Tim Ho Wan - Manila

Oh. Wow. I haven't posted anything for almost 4 months! Anyway, I'm back again. And hopefully, I'll be able to post regularly since I'm finally on summer break! Yay!

Earlier today, my family and I headed out to run some errands and we decided to try eating in the newly opened branch of Tim Ho Wan. We were kind of iffy about eating there since it just opened and the line might be long. Didn't want to experience the same thing as when we went to the branch in Singapore wherein we waited in line for an hour and a half.... So we just hoped that the line wouldn't be as bad. 

When we got to Tim Ho Wan, there was a line. But gladly, it wasn't that long! The turn-over was quick and we only had to wait in line for 15 minutes. :) When we got the table, we ordered right away. Here's what we had! 

Rice with Chicken, Sausage, and Mushrooms

Php. 190.00

Steamed Egg Cake

Php. 85.00

The egg cake basically tasted like Puto (Filipino Rice Cake) with coco sugar.

Vermicelli Roll with Shrimp

Php. 190.00

Glutinous Rice with Lotus Leaf

Php. 190.00

Pan-fried Carrot Cake

Php. 145.00

Pork Ribs with Black Bean Sauce

Php. 120.00

Prawn Dumpling

Php. 160.00

I didn't like this. :( I usually like Ha Kaw but this was so bland and I was quite disappointed because it's expensive for Ha Kaw and the shrimp wasn't even whole. 

Baked Bun with BBQ Pork

Php. 145.00 (3 pcs.)

THIS. This was the star of my meal. It's Tim Ho Wan's signature dish. My parents found it to be too sweet though. I mean, it actually is, but I like sweet food. :) The price was reasonable too! 145 pesos for 3 buns! But, they have a policy that you can only have one order of pork buns per person. :(

Overall, I think THW is overrated and I'd probably go back just for the pork buns. But compared to the Singapore branch, I like the food in the Manila branch more. I'll cut them some slack since they just opened and are probably still adjusting. I'll try it again when they're stable and I hope that the food will be better. 

Tim Ho Wan

G/F SM Mega Fashion Hall, SM Megamall

Mandaluyong City

Greeka Kouzina

I promised you guys a new post soon, so here it is! Right after school today, my family and I went straight to SM Aura to run some errands for my step-dad (And of course, a little shopping.... :p) Anyway, Have you guys been to SM Aura on a weekday? There are hardly any people! Like, you could run around the halls and no one would mind. So it was really fun shopping. Haha. You didn't have to call the sales clerk and fight over them with another customer. I loved it. 

After all the shopping and walking, we decided to have dinner! The last time we were there, we noticed that there was a Greek restaurant. My step-dad used to run a Greek restaurant so he wanted to try it out and check if they really served authentic Greek cuisine. My step-dad ordered so much because he got used to traditional Greek restaurants wherein they serve you little portions. Sort of like tapas.

Salata Horiatiki

Ripened tomatoes with cucumber, olives, pepper, mint, dill, onions, and feta cheese

Php. 380.00

This is the first dish that came out and it looked like it was good for 3-5 people. It was BIG. I didn't try it because I'm not very fond of tomatoes. My parents said that it was good though. 

Melitzanosalata

Eggplant grilled over charcoal

Php. 130.00

I liked this dish. It's quite similar to Moutabal and if you've read my previous posts, I LOVE moutabal. The Feta cheese they served with this was very good. It was very creamy and not quite salty. Also, the pita bread they served was good. It was quite sweet and thicker than the usual pita bread. It needed to be a tad bit chewier though.

Kalamari Tiganito

Fried squid sprinkled with alatopiperigano

Php. 290.00

This was another one of my favourites because the squid was very well seasoned. Not too salty. It went very good with the shallots that they sprinkled on top of it. The breading was not very thick so you could taste the flavour of the squid as well. 

Spanakopita

Phyllo pastry baked with spinach, feta cheese, and greek herbs

Php. 295.00

I didn't try this because the last time I tried Spanakopita, I didn't really enjoy it. My parents said that it wasn't good. You could hardly taste the Feta and it tasted like grass.

Chicken Souvlaki

Char-grilled skewers of meat and vegetables

Php. 360.00

I didn't like this very much because it was too sweet. I suppose that it's supposed to taste like a kebab but then it tasted like they just marinated it in soy sauce and sugar. It was that sweet. 

This salad came free with the souvlaki. It had pita bread under and loads of feta cheese. It wasn't Greek pita though. It was just normal Pita.

