Candy!

Le Chink and I chose to watch how candy is made

over watching a movie--Avengers, I think.

What can I say? My inner child was 

fascinated and excited as the two candy makers 

rolled out shiny green and red candy into slabs, 

pressed the colors together, rolled them out again, 

stretched them thinly, and cut 

their works of art right before our

salivating sweet tooth.

And the demonstrated candy is given away

as a free taste test. 

Effective! Le Chink

bought me a pack of candy. Superthanks!

Crispy Chicken Teriyaki

Thanks to providence and generous sisters, ate at Kenji Tei at Alabang Town Center. Started the meal off with salmon sashimi. That is always good in any Japanese resto but the sauce they served it with was something special. Not sure what it was but it was good! And they served it with wasabi, calamansi and lemon so you can really mix it up according to your taste.

This for me was the highlight of the evening. Crispy chicken teriyaki. It was love at first bite as the crispy chicken skin crackled with the juicy flavor of teriyaki sauce--a wonderful fusion of Japanese and Filipino taste. Of course, it's probably not good for you. But hey, if you can moderate the indulgence, this is a must-try!

Everything was good. The tempura batter was crispy. The sweetness of the shrimp came out after a squeeze of lemon. They had nice little touches, speedy service, and attentive servers. Definitely a place I'd like to come back to. Bon apetit!

Turon 2.0

Turon 2.0 is available at Siklab.

Five pieces of turon with langka in a sweet wafer cone topped with banana ice cream. Yum! My father complained though that he couldn't taste the banana! I liked it though. Plus, the presentation was creative and beautiful.

For the budget option, choose their ice cream (P65). Two scoops for that price in Makati is value for money! I had the traditional ube flavor but after tasting the Turon 2.0, if I ever get to eat there again, I'm getting banana flavored ice cream. =)

Mer-Ben Tapsilogan

If you enjoy eating in a bahay kubo in the cool air of Tagaytay, you could give Mer-Ben Tapsilogan a try.

The food is good and reasonably priced. I would rate the Kare-kare a 3.5 stars out of 5, with very tender meat and a nice peanut sauce. Would have liked more veggies but the bagoong they served with it was very good. The best thing about the dish was it cost P200. Excellent value for money! 

The crispy calamares (P290) was a bit more expensive but also worth it--cooked very well with just the right texture--squid soft enough to bite into without effort and coated with the right amount of crunch from the fried batter. Yum!

Thank you, Es___!

Friuli Trattoria

Again, I experience the blessing of food and friendship at the Fruili Trattoria, through the generosity of KB (happy birthday!). After a visit to the bookstore of Claret in Quezon City (where we got books for as low as P10), we had a lovely early dinner at this little Italian place behind the school.

The mozzarella sticks (P140) were generous in size and filled with cheesy goodness. It came with a not-too-spicy salsa that was okay but the tomato ketchup combination was even better.

I've come to prefer veggie pizzas to the meat-loaded ones... the thickness of this Margherita pizza (P190) is just right--not too thick--and loaded with tomatoes, cheese, and other spices. The flavor is subtle and light, but the pizza itself is very filling. I enjoyed this dish the most. 

The tuna and mushroom spaghetti (P120) was the spiciest dish we tried that day. So if you like a little kick in your pasta, you might want to try this. 

The best part of the meal was the conversation. Thanks, KB, for sharing and listening. May God bless us both in our faith journey. May he bless you on your special day and grant you the desires of your heart. 

Feeling Italianni's

Thanks to my housemate, Doc S, we had a lovely salad for Valentine's Day. Fresh lettuce, ripe mangoes, and corn coupled with a mayo-peanut dressing on the side and tuna. Super yummy! Felt like I was at Italianni's... =)

Momo Cafe

Thanks to generous Le Chink, got a taste of food from Momo Cafe at Ayala Triangle.

     The MoMo! Gourmet salad (P295) has roasted garlic shitake mushrooms, candied walnuts, grapes, white cheese, raspberry-balsamic vinaigrette, mixed greens, sliced oranges and hard boiled egg. I prefer regular walnuts to candied--it was a little too sweet for the salad especially since the vinaigrette was also on the sweet side. Otherwise, I enjoyed everything on the plate, especially the two types of cheese. If I had to rate it on a scale of 1 to 5, I would give this salad a 3.5.

     My favorite part of the meal, however, was the soup. We ordered two kinds: I had the herb pumpkin cream & bacon bits soup (P150) while Le Chink had the wild truffle mushroom "cappuccino" (P175). The pumpkin soup was on the sweet and creamy side while the mushroom soup was on the salty side. Both were good but I appreciated each soup better since I could take a bit of the mushroom soup when I found the sweetness of the pumpkin becoming too much.

     As a main course, we had slow roasted herb beef fingers (P495). I enjoyed all the side dishes: the roasted sweet corn, the mashed potatoes and the veggies. The beef was tender and melted in the mouth. 

     Though dessert was offered, I could not eat another bite. Thank you, Le Chink, for another taste of the good life!