shaking with excitement! As you can imagine, the three kids ran back into the living room..

And went absolutely nuts!!

And where was my daughter, you ask?

Sleeping in the arms of her Grandfather.

Since Baby Rain was out cold (as was my other nephew, Matteo), we decided to postpone opening of their gifts to the morning.

So we got up early so Rina could open Baby Rain's gifts, but it took all of around five minutes for her to start getting sleepy again. (Rockin' the hat her Grandma gave her)

Though my mom knew that Baby Rain wouldn't be able to fit into this shirt yet, she bought for her anyway, making Rina and I PROMISE HER that this is what she'd wear in Christmas Eve, 2012.

Oh, with Rina being the amazing Mommy that she is, She didn't forget to get our "first born", Schatzi, and Christmas gift of his own.

Have you ever wondered what the dog of The Pickiest Eater In The World get for Christmas? Why Bacon flavored "Beggin' Strips", of course!!!

Something that made this Christmas even more special to me was the presence of my niece, Cara, who would meet my daughter for the first time. You see, Cara, in many ways, is like a daughter to me as well, because I can say that I helped raise her from her infancy. Now, of course, she's a beautiful young lady already, so I've had to let go of her a little bit so she could spread her wings and fly, as she is now making a name for herself in the States, and we couldn't be any more proud of her.

This moment was really special for me, and I could tell Cara felt the same way too, because all I had to do was tell her, "Now I have someone else I can teach how to sing", (referring to how I used to pick her up from school every day and we sing songs from "Rent" (without the bad words, of course) or other musicals all the way home) for her to well up.

This picture with her.. that exact moment, was like the "passing of the torch" for Cara and I. It was clear that it was time for me to let her go and understand she was a young woman now that needed a chance to make it on her own, and I now had my own little baby girl now that needed my full attention.

Since we weren't able to spend Christmas with Rina'a dad, we set aside our Christmas dinner plans, to make sure Rain could be with him and Chaikka during her first Christmas.

He served up a wonderful tray of steaks (which I'm going to do a separate post on) cooked, to a beautiful medium well. The steaks were so soft and tender, all it would take was two swipes of a butter knife to slice it cleanly off.

The steaks were served with a side of green stuff, which Rina explained to me were called "lettuce", (a type of.. umm.. what's the word again? oh yeah! "Vegetable"..) that when mixed with different type of sauces and dressings, is called a, "Salad".

You learn something new every day!

(I stuck to the steak)

GIFTS

Just how awesome is this gift that my sis-in-law Chaikka and "Beautiful Eyes" Don gave me for Christmas?! I'm planning to have a couple more made, and who knows, maybe I'll give a way a few in my blog! (Ya think someone would want it?)

Leading up to the holidays, whenever someone asked me what I wanted for Christmas, I could not think of anything. Though my laptop has been busted for the past few months, I don't need a new computer. I'm happy with my Galaxy S2 so having a tablet for me would be redundant. Our trusty old Nikon still works fine, although I need to get a new charger for it, which we've ordered already. Sure, I could use a few more shirts for work, (and as you'll notice from the blog posts, I've been wearing the same ones over and over again) but I can get that on my own.

What I really wanted, more than anything in the world, was something for my daughter. She can't play with toys just yet, so I felt the most sensible thing to ask for would be for Milk and Diapers for her. Which I got in abundance. Of course getting these things as gifts meant I didn't need to shell out from my own wallet, so it really is a gift to ME too.

But more than anything, there was a nice comfort in knowing that my Baby Rain would be set in the milk and diapers department for the next couple of months.

Initially, Rina and I made a deal that, for austerity's sake we wouldn't get each other any gifts for the meantime, and instead focus on Rain. However I know she's been itching to go to The Spa for the past few months, so we're planning a couple's date there as my gift to her.

What was her gift to me, you ask? Well, she gave me my gift a little bit early... She gave me my gift on 11:47 of October 17, in fact.

And I couldn't have asked for anything more.

I Hope everyone had a very wonderful Holiday Season! May your 2012 be as blessed as our 2011!

- from the Mr. and Mrs. Pickiest Eater, and The Little Pickiest Eater Rain :)