Rochkirstin | com

Author: Rochkirstin Santos-Sioco

  • Review of C2 Classic Cuisine Philippines (Robinsons Place, Manila)

    Review of C2 Classic Cuisine Philippines (Robinsons Place, Manila)

    If you’re curious about what constitutes redesigned and refreshing Filipino cuisine, you can check out C2 Classic Cuisine Philippines. Taking its literal name, this restaurant offers everyday classic Filipino comfort food, operated by the Cravings Food Services Inc. You can celebrate anything here with your family and friends (especially foreigners) who want an innovated taste of the Filipino culture.

    We often do pass by one of its branches every time we go to Robinsons Place, Manila. Last Sunday, when Louie bought us tickets to the Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013 movie), he received a C2 Classic Cuisine voucher (free Sotanghon Guisado worth PHp 265) over the counter as well as a Red Mango coupon (buy one take one promotion). 😉

    So before the movie, we had dinner at C2 Classic Cuisine. Let’s see how it fared on my test here.

    Review of C2 Classic Cuisine Philippines (Robinsons Place, Manila)

    Ambiance: ★★★★☆

    The ambiance did not represent the customary Filipino restaurants such as those of Cabalen and Kamayan, but I liked the interior design and the orderliness of the space. The ceiling was designed with swirls of lights and spotlights that brought an orange glow on the orange-and-brown theme.

    Service:★☆☆☆☆

    For customer service, I give only one star for the waiter who served us free appetizers while waiting for our orders.

    Beyond that though, the waiting staffs were not awesome. They missed our calling every time we raised our hands up high and every time we called “Miss” or “Mister” out loud. (Maybe it was Piolo Pascual’s fault as he was singing live on the background and people were screaming at the top of their lungs for him.)

    But that should not be an excuse for them to ignore dining customers! Apparently, they were having dinner at that time, in one table, altogether. How sweet. 😯 They should have found a way to get a door (since the restaurant had no door) or gate to close when they are not free to entertain guests. When it was time to request for the bill, Louie just stood up to approach them. (They all turned their backs on customers.) What if we just walked out without paying on purpose for them to learn their lesson?

    In sum, I am not exaggerating when I say they had a lack of attentiveness. Their minds were in their own little micro-bubble within a bubble within an even tinier bubble.

    Food: ★★★☆☆

    Beautifully presented, in a tidy square plate that’s almost too pretty to touch, the Sweet and Sour Fish (PHp 385) featured a generous helping of fish fillet smothered with sweet and sour sauce with bell peppers and thinly sliced carrots. The fish fillet was slightly crisp on the outside and succulent on the inside. The flavors of the vegetables meddled together nicely.

    Another appealing dish was the free one we got from the voucher as mentioned: Sotanghon Guisado. I thought it would be dry but it turned out to be soft and smooth. It was made of rice noodles cooked in soy sauce and chicken stock with chicken strips, local vegetables, peanuts and topped with scrambled eggs.

    C2 had us licking the plates clean. Not literally, though—because that would be a frigging embarrassing act! Also, we got super full after finishing almost 3/4 of the food.

    Price for Value: ★★☆☆☆

    Prices of the dishes on the menu range from PHp 300-500 in average. I thought I can eat more palatable food in other restaurants offering similar dishes. Simply put, these two stars mean: Go if you’re in the mood. It’s good, but there’s nothing special.

    C2 Classic Cuisine Robinsons Place, Manila
    G/F Robinsons Place Manila, Midtown Wing,
    Adriatico St cor Pedro Gil Ermita, Manila
    Contact Number: (02) 567-2402

    Other branches:
    Summit Ridge Hotel Tagaytay
    Cravings Center Katipunan: 426-6681 to 87
    18 Missouri St. Northeast Greenhills, San Juan City: (632) 723-2347
    Shangri-La Mall: 636-1510
    SM Megamall: 470-1149
    Robinsons Midtown: 567-2402

  • Review of Paris Delice (Makati Avenue)

    Review of Paris Delice (Makati Avenue)

    Every day busy, busy every day.

    That’s probably the line I’ll tag to myself since I have not gotten enough rest recently. When I have free time for myself, I would rather spend it relaxing over a quiet meal with friends, chill out in a library (or bookstore), or sleep than indulge in hours partying for freedom and screaming with loud company. And I think Aldous had just spent this perfect time to chill with a great company of bloggers last Thursday.

