Hong Kong chow

My recent visit to Hong Kong was less shopping and more food trip compared to 2008. Here are some of me and my family's chows in busy busy Hong Kong, where people are hungry 24/7.

Chinese food

Our hosts in Hong Kong threw lauriat for us practically every meal. Here in Manila, I try to avoid going to parties because I'm so tired of the usual Chinese fare during weddings, birthdays and everything in between. It's a different story in Hong Kong though. Everybody knows Hong Kong is not only a shopping mecca, but a foodie's dream too. The best Chinese chefs are either in Hong Kong or in Macau. Sometimes, they're not found in restaurants but in some grimy, cramped side-street eatery in front of which people would line up to get inside.

Of all the restaurants dined in, no two same entrees were cooked identically. The abundance of exotic and ocean-fresh seafoods like this giant abalone (below), not the mention the variety of mushrooms, vegetables and meat imaginatively prepared, made each meal feel like a luxurious food adventure.

By the way, this dish was served during the wedding we attended. I took a picture because my mom said it's very expensive. :p

... and I took a picture of the one above because I thought it's beautiful. Look how green the broccoli is!

After hours of walking and shopping, the best thing to do in Hong Kong is find a small eatery for authentic Chinese snacks! We noticed an especially tiny restaurant at the market that was always full everytime we passed it. My mom wanted to settle on buying pastry in one of the ubiquitous bakeshops Bread Talk style that seems to be the 'in' thing now. I convinced her to try the canteen instead.

Like most eateries in Hong Kong, the canteen has a stand outside where passersby can grab soy milk, various buns, or sticky rice to go. There were two women attending customers. Both can't understand either fookien or Mandarin, so we had to do our best with hand gestures. Good thing they have pictures of the menu on the walls. The tables inside are meant for two people, but four of us squished together in one. The result is a road block in the teeny eatery, but I figured if people were determined to eat, they wouldn't mind.

On to the food!

Below is fried buns with vegetable and meat inside. I only had a bite and gave the rest away because it was too oily. If you don't mind the grease though, this steaming bun is tasty and filling for an afternoon snack.

The egg on the plate is what my aunt says is called "tea egg," which I take to mean egg cooked in tea. It's supposed to be tastier then ordinary boiled egg, but I didn't try it. The way the eggs are cooked is shown below. That pot is outside the canteen.

The eatery's specialty is soy bean curd or taho. For an additional $3, the regular taho can be made special with toppings like sweet potato, red beans, jelly or fruits. We chose the basic one for $5 a cup. We weren't given the dark syrup usually poured over taho, also called arnibal, which is mainly sugar. Instead there was a jar of orange sugar and a pitcher of orange liquid on the table for the taho. The orange liquid is diluted sugar, so you can put whichever you prefer. A small amount of sugar was enough for the entire cup. I'd like to know what the sugar is called. Although the bean curd wasn't as soft and silky as we expected, it was delicious and refreshing.

I would've taken more "real food" pictures, but every dish was great anyway and some situations made it too embarrassing.

Junk food

When we weren't eating banquet meals, we were eating burgers and other junk food. Hehe. Here are some of the pictures I took.

Lamb burger set meal at ThreeSixty, Elements Shopping Mall

I forgot that I don't like lamb or goat burger when I ordered this. It's a lebanese take on burger, but I didn't like the dressing which is akin to hummus. I like my mustard and pickles and sometimes even tomato sauce in my burger. It was nothing compared to the Big N' Tasty burger I tried in McDonald's there, which I can't wait to write about.

Swedish meatballs at Ikea Bistro

I enjoyed this one, although basically they reminded me of Jollibee's burger steak in balls instead of patty-style. The sauces are cranberry and some mushroom-cheese gravy.

Finally, dessert! At the Hong Kong 44th Brands and Products Expo at Victoria Park, my dad and I had our very first durian ice cream. We couldn't resist because everyone--young and old-- was walking around with a huge ice cream cone in hand.

I have to say, at first lick you wouldn't like it because of the strong durian flavor. But at least it's not a rip off right? So you go and take a second lick, just because the cone is huge and after all, the pale yellow color is still appealing. And then surprisingly, it gets better as you continue to eat it. The creaminess of milk was a good match to neutralize the foul odor of the fruit, and together the flavor is exotic, rich and not too sweet for ice cream.

