LOVE AT LOLA CAFE: VALENTINE'S DAY MENU WITH SEF CADONAYA AND MAX COLLINS

             When you're out for dinner with a woman as beautiful as Max Collins, you hope that your date will never end. That's exactly how Sef Cadayona felt after our meal at Mario's, so he asked me where I thought he could take his lovely co-star next! 

          Since we were already in the Quezon City, I decided to the lovely couple to one of my favorite restaurants, which was conveniently located a few streets away.. Lola Cafe! 

UPDATED: BABY RAIN'S BDAY GIVEAWAY: KING CHEF DIMSUM KITCHEN!

        If you're ever in the vicinity of Banawe in Quezon City and you're craving for some good and affordable dim sum in a bright and very presentable place, King Chef Seafood Restaurant would be your best bet. We recently went there with a couple of our other blogger friends to try their long list of over a hundred type of dimsums!  

        And the best part is, they have Morning, Afternoon, and Late Night Tea Time where they offer a huge discounted price on their dimsum! 

BURGER COMPANY'S ANNIVERSARY PROMO!

            Do you like taking pictures of your food and posting it on your social media accounts?? Sure you do! It's the digital age! Everyone does it! Now, wouldn't it be awesome if the restaurant you're dining at gave you a discount, simply by posting your food shots on Instagram? HELL YEAH! 

        Well guess what? For their anniversary, Burger Company is giving away a 20% Discount to customers that share their food shots with their friends in their social media sites! This is happening only on August 8-10!

          One of my favorite discoveries of last year, I returned to Burger Company recently to taste some of their new creations!

LIVESTOCK: MAY THE PORK BE WITH YOU.. ALWAYS

        Romeo and Juliet. Cleopatra and Marc Antony. Guy and Pip. Taylor Swift and Joe Jonas/Tayor Lautner/John Mayer/Jake Gyllenhaal/Harry Styles. The Pickiest Eater and The World and Pork. Some of the greatest love affairs that the world has ever seen. 

     I love pork. LOVE. I love pork more than Kanye West loves Kanye West. Which is why whenever a restaurant that specializes in Pork dishes pops up, it is immediately on my radar. 

   From the moment I heard about the recently opened restaurant called "Livestock", I kept bugging Rina about making time to visit. Finally the day came in which I could no longer deny myself of the delights of this Porky Paradise.  

    And what I discovered was a close to carnivore's "Heaven on Earth" as you can get! 

EL CANGREJO CRAB SEAFOOD AND STEAK BISTRO

        Somewhere hidden in the heart of Quezon City lies a bistro of the best of both worlds. Land and sea.. Steaks and seafood! And served fresh everyday! It's El Cangrejo Crab Seafood and Steak Bistro. It's a good hidden place to hang out with friends and maybe occasionally see some stars from the nearby television networks dining, if you're lucky.  

OUT AND ABOUT AT U.P. TOWN CENTER: TOKYO TONTEKI

               I've been hearing about the growing food haven that is U.P. Town Center for quite some time now, but I unfortunately never had the time to go check it out for myself. During my work "hiatus", Rina and I decided to go with some of our foodie friends to check out the first two restaurants that were kind enough to extend an invitation to us to try their food (Yes, all in one day. One after another. We're Food Bloggers. It's a tough job, but someone's gotta do it.), with Tokyo Tonteki the first on our list.

GOOD TIMES AT THE BURGER COMPANY

It's like a scene from "Sword In The Stone", Pickiest Eater Version

              It's funny.. Whenever I'm out with my officemates during out fastfood lunch break run, and they all order rice meals, and I order a burger, their reaction is usually, "Amerikano kasi yan, eh!" ("Cuz he's an American!"). Although I am proudly Filipino, I admittedly often do favor more Western dishes to pinoy classics. But in this case, I don't agree. My love for burgers has nothing to do with my heritage. I think it's just because the awesomeness of burgers is universal, regardless of where you're from, you can't NOT love a good burger. 

       So what happens when you take me to a Burger place that sells GREAT ones? Some place like, Burger Company, perhaps?

A TASTE OF SINGAPORE AT BOON TONG KEE ~RinaZ

CHANGE PLATE!

That was the phrase of the night when we were invited to try the yummy Sinagporean dishes from Boon Tong Kee. What started as a small stall that sells chicken rice is now an international restaurant bringing great Singaporean food to the Philippines!

SHIFU MASTER'S KITCHEN : GREAT FOOD AT A GREAT PRICE!

