Author: gege

Serendra, Fort

This post is long overdue, and since my memory has been ravaged by the passing of time – 6 months, I might mess up with some of the details. I do remember that it was a great dining experience for me. This restaurant could have suffered from high expectations. We checked out the reviews before going there, and most of them were glowing. But, there was nothing not to like. I felt the praise over the steaks was slightly exaggerated; the Porterhouse we had was not the best we’ve ever tried. But it was good. Other than that, the positive reviews were on the mark. It was also good that the party consisted of 6 adults and 2 preteeners. So, we were able to sample the different dishes. My favorites were the Duck Adobo Flakes with rice and egg (P305), the Tuyo Salad (P165) and the Truffle Oil Vegetable Mushroom Dip with Whole Wheat Melba Chips (P195). I was most excited about the Creamed Spinach (P115), but it was just okay. So was the Corn Pudding (P95). We also ordered Lamb Chops on the special menu, Mamou’s Linguine Vongole (P325) and Dark Chocolate Sans Rival (P180), but my memory fails me on the specifics of the flavors. I guess they must have been just fine. I remember though being overwhelmed by all the dishes I had to try, with my palate being accosted by so many flavors. Accosted in a good way.

I remember that the place was all warmth and busy comfort with the owner acting as a gracious hostess to all the guests. Service was excellent. When the waiter saw me trying to take down notes, he offered to photocopy the menu for me. Which I had misplaced, and now have to accept that it is forever lost. That’s why this review comes very late. Thanks to munchpunch for posting a menu that helped jog my memory.

Yummy food pics here: http://islandhopper.multiply.com/photos/album/27

http://www.mpresstudio.com/shop.html – Yummy letterpressed goodies!

I am so proud of my friend, Maria’s work. She’s a BFF, and I’ve always admired her aesthetic sense and her lifestyle tastes. She’s a Grammy Award nominee for her CD packaging designs. If you’re from the US (well, anywhere in the world really) and would like to order for yourself and your friends customized notecards, invitations with unique artwork and great tactile appeal, check out her site.

Follow this link for ordering details.

What these are are travel journals. You know how it is when you travel, and you collect the ephemera like tickets, cafe napkins and the like, and then you take a gazillion of photos. All these with the lofty ambition of creating a scrapbook when you get back. Then you get back and reality bites and you have to make up for your absence by working on a backlog of personal and job tasks. Scrapbooking dreams forgotten relegated to the chest of broken dreams. Well, this is the solution. Bring your journal with you. Paste your mementos and postcards while you’re in the airport waiting lounge. Draw sketches. Write down your observations and ooh-ahh musings. All you have to do when you get back is to paste on your photos. Or if you’re too lazy to even do that, just save your electronic pics into a cd and store that in the attached envelop. Your memories are saved. You minimize the self harassment. Your ephemera’s organized. And you feel like a real scrapbooking and journaling diva.

Click here for ordering details.

379 Pinatubo Street, Clarkview Subdivision, AngelesCity, Pampanga

Based on one past dining experience at this place, I had high expectations. Obviously from the rating, the expectations were not met. The tuna chowder on the pic was the one saving grace and added one star to the rating. The rest of the meal was underwhelming. The pork sausages had a funky, no-personality taste to it. And the buffalo wings were sad, really sad. My husband ordered chili, and I was envious of his food. To think, I hate chili beans.

It was also irritating to have a lot of the service staff come in late, disheveled, go into the washroom, and emerge with their hair dry and make-up on. It felt like I was watching a waitress vendo machine.

After having said all that, I might give this place another chance when I’m in the mood. Maybe the veterans were just having bad WW2 flashbacks.

Level 1, Ayala Food & Entertainment Center Cebu

Memories of Hanoi dining drive me to be in constant search for authentic Vietnamese food here in the Philippines. Funny that I find some degree of satisfaction in a mall in Cebu. The truth is to enjoy the food, I had to forget the authenticity factor and just accept that the only way I can recapture all that is to get on a plane to Vietnam. With that factor gone, I was free to enjoy the food offered at Lemon Grass and judge them by their own flavors. And in all fairness, I really loved the flavors; the banh xeo is a must-try. The presentation added many points to the dining experience – the rice was fancily wrapped in banana leaf. And the sticky rice and mango ending came very close to my expectations.

I hope they would have a Metro Manila branch soon.