Beef With Malachan Sauce Hk Eatery

I received an urgent text if I wanted to eat at H.K. Choi because it was the last day for the 30% off promotion if you dine from 2:00-5:00 pm. I naturally said yes. So did 6 other friends. We're really easy to convince when it comes to eating out.

 As I've said in my previous post about H.K. Choi, this restaurant offers good value for money specially for a Chinese restaurant in the mall. As with any restaurant there were some outstanding dishes you must order and some you can skip. These are my ratings on the dishes.

must order this!

Fried beancurd w/ salt & pepper P140

must order this!

Chicken feet P90

must order this! This is my favorite dish in H.K. Choi. It's as good if not better than the ones I've eaten in Hong Kong.

Ham sui kok P80

So, so…

Hot prawn salad P300

Good!

Beef tenderloin Chinese style P240

not bad at all

Roast duck P320 (1/4)

Good!

Oyster pancake P220

Please skip this!

Chicken w/ lemon sauce

So, so…

Beef hofan P240

must order this!

Handmade fish balls w/ vegetables P240

The ratings above were based on my taste alone. I'm sure we all have different opinions so don't write comments that I'm wrong. These are just MY opinion. Ok?

H.K. Choi Menu
kitchen specials 1, 2, 3, curry dishes, seafood, soup,
rice toppings, roast meat rice toppings, baked rice,
noodle soup, dimsum 1, 2, 3, dessert

H.K. Choi
2/F SM Megamall Atrium
telephone: 382-7757

I love this email that I received. My friends and I definitely follow these rules that's why we're always happy and young looking- in our eyes.

HOW TO STAY YOUNG

1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay 'them'

2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.

3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle. 'An idle mind is the devil's workshop.'

4. Enjoy the simple things.

5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.

6… The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.

7. Surround yourself with what you love , whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge .

8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.

10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity.

11. Don't waste time finding fault with others – they can usually find fault with themselves just fine. Try something challenging-

LOOK FOR THE GOOD IN EVERYONE!

AND ALWAYS REMEMBER :
Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

And if you don't send this to at least 8 people – who cares?

But do share this with someone.

We all need to live life to its fullest each day!!

Worry about nothing, pray about everything !!!

I was recently invited by the California Milk Advisory Board in cooperation with the US Department of Agriculture to try out different types of California cheeses as interpreted by Chef Ariel Manuel of Lolo Dad's Brasserie in a special California Cheese menu he prepared.

We are all familiar with cheddar cheese but now there are over a dozen varieties of California cheeses that are available in S & R and other supermarkets. For recipes check out this site. This is a treat for all of us specially with Christmas around the corner. For ideas on how to incorporate cheese in your Noche Buena feast click here.

It was my first time to eat at Lolo Dad's Brasserie so I was very excited since I've heard all about chef Ariel Manuel and how good the food was at his restaurants. Thankfully the invitation was for me and a guest. Elisa was only too happy to join me for lunch.

This was our special menu for lunch. I was ecstatic to see that all my favorite food were present -soup, pizza and pasta. This was just perfect since I just love cheese. Next to chocolate that's my next favorite ingredient.

sampler of California cheeses

I love all kinds of cheeses but I prefer sharp and strong flavored cheeses to the milder varieties. No wonder the soup was my favorite from lunch. The soup itself was creamy but light and the flavor of the sharp cheddar was strong yet not overpowering. The mild taste of the smoked salmon on crisp bruschetta provided the perfect complement to the soup. I was already half full after this starter.

California Sharp Cheddar and Romaine Lettuce Soup Smoked Salmon Bruschetta

This was one of the best pizzas I've ever eaten. The crust was really, really thin and very crisp. It was a 'barely there' vessel for the main attraction of the trio of cheeses whose flavors blended well to produce a  delicious pizza.