Here's a picture of my dad in front of the stall at the expo. Some fruit flavors are made into ice cream on the spot with frozen fruit pieces. The durian flavor is the most expensive though, which I'm sure added to people's hesitation. I'm glad we tried it because it was one of my most memorable experiences during the trip. If it wasn't so expensive, I'll even sell it in the Philippines!

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Chinese food galore at Shang Palace

Location: Makati Shangri La

Before I left for Hong Kong last December, B's grandmother invited B and I for a pre-New Year lunch since I wouldn't be around on the actual celebration. We went there without a reservation, and considering it was a Sunday, we were lucky to get a table. According to our server, only one family is responsible for filling almost the entire place that day. We guessed they must be a regular in the hotel restaurant.

What can I say about the dining experience? Everything was fantastic, from the interiors to the service which was attentive, courteous and quick. The food was superb--authentic and far from the hodgepodge cooking of some Chinese-claiming restaurants in Manila. While we weren't able to take a picture of everything, we managed to capture some of the more presentable dishes.

This is rice cooked in soy sauce with minced vegetables and meat, wrapped in yam leaves. I don't know exactly what it's called and what ingredients are in it but I'm guessing you can eat this on its own, like kiampong or the Chinese version of paella.

Eat the rice with this fried prawns in orange sauce though and you'll find yourself going for seconds and third servings. This is seriously very good, but you can't eat it without at least plain steamed rice as the sweet flavor is too strong. There's a nice size of prawn inside that's meaty, tender and gently flavored to offset the sweet and sour sauce.

The winner of them all! Fried gindara in some light soy sauce. It took me forever to finish my fillet because I wanted it to last forever, and at the time our rice hasn't arrived. I was also afraid that if I ate it quickly, I'd want another one, and there was only one for each. Like the prawns, this is best eaten with plain rice. The restaurant manager recommended this dish, and although it's pricey (Php300 each), we were glad to have listened to her. The fish is crunchy without being too oily, with the meat flaky but not dry. I could've been sighing with every bite.

Other dishes that aren't pictured are ravioli soup (clear soup with mushroom and pork ravioli) and beef stew in special chef stock (Chinese version of corned beef in stock, with vegetables). The experience reminds me of the saying, "When you feel hungry, follow the Chinese; they will surely go where food is good."

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Chocolate Kiss Cafe, Sct. Tobias QC branch

Location: Quezon City

This is one of my restaurant review backlogs from last year. Back in college, I had to be in UP on Saturday mornings to be with Special Olympic athletes as part of my duties as a member of the Ateneo Special Education Society. The grounds where we'd jog and do exercises with the special children was behind UP's Bahay ng Alumni, so by lunch time, my orgmates and I could usually be found in Chocolate Kiss rewarding ourselves. Most people would say that the restaurant is more ideal for a romantic date though, and I'd have to agree as it's quite pricey for a normal uni student's allowance. Plus, its ambiance is conducive for quiet talks over cakes and coffee.

Chocolate Kiss is a combination of Italian and Filipino restaurant. Aside from the chocolate cake, it is famous for its iced tea which is real tea with honey. I have good memories of dining in the restaurant, but not because of the food per se. It's more of the place being a venue for once-a-week splurge impulses or whenever there's a special occasion. After college, I forgot about the restaurant until I saw a branch near Tomas Morato last year. One night after work, I decided to visit it out of nostalgia.

The interior is not as nice as the one in UP. There were only a few customers at the time despite it being the peak of dinner hour. If I remember correctly, the menu in UP's Chocolate Kiss is comprised of entrees that are more foreign. In this branch, the menu is locally inclined, including rice toppings like the ones shown below.

Tapa with rice and fried egg

Adobo flakes with rice and fried egg

I have nothing special to say about the food, except that it doesn't justify the prices. I was disappointed with Chocolate Kiss for adopting these dishes which I think murders its entire appeal. Then again, not everyone knows about the original Chocolate Kiss in UP. It can just as well be yet another Filipino restaurant-cafe indistinguishable from others in Quezon City. To make matters worse for Chocolate Kiss, my companion and I both felt we could've had the same dishes in Banapple, Il Terrazo, and enjoyed more while paying less. For desert, we ordered the angel--or was it devil?--cake (first picture) which was chocolate chifon cake thickly topped with sugar icing.

Though I don't recommend this restaurant, I'll still go back to the original branch if only for an afternoon date over iced tea, in a quiet corner by the window where I can see the blue sky and grassy field, and reminisce about simpler days long gone.