    They went to Paris Delice for an event that got them focused only on food, drinks and conversation. Me: envious. 🙄 I personally have not been to Paris Delice in Makati, but judging from their dining experience, I think their dishes must have met the lunchtime standard served promptly with care to customers.

    The following is a guest post by Aldous Calubad, my co-blogger and writer at SEO Hacker and When in Manila, sharing his review of Paris Delice:

    Paris Delice offers freshly baked bread, getting daily deliveries from France. Their bread is half-baked there, then it is baked again here in the Philippines for total satisfaction. 😉

    Event host Chef Al Laine De Leon is the head chef of the restaurant and also the manager at the same time. Mr. Thibault Daniel, one of the restaurant owners, greeted us and served us with grace—always asking if we needed anything and how the food was.

    Review of Paris Delice (Makati Avenue)

    Ambiance: ★★★★★

    The restaurant has the ambiance of a coffee shop and it provides high speed Internet access for those looking to spend time here.  A lot of people don’t know it is actually a French fast food restaurant because customers can drop by and buy only bread.

    Service: ★★★☆☆

    The servers failed to ask us if we needed anything.  They just did their job in serving the food to us.  Perhaps, they are not used to seeing customers who drop by and order a lot of food so I can forgive them for that.

    Food: ★★★★★

    First, we were served two kinds of soup: Cream of Tomato Soup and French Onion Soup.  One of the bloggers found her French onion soup a bit salty, so she didn’t finish it. Anyway, I think that is quite normal for that soup.

    Next, we were given salads including French Salad, Pinoy Salad, Roma Salad and Tagaytay Salad.  I had the Tagaytay Salad and chose the classic Caesar dressing. The other salad dressings available were Raspberry, Balsamic and Asian.

    Two long sandwiches headed our way, namely: L’Europeen (ham & cheese) and L’Atlantic (salmon). I have to say their specialty really is their bread which made all the sandwiches delicious.

     Then came four big plates of pastas: Chicken Curry Pasta, Poulet Au Pistou, Bolognaise and Aragula-Chevre. I chose the Chicken Curry pasta and I noticed it was not spicy which was good. All other bloggers enjoyed their picks likewise.

    The final serving contained breads and pastries but the other bloggers were too full to even notice that.  I noticed the croissant though and I just could not resist tasting that because I love croissants.  I must say their croissant is a must try.

    I also got to try their Nutella Beignet and it is like a cream puff with nutella inside. That was one bread I enjoyed and it is perfect for dessert.

    Price for Value: ★★★★☆

    The store closes at 7:30 in the evening and they have a 40% sale on their breads starting at 7PM.  That is such a huge giveaway given the fact that it is not yet that late to be giving away their breads at such a handsome price.

    I highly recommend this French themed restaurant if you are a big fan of bread. I would love to come back because I saw they also have quiches that we did not get to taste.

    Paris Delice
    1 Juno Street, corner Makati Avenue, Makati City
    For inquiries, call 09173157667

  • 5 Steps on How to Streamline Your Fashion Wardrobe

    5 Steps on How to Streamline Your Fashion Wardrobe

    Every so often when I have the time, I dedicate about two hours to streamline our wardrobe. Since my sister and I share one giant cabinet of clothes, sometimes the piles get messy. While there should be a dividing line between casual wear and office attire for us to easily choose clothes every morning before showering, we hadn’t spared any time to decide on how to organize and set this up. Last weekend, mom called me to segregate those clothes we can donate to charity/church. I felt it was a great timing for me to streamline our wardrobe as well.

    Because my sister was not home, I had the sheer liberty to “throw away” those I think don’t fit us anymore. Also, I came up with some the following rules which can be helpful to you as well. Note that these tips cover not only clothes but also shoes, accessories, bags and other garment.

    5 Steps on How to Streamline Your Fashion Wardrobe

    1. Get rid of torn pieces.

    This sounds too basic but I sense that many people still keep their favorite old shirts after it has been damaged for so long. If you see fading, apparition of holes and other signs of wear and tear, eliminate the clothing as you will less likely to wear it in public anyway. If you cherish it much and it can be worn comfortably at home, then maybe you can stock it up in the sleeping attire section.

    2. Don’t hold on to items which you have not worn in the past six months.

    This is except if it’s a classic vintage material that you can pass down even to your next generation. But the rest of the clothes you haven’t worn for so long a time are only collecting dust, getting ready for deterioration and taking space in your closet.

