Tag: restaurants

Breakfast Buffet at UNO Restaurant

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On April 12, 2010

UNO Restaurant
Waterfront Mactan Airport Hotel & Casino
1 Airport Road, Lapu-Lapu City, 6015 Cebu, Philippines
(32) 340-4888

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The most memorable breakfast I had during my holy week vacation in Cebu was at UNO restaurant. UNO is located inside the Waterfront Mactan Hotel & Casino which is very near the Cebu domestic airport.

The buffet is open from 6:00-10:30AM. I really wished I didn’t have a hard time waking up that day coz I could have used those precious minutes eating more food at the buffet.

The design of UNO restaurant is astounding! They have this multi-colored small rectangles beneath the buffet tables. It complements the wooden floors of the restaurant plus the overall feel of the place. They have great service too (well except for one lady who obviously had a very bad morning hehehe!).

The breakfast buffet is included in the room rates but if you’re not checked in, the fee is at Php 684.75 net per person.

My favorite of all the food items offered in the restaurant is their… CHICKEN! My golly! Believe me when I say that it was perfect! It was marinated & cooked perfectly. I wonder how they did it! I really just wished we had more time to spare because the chicken was too good… Even after a week, I can still feel my enthusiasm as I was eating the dish.

waterfront chicken

Another favorite of mine was the omelette. Well, basically because it was cooked right on the spot. I also love the chef at the cooking station. They were so accommodating and even delivered the omelette to us. There were a variety of omelettes to choose from — mushroom omelette, ham & cheese omelette and omelettes with a variety of ingredients to choose from. Might as well request for a sunny side up or scrambled eggs if you want to. They also have hard boiled eggs for consumption.

omelette waterfront

Just like most hotel buffets, they serve breads..

breads waterfront

Dimsum was also part of the buffet since UNO restaurant serves international buffet…

dimsum waterfront

Orange & Pineapple juice (fresh!)… they also serve coffee & tea at your table..

juice waterfront

Pancakes!! They have generous servings of ingredients/condiments to go with it too..

pancakes waterfront

Other food items in the buffet are sausages, rice, bacon (another fav!), donuts (yes, they had them too!), noodles, vegetables, cereals, fruits, desserts, etc..

waterfront buffet

It was truly a great dining experience. UNO restaurant is really an eye candy. They serve mouth-watering dishes and service is great! It’s cheap too at Php 684.75. I took pictures of each dish & can be found in this Flickr album.

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

Pho Hoa Vietnamese Noodle House

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On April 9, 2010

Pho Hoa Vietnamese Noodle House
Eastwood City Cyberpark, E. Rodriguez Jr. Ave., Bagumbayan, Libis, Quezon City, Metro Manila
(02) 421-2046

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After having our holy week break at Cebu, we got back to Manila & had our lunch at Pho Hoa. I’ve always been very fond of Pho Hoa food because it’s really always perfectly balanced and rich in flavor! Though Pho Hoa is known for their noodles, I’ve always ordered their rice dishes. I’m not a noodle person anyway.

We ordered a lot and even ordered most of their dessert menu items. Not even one dish disappointed us. Wow! I’m actually ranking Pho Hoa higher in my list of most yummiest restaurants after the visit.

Here are what we ordered:

Fruit Shakes (Php 105)

In the picture are dalandan shake, green mango shake & cucumber shake. My order was the cucumber shake and I must say you should try it. I do not eat cucumber but I love the drink a lot! It’s healthy too!

Goi Cuon (Php 127)

Their best-seller starter dish which is a combination of vegetarian & shrimp & pork fresh spring rolls. The peanut sauce is just perfect with it.

Chien Mut Ot (Php 220)

The dish is fried Squid w/ Chili & Green Onions. In short, the vietnamese version of calamares. Still best with vinegar! yum! 😀

Minced Chicken & Mushroom w/ Lettuce Wrap (Php 225)

What kind of food taste better than tacos? For me, it’s this dish! I believe this is a chinese specialty wherein you put chicken & mushroom with fried noodles plus peanut sauce in a lettuce and wrap it. Just eat it like how you would eat any wrap, but perfect and not too heavy because of the lettuce wrap used instead of just more carbs. Tasted sooo yummy!

