I pass by Araneta Avenue in Quezon City every single day.  A couple of months ago, I noticed this new restaurant in the old trailer-style place.  I was actually surprised that this Japanese Restaurant, Atsu Atsu Ramen, opened there as most of the establishments that were there before had already closed down.

It’s ironic though that Atsu Atsu Ramen has tons of customers in spite of the bad location.  There must be a reason why people keep going back to the restaurant.

So when I saw the promo at one of the group buying sites early this year, I immediately bought it.  My friend and I used the voucher a couple of weeks ago.

I got the Ramen Set for 2 so the food was perfect for both of us.  Luckily, the food was good!  The servings were just right too!  I felt a bit sad though that both the group buying site and the establishment weren’t honest enough with the real value of the meal.  It was said in the site that the original price is at Php 680 but in actuality, the real price is at Php 450.  Anyway, it was still at 15% off so it’s all good.

Here’s what’s included in the Ramen Set:

• Kani Kyuri Salad

A full order of this is at Php 100.  However, our mini salad was more than enough for us.  The salad we had undertaken has cucumbers, crabstick and of course, vegetables with Japanese mayonnaise as dressing.  A nice twist to our traditional salad.

• Gyoza

A Japanese meal no matter if authentic or not won’t be complete without gyoza as starter.  This can be ordered steamed or fried.

• Tokyo Ramen

We ate at the right time as it was raining!  Perfect for ramen indeed and our choice for the day was Tokyo Ramen.  Atsu Atsu Ramen’s Tokyo Ramen is a shoyu-based ramen topped with simmered pork, green onions, hard boiled egg, bamboo shoots and fish cake.

According to the menu, they followed Japan’s way of cooking ramen wherein the soup was boiled overnight.  They also pride themselves with noodles that are imported from Japan.  Can I tell?  Actually I can’t as I haven’t been to Japan but I can say that the soup was delicious!

• Garlic Rice

I’m not sure why garlic rice was included in the ramen set.  I’m thinking it might be because of the fish tempura.  For us, the tokyo ramen is more than enough to fill our empty stomach 😀

• Fish Tempura

When this was served to us, it became clear to me why rice was included in this set.  Even though I was already full, I still finished this dish as I wouldn’t wanna miss the opportunity to be able to try out all the food served to us.  Actually, as for tempura, I prefer this more than ebi tempura.  I feel less guilty when eating fish tempura.  It’s healthier, agree?

• Coffee Jelly

For dessert, we had coffee jelly.  I was actually surprised when I started eating it.  Atsu Atsu Ramen’s coffee jelly might look normal but it had real coffee there!  It was like coffee with jelly on it.  The dessert actually tasted good which made me think that cold coffee with black jelly will work well as a drink!

• Iced Tea

• Hot Tea (free)

Atsu Atsu Ramen’s complimentary tea isn’t really a part of the Ramen Set but we can request to have this served at our table.  I just have to share this with you as I find the presentation soooooo cute!  Don’t you agree?

The food was decent.  I also like that the food being served in Atsu Atsu Ramen are very affordable.  Service was nice too!

It’s also ironic that even though it didn’t look so nice outside, but when you enter the restaurant, it’s like being transported to a different place.  The interiors are top-notch.  The place feels very cozy.

I’ll stay away from Atsu Atsu Ramen till August 2011 as I know that there’s an ongoing promo.  A lot of people will surely go to the restaurant and it might be hard to get reservation.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ll be back soon. 🙂

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Atsu Atsu Ramen
1281 Araneta Avenue, Quezon City, Philippines
(02) 741-7159

A Japanese Chef cooking Italian dishes?  That’s what Capricciosa is.  It’s amazing that Capricciosa started 31 years ago and already has 150 branches in 6 different countries including the Philippines.

Admittedly, I’m not fond of Italian food.  However, a lot of my friends love pizza and pasta.  I still try out Italian restaurants for the sake of it.  Usually, I’m not impressed but it was a different case for Capricciosa.  I actually liked each and every dish served to us!

What I noticed greatly is the awesome service.  I know that I’ve been commending lots of restaurants with their customer service.  I believe though that Capricciosa went a step further.  The servers were friendly, super warm, super helpful and were all smiles.  I actually like to see servers like that when dining in a restaurant.  I’m glad that Capricciosa does have this great image.  They will go a long way.  With that kind of service, Capricciosa will surely have repeat customers and will continue to be successful.

My friend Christina and I ordered mostly their best-seller dishes.  As both of us were dining for the first time, we might as well get their most loved dishes.  We ordered the following:

• Fresh Garden Salad (Php 365)

Whenever I order salad, I make sure that it’s served with vinaigrette sauce.  I’m never fond of caesar or any other thick dressing.  Capricciosa’s garden salad was delightful!  I love the combination of ingredients in the dish.  There were red grapes, mandarin orange, crabsticks, onions and of course, the lettuce.  A healthy alternative indeed from the usual appetizer that we order.