California Pepper Jack, Swiss and Provolone Cheeses, Mushrooms and Fresh Spinach Pizza

This pasta dish was our least favorite probably since we were already too full to enjoy it. The rigatoni was an adult version of macaroni and cheese with only cheese making up the sauce instead of the usual thick white sauce with some cheese. In this dish the cheese was definitely the main ingredient. I felt the vegetable fritter didn't go well with the pasta since both were similar in texture and both were mild in taste. It was good though.

Baked California Colby Jack Cheese, Pancetta and Rigatoni Pasta Vegetable Fritter

I loved the simplicity of the food and definitely the cooking was top notch. I definitely want to go back and try their regular menu. I want to try their burger and other pizzas too. And hopefully one day I get to eat at Lolo Dad's in Quirino Avenue.

Lolo Dad's Brasserie Menu
tapas, cured meats, cheeses, pizza, sandwiches, appetizer, specialty bread
pasta & filled bread, main dishes, steaks, desserts, lunch special

Lolo Dad's Brasserie

Ground Floor 6750
6750 Ayala Avenue Makati City
telephone : 8136750

I was recently invited to have thanksgiving dinner at M Cafe. The host was United States Potato Board. The dinner was all about the many uses of frozen potato products like french fries, nuggets, mashed potatoes and many others. I was excited since it was my first time to eat at M Cafe and I love potatoes.

Our table was decorated with different gourds which are popular symbols for the US holiday of Thanksgiving.

This was the view from my seat. Huge balls of light illuminate the outside dining area of M Cafe. M Cafe is short for Museum Cafe and it's right next to the Ayala museum in Greenbelt.

M Cafe's chef Sau del Rosario explained to us the challenge of using potatoes in all the dishes he was serving to us tonight. He expressed his surprise in the versatility of frozen potatoes in it's taste and consistency which even beats local potatoes.

Chef Sau Del Rosario

My fish wasn't crispy but I didn't care because it was so tender and the flavor was divine. The mashed potatoes were also so good I can't believe it was from frozen potatoes. They just tasted so fresh.

crispy seabass, parsley brandade, root vegetable floss,
rosemary orange beurre blanc

Next up was my favorite seared foie gras. It was my first time to have seared foie gras served in a soup. I loved the crisp crust of the foie gras. It provided excellent contrast to the rich and creamy soup. The soup wasn't thick but it was smooth and very aromatic.

seared foie gras, US scallop potato pea soup

The smell of the truffle oil on this pasta dish made me swoon. The sauce and the mushrooms were very good. I just didn't like the texture of the gnocchi which reminded me of wet mushy bread. It was too soft and just blah. I wish they used regular pasta. Penne or ravioli would have been so much better.

porcini & truffle gnocchi

I was very full already at this point. The pork tenderloin was tender but nothing really special. The potato spinach flan was unique although it lacked flavor.

baked pork tenderloin, potato spinach flan, mustard sauce

The dessert was similar to silvanas. It was good but only the first layer was crunchy while the rest was soggy.

potato torte, white chocolate

Overall I liked the food and presentation. I have to go back to try their regular menu soon.

M Cafe
Glass Wing, Ayala Museum
Makati Ave. cor. De la Rosa St.
Makati City
telephone: 757-3000, 757-6000

I found this great deal from TUAW. Apple is giving away a free album containing classic holiday hits from artists like David Archuleta, Sarah McLachlan, Weezer and Stephen Colbert (?). I'm curious to hear Stephen Colbert sing "Another Christmas Song". You can see the whole list of songs here. You can download the album from here (iTunes link). This is only for US and UK accounts.

It was my cousin's last day in Manila. He was lucky I saw an ad in the newspaper about C2 Classic Cuisine the night before or else I wouldn't have thought of bringing him there for lunch. Too bad his sister left a few hours before and wasn't able to join us for a last hurrah.

C2 Classic Cuisine Greenhills is located within the C3 Events Place. It used to be a different restaurant that's why I never noticed when it became C2.

The place was small but it was nicely decorated.