    These are perhaps clothes that you bought because they were the last pieces on the sale rack you’ve been saving for a special occasion. If it’s for the wedding of your four-year-old brother, then passing it on to others would be a safe decision. Make 2013 the year you set them free at last!

    3. Do away with clothes which are not your size.

    You saw a really pretty dress in a store. Unfortunately, they don’t have it in your size. Desperately, you still bought it thinking you will achieve your dream body figure. High-five for that positive thinking. The sad thing is that it didn’t happen.

    So here is the mantra you should live by: Don’t ever get clothes that do not flatter your figure, even if they come with cheap price tags. Instead of online shopping, go to the physical store and try the clothes on. Forget relying on the size written on the label and go with your instincts. Do you see that it fit perfectly right? Have a critical evaluation when you look at yourself in the mirror.

    If you currently have those items that don’t fit well, do not have second thoughts on donating them. Do it fast and trust me, you’ll feel great.

    4. Organize what’s left.

    After eliminating everything that needs to be eliminated, the next step is to organize the rest of the clothing that passed your tests. In this part, you can follow these arrangements: by color, by category or by outfit. To make them look better as a whole, get good-quality hangers and closet organizers for hard-to-hang items.

    5. Shop for missing or required items.

    This is the really fun part! Now that you’ve streamlined your wardrobe, you probably realize you need a few key staples. With your new system in place, you know exactly what to buy!

    In this case, I need…
    (1) A purse that is not black – I’m thinking of a snakeskin minaudie`re, a tangerine-hued clutch or a tasseled fuchsia satchel.
    (2) A little black dress that I can always feel great in regardless of the the party guest list
    (3) A neon-colored pencil skirt, jacket, dress, bracelet or bauble that brightens an otherwise all-black outfit

    On second thought, I changed my mind! I’ll just save some more bucks for the car. Holy Camoly, it’s quite expensive leh. 😯

    Anyway, hope you keep these steps in mind. Don’t worry, there won’t be a quiz afterwards, but hopefully, there will be dinner. 😀

    Do you have suggestions on how to streamline your wardrobe? You’re welcome to educate me in the comments.

  • How to Take Good Pictures of Your Food Using the iPhone Camera

    How to Take Good Pictures of Your Food Using the iPhone Camera

    Since the onset of smartphones with cameras and playful photo-sharing apps like Instagram and Facebook, especially ones with high-definition resolution, more and more people choose to take photos of their food before eating rather than clasp their hands together and say words of prayers. I bet that most of us still thank the lord for the food we eat, but what’s more rampant now is this trend of food snapshots to proliferate in social media after it’s served.

    I myself is guilty of this! 😀 I don’t care about the weird looks of the wait staff and other dining customers on me whenever I use my iPhone cam to shoot something nice inside the restaurant. I write food reviews as a hobby and intend to help my friends and readers choose where they can pig out next for best food selections.

    In this post, I will talk about tips on how to take good pictures of food using your iPhone camera:

    1. Don’t zoom in.

    Apparently, zooming in will cause the picture to blur. So just get closer to the plate or the food to have a clearer version of the shot. You can take as many tries as you want and stop only when you achieved what you think is acceptable. You can be creative and take it from below or take it on the sides or other unusual angles!

    As a kind etiquette, don’t forget to say sorry to your date or whoever is with you at the dining table, when you stop them first from taking a bite until you’ve photographed your plate for posterity. 😛 You never know, he/she may be converted to a narcissistic food iPhone photographer as well! An exaggerated ending would be that both of you are still taking photos of the food without noticing that it’s already gotten cold.

    2. Tap to focus.

    Notice the square thing that appears when you tap the screen when your phone is on camera mode? When you take a shot, you will normally see this to achieve a macro focus that gives the illusion of depth of field. The background becomes blurry, while the quality of clarity of the object on focus becomes more defined.

    3. Move into the light.

    Obviously you won’t catch a great photo when you’re in a dark place. If you’re using iPhone 4, 4s or the iPhone 5, you can use the built-in flash. However, the quality is better when you’re under either artificial or natural lighting without the flash. Just find a light source and move your plate there to take the photo.

