Charmed Life of a Mrs Archives | Page 13 of 98

When in Manila…Eat! (New Food Discoveries in 2011)

4 March 2013 Ibyang Sanchez 0 Comments Category: Charmed Life of a Mrs, Food, Restaurants, Travel

The gastronomical experience below happened during our 2011 vacation in the Philippines.

It’s the 4th day of March and it’s now Autumn here in the land down under. The season started off with lots of rain and the temps have gone down a few notches that we are now grabbing our light jackets on our way out the door.

Today also signals the start of our month-long countdown to going home—Manila. Yes! The Husband and I will spend a few days in the Philippines to have our much-needed leave from work. I’m excited and a bit agitated about travelling again. Excited because I can’t wait to not work, travel again, see airports, spend time with the Husband, our families and friends, rest and eat! I’m a bit agitated because at this state, well, we still have a few things to finish before we go on holiday–there’s work, getting stuff organized and packing suitcases which we hope won’t go over the weight limit. But all in all, we are happy that things are slowly falling into place and things will be settled in time for our vaycay.

There’s always that expectation when we travel that we’d find new dishes to enjoy and love. The Philippines is fast becoming a food haven with so many new restaurants sprouting one after another. During our 2011 vacation, Manila did not disappoint in satisfying our tummies as we discovered a few good dishes from new restaurants (new to us at least).

First on our list is our Lechon experience at Mesa Filipino Moderne. It was called Crispchon, succulent baby pig with crispy skin that you order in wholes, halves or quarters. We ordered a quarter of Crispchon (there were four of us that time). Half of it was sliced and put into wraps, while the other half was deep fried in chili and garlic. We loved this experience because the lechon was deliciously tasty and the skin was so crisp. For people like us who didn’t see the need to buy a whole lechon, this was our next best alternative to having lechon.

Crisostomo is our newest favourite Filipino restaurant when we visited in 2011. We liked the interiors of their restaurant in Resorts World Manila from the blue chairs, lighting and paintings on the wall.

We love them for their modern take on their dishes. We immensely enjoyed their Sisig, Bangus with Ensaladang Mangga and Pork Barbeque.

We’ve heard so much about Kanin Club and we were glad we had the opportunity to eat there. We loved their Seafood Kare-Kare because the sauce was simply more flavourful than any other Kare-Kare we’ve tried. And it’s amazing that even if it was a seafood dish, it tasted fresh.

A small restaurant in Greenbelt 5, likened to an American diner, caught our fancy because we saw Beef Tapa Overload on their menu. Mr. Jones makes their Beef Tapa tender, juicy and lots of garlic.

My Mom introduced us to Conti’s because I love Vigan Longganisa. Their Vigan Longganisa were okay although I hoped it would be less dry. Conti’s is also know for their Mango Bravo cake (no photo, maybe next time) which we loved!

The art of eating Yakiniku style has reached the shores of Manila and when we’re there in 2011, Yakimix was one of the famous restaurants that satisfied our love for buffet and cooking while we eat. We enjoy this kind of meal because we get to spend a long time catching up with friends over an abundance of great food.

My parents treated us to seafood dinner at Blu Fish (Eastwood City) for some massive red crabs!!!

Fely J’s Kitchen is another restaurant we had Filipino dinner at Greenbelt 5. I wasn’t totally impressed with their dishes but if I were to pick which of their dishes I liked best, it would have to be their Sisig. The serving of their dishes “underwhelmed” me and the tastes of their dishes didn’t give me that “wow!” feeling.

It was the peak of Summer then so a refreshing Halo-Halo from Razon’s gave us a sweet respite. Their Halo-Halo’s finely shaved ice and delicious leche flan makes it one of the best halo-halos in the Philippines.

The desire for dessert after dinner brought us to Cafe Breton (Greenbelt 3) and it was then that I got to try their La Pinay Crepe which consists of ripe mangos topped with vanilla ice cream. It’s sooooo yummy!

We found a stall that sells Ice Scramble, a childhood food favourite, at PBCom Tower when we visited our former workplace. Sosyal na scramble siya kasi pwede kang maglagay ng toppings. The name of the stall escapes me right now but it’s the one and only stall at the PBCom Tower food court so it’s hard to miss.

I was gifted with a huge Banoffee Cake from Banapple. It was the best banoffee cake I’ve ever had. It had a lot of bananas and the cream is addictingly sweet.

We were in Manila for five weeks and it wasn’t enough to try the new restaurants in town. There was just so many! But we’re glad we were able to balance our time eating between the ones we missed and ones we’d like to try.

