BUFFALO WILD WINGS: WINGS. BEER. SPORTS. NOW IN THE PHILIPPINES!

      Already boasting of 1,000 locations throughout the world, including outlets in every state of the USA, Buffalo Wild Wings finally opens in The Philippines! And what better way to celebrate its Grand Opening on January 29 than by giving away a year's worth of wings to the first 100 people in line when the doors open at 11am! 

GRANNY'S BURGER... VERY BIG AND VERY TASTY

      I've noticed that my past few posts have been of bigger brand named restaurants, and that I've seemed to have gone astray from my original mission of helping out small, fledging businesses. There are literally hundreds of hole in the wall restaurants in the metro just waiting to be discovered, and I happened to chance upon one that- with its 1/3 Pound Australian beef patty burgers and other classic menu items, immediately caught my attention:

     The name said it all: Granny's Burgers.. Big and Tasty! 

LUNCH AT POCO DELI WITH A NEW FRIEND!

           Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that this blog of ours would reach so many people, in such a short amount of time. Which is why every time someone tells me - whether through Facebook, Twitter, or in person - that they read my blog, I can't help but beam with pride. 

     Tiny is one particular reader that reached out to me through Instagram. It's a funny story how it happened, because nothing like this has ever happened to me before. Instagram alerted me that I got a mention from a user that I was not friends with. When I clicked on it, I wasn't allowed to view it because her profile was set to private. I was actually in the middle of doing something so I thought nothing of it. The next day, when i was fiddling around with Instagram again, I noticed the alert was still in my notifications. I took a good look at the little thumbnail and noticed something. 

      It was a picture of me!

     Of course it got me wondering if I knew this person or not, and what my picture was doing there, which I recognized from an old blog post. I added her as a friend, and I saw that she was a Pinay reader that was based in another country, and was just telling everyone that she enjoyed reading my blog. 

     I'll tell you this right now.. It was a truly wonderful feeling. 

       Since that day, Tiny and I have been corresponding through Instagram and Facebook, and have become friends. We made plans to finally meet when she came back to Manila for her Christmas vacation. 

    When she asked where we could meet up I couldn't but think to myself.. "Where else would you meet up with a girl named "Tiny", but at "Poco Deli"! 

GERRY'S GRILL: FAMILY TIME PART II

Wanna win P1,000 worth of Gift Certificates from Gerry's Grill?
Join my Birthday Giveaway Today! 

http://www.thepickiesteater.net/2013/01/the-pickiest-eaters-great-birthday.html

        My relationship with Gerry's Grill runs very deep. Gerry Apolinario, the man behind the food, has been a family friend since becoming college buddies with my cousin.  and a and it has been nice to watch his dream of creating the quintessential Filipino restaurant turn into a global empire.

       I got to tag along with my cousin and sister to one of the food tastings Gerry would hold when preparing the menu. I was also there on the very first day that Gerry's Grill opened their first branch along Tomas Morato, and watched the blessing and the ribbon cutting, etc. 

      Even back then, I knew that Gerry's Grill would be success.. However, I had no idea that it would become the food industry power it is today.

      Last December, Rina and I decided to take out her dad and sister out for a nice family dinner. I realized that despite the special place Gerry's Grill has, I haven't done a blog post about it yet apart press releases.

    Taking into consideration my father-in-law's strong love for Filipino food (It was his idea to drive up to Pamana in Tagaytay just for some Bulalo), It was the perfect time to pay Gerry's Grill a visit! 

JUST FONDUE IT AT ELEVEN TABLES

         While the entire country was on the Holy Week vacation, Rina's job unfortunately required her to work. Luckily though, her shift doesn't start until 3pm, and she can do her work from home. (I should seriously start looking into that. Imagine how much I could save on my water bill, not needing to shower before going to work!) I told her that I wanted to take her and Baby Rain out for lunch so we could get home before her shift started, so we don't go all "The Shining" staying in the house throughout the break. 

     Chaikka, who was getting bored out of her mind at home, had said that should we have any plans, to let her know right away, and no matter what it was, even if it was a midnight Magnum run to our villages' Mini Stop, she was in. 

        I had done a little research before the break began, so I had an idea of what restaurants would be open during the Lenten season, and one stuck to the back of my mind. After a leisurely driver around The Fort and Ortigas, I decided it was time to give that restaurant a try..

      "Eleven Tables" at Kapitolyo. 

FEELING PHILY'S DINER!

Challenge accepted!

        Among my immediate family members, only my sister Raquel checks out my blog with any form of regularity. My Sister Rosemarie and my brother Ryan, do not at all. However, one time, Ryan DID stumble unto my blog when he asked me if I had eaten in Kogi Bulgogi before. He took a look at a few posts and his only comment was, i'm too "mainstream". 

      Yeah, to be honest, that's not something I can really contest. But what can I do? You hear about a place, then you wanna go check it out. It's not my fault if it's usually located in a mall or something. 

     So when Groupon Philippines had a promo for "Phily's Diner", a place I had never heard of before, I thought it would be a good opportunity to uncover another hidden gem. 

ICEBERGS, RIGHT AHEAD!

Is this what sunk the Titanic?

           I love ice cream parlors. There's really something nostalgic about it. (Does anyone from Cebu remember the old ice cream parlor at the ground floor of the building where the cinema "Belvic" used to be? They made one of the best chocolate parfaits ever!) I think that when you're a kid, and you go into a place whose specialty is ice cream, you wont have to worry about being good all throughout or your parents might not allow you to have dessert (I don't think anyone would be that cruel). I remember going to the Old Magnolia House to have the "Hidden Treasure" ice cream sundae.. (Was that the name? All I remember that it was the one with a chocolate gold coin in the bottom) and to me it was the greatest thing on earth (I hadn't discovered Bacon yet). When I got older, I took my Niece Cara there, to try their "Kit Kat Choco Attack", basically a Parfait with Kit Kat sticks around it. (Pretty good too) 

        I've seen Icebergs around for quite some time now, because I would pass by the one in Timog often when I lived in QC. But I never thought about going there because as much as I love ice cream, I'm not very fond of Halo Halo and stuff like that, which i thought was pretty much the backbone of everything there serve. When I passed by their branch in Robinsons Galleria a few years back, I got a glimpse of their Menu and saw it was more of like an Diner than just an ice cream parlor.

            I've been there a few times already, but never captured on film. I've tried their fried chicken, which was pretty decent, and when Rina was craving for a Chili Dog, we headed straight to Icebergs. After a meeting with my buddy Ted at Metro Walk on a Scorching hot Saturday afternoon, Rina wanted to goto a place with something refreshing to cool us down while having our late lunch. 

            The choice of Icebergs was a no-brainer.

HOLD YOUR BREATH, WE'RE GOING TO DAMPA!

          I first heard of Dampa from a friend that described it as the "Best Seafood Experience Of Her Life". Since my ears don't exactly ring when I hear "Seafood", it didn't really leave a mark with me. I don't eat squid, shrimps, crabs, tahong, or any of those things. In fact, the only seafood I really eat, is fish. Though I wasn't really excited about it, I ended up going with some people from work, who had no clue yet of just how picky an eater I was. So with my luck, it was only natural that they ordered everything above that I said I didn't eat. We were taking out a German friend of my boss, and he wanted his visitor to get an authentic taste of Good Old Filipino Seafoods. Not to mention the fact that the Dampa experience was something that would definitely be a story to tell when going back to his country.

               
           So I went to Dampa with low expectations, and completely clueless to the fact that I was about to try something that would make it to my list of "Best Things Ever".