Category Archives: Restaurants

Bierkraft Shameless Ice Cream Sandwich

2 Replies

Is an ice cream sandwich too decadent? Or is that the point? Combining two rich treats together might be the reason getting a perfect match is such a challenge. A lot of them turn out too sweet and too overwhelming to eat. Bierkraft‘s ice cream sandwiches are gigantic, but are subtle enough for an average eater to make enough damage.

Bierkraft Shameless Ice: Peanut Butter Gelato on Brownie

The brownie sides of this peanut butter gelato and brownie ice cream sandwich were chewy and did not crumble to the bite. Did I mention it’s about as big as my hand? I recommend it be shared, either cut in half with a knife or shared bite-by-bite with a person whose cooties don’t scare you. Continue reading →

Pipa, New York

2 Replies

I’m a sucker for tapas like everyone else, but even more so since I visited Barcelona. Since then, all tapas places have become an inevitable comparison to my love, Bar Rodrigo.

The show-stealing paella comes with half a lobster as a crown. Great job.

I was at Pipa to celebrate a happy occasion, and like a dictator I monopolized the menu and planned out our dishes ahead of time. I had been studying the menu for few days. Next to Tertulia, my favorite tapas place in NY (but impossible to get into after six), Pipa is a close second. Their sangria rocks too, a little too much actually. It’s like a small docile horse that gives you the smoothest ride but catapults you several feet into a thornbush right before you reach your destination. Continue reading →

Kasbah, Boracay

Leave a reply

It was the beginning of the off-season in Boracay when we visited in early June. Because of this, Kasbah’s usual spread of silk couches and pillows on the shore were gone, instead during high tide the ocean water threatened to encroach on the restaurant’s main dining space.

This did not stop us from sampling their goods. We were with my siblings who loved the food at Kasbah, a Moroccan restaurant in Station One, a venue not only of food but of music and entertainment as well.

We sampled a selection of four kemias along with some flatbread, which is the traditional start to a Moroccan meal. Continue reading →

Cafe Juanita Lunch Buffet

Leave a reply

We went to Cafe Juanita for a family lunch to sample their famous Filipino buffet. It was our during our first weekend in Manila and was the best way to be thrown back into the cuisine of the homeland, our favorite dishes filling voids we’ve accumulated over many years.

Part of the spread includes kare-kare, beef mechado, and adobo

While Cafe Juanita’s selection is your standard issue festive buffet food, they did not skimp on quality and quantity the way a lot of buffets do. It was simply an unlimited array of our favorite dishes, so good that we had to be careful with our precious belly real estate and not fill up on items not deserving of the space.

Lumpiang shanghai, lechon kawali, fried tilapia.


Continue reading →

Chelsea Market Cafe, Serendra, Philippines

3 Replies

“Good eats, big smiles” is Chelsea Market Cafe‘s tagline. If this is also their objective, then they have succeeded.

I first visited Chelsea during a trip to Manila in 2009 and fell in love with their duck confit and chorizo pizza. As sinful as it sounds, as a first-time balikbayan then it was a mix of New York and Manila. So I had it twice!

Roasted Portobello Mushroom Pizza

Unfortunately they were out of both chorizo and duck confit during my recent visit, but I still visited Chelsea three times this past trip. Another Raintree innovation, this joint that’s reportedly patterned after the American cafe bakery chain Le Pain Quotidien is the first in the Philippines to adopt an infamous tradition in New York of combining a cafe within a food market, as is done in Dean & Deluca or at Balthazar, or my neighborhood favorite Brooklyn Larder. Chelsea is more like a full restaurant with a few food items on the side for the ambience. The color scheme definitely reminds of Le Pain and other small French cafes in New York. Chelsea’s Serendra branch does a good job in providing a bright and airy atmosphere conducive to long meals and good laughs. Continue reading →

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...