We currently have a list of what to eat and where in Manila and our list is kind of long already. Can’t wait!

Via Mare (Manila, Philippines)

Jollibee is Love!

When in Manila…Eat! (Most Loved Filipino Dishes)

28 February 2013 Ibyang Sanchez 1 Comments Category: Charmed Life of a Mrs, Food, Travel

This gastronomical experience happened during our 2011 vacation in the Philippines.

After four years of not coming home, we spent about four weeks in the Philippines in April 2011. Part of the plan was to enjoy the food we love from childhood to present. As we savour each bite of our all-time favourite Filipino dishes, it gave us such happiness to have a taste of home.

Here are a few of our favourite food in the Philippines:

Jollibee, Max’s, KFC and Shakey’s. We love chickens! And in our books, these are our most-loved fried chickens in the Philippines. I’ve written about my love for Jollibee here as we’ve eaten at Jollibee for about four times during our vaycay so I guess it needed a separate entry. I grew up eating Max’s Fried Chicken and I’ve considered it one of our family’s go-to chicken whenever we feel like eating out. I love KFC’s Hot ‘n Spicy Chicken and their gravy is very tasty that you can get away with just that and rice. I’ve tasted other KFCs from other places and my favourite is still the ones from the Philippines. Shakey’s delicious take on fried chicken goes well with their Mojos and thin crust pizzas.

The only pizza from the Philippines I love is Shakey’s Pizza and my favourite is their thin-crust Pepperoni Pizza Crunch.

Goldilocks is well-known for their delicious cakes and pastries but we also love the food they serve in store such as Pork BBQ and Lumpiang Sariwa (Fresh Lumpia) in sweet peanut sauce.

We had a chance to visit my parent’s hometown in Quezon Province and I can’t leave the place without buying a few kilos of Longganisang Lucban.

A trip to Tagaytay is never complete without having lunch at Josephine Restaurant. One of their dishes that I love is their meaty Crispy Pata.

The Philippines is known for their streetfood and we’re so happy we got to enjoy some Fishballs, Squidballs and Isaw when we hung out at Mercato Centrale and Midnight Mercato.

Cafe Adriatico has a special place in our heart so we’re so glad they have a branch in Gateway Cubao. My favourite would always be their flavourful Beef Salpicao.

I’m a sucker for Clubhouse Sandwiches so every chance I got, I make sure I order it. I’m thankful we have a Tropical Hut branch near our place so I just had to stop over and have their Clubhouse Sandwich for breakfast. This is my favourite and probably the best clubhouse sandwich in the Philippines.

My second best favourite is the Clubhouse Sandwich from Pancake House.

And third best would be from Figaro Coffee Company.

Mann Hann is another family favourite. When I lived with my parents in Manila, we eat here almost every Sunday but we never get tired of their salty and spicy Spareribs and Taosi Clams.

A standard drink of mine whenever I’m in the Philippines includes Coconut Juice, Calamansi Juice and Green Mango Juice.Those three are my favourite fruit drinks from the Phils. I sometimes ask the restaurant staff though whether their juices are fresh or bottled as I only want fresh juice.

Now let’s move to desserts, shall we?

On a very hot day, it’s always nice to cool down with Chowking‘s Halo-Halo.

Red Ribbon cakes are the cakes and pastries I grew up eating at home other than Goldilocks. We love their Coffee Crunch cake and Chocolate Mousse plus their Taisan roll/cake.

For doughnuts, we love Dunkin’ Donuts and Mister Donut. My favourite from DD is the Bavarian Filled donut, while we love the Choco Butternut from MD.

P1020628When in Manila...Eat! (Part 1) copy

Once we were able to sit down for afternoon tea so we had some Churros from Dulcinea.

Bibingka Souffle is another favourite of ours which we get from C2.

*Sigh*….such a long list I know. And actually, that wasn’t all of it. I just had to pick the ones that we love the most. For balikbayans like us, it’s important that the food we’ve loved (and still loving) since childhood is still there and consistently delicious. Being home in the Philippines will never be complete without these.

If you chance upon this entry and you’re planning to travel to the Philippines, I hope you get to try some of the food we love.

Via Mare (Manila, Philippines)

26 February 2013 Ibyang Sanchez 0 Comments Category: Charmed Life of a Mrs, Restaurants, Travel

AWCL visited Via Mare in April 2011.