    ** Enhancement **

    Personally, I use the following applications to enhance the photos I take. They are as follows, with links to iTunes (if you want to try downloading them as well). Notice that some of them are paid apps now, but I got them when they new in iTunes and they can be installed for free. So lucky me! 😀

    1. InstaCollage Pro – Pic Frame & Pic Caption for Instagram FREE – Free
    2. Photo Wonder – Free
    3. Panorama 360° Camera – $1.99
    4. Poly Frame – $0.99
    5. Line Camera – Free
    6. InstaFrame+ – $0.99
    7. Vintique – $0.99
    8. Slow Camera Shutter Plus PRO FREE – Free
    9. Blux Camera Pro – $0.99
    10. Camera 360 Ultimate – Free
    11. Camera360 Concept – HelloCamera – $0.99
    12. Mr. Chiizu ~ Photo Decoration With Artists – Free

    Wrap Up

    DSLR and SLR cameras are still the way to go when you want to capture really fine-looking photos you can keep and be proud about for life. But if you’re not keen in bringing heavy equipment around, you can use your iPhone camera (or any smartphone camera) and take good photographs anyway. With practice and application of the the many appropriate enhancement filters and editing options available in the smartphone apps, surely you can make your pictures be really presentable.

    Do you have other suggestions to improve taking of food pictures? I’d love to hear your thoughts. 😆

  • Thoughts on the Facebook Graph Search

    Thoughts on the Facebook Graph Search

    Last January 15, 2013, Facebook has announced its newly “cooked meal,” after the Facebook Timeline. I bet many will shout their criticisms out versus Facebook again, for the continuous updates released over the years. The Facebook community has been stunned when the Facebook Timeline first came out. Probably mostly of resistance to change, many had expressed their dislikes but still use Facebook anyway.

    Now, are you ready for Facebook’s Graph Search?

    Since last week, Facebook’s Graph Search has been getting all the buzz from users. Like the Facebook Timeline, Facebook selects users who want to try out this new “gimmick” and invite them to conduct the initial pilot testing. These users are encouraged to provide their comments – both positive and negative are accepted.

    As an active member of this social networking site, I already sent a request to Facebook to enlist me as one of the first to experience this new Graph Search (in beta).

    I expect that interface will be affected a lot, and people would have to re-learn how to use Facebook. Another anticipation is that through the Facebook Graph Search, anyone can have visibility on every user-generated data made on Facebook. And every information posted can be combined with another from the same person, to interpret those pieces and show a meaningful conclusion.

    While this will definitely useful for digital marketers and entrepreneurs to know more about the backgrounds of their potential leads and target market, this might pose harm to private individuals who use Facebook profusely without the intention of showcasing all their “secrets” to “dangerous cyberstalkers.”

    As a user, you don’t need to ask your friends for their opinions on what books to read, what their recommended movies are or what things to buy. Since the Facebook database inputs all these information, you can easily access them (if shown to Friends) by searching through the “graph.” As a business owner, this is great to expand your market and increase traffic to your website. Note that Facebook Graph Search is not made to be a competitor to Google, Yahoo or other search engines as it only presents input from Facebook users’ profiles.

    One may argue that even without the advent of this new tool, Facebook is one huge sea of cyberstalkers anyway. Because it does not show “Who Has Viewed My Profile,” it gives people more confidence to search and read through profiles of others more frequently. End result? Cyberstalking became the least deviant behavior.

    Do expect that the results of the Graph Search will be dominated by shares and likes of your friends who are perpetually online and those who post status updates incessantly whose attention span can match those of hamsters. Information presented would mostly consist of people’s interests and experiences, businesses or events visited by your friends and media and entertainment liked or watched by them.

    To know more about reviews of trusted sites, check these out: CNet, Forbes, Venture Beat, and Tech Crunch.

    Here are some more screen shots of a demo searching friends who studied at DLSU:

  • Beyond the Icing in the Cake, I Dream of 5 Alternative Careers

    Beyond the Icing in the Cake, I Dream of 5 Alternative Careers

    Whenever we have family members celebrating their birthdays, we come together to the house of our grandparents to have lunch or dinner, chat, celebrate, etc. While the list of activities changes from year to year, the last thing we do before we say goodbye and return to our respective homes is sing the “Happy Birthday” song, cut the cake and eat it.

    I remember too well that when I was little, I have always have wanted to get the flowers on top or the icing in the cake for myself. I would dip in my pointing finger and surrender to happiness whilst enjoying the sweetness of the icing.

