Category: Restaurants

I consider Muang Thai as a hidden haven in Banawe Street.  No one will actually notice the restaurant as it is squeezed between numerous car repair shops in the busy street of Banawe in Quezon City.  The design and signage don’t help either, not being as eye-catching as those of most other restaurants are.

But hey, diners who have tried Muang Thai have only nice words to say about the Thai Restaurant.  When I suggested to Christina and Wendy to have our lunch there, they hadn’t heard of it and had to ask for directions.  When we started eating our food though, everyone was so happy to be eating at Muang Thai.  The place was small and simple but the food was just so worth it.

Muang Thai is just a small restaurant but it has ample space as it has 2 floors.  On that day that we had lunch, there weren’t many people so we stayed downstairs.  I feel worried though that they may closed down because not a lot of people know about the place.  So this is me, sharing with you our secret Thai place in Banawe area.  It’s nice and good that I want them to be successful so we can always dine there when we crave for Thai dishes in our area.

The three of us love to eat and you can well believe that we have huge appetites!  So even if there’s just the three of us, we always order food good for 4-5 people hahaha!  Well, eating is a good activity, we shouldn’t feel guilty at all! 🙂

Main Dishes

• Crispy Catfish Salad (Php 205)

Muang Thai’s crispy catfish salad was the best I’ve ever eaten so far!  The serving was generous, it was definitely tasty and most of all, even if it looked dry, it didn’t taste that way.  It was basically crispy catfish flakes topped with shredded green mango salad in sweet and sour lime dressing.  I highly recommend this dish and I’ll definitely blame you when I learn that you didn’t order it while in Muang Thai.

• Muang Thai Fried Rice (Php 205)

This was a bit of a surprise for me.  This homemade fried rice has almost all the ingredients you can think of.  There were shrimps, beef, pork, chicken, egg strips and assorted vegetables.  You can actually feel too full when you eat much of this.  One whole order is at Php 205) while half order is at Php 110.

• Stir-fried Vegetables with Pork (Php 185)

While I love Muang Thai, I cannot say the same for their stir-fried vegetables with pork.  I hated it.  I wish they cut the pork more thinly.  It just didn’t work for me.

• Grilled Prawns (Php 235)

We saw the pictures of the grilled dishes in Muang Thai’s menu.  So we tried out the prawns.  The presentation was really good.  However, the taste was just normal.  The prawns were served skewered with bell pepper and pineapple and was served served in a hot plate, with special sweet sauce, fried garlic, and sweet and sour vinegar dip.

The other grilled dishes were beef, chicken, pork and squid.

• Fish Fillet with Garlic Sauce (Php 215)

Deep fried red snapper fillet topped with stir-fried basil, bell pepper, onions, chilies, tomatoes, coriander and minced garlic in light sweet soy sauce.

Another favorite Muang Thai dish for me is their fish fillet with garlic sauce.  I somehow felt that they put a secret ingredient to it.  Because their description in the menu actually doesn’t match the taste that I had.  It was so good!  They may have put peanuts in it.  I was like trying to taste it over and over that I ended up finishing the dish!  Sorry to my friends who I was with if you read this! hahaha!

• Muang Thai Drinks – Thai Iced Coffee (Php 55)/Buko Juice (Php 45)

Of course, Thai signature drink – Milk Coffee won’t be missing in the restaurant’s menu.  However, I was more interested in the buko pandan juice as they made it fresh.  However, they didn’t have the pandan available that day so I opted for having the buko juice without it.

Desserts

We were already too full but any meal won’t be complete without desserts.  There were only three desserts available in Muang Thai so we ordered them all!  Yeah!  As I told you earlier, we’re an eating machine!

• Thai Halo-halo (Php 65)

Want to know Thailand’s version of halo-halo?  Here it is: a bowl of Tapioca coated chestnuts, gelatin, banana, corn, camote, langka and topped with coconut milk & crushed ice.  It was light and refreshing.  Perfect to have during summer seasons.