• Tomato Sauce with Garlic & Peppers (Php 365)

I loveeeeee this red pasta by Capricciosa.  I guess putting tons of garlic in the dish made it so delicious!  This dish has a simple recipe with only garlic, peppers, onions, pasta and tomato sauce as ingredients.  I even took some home and I had the same feeling when I ate it again.  If you love red sauce, then this should be your choice when you go to Capricciosa.

• Capricciosa Pizza (Php 485)

If a menu item is named after the restaurant then you bet that it would be delicious!  Why would a restaurant name a dish the same way right?  Well, we ordered Capricciosa pizza, a house specialty.  It’s an Italian pizza topped with salami, bacon, mushroom and bell peppers.  As it was served to us newly cooked,  it won’t come as a surprise that we liked it!  Yum yum!

• Single Scoop Ice Cream (Php 75)

I’m not sure if Capricciosa’s ice cream is home-made or commercially-made.  They do have 4 flavors available – mango, strawberry, vanilla and chocolate.  We ordered vanilla and strawberry.  Just the right dessert to end a wonderful Italian meal.

Quiz nights are getting popular in the country.  I was actually delighted to see that Capricciosa do host it every week.  I wish I can join one time!  Looks really interesting!  I must find some friends who love trivia and will invite them to go with me to the restaurant one wednesday.

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Ristorante Italiano Capricciosa
G/F Fox Square Building, 53 Connecticut Street, Greenhills, San Juan, Philippines
(02) 744-0689

I’ve always wanted to try out Mongkok Dimsum & Noodles.  However, whenever I pass by Powerplant Mall, the restaurant is always jampacked.  Mongkok Dimsum & Noodles must be that good that they never ran out of customers.

Good thing I discovered that they have a branch in Glorietta 5.  In this branch, they don’t have much customers and they were offering promos left and right to attract customers to go to Mongkok Dimsum & Noodles.  Promos like eat all you can for Php 239.  I don’t want to limit myself to the dishes in the buffet so we decided to go ala carte.

I was with my GameOPS friends who dined there and I was so glad that most of us were available.  It was a great night of chit-chatting and eating.

Contrary to Mongkok’s Rockwell branch, this branch has bigger space.  They even have an area just for smokers.  There were only 4-5 servers when we were there (a tuesday night) but I commend the good service that they give to us even though they’re understaffed.

Mongkok is popular for their dimsum but I was more excited with their rice dishes.  So we ordered both dimsum and rice.  The ff. were our orders:

• Fresh Shrimp Dumpling (Php 75)

We ordered for hakaw but apparently, it’s the same as fresh shrimp dumpling.  If I remember correctly, Mongkok Dimsum currently has a promo via Ensogo with regards to their dimsum.  Today is the deadline if I remember correctly.

• 4 Treasure Roll (Php 65)

A very unique dimsum.  I guess they called it four treasure because the dimsum includes 4 treasured ingredients.  Using the noodles to enclose all the ingredients into one was a nice touch!  Very cute!

• Yang Chow Fried Rice (Php 230)

Bea told me that Mongkok’s Yang Chow is the best!  I followed her advice and the server even mentioned that their Yang Chow is the best seller too!  It didn’t disappoint.  The rice was actually good with all the ingredients in there.  I heard though that Mongkok puts a lot of MSG in their dishes.  Hope it’s not true.

• Salt & Pepper Tofu (Php 170)

Mongkok’s fried tofu was the winner dish that night.  It actually just took a few minutes before we finished the dish.  My gosh!  The reason for it is because the tofu in spite of being crispy on the outside was actually soft  inside.  The vinegar was perfect for the tofu to dip in too!  Loved it!

• Beef Tenderloin Chinese Style (Php 250)

I hope this picture of Beef Tenderloin makes you hungry coz in reality, it really will.  This dish was wonderfully cooked.  I loved the tenderness of the beef plus the sweetness of the sauce.  I knew I shouldn’t have eaten so much but I find the dish very unique and it was actually good!  A must order! 🙂

• Seafood with Taosi (Php 260)

I was asked what the taosi is when we were eating this dish.  It’s basically black bean sauce that the seafood was cooked with.  The black bean sauce gave the dish this yummy salty flavor.  It’s usually diluted in water so the dish won’t be as salty.

Overall, I now understand why a lot of people eat at Mongkok Dimsum & Noodles.  Their food is definitely delicious plus the service is nice too!  I just hope that more people will discover their branch at Gloretta 5 and it will be as successful as their Rockwell branch.

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Mongkok Dimsum & Noodles
3rd Level, Glorietta 5, Ayala Center, Makati City, Philippines
(02) 501-3065