       Although we obviously enjoy writing about new and upcoming fine dining restaurants, I would have to confess that we miss writing more whole-in-the-wall restaurants. Something that will really make a reader say "Wow! I didn't know there was a restaurant like this in this area!" There's a whole different level of pleasure in sharing those types of restaurants.

      Which is why we're excited to finally share with The Pickiest Eater readers this simple Chinese place along Granada St. in Quezon City. A simple little place that is really worth stopping for. 

       A word of caution... make sure you bring a huge appetite when you go here. Because everything we tasted so far is just delicious!!!

Meet Shifu Master's Kitchen!

PI: BREAKFAST & PIES = THE FORMULA TO BREAKFAST AWESOMENESS

        Yes, there are a lot of breakfast places sprouting all around the metro. But they all usually serve the same thing. Bacon and eggs, pancakes, waffles, tapsilogs and such. Which is why I'm always excited to find a new breakfast place that is unafraid to take breakfast classics to a whole other level! 

        I am so ecstatic about this post because Pi: Breakfast & Pies is my heaven on Earth!!!

THIS IS A HOLDAK!

         Among the cities in the Metro that I would love to explore further, Quezon City would definitely be high up on that list. I know it's not exactly far away, but the sheer size of the city leaves so many restaurants just waiting to be discovered. It's almost unfair because over ten years ago, I was a resident of Quezon City.. and back then, I assure you, it wasn't the restaurant haven it is today. In fact, I was kind of bummed to find out that the exact spot where I used to pick up my ex girlfriend during my college days- The spot that back then, only had McDonald's as a decent place to eat - has been turned into a condominium called "Mezza Residences", and is now filled with intriguing restaurants! The one that caught my attention the most was Holdak.  

          Apparently, the word "Holdak" in Korean stands for, "To fall madly, and deeply in love with Chicken". In all my years as a lover of food, I've never had a fried chicken that had me hearing the music of "Savage Garden" in my head. It seemed like all that would change once I got a bite of Holdak's twice fried chicken. 

Scrumptious Spanish Dishes, Mario's Way! - RinaZ

Rain enjoying her Minnie balloon I bought for her from the streets of Tomas Morato :-)

            It's funny, because I have been familiar with the restaurant Mario's for as long as I can remember, but I never really recall actually dining there. Don't ask why because I'm not sure why either. And when we recently got the chance to try their specials at their branch in Tomas Morato with our little baby girl Rain, I questioned myself more. Their dishes truly are special in their own Mario's way!

          

           Marios has a simple but definitely classy Spanish feel to it's interiors. It's a place where you can have intimate dinners but at the same time a nice place where you can treat your family to a hearty meal! 

          

We started lunch with Mario’s signature Ceasar Salad (P255). You might be thinking, what’s the big deal about a starter Caesar Salad? Well, Mario’s Caesar Salad, is THE BEST Caesar Salad I have ever tasted! It’s so special that they even prepare it table side! 

After tediously making the dressing, it's tossed with fresh lettuce!

 It's then drizzled with bacon and Parmesan cheese! Yum! For the complete step by step, check it out here at Rina's Rainbow!

I took a sip from our friend’s Cucumber Mint Slush. And to my surprise it was quite refreshing! The taste of the cucumber is not as strong and the drink itself is not too sweet. Just right.

Everyone ordered their own dishes and so we didn’t get to try all of it. But here are the photos nonetheless:

Gambas Con Chorizo (P345) is also one of their signature dishes. Shrimps and chorizo combined in garlic olive oil. What’s not to love?

The Millenium Platter (P245). Enjoy a meal of garlic rice, two eggs, and Danggit + Vigan Longanisa! They also have a Daing na Bangus and Chicken Pork Adobo. Choose your pick!

They have Steak and Eggs (P290)! Can't go wrong!

Of course they also have Batangas Beef Tapa (P220) for tapsi lovers!

(FRIED CRABS NA MAY KALABASA SA SIDE)

Soft Shell Crabs in Coco Cream Sauce (P495) looked really good as well! This is one of Mario’s Seasonal Dishes. It is served with plain rice and vegetable of the day.

The Barbecue Spare Ribs (P400) is a sight to behold. Marinated and smothered in Mario’s very own barbecue sauce and served with garlic rice.

I ordered the Filet Mignon (P640) because I saw the description that it was wrapped in bacon, but completely forgetting the fact that filet mignon has zero fat. Pure lean meat. But I still enjoyed it nonetheless especially the mashed potatoes and the bacon.