• Takho (Php 65)

Good thing one order of Takho has 3 pieces, it was perfect for the three of us!  Among the 3 desserts that we tried out, the takho was my favorite.  I guess the gelatin with corn and coconut cream in banana leaves played well with my taste palate.

• Sticky Rice with Ripe Mango (Php 70)

Last, but definitely not the least, was the sticky rice and ripe mango.  When this dessert arrived in our table, I realized we ordered too much! haha!  The steamed glutinous rice with coconut milk and sugar and ripe mango topped with roasted sesame seeds are good for sharing (unless you’re still very hungry).

I appreciate the warmness of the staff.  They gamely took our pictures even if we requested for several takes (sorry, camwhores LOLz!).  Good food and good service, such a good combination.  Muang Thai will always have a special place in every diner’s heart.  Hope to see more people discover this place 🙂

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Muang Thai Authentic Thai Cuisine
494 Banawe Ave. Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines
63 (2) 741-8696

I’m not sure why I haven’t tried Mr. Rockefeller considering I used to go to Greenbelt every single day a few years back.  Mr. Rockefeller has always been at Greenbelt 3 and in spite of passing by there lots of times, I couldn’t seem to want to go inside and try it out.

Good thing my childhood best friend suggested we celebrate her birthday at Mr. Rockefeller.  The restaurant is one cozy place.  Perfect for couples who are planning to date.  I guess almost all all steak places has this kind of ambiance.  I wonder why.  I asked a friend and he said that it was because steaks are generally associated with fine dining.  Therefore, the dining environment should be appropriate.

It was pretty obvious that Mr. Rockefeller specializes in oysters as it was named after it.  In fact, we were browsing through the oyster menu and saw the many varieties of oyster dishes.  We ended up ordering Oysters Rockefeller, well we should right?  The restaurant was named Mr. Rockefeller for a reason.

We also ordered ribs.  I wish we tried out their steaks as well but our stomachs could only take so much 😛  Maybe next time!  I heard some great feedback about their steak so I’m keeping that in mind.

• Oysters Rockefeller (Php 330)

A definite star at Mr. Rockefeller was the Oysters Rockefeller.  As I knew that it’d be that good, I opted for 8 pieces even if my friend was worried that we couldn’t finish it.  I assured her that if she couldn’t, I surely would! :)) 4 pieces of Oyster Rockefeller is at Php 195.  I do suggest you order the 8 pieces though, coz the oyster were that good.

Why do I think that Mr. Rockefeller’s oysters were that good?  Well, it’s because in spite of the 18 ingredients on each and every oysters, I can still taste the freshness of the oysters.

• 5-layer Nacho Dip (Php 285)

Oh yeah!  Mr. Rockefeller’s best selling appetizer according to them is the 5-layer nacho dip.  I super agree coz you know why?  The original nacho dip was just too good that I can’t even describe it!  No words, man!  This is a must order!   The dip was superb, or should I say perfect!

• Gambas and Risotto (Php 375)

I’m a huge fan of risotto.  Only a few restaurants serve it so when I saw risotto in the menu, I immediately told my friend we should order one.  Our choice was gambas and risotto.  It was tiger prawns cooked gambas style served on mushroom risotto with cream and parmesan cheese.  In all honesty, while I loved the prawns, I didn’t like the risotto 🙁  I guess it was too dry and sticky for my taste.  Maybe they put too much cream in our dish.

• Boneless Bourbon Ribs (Php 495)

 We have an option to order the boneless bourbon ribs as half-rack (Php 495) or full-rack (Php 920).

Mr. Rockefeller’s famous bourbon ribs was simmered for 8 hours, until the meat is falling-of-the-bones tender then coated with BBQ sauce and grilled on volcanic rocks.  We were so happy that we ordered it as the ribs were rich, sweet and zesty!

