Category: Restaurants

Yoshinoya Lenten Season Offering

Yoshinoya Lenten

Yoshinoya is one of the popular Japanese fast food restaurants in the world.  With over 1,200 outlets in Japan, USA, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Indonesia & Philippines, we know that it’s definitely a big & important brand.

Here in the Philippines, there are currently 5 branches.  Yoshinoya started operations in the Philippines under Century Pacific Group (makers of Century Tuna) back in 2001.  I personally discovered Yoshinoya in 2002 and I immediately fell in love with its beef bowl.

Whenever I order the beef bowl, I always order for extra sauce.  It was soooo yummy and delicious especially seeing the beef and rice swimming in that yummy special Yoshinoya sauce.  Delicious!!!

As much as I love beef bowl, lenten season is coming up.  A lot of us do practice the rule of not eating meat during that time.  In relation to that, Yoshinoya launched 2 products this lenten season.  Both products will only be available till May 31, 2011.

  • Yoshinoya Bangus Kabayaki (Php 140)

yoshinoya bangus kabayaki

Deep fried, lightly-breaded fish fillet poured with Kabayaki sauce.  The Bangus Kabayaki was a clear winner in my book among the 2 dishes being offered by Yoshinoya this lenten season.   The sauce was sweet, very, very tasty and the fish was heavenly.  It’s not surprising that they use Century Bangus for this dish.  Yoshinoya is owned by Century Pacific Group anyway.

  • Shrimp Katsu (Php 140)

yoshinoya shrimp katsui

Another limited offering of Yoshinoya is their Shrimp Katsu.  It’s deep-fried breaded shrimp patties served with mixed vegetables and plain rice.  I enjoyed Bangus kabayaki more but it doesn’t mean that this shrimp patties weren’t delicious.  I was able to bring home some for my mom and this was her choice.  It really depends on your preference.  Shrimp Katsu is also available in jumbo plate with beef bowl (Php 185).

See the smile from the group?  We really enjoyed the food served to us.  I’ll definitely be visiting Yoshinoya soon.  I will get more of Bangus Kabayaki and my ever favorite, beef bowl! 😀

yoshinoya group picture

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Yoshinoya
SM North Edsa | SM Megamall | Robinson’s Galleria | SM Mall of Asia | Park Square 1, Philippines
(02) 920-8177 | (02) 632-1276 | (02) 635-2206 | (02) 556-2649 | (02) 893-8176

Roch Signature

Bistro Miyake

Bistro Miyake

I saw Bistro Miyake while I was on my way to Jo Avila‘s class.  I said to myself that I would try it.  When I saw the promo at Ensogo, I immediately bought 2 coupons without hesitation.  One tuesday afternoon, I brought my mom there for a late brunch.

It was pretty hard to find parking as they only have 3 parking spaces (w/c was filled already).  We drove around Annapolis street until we found one parking slot.  We walked till we reached the restaurant.  Bistro Miyake have an ongoing promo wherein you can order as much as you can for Php 495++.  The catch is you have to finish all that you have ordered.

I immediately was in awe when I entered the restaurant.  It was big!!  You can definitely use the venue for any parties or events.  The lighting and decorations were super nice too!

bistro miyake ambiance

My admiration was cut short as soon as I talked to one of Bistro Miyake’s servers.  I had a reservation and I asked to be seated.  She was obviously thinking about something else that you can really feel that her mind was floating.  She just let us sit anywhere and didn’t even clean the table for us.  Other than that, it was really so hard catching her attention.  It is also important to note that she was the only server around except for the manager.

I told her that we would like to get the eat-all-you-can promo using the vouchers I bought.  She told me that it wasn’t possible as it was stated in the voucher.  I immediately read the guidelines word per word and didn’t find any provision that it wasn’t allowed.  I showed it to her and she insisted that it wasn’t possible pointing me to the guideline “cannot be used with discount card”.  I was like “Is ‘discount card’ the same as ‘ala carte promo’?  Those are 2 different things!”
** to Ensogo & Bistro Miyake, I hope you clear up your guidelines.  If there’s an anniversary promo, then it should be clearly stated if the promo can be used for it or not.

I then asked for the restaurant’s manager.  After waiting for more than 10 minutes, she totally ignored us and didn’t call for the manager.  I motioned another guy and luckily, he was the manager.  He told us it was okay to get the all you can eat ala carte promo.  He became our server for the rest of the meal.  I was a bit furious already but can’t walk out as I already paid for the Ensogo vouchers a few weeks back.

