Category: Restaurants

I just got my camera and I was oh so excited to use it.  But before we can go to our Binondo street photowalk, we have to satisfy our appetite first.  There was only one place in our minds and that was Estero Fast Food.

Located beside the ongpin bridge, Estero is definitely a place everyone would love to eat at.  With such yummy yet cheap food, who would not want to?  I remember having eaten at Estero a few times but this was the 1st time I actually took pictures.  So let me share with you our experience 🙂

Ambiance is not really A-grade but I do think that all their food is clean.  People from all walks of life do actually eat there as it’s affordable.  For the ones who are not used to dining at eateries then Estero has another option.  They have a 2nd floor air-conditioned room.  That was where we ate, we were 10 so we really needed the space.

We did order a lot!  But guess what?  We finished all dishes!  Talk about being hungry 😛

• Fried Chicken (Php 200)

Very sinful but truly delicious.  I like chicken skin a lot and wouldn’t mind eating chicken with mostly skin in it.  I actually appreciate it better.  This particular dish from Estero cooked this dish quite well by cutting the chicken into smaller parts and putting more spices & flour.  Healthy buff won’t appreciate the dish but I always go for tasty food!  This was a winner to me.

• Beef with Broccoli (Php 180)

sorry for the blurry pic.  I was really in a hurry because all 10 of us were starving.  I took the picture not realizing that it was not good hehehe.  Anyway, I like the generous serving of the dish.  And I also like that the beef and broccoli were swimming in the sauce.  I always like it that way.

• Frog Legs (Php 220)

It has been a long time since I’ve eaten frog legs.  My friends ordered this first and I’m glad they did.  It tasted like fried chicken but it was like eating a snack.  There was one restaurant branding their chicken as “sarap to the bone (delicious to the last bone)”.  For me, Estero’s frog legs suited it more: Sarap to the bone.  Yum yum!

• Garlic Rice (Php 140)

Would you believe we actually ordered 4 of large servings of rice?  My gosh!  I only took like 2-3 spoonfuls as I’m trying to watch my diet.

• Chopsuey (Php 180)

The world’s favorite Chinese vegetable!  I also liked this dish.  They just need to remove the liver hahaha!  I do not know why but I really hate the taste of liver.  Nevertheless, still yummy!  Just like the beef broccoli, this dish also had so much sauce which I really appreciate!

• Steamed Lapu Lapu (Php 200)

The cheapest steamed lapu lapu I have eaten ever.  They cooked it like a pro, no joke.  It was just the same as the high-end Chinese restaurants but with a big difference in price.  When you visit Estero, do not forget to order their steamed lapu lapu.  The fish wasn’t that big but it was definitely meaty and the sauce was just delightful!

I really wish I go to Binondo often but I don’t.  I hate that there’s always traffic.  I also dislike not having parking spaces there.  I do enjoy joining any Binondo food tour that my friends organize though.  Manila is truly the best place to go for good food.  Estero definitely, is part of the top 5 best dining places. 🙂

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Estero Fast Food
847-G Ongpin Gandara St., Sta. Cruz, Manila, Philippines
(02) 734-3279

While I was driving along Tomas Morato last week, I saw a very bright spot somewhere.  I was too curious to find out that I turned to the street where it was situated.  Then I found out, there’s a new milk tea place yet again.  This time though, the ambiance and the bright lights amazed me.

Christina & I ended up having drinks there after our dinner.  Cobo Bubble Tea & Snow Ice is one of the many bubble tea places in the Metro.  I can’t believe that new brands just kept popping out hahaha!

What I love with Cobo is the ambiance.  The place is really big and the colors blend very well too!  It’s so soothing to the eyes that you wouldn’t mind hanging out there for a long time.

• Cobo Milk Tea (Php 90)

I asked for a recommendation and the cashier had only one drink to say, Cobo Milk Tea.  I ordered the cold one with pearls while Christina opted for the hot one.  Even though they don’t have hot Cobo milk tea in their menu, they obliged with my friend’s request.  Very cool.

I must say that Cobo’s milk tea is pretty much the same as what other bubble tea stations offer.  They let us choose the level of sweetness, either low, medium or high.  As I’m trying to monitor my weight, I’ve opted for low.  I still liked the drink even without its usual sweetness.  For a 16 oz, I believe the price is reasonable.

