Category: Lifestyle

The Sizzlin’ Pepper Steak

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On February 5, 2010

The Sizzlin’ Pepper Steak
Level M1 Trinoma Mall, Edsa corner North Avenue, Quezon City, Metro Manila
(02) 916-7040

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My friend Stef and I had dinner before I went to Malaysia for vacation. She knows I blog so she let me decide where to eat. Anyway, we decided to eat at Sizzlin Pepper Steak, I could have chosen a different restaurant but Stef wasn’t in the mood to eat Filipino food.

I’ve always known that Sizzlin’ Pepper Steak is an imitation of Pepper Steak. Obviously, Sizzlin’ Pepper Steak’s dishes are a bit cheaper. The style, the menu were kinda the same though.

Maybe I just didn’t see it when I last ate at Sizzlin’ Pepper Steak. But it seemed to me that there was a change with how we ordered in Sizzlin’ Pepper Steak. So we are given like an order slip, we checked the items in the menu then write down our orders in the piece of paper. I personally think this is great, more efficient and we, the customers, have ample time to choose our orders without any pressure whatsoever.

Here are what we ordered:

Creamy Corn Soup (Php 55)

This dish had corn kernels in rich, creamy corn soup. I’m not really a fan of creamy soups but Stef ordered this and said that it was just fine. So I’ll take her word for it.

Mushroom Gravy Hamburg (Php 160)

I loved this better than their famous pepper rice. It is their own version of burger topped with mushroom gravy. Served w/ yummy yummy vegetables. I just love this! So juicy & so tasty!

Orange Juice (Php 75)

This was not freshly squeezed orange juice. I think this orange juice was too expensive for something that was not prepared fresh.

Beef Pepper Rice (Php 195)

The ever-famous beef pepper rice is the best seller in Sizzlin’ Pepper steak. They even have a video that they play over and over again on the monitors at the restaurant. Basically, this is just thinly sliced beef sukiyaki marinated in their special sauce. Served in a sizzling plate. One tip, once served, turn the beef upside down so it gets cooked then put the sauce and mixed everything together (including the rice). 🙂

Iced Tea (Php 55)

Usual bottomless iced tea that people order 🙂 Nothing special.

This was another thing that I liked that Sizzlin’ Pepper Steak did recently. They had this sign in every table. They call it “Moo Flips”. So you just flip it either Red Stop or Green Moo-oove! Stop if you don’t need anything & Moo-oove! if you need any assistance. Pretty cool, no need to keep calling for servers!

stop move

More pictures from our dinner here.

Official Website of Rochelle Sy Chua on media, events, travel, food and restaurant experiences in Taipei, Taiwan, Malaysia, Manila, Philippines and Asia.

Legion Movie Review

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On February 2, 2010

We were supposed to only watch one movie. We ended up watching two, Paano na Kaya & Legion. Just one look at the poster & I knew that it would be a good movie considering Paul Bettany was playing the lead character.

I was very happy when I saw Dennis Quaid in the movie. Unfortunately, even though I admire the cast, I was not impressed with the story. The Powerhouse cast included Dennis Quaid, Paul Bettany, Tyrese Gibson, and Kate Walsh were just not enough to make a movie a great one because the story is just too weak.

The story is about God who wanted to make humans extinct. Fallen Angel Michael (Paul Bettany’s character) didn’t agree with God’s decision. So Michael helped a group of strangers in a diner, including a pregnant woman who is believed to bear a child that is the only hope or savior of the human race!

Actually, that’s the story, which is followed by people in the diner fighting for their life. Possessed men attacking the diner, biting people, etc. haaayy… felt like an apocalypse movie with a zombie twist in it.

I left the movie thinking what the story was all about and what lessons it was trying to leave with us.

My Rating for Legion: 2 out of 5 stars.

Official Website of Rochelle Sy Chua on media, events, travel, food and restaurant experiences in Taipei, Taiwan, Malaysia, Manila, Philippines and Asia.

Paano na Kaya Movie Review

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On February 1, 2010

Long time no update 🙂 So, I had to work the whole weekend because of a deadline. You know how it is, right? Anyway, I decided to reward myself by watching a movie. I asked Lucy, my housemate/yaya, if we could watch “Paano na Kaya” and she was excited as ever! hahahaha!

“Paano na Kaya” is a Filipino Movie. I don’t really watch them that much but I love how Star Cinema makes great Filipino movies! The trailer of “Paano na Kaya” is just too nice to miss out.

Paano na Kaya is a story about 2 best friends, Bogs Marasigan and Mae Chua. Best friends forever but Mae though has been in love with Bogs the whole time. Though it hurts her, she helps Bogs take care of his surprises for his girlfriend, etc. She has always been there whenever Bogs needs her, even went to the point that she neglects some of her responsibilities on her shop just to accompany Bogs to wherever.

Bog’s Girlfriend fell in love with someone else and broke his heart. After that, Bogs & Mae had an interesting exchange of words. That scene was ssoooo emotional and memorable that I actually remembered one line! hahaha! It was so real! I guess, it is one of the reasons why I love this movie so much. IMHO, so realistic!

oh, wait, what’s my favorite line again?

“Ganyan talga ang Pagmamahal nagpapakaTanga… Tanga na kung Tanga, pero Mahal Kita, Mahal Kita!!!”

Actually, there are a lot of interesting lines in the movie that I could relate to. It’s true, you know? Each of us tend to be blinded by love and we do crazy things for love. Such is the realities of life.

What a way to start the love month, February! This is just a simple movie but it touches one’s heart. It definitely made me reflect on how I see love. The actors were so believable too! I say, kudos to Star Cinema for a great, great romantic movie. This is definitely worth watching.

