All of our attention were fixed on the table where a representative showed us how they prepared their famous Caesar Salad. Caesar Salad has always been a favorite among Mario’s diners. I was pleasantly surprised to know that Mario’s actually prepare the caesar sauce from scratch.
I was totally in awe that I decided to write this entry solely for the Caesar Salad.
Caesar Salad by Mario’s Restaurant
Place garlic in the mixing bowl.
Separate egg whites from the yellow (only egg yolks will be used in the salad).
Add egg yellows to the garlic mixture
Add mustard and mix thoroughly.
Add corn oil and continue mixing. This was the part that I felt a bit uncomfortable. I realized how much oil was put in the mixture! It was definitely a lot! However, he was preparing salad for more than 20 people, so I shouldn’t be worried. Still, seeing the guy finish one whole bottle of corn oil made me worry…
Add anchovies into the bowl.
add calamansi and vinegar to the mixture.. Mix ingredients together.
Add fresh pepper into the mixture. Continue mixing.
Add fresh greens… At this point, I already knew that we are so close to eating this honest to goodness Caesar Salad…
Mix all the ingredients together
Place salad on individual plates.
Put bread cubes and garlic on top of the salad.
Serve and enjoy!
So, what do you think? Will you able to do this on your own? Do you think you’ll be able to make caesar salad that will have the same taste as what Mario’s serve to their customers in the restaurant?
Thanks again Mario’s for the wonderful dinner. This Caesar Salad will always be a favorite among diners! 🙂
When I got an invite to celebrate Mario’s 40th anniversary with fellow bloggers in their Tomas Morato branch, I was ecstatic!
Mario’s is a household name. I’ve been wanting to try out Mario’s restaurant for the longest time but I always had this impression that I couldn’t afford it. After the enjoyable dinner that night, I can conclude that it’s not expensive at all. I have to blame myself for assuming too much before. The Mario’s brand is just too divine that I thought they would have a very expensive tag in each of its menu items. My bad 😛
We were greeted by the Chef Anton Benitez. He was game in answering all our questions. As I listened, I found out that Mario’s Restaurant has undergone renovation. Mario’s has been in Tomas Morato for decades. In order to keep up with customers’ needs, Mario’s needed to step it up.
The renovation is more of blending the old look of Mario’s Restaurant with a new one. Mario’s has now more open windows to give interiors more light and views of their garden (I really like what they did as I noticed most steak restaurant has dark ambiance).
In addition, lamp shades were added to the dining area to provide a more light yet keeping the elegant ambiance of Mario’s.
I was super excited to try out the food. I knew we had to wait for the rest of the guests to come but my eyes were so fixed on the paella and oysters on display. I wanted to dive in!
Good thing there was bread served in our table which is Mario’s own creation. The bread was freshly baked, soft and most importantly, warm! I couldn’t get enough of it. The bread is free by the way. 🙂
At around 7:30pm, we started to eat. Oh boy, I knew I needed to diet but it was times like those that I need to forget all about it. Setting my diet aside, I enjoyed our dinner. It was a blast!
Appetizers
Gambas con Chorizo (Php 345)
I know shrimps and chorizo is a deadly combination. However deadly they are, face it, they are most delicious! I’ve never eaten a dish with those 2 food items cooked together. I never thought that they actually work. Ang sarap (delicious)!
Oysters Rockefeller (Php 265)
Oysters baked with spinach and hollandaise sauce. As I said earlier, I was looking at this dish for the longest time. When we were given the cue to go ahead and get some oysters for ourselves, I immediately got some for myself. Boy, it was heavenly! Do not forget to squeeze calamansi to the oysters as it provided much more flavor and made the taste perfect!
Salad
Mario’s Caesar
This is probably the most popular part of any Mario’s experience. I find it amazing that we actually saw how the sauce was prepared live! I had to write a separate entry (watch it out, it’ll be my next post) for it. Now, we know why caesar salad is always everyone’s favorite to order.
Entree
We were asked to choose one entree from the menu. We all wanted to taste the other entrees too as we wanted to share more Mario’s food in our blog entries. We talked among ourselves and decided to order differently. I’ve chosen to get the bacalao, Yedy ordered salpicao and Arpee got himself the corned beef dish.
