A few months ago, my brother Kien and I went out to watch Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 at Robinson’s Place in Manila. When we bought our tickets, we were left with just about an hour to order food we could bring in while we enjoy the movie. So, we decided on just ordering burger and fries.
I was getting desperate quickly deciding where to order that I almost ended up dragging him to McDonald’s. 😀 Good thing we saw Kido Manga Burger Cafe just around the corner, near the cinemas. Kien wanted to try something new so I agreed.
When we saw Kido Manga, I was a bit skeptical because there were no people dining at their burger joint. But, the photos on their menu got me interested. I wasn’t feeling adventurous at that time so I only chose items on their menu that I’m familiar with.
Kien wanted to try their Takoyaki, but we just didn’t have enough time to wait and eat it before heading out to the cinema. It’ll be a mess if we bring it inside so I said we’ll just save it for next time. Besides, we don’t know yet if we’d be satisfied with the taste of Kido Manga’s burgers.
My brother Ken considers himself a microwave chef. He can bake pastries with just the use of our trusty microwave and can do it in minutes! That’s why I so miss him being around. He’s currently in Singapore, trying his luck there. I miss his out-of-the-blue cooking or baking trips.
Everyone in my family loves to cook, even my dad, who usually cooks with wine, rhum or brandy :D. We’re not experts, but we do make really tasty dishes. Try staying at our home for about a month. Let’s see how many pounds you need to lose afterwards. 😀
Anyway, we’ve got mangoes at home right now and I wanted to try making my own Mango Brown Betty. It’s a very simple recipe that my brother shared with me years ago. Trust me, you’re going to enjoy making this. And, probably you can even make this now because the ingredients are readily or usually available in most kitchens.
Back in November, I posted about Pizza Hut’s Lechon Pizza promo on their Facebook fan page where you can win a feast or gift certificates. Well, guess what!?! I WON!!! If only I wasn’t at our computer shop, I would’ve jumped up and down in glee! I won Php 1,500 gift certificates from Pizza Hut, one of my favorite pizza joints.
I had issues with how I could claim the gift certificates because I can’t close the shop just to pick them up. That’s why I’m so grateful that they accommodated my request to have my prize shipped to my home address through courier. Thank you so much, Pizza Hut!
So, I had it all planned. I tagged my friends from The Burp Society (formerly known as Tomador Inc. :D) on the photo post where I won and they were the ones who were invited, too, for the pizza party. It was supposed to be a super late birthday celebration for one of my friends, and a post-Christmas and New year celebration all rolled into one.
My friend Badeth had her Pizza Hut Palm card with her. I confirmed with Pizza Hut’s customer service agent that I could use the Palm card. I was asking ’cause I thought they had another promo for delivery, like their All-You-Pay promos in the past.
What did we order? I really, really wanted to try the Lechon Pizza so we ordered one (1) large (14″) pizza for Php 499.
At first glance, I was a li’l skeptical about the Lechon Pizza. I mean, it looked a bit greasy to me. They had a separate package for the pork roasted skin that you can either break into pieces or grind to spread all over the pizza. They even include extra sauce.
One of our main destinations during our 5-day North Luzon getaway last week was the beautiful and relaxing beaches of Pagudpud in Ilocos. I’ve been wanting to go there for years now, especially after I saw photos of my brother Ken with his friends during their Pagudpud trip.
We stayed at the Saud Beach Resort hotel because there weren’t too many people staying there so we can enjoy the beach mostly all on our own. They’re one of the more expensive hotels in Pagudpud. Since we were only staying for a day, I thought screw my budget and let’s stay at the lovely Saud Beach Resort. We only paid Php 4,356 for a room good for 5, and I thought that’s already a good deal considering how lovely their resort is. Their resort seemed more relaxing than the other ones next to them.
