Category: Food

二二八人文咖啡館 Relax 228 Coffee Shop
#3 Ketagalan Blvd., Taipei, Taiwan
886 (02) 23897228

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My mom and I had our merienda here. Relax Coffee Shop is located at the 2-2-8 Memorial Museum. We ordered some desserts and rested here before we started touring the place.

True to its name, the coffee shop’s ambiance really gives this relaxing feeling.  That’s why we opted to have desserts there before touring, right?  There were lots of mature (hehe!) men and women hanging out there.  I also saw a big group of officemates dining together.  Some of their visitors seemed to be there for hours just talking about stuff.  Relax 228 Coffee Shop just has this welcoming feeling that guests would want to stay and have coffee in.

I ordered their cake+nai cha bundle (99NT).  The Nai Cha is just normal.  Nothing special, but I surely prefer this over the iced teas served here in Manila hehehe 😛  The cake is lemon-flavored, very unique.

My mom, on the other hand ordered 2 scoops of Movenpick Ice Cream (79NT per scoop).  The ice cream was just too expensive!!  My mom said that Movenpick is an expensive brand of iced cream (I guess the same as Haagen Dazs here?).  It was nice to see my mom’s face lighten up when she saw that the coffee shop has Movenpick 🙂

Rest of the pictures here.

Azadi Persian Kabab
95 Bungad, West Avenue, Quezon City, Philippines
(02) 481-6244 

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Azadi Persian Kabab is a restaurant that is similar to World Class Persian Kabab and Mister Kabab.  A cheaper alternative for Persian and Mediterranean food lovers.

Was looking for a place to eat for dinner last night and saw this accidentally on our way back home.  Ambiance is just the same as other Persian restaurants.  I was hoping that this could be better than the other cheap persian restaurants.  So i ordered the same menu item I usually do.

Here are what we ordered:

• Ripe Mango Shake (Php 30)

I’m really glad theat these restaurants serve cheap fresh fruit juices. I love those! For Php30, I was in for a treat! You won’t feel guilty if you want to order one more! 😛

• Chelo Kabab (Php 155)

This is usually what I order when I go to a Persian Restaurant. I was very disappointed because I couldn’t mix the butter well with the rice. The rice wasn’t hot enough, so the butter wouldn’t melt!!! The kabab itself was very dry too. I know, I can’t expect too much as this is a cheap version.

• Shawarma Rice (Php 75)

Instead of having the ingredients wrapped, they served it with rice instead. That’s basically it for this dish. Nothing special. My friend preferred this over the one I ordered, so I guess, if ever I do go back to Azadi Persian Kabab, I’ll order this instead.

I’ve tried and reviewed many restaurants that I started to have high expectations of this one. This is also added to the list of restaurants I don’t plan to go back to. Sad 🙁

Asian Twist Fusion Restaurant
101 N.S. Amoranto Corner Speaker Perez St., Quezon City, Philippines
(02) 711-2248

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A friend of mine kept mentioning Asian Twist Fusion Restaurant to me.  Beni said I should try it out & blog about it.   The food is good, he said.  I really thought that he was one of the owners or something! hahahaha!

Last night, I finally found my way to Asian Twist Fusion Restaurant.  I must say, I’m impressed.  The restaurant was well-lit.  It has this calming effect.  You’ll notice all my pictures are greenish lolz — That’s because of the green & yellow theme, which I’m sure helped give a calming ambiance.

Here are what we ordered:

• Bibimpop Fish Fillet (Php 175)

Of the two rice toppings we ordered, I like the Korean Bibimpop w/ Fish Fillet best.  Everything just went well together.  If you like traditional Korean dishes, then you would love this rice topping!

• Creamy Bibimpop (Php 175)

This is rice topped with seafood white sauce.  The idea of putting the rice toppings in a stone bowl is genius.  It makes the dish more appealing to customers.  I’m not a cream person, but those who love cream would enjoy this.  I prefer the Bibimpop Fish fillet (see above menu item).

• Seafood Chapchee (Php 175)

We ordered Korean glass noodles (sotanghon, some might call it) with shrimps, squid, kani, cream dory, button mushrooms, spinach and beansprout.  This tasted just normal for me.  It might be better if they had put in a little more sauce to make it tastier.

• Korean Beef BBQ (Php 225)

I just love this one!  I can’t help but mention it over, and over that this is dellliiiiciiiiooooouuuuuussss!!!!  It was just overly tasty and yummy.  It was cooked perfectly.  Wrapping the beef with lettuce is perfection. I definitely recommend this dish.

• Buko Juice (Php 55)

It has a good amount of fresh juice inside.  It is cold too!  I really hope there is an unlimited version for this, i know, i’m dreaming but hey, a girl can dream right? hehehe.

