TAPAS TIME AT BASTY'S

          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.

MAD MEATS: A BACON ODYSSEY

               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.

PRAY FOR MERCY AT ZARKS BURGERS!

              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. 

  

WE FINALLY MEET, PAPA JOHN'S

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.  

BANG FOR THE BUCK: HAINANESE DELIGHTS

          Rina and I have a tradition, where we go on what she calls a "Parlor Date" (but naturally I call it a "Barber Date"), where I get a P100 haircut and she gets a P100 pedicure. Unfortunately for my wife, fate threw a monkey wrench in her plans, because the resident Pedicurist, hadn't arrived yet. So instead, she decided to do a little window shopping (You never know when you'll need an extra window *rim shot*). 
   
       Word of advice, never fiddle with an electronic device or anything that will distract you when getting a haircut. Otherwise you just mind look up at the mirror suddenly and not recognize the person looking back at you. I know the barber asked me if I wanted to trim my bangs a bit, but don't recall ever giving him the go-signal to lop a big chunk off (Darn you Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter!).

        Anyways, not happy with my hair, Rina went with me to go shopping for a new bonnet and a few other things we would need for Christmas. As we were about to leave, I asked Rina to call up our helper to let her know that we would be on our way home so she could prepare our lunch. Since the holidays was coming, I wanted to tighten our belts for the mean time and not eat out so much. However, as we made our way to the escalator I got distracted by a sign of a store a few feet in front of us.

       Hainanese Delights.

      I stopped in my tracks and said, "Rina.. Put down the phone."

DISTRITO NIGHTS

                  I've mentioned in the past that I'm a big fan of Mercato Centrale, but the Midnight version, not so much. However, when I found out that Anton Diaz and RJ Ledesma, the same people behind were coming up with a night market in the heart of Makati, I was ecstatic! Considering I'm in Makati five times a week, how awesome would it be to have a mini "Mercato Centrale", literally just a five minute drive away from my office? 


           Since it opened I've been there twice already, so I can confirm that the answer to that question is, "Pretty Frickin' Awesome!!"

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).  

WE WERE A FINALIST AT THE 2011 PHILIPPINE BLOG AWARDS

         Last July 4, I got an email from "The Philippine Blog Awards", telling me that my blog was nominated for one of the "Major Categories" (I went out on a limb and suspected it had something to do with food). I was a little taken aback because, The Pickiest Eater In The World had only been barely a year in existence and to get recognized by a body as prestigious sounding as "The Philippine Blog Awards" was a big deal. Imagine, one or maybe more of my readers liked my blog so much that he/she took time off from their day to point the panel of judges to my blog, because they deemed it among the best in the country today. Of course the feeling was exhilarating.  


      Then I find out that it was my wife that nominated me.


     Apparently a friend of hers told her about the awards, and suggested that she place my name into the hat, seeing what would happen.


      After confirming the nomination via email, that was pretty much it. Months went by, and I didn't hear a peep from them. Then recently I saw a list of blogs that made it to the best blogs of Nuffnang or something like that. For some reason I assumed that it was the same thing as the Philippine Blog Awards. When I double checked the Philippine Blog Awards site, it said that the awards night was December 3, and since it was mid-November, I thought my humble blog didn't live up to the standards of the Blog awards. I thought to myself, maybe I'll just try again next year.


     Then on December 2, the day before the Philippine Blog Awards Night, I get an email congratulating me for being a finalist in the Food & Beverage category on the National level.     


    So I called up Rina to tell her the good news, and that we needed to go to the awards night the next day. 


     And all she could say was..


     "What am I gonna wear!?"


     *Sigh*... Women. 


    

AN ODE TO MY YAYA

Parts lifted from an old facebook album

This is me and my Yaya Kit when I was four years old. 

        I wanted to take a moment to pay tribute to someone who has a very special place in my heart. This is the woman that changed my diaper when I was a baby. She took me to school when I was a child and waited for me until the bell rang. She would cook me my favorite meal upon request. Plain and simply, she took care of me. I wouldn't be the man I am today without her unconditional love and selfless nurturing. Who is she, you ask?

          She's my Yaya.

RINA'S GREENBELT DATE WITH EDWARD, JACOB &.. FELIX!?

         Convincing Rina to leave the house without Baby Rain is next to impossible. But I can't blame her either. Rain is still just one month and five days old, and we're both first time parents, so even a trip to the bathroom that takes longer than it should can induce the feeling of panic. But even when Rain was still a little speck in her mommy's tummy, Rina was already making plans on who would take care of our daughter on the weekend of November 20. 

     Why? Because Breaking Dawn Part 1 would be showing that weekend. 

      I'm not ashamed to admit that I've read all the Twilight Books, and save for the first one, I actually enjoyed them. The movies, on the other hand, are another story. But Rina and her sister Chaikka are crazy over both, and both were asking me to reserve tickets for "Breaking Dawn" as early as the closing credits of the midnight screen of "Eclipse" in 2010.

        I bought a voucher from CashCashPinoy to the restaurant, "Felix" in Greenbelt 5 a couple of months back, hoping to use it during one of our movie trips. (After a few experiences in different cinemas, we resolved that, with its online reservation and forgive me for a lack of a better term but its "Classier" crowd, Greenbelt 3 Cinemas would always be our default choice when wanting to watch a movie). 

     So since everything just seemed to be timed so perfectly, Rina finally got to go on her date with Edward, Jacob, and Felix. 

    (Oh and yeah, I was there too.)