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Sugar craving!

My breakfast today was chocolate. Before going to work, I decided I needed a sugar high (plus caffeine) to be chatty enough to do sales talking. My new job does give me good excuses...

I popped in David Jones confectionery section to get a few grams of lollies. Given that David Jones is Oz's poshest department store following Harrod's, I assumed that the confectionery would be of premium quality.

Check out this milk chocolate ginger:

I'm not a fan of ginger, and the idea of a candied one automatically warrants a recoil response. But curiosity got the better of me (doesn't it always) and I decided to gamble a few cents. Who knows, I could be discovering a hidden gem in the combination of chocolate and ginger! As soon as I got my small bag of goodies, I took a bite... nom nom nom... tasted regular creamy milk chocolate (below par, actually) and, lo and behold, super sweet hard jelly with strong ginger taste. I stared at the remaining piece in my hand (pictured above). The candy in the center is green and, upon close observation, you can see real ginger fiber. Without thinking twice, I chucked the rest in the nearest bin. My life is too precious to waste on fecking ginger anything.

Next, I tried my luck on milk chocolate pineapple. I like pineapple, but the combination never occurred to me before. I saw the hint of yellow underneath the chocolate coating and thought it must be the pineapple fruit. I was so sure I'd like it.

But the core turned out to be some sort of candy with marshmallowy consistency and there wasn't the tiniest suggestion of pineapple at all. While chewing, I had to recall what flavor of chocolate it was that I had on my hand. I ate the rest of the thing, if only because I thought the ginger chocolate made me develop a taste bud block and the pineapple flavor would come to me on the second bite. I should've chucked it in the bin as well.

Sizes of each chocolate

Needless to say, I was disappointed with David Jones. Call yourself posh! The lady on the counter contributed to the bad experience further. She kept assuming I was done with my selection of lollies even though I was obviously still deciding (too many to choose from! The pressure was killing me!) Then again, I suppose she was thinking, "What the hell are you buying chocolate here for when there's Max Brenner right behind me??" That's true. Silly me. Or I could've bought the handmade chocolates at David Jones' Food Hall, except I'd forgotten about it.

For comparison's sake, and fine, because I was dissatisfied, I tried the ones from The Nut Shop and Haigh's Chocolates, but more on that next time. Both are just a couple of steps from my shop so working there is definitely torture!

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The night I craved Pad Thai badly

...was the day I was planning to go to the Night Noodle Markets that's part of Sydney's month-long food festival.

I really love the idea of making international flags with food!

For two weeks (weeknights only), Hyde Park holds an Asian hawker market where people can choose from over twenty (my own count) stalls offering anything from Thai to Singaporean snacks and meals, and dine outdoors on tables scattered across the park (or choose to sit on the grass) whilst enjoying Asian-themed entertainment.

Banner at Hyde Park

I know, sounds fun right? I thought so too, which brought me there right after work last night. I was greeted with this:

The place looked packed by 6PM! (It starts at 5 and ends at 930PM).

This man was even sitting on the ground OUTSIDE the park!

Sample of what's happening at the back of the stalls: crew breaking their backs with giant woks! The queue in some stalls was ridiculous! Caucasians are definitely gaga over Asian food.

There was virtually no available table. I decided to just leave cos I wasn't willing to wait in line for food, and everyone was with someone anyway.

But all was not lost! I had forgotten that Ferrero seized the event to promote its new chocolate.

I want my chocolate, lady!

Can I have the whole jar instead? :D Yes this is a different lady. I cheated and got 2 samples! Mwahaha!

The only thing I took home. If you're curious, this is just dark chocolate version of the usual Ferrero. I prefer the milk chocolate because I felt it suited the signature make up of a Ferrero better (nutty, crunchy wafer coating with chocolate center). Or maybe I simply like my dark chocolate really bitter while the Rondnoir was quite sweet.

So I didn't get my Asian fare the way I wanted to. But I'm sure only 10% of the stalls was authentic anyway. Bitterness! Haha.

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I wish I were German

I prefer sausages over burgers. Frankly, burgers bore me. They taste more or less the same, but more important, you eat it like a sandwich, which is boring. Now, battling a big, fat sausage wedged in a bun that's usually, inexplicably small by comparison, and balancing a hundred condiments on top without getting any on your nose or cheeks is an entirely different matter.

