Tag: food

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.

Mey Lin Chinese Cuisine

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On April 25, 2010

Mey Lin Chinese Cuisine
G/F Jupiter Place Building, 136 Jupiter St., Bel-Air, Makati City, Metro Manila
(02) 899-8999

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The lunch had been organized for weeks, postponed once, but finally we had it last Friday. It was a reunion of sorts for our DSS group, old & new. Though it was organized for quite some time, a lot of people didn’t make it. But that doesn’t mean we didn’t have a great time. We very much enjoyed ourselves, although it could have been better if we were complete. Our first reunion was held in Mey Lin & we decided to do it again in the same venue.

Mey Lin has good food, has a private function room, and has good ambiance. The food is a bit pricey though. I’m not complaining coz their food is really good but I wish they could lower their price a bit so it can be a bit more affordable.

Here is what we ordered:

Jelly Fish (Php 160), Century Egg (Php 60)

This jelly fish dish is really good. This has always been a favorite menu item to order whenever we visit Mey Lin. We can order century egg with it, 1 piece does cost 60 pesos though. Perfect appetizer for Chinese food.

Siomai (Php 90)

It’s funny that we almost finished this dish even before the soy sauce, calamansi arrived hahaha! The siomai is cooked to perfection, meaty and has generous servings of each major ingredient. This is how siomai is supposed to be cooked, tender and moist on the inside, good firm texture, and also moist on the outside but not soggy.

Sio Long Pao (Php 100)

I expected sio long pao to be juicy because it was that way when I went to China before. Mey Lin’s version was very dry but it still tasted good. Just not the way I expected it though.

Fried Beancurd (Php 150)

This reminded me of another restaurant’s version of Tofu. This tasted just okay, nothing special or out of the ordinary, but still worth a try. Crispy tofu with Mey Lin’s own special sauce.

Fried Intestines (Php 240)

Fried Intestines with vinegar is heaven!! My all-time Mey Lin favorite dish. No matter who I’m with, as long as we’re in Mey Lin, I make sure that we order this dish. It’s just too delicious to pass up.

Broccoli with Beef (Php 260)

Fish Fillet with Taoso (Php 270)

Great presentation. The fish tasted fresh too. Taoso is a great, great finish for this dish. Taoso is mashed soy bean, very crispy and tasted sooo good! Put in a container like that made it more yummier as it will always be hot.

Dried String Beans (Php 190)

I always see this as a Chinese version of sitaw or string beans. It says dried but I never felt it was so. Another favorite menu item that I order every time I go to Chinese restaurants. There are only a few Chinese restaurants that serve this though, luckily, Mey Lin is one of them.

Chicken Cubes with Dried Chili (Php 240)

Lemon Chicken (Php 250)

This was really good! Chicken with lemon, a weird combination but it worked perfectly well. This is definitely a twist on the classic orange chicken that is more popularly made in other Chinese restaurants. The balance with this dish is of course the crispiness of the chicken along with the sauce. We even ordered another one as the first one was finished in just a few minutes and everyone just wanted more 🙂

Yang Chow Fried Rice (Php 210)

Fried Rice with Salted Fish (Php 220)

Lemonade (Php 80)

I kept raving about the lemonade while drinking. I think colleagues who were seated next to me was getting tired hearing me say how good the lemonade was. I also kept mentioning that they should make it a bottomless one. Mey Lin’s lemonade is just the best, it’s soooo good! You should order this drink when you visit the restaurant.

Mango Sago (Php 90)

For me, the best Chinese dessert is the mango sago. I’m not sure how this was done but I think it’s mango puree/juice with tapioca. Served cold, very tasty.

You might be wondering that we ordered too much food hehehe 😛 but look at just how many we were… The rest of the pictures can be found on my Flickr. Yaiks! I’m really craving for Mey Lin now! Must resist!!!

DSS group

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

Burgoo American Bar and Restaurant

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On April 24, 2010

Burgoo American Bar & Restaurant
Robinsons Galleria, EDSA cor. Ortigas Ave., Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines
(02) 633-6259

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My best friend from grade school and I make it a point to have a bonding session every now and then. Whether it’s going shopping, pigging out or just talking about anything under the sun, as long as we spend time together at least once a quarter. Earlier, we attended the All About Money Seminar. It finished around 1PM, and by then we were starving. As we were walking around to find a restaurant, we saw Burgoo American Bar and Restaurant. The girl gave us a coupon for a free grilled porkchop (amounts to Php295) as long we order any entree on their menu. We quickly decided to just dine in at Burgoo.

Then I remembered, my BPI credit card might have a promo with Burgoo. I asked the server and indeed they currently do have a promo. Apparently, the promo is a buy one take one (we just need to pay the entree that is of higher value). They do have a list of entrees that we can choose from though.

Here are what we ordered:

Spinach Grilled Salmon (Php 495)

Grilled Norwegian salmon with spinach cream sauce. It was steaming hot when it was served. And it was noticeably appetizing to look at even at first look. It was obvious that it was going to be a good dish. My friend confirmed just how good it was! I watched her finish the dish hahaha!

