Category: Restaurants

California Pizza Kitchen

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On May 9, 2010

california pizza kitchen

Whenever I go to a restaurant that I have been to, I usually already know which dishes that I will be ordering. Most of the time, once I taste something that I super like, there’s just no way for me not to order the same thing the next time I visit that restaurant. This was exactly the case again when I went to California Pizza Kitchen.

I first tried California Pizza Kitchen in nowhere else, but yes, California! I tried their Kung Pao Spaghetti with shrimp, and from that time forward, whenever I visit CPK, my order has always been Kung Pao Spaghetti with shrimp. I can’t seem to make myself try other dishes. The Kung Pao Spaghetti is just too delicious to pass up.

Even here in Manila, there isn’t really much difference between the taste from the original California branch. Which is soo cool because I don’t have to fly all the way to the United States in order to eat at CPK 😀

Here is what we ordered during our visit a few weeks back:

Grape Shake/Dalandan Shake (Php 175)

CPK Fruit Shakes

There are also other fruit shakes available like Dayap, Mango & Watermelon but my favorite has always been grapes 🙂 Nick ordered Dalandan since he had been craving for it since we went to Tagaytay.

Classic Caesar Salad (Php 425)

cpk chicken caesar salad

I’m not fond of salads but CPK’s classic caesar salad is just the best. We ordered it with chicken breast (additional Php 175). I gave my share of chicken to Nick coz it’s just the salad that I like. The crisp romaine lettuce with parmesan cheese is just heaven! And of course, the croutons that give it that extra flavor and texture. But I don’t eat the croutons either. It really is just the caesar dressing and the parmesan cheese tossed into the lettuce that makes this salad so good. I can never get enough of the parmesan cheese too, that I always have to add more as I eat the dish.

Kung Pao Spaghetti (Php 355)

cpk kung pao spaghetti with shrimp

Words just cannot describe how delicious this dish is. It’s just too yummy that it’s unexplainable! But let me try anyway 😛 It has just the right amount of tomato sauce taste, that tangy taste to any tomato based dish, but then there’s a layer of sweetness to it too. It also has that spicy taste to it, but it’s not hot. The fact that it has chili peppers cooked with it, gives it that spicy taste, but it’s not hot at all. We ordered this with shrimp (additional Php 625) which I think is perfect for Kung Pao Spaghetti. This spaghetti is made with Kung Pao sauce, peanuts, green onions & hot red chili. Trust me when I say this, but the added peanuts just give it a totally unique taste that will always have you ordering this dish.

Tiramisu (Php 245)

cpk tiramisu

Nick swears that this is a must-order at CPK. I’m not fond of cakes but I took his word for it. When I tried it though, it’s good but not something that I would remember for a long time 😛 It tasted differently from what is served in California as the Philippines version is much sweeter. I guess it’s because we have a sweet tooth? And not only that, but it wasn’t as smooth as it should be according to Nick, since when we got the dessert that day, it was served from frozen, and with any refrigerator cake style dessert that contains cream, the texture, and the overall taste will always be different when frozen and then thawed.

It does seem like a typical American restaurant but I must say CPK is my favorite mainly because of their classic caesar salad & kung pao spaghetti w/ shrimp! 😀

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California Pizza Kitchen
2/F Shangri-La Plaza Mall, EDSA cor. Shaw Blvd., Mandaluyong City, Metro Manila, Philippines
(02) 687-7841 to 42

Circles Event CafÃ©

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On May 8, 2010

circles event cafe

One of my weaknesses is definitely good food. I can’t seem to resist any opportunity of eating at a good restaurant & having delicious yummy food. Explains the reason why I gained 5 kilos (11 pounds) in the past few months. No regrets whatsoever though. I do know however that I need to cut down on my pig-out events hehehe.