I wanted to try their dessert because I'm quite fond of Greek desserts. But I was stuffed already so I guess if ever we go back, I'll just try the dessert. Overall, The food was okay. Not very good but not very bad. It's not something that I'd look for though. 'Til next time! :)

I'm back!

I'm back! After two months, I think I'm ready to begin blogging again. In my last post, I mentioned that I will start to blog about the Sunday get-togethers my family has. This Sunday, we didn't really have a theme because it was the birthday of one of my uncles so we decided to go with his favourite food!

Steamed Oysters

I don't eat oysters when they're cooked this way.. But I do love oysters rockefeller! 

Pancit Sotanghon For long life!

Baked prawns in butter

This was my favourite of all because as ironic as it may seem, I actually don't eat a lot of things. 

Escargot or what we Filipinos call kuhol

I never had the courage to try this... My grandma and my cousins say it's really good but the thought of eating snails kind of makes me all tingly inside.

Kare-Kare

I used to LOVE this! But my uncle posted something on facebook about peanut butter that kind of made me want to stop eating anything with peanut butter..  

Inihaw na Manok

And the star of the night! Homemade Lechon!

My mum and my step-dad made this earlier this afternoon and this is probably the sixth time they've made lechon this whole MONTH. Yes, month. I wouldn't really know what it tastes like because I'm one of those Filipinos who hate lechon. Everybody freaks out when I tell them that I don't eat lechon. So that's another thing to add to the list of things I don't eat.

This is my cousin doing his signature pose with the cupcakes that my mum made. 

Dessert! Mum's lemon chiffon cupcakes filled with buttercream and topped with marshmallow frosting! 

So yes, that was my dinner tonight....  I promise I'll post again soon! 'Til next time! 

Gyumon Yakiniku Restaurant

Last night, it was the second wedding anniversary of my mom and my step-dad and since they were leaving for Malaysia today, we decided to celebrate in a simple way.

My family is very big on meat. We love meat. We were actually supposed to have steak and cheese for dinner at home but then my parents didn't feel like cooking and there was only one restaurant capable of satisfying their craving for meat. Gyumon Yakiniku Restaurant. There was never a time that we went there and we were disappointed. Since we were quite famished, we ordered quite a lot...

P.S. Sorry if the pictures aren't very nice. Pictures aren't really allowed in the restaurant so I just sneaked a couple of pictures.

Gyumon Salad

The salad is complimentary but if you want to order more, I'm pretty sure that it's Php. 150.00 per order. This is a must when you go to Gyumon. If you're familiar with the salad of Yabu, it's almost the same but the flavours of Gyumon's dressing is more balanced than that of Yabu's. Yabu's is quite sour but Gyumon's is sour, sweet, and a tad bit salty all at the same time. 

Moyashi

Bean sprouts with sesame dressing

Php. 130.00

Santen Set 

Front: Ox Tongue, Left: Jo Karubi, Right: Harami (100 grams of each kind)

Php. 1,100.00

Tokusen Karubi

Php. 480.00

Harami

Php. 280.00

Gyumon Yakiniku Restaurant

2/F Makati Creekside Mall, Amorsolo St., 

Brgy. San Lorenzo, Makati City

Hossein's Persian Kebab

Hello! Yes, I know I haven't blogged in a VERY VERY VERY long time... But I'm back! :) I promise that I'll keep blogging from now on! I'll put aside some time whenever I have the chance to eat out so I could blog. And, not only will I be blogging about my adventures when I eat out, But I will be blogging about my family's Sunday get-togethers! Last week we ordered from a restaurant called Masuki. Sadly, I wasn't able to take any pictures. I'll start blogging on Sunday get-togethers this week :)

Today, my mom and I went to ATC to run some errands before she leaves for Kuala Lumpur tomorrow. And of course, what's a trip to ATC without any food?! So we decided to eat in Hossein's Persian Kebab. One of my favourite restaurants. I remember a time when I was there at least twice a month. I just can't get enough of the food! Haha! Here's what we ordered.

Hummus

Traditional Levantine Arabic mezze with tahini paste, olive oil, & Middle easters herbs and spices. 

Solo(1 Pita): Php. 150.00

Personally, I don't really like Hummus that much. So I ordered this

Moutabal

The classic Middle Eastern starter of smoke roasted eggplant with Hossein's special blend of spices.