Anyway, when we finally checked in, it was almost lunch time (they allowed us to check in earlier since there weren’t too many people staying at the resort). Ken said we should check out the other restaurants in the area. So, we immediately headed out to the other restos on the other side of Saud beach. It was a long walk so imagine how hungry we were when we finally arrived at the area where the restaurants in Saud beach were lined up.
Among all the menus we saw, my brother and I liked Emohruo Beach Restobar‘sof Evangeline Resort the best. And, the prices were also very affordable. All I can tell you now is the long walk was so worth it!
Emohruo is actually “Our Home” spelled backwards. Cool, eh? I love the whole vibe at their restobar. People dine al fresco and the rustic design of their area just complements the whole feel of dining near the beach.
Though the sun was really up and shining brightly, we didn’t feel uncomfortable because the wind was cool and fresh. Ahhhh… I so miss it! That’s why I so love the photos I took while we were at Emohruo. It reminds me of how relaxing the resort was.
Emohruo Beach Restobar has a wide range of dishes on their menu, mostly Asian dishes with their own twists. They all sounded really good that I wanted to order one of everything! 😀
Everyone with me – my mother, my bro, our aunt Zeny and Beth (my mom’s best friend) – were all supportive of our food blog so we all agreed to order different beverages. 😀
First up, my Banana Mocha Shake (Php 98.00), marked as one of the favorites on their menu. I love, love, love Mocha flavored anything, but I didn’t completely enjoy this one. I guess it’s because of the banana. But, it was still really good and Ken enjoyed it. I guess I was expecting the mocha flavor to be stronger than the banana.
First of all, I hope you all had a MERRY CHRISTMAS! Have a Blessed New Year everyone! 🙂
If you’ve been following my other blogs, especially my personal blog Just Another Pixel, you’d know that I just got home from a 5-day Luzon vacation. We’ve dined and bought a lot of goodies or pasalubong from our 4 destinations (yes, 4 destinations in 5 days! :D) and I’ll be writing about them in the coming days so make sure you keep posted for that.
To start, let me show you some of the goodies we brought home with us from Baguio. Some were really good and worth giving away; the rest, ugh. Read on for my Baguio pasalubong recommendations.
The Bad 🙁
Lina’s Chewy Milky Balls are too milky for me in a not so good way. The texture is also weird that I didn’t even finish one piece. Ken also didn’t like it at all. It tasted more of coconut (unpleasantly), even the texture or the chewiness.
Lina’s Chewy Choco Balls may look yummy in that photo, but they weren’t good at all. Well, at least for me. Again, just like the milky balls, the texture is way too weird and I barely tasted any chocolate. I think it’s just food coloring. 😐
I actually bought 2 variants of Jamber’s Lengua de Gato – chocolate and strawberry-flavored. I had high hopes that they’ll be good, but they were a big disappointment. First, they weren’t even crunchy. They were too soft and chewy. I want my lengua de gato a li’l crunchy, just like the ones from Pines Maid.
I am a big fan of Chinese food and I love dimsum A LOT. But, my desire to roam the streets of Binondo in Manila to taste the most authentic Chinese cooking/cuisines was heightened the night my mother brought home the best dimsum soup and siomai I’ve ever tasted.
I’ve asked a couple of my friends who are familiar with the Chinese restaurants in Binondo because my mom forgot the name of the restaurant. When my mom and I were at Divisoria last November, we decided to head over to Binondo and she’ll just try to remember where it was located.
After almost an hour of looking for the restaurant, the pedicab driver finally led us to Wai Ying Fast Food. As soon as my mother saw the front of this Chinese food joint, she immediately exclaimed we’re at the right place. Finally, I thought. I was already hungry. 😀
Wai Ying Fast Food is a two-storey restaurant at Buenavidez Street in Binondo, right across Manila Chinatown Hotel. Wai Ying has been around for over a decade and they are very popular in Chinatown.
At the very entrance, you’d see ducks and chickens being roasted by the window. They have a mini kitchen at the entrance so you can actually see them preparing food.