A few weeks back, Christina & I went to Circles Event Cafe for lunch, which is located at the lobby of Shangrila Hotel Makati. Christina had a free buffet voucher so we only needed to pay for 1 person (Php 1,424.48). Boy, the place was packed. No matter how expensive this is, people still make it a point to go to Circles Event Cafe to dine. I must agree, that with such good food and a pleasing ambiance, I guess dining once in a while here is well worth it.

circles buffet dining

I really liked how the buffet was done, open theater style. Different stations specializing on a certain cuisine. Circles Buffet has a salad bar, Japanese sushi bar, cold dishes, Asian dishes (dimsum, Mongolian, Indian) & western dishes (pizza, roast beef-YUM!). I love their complete selection of breads too!

circles buffet 1

circles buffet 2

Whenever I go to a pricey buffet like Circle Event Cafe, I make it a point to prioritize the more expensive food items, particularly items like roast beef. You can see in the picture below, me enjoying a serving of Roast Beef, it’s really good, however I wouldn’t go for a 2nd serving on that one! I have to watch my cholesterol intake 😛

circles roast beef

Another favorite station of mine was the dessert bar! My golly! I just loved it!!! I especially loved the enormous variety of fruits available for us! Wow! I had to go back like 3 times, I couldn’t get enough of it!! 😀

circles buffet fruits

Who would forget the ever-famous chocolate fondue fountain & other desserts available at Circles Buffet. The Tiramisu cups, creme brulee, cakes & the yummy ice cream w/ awesome sidings. The experience was truly heaven, you can check the pictures in my online photo album for Circle Event Cafe.

circles buffet desserts

One thing I also noticed was the display of the different smileys at the place as well as the good selection of wines in one corner. Let me share some information because I did read the posters beside them:

circles buffet extras

Emoti Cake – Very cute smiley cakes where you can choose a certain emotion to put in your cake (chocolate or cheese flavored) then provide the message you wanna put in (I miss you, I love you, I’m sorry, congratulations, etc). Pretty cute, a very nice offering by Circles Event Cafe. The cakes are offered in 2 sizes, Petite (14cm) & Regular (19cm). Prices ranging from Php 380 to Php 780.
Wine Rendezvous – available from 6-11pm. Guests can choose & drink unlimited wines from Argentina, Australia, South Africa & France for just Php 795++. There are a lot of wine drinkers out there, unfortunately, I’m not one of them hehehe 😛

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Circles Event CafÃ©
Lobby, Makati Shangri-La, Ayala Ave. cor. Makati Ave., Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines
(02) 840-0884

Tong Yang Hot Pot

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On May 8, 2010

Tong Yang Hot Pot

If you want to try out a shabu-shabu hot pot then it’s best to go to Tong Yang Hot Pot. Tong Yang offers a buffet with a decent price of Php 560 per person (cheaper when you go during weekday lunch time). It has a great variety of ingredients for diners to choose from. You can get as much as you want as long as you can finish everything on your table. If you happen to have leftovers, you’ll be charged additional Php 500 on top of the buffet price.

Tong Yang Shabu Shabu

There are like over 100 items to choose from like lapu-lapu, oysters, cooked crabs (limited supply), gindara, fish fillet (the best!), meat tender cuts, fresh vegetables, squid balls, fish balls, hotdogs, kikiam, luncheon meat, intestines, squid, tofu, shrimps and a whole lot more!

Rice, bread & cooked noodles are available too for consumption. Beverages, which is all you can drink, are also included in the buffet package [softdrinks, pineapple juice, iced tea, dalandan juice, coffee & even San Miguel Beer! (hahaha!)].

tong yang menu 3

tong yang menu 1

tong yang menu 2

tong yang menu 4

There are 2 ways for us to cook the food:

simmer the ingredients with the soup
fry it using butter in the metallic plate

We can choose from 8 soups to go well with Shabu-Shabu: Chicken, Sate, Sinigang, Vegetarian, Kimchi, White Soup (Pork), Taiwan Mala and Seafood Soup.