I told you earlier that my friend recommended Asian Twist Fusion Restaurant.  The story goes that two restaurants had already closed at the same location.  My friend really liked the food at Asian Twist and he felt so much pity for the establishment and doesn’t want it to close down.  Asian Twist Fusion Restaurant must be doing something right with such interest and loyalty their customer is giving.

Photo Album can be found here.

哈瓦那咖啡 (Harwana Coffee)
台北市中正區中山南路21-1號
886-(02)2351-2035

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I had brunch at 哈瓦那咖啡 (Harwana Coffee) w/ my mom.  It is located inside the Eslite Bookstore located at the ground floor of CKSC National Theater Hall.

哈瓦那咖啡 (Harwana Coffee) was established in 1999 & it now has 12 branches in Taiwan.  I really like this place.  They have free wifi available and their food is good!

Service was impressive!  I noticed that the servers were young & I think they are still studying and working part-time.  They were very fast, smart and soooooo accommodating & nice.  I don’t know what kind of training the company does but it surely worked real well!

We ordered their set menu worth 180NT that included the ff.:

• choice of main dish
• choice of drink
• soup of the day

We were served the soup first.  Honestly, it was sooooo delicious.  It was spicy but it was made just right.  See how happy I was in the picture?

My mom ordered Beef Pasta & Orange Juice.  My mom was able to finish it all up so I guess, she was satisfied.  I can see how happy she was since she could browse the web. hahaha!  I guess mom and daughter are really alike as we are both addicted to the internet!

I, on the other hand, ordered Spaghetti w/ Sausage & Iced Coffee.  I’m not fond of pasta but I definitely like å“ˆç“¦é‚£å’–å•¡ (Harwana Coffee)’s version.  It was tasty.  I didn’t like the sausage that much though, but the pasta was good!  How I wish we have this restaurant here in Manila.  It definitely give Starbucks a run for their money.

Rest of the pictures here.

My mom opted to stay at the coffee shop while I toured around CKSC Memorial Hall (I will post later).  When I came back 2 hours later, she was still smiling because she was able to finish all the things she needed to do online.  The ambience of the place is really good, you will feel relaxed when you’re there.  I also saw a musician on the other table trying to compose some songs.  We could even hear him humming!

Wagamamu Cafe
411 Retiro Street, near corner D. Tuazon Street, Quezon City, Philippines
(02) 749-7108

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Tried this out last night because I heard lots about it.  I was hopeful that I would be eating good stuff.

Here’s my first impression: I needed to make an effort to open the door.  It is a sliding door but you will need to put some effort in order for the door to open.  Of course, you would need to close the door or else it will be noisy.

I noticed that the staff were friendly. When I was choosing what to order, I asked the server their specialty. She quickly answered, “Baby Back Ribs”. I followed her advice. The Verdict? I’ll let you know in awhile.

We ordered the ff.:

• Grilled Baby Back Ribs (Php 248)

Half slab of Baby Back Ribs, marinated with their special sauce & grilled over charcoal. I was pretty pretty excited because it has been a long time since I’ve eaten Baby Back Ribs. I think, the last time was about eight years ago, at Rack’s.

When I tried to take a slice, I noticed that the meat was not tender. Look at the picture below, that’s proof.

I remembered that good baby back ribs are easily sliced. Like you don’t even need a knife for it.

It’s funny though that my other friends told me that their baby back ribs was yummy.  I guess they were just inconsistent or I was just unlucky enough that at the time I tried their dish, they didn’t do it well.

• Pan Seared Fillet of Fish in Lemon Battered Sauce (Php 148)

The fish fillet that we ordered was pan-seared & topped with lemon buttered sauce. My friend said that the fish was good but there was just too much butter sauce. If you love butter, you wouldn’t mind this but if you’re conscious about your health, I bet you will try to remove some of the butter sauce from the fish.  I just wish I ordered this over baby back ribs because it did look delicious.

• White Choco Macademia Latte (Php 90)

Tasted like Baileys.  Enough said.

My friend also told me that the onion rings and cakes didn’t taste good. I don’t think I’ll go back to Wagamamu Cafe. Maybe, if a friend would organize something there, I will go back, but if I have to choose, I won’t be including this to my list of must go back places..

For those who frequent Wagamamu Cafe, I hope you know that they do reward you 🙂  They offer this card and for every purchase of Php500, they will put a stamp in your card.  On your 3rd visit, you receive free hot Americano coffee.  On your 6th visit, you receive their soup of the day.  On your 9th visit, free onion rings.  Lastly, on your 10th visit, you receive a 1 year valid discount card.  There’s a catch though, you will need to get all those stamps in 60 days.  Personally, I think 60 days is just too much, this is not a fastfood restaurant that you’d want to eat there often.  Well, that’s just me.

More pictures here.