Another good deal

It was luck again when I chanced upon another good deal in Deal Grocer. A month before M's birthday, I found deal on the 7 Corners Lunch Buffet for P995+ net at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. Last year, we got a deal at Sofitel Plaza.

We've always wanted to try the buffet here because it was one of the pioneering popular hotel lunch buffets in the metro.This year was our chance. I read some bad reviews of the place, but we had to see for ourselves. I booked a slot on the weekend right after M's birthday.

The buffet hall isn't as huge as the other hotels in the metro. In fact it was quite small. The buffet was lined up on one side of the hall, cut up in 7 corners.

Of course we attacked the seafood first. (We always do that. :D) They had lobsters, prawns, and hidden at the back , some oysters-which we failed to see until we had to leave. Boo!

This is the cutest pile of wasabi that I have ever seen.

It's almost a shame to blend it with the soy sauce. But of course, I did!:D

Chawan Mushi

They had Chawan Mushi! It's a savory egg flan, that's almost like soup. 

This version was a bit too firm. I think it was overcooked.

The seafood loot. 

We also had some steak, which I wasn't able to take a photo of because we wolfed it down right away.

The steak was a bit thin, but you can always go back for more if you want. 

It was cooked just the way I wanted it- medium well. Happy :)

This is my dessert loot. There was ice cream, creme brulee, a chocolate fountain (which wasn't doing so great that day), and a lot of cakes. I had two plates of cake, but this was my favorite batch- Ube cake, Chocolate mousse, Caramel Mousse. Good cakes!:)

They serve coffee and tea on the house, so make sure you avail of that when you try it there. :)

I will admit that we've tasted better and bigger buffets. 

It is a delight though to know they have a good dessert corner :) 

Have a happy weekend ahead!

Long Weekend at Home.

M and I got to visit home (Cagayan de Oro) last Holy Week. It was another good chance to indulge on food we miss.

As soon as we arrived, we found ourselves at:

Hungarian Sausage with mashed potatoes
at Vienna Kaffeehaus. 

This Cebu franchise which serves Austrian dishes will always have a special place in our hearts. Wink. I ordered my usual Hungarian sausage and M ordered a cheese weiner with mashed potatoes too.The sausage and spuds have decreased in size. That was sad. The price increased too. Inflation is a heartbreaking thing.

Turon

This huge crispy and sugary banana-langka wrap is found in the streets of CdO. I don't know of anyone who makes Turon the way this particular street vendor does. No scrimping on the sugar, wrap, nor of the bananas and langka. When you bite into one, the coating breaks in sugary shards. You can actually see the shards in the photo. It's so big, so we cut it in half and share the calories. For less than P20--winner!

We also chanced upon the opening of a new branch of Chicken Charlie along Borja Extension, CdO. Now, we haven't tried this here in the metro because it was always so full at that time we tried. With the advent of all these crispy fried chicken craze that is Bon Chon, Manang's Fried Chicken and even Chowking's Chinese Style Fried Chicken , we had all forgotten to try Chicken Charlie. 

with Soy Garlic Sauce & Hot Sweet Sauce (with the sticks)

These were big pieces of drumsticks. I think I like the Soy Garlic sauce much better than the kimchi flavored foreign counterpart. But the foreign counterpart has crispier chicken.

Cheesestick Dynamite- cheese and jalapeno rolled in lumpia. A hit.

Since it was nearing M's birthday, we were treated to dinner at another Cebu franchise- the Filipino specialty restaurant Cafe Laguna. Everything's always good here. We had-

Adobong Kangkong

Pinakbet

Kinilaw (Cebu style)
They put mayonnaise. Not my thing.

Maja Kalabasa

This is so creamy, light and refreshing. 

I like that it uses a vegetable to highlight the coconut cream based flan,  so I can imagine all the beta carotene coming into my system while I eat dessert. 

I forgot to take a photo of the yummy Kare Kare and the Sizzling Bangus. Next time.

That was a good dinner. And a really good home visit. :)

Until next time, Cdo. Have a great summer.

Talk about Dystopia

I was browsing through my Facebook contact's travel pictures in China, when I saw one of her posts regarding fake eggs in China. I was appalled! Fake eggs? There is such a thing? How do they look? What are they for? And WHY?

In this day and age when everyone I know wants to eat healthy and be healthy, spending more money on organic produce and meat--the thought of fake eggs in the market is CRAZY. 

I checked on Google to see other news on this fakery and I saw this site where it provides how and why fake eggs are made-- check out this link on ---> FAKE EGGS.