It looked like it was perfectly grilled and that it kept its moistness which is important when you eat salmon. If you cook salmon too long, it becomes dry and flaky and loses its flavor. Judging by the way my friend ate it, it most certainly was cooked good. The compliment of mashed potato was just enough for this dish in my opinion. A healthy yet very sustainable dish.

Shrimps & Ribs Platter (Php 595)

Served with french fries and corn on the cob (without the cob), the cajun shrimps & baby back ribs combination was just sooo tempting. You know I really was planning to order another menu item. But seeing the picture on the menu, it was just too delicious to pass up. I ended up ordering anyway. The baby back ribs was tender which is really important for ribs to be. The dish was okay, nothing to scream about, but was just the ordinary ribs that you could get anywhere. Although, I’ve had bad ribs before, so I always do appreciate it when it’s at least tender. The shrimps were good too, and all in all not a bad meal to get when you’re hungry, but nothing out of the ordinary either.

Lemonade (Php 69)

This was a pretty weird lemonade drink. A bottomless one by the way. I usually drink a lot but there was a weird taste that I didn’t like. I asked for it to be replaced and when they did, it still tasted the same. I concluded that it might be the water that is causing it. Anyway, I drank it still 😛

Hot Tea (Php 45)

One thing that I noticed was that their servers were very attentive. When we arrived, they immediately offered to give us the couch seat as there was one table who was already billing out. They gave the menu for us to choose what we wanted to order and they also offered to assist us with anything. I was pretty impressed. It was pretty consistent all throughout. Although, a service charge is already ncluded in the bill, we still opted to give an extra tip 🙂

This is us having our picture taken while waiting for the bill. The rest of the pictures can be found on my Flickr account.

HeaRty & christina at burgoo

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

Tempura Japanese Grill

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On April 21, 2010

Tempura Japanese Grill
1 Juno St. cor. Makati Ave., Makati City, Metro Manila
(02) 899-1365

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It was a get together that was planned for weeks. Funny though that some of us were late (including me hehehe!). Tempura Japanese Grill is located at Makati avenue and is near our office. It took us quite a time to order. We ended up ordering when everyone was already present. It did seem as though like we had the menu memorized hahaha!

One thing that I really appreciate is that Tempura Japanese Grill has ample parking space plus the restaurant is big enough to cater to a lot of dining guests. The place has such a wonderful ambiance that you could probably sit there for hours without feeling any pressure. The food is delicious too! I also love their new menu items especially Wasabi Tempura (yum!).

We ordered the ff.:

Ebi Bacon Maki (Php 230)

Shrimp, winter mushroom & asparagus wrapped in bacon with Tempura’s special sauce. Hayy, this is truly heaven! I used to order the asupara maki w/c is asparagus wrapped in bacon but this innovation is just wow! Shrimps, asparagus & bacon in 1 menu item. My 3 favorite foods served as appetizer! I enjoyed this dish a lot!

Mixed Maki (Php 180)

California maki, tamago maki, kani maki & tekka maki. If you wanna have a taste of everything, then you should order this. California maki still is my favorite among the rest though.

Karufuru Salad (Php 155)

A fruity salad indeed! Mandarin oranges, apple, grapes with lettuce & fruit infused vinaigrette. Good for people who are on a diet (I think I should be telling myself that hahaha!). I wasn’t able to taste this though, but maybe I should next time 🙂

Gohan (Php 35)/ Chahan (Php 48)

Gomoku Chahan (Php 60)

the difference between this rice and chahan is that this includes mixed seafoods, but there’s not much difference in taste though.

Tofu Steak (Php 150)

This has always been my favorite item to order from the menu. Tofu, shitake mushrooms & ground pork with steak sauce. Very tasty & healthy too!

Ebi Wasabi Tempura (Php 399)

I’ve been raving about this dish. But do take note, you don’t need to add the wasabi into your sauce coz the tempura has wasabi all over it! Prawns deep fried in crispy batter with wasabi, it’s such a great innovation! Kudos to the one who created the recipe.

Spareribs Sansho Yaki (Php 245)

This is another menu item that is very unique. Spareribs Teriyaki – it’s spareribs cooked Japanese style! It was delicious! We all loved it! I believe from all the japanese restaurants out there, only Tempura serves this.

Tori Teriyaki (Php 195)

We didn’t order this at first but my friend Hai ended up ordering it. It’s the ever famous chicken teriyaki… If you’re curious, it’s basically chicken (leg portion) that has been marinated and grilled. But it’s moist, cooked well, and the teriyaki sauce tops it off quite nicely. Delicious!

Brewed Lemon Iced Tea (Php 60)

Once in a while, we need to go out for lunches like these, because of not only the food but because of the very meaningful conversations.. I loved conversations like what we had here at Tempura Japanese Grill coz it brings out whatever is in our hearts. Though how deep the topics are, if my friends are with me, then taking pictures will always be part of it

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