When I looked through the menu I was happy to see all the classic Filipino favorites were present but most were given a contemporary twist. I'm glad it wasn't made into fusion foo foo as my cousin calls it.

My cousin had a drink called Guinumis. It's more like a dessert since it's made of crispy pinipig (pounded young glutinous rice), sago, panocha (a kind of sugar) syrup, coconut milk and crushed ice.

guinumis P80

garlic rice P75

The bangus belly was coated with flour and fried. It was topped with a chunk of lemon flavored butter. It was just ok. I found it a bit bland but that was remedied by the soy sauce/vinegar/chili mixture in one of the bottles on our table.

sizzling bangus belly P365

One of the best things that happened during lunch was our very knowledgeable and helpful waiter. My cousin wanted to order binagoongang lechon kawali and crispy kare kare. The waiter told us kindly that our cholesterol will surely shoot up with 2 similar pork products. He was right! That's why we ended up ordering the bangus.

He also dissuaded me from ordering aligue (crab fat) rice because "it will be too rich to go with your food" (which he said in Filipino). What can I say, he was right again. Usually waiters just write down whatever you order. I loved it that he was well trained to give funny and informative suggestions. Too bad I didn't get his name.

crispy kare kare P640

The crispy kare kare was a deconstructed kare kare with an uber crispy boneless pork leg with the peanut sauce in separate container and the veggies under the pork. The crispy pata (pork leg) was the lightest and crunchiest I've ever eaten. The skin was light, almost translucent and not greasy. The peanut sauce was very flavorful so I barely had to put any bagoong on my pork and sauce.

I loved it so much that's why I have 3 pictures of it here. I had to show off every angle of pork goodness.

We had a hard time choosing dessert. It was a toss up between pastillas panna cotta, suman at tsokolate eh or bibingka souffle. Our curiosity over the bibingka souffle won over. Bibingka is one of my favorite foods. It's a thick, soft cake made of glutinous rice topped with salted egg, quezo de bola and grated coconut.

At first bite the souffle did taste like bibingka. I could taste the salted egg, cheese and coconut. Even the creamy, sweet, milky sauce had bits of salted eggs in it. It was very interesting and pleasant. Souffle just isn't my favorite dessert since it's all air and egg whites. Next time I'll try the pastillas panna cotta.

bibingka souffle P145

inside the bibingka souffle

I'm surely bringing my other cousin and friend to eat here when they arrive later this month. There are a lot of other things in the menu I want to try. I'm glad to have discovered two great Filipino restaurants in Greenhills.

C2 Classic Cuisine Menu
vegetables, meat & poultry, rice, seafood, all day merienda, dessert

C2 Classic Cuisine

18 Missouri St., Northeast Greenhills, San Juan

telephone: 726.2712

The Ledge, 6th Level Shangri-la Plaza

telephone: 636-1509

2nd Level, Archaeology Section, Power Plant Mall

telephone: 897-8113

1st Level, Midtown Wing, Robinsons Place, Manila

telephone: 466-6387

Oceana, Bldg. A San Miguel By The Bay, Mall of Asia Complex, Pasay City

2nd Level, Summit Ridge Promenade, Tagaytay

Whenever my friends or relatives come home from the United States they always want to eat Filipino food. I usually bring them to Fely J or Abe. I can't think of other good Filipino restaurants until I remembered Bangus.

Bangus has been open for 25 years. I remember when they first opened at Crossroad Arcade Greenhills in the 80s. Today it's in Connecticut carpark building in Greenhills.

The restaurant's name, Bangus or milkfish is one of the most favorite fish in the Philippines. It's notorious for having so much bones. Thankfully, deboning bangus has been perfected. Bangus is a very versatile fish and can be cooked in a hundred and one ways. And that's what this restaurant is famous for.