Salpicon de Mar Y Tierra (Php 425)
Shrimps, tenderloin cubes and chills served on top of the garlic rice. The tenderloin was so soft and tender. I do wish they cut the cubes smaller as I like it that way better. Still, a great dish!
Bacalao a la Vizcaina (Php 625)
Among the entrees, Bacalao was highly recommended by the server. As I’m a bit on a diet and would have preferred fish over anything else, I decided to listen. Unfortunately, as much as my blogger friends liked this dish, I somewhat didn’t like it. I ended up eating just a bit of it and tried the other dishes. I guess cod fish stew is not my thing. Next time, I’ll remember to stick with steamed fish or fried fish.
This is a matter of personal preference, the Bacalao was a big winner in our table still 🙂
Corned Beef and Cabbage (Php 395)
I always have this impression that corned beef are shredded meat. However, I was really shocked when I saw Arpee’s order. Mario’s Corned Beef and Cabbage were actually two strips of beef served with boiled cabbage, potatoes and carrots, 2 sauces for the beef: mustard & horseradish and a bowl of soup.
I love, love, love the soup! It was actually the cabbage broth. Yummy!
Santol-Glazed Pork Chop (Php 380)
I was sad that none of us ordered the pork chop. My face really lit up as I saw the waiter putting a plate of it in the middle of our table. They had us try it! Whee! I was so regretting my order of the bacalao as I liked this pork chop way better. I especially love the santol sauce. What a nice twist to our old-time favorite pork dish!
Rice
Paella Valenciana
Paella is one of Mario’s specialties. It’s saffron rice cooked with seafood, chicken, pork, sausage, vegetables and herbs. It’s already a complete meal by itself!
Desserts
I was too full that time that I couldn’t get myself to try out the different cakes served at our table. I only got myself the Mango Jubilee which is a big hit in Mario’s. What a way to end a wonderful, full-loaded meal. Thanks Mario’s! 🙂
Sugar-free Jello (Php 95)
Apple Pie (Php 175)
Canonigo (Php 90)
Leche Flan (Php 95)
Toffee Sansrival (Php 120)
Mango Jubilee (Php 310)
Mangoes cooked in style! I wonder how I can describe it better when I was able to take video of it. So I’m not going to describe it any further. I’ll let you enjoy the video and see for yourself (if ever you’re not fond of mangoes, you can order for a strawberry jubilee or a banana jubilee. Take your pick).
While we were having our delicious dinner, we were told about the history of Mario’s.
Mario’s was conceptualized by Mario and Nenuca Benitez in the hopes of having their own business. They opened Mario’s in 1971 at Session road, Baguio City. The restaurant gained popularity due to the delicious food especially Nenuca’s spanish dishes and steak dishes. Mario’s cheerfulness and passion in welcoming customers was a great deal to its success too.
Mario’s decided to bring in the restaurant to Metro Manila when several customers requested for them to bring it in. Good thing that the Benitez family did or else, we won’t be able to try out the wonderful food that Mario’s is serving. It’s one of a kind!
——————– Mario’s Restaurant 191 Tomas Morato Ave. cor. Scout Gandia, Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines (02) 372-0360
My first trip to Puerto Princesa, Palawan was great! I had such a great time! I would like to thank AirPhil Express for this opportunity. I hope I was able to finish all of my posts earlier but here I am, finally completing my long list of Puerta Princesa posts.
I lost my Huawei Wireless Modem E585 in this trip but I decided to just let it go. The awesome experience just doesn’t compare to a single gadget. I must say that I’m truly enjoying exploring the Philippines. Our country is really beautiful! There are so many places to go to.
If you are planning on a Puerto Princesa trip, allow me to share with you our whole itinerary. This might help you 🙂 Enjoy Puerto Princesa!
The last place we went to in Puerto Princesa, Palawan before going back to Manila is Binuatan Creations. Binuatan Creations is a well-known handicraft shop that manufactures handloom woven products utilizing Palawan’s indigenous fibers.
The goal of the company is to transform field grasses and fibers that can be found in Palawan into useful and functional products.