• Snow Ice (Php 85)

Cobo Snow Ice really caught my eye.  Though I was a bit full, I opted to order one just to try it.  It’s basically flavored shaved ice.  There were a lot of flavors to choose from: original, chocolate, coffee, green tea, honeydew, mango, peanut, sesame & strawberry.  Honeydew was our choice for the night.  It was okay.  Eating it was a bit refreshing too!  Having those cute ‘lil pop pearls made it interesting and enjoyable to eat.

I called it pop pearls but Cobo Bubble Tea & Snow Ice actually called it Popping Boba.  Every order of Cobo Snow Ice gives us one free popping boba of choice.  We can also order additional for only Php 15.  I was in awe just looking at them.  They have mango, strawberry, orange, passionfruit, plum & yogurt flavors.  Their strawberry was the best, thus my choice.  The popping boba are pearls but inside it is fruit juice.  So better choose the one of your liking 🙂

• Cobo Taiwanese Chicken (Php 60)

It’s quite unique that Cobo gave a twist to the usual Taiwanese chicken.  Their Cobo Taiwanese Chicken has 3 variants: pepper salt, mexican and green tea.  They recommended mexican but I still ordered pepper salt.  I’m quite disappointed with their chicken though.  It’s not as tender as I expected it to be.

I’m happy we tried out Cobo Bubble Tea & Snow Ice.  Now, we have more hangout places to choose from after a heavy meal.  I honestly am so tired of coffee shops.  I’m a tea person and I would choose tea over coffee anytime.

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Cobo Bubble Tea & Snow Ice
#96 Scout Gandia Street, Tomas Morato, Quezon City, Philippines
(02) 736-5621

We are running out of choices for places to eat out near our office.  So I’m glad that DBP turned G/F of their building into a small commercial area where some food establishments are open to serve customers like us.  One of them is Joey Pepperoni Pizzeria.

This wasn’t my 1st time to dine at Joey Pepperoni Pizzeria.  However, I wasn’t able to take pictures during my 1st visit.  Luckily, when our colleagues decided to eat out at the restaurant last friday, I brought my camera.

I really love the ambiance of Joey Pepperoni.  Actually, I felt we’re not paying for the ambiance as the prices of the food are so affordable!  Imagine Php99 meals in this wonderfully designed restaurant??  You have to go early on fridays though as it get filled up easily.

I ordered one of their rice dishes during my 1st visit and I liked what I ordered.  This time around, we ordered what we are supposed to order in Joey Pepperoni Pizzeria, their pasta and pizza (that’s what they are known for, right?).

Here are the food we ordered:

• Mozzarella Sticks (Php 190)

I love Joey Pepperoni Pizzeria’s mozzarella sticks!  Whether we dip them with pomodoro or not, they were still yummy.  Every bite has that perfect amount of cheese w/ the right texture for consumption.

• Chicken Parmigiana (Php 228)

Pasta with pomodoro sauce with chicken thigh fillet.  I especially love how tender the chicken was and to top it off, they put melted mozzarella cheese.  A great pasta offering from Joey Pepperoni, totally enjoyed this dish.

• Pesto (Php 145)

A very simple pasta dish best suited for veggie foodies.  A traditional pesto sauce with beans & potatoes.  I liked the chicken parmigiana better than this.  It wasn’t as tasty as I expected it to be.

• Iced Tea (Php 50)

Bottomless Iced tea.  The brand though is Sunkist.  I also appreciate that the servers were ready to refill our drinks without us calling them for it.

• Sunkist Orange Juice Drink (Php 40)

It’s the season of love and Joey Pepperoni has an ongoing promo that whenever we order their Sunkist orange juice drink, we’ll get a free heart-shaped pizza.  It was just Php40 and we didn’t hesitate to avail of the promo.  The pizza was very cute, perfectly shaped into heart.  We wonder how they did it but it was definitely a nice sight to see.

• Joey Pepperoni (Php 325)

I expected Joey Pepperoni Pizza to be the best menu dish that Joey Pepperoni Pizzeria has.  Why?  Since the restaurant is named after it.  Boy, I was very disappointed when I tasted it.  It had some weird taste to it.  I don’t understand it, maybe the cheese?  There was a bitter taste that didn’t sit well with me.  I asked my colleagues but they didn’t feel it.  Maybe, it was just me.

• Quattro Formaggi (Php 335)

Joey Pepperoni’s version of four-cheese pizza.  This pizza has mozzarella, cheddar, parmesan & white cheese.  I did taste the same bitterness with this pizza.  I didn’t like this too.  I was only able to eat like half a slice of this.

