THE SHRIMP SPOT: FLAVORS THE HIT THE RIGHT SPOT!

 

If you're looking for Gourmet style shrimps at affordable prices, then you've come to the right place! Check out my new go to place for Pogi Points with Rina... The Shrimp Spot PH!

MINISTRY OF CRAB MANILA: ONE OF ASIA'S 50 BEST RESTAURANTS

            Famous for their wide array of seafood dishes, especially their Crabs and Prawns, the famous Ministry of Crab from Sri Langka has now opened in Manila, finding a new home at Shangri-la, The Fort!

With the Sri Langka branch ranked #29 in Asia's Best Restaurants list, the Manila branch aims to duplicate that success, bringing their takes on sauces to their mouthwatering seafood!

Ministry of Crab

Shangri-La at the Fort

Bonifacio Global City 

Taguig City

RED LOBSTER OPENS IN MANILA!

Red Lobster opened their first branch in Manila this November, so I dropped by S Maison Mall for a sneak peek of some of the items that's on their menu! We got to try the famous Cheddar Bay Biscuits, Seaside Nachos, Seafood Feast, Cajun Porkchop, and a whole lot more!

Also, Please Subscribe to my Youtube Channel!

I'm holding a series of giveaways there so pls subscribe so you don't miss out!

Red Lobster Grnd Flr, S Maison
Conrad Manila
Seaside Boulevard Corner Coral Way,
Mall of Asia Complex (MOA)
Pasay City

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THE CORNER MARKET PODIUM: CATCH OF THE DAY BY COLD STORAGE

  The sparkling new renovation of Podium Mall opened up opportunities for more shops and restaurants to settle into the bustling Ortigas center. Recently, a sprawling Food Hall opened, named, "The Corner Market". Spanning roughly around 1,200 square meters, The Corner Market is set to house 17 food establishments in its massive halls.  

      Though not all 17 are operational yet, your friendly neighborhood Pickiest Eater made the ultimate sacrifice for his beloved readers, to try the food stalls that have opened their doors at the Corner Market.. Where good food is just around the corner!   

          Being a Picky Eater, it never fails to shock people when I tell them that I really love to eat fish. Other seafood, such as shrimps and crabs and the like, I'm not too fond of, but I truly do love a good fish dish. Being serial grocery shopper, I was fully aware of the Cold Storage name, even before seeing their kiosk called "Catch of the Day" at The Corner Market, so I was intrigued with what this seafood purveyor would bring to the table.. And I was not disappointed!

ALL ABOARD FOR SPECTRUM SEAFOOD SUNDAY BUFFET!

         I can never resist a good buffet.. Especially from a place as spectacular as Spectrum. And this is even when I've been warned before hand that meat dishes would be hard to come by, because they would be featuring a spread that consisted predominantly of seafood. This was fine, because the last time I was at Spectrum, their "Ranch" theme gave me all the meat I could handle, so I thought of giving the seafood dishes a try. My leap of faith came easy when I reminded myself that Spectrum's fantastic kitchen has never let me down yet! 

SIMPLY SEAFOOD: A FRESH OCEAN HARVEST BUFFET AT MARRIOTT MANILA

Fresh catch of the day!!! Simply Seafood at Marriott Cafe here at @manilamarriott ! #marriottmanila #seafood #buffet #seafoodbuffet

A video posted by Rina Zamora 🌈 (@rinasrainbow) on Mar 14, 2015 at 5:30am PDT

Seafood...

Buffet...

        The two words that got me excited as a kid waiting for Disneyland to open. Disclaimer, I can't say I'm a really huge fan of seafood. There are some things that I don't eat. But I do like tahong, osyters, and shrimps! Ooooh shrimps! And salmon! So when I heard that Marriott Manila was going to have a whole buffet spread highlighting fresh seafood, I knew I had to try it! 

Let's walk through this seafood wonderland, shall we?  Presenting, the Marriott Manila's Ocean Harvest Seafood Buffet!

YELLOW FIN SEAFOOD & RESTAURANT: DELICIOUSLY DAVAO!

      Before I left for Davao last August for the Kadayawan Festival, I took a little survey on what food the "City Of Blooms" was famous for. As you can imagine, I got a lot of Durian and Pomelo answers (Someone who obviously wasn't listening to the question, actually answered, "Philippine Eagle"). Apart from that though, there was an undeniably strong consensus that my trip to Davao would not be complete without sampling their seafood, particularly their Yellow Fin Tuna. 

      Thankfully, as I would find out when we landed in Davao, our gracious hosts took that into consideration, and arranged for us to dine at one of the City's finest seafood restaurants: Yellow Fin Seafood Restaurant.

TORCH LIGHTS UP THEIR NEW MENU! - RINAZ

A few weeks ago we were supposed to try out a restaurant in Greenhills named Torch with other blogger friends. But unfortunately no one could look after Rain at that time so we had to decline last minute. We heard nothing but raves from our friends who were able to go. And that made us more curious about this Torch place.

