My Thai Kitchen, Eastwood Mall Quezon City

We were supposed to eat at Craving's at Eastwood mall but when we got there, it's already closed (not in service/operational).  We went to the ground floor and immediately saw My Thai Kitchen and decided to give it a try. 

The picture (and the name or description) of this Spicy Deep Fried Crispy Catfish and Green Mango Salad got us interested in the dish.  We ordered this for our appetizer.  Sadly, this did not meet my expectation.  It's oily and it tasted like it was fried from a cooking oil that has been used several times.  It's also not spicy so I think they should remove that word from the dish's name or description.  Aside from the fried crispy catfish and green mango, it also came with peanuts.

We also ordered Thai Fish Cake.  It's tasted ok.  The sauce that came with it tasted good and maybe the life of the dish.

For our main dish, we ordered beef curry.  We asked the waiter's recommendation if green or red curry and she said that for her, red curry tastes better.  This did not disappoint.  Really very delicious.  I was not planning to eat rice but because it's delicious I ended up eating more rice.  It's very tasty but not very spicy.  The beef is also very tender.  Happy tummy for this =)

For me, Pad Thai is a must!  I fell in love with it when I first tasted it when I was in Phoenix, Arizona.  I've been in search for the perfect Pad Thai, here in Manila but can't find it.  This Pad Thai is actually called Pad See Ew.  It's delicious and I was quite satisfied.  Though, I can't still say it's the same delicious Pad Thai that I've been looking for. =)

The Clean Plate, UP Town Center, Quezon City

We decided to have our dinner at UP Town Center before going to our main event in Tomas Morato, Quezon City.  Almost all the restaurants were full although it was a weekday, Nov. 18, Wednesday, it was also a holiday due to APEC activities in the country.  We ended up eating here, The Clean Plate by Twist, mainly because it's not waiting like the other restaurants.  The Clean Plate offers organic food which also means healthy food.  Expectedly, the prices were quite expensive since it's organic though there is really no proof, you'll just have to believe them hehe.

We were served water right away, before we ordered, so that's very nice.  And of course, the water has to be Alkaline, so that's it's consistent with the organic theme.  They also readily refilled so kudos for that!  We didn't order drinks anymore because of this :D

This pasta is called Ragu (P340.00) .  It's one of my choices to order but my friend ordered it instead.  Ragu is made up of wheat spaghetti (it has to be wheat, of course :p), grass fed beef (grass fed has to be mentioned to be organic), pomodoro and goat's milk creme.  When I saw pomodoro, was expecting sweet and sour taste of tomato.  Apparently, this is more like a creamy pasta like carbonara, and there was no trace of tomato (I think).  I tasted a forkful of this dish and it's very tasty.  But any creamy and tasty food would eventually feel too heavy (nakaka umay) on the palate.

I ordered Chicken + Eggplant Parmagiana (340.00) - free ranged ground chicken, roast eggplant, pomodoro, goat's milk creme and cacciocavallo.  While eating it, I thought it's mozzarella cheese but I just googled that it's actually cacciocavallo - a type of stretched-curd cheese made out of sheep's or cow's milk.  This dish is also very tasty just like Ragu but a lot more because of the heavy cheese.  This time, I remember eating whole tomatoes but I didn't notice the chicken and eggplant.  

Both the pasta dishes were tasty, unlikely of a healthy dish.  Unfortunately, too tasty that we had to ask for bread.  But they do not have bread on their menu (just sandwiches) so they gave us something like toasted bread crumbs for free.  Would love to suggest to them to serve garlic bread or something with the pasta like most restos do.

Twist Kebab (P540.00).  The most expensive food we ordered.  It's made up of organic bacon, tenderloin, river prawn and herb yogart.  Didn't get to taste this dish but according to my friend, it's not that good.

Pork Sisig (P240.00).  Free range pork with organic onions, chillis and native calamansi.  This is the least expensive dish but it also came with small serving.  Also came with brown rice.  Also, didn't get to taste this according to my friend, it's just ok.