There were so many things that I wanted to share when the Husband and I vacationed in the Philippines in 2011. We’re about to go back to Manila again in a few weeks and I have this nagging feeling inside me to blog a few food and travel experiences we had then. So today, I went back to our 2011 photos and started resizing them. My fingers are aching from all the photos I processed. This week, I will be sharing snippets of our 2011 vacation.

I’ll start with some of my favourites from Via Mare. Our family loves eating at Via Mare, specifically the one inside Landmark (Makati City). I can stay at Via Mare for hours and I wouldn’t mind. Before we left Manila in 2011, we spent about 4 hours at Via Mare on our last weekend. We started from lunch until meryenda. That’s how comfortable we are eating at Via Mare and that’s how much we loved their food.

I always order fresh Buko Juice upon arrival.

The Husband enjoys their Arroz ala Cubana which comes with a lot of banana slices.

My favourite rice dish is the one with Vigan Longganisa which always has a crunchiness.

We also enjoy their Adobo Flakes.

One of the best Arroz Caldo I’ve tasted. Whenever I’m feeling under the weather, I always order this.

We always partner the Arroz Caldo with a bowl of Tokwa’t Baboy (fried tofu and pork).

For dessert or afternoon tea, we enjoy their Puto Bumbong and Bibingka.

More food adventures in the Philippines in the coming days.

Karaoke Lunch & CNY Celebrations in Sydney

21 February 2013 Ibyang Sanchez 0 Comments Category: Charmed Life of a Mrs, Cherished Memories, The Married Life

We had a fun day last Saturday with friends as we had karaoke lunch at Mizuya (yup, third time in just three weeks!). We booked a private room for two hours but we enjoyed the food and singing too much that we extended for another hour. Time is never enough when you’re having fun and catching up with good friends.

A few highlights:

The karaoke lunch was organized by one of our friends in honour of those who celebrated their birthday in January and February. We especially cheered for two of our friends who celebrated their 35th and 40th this month.

We had the yummiest red velvet Darth Vader and Storm Trooper cupcakes during the event.

We had to play and sing “Oppa Gangnam Style” twice for the kids. I swear, there’s something about that song that makes the kids get on their feet and dance. And they can get enough of it! Nakakaloka! After playing it the second time, they even requested “Do it again” and the adults all went, “Nooooo”. Haha.

My BFF and I have this song that we always sing whenever we go karaoke. I consider this song one of “our” songs. Now that we’re at a different phase of our lives, we shared our song to her daughter/my goddaughter. It was an “awwww moment” when I saw a photo of us three. How time flies. Never did we imagine we’d be singing our song with a little one in tow.

Karaoke lunches are super fun! Our group enjoyed Mizuya‘s affordable lunch meals and we’re able to sing and be loud in the privacy of a room. I’m so glad we tried doing something like this.

After our party with friends, the Husband and I went to Chinatown to do a few souvenir shopping.

While we were at Chinatown, Tony Abbott (leader of Opposition) arrived to celebrate Chinese New Year.

Our Saturday day-out ended late in the afternoon. A great day spent with good friends and the Hubby.

Last Week’s Dining Adventures

19 February 2013 Ibyang Sanchez 0 Comments Category: Charmed Life of a Mrs, Food, The Married Life

As much as we like dining at home, there are weeks that we’d eat out more often than planned. Last week was one of those weeks. Due to errands we had to do, the choice to eat out was the most practical thing to do.

Attended mass last week in celebration of Ash Wednesday so the Husband and I met up in the city. Hunger pangs struck us so we head to the nearest Pepper Lunch for some Hamburger Steak (for the Husband) and Salmon Teriyaki (for me).

I had shopping errands on Thursday so I went to the shops after work. After I was through, the Husband suggested we meet up near his workplace and have dinner before go home. We took that chance to have some Korean cuisine that night. Husband had a colourful Chicken Bibimbap while I had a Tofu and Pork Stew at Kaizen BBQ.

I love the little bowls they use for their Banchan.

The following day was one big errand day for us. We both took a day off and woke up very early (para din kaming pumasok sa office) and had our car check-up and service. Sans breakfast, we appreciated that our car’s service centre had a comfortable lounge (complete with TV and wi-fi) and served pastries and good coffee.

That day consisted of one errand after another. Our last stop on Friday was at IKEA. We had a heavy afternoon snack before we left home then went out. After walking around the second floor of IKEA in Homebush, we stopped by their food court to rest and have a light snack of Vegetarian Spring Roll, Mashed Potato and Chocolate Cupcake. We just shared these between the two of us as we’re still a bit full from our meal at home.

In our books, this was indulgence. So this week, we’re going to take it easy with after work errands and give ourselves a break from dining out.