    Through the years though, I find myself liking the substance of the cake more than the mere icing. This is where I’ll relate this to these representations:

    Icing = Online World
    Substance = Real World

    It seems like only yesterday when I joined Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social networking sites…and started blogging. Fast forward to now, I have over a thousand friends and followers in FB and TW and hundreds in the rest. Yet I don’t feel quite enough. I get swept up in the icings of my life, which are composed of beautiful images and their promises of perfection then almost forget all I have learned from my real-world experiences.

    For sure, it’s not only me who thinks this way. Many people tell their stories more online than they do in real life, hence barely expressing themselves in actuality.

    Like a real IT geek, I seem to prefer the online world rather than the real world—and I know this should not be the case. I feel like my life can be something more when I get to deal with real-life people do real-life events. But how can I correct this when I stay about 11 hours at work facing the computer and use my laptop again at home to work on my other projects and business-related tasks that I need to finish?

    To save myself from sticking with the online community too much and give it a break, I envision to live a life having a different career.

    My 5 Dream Alternative Careers

    1. School Disciplinarian

    Through Kindergarten to high school to the present times , I look up to Mr. Yu, Uno High School‘s disciplinarian, for being able to take a great deal of time and effort in monitoring everybody’s behavior in school. I’m proud to say that I have graduated from this prestigious high school not only learning from all the lessons taught in class but also embracing the discipline and values Mr. Yu has shared and administered. Like him, I want to be able to stay in an environment I love, be an inspiration, earn people’s respect and mingle with them sans being online. 🙂

    2. Theater Arts Dancer

    Dancing and working out are two of my most favorite activities. They are much more than a sport, as they require the right amount of talent, confidence, and patience for the craft. Being accepted as a member of a professional theater arts group would be a dream come-true for me. Be it performing ballet, jazz, swing, hip hop, break-dance, pointe, or modern, I can be out of the computer doing my own sharp and graceful moves throughout the day.

    3. Celebrity Hairdresser

    It’s funny that I used to be that girl who hated makeup and doing hairstyles other than the usual bun, ponytail, simple braid and curls. But when I started watching YouTube videos last year inspired by the Singaporeans who love makeup and dressing up, I became so fascinated with the things we can do beautify and improve how people look. I wanted to try all sorts of colors, textures, lashes and shapes to people’s faces and make them look amazing.

    So I thought that with flexible hours, becoming a celebrity hairdresser at the center of the beauty industry is a career I think is fun and rewarding. It’s one recession-proof job that can touch the lives of endless number of people. I can meet celebrities, attend events with them for free, work with a fashion or movie set and even go traveling around the world for projects. On slow days, I can always have lots of gossip to keep myself busy! Nyahaha 😛

    4. Pastry Chef

    Being a pastry chef requires much persistence and patience in the kitchen, I know. Even if I’m not into baking, I do love eating baked goodies and pastries, and I think I can be good at making them myself when I subscribe to commitment. I thought smelling the aroma of food from starters or appetizers, snacks to desserts every day and living completely tech-free would be good. I could also make people happy, feeding them sweets to brighten up their mood anytime.

    5. Dubber

    I’m not gifted with a good singing voice but I can totally use different voices to dub characters on TV, radio, music videos and other shows. The good thing about being a dubber is that I don’t have to memorize scripts as I won’t be the actor facing the camera. Additionally, I don’t have to use my brain cells to create my lines as they will just be given to me. I don’t have to work hard on my looks to please audiences either, as I stay only at the back projecting for voice-overs. Yet I can be an instant star when people find out that I’m the voice behind a popular cartoon character or main cast of a non-Filipino television series.

    Wrap Up

    While these fantasies sound great to me, I believe or make myself believe and so people do believe as well that I’m good at what I do now. And so I cannot escape from being what I have presently become. I love my job(s) and if ever I would go for those five figures above, I can just mess up in a hundred ways and I can go broke.

    But what if I succeed? 😆

    If you have read until this far, I thank you for your time and ask you to also think about the alternative careers you dream about. And before you leave this page, contemplate on this note: “Until you live out the things that you profess to believe, they are only so many things in your head.” Hopefully, we can then break out from tasting only the “icing in the cake.”

  • Review of Mangan (SM North EDSA)

    Review of Mangan (SM North EDSA)

    Mangan is a Pampangan restaurant, related to Cabalen. In Ilocos, Pampanga and Pangasinan, “mangan” means “eat.” For Cantonese like us, “mangan” or 眼盲 means “blind.” That’s why when I first learned of this restaurant years back, I wondered why the owner branded the restaurant with such a negative connotation.

