Casa Armas Tapas Bar

Since 1995, Senor Jesus Armas and Casa Armas Tapas Bar have been treating Manila to a fiesta of authentic Spanish cuisine. You can start your dish with Chorizo Frito (Fried Spanish Sausage), Gambas Al Ajillo (Garlic Shrimps) and Angulas (Baby Eel) all increditly appetizing! Casa Armas array of exceptional entrees include a bevy of omelets, filling treats which anyone can have.. even after breakfast. The Tortilla Paisana, mixed omelet with potatoes, onion, Spanish sausage, ham and mushroom, is a popular choice. There is nothing like a nice skillet of paella. At Casa Armas, one would find a complete meal in any of the numerous paellas. Choice include Paella Valencia(saffron rice with pork, chicken, seafood and vegetables), Paella Negra (saffron rice cooked with squid in its own ink) and Paella Marinera (saffron rice with a seafood assortment). Other tasty choices are the Bacalao a La Viscaina and Bacalao Especial both tender and juicy codfish dishes with the right amount of salt in them. The classic Casa Armas dishes like Lengua Estofada, Callos and Salpicao are still surefire hits from the mouth-watering menu. Do not forget to come with an empty stomach. You can try the following dishes : Marinated Beef Slices P200, Paella Valencia P700. Try to use Amex Card as you can free dish or discount. Tapas Bar y Casa Armas Greenbelt 3 Ground Level Ayala Center Makati City Tel. 757-4961, 757-4996 Rating : 3 Star Value for Money : 3 Star

Yoshiq at SM Manila

If you happen to look for a good place to dine at SM Manila, try Yoshiq a Japanese restaurant located on the basement. Its cozy and is not crowded. The food are affordable, we ordered Tori Katsudon P99, Tofu Steak P99, Miso Soup P29 and Green Tea for 25. I like the food as its served hot. Rating : 3 Star Value for Money : 3 Star

Ang Tunay Beef House Menu

Ang Tunay Beef House is the only chinese restaurant that offers a lot of variety of authentic chinese foods, and some of which you can't find in other Chinese restaurants. So I decided to list the menus for everyone to see : Beef Menu : Kenchi soup P90 Chowto Soup P90 Kamto Soup P90 Beef Spareribs Soup P110 Gomaki Soup P75 Soup #5 P110 Beef Ball Soup P65 Golampo P95 Oxtail Soup P140 Bulalo Soup P140 Beef Slice P130 Beef Mami P95 Oxtongue Slice P140 Oxtongue Soup P130 Meat: Pork with Pepino P65 Chicken ng Adobo P60 Pork Adobo P80 Kidney Adobo P50 Pata Tim P65 Liempo Adobo P65 Gabi Pork Spareribs P50 Bitoka Adobo P65 Fried Chicken P65/each Dugo Guisado P35 Tausi Spareribs P65 S/S Pork P80 Kambing Adobo P95 Other Soup : Pawikan Soup P200 Palos Soup P150 Duck Soup P90 Dove Soup P125 Black Chicken P95 Bola Bola Soup P60 Sea Palos Soup P65 Fish Head Soup P150 Oyster Soup P90 Fried Bituka P130 Lechon Kawali P70 Seafood Roll P135 Pandan Chicken P110 Stuffed Shrimp P30 Vegetable Pre've vegetable P40 Kalabasa Adobo P35 Kangkong Garlic P35 Taiwan Pechay P35 Talong Adobo P50 Repolyo P35 Ampalaya P45 Kiamchay P40 Taugi P40 Cauli Flower P50 Polonchay / garlic P45 Mustasa with garlic P40 Cucahy with Hipon P55 Scallop Asparagus P55