Another beautiful classic is the Rack of Lamb (P850). Cooked charbroiled and then served with port mint sauce. This one’s pricey but for sure the quality will give justice to it. (I didn’t get to taste sorry!) This is actually one of Mario’s specialties!

The Chicken Parmesan (P350) also looks promising. Looks like a really good creamy comfort food! When I saw this I admit I actually wished I ordered this instead. I just hope they used thigh part instead of breast haha! I’m a red meat kind of person. The chicken breast is topped with a creamy cheese sauce, and fettuccini al burro. 

They also have a steak version which is the Steak Bearnaise (P635). It’s a top grade tenderloin steak served with fettuccine al burro.

And last but not the least, our favorite! Included in the Chef’s Special menu: The creamy and very flavourful Three Mushroom Pasta in Black Truffle Oil with Bacon! Richie is a fan of oil-based pastas (basically because he can’t eat tomato-based ones because of his hyper-acidity). The bacon serving is not bad too! Huge chunks actually. It’s dishes like this that deserves to be framed and displayed. (Oh by the way it also has Shiitake, button, and oyster mushrooms. Was so focused on the bacon that I forgot to mention that. After all it IS called Three Mushroom Pasta haha!)

Okay... this is not a photo of the eye of Sauron or a fire breathing dragon. This is actually DESSERT TIME! And there’s only one way to have an awesome dessert, and that is to do it FLAMBE style! (Ole!!!)

They have three types of famous flambes, Crepes Suzette, Fruit Crepes, and Jubilee (P350) which is what we had. It’s mango, banana or strawberry (depending on season), immersed in liqueurs and then flamed over a delicious vanilla ice cream! All of their flambés are good for two. An inexpensive but very impressive dessert to offer your date! (pogi points!)

Trust me when I say that ordering in Mario’s is hard as everything looks delicious! Mario’s years of experience is apparent in their dishes. You really get what you pay for!  Can’t wait to try their Great Sunday Lunch Buffet! You can check for their latest promotions here. (http://www.marios.com.ph/promo.php)

         Here are just some more mala-"family" photos of our fun luncheon at Marios! but it's not a photo of me, Richie, and Rain. They're photos of our fun blogger friends and adorable Rizzo, the son of the one and only Marty and Tin of Mad Meats who was able to join us that day! Fun fun fun!:-)

Rizzo and Tito Spanky (Pwede na Spanks! hehehe)

Rizzo and Tito Gerry

Having a discussion on what else to order hahaha!

191 Tomas Morato Ave. cor. Scout Gandia

Quezon City

Telephone Numbers:

372.0360 / 415.3887 / 376.6210

Fax Number:

372.0352

Email Address:

mariosqc@marios.com.ph

  

THE LEGEND OF SUZU KIN LIVES ON

             I had heard the legend of a small, hole-in-the-wall Japanese restaurant, so unassuming, that there's a good chance you would drive past without a second glance if you were driving down Kamagong Street in Makati.

        The legend tells of Prawns, covered in Japanese Breadcrumbs, and deep fried to a perfect crisp. Value Meals  filled with delicious Japanese food yet so unbelievable cheap, you're left in awe at how you're not arrested for grand theft. And how a classic Filipino dish, was given the Japanese treatment, giving it a new oriental spin. 

        That legend has grown to different locations, spreading out to different locations in the metro. I was fortunate enough to be able to finally visit one of the locations, conveniently located in Edsa.

       This is the legend of Suzu Kin. 

HUNGRY FOR SOME HOAGIES!

           When choosing a place to eat at, Rina often needs to make it clear to me that she always NEEDS rice in her lunch and dinner meals. She never hesitates to remind me that, because she knows very well that because of my strong Western influence, I'm perfectly all right with having a sandwich for lunch. However, it's going to have to be a pretty bad ass sandwich. I'm not talking about a slice of ham and cheddar on Gardenia White bread. That's totally fine for an afternoon snack, mind you, but its not filling enough for me to consider it as a meal. 

      I'm talking about a large sub on a baked roll or french baguette, stuffed with different deli meats and cheeses (No veggies please, save for caramelized onions, of course)... Popularly known in the Philadelphia area as a "Hoagie". 

     Where could I find such a magnificent creation without having to travel all the way to the "City of Brotherly Love"? I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say, the restaurant "Hoagies" in SM North Edsa Annex would be a good start.