The ribs come with 2 side dishes.  We can choose from baked beans, creamed-style corn, sauteed vegetables, garden salad, coleslaw, grilled zucchini & carrots garlic noodles, mashed potatoes, french fries, pesto potatoes, garlic rice, vegetable fried rice, plain rice and brazilian bean rice.  Our choice that night were french fries and pesto potatoes.

We had a great dinner.  We actually were able to talk about a lot of things, I guess the ambiance was nice for long conversations 🙂  If ever I’ll go back to Mr. Rockefeller, I’ll try out their steaks.  Even though the delicious nacho chips and oyster rockefellers won’t be forgotten hehehe 😛

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Mr. Rockefeller
2nd level, Greenbelt 3, Ayala Center, Makati City, Philippines
63 (2) 757-4802

I LOVE pares!  It might come as a surprise to people considering the ambiance of Pares house but it has always been one of my favorite food!  However, there’s one particular Pares Mami House that I frequent to and that’s the one located at Retiro Street, Quezon City.  To be completely specific, the name of the restaurant is The Original Pares Mami House.

The Original Pares Mami House is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  So just in case any of us crave for pares, we can always go there.  And you don’t have to worry even if you go at wee hours of the day, because the place is jam-packed anytime of the day, any day of the week.  I’ve been there evenings, midnights and even early mornings, and every single time, there was always lots of people.

You’ll see people from all walks of life.  Whether from class A, B, C or D, they are all there to enjoy the yummy, affordable food in the Original Pares Mami House at Retiro.  If only we can see that kind of unity in our government, anyhow, that’s a different topic altogether.

Considering how the turnover of the restaurant is, it seemed they have perfected their restaurant process.  The establishment was pretty efficient in their service.  They get orders fast, they serve food pretty fast too and the billing process was slick!  They have numbers allotted for each guests.  Even how they clean plates and utensils was impressive too!

As for food, I always order the same thing at The Original Pares Mami House.  Pares will always be part of it and when I get hungry again, I’ll order additional food items like stuffed shrimp, campto and chicken.  Yes, they are all good and I’m happy that they are not so expensive.  Though I think their prices are getting higher and higher, I guess they get that they have tons of loyal customers.  I hope they don’t raise prices that often coz I might change my mind in frequenting them.  Though I must admit, their pares is just too irresistible! 😀

• Pares Beef (Php 75)

Pares in english is “pair”, a dish that is composed of braised beef, soup and fried rice.  It’s a dish that, as far as i know, originated in the Philippines, a dish we can truly call our own:)

Pares’ braised beef is sweet and I love how soft the beef is.  The soup is made with beef stock mixed with the braised beef sauce, locally known as loto.  This is oh so yummy and I’m sure it’ll always be something I crave for often.

Oh my, I’m craving for Pares again!  Now to drive to Retiro street.  This is it!

• Coke (Php 15)

The Original Pares Mami House has soft drinks, buko juice and water for ordering.  I, however, always choose to order Coke!  Sarap eh!  I can drink coke for one whole day and still feel thirsty for it!  Maybe Coke has a love potion in its drink that most of us consumers can’t seem to stop drinking it!

• Campto Soup with Rice (Php 88)

Campto is a stew of pork strips flavored with garlic and spring onions.  It is comfort food at its best.  If ever I still get hungry after finishing an order of pares, this will be my second choice.

Campto with rice is at Php 88.  If you wanna order ala carte, it costs about Php 70.

• Buttered Chicken (Php 140)

I ordered The Original Pares Mami House’s Buttered Chicken as I was curious to find out if they cook chicken as deliciously.  Well, I wasn’t disappointed at all!  I love how they cut the chicken into small pieces and put the right amount of breading.  There was ketchup available but I ended up just eating it as is.  I super liked the taste considering it was newly cooked.  If I estimate it correctly, one order of this is equivalent to half the chicken.