Seeing the people in action makes me really appreciate what they are doing. As expected, Binuatan Creations is very successful that they get their products exported to other countries like the U.S.A.
Weaving Area
Visitors of Binuatan Creations can observe and even experience how the products were made. The personnel were more than kind to answer all our questions. They shared with us the process and showed us what the raw materials were.
The grasses and fibers that are being used in creating the beautiful hand loom woven products are the ff.: field grasses, amumuting, buri (palm tree), buntal fibers, buri sticks, coconut ginit, tikog grass, vetiver grass, arena grass, banana, daninel grass, florida grass and isay grass.
The process in making the products:
grasses being dyed into desired color.
drying.
dyed buntal fibers.
warping of threads to be used for weaving.
harvesting of threads from warping frame.
setting in of threads into the looms.
drawing of threads through heddle wires and reeds.
weaving.
finishing and cutting of woven materials.
packaging.
Judging from the list of tasks to be done. It seems that each product are made at least 2-3 days. I came out of Binuatan Creations so appreciative of the products that are being manufactured there.
The Shop
Then, we went inside the shop where the products are being sold. There are so many products on display. Every item is so nice to look at. The prices might be on the expensive side but how it was created and the long process explained why it is so. The hand loom woven products are surely made of high quality too. We saw how it was made ourselves.
Every item you buy in this shop is truly world-class. You get your money’s worth.
I initially thought that Baker’s Hill is just a popular place in Puerto Princesa City that sells baked goods. I was pleasantly surprised when we arrived at Baker’s Hill Palawan and discovered how much more the place has to offer.
Baker’s Hill Palawan as the name implies is a place on top of a hill where bakers cook delicious baked products for visitors. It’s a theme park that reminds me of Disneyland. As I walk through the area, I felt like a kid again! I had to take pictures with bugs bunny, donald duck, marilyn monroe and other tons of statues all over Baker’s Hill. Kids and adults-alike would love this beautiful park!
As I continued to stroll around, I saw the beautiful themed houses. I remember Disneyland has those kinds of stuff too so it really brought back a lot of memories.
Look at this house (picture below), there was a pirate hanging around! Aha! Shall we run now? 😛
Baker’s Hill Palawan sells delicious home-made breads and baked goodies. The most popular item on sale is the hopia. A lot of tourists go all the way to Baker’s Hill just to buy a box or two of Baker’s Hill Hopia.
There are different flavors of hopia on sale. There’s hopiang mongo, hopiang ube, hopiang pineapple, hopiang hapon and original flavored hopia. Yes, people don’t buy Baker’s Hill hopia by piece, they buy by box.
Look at the number of boxes my travel companions bought!
I love their counter! See the voluptuous sexy woman manning the cashiers. Sooooo cute!
Other food items that are pretty popular among visitors are mamon, crinkles, brownies, choco slice, choco droplets, tostadong mammon and pianono. The food are so inexpensive and to think they are so yummy! Buying baked goodies is a must! You can’t leave Baker’s Hill Palawan without doing so.
Aside from the bakery, there were food stalls that sells stuff like specialty drinks and souvenir items.
If you want a full meal, Baker’s Hill has restaurants inside. I’m sure guests will still drop by the bakery before they leave the park to buy some hopia.
Baker’s Hill Palawan is huge! While my friends were busy buying stuff at the bakery, I took the time to finish touring the theme park. There’s just so much to see and so much to appreciate.
I especially love the awesome landscaping of plants and flowers. You can even buy some as they have an area full of plants you can purchase and bring home.
A playground is made for kids to play around while they await for their parents to buy baked goodies. Of course, the disney characters are there to keep the kids company.
For animal-lovers out there, Baker’s Hill do have some animals under their care. I saw peacocks and birds.
Baker’s Hill Palawan is very near Mitra’s Ranch. It’s on the way to a lot of Puerto Princesa’s tourist spots so this has always been part of everyone’s itinerary when touring the city.
Admission is free, by the way 🙂
——————– Baker’s Hill Palawan Baker’s Hill Mitra Road Sta. Monica, Puerto Princesa City, Philippines (048)433-3414