I don't eat eggs everyday for breakfast, but I appreciate fresh eggs. You know it's fresh when the yolk and the whites are firm yet soft, breaks only upon a steady poke and has great color. How many of my favorite sweets and carbs have eggs? Noodles, bread, cakes, ice cream, flans, sandwich spreads not to mention my husband's favorite Chinese soups! 

In the ideal world, all beings should be eating all natural, all organic food. If eggs can be faked and made from chemicals, there is no stopping the other food stuffs in your grocery shelves to be made from who knows what kind of laboratory experiment. What's next?

Eggs are the starting point of life. When that point of beginning is faked, the future should smell rotten. 

Blasting the summer heat!

Summer time!

I can't get over heat. I have to have my cold water, juice, soda....name it! I now have a nice collection of chilled fruits in the refrigerator for the healthy version of all things good, sweet and cold. :D

But last week, I went to Jollibee with my Mom and we both tried their new summer offering .....

The Milo Blast!

It's like breakfast in a dessert version. 

The buttery vanilla ice cream is blended with Milo powder, and a healthy  measure of Milo Cereal. 

Yumm!

I would prefer this one over Magnum because it's lighter, but then that's just me.

Happy Summer to all!

Incredible India

Hello, everyone!


How's the new year treating you? Since January, I've been in two trips, and many metro foodtrips. My latest trip, which I am going to feature in this post is exotic in every way- was in India.  M had another conference (thank you, lucky streak) and I got to tag along again. Thank you, God :) 

I wasn't as prepared for India as much as our previous trips. We were too busy, plus our visa was a miracle, so I did not get my hopes too high up for this trip. But there we were last month- in India. 

Well, India is all that we heard it to be- chaotic and exotic. Both good and bad- like the Philippines, or well like any country for that matter. We experienced the extremes though, from almost royalty to indignant squalor. A matter to be discussed in another forum. For now, I will talk about the food. 

I am no stranger from Indian food. I actually enjoy having the vegetable samosas at a certain weekend market in Makati. I like ordering vegetable or beef kebabs, and have cumin powder in my spice shelf for my ground beef. I also have curry powder for those rare instances that I have some coconut cream and make chicken curry. So I thought, I wouldn't have a problem with the food for a week. I did bring some soda crackers, chips and sweets for the occasional hunger pangs.

We got to taste out first Indian dish on our flight to Bangalore on board Singapore Airlines, via Singapore. I had a fish dish with a spicy tomato sauce, and M had a chicken masala dish. Both were good, save for M's dessert which looked like a yogurt dish with raisins.

Fish

Chicken


For the flight back to Singapore, I think we almost ordered the same stuff .
So, that was our first Indian fare on this trip.

We stayed at an amazing hotel in Bangalore City.
It had a lot of Indian, British and Persian influences in its architecture, I think.
The standards were very international, and the breakfast buffet was superb.

Day 1

M's omelette. They shape omelettes this way. I don't quite like it, but I am very amused. :)

After a half day trip around the city- we had our first dinner at  the hotel's resident Indian specialty restaurant.
There were three of us, so we each ordered one dish, which the waiter graciously served individually in each of our plates, so we could taste each dish. We had fish and chicken kebab, while M had a lamb dish.

After dinner handwash. :D

Our mouths were pungent with all the spices, so when the waiter graciously served us these after dinner mints, we were elated! There were candied anise with a a few combinations, also candied and dried fruit. Some looked like colored and sugared millet seeds. One of the bowls here tasted like lavender. It was fun trying out each of the mints. :)

Day 2

I had breakfast alone this time, because M had to attend a conference.I got to take a few pics though, so I had a fun time. During the half day Bangalore tour,  the driver recommended that we try certain Indian food, which I tried as soon as I recognized them with the name cards on each dish.

This is the Idli. It's a savory rice cake, with nuts and a few Indian spices. It tasted like a salty puto (rice cake).:)

Medu Wada-
 a spicy/savory doughnut made with black beans and flavored with ginger, coriander and others. 

This is not Indian, but I did want to highlight my favorite pastry in the buffet.- Danish  butter pastry with strawberries. I'm telling you, it was divine. :D

There were a host of other dishes, that I wasn't able to try and was too shy to take a picture of.  Really, it's alright to take pictures in a buffet, right? I seem to cower in hotel buffets.

After M's 3-day conference in Bangalore, we flew to Delhi so we could take the tour to Agra. Sad to say that our food experience is Delhi was not pleasant. The business hotel we stayed in served almost the same kind of food in the posh Bangalore hotel, except that service was not good and it wasn't that clean. I don't know if the stay in Bangalore had affected our senses, but I'd like to think that cleanliness has a universal standard. So there. We also ordered a Tenderloin burger in their cafe, and the meat smelled awful. So awful, I couldn't eat it, and swore hence not to eat beef during the duration of our stay. We had KFC for dinner. Even that was not that pleasant, the servers needed more training in handling utensils, and I noticed a spot INSIDE the disposable soda cup, after drinking from it. Sigh. No, I didn't enjoy it. I really hope it was just that one branch at the Connaught Place that did that. Please.