Solo(1 Pita): Php. 150.00

For the main course, my mom and I shared an order of Chicken Kebab. I LOVE their chicken kebab because it's so juicy and yet still so flavourful! Sadly, one stick of of the kebab isn't really one stick because they add pieces of tomato and onion before each piece. 

Chicken Kebab

Php. 435.00

Hossein's Persian Kebab

Unit F&B Cluster 2, The Street,

Alabang Town Center, Muntinlupa City

511- 88-99 

I was so happy that I was finally able to eat in Hossein's again after the longest time! Haha! But that wasn't the end of my adventure in ATC today. I got a new laptop sleeve! 

Marc By Marc Jacobs

Red Laptop Case Tootsie Flower Print Neoprene 13

(This photo belongs to lyst.com)

I couldn't take a decent picture so I just grabbed one of the internet. I've actually been wanting to buy this case but haven't had the time to go back to ATC. This was actually my second choice since they had run out of stock of the one I wanted. But it's still beautiful. Haha. I got it from 158, Designers' Blvd. And it was on sale! From 3,500 it went down to 2,625.00! So I HAD to get it.

Also, I discovered that there are actually TWO branches of 158 in ATC! The other one is situated at the end of the hall but still on the same building as the old 158. Just go straight and you'll find it. It recently opened on the 22nd of October so it's fairly new.

Bawai's

Around two weeks ago, my parents decided to go out of town to get some rest. So my cousin and I tagged along. We went to Tagaytay and had a good time. It was good to get away from the scorching heat of Manila even just for a while.. And while we were there, we tried out some restaurants that Tagaytay is proud to have. For Breakfast, we tried out the Breakfast at Antonio's but I decided not to blog about it because it was kind of disappointing.. Okay fine. Not kind of.. That was really disappointing. But in fairness to them, I liked their Choco-Banana Muffin! :) 

Anyway, back to the main point of this post. For dinner on our first night, we went to this Vietnamese restaurant called Bawai's. They serve authentic Vietnamese food and they're found deep inside Cavite. Not really Tagaytay anymore.. But it's near Tagaytay so people consider them to be in Tagaytay. Okay, so here are the pictures! :)

The restaurant/house

Iced Pandan Tea

Php. 65.00

Goi Cuon

Fresh Caramelized Pork and Steamed Spring Roll

Php. 195.00

One order is considered 6 pieces. But in their menu, it says 3 pieces because they cut the rolls in half which makes it 6 pieces per order.

Tom Rang Me

Spicy Tamarind Prawns with Chives and Steamed Rice

Php. 395.00

It wasn't really spicy. It was more citrus-like than spicy. Though it was still good! 

Pho Bo

Traditional Beef Noodle Soup with Herbs and Spices

Php. 260.00 

Curry Ga

Slow Cooked Chicken on Curry Base and Rice

Php. 295.00

Com Suon Cha

Grilled Pork Liempo with Mushroom Egg Pie, Greens, and Rice

Php. 310.00

Ban Da Lon

Pandan and Yellow Mung Bean Rice Cake

Php. 35.00

If you want to eat in Bawai's, some things you should know are that they are only open on Fridays-Sundays for Lunch and Dinner. For lunch, they're open from 11:00 am - 2:00 pm and for dinner, they're open from 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm. You have to make a reservation. Here are the details:

Bawai's Vietnamese Kitchen

Hernandez Street, Purok 5, 

Bucal, Silang, Cavite

0920 - 972 - 2924

Their reservation hotline may only be reached between 9:00 am - 5:00 pm on weekdays. And for their exact location, you may ask them for directions. :) Happy Eating! 

YABUddy!

Okay.. I know, that was a bad pun.. Haha! So again, around two weeks ago, I went with my mom  to SM Megamall so that she could renew her passport. I waited around 3 hours and when she got out, her passport still wasn't renewed... To lighten up the mood, we decided to grab lunch in Yabu!! YAAAY!! Oh, and I also bought an Aquazorb with my name embroidered :p Lel. Anyway, back to Yabu. Yabu is probably the best tonkatsu place in Manila and for an affordable price too! Another plus is that besides the food, the service of Yabu never disappoints and they don't wait for you to ask them to refill your rice, salad or soup. They'll offer you! Oh, how I love Yabu..

The Yabu Tradition

Potato Croquettes

Php. 110.00 (2 pcs.)

My sauce. lol.

Chicken Katsu Set

Php. 360.00 (180 grams)

Yabu SM Megamall

2/F SM Megamall, Julia Vargas Avenue

Mandaluyong City

(02) 631-1192