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.

Muang Thai - a favorite resto

It is almost 11 and i am getting hungry.

I am thinking of food, glorious food.

Muang Thai is a Thai restaurant that is behind Heart Center.

My favorites there -

Fried Catfish Salad - yum, the best so far that i have tasted, and we've ordered the same in a lot of other restos.  the catfish was crispy, the green mango was perfect, and well, they used to have separate sauce, but now they have blended it with the dish.  i prefer it separate because i can season the dish  with as much as i like......

Sizzling Squid - yum.  really, really good food.  The squid was tender, and didnt taste .... fishy, in tagalog, one would say, it doesnt taste malansa.  A taste of tart with soy, and a wonderful blend of spices.  the veggies with it were delicious as well.  i had a good time eating them.

and of course, the Spicy Shrimp Soup - what is it now, Tom Yum (camt remember) which i have been trying to duplicate at home.

and the rice.  There are several that i like, the Muang Thai Rice, their banner rice dish, and the Bagoong Rice.  Either one is good.

The Massaman Curry is okay, and their Satay Chicken/Beef is good, but not as spectacular as the first 2 i mentioned.

hmmmm.

i already have my lunch.  i will try to catch dinner there sometime second week of May, after my laboratory examinations....  

A Korean Hot Pot - Nowana U&I

Ensogo offered a deal for Nowana U&I - unlimited shabu-shabu for 2 and an order of Bulgogi.

Our family loves hot pot - so i bought a voucher and brought my nephew to this new place ,,, along Mother Ignacia.

It is a new resto, but if you are disabled, you must be prepared to negotiate the stairs.  I had a bit of difficulty and asked my nephew to hold on to my cane.  The stairs are a bit narrow, like some of the old houses in Manila.

The Bulgogi was too sweet and too liquidy - and this didnt match the hot pot.  I would have preferred it a little less watery, with perhaps a thicker sauce, and with a little bite.  Moreover the meat was practically the same one in the hot pot.

The hot pot ingredients were pretty standard - tofu, veggies (2 kinds), some shrimps. fish balls, fresh eggs, and meat that you had to ask for.  For seasoning there was garlic, onions, red hot pepper (red sili), green hot pepper.  Then they served a concoction they had prepared.  We requested for soy sauce and calamansi, since both of us like soy and the tartness of calamansi.

Once you've layered the taste, the soup was good.  we had a lot of it.  we had 2 servings of the meat, and we went to get ingredients twice.  as my nephew puts it, there was nothing special.  it was okay, but not special.  

The soup was good - after we added spices.  i can go there again for the soup, but i have to think about the stairs.

and oh, the bathroom was clean and nice.  Of course, we were the only guests there....... as the resto had just newly opened....

i wanted to say that you should take advantage of the ensogo offer.

and oh, i told the servers that their pot was too shallow.  i mean hot pots were meant to contain lots of soup, and their pot just didnt do it.  also, their tables didnt have the sunken thing for the hot pot, so the pots were on the table, with this cookware that uses gas in a canister.  The disadvantage, hard to get the soup

Friday nights: At Ba Nois and Bonfire, a little spot by the Riverbanks...

It isnt so much Sabado Nights (i still remember that San Miguel ad....) but Friday nights that are popular with us.  Why?  Really quite simple.  Easier to sleep in on a Saturday morning as there is Sunday worship....

anyways. it is always easier to catch me when i am already out of the house...than to invite when i am already at home.  simple physics at work - Newton's law if you remember about a body at rest ....

anyway, Ba Nois.  It is a Vietnamese resto found at the ground floor at the UP Town Center.  We spent over 4K pesos. Food galore for 4 people- batch 75 classmates.  Alice Sibal-Lim, the birthday celebrant, Manny Lim, her hubby, me, and Joey Dumandan.  Others were either out of the country (Benita), out of town (Amihan) or had previous commitments.

4 dishes were really outstanding.  i dont remember their names but i can certainly remember their taste and their image so though i can point to you the dish, i cant say the name.