Sad to say, I didn’t like Joey Pepperoni Pizzeria’s pizza offerings.  I, however, liked their rice dishes & pastas.  I also appreciate the very affordable prices of their dishes plus the awesome ambiance of the place.  Will I be back?  Maybe.

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Joey Pepperoni Pizzeria
Ground Floor DBP BLDG. Makati Ave. cor Gil Puyat Makati City, Philippines
(02) 519-5638

I do not know what’s with Burgoo that I always go back to it.  I remember whenever I go to Robinson’s Galleria or Powerplant Mall, Burgoo has always been my choice of dining place.  It’ll most probably be because it has great ambiance that we can stay there for a long time just to chit-chat and enjoy good food.

There was a short time that Burgoo was closed in powerplant mall for some renovation.  Well, the finished product is okay.  They just changed the look of the place.  It became a bit darker in my opinion but change is something we always welcome.

I noticed as well that Burgoo knows the importance of customer service.  There were servers scattered around the place to ensure that whenever any of their guests would need them, they’d surely see and be able to serve ASAP.  I appreciate that, even though there was a male server who stood there and his mind was wandering somewhere else hahaha!

I was starving and my friends were too!  I checked the menu and browsed through all the pages before I decided which dish to order.  We ordered several appetizers but I settled for a main dish.  Here are our orders:

• Lemon Iced Tea (Php 69)

Don’t we love bottomless drinks?  They also have Coca-cola products & lemonade.

• Cookies & Cream (Php 145)

If you want a more ‘exciting’ drink, then this cookies & cream is for you.  I’d much prefer iced teas or sodas though, I believe our food were rich enough for me to settle for simpler drinks hehehe.

• Gambas al Ajillo (Php 325)

If Sharleen didn’t order this, I wouldn’t have known that Burgoo’s gambas is good!  I know now that the next time I visit the restaurant, Gambas will definitely in my must-order list.  Burgoo’s version of Gambas has the prawns sauteed with olive oil, garlic, tomato sauce, cilantro & chili flakes with bell peppers & mushrooms.  I believe the flavors blended perfectly and definitely perfect for our taste buds.  I was really impressed!

• Buffalo Chicken Wings (Php 295)

buffalo wings with bleu cheese dressing served w/ 2 pieces of celery sticks.  When I saw this dish, I was weirded out.  I think w/ just 6 pieces of wings they could put it in a smaller plate.  The buffalo tasted great but I guess they need to improve on the presentation.

• Extra Supreme Nachos (Php 295)

Terrific presentation!  Tons of ingredients put into the crispy nachos: beef, pico de gallo, jalapeno slices, chicken breast and black olives.  Salsa & cheese sauce were also served, we can ask for refill of the sauces too!

I don’t know if it’s just me but I enjoy eating nachos without anything but the sauce.  I guess I’m different that way 😛

• Grilled Pork Chops (Php 425)

Can I just say that Burgoo cooks the best porkchop dishes?  I was really impressed at how tasty and how delicious and perfectly cooked their porkchop were.  If you’re not fond of fried dishes then you can order their version of juicy grilled pork chops.

• Breaded Pork Chops (Php 425)

I ordered 2 pieces of pork chops instead of 1 piece as the difference is just minimal (Php 100).  I tried a bite of their grilled pork chop and I was already impressed.  When I got to try my order of breaded pork chops, I was more than ecstatic.  It was delicious too!  It was marinated perfectly as even without any sauce, it was tasty!  The pork chops were very tender too.  I was only able to finish 1 pork chop and I brought the rest to my mom.  She loved it too!

So friends, that was my lunch & dinner that day.  2 meals in one shot haha!  I also thoroughly enjoyed the company of friends.  Whenever we meet up, it’s always at Powerplant mall.  I wish we can meet at other malls next time but if we meet and it’s at Powerplant mall again, I’ll try to have a conscious effort to try other restaurants or else, we might be dining at Burgoo again.

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Burgoo
3/F Power Plant Mall, Rockwell Dr. cor. Estrella St., Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines
(02) 898-1815

I’m always on the lookout for new restaurants to try out.  Most of the time I don’t go back anymore but if it has the formula of having reasonable price coupled with delicious taste of food then I wouldn’t hesitate to go back.  This was exactly what I felt with Chef’s Table.

Chef’s Table is a restaurant created by Chef Bruce Lim.  Chef Bruce is the man behind the cooking show Tablescapes shown on Asian Food Channel.  I’m the type of person who loves to watch cooking shows.  So having the chance to finally meet the chef and also sample his creations would be something I wouldn’t miss.