The day after, we drove to Agra for 5 hours. On the way, we saw my favorite big yellow arches- McDonald's!

The McSpicy Chicken.

No, they weren't kidding about the spice. Hotter than a KFC Zinger, it served to satisfy my hunger for a burger. We then resolved to buy the same thing for dinner.

The reason for being there.
Majestic!

After the tour of the Taj Mahal, we had lunch at a local restaurant  that was recommended by our tour guide Mehran.

The one in front is the Chili Chicken, and the one behind that is the Chicken Tikka Masala. We loved the Chili Chicken, which was ordered by our guide. He says the dish is not featured on the menu, but is a local favorite. It was good. It tasted like a spicy chicken dish with an almost sweet and sour-ish sauce. The sweet was provided by the bell peppers and the sour notes, by the tomatoes/ M objects to my description of the sauce, but I think you will agree with me. Hehe. The Chicken Tikka Masala was just spicy, and paled in comparison to the Chili Chicken. 

They say the Indians from the north eat bread, and the south eat rice. And for this meal, we had Naan for our  carbohydrates. M had the Cheese Naan, the guide had a garlic naan, and I had the regular Naan. I love Naan. Someday, I will try to make at home. 

I ordered the Kebab Platter. Having had that amazing Kebab at Jamavar in Bangalore, this one was  blah. Dry and not much flavor. The guide's Chili Chicken was the clear winner. :D Tip: Next time, let the guide order.

The day after the Taj Mahal trip, we hied off to Singapore so we could take our flight back to the Philippines. Since we had to stay the night, M and I met up with his friend so we could tour the city.

He brought us to No Signboard, a popular restaurant along the esplanade 

which was highly recommended by M's boss.

 White Pepper Crabs .
The history on the menu says that the restaurant was known for the White Pepper Crabs, and so this is what we ordered. I think we should have stuck to the Chili Crabs that the city is known for.

Garlic Prawns

Saute Chicken with Dry Red Chili


No Signboard Seafood Restaurant gets the thumbs up! Yum. I hope next time, I will be able to make tummy space for the sidewalk ice cream sandwich. :D




For brunch, M's friend recommended that we go to one of the food courts along Orchard Road- the Food Republic, for some easy, fast, local fare.

M had to have his coffee,  so we had some of the local favorite- Toastbox Nanyang Kopi. I then had some  Floss Thick Toast, soft boiled eggs and a Milo Dinosaur. The Milo D in GB5 is thicker and better.

Hot Sauce & Garlic Sauce for the Hainanese Chicken Rice.
If M and I were sauces, he would be one and  I would be the other. Guess which is which. :D

Hainanese Chicken Rice.
My second time to try Hainanese Chicken and this one was really good. Yum!

I spotted this sweet shop at the Changi Airport.
It was a Malaysian dessert shop and each and everything looked yummy! I need my sugar!

Lapis Sago
Feels like "sapin-sapin", but is softer, smoother, creamier. I am in love with this dessert.

Gula Melaka.

Just like our "Malagkit" or "Biko", but with shredded coconut mixed in the layers. Sweet. Good with coffee.

A sweet ending to an amazing adventure. 

Thank you God for Thy guidance and provision. You are amazing!

2nd time

2nd's at The Fort is a restaurant on the second floor of a building at The Fort. I like this place for two reasons. It's ambiance and the food. I like that the place stays true to what they deem is good food, and did not attempt to stick to a theme. The first time we went there I ordered the Smoked Caprese Tower- a salad. I liked it, but I was enamored by my friend V's order- the Beef Ribs Adobo. 

On our second visit last weekend, this is what I ordered.

Beef  Ribs Adobo (P545)


It's not cheap for it's size. I also think that only two people can share this dish, with a good large cup of rice. I wish though the rice was brown ( they served a cup of  pristine white jasmine rice).

Adobo is a quintessential Filipino dish of pork or chicken, or both- cooked in soy sauce and vinegar. Good adobo takes some time to cook so that the meat is tender. This one was made with beef ribs, tender and succulent-although I must say, not quite healthy.  Could beat a steak dish. Highly recommended. 

A Splash of Red for Good Luck

I don't really do luck and all that, but in keeping with the New Year, tradition and all things sweet and nice, I am posting this vibrant red Coca-cola thingamajig to greet everyone a sweet and sparkling Happy New Year!

Happy New 2012, everyone!

May the good Lord bless and keep us all as we usher in the new year. ;)