Anyway, Bistro Miyake’s all you can eat promo was ala-carte style.  They give you a checklist and you can just choose whatever you want to eat.  Once you give it to the server, they’ll cook and serve it to you.  Each person will need to pay Php495++ if you want to avail of their anniversary promo.  I think it was reasonably priced especially if you eat a lot.  Just make sure you have enough appetite or else, you need to pay double for leftovers.

ala carte buffet bistro miyake

I was hungry and I believe I can really eat a lot if I want to.  My mom can’t eat a lot though so we can only order so much.  Here’s the list of what we have tried and finished.  I hope we ordered more but we were too full to have any more food haha!

  • Tofu Miso Soup

miso soup bistro miyake

  • California Maki

california maki bistro miyake

  • Mixed Fried Rice

mixed fried rice bistro miyake

I initially thought that the beef teppan was part of mixed fried rice.  Apparently not.  The fried rice was just fried rice.  Nothing special.  I think I appreciate garlic or plain rice better than this.  It wasn’t good.

  • Salmon Belly Teriyaki

salmon bistro miyake

This was good and tasty.  Belly is definitely the best part of salmon.  Tasted so delicious especially when newly cooked.

  • Ebi Tempura

tempura bistro miyake

They could have improved the presentation by putting it in a basket.  I love shrimps but I just didn’t feel any excitement upon seeing the dish.  We didn’t order more of ebi tempura.  Enough said.

  • Tofu Steak

tofu steak bistro miyake

I love tofu steak and I don’t remember not liking any other restaurant’s version of this.  I don’t know with Bistro Miyake but my experience was just too bad with this restaurant.

burnt tofu bistro miyake

See the black thingy in the dish?  Yes tofu was burnt!  I didn’t bother complaining anymore.  It was too stressful just to call out their attention.  We just ate the tofu inside and separated the skin.  Too disappointing.

  • Beef Teppan

beef teppan bistro miyake

We ordered 2 servings of this.  We loved this dish as it was newly cooked.  The best time to eat a newly fried dish is simply fresh from the pan.  You can still taste all the flavors plus the meat was still hot.  Yummy!

  • Yakitori

yakitori bistro miyake

A definite winner from all the dishes we orderd at Bistro Miyake.  I hope we ordered more but we were too full already.  The sauce was perfect and it was cooked just right.  Delish indeed!

  • Kani Bacon

kani bacon bistro miyake

Kani Bacon which is actually crab stick wrapped in bacon has always been my favorite thing to order in Japanese restaurants.  I had to order this too just to be able to have my share of Bistro Miyake’s version.

  • Beef Asparagus

beef asparagus bistro miyake

I hated this dish.  The beef was hard to chew, it felt like I was having a chewing gum.  The asparagus were a bit overcooked too.  What a way to leave a last impression.

I think it’s very obvious that I won’t be going to back to Bistro Miyake.  I wish they train their server (she was the only one thus singular).  I’m not sure if I’m the only one who had bad experience there but I really hope we were the only ones.  You usually go to a restaurant to find good food and experience (of course, at least) decent service.   I didn’t get both in Bistro Miyake.  I wish them luck and super hope they’ll improve in the future.

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Bistro Miyake
33 Annapolis St., Greenhills, Unit 101, Intrawest Building, San Juan, Metro Manila, Philippines
(02) 721-9793

Roch Signature

Mesa Filipino Moderne

Mesa Filipino Moderne

We were driving around Tomas Morato looking for a nice place to hang out and eat dinner.  We were choosing between Mesa & 2 other restaurants which were on the same area.  We stopped for a moment as we were all undecided which one to choose.  We ended up dining at Mesa and we were so glad we did!

Mesa just opened their branch at Tomas Morato.  They had other branches in the metro but I still haven’t tried their dishes.  I was curious to find out if they are good.  It was nice to see more choices for Filipino food.  I wondered what would make them different from the rest.

I was in awe when we entered the restaurant seeing those big light decorations on the ceiling.  I also liked that most of their seats are couches which people prefer all the time.

mesa ambiance

I was just a bit uncomfortable walking around the place as the walkway is only good for one person.  Other than that, the experience was great.  I really, really noticed the awesome service from the staff.  If I’m gonna rate their service, it would be a 5/5 score.  Very impressive!

The food is another thing worth raving for.  See the list of food we ordered from our dinner last saturday:

  • Fresh Buko Juice (Php 60)

fresh buko mesa

Fresh fruit juices has always been my favorite.  Since Mesa is a Filipino restaurant, I ordered for a fresh buko juice.  It was very refreshing.  You can ask them to open it up after you finished up all the juice inside.  It was nice to eat those tender buko meat after a heavy meal.