Last weekend, I finally had the chance to try the burger and sausage stall at The Rocks Market that's attracting people by the droves. Undoubtedly, the crack and sizzle of fat and smell of onions caramelizing are the stall's best advertisement. I'd been looking forward to my sausage the whole day that as of 2pm when I arrived, I hadn't eaten a single thing.

I got a lamb and rosemary sausage sandwich, pictured below.

Before I get to the meat, let me praise the bread. The baguette is absolutely delicious. I liked its tough, crusty texture which went well with the juicy onions. The lamb sausage was smoky and not over-peppered which I don't like. I didn't have a hard time biting the sausage off because it's sliced in pieces. It's surprisingly soft, too, and you can see that it's crumbled meat, not processed. I asked one of the guys which sauce would be nice with the sandwich, and he recommended the homemade sweet chili sauce. I wish I put more of the sauce, but I was afraid of it ending up all over me instead.

My friend got the angus beef steak burger, and he was disappointed that the beef was medium rare. Everytime he took a bite he had to stop walking to concentrate on cutting the meat with his teeth, and so as not to spill other ingredients in the process. I couldn't help imagining him eating a steak off a plate that way.

If only the stall also offered beer, it would've been a great way to internalize having German roots. As a side note, I should be writing an essay instead of blogging. Now I'm hungry.

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Assam Milk Tea

... is good. It's very very good. I have never tasted milk tea as refreshing as this. Assam Milk Tea is a product of Indonesia and is among the many beverages with labels I can't for the life of me translate stacked in Thaiki grocery, the biggest Asian supermarket in Sydney. Thaiki has everything, well, Asian, including the infamous weird Kit Kat flavors of Japan as well as Jack and Jill chips of the Philippines.

I was in Chinatown looking for pork floss-- one of the rare instances I want something made in China, but all I could find were made in Thailand. My Indonesian friend took me to Thaiki but it was no different. Aside from not trusting Thai made pork floss, they are absurdly expensive at $7 per air-filled bag.

I didn't want to leave the grocery empty-handed, having dragged my Indonesian friend all the way there. I was going to get an aloe vera drink when he recommended the milk tea. I was persuaded so I bought one plus a wintermelon drink in tetra pack out of curiosity.

Instead of plain milky tea, Assam Milk Tea has a melon-y/apple-y taste that makes you sip nonstop. It's not as creamy as those found in Chinese restaurants and Lipton's tend to be, and just lightly sweet. I imagine it to be good with any food whether sweet or salty, but only when it's properly chilled.

The tetra pack is a hefty square that's bigger than those I'm used to at home. You can see from the packaging that it passes itself as something for the lifestyle. It's sizeable enough for the office coffee break or to tide one over before lunch or dinner. I'm just not sure about the actual tea content though. I never really got the point of milk in tea and I like mine plain, preferably green. The more awful it tastes, the more healthfully beneficial I imagine it to be. I just thought it's how things work. But if I'm looking for a creamy dessert-like drink that's cheap and not as heavy as the fresh milk laden gourmet coffee, I certainly might consider Assam Milk Tea.

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Uncle Tobys Plus Fiber Lift

I've decided to sample this cereal after my affair with Kellog's All Bran Dual. Uncle Toby's Plus Fiber Lift has 472 kJ (112 kcal) and 6.2g fiber per serving, the lowest calorie containing cereal with the highest fiber content by proportion that I've seen in the grocery aisles so far.

Uncle Tobys is an Australian company with a long history beginning in 1861. It passed hands from one mammoth company to the next until it was acquired by Nestle Australia in 2006. It produces all types of products made of grain such as oats, energy bars, cereals, and even popcorn. Uncle Tobys produces an overwhelming variety of fruit and grain cereals, with names that specify the exact health benefit like Fibre Lift, Protein Lift, Sports Lift, Antioxidant Lift and Omega 3 Lift.

Plus Fiber Lift is a mixture of different grains. Apart from the bran which is the tiny stick like pieces, I recognize rice and corn flakes. This tastes okay with definitely more variety of textures. But it doesn't compare to All-Bran Dual for some reason. The Brits and Aussies call raisins sultanas. Each raisin in this cereal is an explosion of sweetness and overdone chewiness. I wish it were more sour-sweet than just sweet. The apple bits are smaller and hardly significant. Still, the proportion of calories and fiber is quite good for all the ingredients it contains.