Dau Dua Xao Tom, Tep (Php 190)

String Beans w/ Ground Pork & Shrimps from Pho Hoa is definitely a favorite of mine to order. I can finish it w/ rice all by myself. I have a big appetite I know but this is just too good to pass up. It’s not your normal string beans but cooked with such spices & ingredients makes it more perfect. It’s cooked perfectly, as can sometimes be the case when other restaurants cook it too long, and it loses a bit of its flavor. In this case, hat’s off to Pho Hoa for a simple yet delicious recipe. Try it out when you go to Pho Hoa. You won’t regret it!

Buco Pandan Salad (Php 95)

Pandan Mongo Cake (Php 55)

This is the dessert that I ordered. And I love it! I don’t know how I can describe the taste but geez I was like “hey, this is delicious!”. I immediately convinced them to try it out too! It’s sticky cake made of pandan and mongo. Great recipe by Pho Hoa. The taste lingers, and this is a dessert that you may even want second portions of. Not too sweet, and your taste buds will really shout for some more.

Mango Crepe w/ Ice Cream (Php 145)

Always a favorite dessert to order in Pho Hoa. The ever-famous Mango crepe w/ Ice cream. Again, the balance in this dessert is what makes it outstanding, along with the great combination of flavors. Not too sweet, nor is the mango overpowering. The bit of chocolate drizzled on top gives it a more appetizing look as well as also giving it that extra flavor too.

Green Pearl w/ Ice Cream (Php 145)

The Green Pearl with ice cream dessert is a nice touch to the otherwise normal halo halo, not too many flavors competing, but oh so great because of its simple flavors. And even the ice cream was above class.

There were just the 4 of us but we were able to finish every single dish that we ordered. It just proved how satisfied we were with the food. Okay, I think raved too much.. Blogging this during lunch time didn’t help too hahahhaa!

I do believe I blogged about Pho Hoa Noodles sometime back though, my post can be found in this link.

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

Shakey’s – Good Food, Bad Service?

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On April 7, 2010

Shakey’s
89 Neptune St., Makati Ave., Makati City, Metro Manila
(02) 890-0903
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Newport City, Unit R11, Newport office Bldg., 1 Andrews Ave., Pasay City
(02) 836-3680

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In a span of 1 week, we visited Shakey’s twice. Mainly because the food is just too good but unfortunately both visits were really a horrible service experience. On our 1st visit, which was at the Makati avenue branch, the ff. mishaps happened:

we were given the wrong variant of pizza
we were given the wrong chicken parts TWICE
didn’t refill promptly our bottomless drinks

On our 2nd visit, which was at the Newport branch, it was even worse. When we entered the place, we asked for a booth, but unfortunately it was still not cleaned and full of dirty dishes. We waited for the table to get cleared for 10 minutes, and I had to ask them three times before they actually started clearing the table itself.

During that time, we weren’t asked for any of our orders or even what we wanted to drink, nor did anyone even bother to look our way. When they finally saw that we were waiting for so long, they finally cleared the table, but not before some new customers came, and they offered the table to them knowing that we’ve been waiting for more than 10 minutes already. I called them out on that, telling them that it was our table they were offering to the other customers. To make things worse, when we got to the table, they didn’t even bother to clean it! They just cleared the plates & stuff. So, the booths were still dirty, the table was still dirty, and a used newspaper was still left on the seat.

When we sat, again nobody bothered to get our orders. We had to call out the server again to take our order.

Another thing, was that I asked for the wifi password but they gave us the wrong password TWICE! Then when I tried to ask another server, she just said she didn’t know what it was and then left. I had to call her out and ask her to ask from her colleagues. Geez! What is Shakey’s doing? No training for their staff?!?!?!

The customer that entered the restaurant 15 minutes after us were seated promptly, their orders taken before ours & order was provided earlier too!

They also delivered the food first without drinks. And when they delivered the drinks, there were about 2 pieces of ice!!! I had to request for more ice. It was just obnoxious! It’s supposed to be iced tea! We were trying to be cool but deep inside, I was already composing this blog article in my mind.

Okay, enough of the rant. Yes, the service was really bad but the food was too good. How ironic is that? With that kind of service, we should already boycott the establishment. The food is just too good that we can’t give it up.. So I’m almost positive, I’ll still go back to eat Shakey’s delicious food. But boy, I’ll be expecting another round of bad service so I have to psyche myself up so it doesnt affect my mood when I dine in at Shakey’s.