China Town Walk

for the past 2 sundays, my mom and i went to ongpin in manila. primarily, we went to buy jewleries (for re-selling purposes).. everytime we go there, usually we have something planned already, or else i'd get so lost with all the things i wanted to see, and all the stores i wanted to go into. its like shopping heaven for chinese, everything you need is around the corner. first is the good old mamang kutsero - when i was younger, like 2-5 years old, id go with my mom and ama (lola) and aunts around ongpin riding in a kalesa. i was really frightened at first, but you'd get used to it, whenever you're there on a weekly basis. ongpin also has good source of fruits, in any "kanto" you will surely find stalls at much cheaper price, of course one would need to bargain - and that was my mom's course in college, she's so good at it, that we get things cheap, although sometimes nahihiya na talaga ako. we usually go to ongpin around 10 to 11AM so it wouldnt be too hassle, kasi ang traffic, we would usually park in a small parking space, and we'd go around walking na. our stop over was "ang tunay na beef house" - both my parents love the chinese-black chicken soup (the one in the right) - i didnt even dare try it, the smell was awful, although i had compromised with my mom that i'll taste pero the meat of the duck lang. - actually that soup is usually prepared for mom's who just gave birth - pampalakas daw ng katawan yan eh. while i had the one in the left, oysters with tausi sauce, squid with chili peppers and spinach with garlic and "kiampung" - or chinese fried rice na "malagkit".. the pictures above are the chinese groceries we went into, i was dumbfounded with all the colors there is - i cant even seem to focus to one specific spot. there were different kinds of candies and noodles from taiwan, china, korea... i was tempted to buy, so i just bought myself chocolates (pictures to be posted on the next post) i'm sure everyone have heard of DEC or diao eng chai - its a chinese food store that sells almost everything.. chicken pie, chiffon slices, mamon, puto, siopao, kutsinta, taiwanese bamboo shoots, siomai, tikoy, rolls and cakes. this is my favorite - it is called "hopia dice" from bakers fair - one dice would cost of P2.50 - kinda cheap but considering the size... a box of P20 will cost about P55 or P60 - i forgot the amount i paid for but everytime i get to go there, i will surely have ine tray of this.

Mocha Blends coffee

After A nice dinner at Harbor Square, we went for a stroll around Harbor Square, the breeze is still a little warm and so we decided to have a drink at Mocha Blends instead of Star bucks. Star bucks was crowded, as usual. Mocha Blends had only 6-7 customers there and it's really nice to sip some coffee when it's calm and quiet. I ordered Strawberry Smoothie P120, its a Strawberry Milkshake with a delicious malted twist. Oh, YUM! Hahaha! Their waitresses were the punch line! Whiffed cream (whipped cream), crate (create) and decap (decaf) Hahaha! Talaga naman ang mga 100% SHSians o, pero in fairness, nakisama sila. Haha! I simply love this place as its not crowded and we can sit on a sofa instead of the normal chair. You also get to have a nice view. Mocha Blends Harbor Square Roxas Blvd. Near CCP Rating : 3 Star Value for Money : 3 Star

Wan Chai Restaurant

My friends suggested to try Wan Chai as they are offering eat-all-you can menu for P280 only. This is available from 11pm to 2:30 during lunch time and 6:30 to 9:30pm. for dinner. So we went to Wan Chai Morato in their 2nd floor, and they really serve the following dishes : Rice : Yang Chow Fried Rice, Chicken Fried Rice, Slated Fish Fried Rice, Plain Thai Rice. Soup : Special Soup, Chicken Corn Soup Other : Pancit Canton, Lomi Bihon Guisado, Sweet and Sour Pork, Seafood Roll, Steamed Egg with Pork, Beef with Tomato, Fish Fillet, Butter Chicken, Wanchai Dragon Ball, Assorted Seafood Chopsuey, Kani Tempura, Salt andPepper Tofu, Shrimp Siomai, Beef Siomai, Stuffed Tofu. Drinks : Almon Gulaman, Black Gulaman, Buchi, Bottomless Ice Tea. The food are all good, I highlighted the food I like, but most taste different when you order it individually as some dishes taste a little bland, and others are oily. The comfort room can also ruin your dinner as its a little bit dirty. I suggest you try Wan Chai if you crave for Chinese foods and you can eat a lot. the menu listed may change, so try calling them first before going. This is a lot cheaper compared to Dads, Kamayan or Saisaki. Wan Chai Restaurant 270 T. Morato Cor. Limbaga Q.C. Rating : 3 Star Value for money : 3 Star

The Aristocrat Restaurant at Roxas Boulevard

The Aristocrat Restaurant is a Filipino-owned family corporation founded by the late Doña Engracia (“Aling Asiang”) Cruz-Reyes and her husband, Justice Alex A. Reyes. Aling Asiang’s pioneering spirit coupled with her native genius for cooking Filipino food raised the once lowly and unknown Filipino dishes to well-loved and accepted locally and internationally. From its humble beginning as a snack mobile in 1936, the Aristocrat has grown into a restaurant enterprise with branches in Metro Manila, all serving the same quality foods that have made it “The Philippines’ Most Popular Restaurant”. Its been quite a while since I have been to Aristocrat Restaurant, my friend invited me for a dinner at Aristocrat where the chicken bbq is most famous (restaurant trivia: they serve an average of 30,000 of the bbq chicken in a month!). We ordered Bihon Guisado (Rice Noodles with Stir fried Meat) P227, Beef Mechado (Marinated Beef thickened with tomato sauce and served with rice) P286, Sizzling Pusit P135, Boneless Chicken (BBQ fillet of Marinated chicken grilled) P118.75 and ice tea for my drink. I simply love the Sizzling Pusit, Mechado and Boneless Chicken which tasted sweet. The Aristocrat Restaurant 432 San Andres cor. Roxas Blvd. Malate Manila Tel. 522-3756, 521-8138,534-7671 Rating : 3 star Value for Money : 3 Star