Joey Dumandan cooks (he used to have a resto in Tacloban - before Yolanda or Haiyan) and i told him to try putting the red chile (and grinding it down) in one of the sauces to make one of the dishes a lot more delicious.  The food itself was bland so the sauce had to do double time to make the food great.  when done, so it was much better.

the fried thingamajig was better than the fresh one, and they had this thing about wrapping lettuce over the viand....   one thing though, i learnt a new sauce ad i wil be trying it out soon.

later on we went to Bonfire, by Marikina's riverbanks.  We had expected the band to be able to sing Skylight Pigeon... but they couldnt so it appears we have to go back on a Sunday for the band who can.
Food was okay, btw.

A New Resto - Maximo's

August 25, National Heroes Day
we celebrated by eating out - Alice and Manny, and i

at Maximo's who was having a soft opening -
i believe this resto is along E. Rodriguez Jr.  - but see we were chatting and i lost track of driving -
Manny's driving, that is

we had baby octupi, iberian chicken, and slow roasted belly, and unusual buchi
the unusual buchi is pretty good, try it.

the cook there must love Balsamic Vinegar - just like Kat - the female Iron Chef
because i could taste it.

Resto Rating from 1-10, maybe a 7?

edit::::
i think this is along Katipunan, not E. Rod Jr.

Food trip - Ilocano food: Victorino's and Comida Ilocandia

weekend start.

we went to Heny Sison's Victorino's at Jamboree cor. Rallos

my friend Dale had her birthday last month, but she was off the country and we couldnt manage to meet

except for last Friday.  Our friend Jer chose the resto, as he's hip about new restos.

the ambiance at Victorino's was okay. i like the white walls, and the block of yellow tiles, and the easy comfort of the chairs, which was a surprise, really because they were simple chairs.

Click here for Victorino's menu

we had lots of food, all good, but i have tasted better.

we had the following
Pako, Warek-warek, Lomolomo, Karabasa soup, Longanisa Platter, Bagnet (of course)

First of all, i have tasted authentic Ilocano food, there in the heart of Marcos country - Batac. And well, that is superior Ilocano food. Cooked Bagnet there is uber delicious, if a trifle bad for the heart.  and the orange lumpia thing - i forgot what they are called .....Empanaditos

in comparison with Comida Ilocandia located along Timog

Comida Ilocandia

Timog Branch
33-D , Timog Ave, Quezon City (Infront of McDonald)

Tel. 709, 9041, 0918-925660

Click here for Comida Elocandia's menu

more next time.  will update you on what we ate.....

food is one of my faves.  food for the body.  food for the soul. food for the heart. and food for the mind (books generally).

2 Foodtrips at Maginhawa and a resto near SSS

we've had several visits to Maginhawa since then ...

we went to Krazy Tonkatsu - where they serve a rather limited Japanese menu, all of which were tasty.
well, we tasted each other's food, that is how we know.  but, if you have a hankering for sweets after meals, they dont really have desserts.

and just yesterday we had an early birthday celebration of a classmate at Sancho-Churreria, 122 Maginhawa.  we had paella (they have at least 2 sizes so it depends on the size of your party/group) and then we had beef stew, which i liked because i like the onions.  We also had lengua, a favorite of several members of the party, and then we had fish wish mash potatoes.  i've had better mash potatoes, but that was done at home, following rachel ray's recipe.

the resto near SSS was called Linkin' Pork
they had lemonade that tasted as if there was sukang paombong - very good for the throat it seems, but be careful - it is an acquired taste.
i had the thursday special ... which was Shish Kebab, which was rather good. my friend had the combination sausage and salad.  She tried the Cincinnati sausage.  it was not quite to my taste but the third member of our party put mustard (it came with the dish) and it was tons better.  So beware this sausage if you do not like mustard.  The salad was fresh, and crispy.  it was very good.
i plan to taste a few more things, but particularly their all-day breakfast fare with vigan and lukban sausages.

i just have to space out all these eating because it is very bad for my diet

Food Trip at Maginhawa - Quezon

my friends like eating out.  actually, who doesnt?
they met me at a place called Quezon.  and this place is also along Maginhawa .....
more or less near Bayantel.

i love the stuff you can eat there, plus, what you can take home - products from Quezon actually.

i liked the dried tapa.  Just the thing for breakfast.  only. dont overdo it.

