Category: Restaurants

Ikabud Pagkaing Pinoy

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On February 15, 2010

Ikabud
G/F Marquee Mall, North Luzon Expressway, Angeles City, Pampanga, Philippines

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After such a tiring but enjoyable day at the 15th Philippine Hot Air Balloon Fiesta, we proceeded to Marquee Mall to have oru lunch. Can I just say, “Wow!”. Marquee Mall was such a nice place! It looked like they recently just opened. So I researched and found out that they opened just last October 2009 and one of popular restaurants in the mall is Ikabud.

I’ve been told that if you go to Pampanga, you really have to try Ikabud. So we did 🙂 Boy, the food was delicious! I wonder why they haven’t brought this restaurant to Manila. I’m sure it will be a hit! There are many Filipino restaurants all over the metro but Ikabud is definitely different.

Here are what we ordered:

Bulalo (Php 180)

There was only one item that I look for whenever I order bulalo, bone marrow. Without it, the dish, IMHO is just a failure! Ikabud’s bulalo? Definitely didn’t disappoint. Apart from having the bone marrow, the meat itself was just tender. The taste of the soup was yummy. I couldn’t ask for more.

Nilasing Crablets (Php 75)

The nilasing crablets was a hit! Truthfully, we all wanted to eat the dish especially with vinegar! This is a must-order when you go to Ikabud. We just loved it! As in super, super!!

Family Garlic Rice (Php 150)

If your party is at least 3 people, I suggest you order the family sized rice. They’re more affordable. I found it quite surprising that even with just a simple dish, it made me feel like it was better than most offered by restaurants. Maybe it was the oil or the garlic. Maybe it was the rice.

Salpicao (Php 190)

When we ordered this, we really thought that it was beef salpicao. The server explained after we said, “salpicao,” but I didn’t pay much attention. When the order came, I understood what the server was trying to explain. Apparently salpicao is sizzling seafood! It doesn’t matter that we misunderstood what it was because it was definitely worth eating! This was delicious! Sizzling shrimps, tahong, fish, mushrooms, hotdogs, squid and young corn… hmmm yummy!

Crispy Pata (Php 320)

The crunchy rectangular pieces garnished with crispy pata was not chicharon but kropeck. I was almost fooled by that hahaha! Anyway, we ordered way too much for 4 people. That’s fine though. The food was delicious and we don’t have ikabud here in Manila.

Tutti Fruiti Shake (Php 65)

Combination of Mango & Cherry shake. My colleagues said it was super yummy & better than the Guyabano shake we ordered. We also noticed that all their fruit shakes have this “Stick-O” (the chocolate snack). IMHO, that gave the drink more umpph! hehehe

Guyabano Shake (Php 55)

It is rare that we see fresh Guyabano shakes being offered in a restaurant. When I saw this in the menu, I immediately ordered it! It was super rich. I was very impressed! Most of the fruit shakes we ordered in the restaurant had too much water in it. This one, it was very fresh! You can feel that we do get what we paid for.

What a great morning this was! We had a great balloon ride, great sites and great food! We went home very satisfied and happy! 😀

More pictures here.

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

Mister Kabab

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On February 11, 2010

Mister Kabab
2nd Level, U.P. Ayala Land Technohub, Commonwealth Ave., Diliman, Quezon City, Metro Manila
(02) 332-3935

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If you have been following my blog for awhile now, you would know that I love Persian food. I don’t know why but kebab is definitely something I always crave for. So when we visited Avilon Zoo & since I parked near UP, we decided to drop by UP Technohub.

When we were asked which restaurant to try out, I immediately said, “Mister Kabab!” I’ve tried Mister Kabab but not at UP Technohub branch. Wow!!! The ambiance was just waaayyy better than their other branches! It was very clean and it looked very classy. The view was superb!

On the other hand, Mister Kabab’s West Avenue branch didn’t have aircon and you had to sit in an uncomfortable chair. Not only that, you couldn’t stay too long because there is usually line outside of people waiting to get in to be seated. So after eating, you really got to leave.

We ordered the ff.:

Shrimp & Mushroom (Php 95)

This was good! I always order their Chelo kabab. I’m glad that I was able to try the other dishes at Mister Kabab. This one was shrimps fried with mushrooms with some sauce, garnished with tomato and cucumber.

Beef Chelo Kabab (Php 135)

They really call this Special Chelo Kebab! This is tenderloin kebab and beef kebab. I’m not really fond of tenderloin so I requested if I can just have two beef kebabs. They gave it to me for the same price. So it is possible. They called it beef chelo kebab. Can I tell you that this is my favorite when coupled with rice and butter? Perfect!

Fresh Fruit Shake (Php 40)

You know before their fruit shakes were just priced at php25. But their cups were a bit small. I can say that they’ve improved! They now put their shakes in a bigger cup. The price got raised a little to Php40 but still affordable. 🙂 🙂

Rice (Php 25) & Butter (Php 10)

Rice with butter just puuurrfeecctt! We should do this at home too!

Shawarma in Plate (Php 85)

Shawarma is usually wrapped in bread but Mister Kabab offered this Shawarma in Plate. You’d see shawarma then the sidings (onions, tomatoes) put in a plate. So you can either just order a bread or rice to go with it. According to my friend, it was just okay. She preferred this dish to be crispy.

Bread (Php 15)

Keema (Php 60)

This is actually not our order but this is minced beef served with calamansi. I tried this and it was actually good too! My favorite though is still the beef kebab! 🙂

Hahaha! So I just finished writing this and to be honest, I just wanna drive and go to Mister Kabab and eat again! You can find the rest of the pictures from our lunch here.

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

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.

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.