        Then the universe worked its magic! A few weeks after we luckily got an invitation to a Media Lunch Menu at Torch! What can I say? It’s destiny! *tear*. So off I went one weekday to Greenhills. According to the map, it was along Connecticut Street. I was driving slowly from the side of Greenhills Shopping Mall, looking for Home Studio Building. I was almost near EDSA but still didn’t see it so I turned back. It was only then that I saw the facade of Torch. It was quite big so I’m not sure how I missed it. Maybe because of the tree branch blocking it.

THE LOBSTER BUFFET OF CORNICHE AT DIAMOND HOTEL - RinaZ

           Flashback: It was a humid night, and Richie and I were walking by the beach of Boracay somewhere in station 3 looking for a fun place to have dinner. And I spotted some lobsters. Honestly I totally forgot the details but somehow I thought the lobster was not that expensive and I insisted on getting one. And before we knew it, we were staring at a bill that says "Lobster - P1,200" ha ha ha ha ha (sweat + nervous laughter).

       So when we were asked to join a dinner at Diamond Hotel for a Lobster Buffet, I was more than willing. Lobsters, it's payback time!

           This display will be the first thing that you will see when you enter the Corniche. Isn't it beautiful? As soon as I saw it, I think I heard angels singing. In this beautiful display, 2 elements are clearly the stars. 

A MEMORABLE T.G.I.FRIDAY'S EXPERIENCE

       Do you remember when the first T.G.I. Fridays opened in Manila? I do. All of a sudden, when it came to dining out in Makati, T.G.I. Fridays became THE default choice of everyone. The line to get in was ridiculous. You would think that the Filipino people were once again holding a "People Power" rally to overthrow an evil dictatorship at the third floor of Glorietta 2. You'd never think that all these people would wait hours in line for some chicken fingers and burgers. 

      Whether you were with your friends or family, it mattered not. Forget Cindy's. T.G.I.Friday's was the place to be. 

THE STOCK MARKET CAFE REDUX

      Last weekend, Rina and I decided to take Baby Rain out for a stroll at Bonifacio High Street. Funnily enough, it was such a beautiful day when we left the house, we didn't even think to bring an umbrella anymore. Since we were with Baby Rain, going down from the car calls for the unloading of a stroller and baggage that would make one think that we're actually heading to Singapore instead of a local strip mall. Because of that, whenever we go to High Street, we find it easier to park at the basement of Serendra (also because it's covered, in case of the heat), and take a leisurely stroll across the street. 
   
      It was a little bit ridiculous because as soon as we crossed the street to High Street, we heard a thunder clap and within seconds, the rain began to pour. Realizing we were unprepared for the situation, I told Rina I'd take her out for lunch at a restaurant of her choice. 

    She immediately chose Stock Market Cafe. I asked if she would reconsider because we had already been there, but she was quick to point out that I went there with my Giant Joel and the lovely Donna.. My workmates.. without her. She let the guilt sink in me a little bit before she went all wife on me and said, "Where ever you want is fine."

    Two minutes later, we were standing in front of Stock Market Cafe, asking the hostess for a table for two.  

I LUV FISH & CO. !

You bet your butt I do

    Part of my being a "Picky Eater" is my aversion to seafood. With the sole exception of fish (which I actually love), I make it a point to stay away from creatures from the sea. There are a few incarnations of seafood dishes that I eat, but on the whole, it would be safe to say that i'm a carnivore, through and through. 

    I don't eat Squid (except Calamares from some restaurants), nor do I eat shrimp or prawns (except for tempura and more recently, the blackened shrimp of Village Tavern, mainly because you could pour the sauce on a rubber slipper and I would still probably eat it). And to date, there are only two crab dishes that I would be willing to eat willingly.. The Crab Wonton from P.F. Changs (which doesn't taste like crab) and the Crab Cakes of Village Tavern. 

     I don't eat clams, oysters, Mussels (yes, that includes baked tahong dripping with cheese), scallops and even lobsters. So as you can imagine, I'm no fun at Dampa and other seafood restaurants (I imagine it would be like taking a vegetarian to a place like Zark's Burgers or Brazil Brazil). 

    But there is one Seafood Restaurant that I can never say no to, because they have one dish that is a member of the "One of the Best Things Ever" Club. 


   True to it's name, Fish and Co. really does have "The Best Fish and Chips In Town".  

EPIC FIRSTS AT VILLAGE TAVERN

      Have you ever been to a restaurant, and the moment you open the menu, everywhere you look.. no matter what corner of the page you glance at, you see a dish that you just HAVE to order? 

     Well, that's exactly what happened to me when I went to Village Tavern last week. I swear, I was just staring at the menu, with my tummy growling at me and I just drew a blank. The dishes just sounded so amazing, I was completely overwhelmed. I honestly wanted to order practically EVERYTHING.

     Which is why I turned over the ordering reins to my friend Mitzi of The Bistro group, figuring since she has declared The Village Tavern one of her favorite restaurants to eat at, she wouldn't lead us astray. 

    Funnily enough, I was right. Everything Mitzi recommended knocked it out of the park. 

THE SOLE OF MR. ROCKEFELLER

             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.

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".