Morato-Timog Spots - David's Tea House

My barkada - we, the Sakonits (Saks for short),  love to eat - some love to drink too, but the ladies - not as much.

i like trying out new places - with or without the rest of the Saks.  this resto i tried on my own one rainy day.  i had a voucher to force myself to try out new places.  it is mainly a Chinese resto, and i ordered the usual Chinese dishes.

===  seafood spinach soup - or its equivalent.
===  fried noodles with mixed toppings
===  yang chow fried rice
===  beef with some side dishes - i forgot its name

twas good

the second time i was there, again alone

i had combination soup in their hot pot offerings and then i chose the stuff for the hot pot
i had Kobe beef, veggies, garlic (i love garlic).  it was all too much so i had the rest packed up

twas good.

rec - good Chinese food.

my only objection - because of an injury, i am currently using a cane, it is on the 2nd floor.  in the rain, there is a difficulty going up, and the stairs are wet.  So, be careful if you are with a senior or a disabled person.

David's Tea House is on the second floor of the building located near the rotonda at Timog, or simply the building on the near left corner of Timog and T..Morato when traversing Timog from EDSA.

Food trip at 77 Cafe in Kamuning

well, it was a Friday night so we went to eat at another "joint" we have never tried
this was Seventy seven Cafe along Kamuning Road.  it was a drinking place, and so not me.

we had crispy pata, titas, seafood rice, and onion soup
titas - if you havent had them is like beef with cheese and salsa - but not with nachos but fried molo wrapper
everything was good.  i am going to cook the beef with cheese and salsa this weekend after i have my cbc in the morning.

haha.

if you are a drinking person, you might opt to try their food for drinkers.
there's another place along T. Morato that's good for drinkers.  will blog about that another day

Food trip at Maginhawa Street, QC

i think this place called Delish is also a drinking place.  you know, for friday and sabado nights.

i went there past 6pm to use my voucher worth 800 bucks.

the laing with bagnet was very good. 

i liked the beef with nachos - but my brother's version is very superior - but i did enjoy it. my brother no longer cooks for me.

the fish and chips was also good - the fist was cream dory cut into strips and the chips were thinly sliced potatoes.  my brother uses this white fish whose name escapes me at the moment and potato semi-wedges.  my bro's dip is to die for so i found the Delish dip just okay.  my taste buds are used to superior stuff...... but hey that's me.

would i go back there?   yes. but not alone - unless it was for lunch

A Rainy Friday Night

it was rainy.  but we had reservations at Barbara's so we proceeded there.

Manny, Alice, and I were together in their car but the rest of our party went straight there.  Our party got a tad lost, but only because we couldnt stick to my directions since we had paused in the wrong lane and Alice said that Manny had once gotten a ticket for not following....  so 

the food, as Jerry O puts it, was regular. it was okay, and was nothing spectacular. although it seemed the food was tons better when my sister had her wedding reception there. i enjoyed 2 desserts - salad greens and the coffee-sago-and-gulaman-concoction.

Musing

but their entertainment was very good.  we enjoyed the Filipiniana dance, the muslim dance, the pandango sa ilaw, and the tiniklang to just name three. the dancers were graceful and agile, and those who tried were great sports.  i was surprised not to find more foreigners.

and here is the party:  Alice and I are sitting down, then Dale, Manny, Rey?, Hans at Barbara's

The restaurant closed early and i was hankering for coffee, so Adel, not in photo - said we could try some other shop.  We went to three cafes before we hit Starbucks, who was still open for business.

they ate again, but i just had a huge cup of coffee,  probably one of the reasons i stayed up til 3am when i got home.  the other reason was i had to finish my prayers for the day.  twas a little late, but i finished them

me and Dale, and the Elephant

just me and the elephant