  • Chicken Binakol (Php 235)

chicken binakol mesa

We ordered the ones with “must-try” label as it was our 1st visit to Mesa.  For the soup, it was chicken binakol.  It’s basically chicken soup simmered with young coconut and green papaya.  That explains why the excess soup was placed in a coconut shell.  As an FYI, the one in the picture was the extra soup.  Our order was put in a big white bowl and was poured already into our individual bowls.

By the way, do ask for “patis”.  You’ll enjoy the chicken better if you dip it to patis 🙂

  • Duck Basil Fried Rice (Php 250)

duck basil fried rice mesa

We initially didn’t plan to order any meat dishes, that was why we ended up getting the duck basil fried rice.  It was basically fried rice with duck flakes & basil.  It has chili too but we asked if they could separate it.  The rice was alright, it was tasty but I wouldn’t go back ordering it again.

  • Boneless Tilapia (Php 290)

boneless tilapia

We were definitely in heaven with Mesa’s boneless tilapia!!!  Mesa’s tilapia was definitely satisfying to our taste buds.  Not much effort also in taking off the meat as they already did it for us!  Mind you, it was boneless too!  There were 4 sauces to choose from: sweet chili sauce, honey bagoong sauce, mesa’s special sauce & vinegar sauce.  Definitely, a great twist to a Filipino dish right there.

  • Sigarillas (Php 180)

sigarillas mesa

Wing beans with coconut milk & shrimps.  I noticed Mesa loves to put coconut milk into their dishes.  Well, it worked.  This dish was good too but not exceptional.

  • 1/6 CrispChon 2-ways (Php 999)

crispchon mesa

Now, this is what Mesa is known for: Crispchon!  We ordered 1/6 which was perfect for the 4 of us.  They told us we’d be served with Crispchon in 2 ways.

First, they wrapped the meat & skin in pandan wrap.  They did it right in front of us.  Boy, it was definitely yummy!  There were 3 sauces given but I enjoyed the sweet sauce the most.

crispchon wrap mesa

Lastly, they cooked the rest of the lechon in chili & garlic.  The dish looked so sinful!  If you care for your body, you wouldn’t eat too much!  But hey, it’s okay to let go once in a while and enjoy good food.

crispchon chili garlic mesa

As a side note, we ordered stuffed squid but changed it to crispchon at the last minute.  When we saw them serve crispchon at the adjacent table, we decided that it would be such a waste if we didn’t order that hehe 😛

We initially planned to have desserts but we were too full to eat more haha!  Our dining experience at Mesa was definitely a pig-out!  Not complaining because it was great to discover new food places.  Glad we discovered Mesa.

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Mesa Filipino Moderne
291 Tomas Morato Avenue corner Scout Fernandez, Bgry. Sacred Heart, Quezon City, Philippines
(02) 441-5197

Roch Signature

Dimsum at King Chef

Dimsum at King Chef

After just a few days, we went back to King Chef again hahaha!  This time around, to try their famous dimsum.  At 9PM onwards, King Chef cuts down the prices of their dimsum to almost half.  That is why a lot of people go there for late night snacks.

As usual, we still get the same warm welcome from the servers.  I love good service and King Chef definitely have it.

They were ready to serve dimsum as the carts were all out.  They were roaming around the restaurant offering dimsum to guests.  At Php48 each, who could resist?

king chef dimsum server

My friend and I had crabs and spareribs while we await for the 9PM dimsum discount.  This made us so full already.  I only had a few space for more food.  Anyhow, still didn’t stop us from ordering.  Since I love siomai so much, we ordered several variants of it.

  • Radish Cake (Php 60)

radish cake king chef

I wonder why they didn’t include Radish cake in the discounted items but I guess it’s because it’s new?  Maybe after a month or so, they’ll priced it at Php48 after 9PM together with other dimsum offerings.  Radish Cake has always been my favorite dimsum so this will always be part of my order 😀

  • Siomai (Php 48)

siomai king chef

I love King Chef’s siomai!  They have so much stuff inside (meat & shrimps).  We really get our money’s worth.  One of the best I’ve tasted.  You should try it out! 🙂

  • Quail Egg Siomai (Php 48)

quail egg siomai

Restaurants are becoming more innovative.  See, King Chef has created their own version of siomai.  It’s called Quail Egg Siomai.  It’s basically the same as the normal siomai but this time around, it has one whole quail egg inside.  Pretty unique and it worked out.  It was good!  During discount time, Php48 for that is definitely a steal!