• Chopsuey (Php 80)

My friend ordered this when we had breakfast at Pares.  I somehow felt that Php 80 is a bit high for a small bowl of chopsuey.  But since this has been ordered, I tried it anyhow.  It’s a normal combination of vegetables.  A good option to have variety in your meal.

• Stuffed Shrimp (Php 48)

When I first tried out stuffed squid at the Original Pares Mami House, I was completely shocked.  I actually thought it looked like tempura.  However, I didn’t even notice the shrimp at all hahaha!  It looked more of an embutido than a stuffed shrimp.  But still, it’s a good side dish for our favorite pares!

If you go to the restaurant, you’ll see almost everyone ordering the stuffed shrimp 😛

My plates will always be empty whenever I go to Original Pares Mami House.  Yes, I’m always hungry whenever I visit the place.  Empty bowls and plates FTW after every pares meal.  Satisfying!!

See how happy our faces where after we had our breakfast at Pares yesterday.  After burning calories while jogging, we ended up filling up so much food in our tummies hahaha!

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The Original Pares Mami House
PARES-RETIRO (NS Amoranto (Formerly Retiro St.) cor. Dr. Alejos), Barangay La Loma, Quezon City, Metro Manila 1114

The newest restaurant in Trinoma Mall that caught my eye is Mango Tree Bistro.  While I was walking down the mall, I saw this elegant looking restaurant and it definitely piqued my curiosity.  It’s such a good coincidence that my friend wanted us to have dinner there.  You see, I’ve always been the one deciding where to eat.  I think friends think I know so much about food that they always let me decide.  Still, there are times when I’d prefer that they pick where we get to eat. After all, I get tired of my own food choices too hahaha!  Now, see how lucky I was because I was shy enough to let my friend know that I wanted to try out Mango Tree Bistro.  Apparently, we’d end up there!  Coolness!  Another restaurant to review in HeaRty’s Haven for me! 😀

Mango Tree Bistro serves Thai food.  It has branches in Bangkok, Pattaya, Dubai, Tokyo and of course, here in Manila.

The Trinoma branch is huge!  I love the color combination of purple and yellow and even though, it has a bit of a dark ambiance, it worked really well.  Mango Tree Bistro looked to be a high-class place that serves expensive food. But in all honesty, it wasn’t that expensive.

After almost three weeks of not eating anything decent (due to my sickness), I’m so glad that I finally had the energy and the appetite to eat food, real food!  So to celebrate my recovery and being out of the hospital, I didn’t hesitate eating all these food that we ordered at Mango Tree Bistro.

• Pla Meuk Thod (Php 280)

If you haven’t noticed, my favorite appetizer to order is always calamares.  Thai’s version of calamares is served with sweet chili dipping sauce.  What I like about Mango Tree Bistro’s deep fried squid rings is that its breading is fine.  As my mouth is still a bit sensitive with solid food, this was a welcome surprise.  I wouldn’t recommend you eat this without the sauce though.

• Tom Yum Goong (Php 280)

My ultimate favorite Thai soup is Tom Yum Goong.  I just love the spiciness of this soup and the combination of shrimps, lemongrass, lime, mushrooms and chilies.  It has a bit of sour taste that lingers in my mouth making me wanting to get some more.

• Khao Klook Kapi (Php 230)

Like how other Thai restaurants serve rice, it was served like a platter with stir fried rice with shrimp paste in the middle.  Surrounding the flavorful rice was bagoong meat, shredded green mango, chopped spring onions, green mango strips, scrambled eggs, tomatoes/cucumber and lemon.  Of course, the point is to mix all the ingredients altogether before eating.

• Gai Gratiem (Php 280)

My friend ordered Gai Gratiem.  It was basically stir fried chicken with garlic and pepper sauce served in a bed of crispy rice vermicelli.  I usually like deep-fried as opposed to stir-fried chicken but this one, I surprisingly liked!  I love how the meat was sliced into bite-sized pieces and how the sauce was spread all over the dish.  Recommendable!

