Merchant's Lane Cafe, Kuala Lumpur

If ever you run out of places to go to in Kuala Lumpur, you can never go wrong with going on a food trip.  And if you are a social media savvy, an instagrammable food, cafe or restaurant is a bonus.

Merchant's Lane Cafe is exactly this.  Good food and coffee plus a quaint interior for your photos.

I ordered flat white coffee.  It was good but I prefer if it's a little sweeter.

For the main course, I had Hongkie Beef Stew.  The beef was slow cooked to perfection.  It's very tender that it melts in your mouth.  It came with mashed potatoes (under the beef), bokchoy and savory sweet barbecue like sauce.

Merchant's Lane Cafe is located near China Town.

Just a few steps away after this street sign.

It's easy to miss it but it's the first door (green color) of the building.  You have to climb the stairs to get to the dining area.

Merchant's Lane Cafe:

First Floor, 150, Jalan Petaling, Off Chinatown, Kuala Lumpur.

Opens at 11:00am to 8:00pm

Note:

This post is based on my personal experience only.

Please check their official page for the updated details.

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. =)

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.

Cocina Juan - Central/Latin Amarican Food, Maginhawa Street QC

Another popular food haven is in Maginhawa Street, Quezon City near U.P. Diliman.  This was my second time in Maginwaha Street.  The first time I went there, we ate at "The Burger Project".  Maybe I'll post a separate entry for that if I still have pics.

For my second time in Maginhawa Street, I went with my highschool friends on a Saturday night dinner.  Unfortunately, it was so traffic in U.P. area so we arrived there quite late for dinner already.

There are no parking spaces available in most, if not all, restaurants there.  We decided to park along the stretch of Maginhawa street then walked to check out restaurants we wanted to try.

 When I saw Cocina Juan, it rang a bell in my mind.  I told my friends that I think this is one of the more popular restos in the area.  My friends were probably hungry already that they did not argue with my anymore lol.

Th place was really small that was probably why I wasn't able to take a picture of it anymore.  

You'll get to feel an artsy vibe because of the paintings on the wall.  Turns out they are featuring the work of a certain artist.

Colorful table and plates.  We ordered a pitcher of Lemonada Cucumber since all of us wanted to try it.  Unfortunately, it wasn't that good.  It looks like they included the peeling of the cucumber.  One friend asked for sugar to try to improve the taste. 

We also ordered something safe - Buffalo wings.  As you can see, the chicken wings were fully covered with sauce so it's really very tasty.  Since it's very tasty, it could be too much to handle for some.

Cocina Juan actually features Central American/Latin American dishes.  You'll see a lot of "chimichurri" on the menu.

I'm not really familiar with "chimichurri" so if you google it, you'll find out from Wikipedia that it's a a green sauce used for grilled meat, originally from Argentina.  It is made of finely-chopped parsley, minced garlic, olive oil, oregano, and white vinegar.

We ordered Churrasco de Nicaragua - Oven roasted beef, pork sausages and chicken served with gallo pinto rice, salad and parsley based sauce chimichurri sauce.

We also ordered pasta.  But this pasta is not like any other because it's Pasta Chumichurri hehe.

Of course, you rarely go wrong with pasta.  This one has white sauce with corn.  Can't actually remember if the chumichurri made any difference in this dish.

It was my first time to try this kind of food.  Although there is nothing spectacular about it, I enjoyed the dining experience because I like trying new food like trying new things or going to new places. =)

But if you are not the adventurous type (like some of my hs friends i'm with hehe), you might not like Cocina Juan.  Or you may wanna try the traditional dishes available like Quesadillas, tacos, burritos etc.

After dinner, we wanted to have dessert at Sancho, also along Maginhawa but it was already 11pm and they were already closed.  We tried the place next to Sancho, I forgot the name of the cafe but they also closed at 11pm.  We're quite skeptical why they closed early considering that it's weekend and there were still a lot of people in the area.  Oh well. :p

Since the night was young, we ended up dropping by "The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf" along Katipunan road.

We love "The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf" because their cakes are really delicious.  Very happy with my Triple Decker Cheesecake =)  I went for green tea instead of coffee so I won't have problems sleeping hehe.

Some Kind of Wonderful (S.K.O.W.) - 80's Vibe Restaurant, Marikina

Marikina is fast becoming a popular destination for food lovers.  Lilac street in Concepcion, Marikina, particularly has a lot to offer.