Uncle Tobys Plus Fiber Lift is also an effective crap inducer, but the timing isn't as predictable as All Bran Dual. Because I like it enough except for the raisins, it gave me a brilliant idea. Next time, I'll buy bran that's cheaply sold in homebrand packaging (think Bonus for SM Supermarkets) and buy a box of raisins. Then I can mix them however I want, and even throw in pieces of banana. Brilliant? I think it's genius.

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Kellog's All-Bran Dual

My favorite meal is breakfast. In the bleakest of mornings, the thought of my first meal for the day gets me out of bed and ready in no time. Experts say breakfast should provide for most calories consumed in a day. That's an excuse for filling up, and with the endless yummy options one is faced with, it seems like the easiest undertaking that's hard to pass up.

Because breakfast s the most important meal of the day, I make it a point to choose the healthiest alternative out there. My default choice is any variety of wholegrain cereal that helps with digestion, or more precisely, bran. A lot of people find that strange, especially since bran is associated with middle-aged men with cholesterol problems, but even among that demographic you can't call it popular. I don't like bran but I do like the feeling after cleaning my bowels. Like exercise and bitter gourd, there are some things we just have to tolerate.

I am guilty of taking the longest time in the cereal aisle of the supermarket because I find fascination in the discrepancy between packaging and the nutritional label contents. As far as my hunt is concerned, I've come to the conclusion that Kellog's All -Bran Dual is the best deal there is in Sydney supermarkets. Although a little high on the calorie mark at 580kJ (138 kcal) per serve due mainly to the addition of apple pieces, this cereal tastes better than any bran variety I've tried. Plain bran cereals range from 90-110 kcal and pack 11g fiber per serving, with the tradeoff of tasting like cut up bits of carton and the tendency to scratch at the throat when swallowed. Considering the slight decrease of fiber content at 8g per serve, the additional calories in All-Bran Dual is forgivable in exchange for a wholesome experience that's actually enjoyable. It's virtuous, even, compared with "healthy" cereals that have everything on it-- gains, fruits and nuts-- that are admittedly yummy at 200 kcal per serve and yet only has 1.5-3g of fiber, some even less.

The pieces of cereal come in a granular shape that hold well in milk. They get soggy less quickly and when they do, they don't form into clumps that resemble wet, brown sand. The white bits are the apple pieces. The smoothness and chewy texture balance the dry, grainy bran pieces, and together they give a subtle sweet taste that's really good with milk.

The packaging says the Kellog's All-Bran Dual contains "Insoluble fibre to help cleanse your insides, [and] natural plant based insulin to help nourish the good bugs." I'm happy to report that it lives up to its promise, as I find myself wanting to take a crap by late afternoon when I eat a small bowl of this in the morning. I think this is real good value for my money. I know that it's unfair to base the healthiness of cereals on fiber content alone and that varieties with fruits and nuts have vitamins and minerals that plain bran types lack. I know, and I don't care. That's why I take other vitamin supplements.

I've had this cereal in the pantry for more than three weeks, and it's given me about 16 bowls of satisfactory breakfast. The second picture above is actually the last of it, which made me a little sad yesterday when I found out. Fortunately, there's literally more where that came from, but I think I'm going to try other cereals for a while while I'm here. I might hoard several boxes before coming home, though. And establishing a Bran Fan Club, who knows, I might get to sell some.

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Lunch at Hyde Park

This is my favorite ice cream growing up. Its mysterious disappearance broke my heart but I never gave up the hope of finding it again... to have another chance at sinking my teeth from the soft, chewy chocolate cookie sandwich exterior into the smooth, cold vanilla ice cream within.

If you liked Maxibon as much I did, you will know what makes this ice cream lovable: its ingenious dual personality. One slab of vanilla ice cream is dressed up in two ways: one half is an ice cream sandwich, while the other half is classically coated with chocolate and rice crispies. Two treats in one!

It's still as good as I remember it. My last recollection of the ice cream's presence in the Philippines is a Maxibon eating competition that was televised, and which I have always regretted not joining. I don't remember the price then, but here in Australia at AUD$3.95 (convenience store price; it's cheaper in the supermarket but they sell it by boxes), this indulgence is a luxury indeed.