I actually thought that we would be spending a lot but was pleasantly surprised that their dishes are priced reasonably.  They are affordable!!  I’ve put in the price of our orders so you would have an idea.

Chef’s Table has this concept of Open Kitchen.  Basically a way to be interactive with guests.  We can see the chefs cooking and preparing our dishes.  They smile our way whenever they catch us watching hahaha!  And if you notice in the picture, all of them are bald!  I guess it brings the camaraderie among the chefs and can also be for hygiene purposes, we don’t have to worry about having hair on our food!

I also find the interior design and architecture interesting.  When Chef Bruce was greeting the guests one by one, I happened to ask him what inspired the look of Chef’s Table.  He told us that they are really trying to do their share of saving the environment thus the recycled materials being used in the restaurant.  Their walls are made of Rattan, they used recycled materials like palay too.  Aside from using environmental-friendly materials, they also use scraps of veggies as fertilizers.  I felt that Chef’s Table is like Chef Bruce’s love work.  The details on how he created the restaurant, the way that he wanted to be in touch with his customers, the friendly atmosphere of the place, environmental-friendly interiors and the Chef himself being there every single day is just admirable.  He said if we don’t see him in Chef’s Table, it’ll most probably be because he’s out of the country.

Now, the most important part of our visit… the food!  We were already impressed with other things.  I was too excited to find out if the food would also be the same.  Here were our orders:

• Chef’s Table Iced Tea (Php 120)

The best iced tea I’ve tried so far!  Multiple ingredients in this drink, it has pineapple, cucumber, honeydew and iced tea.  Wow!  Just delicious!  If you’re still undecided which drink to order in Chef’s Table, you better order their iced tea.

• Sampaguita Iced Tea (Php 110)

I haven’t heard of a sampaguita drink.  As much as I loved Chef’s Table’s iced tea, this was my choice for that day.  I would stick with their iced tea next time though.  It was definitely more delicious but their sampaguita iced tea was nice too.

• Fried Pusit (Php 230)

Fried squid served on a lettuce with green mango salad on the side.   Not spectacular but presentation was really great 🙂

• Reversed Sotanghon Soup (Php 150)

I really love how awesome the dishes were presented not to mention they tasted so delicious too!  This reversed sotanghon soup was so awesome.  I can never get enough of it.  Fried sotanghon noodles and liempo bites then onion soup poured into them.  The best sotanghon soup I ever tasted to date!

• Chill-A-Fino (Php 550)

Most unique dish ever.  Never did I imagine being able to eat such a dish.  It’s basically steamed lapu lapu put on top of an ube mash (yes, ube!).  You won’t taste the ube though, it felt like a mash of purple stuff that’s it.  Very nice to look at.

• Tortang Talong (Php 120)

I can eat this dish all by myself.  Tortang talong with salted eggs plus did you see the onions on the side?  That was actually caramelized onions!  It tasted sooooo good!  When I get back to Chef’s Table, this will definitely be the 1st thing I will order.

• Garlic Rice (Php 55)

I was really surprised when the garlic rice was served in our table.  It didn’t look like garlic rice at all.  As you can see in the picture, it was just plain rice with garlic on top.  The trick there was to mix the garlic with the rice before eating.  Then you would understand why it was done that way.  It was actually very tasty after you mix them.

• Pandan Rice (Php 35)

Same with garlic rice, this was just plain rice with one pandan leaf. hahaha!

• Buko Pie Martini (Php 150)

I’m not sure how many times I mentioned the word ‘unique’ in this blog post for Chef’s Table.  But what the heck, Chef’s Table definitely has the most unique dishes in their menu.  A buco pie in a martini glass?  How genius was that?  I’ve been raving about this to my friends and I’m still raving about that now in this post.  You better order this when you go to Chef’s Table or you’ll definitely regret it.

• Langka Creme Brulee (Php 130)

Typical custard – jackfruit flavored.  Not too sweet, tasted just right.  If you love langka and you love desserts then langka creme brulee is for you.

• Banana Mango Jubiliee (Php 130)

Another yummy dessert from Chef’s Table.  Mango & banana flamed with rum and served with vanilla ice cream.  I prefer their buco pie martini more but banana mango jubilee is a good 2nd choice.

I had one of the best dining experiences in Chef’s Table.  They have excellent food, nice interiors, awesome service and very down-to-earth chefs!  See Chef Bruce Lim all game to take a picture with a stranger like me 😛

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Chef’s Table
Unit 106, The Infinity Tower, 26th Street, The Fort Global City, Taguig, Philippines
(02) 399-1888