Sbarro at Robinsons Place

My fiance loves Sbarro pizza like forever, she finds it hard to decide on what Pizza to select as there are around more than 6 kinds of Pizza, but we decided to get the White Cheese Pizza P89, its a thin crusted pizza with cheese, Meatball Spaghetti Medium P96, Extra Fish Frances P87, Cucumber Tomato and Cabbage Salad P74, Ice Tea P 36, Raspberry Ice Tea P36. Total P395. We shared the food and its enough for 2 people, as the Pizza is really too much for one, I have added a lot of chili on the Pizza and it taste even better. Raspberry Ice Tea is july the regular ice tea but sweeter, I like it a lot and the smell of raspberry is very relaxing. We just forgot to order a cheesecake, the place is not crammed so we love it, Ambience is relaxing and you would really like to return again. Sbarro Robinsons Place - Manila 3rd Level, Padre Faura Wing (Near Food Court) M. Adriatico St. Manila Tel. 536-8047 Rating : 3 Star Value for Money : 3 Star

Gloria Maris - Malate

My fiance family decided to dine at Gloria Maris along Malate near Robinson Place as they want to eat Taho, but when we reached Gloria Maris they said they said that don't have stock of Taho, anyhow we just decided to stay as we got lazy to transfer to another place, we came as a group and its difficult to find a place for a group. Upon ordering, most of us ordered Beef brisket, but we found that they have limited stock of Beef Brisket, they also do not have Peking ducks on stock, Siomai are not available, for the drinks they also do not have stock of rootbeer, watermelon shake is also limited. We also ordered fried rice but when it was served its cold. So most of us were forced to eat dimsum and rice. This is the poorest restaurant I went to. I guess not all Gloria Maris are created the same, I like Gloria Maris Greenbelt 3, but I hate Gloria Maris Malate. My fiance called up her fried who work at Gloria Maris and she said that this branch is a franchise. Gloria Maris 1600 J. Bocobo St. Malate , Manila Tel : 526-1111 Rating : 1 star Value for Money : 1 star

Guilly's Island at Tomas Morato

After playing billiard we decided to hang out at Guilly's Island, this is formerly Aresi restaurant. The place has the motiff of spanish, with some small galleon spotted on the corner, we sat beside the window which has a small pond on the side and with medium size carp swimming.. cool right. We ordered Sizzling Pork Sisig P155, Crispy Tuna Tail P55 per 100gram, Sotanghon Guisado P150, Garlic Rice P25 and bottomless ice tea for our drink P44. The food was not great we did not even finish our dishes. The Pork Sisig is dry, Sotanghon guisado is not tasty. Some of my friends who has been to the restaurant has observed the following : BBQ beef ribs was dry and hard. grilled squid was undercooked and looks like boiled. pizza crust was hard. cheese was ordinary quickmelt. too much cheese. lasagna bolognese too salty. I was expecting more from this restaurant since this is an aresi replacement. Rating : 2 star Value for Money : 2 star

Krua Thai at Blue Wave

I rarely eat Thai foods, but we decided to try Krua Thai, I accompanied my fiances tita who came from the states, she want to try something new. The place is located at Blue Wave Pasay which to me was just one of those hang-out places similar to Eastwood or Metro Walk.... which was nothing grand really. The ambience was very authentic and the customer service fantastic. Best of all, the food was SUPERB!!! We downed fried chicken pandan 5pcsP165, Spicy Prawn Soup Large P210, Sauted morning glory P120, Crab fried rice platter P190, Thai Spare ribs P180, Bagoong fried rice platter P190, for my drink I ordered Tamarind juice P60 which I do not recommend, I was only curious on what Tamarind juice taste like. We finally felt like bursting. After that I just couldnt believe we ate all of that. But it was all worth it. We're definitely going to visit the Mega Mall branch. Krua Thai Blue Wave Macapagal Ave. Pasay City Tel. 633-8160 Rating : 3 star Value for Money : 3 star