On our 1st visit we ordered the ff.:

Basket of Mojos (Php 202)

Shakey’s is nothing without Mojos. Mojos are fried potatoes cooked Shakey’s style. It’s just the best potato snack ever! Can’t get enough of it!

Large Thin-Crust Pizza (Php 298)

Brick-oven backed pizza… we ordered the large one and glad that we can choose 2 flavors in 1 order. We chose the pepperoni crunch & ultimate cheese n garlic (if you noticed, they forgot to put the crunch in the pepperoni crunch).

Buddy Pack Chick ‘n’ Chips (Php 359)

Flavorful chicken by Shakey’s served with a couple of Mojos. Too bad, we can’t choose just the thigh part of the chicken. Seems like they’re following KFC’s lead that we can’t order all thigh parts.

Lemonade (Php 471)/ House Blend Iced Tea (Php 76)

We can order the drinks by glass (lemonade- Php 47, iced tea- Php 60), bottomless or pitcher (lemonade- Php 126, iced tea- Php 136). We opted for the bottomless one.

On our 2nd visit we ordered the Family Meal Deal 1 (Php 549). The meal is good for 3-4 persons but we ordered it anyway even though it was just the 2 of us. Guess what? We were still able to finish everything. That is how much we love Shakey’s food. I really really hope they work on their customer service though, because the dining experience is as important as the food.

The meal includes the ff.:

Solo Pack Chick ‘n’ Chips

Large Thin Crust Manager’s Choice

11-inches pizza that is good for 3-4 persons. Shakey’s thin-crusted pizza is really the best out there. I’m not fond of pizza but I’m willing to eat Shakey’s pizza anytime.

1 Pitcher of House-Blend Iced Tea

See the volume of ice in the cups? We had to request for more ice. Their house-blended iced tea was good.

Shakey’s food & marketing are already perfect. I hope they do something about their service. I’m still craving for Shakey’s food, must resist!

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

Cantonese Soup Kitchen

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On March 30, 2010

Cantonese Soup Kitchen
Unit-C 847 Banawe corner Linao Street, Quezon City
(02) 743-5249

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I remembered how satisfied I was with the food when I first visited Cantonese Soup Kitchen last year. At the back of my mind, I knew that I would go back eventually. When I got the invite to participate in a bloggers event for Cantonese Soup Kitchen, I couldn’t say no. I was even walking like a handicap coz my right foot was still recently fractured. Can’t say no to delicious food, that’s just me :D:D

We ordered almost everything on the menu that I ended up so full. I just tried each dish but wasn’t able to eat a lot. Just seeing all the food on the table can already satisfy not just your eyes but also your stomach.

Here is what we sampled (it was too many!):

Sibot with Duck Soup (Php 195)

My mom has been cooking this soup when I was a kid. Though most kids dislike this dish, I, on the other hand, love it!! As in love it! 😀 So when I saw this in the menu of Cantonese Soup Kitchen, I had to order. This very healthy soup is good for energy & strengthening the immune system. Delicious!! I want more soup!

Chicken with Wintermelon & Ham Soup (Php 165)

Beautifully served soup in a coconut shell. There was no buko inside though 😛

Special Cantonese Soup Kitchen Soup (Php 220)

Fried Spring Rolls

Hot Shrimp Salad (Php 250)

Not to confuse you but hot shrimp salad serves as appetizer. Yummy yummy!

Sliced Beef Kenchi (Php 240)

The Beef Kenchi was just soo tasty! I wish I could have eaten more but there were about 10 of us sharing the dish so I just took 1. 😛

Yang Chow Fried Rice (Php 170)

Seafood Fried Rice (Php 190)

I liked this better than the Yang Chow 🙂

Spinach with 2 Kinds of Egg in Hotpot (Php 200)

Steamed Fish Fillet with Japanese Tofu (Php 230)

Another favorite dish in Cantonese Soup Kitchen. Perfectly seasoned fish with Japanese tofu. A must-order when you visit the restaurant.

Garlic Burst Spareribs (Php 190)

This has always been my favorite dish to order whenever I visit chinese restaurants. Perfect when dipped in vinegar.