  • Japanese Siomai (Php 48)

japanese siomai king chef

Another variant of siomai.  This time, they presented it Japanese style.  As much as I loved the presentation, I didn’t like the taste.  I don’t know what ingredient made me dislike this dimsum.  Maybe the sushi wrap?  I’m sure there’s more to it.  A lot of people liked this variant though so to each his own 🙂

  • Sharksfin Dumplings (Php 48)

sharks fin siomai

Another favorite!  Sharksfin dumplings!  I was too full already that I only ate 1 piece.  Just like the siomai, this one was definitely meaty!  I really love that they didn’t think of saving ingredients when doing this.  King Chef was going for quality.  I truly appreciate that.

I also liked that they weren’t that strict with dress attire.  I was just wearing shorts and t-shirt when we were there.  It was just a few blocks away from my house.  See me? hahaha!  Ready to go home & sleep!

roch at king chef

I’m glad I found out about King Chef & their dimsum.  I now know where to go when I’m craving for something to eat late at night.

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King Chef
989 Banawe St., Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines
(02) 410-4919

Roch Signature

King Chef

King Chef

I heard of King Chef for a long time already but I haven’t had the chance to visit there.  I was informed before through a comment on one of my previous blog posts that King Chef is good for big crowds.  Since I usually just dine out with my mom, I didn’t dare visit King Chef.

Last friday, a friend (who is actually one of the owners of King Chef), invited me for a late night dinner.  When we entered the restaurant, I was pleasantly surprised that there are also tables good for small groups.  I was amazed at how big King Chef is.  Imagine they have 3 establishments in the same area?  They kept expanding and expanding in order to accomodate all the guests who wanted to dine at King Chef.  Talk about being successful.

I noticed the couches too in King Chef w/c reminded me of Cantonese Soup Kitchen.  Guess what?  Same owners hahaha!  No wonder even King Chef’s menu have the same items as Cantonese Soup Kitchen.

king chef seats

Now, the other Chinese restaurants have some serious competition.  King Chef is becoming more popular with their dimsum at an awesome affordable price.  The servers actually thought we were there for the dimsum, we did inform them though that we’d have dinner instead.  I’ll definitely go back to King Chef for their dimsum next time 😉

king chef dimsum

We ordered the ff.:

  • Seafood with Spinach Soup (Php 220)

spinach soup king chef

King Chef has 3 sizes for most dishes.  We ordered their small size w/c is good for 3-4 people.  We were able to finish the seafood w/ spinach soup all by ourselves.  I really love the soup offerings of the franchise (King Chef & Cantonese Soup Kitchen).  It’s their specialty.  The soup have the exact amount of ingredients and spices that would make us feel soothed and satisfied when we sample them.

  • Scallop Fried Rice (Php 350)

scallop fried rice king chef

Scallop fried rice was suggested by the manager of King Chef.  As I love scallops a lot, I decided to order it.  When our order came, I was looking for the scallops for quite a few seconds.  Then I realized that the dark strands in the rice were actually scallops.  They were shredded and cooked with the rest of the ingredients.  I loved how tasty the fried rice is.  I super appreciate fried rice that we can get away without any main dish.  This is definitely one of those but I find it too expensive though.

  • BBQ Pork Asado (Php 270)

asado king chef

I’m seriously disappointed with this dish.  It was dry and the meat was a bit tough.  I barely touched the dish.

  • Fried Frog Legs w/ Salt & Pepper (Php 320)

frog legs king chef

the picture might not give the dish justice but believe me, it was so delicious!  I enjoyed each bite of the frog legs.  Dipping them in vinegar was heavenly.  One of the better frog legs I’ve eaten so far.  Yummmmmy!

  • Mango Pudding (Php 70)

mango jelly king chef

I wasn’t able to sample this dish when I attended the blogger’s event at Cantonese Soup kitchen back then.  Last friday, I made sure that I wouldn’t miss the chance to finally try it.  It was basically a combination of mango & almond pudding with mango bits on top then served with evaporated milk.  It was a pretty decent dessert.

  • Mango Sago (Php 60)

mango sago king chef

Nothing special but still okay.

  • Cold Fruit Punch (Php 195)

fruit punch king chef

King Chef’s Fruit Punch was too sweet for my taste.  I was actually requesting for additional ice every single time hahaha!  I might just stick with their other drink offerings next time 😛

I believe King Chef is trying to bring in the bigger Chinese restaurant-type into Banawe, Q.C.  The concept is really good as we need to have places like this in our area.  I won’t be surprised if I get invited to a birthday party or wedding reception in King Chef.  It won’t be for long.  Their latest expansion will be opening very soon.

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King Chef
989 Banawe St., Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines
(02) 410-4919

Roch Signature

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