A Hungry Jack's Grilled Chicken Burger completed my lunch. Hungry Jack's is an Australian fast food chain with offerings not unlike Burger King. It is the local competitor of McDonald's, much like Jollibee keeps the foreign company from dominating the fast food industry in the Philippines.

This burger has grilled chicken breast, lettuce, tomato, cabbage, and what tasted like wasabi mayo dressing. As you can see, the chicken is practically spilling out of the burger, and I could tell that it's real chicken breast. As for the greasiness, it's only detectable on the inside of the bottom bun where the chicken rested. The tomato tasted fresh and juicy, and the wasabi mayo was a pleasant surprise. I thought McD's bun tasted better though, but aside from that I was pretty happy with this burger.

I missed having lunch in a park which I often did when I was working in Makati. Hyde Park was my solace today as I took my late late lunch. I sat in a bench facing St. Peter's Cathedral, keeping myself exposed to the afternoon sun as much as possible. I felt at home with tourists from all nations taking photos of each other. I'd like to say it went without incident, but that's another story which you can read in my other blog.

A Monday that feels like a Sunday. Now that's a first.

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To You Milk Chocolate

I got this from one our company Directors while I was helping him list down the things to move out from his condo. He gave me this plus a couple of Korean instant rice toppings and a Korean SPAM. I don't want to think about how long this chocolate had been sitting in his fridge; the expiration date tells me it's good until next year anyhow.

Last Sunday, hit by nostalgia on high school days, I decided to sample it while snuggled comfortably with a comic book. The name of the chocolate, as seen on the packaging, is To You. It has an equivalent in Korean character, which you will see on the upper right above the product's name. The package says it's "rich taste milk chocolate" which isn't very promising, so I didn't have very high expectations about this. At first I thought the thing beside the name is some sort of nut, but since the chocolate bar didn't have any nuts when I opened it, I concluded that it must be cocoa.

I can imagine how this product must be doing poorly even in Korea beside its peers. The packaging makes me fall asleep. The colors-- red, black and gold-- are so standard, as well as the typography of the product name that the person managing this product must be an old fart without imagination, who doesn't go out and watches TV all day long on his day off, or a young fart without imagination, who doesn't go out and accompanies his granpa watch TV all day long on his day off. The only thing I can credit this product for is the name, which I think is genius. Imagine all the ads you can make with that.

The chocolate bar is in a gold foil wrapping which, I found unhappily, was lined with plastic. The presence of the plastic provided a bit of struggle when uncovering the chocolate. Chocolate in foil wrapper is equivalent to delicious body clad in easy-tear clothing. It's a seduction ploy. The brief difficulty in tearing off the gold foil in this chocolate turned me off. The only thing that kept me going was the rich smell of milk chocolate that promised "rich taste milk chocolate".

There are about 12 chocolate squares in the entire thing. Each square is stenciled with the manufacturer's name, Orion. The squares don't break off cleanly, which could mean lack of milk butter or too much sugar. I took a square and noticed how quickly it melted in my warm fingers. When I eat chocolate, I do it painfully slow to savor the taste. I like to roll it in my mouth and feel it slide smoothly down my throat, with the bitter taste of cocoa still in my tastebuds. That said, I'd enjoy this quick-melting bar as much as I'd enjoy being left with sticky hands, brown smudges around my mouth and chocolate dribble on my shirt. As for the taste, this product is pretty decent. It's not too creamy although it's very sweet. I was satiated with three squares and stored the rest for later.

I think Orion is a big snack manufacturer in Korea, but in the sense that it rips off all of Lotte's products. I've seen some of its reproductions in the local supermarket, and the difference in quality is pretty obvious from the packaging. I wonder what Lotte's version of this chocolate is named... For You? I'd leave the rest of the bar in the fridge and wait for someone to snap it up, but that's if it looked snappable. As it is, I need to shove it to my kid bro who couldn't distinguish Goya from truffle.

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Tea beverage looking tea beverage

I saw this in my local 7-11 outlet and thought, Hey this must be healthy. I should get this rather than some sugary drink for my morning dose of caffeine. The picture on the packaging indicates that it's some sort of tea beverage. Compared to other tea beverages on the freezer section, the large size of the bottle at P30+ and authentic looking packaging made it seem like a winner.

I like tea. I drink oolong and green tea whenever I have the chance to, and we have a good stock of tea bags at home. But I drink my tea hot and in tiny cups, because I think you end up drinking more that way rather than in mugs. I don't know why I expected this drink to taste good. Probably because I got it in the convenience store, and everybody knows what you get in a convenience store should be something comforting.

