THE YUMMY THAT IS YUMI -RinaZ

       If you're a follower of this blog, then you know all about Richie's travels around California a few months ago. Like you, I too watched in envy as he would post delicious dishes from the U.S.A.. So when we got an invitation to visit Yumi Japanese Restaurant in Greenhills Promenade, I decided to go alone and give him a taste of his own medicine, and show him what he was missing back home.

      Much to my delight, I discovered that Yumi serves beautifully plated Japanese dishes. But more than just being visually stunning, the dishes were of course delicious! 

CELEBRATING FOUR YEARS OF PICKINESS: YOMENYA GOEMON GIVEAWAY

              Can you believe the blog is turning Four years old this month? So much has happened to me in such a short span of time! I can safely say that this blog changed my life.. For the better of course :) 

          Without you, my dear readers, I would not get the opportunities that I have been blessed with, these past four years. So as a thank you, I will be doing a GC giveaway from a restaurant that I'm sure you'll love.. Yomenya Goemon! 

MENTORE COFFEE + BAR by UCC ~RinaZ

       Back in the days (actually more like 3 or 4 years ago haha) when I was still childless, it was so easy for me to go out with my friends and ocassionaly have a drink or two while sharing life stories. But since I got pregnant and now a mom to a bouncing little toddler girl, my idea of a a relaxing night became a coffee shop. Getting old? Not really. I guess it's just the exhaustion from the mommy work. After all I'm only human.

       But a few weeks ago I was introduced to a whole new concept of a coffee shop. Our friend invited us to try the Mentore Coffee + Bar by UCC. Its nice two-storey white building was situated in Makati near Greenbelt 3 and Landmark. It was a first time for me to go there. Mentore, which means to mentor, the name of this place because it's like teaching their customers about coffee. But do you notice the "+ Bar" in the name? That's what makes this place unique! Plus, they serve amazing Japanese food too!

THE PICKIEST EATER VIDEO BLOG: TONKATSU 101 AT MA MAISON

                   Take a rare behind the scenes look at how Japanese-Western Fusion restaurant Ma Maison prepares one of their signature dishes.. Tonkatsu!

    Click here for the full story

MA MAISON PART DEUX & THE BISTRO GROUP GC WINNER!

         I had been to Ma Maison once before, and was more than satisfied with my order, the pork Tonkatsu. unfortunately, Rina was not with me, and I was forced to rely on my trusty Galaxy S2 camera for the pictures. Though it did a noble job, it really can't compare to the photos that Rina has taken in the past.

      Funnily enough, When I started the Bistro Group give away, Rina saw the pictures from my Ma Maison entry and reminded me that i still hadn't taken her to try their famed Japanese Western fusion dishes like I had promised many moons ago. I told her that by the time the winner of the giveaway has been announced, she would have tasted their innovative meals.

     I didnt realize time would pass by so quickly! So if the giveaway ended on Saturday, this was our trip to Ma Maison on the following Monday. 

        Oh and guess what? If you read on, you'll find out if YOU won the coveted P3,000 GC from THE BISTRO GROUP!

JAPANESE-WESTERN FUSION AT MA MAISON

            Just so you guys know, I don't live in Greenbelt. I know I have a lot of posts from Greenbelt, but that's due to three reasons: The first being I lived two blocks away from it for two years, the second is because I've worked in that area for the past five years, and lastly, Greenbelt 3 Cinemas is our default movie theater of choice when Rina and I watch a movie, so it's more convenient to eat there before a movie (The fourth reason is I'm actually lazy to go looking for anywhere else). That being said, during a stroll along the area with some officemates, I noticed a new restaurant had opened up, named "Ma Maison". 

          From the name alone, I couldn't figure out what cuisine they were serving. I knew "Maison" was French (isn't it?) but the word "Ma" before it, threw in a for a loop. And there were some Asian characters that confused me even more. Further inquiries helped me discover that Ma Maison is actually a Japanese-Western Fusion restaurant. 

        One fine working day, when My Giant Joel and my friend, the lovely Donna got sick of the usual suspects for lunch, we decided to go to Greenbelt for something different for lunch. And it helped that we had just gotten our 13 month bonus (May it Rest In Peace.. Sniff).  

SANGO THE BURGER MASTER

         Practically every weekday lunch, Me and my Giant Joel usually have the same routine. One of us calls the other up by around 12 noon, and say, "Game?" and if the other isn't busy, we head on out of the office for lunch. We usually get into a conversation about work or something during our noontime stroll, and without even thinking or talking about it, we find ourselves in "Walter Mart" Pasong Tamo. When we're in Walter Mart, the default (and most reliable) restaurant to eat at is definitely Pancake House, but we try to change things us sometimes by going to Max's and The Old Spaghetti House as well (Of course this was before we discovered Kitch' Cafe was just nearby). 

      Joel has always been mentioning that he'd like to go to try passing by Sango, the Japanese Burger joint one time. With two of the past three weeks being crazy busy in the office, I thought we would have enough time to walk to Mile Long to give "The Burger Master" a shot (It's not actually that far, I'm just lazy).

A DAY IN THE LIFE PART 1: JOHN AND YOKO

As you can see by the empty bowl beside me, this picture was taken after the meal

           I had quite an interesting day last week. So interesting, in fact, I decided it would be the subject of my posts for the week. Truth be told, it's not really all that exciting unless you're a foodie (I'm not exactly a lion tamer) but I did manage to get three awesome food experience in one day, and it happened to be on the day that I decided to bring Rina's camera to work- So i just happened to capture everything on (digital) film.

          My day started on a rather sad note, because all my lunch buddies at work were preoccupied, leaving me to fend for myself (I hate eating alone). Just when I was starting to contemplate skipping lunch all together, my cousin Paolo gives me a call out of the blue, saying he's got some free time for lunch, and asked if I wanted to join him. 

        Since I had my camera, I told him i thought it would be a great chance to get more material for the blog, so I grabbed my camera, and he picked me up. Since it's so near our offices, Greenbelt was the default place to go to. Since I don't have a Japanese post yet, I suggested John and Yoko, which he was very much game for (Ecstatic, in fact. I wonder if the girls in the short skirts had something to do with it.. hehe kidding bro.. you know I love ya..).