Category: Quezon City

Ever since having my first taste of xiao long bao at Din Tai Fung in Singapore, I have yearned to taste them at restaurants that really specialize in making the soup dumplings. My colleagues apparently have the same love for these juicy steamed buns. One day after work, we came to Tien Ma’s Taiwanese Cuisine in Libis, Quezon City with the main goal of trying out their XLB. Fortunately, this restaurant is just a couple of blocks away from our office.

Review of Tien Ma’s Taiwanese Cuisine (Libis, Quezon City)

Ambiance: ★★★★☆

Class, pattern, color—Tien Ma has it all. The interior design is quite focused on the modern Asian look, offering a funkier alternative to more traditional Chinese restaurants in the metro. Minimalist decor and bright spaces are most appreciated. Chairs are cozy and the arrangement of tables on the side create an essential volume of area at the center and the perfect ambiance of elegant celebration. Nothing was oddly out of proportion.

Service: ★★★☆☆

Service was efficient but not friendly.

We have been eyeing on the steamed xiao long bao (R1) on the menu, but for some reason, I mistakenly ordered the fried xiao long bao (R2). Whoops! We couldn’t just have it exchanged since it was already served, and it would be bad to push the blame on the service attendant. Fault acknowledged. The thing that was not so pleasant was the way the order-taker motioned to our table confronting us on the issue in an “in-your-face” manner without subtlety. No regretful face, no smile. I felt somewhat attacked. 🙁

Food: ★★★☆☆

So it was Fried Xiao Long Bao (PhP 200) then. We were excited anyway since it was our first time to taste the fried version of XLB. Made with stretchy wheat dough, the bun had a juicy and tasty meat filling. The best part was the crispy, crunchy, fried bottom of each dumpling. We were surprised to find that it still had soup inside we could slurp. Despite that it was fried, it did not end up saturating the dumpling walls. Yummy!

Hot Prawn Salad (PhP 200) is one of my favorite dishes of all time. Fried with a thin batter, the prawns were sweet, crunchy, and moist all at once. The creamy sauce accompanied with fruit cocktail was quite refreshing. The rainbow sprinkles on top were somewhat inappropriate though, as they reminded me of candies and desserts.

Taiwan Style Fried Rice (PhP 200) was okay but not any better than the classic Yang Chow Fried Rice. If you absolutely prefer flavored rice than plain white rice, get this. If not, feel free to skip.

Served on a hot pot, the Seafood Tofu Pot (PhP 199) was a nice bite but not the most memorable part of the meal. There was nothing fancy here; no schtick, no bells, no whistles, and no exotic sauces but just textbook execution. The squid was so chewy and rubbery that is was hard to eat. Palates that await superior seafood tofu pot won’t revel.

Supposedly a Taiwanese home-style favorite, Tien Ma’s Three Cup Squid (PhP 200) was disappointing. Cooked with salty and sweet soy sauce, the squid was largely rubbery and uninteresting. Its awful texture surely was a telling sign that it was overcooked. While the distinctive flavor of squid failed to shine through, the leaves managed to ratchet up the savory quotient.

Price for Value: ★★★★☆

With this experience, I thought dining at Tien Ma’s Taiwanese Cuisine can be a hit or a miss depending on what you order. I recommend getting the xiao long bao for sure. Prices of food on the menu average at PhP 200-PhP 250 and are pretty reasonable based on the serving portions.

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In 2013, Louie and I celebrated Valentine’s Day in Lola Café. Seeing our old photos together gave me a chuckle. It’s been over two and a half years. So many things have changed since that day, and Lola Cafe’s menu recently did too. 😉 With Chef Jon Mangibin now taking lead in the kitchen, this restaurant in Tomas Morato, Quezon City goes through a “culinary fixture.” The placement of furniture and fixtures also moved around a bit, making the place more versatile for both groups of friends or family and romantic dates.

Chef Jon

With its fresh menu, Lola Café+Bar decided to focus in serving Filipino Food 2.0 which basically consists of creative riffs on Filipino food classics like chicken tinola, bagoong rice, beef salpicao, sisig, and the like. We had lunch here with the KTG last Saturday to taste its mouth-watering delights and experience gastronomic euphoria, thanks to Richie‘s invitation. 🙂 Target launch date of the new items is on November 23, 2015.

Lola Café Launches New Menu (Tomas Morato, Quezon City)

Small Plates

There may be many excellent dishes for you to dive into on the menu. Quite frankly, there are no wrong answers, but the Wagyu Salpicao (PhP 320) might be more right than the rest. With roasted garlic in olive oil, the Kitayama wagyu beef (raised locally in Bukidnon, Philippines) was boldly flavored and actually portioned to share. The softness of the wagyu beef is exactly like you would hope it is. Get into the fiesta spirit and match it with a great glass of wine.