The soup literally is perfect with many of the seafood items at the buffet. We tried the shrimp which was very tasty, fresh, and tender. The tofu, which is by far always a favorite of mine, also went well with the soup. With a whole lot of taste infused in their soups, great seasoning, yet never overpowering the great natural taste of the fresh seafood or any of the meats, it was just simply delicious.

I liked the spicy sate soup the best, but of course it really depends on your taste 🙂 I especially enjoyed the fish fillet being cooked in butter, oh that was soo yummy, can’t get enough of it. Also enjoyed the meat tender cuts cooked either way too! The meat, you must make sure to keep an eye on since they are thin cuts.

Tong Yang Shabu Shabu Hot Pot

Special sauces are also available for us to complement the food that we’re eating. Sauces like teriyaki sauce, egg sauce, native sauce & soy sauce. My favorite is the egg sauce, it already has everything in it (sate, egg, chili, onions & garlic). If you want to just dig in and not worry about seasoning the food perfectly, then the egg sauce is the way to go. A good close second would probably be the native sauce.

Tong Yang Sauce

I was already too full by then but the meal just isn’t complete without taking some desserts. Tong Yang has great choices for desserts. They offer fresh fruits, Halo Halo (a Filipino dessert favorite) & ice cream (Big Scoop brand)! Have Halo halo with as much ube as you want, that’s the great thing about this buffet, even the desserts can be made with just the proportion that you want. Definitely can’t do that at most other restaurants.

Tong Yang Dessert Area

Tong Yang Ice Tea

Whew! Even just reliving the Tong Yang experience makes me feel so full already hahahaha! I can even remember that I didn’t even have enough appetite to eat dinner (we had lunch at Tong Yang). So if you’re really really hungry & craving for something hot, filling, and fresh, then Tong Yang Hot Pot is the way to go.

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Tong Yang Hot Pot
1498 Quezon Ave., Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines
(02)373-3860

Siam Thai Cuisine

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On April 25, 2010

Since it’s my 1st time to go to Cebu, I would want to try out restaurants I haven’t tried before. Siam Thai Cuisine looked very interesting, so when asked where to eat, I suggested Siam Thai Cuisine. Definitely, a good choice! No wonder why we had to wait for a few minutes to be seated. People really spend time to wait until a table is available. It is definitely worth the wait!

The ambiance is very welcoming, the lighting & the art work are really cool. The food is most especially mouthwatering & delicious! I wish we had this in Manila. I’m pretty sure it would be a hit.

Service is pretty cool too. While we were dining, the servers went to the other table singing happy birthday song hahaha! I never thought that they would do something like that considering that Thai restaurants really don’t do those things.

We ordered the ff.:

Tom Yum Prawn Soup (Php 195)

tom yum soup siam

This is like my favorite dish from all that we ordered. It was spicy but definitely very tasty. It had that sour taste to it too that is characteristic of this soup. Seafood & vegetables inside the soup. They cooked it perfectly.

Chicken in Garlic (Php 115)

siam thai dish

This dish is actually surprisingly good considering how simple it is. Best for appetizers or if you just want to have something to munch on. The chicken is soft and very tender, and the breading has a great taste to it.

Siam Grilled Fish in Thai Gravy Sauce (Php 250)

fish siam thai

I thought this was chicken curry that I almost never tried it. Good thing, I heard Nick’s friend said that the fish was really good. I have to look around and find where the fish was hahaha! It was this dish all along and I must agree, it was good! The sauce was not curry sauce but thai gravy sauce. It looked the same though 😛 I think this dish was also one of the more popular ones on the table.

Sauteed Chicken with Cashew Nuts (Php 170)

kung pao pork siam

This is in short, kung pao chicken. Cooked just right, thought this was a Chinese dish. Anyways, it’s tasty & delicious. No complaints! 😀 What more can you ask when they mix the right combination of spiciness, sweetness, saltiness into one dish. Not to mention the fresh taste of every ingredient.