Satay Seafood Sotanghon in Hotpot (Php 250)

I overheard Ro commenting that this is like the crab with sotanghon but instead of crabs, they served it with assorted seafood. This actually tasted good especially when newly served.

Beef Broccoli w/ Oyster Sauce (Php 240)

Almond Fish Gelatin (Php 80)

This beautifully designed dish is actually gelatin. It wasn’t that tasty. You would actually feel bad getting a portion of it coz of the poor fish :P:P

Black & White Gulaman (Php 60)

Mango Sago (Php 55)

Love how they presented this dish. Too bad I wasn’t able to taste it as I had to rush off for an office late night call 🙁

Buchi

Pear w/ Apple Shake (Php 65) & Yoghurt w/ Mango Shake (Php 85)

Milk Aroma Oolong (Php 59)

This is like the usual milk tea but this time it’s served hot. You could taste that it’s natural coz they used fresh tea leaves.

Floral Bloom Tea (Php 59)

This is like the star of the night. We were all in awe as we watched the seed bloom as water was poured. Amazing! We were staring at the glass for good 5 minutes just to see how it transformed. I took a video. Enjoy the scene!

If you happen to drop by Quezon City, I would suggest you go give Cantonese Soup Kitchen a try. Their food is delicious, very nicely plated & healthy too! I posted the rest of the pictures in my Flickr account, please do check it out.

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

Uno Pizzeria Restaubar

Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On March 26, 2010

Uno Pizzeria Restaubar
Bay Strip, SM Mall of Asia, SM Central Business Park, Bay Center, Pasay City, Metro Manila
(02) 401-6879

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Last weekend, we were invited to sample the dishes in Uno Pizzeria Restaubar. When I entered Uno Pizzeria, I immediately concluded that it was more of a bar than a restaurant. I almost wanted to change venues as I’m not the drinking type & it was still early (7pm).

Good thing, my friend Tisha was there & together w/ the manager, they graciously accomodated us. Tisha then shared with me the history of Uno Pizzeria Restaubar. While Uno Pizzeria is already a successful bar, they wanted to market the place as a good dining place too.

Uno Pizzeria dishes are made with all natural, organic & local ingredients which is good as more and more people are becoming health-conscious. So you won’t feel guilty when you eat their food, healthy & delicious.

While we waited for our order, we were served garlic bread. I also started to observe the place. It has the playing card theme with red, white & black as primary colors of the restaubar. They have an in-house DJ playing pop music with monitors showing the music video of the song being played. They were playing Madonna songs while we were there hehehe (80s music!).

onion bread uno pizzeria

We had the ff. dishes:

Four Season all in one Pizza (Php 494)

What’s the point of going to a pizzeria if you’re not going to try their pizza? We tried their signature pizza, four seasons. It is an all-in-one pizza with 4 flavors namely Ruby Ribs, Baja’s Finest, Seafood Pizza & Tandori Chicken & Mango. I like the Tandori chicken the best 🙂

Ruby Ribs (Php 398)

I super loved this dish. I finished the ribs even though there was way too much food to eat. It is rare that I get to bite into ribs that are tender, I appreciate this much! Ruby Ribs as Uno Pizzeria calls it is baby back ribs slowly roasted & served with honey bourbon sauce. You must order this when you visit Uno Pizzeria.

Buffalo Wings (Php 212)

I’m not fond of buffalo wings but admittedly, I liked Uno Pizzeria’s version. According to Nick, this is like the filipino version of buffalo wings coz it’s sweet. Very tasty dish, I liked it!

Uno’s Shrimp Scampi (Php 292)

I love shrimps! Any dishes with shrimps, it’ll definitely get my attention. This dish is pasta with shrimps cooked with wine. It was yummy but I wish it wasn’t that dry though but still a decent dish.

Halo Halo Special (Php 100)

We stayed inside the restaurant but Uno Pizzeria also has area outside. There are bands playing everyday from 8pm to 2:30am. During weekends, they extend to 4am sometimes. Aside from being able to listen to live music, customers can also enjoy the natural breeze & view of the manila bay.

live band uno pizzeria

I took several pictures of Uno Pizzeria Restaubar & it can be found on my flickr account. Check it out 🙂

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