When I took a sip, I tasted the tea, all right. Cold tea and nothing more. I wanted to kick myself for expecting it to be sweet, and because I'm the sort who would remedy a disappointing situation however she could, I put brown sugar to make it better.

The good news is, it took me a whole day to finish a bottle. I actually saved money for not having to run a second time to the store. It does taste like real tea and bearable on its own (without additional effort of sugar or cream) when iced cold. I could even convince myself that I'm getting the antioxidants I need. The bad news is, it's made in China and I can't read the ingredients list. Needless to say, I've turned a blind eye to this product and its many variants. Oh heck I just realized I didn't check the expiration date, which is the only thing I would've been able to understand.

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Chelsea's lunchienda

Saturday is perfect for a trip to Serendra. I always associate Serendra and High Street with a sunny Saturday and pet dogs. Maybe later when I enter a parental state of mind, I will associate it with a sunny Saturday and tiny kids.

Saturday in Serendra is made more perfect with lunchienda at Chelsea's Market Cafe. Lunchienda stands for lunch + merienda, or late late lunch. We picked a table by the window in order to people-watch. The nice thing about being in Serendra in between meal times is there aren't many people which makes people-watching easier, and the people tend to be interesting since interesting people don't follow regular meal times. I spotted my film professor on what looked like a brainstorming meeting, and model Isabel Roces that afternoon. Because she was there eating stuff that came from the same menu, and even ordered dessert no less, I felt less bad about finishing my order that turned out to be enormous.

I like restaurants that give bread baskets. For some reason I've come to take it forgranted that I get surprised when a restaurant I'm in doesn't have it, and I have to remember where I am to appease my disappointment. Probably due to hunger, I don't remember what Chelsea's bread basket came with, but I do remember that there's nothing worth mentioning about it.

What's worth mentioning are the steep prices on the menu. After reviewing it, B and I agreed that we should've gone to Mamou instead. Of course, we didn't know how big the servings were at the time, but taste-wise, it's still not justified. I ordered the vegetarian sandwich which was rye bread with roasted eggplant, peppers, mushrooms, onion, lettuce and feta cheese. It came with potato wedges, salad and couscous. B ordered eggs benedict sandwich with turkey ham, which was topped with asparagus, and came with potato wedeges and a salad as well.



Since I like vegetarian sandwiches in general, I enjoyed my meal as I usually enjoy vegetarian sandwiches. I realized, however, that it's time to move on to other types of sandwich as I tend to fall back on the vegetarian everytime. The couscous salad was ok; its lemony flavor providing a nice balance to the rather oily sandwich. The potato wedges were thickly sliced and plenty, and I ate about a third because I wanted to get the most out of my money. The entire thing is about Php 350. B said his eggs benedict were so-so, but there was something about the hollandaise that he didn't like. His order was Php 450+.

We were so full after the meal so we walked around Serendra and along High Street. The place started to get full around 5pm. Chelsea's dishes are most likely loaded with MSG as we got awfully thirsty a few hours later. The next day, B and I discovered that we could've gotten an appetizer or a dessert for free with his Amex card at Chelsea's. Normally, we'd shrug and say, "Oh well, next time." Although I'd look back on our lunchienda fondly (the place does have a relaxing and perfect-for-brunch ambiance), next time wouldn't be anytime soon.

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Tasty Porkchop

Location: Retiro, Quezon City

Tasty Dumplings is not popular for its dumplings, but for its porkchop. Pounded until paper thin, breaded and then deep friend, the porkchop is served with a special sauce that's thin, rather on the sweet side, and salty. This porkchop is lethal and is the way to any man's heart. Trust me. Learn to cook this and guys will be begging for your hand after two forkfuls.

When I ate here with B, I could barely get two sentences straight out of him. Just watch out, the establishment leaves a greasy, fryer smell on your hair and clothes. To keep the mood romantic, try spraying water mist around your table from time to time. Of course I didn't try that so I'm not sure if it works. There's also sitting close to a fan or direct path of an air conditioner.

Tasty Dumplings is a cheap eat that lets you have your comfort food whatever day of the week. The original branch is in Binondo which is bigger. What I don't care for about this restaurant is the shabby upkeeping of its comfort rooms. When I think of Tasty Dumplings, the next thing that comes to mind is the grimy comfort room at the second floor, which is totally negligible if you're not sensitive, but which makes you wonder what kind of hands pounded your pork, or what really makes the Wintermelon flavor in your drink, and what is special in the special sauce...