My Rating for Paano na Kaya: 4 out of 5 stars.

Mr. Jones

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On January 11, 2010

Mr. Jones
Phase 2, Greenbelt 5, Ayala Center, Makati City
(02) 501-3111

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Sharleen and I met up for dinner last week. It was a great night to bond with one of my dearest friends. I just missed her. We used to go out a lot before. Since she got married and had kids, we had to cut down on our meet up days.

For our dinner, I gave the suggestion that we should try out Mr. Jones because I have heard lots about it on Twitter. I like to try out things I see recommended online, it doesn’t matter if it’s foxy bingo online or a really good book, I think it’s good to try things that others recommend. When we arrived at the venue, we had to wait because we were 3rd on the waiting list. I thought to myself, I guess that they really were that good.

Here are what we ordered:

Cherry Almond Crunch (Php 175)

cherry shake mr jones

I love almonds and cherries! So I had to try Mr. Jones’ famous milkshakes. I ordered their cherry almond crunch 🙂

Mr. Jones’ Cherry Almond Crunch milkshake basically has vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, cherries, almonds and almond syrup. All ingredients were shaked in the metal container then poured into a glass. If there were any excess, they would still give it to us. That’s the reason why the shaker was served to me as well.

“Garlic Portobello” Steak & Eggs (Php 450)

garlic steak mr jones

According to my friend, this Beef Tenderloin steak topped with mushrooms and served with three eggs (cooked any style) and with potatoes was too watery and ended up with no taste. I could see the disappointment so I guess I will never order this Mr. Jones’ menu item.

1/2 Inch Thick Double-Smoked Bacon & Eggs (Php 295)

smoked bacon mr jones

This is 1/2 inch big big bacon! I usually prefer crispy thin bacon though but this is okay. It was served with biscuits, potatoes & 2 eggs. Definitely will make your stomach full.

U.S. Beef Ribcap “Tapa & Garlic Overload” (Php 295)

tapa overload mr jones

This is like the yummiest tapa I have ever eaten! Overload, true sense of the word! I wasn’t able to finish it. It was just too much but I defintely recommend that you order this. Bestseller! 🙂

The tapa was topped with tons of toasted garlic and was served with garlic rice, 2 eggs and atchara. This is definitely a must order.

Twinings Green Tea Lemon (Php 110)

tea mr jones

The servers will let you choose which flavor of Twinings you prefer. Then right after they served it in a tea pot with a huge cup (which could actually be a container for a soup). It’s that big! :P:P Cute!

I also liked the ambiance of the restaurant. It had this diner design. They even had a jukebox!! I tried the jukebox out (it’s the small thingy behind the seat in the picture below). It had songs of Elvis Presley. All of it!! hahaha! I also love the couch which was very comfortable. You would really love to hang out at the place for quite some time.

mr jones sits

Food trip! Loved it! 🙂 More pictures here.

Official Website of Rochelle Sy Chua on media, events, travel, food and restaurant experiences in Taipei, Taiwan, Manila, Philippines and Asia.

BBQ Chicken

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On January 10, 2010

BBQ Chicken
102 Jupiter Street, Bel-Air, Makati City
(02) 896-3272

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A few days ago, we had our girl bonding lunch session at BBQ Chicken. We haven’t been there so we wanted to try it out. I was very much impressed as all the dishes were delicious! Their fried chicken menu items were out of stock when we were there. So I’ll make sure to try those next time as well as their other chicken dishes..

BBQ Chicken is located at Jupiter Street. I don’t know if you believe in jinxes or feng sui but this particular space is somewhat a jinx to commercial establishments. I remember several businesses closed in that location, maybe there’s bad feng shui? Ok, maybe not as well but I think BBQ chicken will stay.

Here are what we ordered:

1-pc. Grilled Chicken Bulgalbi Set (Php 140)

BBQ Chicken has a lunch time daily promo for those who are on a budget. The promo runs from 10AM until 3PM. How it goes, there’s a certain menu item that you can get discount with. The catch is with a normal order, you will get 2 pieces while in this discounted item, you will only get 1 piece.

Jo ordered this while Hai ordered the regular-priced item. Let me get to that next.

Grilled Chicken Bulgabi Set (Php 195)

This is grilled thigh part barbecued with chicken sauce. From the look that they had, I was sure both Jo and Hai loved their orders. The food just looked delicious! When I asked them, they agreed. By the way, this was barbecued in charcoal, giving it a Korean twist.

Classic Bulgalbi Value Meal (Php 85)

BBQ Chicken doesn’t only have a lunch promo, it also has its everyday promo. I ordered the classic bulgalbi just to try out a different menu item. I was very impressed that the chicken was soooo good. The fried rice was super yummy! I don’t know how they cooked the fried rice but I was definitely hooked. I finished it even though my bulgalbi was just small.

Bulgalbi Burger & Potato (Php 150)

This looked classy. Boneless bulgalbi patty seasoned with sauce put in & w/ vegetables, tomatoes & cheese. This was served w/ fries and ketchup sauce.

Col-Pop Chicken (Php 80)

colpop

This is definitely unique. Okay, I admit by this time, I was already full but yes, I still opted to order this because I wanted to show you this awesome menu item. Great innovation. Great for movies. Unfortunately though, they are located far from the movie houses. 🙁

This is chicken breast cooked popcorn style. They have this customized container for the chicken which you can put on top of the tall drinks cup. So you just need to bring the cup and you already have both the chicken and your drink with it. Great, great, great idea!

The rest of our super enjoyable lunch here.

Official Website of Rochelle Sy Chua on media, events, travel, food and restaurant experiences in Taipei, Taiwan, Manila, Philippines and Asia.