Took a picture of their menu to give you an idea of the food and price.

They also sell organic products but didn't get to check them out.

Carmen's Best Ice Cream

I've been hearing about how good is Carmen's Best Ice Cream.  Celebrities are raving about it in their instagram posts.  It's not readily available in groceries that's why I got surprised when I saw it in Robinson's while doing my grocery.  I didn't mind the price and just grabbed one.  I also didn't take time to choose what flavor since someone's taking her time in choosing the flavor and I was in a hurry and have no time to wait for her to finish and go thru the other flavors.  Anyways, I got the Cookie Dough flavor for P370.00.

I got curious why Carmen's Best Ice Cream is expensive so I checked on the label.  Surely, there was a description on what this ice cream is made of or maybe a justification for the price for this kind of quality :)

When I first tasted it, I thought it's not much difference from the other ice creams available in groceries.  Maybe, it's because it's rock hard when I first tasted it.  The second time I ate it, I let it melt just a little then I got to appreciate the silky,smooth and creamy taste from the description.  I'm convinced that this is above quality ice cream.  Not very sweet and you'll believe it's really made of fresh milk because of the smooth and creamy texture =)

I also checked their website at - http://www.carmensbest.com/

Best Sellers - Salted Caramel, Butter Pecan, Malted Milk, Brazillian Coffee

Interesting flavor - He's Not Worth It =)  Women eat ice cream when they are brokenhearted.  This is a good reminder while eating a delicious ice cream.  I think they should create more flavors like this.  Filipinos love "hugot" lines and it would be perfect to associate it in ice cream. =)

If I were to create similar flavor I would have "Single and Fab" flavor, "I'm Sexy and I know it", "Better than Sex" - though this one has been used many times already. :D :D :D

Tipulo, Modern Filipino Cuisine, Antipolo City

As much as the overlooking view in Antipolo is beautiful, there aren't really much of a good restaurant around the area.  Tipulo is one of the restaurants in Antipolo, but not in the overlooking area.  It's actually inside the First Pacific Leadership Academy, along Sumulong Highway, before you get to Robinson's Antipolo if you are coming from Masinag.

We had dinner here after we watched a movie at Robinson's Antipolo.  When we came in, we were surprised because there seems to be a videoke event (maybe leadership trainees of some sort).  Service was disappointing because the waiters did not assist us even if they saw us came in hesitantly.  We had to be the one to go to them to ask where we can be seated.

Tinapa Lumpia

When I saw this in the menu, I got interested because it's something new to me.  It tasted good with a very subtle flavor of Tinapa.  I think it would be yummier if I tasted more Tinapa.  It's Tinapa Lumpia after all!

Callos

We also ordered Callos, not knowing it comes with bread, since we also ordered rice.  It's also just ok.  But it seems it was just reheated and not freshly cooked.

Sisig

The Sisig tasted like any other sisig.  I would have expected more innovation for this dish since their tag line was "Modern Filipino Cuisine".  There's nothing modern about it.  Oh well :p

Forget Me Not, Lilac Street, Marikina

Very nice concept for the menu.  The cover are letters from "Forget Me Not" then hanged on the wall.  It serves like a wall decor or signage and at the same time a good way to organize and save space to keep the menu. =)

The interior of the restaurant.

We probably ordered almost all the available cakes if not all (lol).  Unfortunately, I can't remember all the names of these cakes.  We shared everything so got to taste all of them!  This is definitely sugar overload!

One of the chocolate flavored cake.

Red Velvet Cake

Another chocolate flavored cake

Mocha flavored cake.  This is my favorite among the 7 slices.

Sansrival.  Not a fan of sansrival but this one's good.  My 2nd fave from the 7.

Marshmallow cake.

 

Another chocolate flavored cake.