The colorful interiors reminded me of a fiesta atmosphere. We went there on a weekday lunch and the place was packed.

the cousins

My cousin has never tried sisig so we ordered it. I'm not a big fan of sisig so I can't judge how good this was. Pork sisig was made famous when Anthony Bourdain featured it in his show the Philippine edition of "No Reservations." Pork sisig is made up of pig's cheeks, nose and ears. Doesn't sound appetizing huh? Don't let the ingredients put you off from trying it. It's the most popular appetizer in the Philippines when drinking beer. Even Anthony Bourdain declared it "the best!"

pork sisg P195

The best part of the bangus is the belly that's why this dish is called prime cut. This was a simple dish served on a sizzling plate and topped with onions. A good squeeze of calamansi and a quick dip in patis is how we ate it.

bangus prime cut (milkfish belly) P280

These prawns were our favorite. We ate every last drop of the yummy crab fat sauce with the garlic rice.

adobong sugpo sa aligue (prawns in crab fat sauce) P385

They also had kare kareng bangus but this time we stuck to the classic ox tail. My cousins were fascinated because the ox tail still had the skin on. I just found out that the ox tail sold in the United States were all skinless. Where's the fun in that? The kare kare was very good. The 3 pieces of ox tail were very tender and the sauce was rich and peanutty.

kare kareng buntot (ox tail peanut stew) P425

Even their garlic rice was good. We finished two orders of rice. It's the fault of those darn yummy sauces.

garlic rice P55

I'm so happy I rediscovered Bangus. There's' nothing fancy with the food. It's all just good, home cooked Filipino food. Just the way we liked it. It's a place where you definitely have to bring your guests to enjoy a wide range of Filipino food cooked the traditional way.

Bangus menu, front

Bangus menu, back

Bangus delivery menu

Bangus

Ground Level, Connecticut Carpark,

Greenhills Shopping Center

San Juan, Metro Manila

telephone: 725-3038/ 722-8750

SM Mega Mall

Lower Ground Floor, Bldg. B
telephone: 637-3319

SM Mall of Asia

Ground Level, North Wing, Pasay

telephone: 556-4415

TriNoma Mall
1st Level, M1, Quezon City

telephone: 901-353

Robinson's Galleria
2nd Level, East Lane,
Pasig City

telephone: 632-1806

Are you phone addict? Do you text at the dinner table? While on a date? Check out this flowchart made by Shane Snow of Scordit.

(click to enlarge)

via Gizmodo

El Cirkulo is one my favorite Spanish restaurants. Aside from serving consistently good food, they also have special dishes not found in other Spanish restaurants.  Eating good paella and lengua was on my cousin's check list on her short trip to Manila. That's why after picking up my two cousins and a friend from the airport we headed straight to El Cirkulo for lunch.

a friend and 2 cousins

We were given a plate of complimentary potato tortilla for starters.

potato tortilla

pitcher of sangria

The gambas was a bit spicy and very garlicky. We had to ask for more bread to sop off the delicious infused olive oil sauce.

gambas al ajillo P325

I love foie gras and after trying out the trio of foie gras at El Cirkulo I now have a new place to get my foie gras fix. The 3 ways of foie gras -pan fried with fig compote grilled w/ balsamic syrup, terrine w/ sea salt- were all excellent but my hands down favorite was the one topped with fig compote. I've always enjoyed my foie gras with a hint of sweetness.

foie gras "3 ways" P895

The lengua was incredibly tender but not mushy. The sauce was intense and flavorful. What more can you ask for?

lengua sevillana P495

The paella came to our table still wet as seen in the picture below. But we let it sit for a few minutes and it slowly absorbed all the liquids so by the time we ate it it was perfect. The rice was evenly cooked and seasoned. There was enough socarrat or crunchy rice on the bottom of the pan. The yummy crunchy bits is always the best part of the paella.

paella marinera P695

I wanted my cousins to try the beef belly since it wasn't a usual cut found in the menus in the US. It was melt in you mouth tender due to the thin layer of fat above the meat. The skin was well spiced and added a kick to the mellow flavor of the beef.

slow roasted U.S. beef belly P795

Thanks to our friend, Warren who insisted on treating us for lunch. I hope they enjoyed the meal as I did. They were either very hungry or we ordered just the right amount of food because there were not a speck of food left on the plates. I can't wait to go back to El Cirkulo to try the other dishes that caught my eye on the menu.