Some Kind of Wonderful or S.K.O.W. is not in Lilac street but near the area.  It is located in Birch Road corner Rainbow Street or right infront of St. Paul's Church.

It offers Italian, American and Japanese cuisines.  The restaurant is quite small but you'll get charmed by the 80's themed interior.  It was named after "Some Kind of Wonderful" movie from the 80's.  You'll also see a lot of other movie posters, old music records and other memorabilia's from the 80's in the restaurant.

Buffalo wings:  sweet and a little spicy with sour cream dip.

My friend ordered Spaghetti Bolognese:

I ordered Pesto Spaghetti since the waitress told me that this is their specialty.

The pesto was ok, nothing spectacular but the strawberry milkshake made my day =)

Breakfast at Antonio's, Tagaytay

Got a lot of catching up to do when it comes to updating this blog.  I've been wandering around lately so I got a lot to share.

For the meantime, I'm sharing with you our food in Breakfast at Antonio's in Tagaytay.  This was my second dining experience at Breakfast at Antonio's.  So far, it never disappoints =)

We went here early afternoon on our way home from Pico de Loro.  I was not that hungry yet since we had late buffet breakfast at Pico de Loro so I decided to order a light meal.  Of course, you'll never go wrong with pasta.

Spaghetti Vongole - I actually asked the waiter what is Spaghetti Vongole.  He explained that it's an oil based pasta with clams.  I hesitated for a while since I'm not a seafood lover but later on I rejoiced because I loved it.  Very tasty and yummy =)

Best paired with coke!  Aaaah refreshing and goes well with pasta =)

My friend ordered corned beef.  But of course, it's not your ordinary corned beef.  This was actually the same food she ordered when we first ate here.  So I guess, it's that yummy =)

My other friend ordered a sandwich.  Sorry, I forgot what sandwich is this. =(

I wasn't able to have a copy of our picture when we were there but here's my solo pic when we ate there for the first time in Dec. 2013.  It was before lunch and I ordered Eggs benedict.  I was a happy first timer then =)

Locavore - Filipino Food Concept, Kapitolyo Pasig

Prior visiting this new restaurant, I checked a few reviews about this place.  There were feedbacks that they had to wait for an hour or so to get a table so it was recommended to make a reservation before going to this restaurant.

Since I am not a girl's scout (to be always ready :P), I didn't call to check and make any reservation.
We arrived in Locavore at around past 5pm.  Luckily, we got a table right away and didn't have to wait. :)

For the appetizer, it was my choice to order the Streetfood Platter just because I like the idea of being able to eat fish balls, squid balls, kikiam and qwek qwek in a restaurant and make "tusok tusok" in a "sosyal" way (lol).  It came with 3 kinds of sauce -  first was the spicy vinegar, second was sweet and sour sauce but it was also spicy and third one was the sweet sauce.   I am not sure if the fish ball, squid balls and kikiams were specially made by the chefs but the taste was just the same from the ones we buy from groceries or from the streets.  So if you are really after great food, I wouldn't recommend this.
But if you are after the experience, go ahead and order this specially if you miss it like I do :)

Streetfood Platter - P200.00

For our main entree, we ordered Sizzling Sinigang.  The dish was like roast beef with gravy with the "asim" flavor of sinigang.  Imagine that.  It did not disappoint! Yum! :)  The beef was very tender.  The vegetables were crisply cooked.  I love the gravy sauce with just the right hint of sinigang flavor. My only concern though was that it was not literally sizzling when it was served to us.  But, I would still recommend that your try this dish because it was really delicious :)

Sizzling Sinigang - P530.00

For dessert, we ordered Torta Manga.  I'm not sure if I liked this dessert.  First taste wasn't that great.  On second taste, my reaction was, "Oh this is delicious".  On the next bites, it seems too sweet or just right.  I guess you'll get the perfect taste of this dessert when you scooped the right balance of mango, "yema" like caramel filling and cake crust. :)

Torta Manga - P240.00

It was already past 7:30pm when we finished our dinner.  I was surprised that there was already a long line outside.  It was only then that I realized that "so this is the latest craze pala talaga" hehe.
So if you want to try this new restaurant and don't want to wait in line, have early dinner like we did :)

Enjoy! :)

Locavore, Kapitolyo Pasig
Brixton Technology Center, 10 Brixton Street, Kapitolyo, Pasig City
It's in the street at the corner of Ace Water Spa Building.  Just go straight ahead until you see the restaurant at the right side of the street.