Category: ISLANDHOPPER

Mall of Asia
The Podium

Healthy Shabu Shabu is God’s gift to low-carb eaters. If you steer clear of the noodles, the corn, the fish and squid balls, and the taro, then you can get stuffed with some healthy protein options.

Healthy Shabu Shabu distinguishes itself from first generation shabu shabu restaurants with the first word of its name. The first health factor is that this is not a glutton’s all-you-can-eat dream/nightmare. The servings are generous enough for family style sharing, but you get to control yourself by ordering ala carte. The price per order is a great control factor. It also does not offer a butter saute option like other shabu shabu restos do.

The best thing is that you start off with the raw materials sans marinades and sauces so you know you are not getting hidden sugars and starches. Of course, everything looks and tastes fresh and that’s part of what makes it healthy. Make sure you load up on the healthy carbs from veggies. The second best thing is the individual hot pots which make it possible for you to flavor your broth as hot or as bland as you want it to be.

The drawback to most shabu shabu restaurants is the free take home smell of the kitchen that you take with you to your next mall stop. The resto at MOA has good enough ventilation that you are spared from that. Or maybe we were just too happy with our meal to care.

Oh, dining here may be healthy for your body, but not for your budget. This will set you back at least 600 pesos per person. The free dessert might make you feel better though.

The Fort, Trinoma and
Westgate Alabang

Zong is Chinese food for those who are not fond of Chinese food. I guess that’s what you get when you take out the MSG and the tea-house decor and replace it with zen interiors and a fresh approach to dimsum dining.

Now, is it an “experience worthy of contemplation and remembrance” as the takeout flyer says it is? Uhm, maybe for the few seconds out of the door, when you rub your stomach and say that’s a good meal, but contemplation is too big a word.

It did not take much contemplation to order. We looked at the other table and they were having the Spicy Singapore Style Fish Fillet. Waiter, we want that, pointing at the other table. Just don’t make it too spicy since we’re dining with senior citizens with sensitive stomachs. And though there was a stern warning on the menu about modifications, they okayed the less spicy version. The fillets are a Zong crowd fave and for good reason. We also ordered the Fujian Fried Rice with Scallop — flavorful, can stand on its own as a full meal. I was just confused because it was generously topped with shrimps, but there was not a scallop in sight. Illegal substitution! Which made me think the scallop must have been missing also from the Squid and Scallop Balls, which is a finer version of the samurai balls served in the malls. I liked the Eggplant & Minced Pork in Hot Pot very much.

By teahouse and regular dining standards, Zong is good value for your money. Expect to spend 200-300 pesos, less with Senior citizen cards, for a meal that is worthy of uhm, “contemplation and remembrance.”

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.

39-B Pres. Roxas St. Villa Aurora, Kasambagan, Cebu City

If I were to open a restaurant, Abaseria would be a one of my models. Homey ambience to go with homecooked meals. Eclectic furniture. Lots of character with a healthy amount of kitsch. You can take the clan with you for family style dining on the long tables; or catch up with a girlfriend in an intimate corner; or, like me, dine alone with a book. Chances are, though, you’ll forget about your book because the cafe doubles up as a shop for export quality Cebu-made bling, bags, and home accessories.

I’ve forgotten what I’ve ordered. Based on the picture, I seem to remember having wild rice, a lemony adobo sauce on ribs, okra with sesame seeds and nori. Homemade flavors, but with enough twists so they are not quite what manang makes at home.

When you’re done eating, you can check out the baubles, sold at very reasonable prices. They were even nice enough to bring me to the nearby factory to buy more. The only thing that kept me from going berserk shopping were the facts that my bags were already jampacked with dangit and chicharon and I was flying off in a couple of hours.

Royal Garden Estate, Friendship Circumferential Road, Angeles City, Pampanga

I’m hardput to remember a Valentine’s night out with my husband. He’d buy me the best floral arrangement his money could buy and make sure it’s delivered where and when there would be the highest concentration of people to witness the delivery. He’d give me some expensive bauble, he’d treat me to a spa treatment even if I didn’t need one, just don’t make him be out there with those pathetic, soppy couples out celebrating the cheesiest occasion invented by man.