El Cirkulo menu
daily menu & specials, tapas, salads/soups/paellas/pastas,
main course, cheese & dessert

El Cirkulo

Milky Way Building

900 A. Arnaiz Avenue, Makati City
telephone: 810-2763 / 810-8735

Thanks to Michelle for inviting me to join her group to have dinner at Chef's Table. I've always wanted to try the food at this private kitchen run by Chef Bruce Lim, a popular Filipino Chinese chef who has his own tv show, Tablescapes on the Asian Food Channel.

The well lighted rooftop garden was visible from the street.

Chef Bruce and his wife are lucky to live and work in a building with a beautiful outdoor, rooftop garden.

The dining room was also the setting for the tv show thus the numerous lighting. There were 3 different groups dining there that night. As much as the chef would like to serve everyone at the same time, the last group came pretty late. He started serving our group and the other party of 2.

For such a small place there were so many servers. If I'm not mistaken there were about 6 waiters who provided quick and attentive service.

Chef Bruce informed everyone that dinner was made up of dishes that used all local ingredients to give the food a unique Filipino twist.

Chef Bruce serving the 1st course

I asked Chef Bruce what the soup was called. He told me none of the food that night had official names so I told him I'll make up the names. He smiled and said, "go ahead."
I loved, loved, loved the soup. It was inspired by laksa, my favorite Singaporean noodle dish. The big difference was the soup wasn't spicy. It had a slight coconut flavor and the stock was very rich and flavorful. It reminded me of lobster bisque instead of laksa. The fish and noodles were the perfect foil to the rich soup. Our only gripe was the soup wasn't hot. I told Chef Bruce about it and he listened because we watched with envy when we saw the next table's piping hot soup pass us.

laksa inspired fish soup w/ sotanghon (vermicelli)

Chef Bruce torched the romaine leaves for our caesar salad. Honestly, I couldn't tell the difference with my salad.

The chef explained to us that the caesar dressing was made with Filipino ingredients like calamansi and patis instead of lemon and anchovies. It worked! And instead of the usual fried chicken strips on the salad he added sinampalukang manok or chicken cooked in tamarind broth. I liked the salad but the chicken was a disappointment. It tasted like chicken poached in regular water  to me. I didn't taste any sour flavor or otherwise.

Pinoy caesar salad w/ sinampalukang manok

The fried squid was super tender. The unique green mango salsa went well with the squid.

fried squid w/ green mango salsa

The main course was a perfectly steamed filled of senor lapu lapu or coral trout on a bed of mashed ube (purple yam). Chef Bruce explained that he added 10% potatoes to the ube mixture to make it less starchy. I was hesitant to try it since I was used to sweet ube halaya or ube ice cream. I was surprised that it was so good. There was the ube flavor but it also worked as a savory dish. The whole dish was liberally seasoned with Asian sesame oil which added another dimension to the fish and ube.

steamed senor lapu lapu on a bed of mashed ube

As a surprise to Michelle, the owner of Putong Ube, chef Bruce used ube and pandan puto in his mango trifle instead of the usual sponge cake.  Aside from puto there were also mango cubes and mango custard to cover it all. It was amazingly yummy! We all wanted seconds.

putong ube trifle

chunks of ube and pandan puto visible in the trifle

group picture in the kitchen w/ Chef Bruce Lim

Chef's Table
1238 Emilio Jacinto St. cor Kalayaan Ave
Guadalupe Nuevo, Makati City.
cellphone: (+63) 918 8871277
Dinner by reservation only

P1,500 per head (drinks included)

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Source: https://shootfirsteatlater.com/page/103/

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