Before

 

After =)

Overall, "Forget Me Not" is a great place for dessert.  I can go back to this place and just ordered a slice of cake, eat it slowly and savor every bite of it. =D 

Blake's Wings and Steaks, San Roque, Marikina

Blake's Wings and Steaks can be found along Gil Fernando, San Roque Marikina.  It's a small 2 story building with limited parking available.  The first floor is just a receiving area while the second floor is the dining area with around 10 tables.

Before going, I checked some reviews on the net and found that some of the positive and negative feedbacks are true.  I read that it's usually full and waiting time is long.  Fortunately, when we arrived we got a table right away.  I also read that the place feels hot despite the aircon.  This is true based on our experience specially it was lunch time then.  More feedback as I go through the pictures of food we ordered. =)

Kani Mango Salad - P195 

We were satisfied with this salad.  Can't say much but "yummy!".

 

1/2 kg Pork Ribs - P350.00

Tasty and tender.  Happy with this one too.  Of course, most of us ordered rice though we already have pasta.  I didn't order rice 'coz I know I'm more on the pasta but I ended up getting half rice from my friend because of this hehe.

1/2 kg BBQ Original Wicked Wings with Bleu Cheese and Honey Mustard dips - P195.00

Expectations are high since this is supposed to be their specialty.  Good thing, it did not disappoint. =)

 

Penne Garlic Pesto with Grilled Chicken Breast - P225.00

Sadly, when I scooped a serving, I found a strand of hair in the dish =(.  We informed the waiters and they replaced it with a new set.  I can't remember though if they have apologized.  Anyways, it tasted just ok.  Maybe it was just ok because of the unfortunate incident.

Spaghetti with Dried Tuyo in Olive Oil - P225.00

We didn't originally ordered this but was just a follow up after the Penne Pasta incident.  I've tasted Tuyo pasta in other resto but this one I didn't like.  Salty is all I can taste from the dish.  There was nothing to balance it.  We didn't finish it and ended taking out the left over.  Wish we didn't order this as additional.

Kuya J Restaurant, Serving Delicious Filipino food - SM Marikina

For Father's Day celebration, my dad's request was to eat crispy pata.  We know that all restaurants will be jam-packed so we decided to go to a nearby mall only.  We've been eyeing Kuya J for quite some time now so timing was perfect to celebrate Father's day here.  We're lucky that we're a group of 3 only so we immediately got a table.  Otherwise, we were actually 13th on the waiting list.

I was a good girl and was able to take pictures of the menu while waiting for our order. :)

Very good menu with complete choices from appetizer, vegetables, soup, main course, desserts and drinks.

For appetizer, we ordered Chorizo Dinamitas with garlic dip.  This was labeled as one of their best sellers so I got interested.  It's deep fried jalapeno wrapped in lumpia wrapper with chorizo and cheese.  It's really good because usually, other restaurants would only put cheese with jalapeno but the chorizo made a great difference.  Very tasty and not too hot or spicy =)

Next, my Mom ordered Beef Kare-kare.  My Mom cooks one of the best Kare-kare in town.  So to like this would really mean that it's really good.  At first we thought that the serving was small but we were wrong because it had lots of meat.  This is another yummy dish from Kuya J. =)

Lastly, the sinful Crispy Pata :p.  It's nice that they cut it for us when they served.  I'm usually not that crazy about pork, aside from not being healthy, I heard really bad stories on why we should not eat pork.  Anyways, I still eat pork but if there's a choice, I would usually order beef, chicke or fish.  Anyways, back to the Crispy pata, this one was another delicious treat.  Other crispy pata that I have tasted were just crispy and not tasty so you will usually rely on the sauce.  But this one, it's really tasty even without the sauce.  The skin was crispy and the meat was also really tender.  Another thumbs up for this.

I can really say that Kuya J serves very good Filipino dishes.  I recommend you try this specially if you're craving for Filipino food.  I can't wait to go back and try their other dishes =)