    Current branches of Mangan are in Robinsons Place, Manila; Robinsons Galleria; SM Mall of Asia, Pasay; and SM North EDSA.

    Review of Mangan (SM North EDSA)

    Ambiance: ★★★★☆

    Though Mangan offers traditional home-cooked meals, it projects such a modern ambiance. When we stepped inside, we were rapt with the white plates displayed on the opposite walls as design, while the longer wall imitated a shelf filled with mock violet books.

    Elegant chandeliers provided the bright blaze of light valued by diners. The entire rectangular area of the restaurant can have room for about 70 people (yes, we counted the chairs).

    Service: ★★☆☆☆

    Except for giving us free fritters, the rest of Mangan’s customer service was devastating.

    Mangan partnered with BDO credit card for BDO credit card users to avail of Mangan’s promo: buy the bistig bangus belly and get another dish worth PHp 220 or lower for free. You can also buy a dish with a higher price tag but you need to pay for the excess amount (more than pHp 220) later.

    Mom inquired about the deal, and the waitress at the entrance corrected us with her own version. She said we needed to dine in and purchase at least PHp 1000 worth of food from them before we can have the free dish worth of PHp 220 or lower. My mother insisted on what she knew (according to what’s written on the voucher) and asked the girl to confirm the thing with her superior. After a few minutes, the waitress returned and admitted that her belief was according the old promotion they had and not this ongoing one we were referring to.

    Second encounter was the wrong order the waiter served, which I could probably blame on the name of the restaurant. Mangan, right? Does this actually mean the waiter was not able to clearly see what he wrote on the paper where he listed our orders? Instead of placing the lengua caldereta on our table, he mistakenly gave us lengua with button mushrooms (sauteed slices soft boiled ox tongue with lavish creamy mushroom sauce and hefty mushroom).

    I thought they just had a different kind of caldereta (brown, not orange) and even turned to Mom to argue my point. 😛 However, when Mom tried it, she immediately knew it really wasn’t what she wanted to have. So the apologetic staff couldn’t do anything but change it to the right one.

    Third fault was another wrong order served by another waiter. He gave us the glass of regular halo-halo instead of our actual order, the special kind. Whoa! What’s happening here? They were all careless. Not to mention customers were not that many for us to tolerate their sloppiness.

    After giving us the right desserts, my sister asked for two extra spoons for my mom and me (since we would share the halo-halo). The waiter gave us only one and walked away! ‘哇佬耶!

    So this branch should not only stick with the name “Mangan” or blind but should also affix “Jilung” or 耳聾 which means deaf. 哎喲! 🙄

    Food: ★★★★☆

    Filipinos of any province or region are typically known to be good cooks. And Kapampangans are no exception. Their cooking prowess made them win the reputation for being creative at the forefront of culinary wizardry. That’s why when we learned that Mangan is Kapampangan, we really set our expectations up high.

    Mangan did not fail to meet that level of expectation. As much as it offers a variety of meaty dishes, it also has plenty of selections for vegetarians and seafood-lovers. So we ordered: jasmine rice (PHp 31), tofu sisig (PHp 100), bistig bangus belly (PHp 220), lengua caldereta (PHp 220) and special halo-halo (PHp 128).

    Absolutely free of meat, the tofu sisig was well served without burnt portions stuck on the hot plate. We just pinched one calamansi for it to taste better and mixed it with rice.

    The second course was lengua caldereta, made of soft-boiled ox tongue, garlic, crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, potatoes, red and green bell peppers. I can’t believe I ate a piece of lengua! 😯 (Huhu, eww…) Texture was soft and not spongy as I imagined. The potatoes in the caldereta were too solid and hard to chew on. There was not enough time to boil them, perhaps.

    The pictures below show the wronged lengua order…

    Next we had the fish fare. Because there’s a stable supply of milk fish in Pampangga rivers, locals have tons of resources to experiment cooking with inventiveness and versatility. Mangan reflected on this and included several variants of fish on their menu. Aside from the item we had, there are the likes of sinigang na bangus sa bayabas, kinilaw na bangus, bangus a la pobre and bangus salpicao.