The Bone Marrow Sisig (PhP 275) was a complete stunner. There’s something about the fatty and buttery bone marrow with kamias jam and garlic crumble flat bread on the side that got it done for us. Each component was strong on its own and equally good smashed together on the plate.

Soup and Salad

Caesar Salad is one of the trendiest salad choices these days, especially for those who are on a diet. If you think salads are boring though, know that serving it in a more exciting and palatable way is possible. How? Grilled. Smoky and with a touch of crunch, hearty Romaine lettuce and bread crisps with bagoong dressing were delightful. Bacon strips mixed in made the Grilled Caesar Salad (PhP 290) a killer dish you would want to nestle alongside your mains.

The Alugbati and Kesong Puti Salad (PhP 310) had a good combination of flavors and textures, featuring charred alugbati, lettuce hearts, roasted carrots, beets and balsamic vinaigrette. As salads go, it sounds pretty decadent—and delicious. I think kesong puti was what brought in new life to the salad; it added a little bit of both saltiness and creaminess to every bite.

Lola Café took no shortcut to deliver a comforting and tasty bowl of Bacon Belly Batchoy (PhP 320). Topped with soft boiled egg, this noodle soup was not just a vehicle for braised bacon slabs and ox tripe, but it was also a celebration of the role of sweet garlic, which for a garlic fan is pretty much heaven.

Pasta and Rice Bowl

The Spicy Tinapa Pasta (PhP 215) had a subtle, oceany richness that’s captivating. It was salty from the smoked fish flakes, luscious and sweet from the fresh heirloom tomatoes, spicy from the dried chili, and quite intoxicating from the scent of the olive oil.

Among the items we tried so far, the Sweet Pork and Bagoong Rice (PhP 295) could be one that’s most recommendable to foreigners who would want to appreciate Filipino food in their first visit here. Made with salted dried shrimp “hibe,” roasted pork belly, and “burong” mangga, the entire dish was slightly overwhelming all at once. It was so wonderfully complex that you just have to surrender to its demands.

Quarter Chicken Confit and Tinola Rice (PhP 280) was another crowd-pleaser. With ginger confit chicken, lemongrass rice pilaf, charred green papaya, and scallion-anchovy vinaigrette, Lola Cafe has constructed a hearty, full-flavored Filipino main dish whose ingredients both harmonize and perform as soloists. The chicken was really tender and I loved that the taste of the ginger and onion-based tinola was evident.

Mains

Swimming in porcin broth, garlic cream and wild mushrooms, the thinly sliced and slow-braised Truffled Lengua (PhP 495) came out soft, rich, and almost pâté-like. Until now though, lengua (beef tongue) is one of the internal meat organs that I like eating the least because I think it’s formidable. It’s not for the faint of foodie heart but best for the adventurous palate.

Somewhat like Bicol Express, the Gising Express (PhP 140) or “Gising-Gising” was cooked with coconut milk broth, homemade bagoong, sigarilyas (winged beans), French beans, and finger chili. It’s great to be paired with steamed white rice to temper the heat situation.

The Roasted Belly “Tocino” (PhP 490) gave off an oriental taste (think Chinese char siu, as in the regular siopao filling), most probably because of the SSAM-anise glaze. Adding more depth, the salty burong mangga or “pickled mangoes” on the side complemented the savory aspect of the slow-cooked pork liempo nicely.

Desserts

For desserts, we had Baguio Strawberries and Cream Pavlova. It was amazing how the nest remained crisp, light, and crumbly right before we dug in. The billows of whipped cream and juicy fresh strawberries on top were truly delectable. This item is definitely my kind of dessert.

Set in a landmark location in Tomas Morato, Lola Café+Bar boasts a fine ambiance and gracious service to match. There’s more à la carte selections available on the menu than these ones featured in this blog post, so if you want creative, zesty Filipino food or just local comfort food with a flair, go to Lola Café+Bar and make no doubt about it. It’s now open for lunch and dinner! 🙂

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Out of fun and creativity come excellence, and the food at Go-En, The Japanese Ramen Shoppe is a case in point. The venue may be “hidden” somewhere near Livestock, ABS-CBN, and El Cangrejo in Jardin de Zenaida, but when it comes to craving for real Japanese food and playing kendama, this is the restaurant to hunt down. Go-En does not tweak their menu for Filipino tastes but serves the best Japanese flavors to match the Filipino palate.

Now offering a lighter version of the full ramen bowl, Go-En ramen’s wow factor is down to high-class ingredients making up to a portion that’s only enough to keep you satisfied. This is following their realization that the regular-size bowl of ramen seems to be too large for one to finish. With the light version, there’s less noodles but with the same amount of soup as the regular, so one can finish a bowl without being so full that it’s hard to breathe.

The name “Go-En” takes its roots from the five yen coin in Japan. This coin is believed to bring good luck to any business and relationships. In the same manner, Go-En the restaurant looks forward to create and maintain closer ties with patrons through their cuisine and experience.

John Geron, Go-En Owner

We had lunch here right before our flight to Vietnam and we had a great time. 🙂

Review of Go-En, The Japanese Ramen Shoppe (Jardin de Zenaida, Quezon City)

Ambiance: ★★★★☆

Forming an artistic assembly near the entrance, manga, kendama, masks, and other toy displays are available for customers to get entertained. The most striking thing among all has to be the kendama, and it was interesting to learn that Go-En sells Japanese kendama and US kendama of all sorts and also distributes this unique traditional Japanese toy all over the Philippines.

Service: ★★★★★

The people here make you feel welcome. John, the owner, and the rest of the staff was very accommodating and friendly. He shared so many stories of his life experiences together with his partner for twenty years, the co-owner of Go-En, Marilyn. His love for his craft obviously showed and made us more intrigued about the things he’s passionate about. Orders came out fast as they should.

Food: ★★★★☆

First things first: the ramen noodles (imported from Japan) were awesome. But that’s no big surprise. Go-En cooks the ramen upon order and serves them with no delay so they come out perfectly springy with just the right amount of chew. We had a consistent type of thick and curly noodles on all four bases, and it’s worthy to note that they’re markedly better than any dehydrated ramen on the market.

Kogashi Shoyu Ramen Delight is a soy-sauce based ramen with dark smoky flavor, thanks to the black peppercorn that gave it a more comforting roasted taste. The pepper gave it mostly a nice kick and compote for a delicate, warm spiciness. The aroma was remarkable as well, but there’s no substitute for the fragrance of freshly ground pepper.

Wonton Tomato Ramen Delight was not as exciting but edible nonetheless. Its broth was tasty and not too “nakakaumay,” but I’m just not a fan of tomato taste when it comes to ramen. It felt less OMG and more just merely like OK.

Cheese on ramen? Yes, please. The great thing about the Cheese Ramen is that the cheese strings were not stretchy and once melted as part of the broth, they assemble the flavors in your mouth. Bam! 😛 With corn and a mound of minced pork, and moyashi, the miso-based soup is soul-warming, definitely a hit for first-timers in Go-En.

The Tantanmen Ramen was made with local pork and organic eggs. It had an exquisite richness of sesame I expected from a really good bowl of tantanmen. With a little bit of spiciness, this ramen will knock your socks off.

If you’re a fan of plenty of heat, Mabo Ramen must be right up your alley. This is the flavor to grab when the weather takes a dip. When red pepper on mabo dried up, the soup got redder and looked scarier. I could never slurp it fast enough because it was extremely hot for me. For a few minutes, I thought my mouth was on fire! :O

At Go-En, you have the liberty to adjust or increase the heat as needed with these condiments on the table.

Japanese-style Karaage (boneless chicken), the perfect snack to eat with sake or beer, was super crispy, juicy, and just crazy delicious even without the dip. Eat it with or without rice, and you can’t go wrong.

For the meat-shy, Go-En Ramen also offers a number of pleasing alternatives. One of which we tried was the Sakana Donburi, which is simply fried fish fillet and rice. It’s a decent choice but not something that I could have more than a couple bites.

For the desserts, we had the Matcha Mochi whose center was made up of vanilla ice cream and the homemade Matcha ice cream (by the scoop). Both were sweet, dense, and creamy, with a subtle green tea taste. These were very refreshing and ideal treats to complete an awesome meal at Go-En. Thumbs up! 🙂

Price for Value: ★★★★☆

Go-En is not your ordinary Japanese restaurant. The setting is done up with an old charm and there’s a sense of gameplay in the air. Go-En can be heaven for ramen lovers, as it presents really good bowls of ramen that can almost make you cry tears of joy. This is one of those notable Japanese restaurants in Quezon City where you’ll have a memorable experience from the moment you sit down and not faint when the bill arrives. It’s not upscale and price aren’t too expensive but just fair. 😉 Budget is PhP 200-300 per head.