If you want a relaxing dining experience, you might not completely enjoy at Wai Ying’s. They’re just a small Chinese fast food restaurant. So, if you’re planning on bringing friends along with you, prepare to wait for tables or head on upstairs for more tables.
Anyway, as soon as we were handed the menu, it was funny to see my mother ordering away. 😛 So, we ended up with around seven (7) different dimsum dishes and other plates of Chinese food. 😀
First, we ordered 2 cold Lemon Tea (Php 50). It was really refreshing, especially after what we went through looking for Wai Ying all over Binondo (sorry, I can’t get over it :D). The lemon slices and the genuine taste of tea made it one of my fave iced lemon teas.
Oh, by the way, while I was taking photos of the menu, the guy who was waiting on our table approached me and gave me a copy of their menu. Nice, eh? They’ve got very accommodating staff, even during that very busy lunch hour.
Yes, it’s my first time enjoying a cup of gelato. And all I can say is I don’t think I’m going back to eating plain ice cream very soon. Thanks to Gelatissimo Cafe at Trinoma!
If you’re not yet familiar what gelato is, it’s actually Italy’s variant of ice cream. It’s mostly made up of the same ingredients as other frozen dairy desserts, but the difference is how it’s frozen. Also, gelato is known to have less butterfat and sugar contents. I guess that’s why it became an instant hit here in the Philippines.
Kien and I desperately wanted to try gelato after reading “Eat, Pray, Love”. Since we were scheduled to watch The Social Network at Trinoma, we decided to head out to Gelatissimo.
I would never forget the very first time I had my taste of Pesto Pasta at Fazoli’s, Eastwood City. I was in elementary that time, and like most people my age, I hated herbs and vegetables. My sister and I had no idea what Pesto was back then, and because it sounded delicious (she didn’t want me to order the same thing she did), she ordered that for me. I didn’t enjoy any bit of it, but since it’s a bit expensive I tried with all my might to finish the whole plate. I even remember saying, “Lasang puno (It tastes like a tree),” and it made my sister laugh. So, I learned my lesson and made a mental note to avoid food that has anything to do with Pesto.
But weird as it may seem, I think maturing into an adult is accompanied by a huge change with food palatability. We realize that vegetables aren’t that bad tasting after all, and that our food choices no longer fall under just two taste categories – sweet and salty. There is now the delectable bitter, the sour, or the hot/spicy (though technically spicy is not a flavor or taste. It’s a sensation. Try putting chili on your tongue and on your lip/skin. They experience the same thing – heat.)
Moving forward. As I started exploring the whole variety of flavors I could experience in the world, I found “Pesto” once again. This time, it’s not on a chalkboard menu at Fazoli’s, but on a backlit display of World Chicken at TriNoma Mall, Quezon City. The food adventurer inside me took over, and soon I had a plate with a whopping serving of Pesto Cream Pasta, Potato Salad, and Grilled Chicken with Ranch Barbecue Sauce. If we were not inside a mall, I’d lick my whole plate clean because I was sure I had a taste of heaven. From then on, I would always opt for Pesto Cream Pasta, and even influencing my other friends to give it a try. They loved it.
I had many failed attempts on making Pesto Cream before. Not that I don’t have the skill to make it, but because I found the ingredients to be a bit pricey. So a big thanks to my sister, Mhel, for shouldering the expenses as a gift on my birthday, and to my friend, Katrina Castro, for giving me the idea.
Let’s start with the Basil Pesto recipe. I made this the day before my birthday because I thought it would take hours to finish, but in less than 20 minutes I was done.
Basil Pesto Recipe
Makes about 1 cup.
INGREDIENTS:
3 garlic cloves
1/3 cup pine nuts
Expensive!! Php 360/100grams, but don’t worry you’ll only need 50 grams for this recipe.
You can substitute pine nuts with toasted walnuts or almonds. Cashews should work well too.
2 cups fresh basil leaves (Very cheap!)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Expensive! Php 96 for a 250-ml bottle. We bought this brand. It’s the cheapest.