    Anyway, the bistig bangus belly was just one among the many results of their intrinsic talent. The central part had the belly fat which was sinful and delicious. The accompanying sauce was flavorful, both salty and sweet.

    Finally, we punctuated our meal with dessert. The special halo-halo contained a mix of all the following: a dollop of ube ice cream, leche flan, macapuno, banana and mongo beans with smoothly shaved ice. Every spoonful made us experience one to two seconds of brain freeze. Its sweetness was acceptable though we can add more syrup if we wanted to.

    Price for Value: ★★★★☆

    All dishes were almost drool-worthy and they had affordable prices to match. Once tasted, twice satisfied!

    Menu:

  • Review of Manos Greek Taverna (SM Mall of Asia, Pasay)

    Review of Manos Greek Taverna (SM Mall of Asia, Pasay)

    One mention of my office mate that there’s a newly opened Greek restaurant in MOA last month and I was thrilled to go in and try. It has been over a year since I had Greek cuisine on my plate, so I went with my girl friends from DLSU to hang out a bit and have lunch at Manos Greek Taverna or Manos Greek Tavern (just beside Sbarro).

    Bit of Insight: Upon hearing “Taverna,” I thought of Anthony Taberna (a.k.a. “Ka Tunying”), a broadcast journalist in ABS-CBN. Then I researched what the word actually means: taverna is a a small, unpretentious café or restaurant in Greece. Now we know!

    The idea of building up this restaurant materialized when Manos Sapountzakis and his Filipino wife, Estrella, thought of opening an eatery where both Filipino and Greek people can enjoy Greek cuisine.

    Esterella was a great cook back in Greece where they lived for 20 years, so she’s not a newbie in terms of cooking delicious Greek food. Supporting her was Manos as the host who greeted and served customers in their dining experience.

    The first branch of Manos Greek Taverna in the Philippines was founded in 2005. It is located at Calamba Road in the greater Tagaytay area. Now we don’t have to go road-tripping and travel that far. If you’re in the city, find yourself a spot in Manos Greek Taverna, MOA and you can go shopping afterwards!

    Review of Manos Greek Taverna (SM Mall of Asia, Pasay)

    Ambiance: ★★★☆☆

    Call me killjoy but I really did not sense the “Greek-ness” of Manos Greek Taverna as the interior walls were painted only in white and fixtures were covered with white and blue sheets as any other ordinary restaurant could have.

    Yes, the rustic atmosphere was there but I thought it was only the Greek instrumental music that helped in reinforcing the tradition. Lights were badly dimmed reflecting blue shades, making me feel sleepier than excited to eat.

    Service: ★★★☆☆

    Service was okay but staff were not so service-oriented. There were only two active tables at that time so I could not have a better judgement.

    Food: ★★★☆☆

    As an appetizer, we had tzatziki dip (PHp 150) with three pieces of heated pita bread. If you’re not familiar, tzatziki is a Greek and Turkish meze that is made of strained yoghurt, mixed with cucumbers, garlic, salt and olive oil.

    Wraps are my favorite version of “fast food or snack.” So when I read that Manos has vegetarian shawarmas on their menu, I felt excited to have a platter full of different ingredients which I can wrap with the pita bread. Actually the vegetable shawarma came in two variants. I went for Vegetable Shawarma 2 (PHp 195), following the waitress’ recommendation. It costs the same as the shawarma#1 and even have more ingredients such as cauliflowers, lettuce (which tasted somewhat like basil), potato fries, tomatoes, cucumber, olives, feta cheese, and tzatziki.

    With all these savory classics, this vegetarian dish is not one that will make you feel so stuffed that you can’t walk straight to the front door. As it contained no MSG and preservatives, it will just leave you feeling refreshed after having a fairly healthy meal. Every ingredient had its distinct taste that was not overpowering the other. I do recommend this dish for those who desire detoxification in their diet. But expect it not to be any tastier than your regular food.

    Price for Value: ★★☆☆☆

    Admittedly, I am a very picky eater and I look at the ingredients and setting of the place foremost to rate the price for value. This meal has its good points but it does not deserve to be a total winner. My friends ordered pasticcio (baked macaroni, minced beef, bechamel sauce with Parmesan cheese) (PHp 255) and Kototpoulou Fournou (oven-baked chicken legs with potato fournou) (PHp 385).

    I tasted a bit of both and felt that more content and specialty in taste should be added, else a reduction in price is definitely needed.

    Menu: