Manda Centrale Finds

I love Mercato Centrale. But it's just too much of a hassle going there.

That is why I was so happy when the organizers decided to put up Manda Centrale in Greenfield District, EDSA Central, which is just a 5-minute walk from where I live.

The food choices are much fewer compared to Mercato but it offers more variety compared to what I believe is the dying Banchetto.

You can see the usual Mercato finds like Manang's Chicken, B. Wings, Edgy's Foodtrip, Skew-U, a couple of pastry stalls and a gelato stall which I failed to get the name of.

Anyway, last night, my partner and I went there for dinner.

First up is Moshi-Moshi's Takoyaki. They have a stand-alone store in Katipunan, which I promise I will visit soon.

Moshi-Moshi Takoyaki (Php 55 / 6 pcs.)

My favorite takoyaki is from Musashi Takoyaki in Mall of Asia, but I seldomly go there nowadays. Samurai's takoyaki balls are also good and much more accessible, the store being present in most SM Supermarket food strips.

Moshi-Moshi's Takoyaki are just the right size, a bit smaller compared to Musashi's but definitely bigger that Samurai's. Inside each ball is a real piece of octopus, not like those other stalls which offers takoyaki balls filled with cabbage. They are also generous with the tonkatsu sauce and Japanese mayo on top, which I loved. They also put bonito flakes on top, just like in Musashi.

It took them around ten minutes to cook my order because they were just a hit that night.

Gino's Brick-Oven Pizza (Php 55 / slice)

Another find in Manda Centrale is Gino's Brick-Oven Pizza, which also has a stand-alone store in Katipunan (Oh that place is Foodie Heaven).

It's basically hand-tossed, thin crust pizza with tomato and cheese toppings. I wasn't able to get the name of their pizza but they just offered 1 flavor.

I found the cheese too overpowering. It was okay. My partner liked it but I felt like it needed a little more crust to balance out the flavors.

I'm just so happy that there is now a night food market near our place and I hope it clicks so that it stays there FOREVER. Haha.

MANDA CENTRALE
Greenfield Mayflower Parking,
United Street, Mandaluyong City
(near EDSA Central)
Open during Wed-Thurs-Fri
          from   6:00 PM - 2:00 AM

It's BREAD DAY with GARDENIA!

Bring your bread-loving family and friends at the Eastwood Mall Open Park on October 20, 2012 for the HAPPY BREAD DAY event of Gardenia! This is in line with the global celebration of World Bread Day every October.

Gardenia promises a fun-filled day with games and activities that the whole family can enjoy! The whole area will be made colorful and loud by marching bands, mascots and dancers!

The best part about it is you get to help the less fortunate kids while having fun. Every Gardenia loaf you buy is equivalent to two bread loaves that will be given to Gardenia's chosen charities in Luzon and Visayas!

So go get your tummies and your hearts stuffed with Gardenia goodness this Saturday! See you there!

Sorquillos: A sweet (and long) treat

I love sweets. I mean, who doesn't? That was why I was particularly thrilled after seeing this small stall in Lasapin food court in Strata 100 that serves dessert.

Sorquillos offers barquillos with soft-served ice cream inside. We are used to having barquillos as an add-on to our halo-halo. Who ever thought of filling it with sweet ice cream?

For 25 pesos, you get one long barquillos filled with the ice cream flavor of your choice. They have different flavors of ice cream everyday. The first time I went there, the flavors were vanilla and chocolate, or a mix of both. They served chocolate and cookies and cream during my 2nd visit.

It was pretty straightforward. The tube is covered with aluminum foil in one end to prevent the ice cream from dripping and make your hands sticky.

I loved how the rolled paper-thin wafer provided texture to the ice cream. There was nothing really exceptional about it. The ice cream was sweet. The barquillos was crunchy. But they make a pretty great team.

I just wish that the barquillos was toasted a little bit more for a hint of bitterness that I'm sure will work well with the ice cream.

Sorquillos
Lasapin Food Court, Strata 100,
F. Ortigas Jr. Ave., Ortigas,
Pasig City

Kenji Tei Ramen House: Could be better

My partner and I ate at Kenji Tei Ramen House last month (or was it last August? I don’t really remember now). I read about it on Our Awesome Planet and decided to try it out.

It is a good thing that my partner, sometimes, let me try these restaurants despite his slight ~dislike on Japanese (and Chinese) food.

First thing I noticed was their ceiling. What I got from it was that it was designed based on ramen noodles. Or maybe it was just me. Haha.

Pardon me for not including the prices of the food for I barely remember them. There is also no updated menu on the internet. The one that Click The City has is so outdated. The prices of the food now nearly doubled that what they had.

Anyway, the place was packed that night. It was a good thing that there were readily available table for two people.

We ordered Cheese Gyoza for our appetizer. It had typical gyoza filling of meat and veggies. What made it different was that it had cheese in it too and came with Japanese mayo dip. It was also deep-fried. The traditional way of cooking gyoza is steaming it and then pan-frying one side to make it crunchy.

I loved it. Among all the dishes we ordered, this one was my favorite.

We also ordered Shoyu Ramen with additional hard-boiled egg. My partner and I usually shares ramen bowls as it is too big for just one person.

This also fell short of my expectations. There was nothing really extraordinary about it. It had everything you had to see in a typical ramen noodle soup. The pork slices was soft. The soup was a little underseasoned for my taste. The noodles were nice and springy.

I still preferred the ramen we ate at Ramen Cool. Too bad I did not take enough photos nor do I remember the name of the ramen to make a post for it.

We also ordered Crispy Chicken Teriyaki. Most reviews I read about the dish were favorable so I was really excited for this one.

The serving was good for 2, or 3 even. It also came with shredded cabbage, slices of cucumber and Japanese mayo. You would love the taste for your first 2 pieces but anything more than that and you would feel like its flavors were too much. Not even the shredded cabbage can balance out its taste. Masyadong nakakaumay.

It wasn’t as crispy as I though it would be but I guess it was really how it is given that it was coated with teriyaki sauce.

All in all, the food that we ordered tasted okay. You would need a lot of water to wash down all the flavors, though.

Mad Mark's Man Sandwich and Frozen Desserts: Mad taste and serving

Last month, my partner and I tried this restaurant I read about in a food blog. Oh, boy, was I glad we did.

Kapitolyo is now known as the food street of the Metro. And so far, it lives up to its promise of having restaurants that offer a wide variety of food that you can try.

Mad Mark’s is a small restaurant near Charlies. It is beside Thai Dara and Poco Deli (I love their red velvet cake).

I came their with my orders already in mind.

The ULTIMATE Man Sandwich

We ordered The Ultimate Man Sandwich (Php290). It was served on a chopping board and just by the looks of it, my partner and I knew that we were in for a treat. Sandwiched in a long toasted bread were pieces of pulled Angus beef, grilled chicken, caramelized onions and lettuce smothered with mozzarella cheese.

Every bite was heaven, to say the least. The beef was tender and juicy while the chicken pieces were not dry. I love the caramelized onions although the lettuce gave a hint of bitterness. I don’t know. Maybe it was just my taste buds being weird.

We also ordered Herbed Parmesan Fries as a side to the sandwich. We just added around Php60 for it. I liked it but my partner found the flavor of the herbs to be too strong.

For dessert, we ordered two scoops of the Half-baked Madagascar home-made ice cream for only Php90. We both loved how it was not too sweet. We also loved the texture that I’m guessing the chocolate chips gave to the ice cream.

The interior looks good as well. It was cozy.

KFC Mac and Cheese Bites: What the??

I’m a fan of KFC. I particularly love their original recipe chicken, fries and California Maki Twister.

When I read a post about their new product, curiosity got the best of me. So that same day, I ate at KFC for lunch and I tried their new Mac and Cheese Bites.

Oh, what a sad, sad creation. KFC Philippines hit a big wall with their cheese-top burger, which I still have not tried. The KFC Mac and Cheese Bites will not help them redeem their name.

If I will create an honest ad copy for this product, it will be something like, “Have bite of our Bacon-flavored-Chiz-Whiz-and-Macaroni-Pasta balls deep-fried to golden perfection!”

A true bacon lover would know that there is no hint of real bacon in the product. The pasta was also too overcooked. It’s like eating mashed flour or something.

WHERE IS THE BACON?!?!?!

I guess you should at least try it once just to satisfy your curiosity. Each order comes with five balls. My suggestion? Share it with four of your friends. One ball is enough for you. I promise. Haha.

You can order it for Php49.00 ala carte, or with fries and drinks at Php79.00.

Rub Ribs & Bbq: Thrifty meat-lover's heaven

Last Saturday, my partner and I met one of his friends Cla, who happens to be one of my favorite people from his side of the world, for coffee at SM Megamall. After two hours of sitting in the coffee shop talking about Plan B (inside thing), Cla said that she wanted to eat rice.

Partner suggested that we walk to Kapitolyo and just choose a resto there for Cla to try. He then suddenly remembered about this “meat” restaurant that one of my good friends suggested me. And so, we decided to eat there.

Rub signage. (Photo courtesy of Marie Kristel Lim)

Rub Ribs & Bbq is quite far from the more famous restaurants in Brgy. Kapitolyo. It is located around three blocks from my favorite burger joint, Charlie’s.

(Photo courtesy of Marie Kristel Lim)

(Photo courtesy of Marie Kristel Lim)

The place was cozy and ~hippy, what with posters of Thrilla in Manila and a quote from Bob Marley plastered on the wall. There roughly around ten tables. We were lucky that we went there a bit early because at around 7:00 PM, there were already people waiting to be seated.

Raki’s BBQ Ribs Super Duo (Php 370): Ribs + 2 Sides (serves 2)

Cla and I ordered the Raki’s BBQ Ribs Super Duo. It had ribs good for two people and 2 sides.

I was really impressed with the serving size of the ribs. Two people can share it and feel REALLY stuffed after eating. Although I must admit, I can finish it all by myself without any problem.

The meat was seasoned well and had the right amount of char marks, which I liked. It also had steak/bbq sauce on the side but I liked eating the meat as is. I barely had to use the steak knife. That was how tender the meat was.

We ordered Sprice (Spiced Fried Rice) and Bacon Potato Salad as sides. I wasn’t able to taste the rice since I am on a no-rice diet but both Cla and my partner loved it. They said it was really filling.

The potato salad was okay. Although there was nothing special about it and I barely tasted any bacon in it.

Rub Beef (Php290): Dry rubbed US hanging tender + garlic sauce + buttered vegetables + toast

I forced my partner to order the Rub Beef because it was one of the more expensive one on the menu.

It was served with buttered vegetables and toast. My partner was already solved with the veggies so I downed the bread toasts in no time. The meat was so tasty, having marinated in what I guess were tomatoes, garlic, and other stuff. Haha. It was also really soooooo tender. We had it cooked medium rare and they did it perfectly despite the meat sliced quite thinly.

As for dessert, we ordered the Fried Oreos with Vanilla Ice Cream (Php 150). I first had a taste of this piece-of-heaven dessert in Combi at Maginhawa. Sad to say, that resto’s already closed.

I love my fried oreos with thick batter that was why I was sort of disappointed that Rub’s version was not as fluffy. The batter, for me, helps balance the sweetness of the cookies, the ice cream, and choco syrup. That was why I thought their version was overly sweet.

I wasn’t able to take a photo, though because we were so excited to down the baby. It was also Cla’s first time to try the dish.

I think my version of fried oreos is better. Haha.

It was also a nice touch to hand the bill in a mug. Although I’m confused with the label on the mug. Do they also have a laundry business? Or is it some inside joke I have yet to learn?

GREAT NEWS! They also deliver via www.quickdelivery.com.ph with a minimum purchase of Php750!

All in all, I loved my first time here. I’m sure meat-lovers will love the great food and affordable prices.

It’s a plus that their Kapitolyo branch is just a thirty-minute walk from our condo. After eating that much meat, we need all the exercise we can get to burn off the calories.

I will definitely come back and try their other dishes.

Here is the menu from their Facebook page:

LOCATION:

Letter B: Rub Ribs & Bbq; Letter A: Charlies

RUB Ribs & Bbq
88 East Capitol Drive,
Kapitolyo, Pasig City
Phone: (02) 624-6850
Delivery: www.quickdelivery.com.ph
Open 11:00 AM-10:00 PM

Welcome to the Pinoy Food Lover

Hello.

This will be my journal for all my thoughts about food and restaurants.

Let the food loving begin. :)