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
Expensive! Php170+ / 100grams. Perfect Italiano was the only available parmesan cheese available.
Salt and pepper
PROCEDURE:
Note: If you don’t have a food processor, you can use a blender (or a Tupperware Speedy Chopper if you have one) or manually grind the ingredients using a mortar and pestle. Make sure everything’s chopped into bits to minimize grits or coarse grains in your pesto sauce.
1. Chop garlic and pine nuts in food processor. Pulse a few times.
2. Add the basil and pulse a few more times.
3. Add the olive oil slowly while the food processor is running.
4. Scrape down the sides of the processor, add the grated cheese, pulse again to blend.
5. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
6. Refrigerate/Freeze the basil pesto mixture.
FYI: If you refrigerate Pesto Cream, it could only last 1 WEEK max! But if you freeze it, it can last for many, many months.
Creamy Pesto Pasta Recipe
INGREDIENTS:
1 cup of Basil Pesto (Recipe above)
250 ml or 1 cup of All-purpose Cream
2 tbsp. of Olive oil
1/2 kilo of linguine pasta (or any kind of pasta would do)
Salt and Pepper
PROCEDURE:
1. Use a sauce pan on low heat.
2. Add 2 tbsp of olive oil.
3. Put 1 cup of Basil Pesto, then stir to warm it evenly.
4. Add the 1 cup of All-purpose cream slowly, then stir.
5. You can add 1/3 cup of pasta water (the water you used in cooking your pasta) to thin out the sauce.
6. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
7. Cook for 5 minutes.
8. Slowly pour to your cooked linguine pasta (al dente).
Grilled Chicken Recipe
INGREDIENTS:
1 kilo of Chicken Breast Fillet
2 tbsp. of Brown sugar
2 tbsp. Olive Oil
3 tbsp. of Garlic Powder
Salt and Pepper
Lemon Juice / Calamansi
PROCEDURE:
1. Flatten chicken breasts so they would be equal in thickness. You can use a bottle to flatten them or a meat tenderizer.
2. Drizzle generously with olive oil.
3. Add the garlic powder and lemon juice / calamansi.
4. Salt and pepper to taste.
5. Grill until well done, about 5 minutes per side.
There you have it. It’s that easy. I just made my own simple gravy to accompany my grilled chicken and served it with my Creamy Pesto Pasta. It’s a perfectly healthful meal to share with your family and friends. So go ahead, try it and tell me how your own version went.
We were invited to the launch of KFC’s new chicken flavor last week, but, unfortunately, we weren’t able to join. Aside from food bloggers, KFC also invited some of their Facebook fans who sent in the most creative guesses on what their new chicken flavor is. Ken guessed “Chicken Tocino“. That would’ve been good, too, right? He’s a tocino addict, FYI. *LOL*
After the event in Blue Leaf Events Pavillion in McKinley Hill Village in Taguig, I found out what their new chicken flavor is – KFC Chili Lime Chicken.
I was pretty excited to try this new chicken flavor. I’m a HUGE fan of KFC, especially their Hot and Crispy chicken, California Maki Twister and their fries. So, their Chili Lime Chicken was really something I looked forward to tasting.
Last weekend, we finally got a taste of KFC’s Chili Lime Chicken at their branch near Gilmore. And, all I can say is the combination of chili and lime is really interesting.
First off, I just wanted to say this – I don’t like sprinkled flavor powder on anything. So, I didn’t particularly enjoy the flavor powder on my Chili Lime chicken. BUT, I loved how these 2 flavors – chili and lime – gave KFC’s chicken a new twist.
They say that the Chili Lime Chicken is marinated in special Chili Lime spices. That part, I really love. The chicken meat really bursts with flavor. And, I’m pretty happy that the chicken meal we ordered was still very warm so you can really taste and enjoy the chili lime flavors.