• Thai Iced Tea (Php 80)

Thailand’s milk tea is definitely the best!  It’s brewed tea with condensed milk.  And the drink is just perfect for any Thai-themed meal.  Do not miss ordering this drink when you visit Mango Tree Bistro.  A perfect beverage for a sumptuous meal! 🙂

• Kow Niew Ma Muang (Php 150)

For dessert, we ordered ripe fresh mango served with sweetened sticky rice.  I loved how the dish was presented and I especially love the choice of plate that they used.  As shallow as this description may be, I felt that the dish blended with the whole restaurant ambiance altogether haha!  This dessert is perfect for sharing.

There wasn’t any uniqueness in any of the dishes we ordered.  It seemed that it was just as expected of Thai-inspired dishes.  I couldn’t say that Mango Tree Bistro is the best Thai restaurant out there but I can say that I had quite a good complete experience with them.

Mango Tree Bistro has great ambiance, excellent service and quite decent Thai food.  I was a happy camper and I was just so glad it was the first restaurant I tried out after quite some time.

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Mango Tree Bistro
3/F Trinoma Mall, EDSA cor. North Ave., Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines
(02) 585-5460

It’s quite surprising that I haven’t blogged about Cafe Via Mare.  It’s a restaurant that I always love to have merienda in.  Their bibingka, especially their puto bumbong and palitaw are the best in the Metro.  I guess I felt that blogging about Cafe Via Mare’s snack menu wouldn’t be enough for a single blog post.

Luckily, this time around, me and my friends decided to have a full lunch at Cafe Via Mare at our favorite mall, Powerplant in Rockwell.  I said to myself, finally, I can blog about the restaurant!  I also vowed that in spite of being so full, we will still try out most of their yummy desserts.  Via Mare’s desserts are to die for!  In spite of having such delicious selections, they are reasonably priced.  That is why, I always crave for food in Cafe Via Mare.

The ambiance at Cafe Via Mare’s branch in Powerplant Mall is so nice.  Since it’s located beside the back entrance of the mall, it has nice natural lighting brightening up the inside.  The seats are pretty comfortable too as most are couches.

Cafe Via Mare has been operating for over 20 years.  They are known for their Filipino dishes.  As they continue on with their business, Via Mare elevates Filipino cooking to make it at par with the world’s best.

Me and my friends ordered Cafe Via Mare’s bestselling dishes.  We ordered a lot hahaha!  There were only 4 of us but I think we had enough food for 6 people! 😛  Oh well, in spite of that, we still finished every single dish.  Doesn’t that prove how good the food in Cafe Via Mare are?

Our Main Meal

• Tiyan ng Bangus Sinigang sa Miso (Php 265)

The best Filipino soup for me is Sinigang.  The only thing we thought about was to decide between pork or fish belly.  Since we wanted to be healthy, fish was our best bet.  The menu says that the dish is good for 2.  I’m just glad that the serving was so generous that it was enough for the 4 of us.  I love that the sinigang had the right sourness, the fish meat was tender and it didn’t have any bones so it was easy for me to enjoy the dish.

• Kare-Kare (Php 360)

A popular dish in Via Mare that has ox tripe and tail cooked in peanut sauce.  For me though, the dish isn’t complete without the bagoong alamang sauce.  Via Mare’s bagoong sauce I believe was cooked the traditional way.  I’ve always preferred processed bagoong sauce that is sweetened.  However, I guess the plain ol’ original bagoong taste suits Cafe Via Mare’s kare-kare much better.

• Sun-dried Crispy Tapa (Php 280)

I admit when I ordered this, I thought it was sun-dried crispy PATA.  Apparently, it was sun-dried crispy TAPA.  Blame it on me and my failing eyesight hahaha!  Oh well, when the dish came, I was surprised but still, I welcomed it as it was a new offering from Cafe Via Mare.  I’m all for trying out new dishes.

