King One Hot Pot - Saturday, 16 May 2015

I availed of one of these promo thingamabobs and bought 3 vouchers.

The place is on the second floor - right opposite chili's (a place i know very well as i love their fajitas), nice, relatively new and the staff are polite and courteous, and not just that, but eager to serve.  It was equipped with an elevator, which was a plus for me since i am disabled.  stairs can be difficult for me, particularly narrow, steep ones.

The winner in the appetizer section was the fresh ampalaya.  It had a dash of salt and garlic, some acetic acid (vinegar, that is).  The adobo eggs were alright but some were a tad burnt.  The tofu was fine, but my bro's fried tofu is much better.

We had a choice of soup, so we got the split version - but neither one satisfied me the way Luk Foo's soup did.  The viands were fine - the shrimps (my nephew who is allergic to shrimps was not with us) were small, but was okay.  The meats were not as interesting.

They were billed as the best hotpot.  not quite, not for me.
but it wasnt bad.

i'd have to vote Luk Foo still.
i must remember to eat at David's Tea House. I think i already forgot the taste - that is, if it is better than Luk Foo's or not.

Hot Pot recs - Luk Foo and David's Tea House

i love hot pot, i think they call this shabu-shabu, a term i confuse with shawarma.

yes, i know. totally different but sometimes word associations can be iffy

but hot pot, yummy.  nothing to beat it.

we are a family who love soup, so hot pot is a favorite with us.

Luk Foo's hot pot is, to my -our taste, one of the best.

Unfortunately, not all Luk Foo places have hot pot.

In Luk Foo - you have to choose the items you want in the hot pot, there is regular beef, imported beef if you wish, pork, veggies (corn, bok choy, pechay, chinese cabbage, young onions, leeks), mushrooms (several kinds), fish/shrimp/squid balls, squid, shrimps (we couldnt have any as my nephew is allergic)....

There are only 2 - the one along E. Rod (cor. Araneta ave) and the one near the airport

The one near the airport has a ghost,and when we were there in 2011 (it really is too far otherwise) to have dinner with my brother - who was returning to the USA

I also tried David's hot pot - oh, also very good.  will visit again and this will probably be sooner than later since this is much nearer.  David's tea house is in the corner of morato and timog and is in the 2nd floor -----

at David's i was on solo flight so i couldnt have a lot of stuff as i wouldnt be able to finish it.  Still, it was good..

if you know of other hot pots, let me know.  Oh yes, i've tried tong yang - when it was along Quezon Ave.

PALAWAN TRIP -

It was my first trip to Puerto Princesa.

and it was a huey

here are the pics, the story to follow

at the airport

in the plane

Island hopping

Manny, Evelyn, me, Alice

Ka Lui food - really good food

Alfarsi - a Maginhawa place, with persian flavors

Alfarsi.
a small place near Savemore Anonas
persian food, it said in its small literature

Manny, Alice, and I decided to taste their persian food last Monday 13 October
mostly ground beef.  we liked the keema pie, and the wraps, and falafel was good
the place was small - it would fit about 7-10 small groups

good eats, i thought.  will eat there again, or perhaps have something delivered

Dong Juan - a Mother Ignacia place

i was off on forced leave Monday 13 October ....
so after Alfarsi, the three of us --- Manny, Alice, and I - proceeded to Dong Juan
she said the dessert was very good .......

as this picture will show -
i found a drink called Happy Bong whose details read .... a larger drink than your Happy Drink
so i ordered the 99-peso Happy Drink..... it was an alcoholic drink with orange slices and marashino cherries

indeed.  a happy drink.  i will try to recreate it with a bit of bourbon and the oranges and the cherries this coming weekend - any suggestion for the bourbon>

my happy drink, some free peanuts, and Alice's coffee ... i also ordered fries but it hadnt arrived yet

my happy drink, the dessert, the fries, and Alice's coffee

Food Notes --- Bahay Kubo at Maginhawa

Their specialty is Bulalo and Ulo-ulo

two dishes i rather like so ever since i saw the sign ... i've been wanting to eat there...
see we go to Tagaytay to have satisfying Bulalo - which is rather far

the place is small and feels like the old-fashioned carinderias that we find in Manila (or Quiapo)
simple tables, plain chairs, with no particular ambiance.

the food though tastes like home cooking, not as good as my mom's or my lola's who had excellent cooking skills (oh yes, i still remember the taste of all the food they've ever cooked except Dinuguan, Kilawin Librillo, and the Lungs dish - i dont eat any of these dishes)

we - had dinner with Alice and Manny - who were celebrating their wedding anniversary (14 August) a day ahead - had 2 servings of tawilis - nicely crispy so we ate it like chicharon, bulalo and ulo-ulo of course, bistek tagalog (i thought it needed a few more onions), and chicken curry.

not much choice for desert so we   stopped by etc. for some bubble tea.

it was one of those nice cool evenings

Food trip -Chicken burger when i dont want to cook in Maginhawa

Naturally,  this would fall on delivered goods.

i like burger so i've tried everything burger out there

For example, there's Burger Project - the one i go to is along Maginhawa. I like the fact that one can have jalapenos, Or take Big, Better, Best Burgers.  I like the char-broiled ones..........

but well, let us face it, beef is heavy on the stomach.  So i remembered that there's Good Burgers
you have a choice of chicken patties or veggie patties.

i prefer the chicken patties.  i like my veggies to look like veggies although i have enjoyed vegetarian restos.
so here's the menu for Good Burgers

Burger Name                                                                        good         better      best
Just Burger                                                                             70             80           95
(mayo, ketchup)
Garlic Burger                                                                          90             100         115
(coleslaw, bq sauce)
Salsa Mex - yes with coleslaw so + 15                            90             100         115
(salsa, cheese)
Cheesy Mushroom                                                                90             100         115
(mushrooms, cheese bq sauce)
Silly Burger                                                                              90             100         115
(sour cream, garlic chilli, cheese)
Persian Burger - yes                                                              90             100         115
(roasted onions and peppers, garlic aloli sauce)
BLT - yes                                                                                  105            115         120
(cheese, mayo, bacon bits, lettuce, tomatoes, onions)
Bacon Mozza Melt  -yes                                                      110            120         135
(bacon bits, mozzarella, mayo)
Margherita Burger  - yes                                                      110            120         135
(roasted tomatoes, cheese, mozzarella, basil)

3-Cheeses                                                                                  110            120         135
(cream cheese, mozzarella, cheese sauce)

you can add on stuff - choose one for the peso value listed on the left 

like for 15 pesos - salsa; garlic chili; alolli sauce; bbq sauce; mushrooms, coleslaw; lettuce, tomato, mayo

for 20 pesos - bacon bits; sour cream; herb cheese; garlic cream cheese

for 25 pesos - cottage cheese, mozzarella

the telephone at the Maginhawa place IS 435-4663

those marked with yes are burgers i've eaten and enjoyed -

and well, thought you might enjoy it too.

and THEY DELIVER!  at least to where i live, and where i work 

try it

i didnt list the side dishes but i like the chx and chips too

A short, partial list of food places we''ve been

Roberta's Flavors of Asia - Maginhawa Street - cant remember when

The ambiance is that of a canteen, but the food is good.
we had the lamb, the 3-choice appetizer, and of course, the watermelon tinola, and the shrimp salad.
the price is terrific for the pocket, and the taste is superior,

i've been able to duplicate the shrimp salad - although mine is a bit more tangier, something i did deliberately.

Scorecard:  Food a 7, Place a 5

Chercio - 76 Scout Limbaga, Morato area
Sometime Feb or March this year

The food was good. I especially liked the platter, because it allowed a smattering of  the different dishes. The tadyang was pretty good, too.  Dessert was alright.
The plac was another one of those white places, some with black couches and white wooden chairs

Scorecard:    8, 7

Nomama - Scout Tuason, near Morato

after the hype we received about this resto, my friends and i were excited about eating there.

The place was interesting    =   bright, all glass, sparkly

unfortunaely the food didnt live up to the hype.  The food was just
The best dish - and we spent a lot of money there - was shrimpt temputa, an old standby with me

Mesa - 254 Tomas Morato cor. Scount Fernandez.  Sharon Cuneta is part owner?

The place  comes across yellow-gold, but if you look around, you will find that the resto is no longer new.  The wait staff are equipped with tiny that holds a lighter (for those diners who need a light), pencils for taking orders, and a small pad. i just found it interesting.

The food was alright, and we indeed got catfish in a food - a signature dish.  But Muang Thai's catfish still beats the flavor.  I had to mix several sauces to complement the catfish better, and when i got it, i asked my friends to add it to the catfish.

i rather liked the butterflied tilapia, liking its crispy texture.  

Quezon - Maginhawa

Quezon favorites are available here to take home.  The smoked tapa is very good, but dont buy too much of it to take home because you will lose the flavor with satiety.

More next time -

Food Trip - Renato's Resto located at South Triangle Barangay

Renato's.  17B Scout Borromeo. South Triangle Barangay. QC

The place is beautiful, lots of white surfaces and a rather nice inviting alcove.

This is a good place for a small wedding reception, or a small batch reunion or a small party.  It would look fabulous with flowers for a wedding reception - and the white surfaces can only complement whatever color scheme of the bridal party.

When you enter the place, the left side has a large mirror atop a built-in table with large vases. Reminds of Thailand, probably because of the plants - which i've seen in Thailand.  This alcove has a very unusual shape, but very attractive and draws one eye towards a white wall - must have been feng shui when the place was still a home.  There's a bar on the right side and a music box on the left - would have been nice to have a piano bar, but well, the music was alright. the chairs were done in padded creamy gold and matted orange.

and then there's the food.

we had okoy - which was so-so, tawilis - which was very good, thai spring rolls - ho-hum, i think, crispy catfish - which was rather dry. Muang Thai (behind Heart Center) still holds the record for the best catfish in town for us , Fish balls a la Kieve - which had a very intriguing taste, stuffed chicken - which i didnt like at all and Crispy Pata - which was not as crispy as Ana Lisa's although the flavor was alright.

The score, from 1 - 10, 10 being perfect - it would score an average 6-7.

One thing though. The Groupon AD is NOT accurate about the prices.