I’ve read some comments from KFC fans who didn’t particularly like the Chili Lime chicken. They say it tastes weird. I say, it’s new and interesting. The first time I bit into my Chili Lime chicken, I immediately tasted the lime flavor. I love limes on anything so I really enjoyed it. The chili or spicy flavor of the chicken, though, got a li’l overpowered by the zestiness of the lime flavor. I can only taste the spiciness on the chicken skin. I guess I was looking for a li’l more chili flavor on the chicken itself.
However, I still enjoyed my KFC Chili Lime chicken because it was something new. I love the flavors combined with KFC’s tender chicken meat and, of course, their famous gravy (soup to other people *LOL*). I’m actually thinking of trying preparing chicken here at home using these 2 flavors to see how it’ll turn out.
By the way, we ordered the 2-piece KFC Chili Lime chicken meal. I didn’t know that you can actually choose from the 3 flavors for ANY KFC chicken meal. If I did, I would’ve ordered their Fully Loaded Twister meal instead with Chili Lime-flavored chicken. Kien and I had to order 2 separate California Maki Twisters *LOL* I know, we’re on a diet, but when we’re in KFC, we just can’t help but go on a food trip. We don’t need the best multivitamin to boost our appetite when it comes to KFC. We just love their food! ^_^
Have you tried KFC’s Chili Lime Chicken?
How did you find the combination of the tangy lime flavor and spiciness?
I am a chocolate lover. Wait, let me rephrase that. I’m a DARK chocolate lover. But, I still enjoy other kinds of chocolates. Just like what we see in movies and on TV, chocolate is a mood-booster for me. It’s still my choice of comfort food.
I had the chance to try different chocolates over the past years. Most recently, I’ve had these two new additions to the list of my favorite chocolates – Lindt Pistachio and Ritter Sport Dark Whole Hazelnuts – and, my long-time favorite, Ferrero Rocher.
Lindt Pistachio Chocolate I love that the chocolate is soft and the pistachio gives it a li’l crunch.
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Ritter Sport Dark Whole Hazelnuts I usually don’t like chocolate with nuts, but I enjoyed this.
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Ferrero Rocher Chocolates Different variants. I enjoyed the dark chocolate the most.
I know, some people may say I might need acne products for eating lots of chocolates. But, you should know that chocolates actually are rich in antioxidants called flavonoids that are known to improve the heart’s health. I guess that’s why eating chocolates is comforting.
I prefer dark chocolate over any other kind of chocolate. I love the bittersweet taste and I’m not really a fan of milk and chocolate. Dark chocolate is my favorite comfort food. I also prefer enjoying a plain bar of dark choco, without nuts or anything crunchy mixed, while enjoying movies at home or writing a blog. I’m trying to lessen my cravings for it since I’m trying to lose weight, so I limit myself to one li’l square of chocolate every now and then.
A few of the more affordable dark chocolate I’ve tried are from Hershey’s, Meiji and Goya. Of the 3, I love Hershey’s the most.
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Hershey’s Special Dark Chocolate Photo credit: Meals and Miles
And, back in high school, I got so addicted to this very affordable milk chocolate – Lala. It only sells at about Php 8.00 now at the market. It brings back a lot of memories for me.
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Lala Milk Chocolate The more affordable alternative.
Gone Chocco – THE Blog for Chocolate Lovers!
While I was doing my daily rounds of bloghopping, I came across this blog that just melted my heart. As soon as I landed on this blog, I quickly browsed through past posts and I can’t believe at how much chocolately goodness I found. The blog I’m talking about is Gone Chocco.
The author, Kath Lockett, is the ultimate chocolate lover. And browsing through her blog, reading how she describes or reviews the chocolates she’s tried, really makes me want to try everything she’s featured on Gone Chocco. Really mouth-watering, especially the way she takes photos of the chocolates. Here are a few of the chocolates she featured on her blog that I’d love to try. I wonder where I can buy them here or if they’re even available here in the Philippines.
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Lindt Dark Chocolate Bars Photo credit: Gone Chocco