The dish is basically beef sirloin that is sun-dried.  I thought that the dish would come out crispy but apparently for me, I had a hard time eating it.  I guess it was too dry for my taste.  For beef sirloin, I still prefer it cooked with sauce.  My friend disagreed with me though, she liked this dish.

• Rellenong Talong (Php 120)

An old-time Filipino favorite is rellenong talong.  It’s broiled eggplant stuffed with ground pork and wrapped in scrambled eggs.  No matter how simple the dish is, the taste just lingers in my mouth.  The ever-reliable ketchup made the dish more delightful.

• Calcag Rice (Php 135)

Calcag rice is another addition to Cafe Via Mare’s menu.  I must say, among the main dishes that we tried out, this was the best.  I couldn’t get enough of it.  It was too damn tasty!  Calcag rice is made with sun-dried shrimps, bagoong and scrambled eggs.  The chef hit the jackpot with this recipe!  It was perfect for me!  I will definitely order this again when I get back to Cafe Via Mare.

Cafe Via Mare’s Popular Desserts

We were already full after finishing our main meal. However, we already agreed from the start that we would be ordering Cafe Via Mare’s desserts. I told my friends that we shouldn’t pass on them, especially the puto bumbong.  I think even if they didn’t agree, I will still order hahaha!  Cafe Via Mare has the best Filipino desserts and they are pretty affordable.  If only they have branches that are more accessible, I could be dining there every afternoon for their Filipino delicacies.  It’s that good and I’m not exaggerating.

• Palitaw (Php 45)

I super LOVE palitaw!  If only Cafe Via Mare offers eat all you can buffet of their desserts, I will definitely take loads of palitaw.  I couldn’t get enough of it.  They are poached rice patties covered in grated coconut, sugar and toasted sesame seeds.  Hayyy, it’s too damn good!  I really didn’t care that I’d be eating so much sugar.  Whenever I get the chance to eat Via Mare’s palitaw, I immediately forget my diet.

• Puto Maya (Php 138)

I love suman (sticky rice).  I don’t get the chance to eat them at all (the native ones).  I know that several Filipino & Thai restaurants serve them.  However, they all have the same style in presenting them which is accompanied by sliced mangoes.  The mangoes are a nice touch but it was always the sticky rice that I crave for.  I really love the consistency of the glutinous rice flavored with coconut cream, every spoonful had so much flavor and it didn’t feel sticky at all inside the mouth.  I love the presentation Cafe Via Mare did with this dessert too.  I don’t understand why they called it ‘Puto Maya’ though.

• Bibingka with Laguna Cheese and Salted Duck Egg (Php 115)

The most popular menu item in Cafe Via Mare has got to be their Bibingka.  Their bibingka are freshly cooked.  Looking at the bibingka served to us, it was surprising that we all wanted to dive in ASAP.  It certainly was mouth-watering, especially seeing the butter melting in front of our very eyes.  How heavenly!

We get to choose which ingredient aside from Laguna cheese to be included in the bread: salted duck egg (Php 115) or quezo de bola (Php 138).  I still preferred salted duck egg.  Hayyy, so yummy!

• Puto Bumbong (Php 70)

Puto Bumbong is a delicacy everyone loves to eat during Christmas time.  I, on the other hand, always crave for it even during summer time.  There’s no right time for us to eat appetizing food and that is certainly how I feel with puto bumbong.  I have eaten a lot of puto bumbong but I believe that Cafe Via Mare serves the best one!  It’s pretty obvious how tasty the dish is by looking at the picture right?  Puto bumbong is cooked in bamboo tubes and steamed.  Not the simplest way to cook but it’s definitely worth it after eating the dish.

We had a satisfying meal and you don’t have to guess that we were full!  hahaha!  I think I’ll go back to Via Mare very very soon.  This post is making me crave for their desserts again!

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Cafe Via Mare
G/F Power Plant Mall, Rockwell Drive cor. Estrella St. and J.P. Rizal Ave., Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines
(02) 890-5930