But this year, we had a candlelit dinner at an Italian restaurant. Okay, it was a business meeting with 2 other couples, but still.

Cioccolo serves more than just Italian food though. And most of us had non-italian dishes. We started off with deepfried balut, which to me was the best dish of the night. It was also the only dish that didn’t take an hour to be served. Okay, the menu described my order as 10-hour roasted ribs, but I didn’t know that was to be taken literally. The dishes eventually arrived, and at least they were good. Or we were just too hungry that even the soles of our havaiannas (yes, casual attire is welcome) would taste scrumptious. The ribs were tender and the barbecue sauce just right. My husband ordered grilled lengua; I’ve never had grilled lengua before and didn’t even know that was done. It was good; made mental note to try that at home.

Cioccolo serves a variety of coffees , including Jamaican coffee, Illy, and alamid (I gasped a little when I saw someone drowning the premium alamid coffee with copious amounts of creamer – you gotta go black!). In this day of roll your eyes up and go to heaven desserts, their Oreo cheesecake was just okay.

Even if the place was huge and the diners many, the place still had that warm, intimate feel; thanks to the well designed lighting and the fine furniture. My seat afforded a view of artfully arranged, gigantic cabbage roses, which surprisingly were fresh and real. If you’re ever in the area, this place is worth a try, valentine’s day or not.

Fields Avenue, Pampanga

Subdelicious sounds like a really bad name for a restaurant. It sounds like the food is just this short of delicious. A totally unfair description of the food. Because the buffalo wings are really good. Something I always look forward to when we go to Pampanga. If we hear of anyone going to that area, we tell them to try out the wings. Even the locals did not know about it, and my husband has invited lots of them to the place. We were one of those happy consumers providing them free word of mouth advertising.

You can order the wings mild, regular, or spicy. Of course, we went for the spicy, which is tempered by the blue cheese cream dip. The restaurant is known more for its hoagies and submarine sandwiches, but I didn’t care much about the Philly Cheese Steak Sub; not bad, but I prefer my beef rarer and sliced thicker.

It must be a happening place at night with the billiards and the jukebox. That lunchtime, though, there were just a few of us enjoying the place and the buffalo wings. We were on our last pieces… this after telling my husband that the 20-piece order was too much. And then, my husband accidentally dropped one onto the floor. And this is where the jukebox music suddenly jumps and screeches to a halt and the happy dream scene is over. Because seconds later a mouse runs from under my booth chair and grabs the piece of chicken. Of course, I let out a mini-scream, and just got as far away from that booth as possible. I tried not to make a scene and just waited for the bill to be paid. At this point, I was agonizing, thinking maybe I should just ignore the mickey sighting, and just give them a positive review because I really liked the food, and I didn’t want to be nasty, I mean after all Ratatouille has opened the minds of people to rodents touching their fine cuisine. But the nightmare didn’t end just then. The manager started asking, more like interrogating my husband about why I was taking pictures. Like this is the first time in history that people have taken pictures in restaurants. I don’t want to bore you with the exchange, but I was trying to explain that I was promoting their restaurant so my friends would try them out, but she was mouthing all these obnoxious lines like, “We’re all Filipinos here, okay. When QTV and GMA filmed here, they asked permission. We’re not stupid; that is a professional camera.” I really didn’t, and still don’t, understand what the fuss was about. It’s not as if we can steal their secret recipes by taking photos. We were not doing anything wrong and this woman was blabbing on and on doing more damage to her restaurant than to us. In exasperation and disgust my husband mentioned the mouse, and this woman had the temerity to say with a straight face, “That’s normal. All restaurants have rats.” Okay, I’m trying not to get upset as I write this so I’ll stop the happy reminiscing. Bottom line, I’m going to miss those wings because I’ll never ever go to that place of substandard sanitation ever again. I’m not going to stop you from going, though. Just make sure that if you go, you don’t drop any food on the floor, sit with your feet on the chair, and be ready with a mayor’s permit if you want to take pictures.