Phad Thai Noodles with Egg (Php 180)

omelette siam

I had a lot of aahhh moment in Siam Thai Cuisine. This particular dish, I thought was omelette. I was quite surprised to find out that it was actually the Phad Thai. Phad Thai is a very popular fried noodles in Thailand. Very nice touch to make it like omelette.

Chatuchak Spareribs (Php 190)

spareribs siam

Spare ribs done Siam style. Again, like the chicken before, very simple dish, but I believe the best dishes are always the simple ones. Although, I usually like my ribs more tender, and probably grilled rather than fried. I must admit, that the preparation for this dish had to be done well because once again, it was seasoned perfectly. And tasted so great. If you’re into fried ribs, this is something worth the try.

Crab Fried Rice (Php 180)

fried rice siam

Bagoong Fried Rice (Php 180)

bagoong rice siam

I love the bagoong they put here. There was a lot of sauce so it gave the rice more taste. Best to combine all the ingredients before serving.

Siam Iced Green Tea (Php 65)

siam thai juice

Siam Iced Tea with Milk (Php 65)

siam thai juice 2

This was better than the green tea. I wish I ordered this one over the other. Anyway, it’s nice that I was able to try both.

Glad we tried Siam! The food was too good! Loved it! The pictures can be found in my Flickr album.

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Siam Thai Cuisine
The Terraces, Ayala Center Cebu
(032) 417-1318

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

Tsim Sha Tsui & Tea Bar In Cebu

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On April 25, 2010

Tsim Sha Tsui Dimsum & Tea Bar
2/F The Terraces, Ayala Center Cebu, Philippines
(032) 238-9209

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Looking around for a place for a light snack we found ourselves at The Terraces located in Ayala Center. But we wanted delicious food with Chinese flavors. Good thing we found it with Tsim Sha Tsui after looking around for around 10 minutes. As we looked over the menu, you could tell it was really focused with just the right amount of menu items to choose from.

Focused mainly on dimsum & tea, this place is definitely going to be a success if opened here in Manila.
The menu was well-designed with pictures of the items and it was a treat to read. I was so amazed that I took each and every page of the menu. You can find them in my flickr album (the link is at the bottom of this post).

Here is what we ordered:

Soft Tofu with Preserved Egg (Php 80)

I love tofu, and with this dish tofu has never been so rich, with such nice sauce, and some century eggs to go along with it too. It’s definitely light, but very appetizing.

Pork Dumpling with Chili Sauce (Php 65)

The dumpling was also really good. By itself, it would have been great, but oh how much better it really was with the Chili sauce. I remember the dumpling to be cooked just the way it should be, not overcooked, and the wrapper soft to chew into too. Good thing we weren’t that hungry that time, or else we would have definitely gotten another order of a few items that we ordered.

Meat Spring Roll (Php 60)

The spring rolls were okay, but I do have to say that it wasn’t as greasy as some spring rolls tend to be. It wasn’t salty either, which is always good.

Lo Mai Gai (Php 70)

It’s called “machang” in chinese. Just the usual steamed rice with pork and some other ingredients.

Tsim Sha Tsui Original Steak (Php 75)

And you thought eating light meant you couldn’t have steak, well you can hahahaha! And oh, you should really try this dish. It looks too salty, but it really wasn’t at all. Did I mention it’s sooo tender?

Watermelon Mocktail (Php 70)

This is the drink that I ordered. At first I thought it was just me, so I took another taste. It didn’t taste like watermelon at all. In fact, it tasted like soda only a bit sweeter. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t bad, it’s just something I wouldn’t order again.

Black Mamba Iced Tea (Php 50)

The black mamba, according to Nick was really good. Sort of like a cross between iced tea and fruit punch. On a hot day, this is definitely something to drink because it’s refreshing.

In terms of ambiance, I love Tsim Sha Tsui’s interior design. Green color, very bright, cool menu too! Pictures can be found in my online Flickr album.

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