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Banapple

Location: Il Terrazzo, Tomas Morato, Quezon City

The craze with banoffie pies began when Starbucks came out with them several years back. Since then, every pastry shop has come up with its own version. I admit that I've always been partial with pioneers, so to me the rest of them would always be copycats, no matter how much better they improvise on the original.

I liked Starbucks banoffie pie, although I could never finish an entire pie. I've tasted Red Ribbon's version, which was an utter embarassment to the kingdom of banoffie pies. Red Ribbon's bakers seem to be the diabetics' nemeses, churning out new flavors of cake for every marketable occasion. While the effort is impressive, the taste of the cakes are not. If this goes on, pretty soon Red Ribbon will have to give up its restaurant business to display all its cakes. Come to think of it, that might not be such a bad idea. Good riddance.

Wait, I shouldn't be talking about Red Ribbon. The focus of this review is a pastry shop that's been getting a lot of attention lately, Banapple. I didn't really get to taste the banoffie pie pictured above. But I appreciate the thick chocolate shavings falling beautifully on the white, white whipped cream, and the chunks of bananas filling up the pie. Ok, I did have one bite. Who would be able to resist? The banoffie pie isn't as sweet as the Starbucks version, although I couldn't get the 'offie' in the banoffie. Is 'offie' supposed to be toffee, or coffee? Since Starbucks put it out first, I'm guessing it's the latter, but you never know with the way these behemoths play with us consumers. It's a huge slice, but eating it all won't make you feel as guilty as eating Starbucks banoffie pie, because it has less caramel and there isn't a block of chocolate lodged at the center of the pie that's a pleasant surprise when you don't know it's there. The Banapple banoffie pie has thicker crust, so in essence you feel like you're eating three things: whipped cream on top of bananas on top of crushed graham. The chocolate only registers at the end, and the syrup decorating the plate is nasty Hershey's chocolate syrup. I hate that stuff.

No, I didn't go to Banapple just to taste a forkful of the famous banoffie pie and stare at it hoping it'll reveal its deepest secrets to me. I did actually order a giant Oatmeal POWER Cookie.

I'm not sure why they called it a Power cookie, except maybe to credit your willpower in picking the healthiest and most awful baked item on the menu. As huge as my hand, the cookie is served warm and drizzled with the Hershey's chocolate syrup. It's not very sweet, kind chewy, and every bite is hard to swallow. It's a good punishment for a badly behaving child. Sample Banapple's other delectable desserts like the White Chocolate Truffle Cake while s/he watches as you lick icing off your spoon, and his/her sister makes a mess out of chocolate and whipped cream. If s/he is still behaving badly, tell him/her that s/he will never taste a real cookie again.

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Our new favorite carinderia

Location: Buendia, Makati City


The names Petra and Pilar have never sounded so classy until they were slapped on a restaurant with contemporary interiors and cozy ambiance. Carinderias have never been so hip either, until one started catering to executives and the uppity Makati crowd. I've read about Petra and Pilar in society magazines from whence I also read about Apartment 1B. Nothing about the articles enticed me to pay it a visit, however, as I'm not a fan of lutongbahay cuisine in general. If I wanted to lutongbahay, I would eat at home.

So it was generally a surprise to find myself in front of the restaurant one very early Tuesday morning. We were looking for a new breakfast fare, as we're tired of UCC and the default McDo option. The newly constructed Petra and Pilar, as it turns out, is right across one of my company's Internet cafe branches along Buendia. We were the first customers to arrive for the day, so I was able to appreciate the spacious parking and impressive size of the restaurant. A portion of the place is a deli where imported canned goods, meats and wine are sold. P&P also has its own line of deli stuff, although I can't remember clearly. Seriously, my memory's turned so bad I sometimes forget my cellphone number.

As in the ordinary carinderia, the food are lined up on one side and you point which viand you want. The waitress simultaneously scoops up your order and passes it to the kitchen to be heated. At the end of the food row is the huge bowl of black gulaman--a classic!-- and the cash register. Then you sit down and wait for the servers to bring the food to your table. Since it was only 7am, there were no viands yet and the breakfast menu consisted of tapsilog, longsilog, etc. We ordered tocino and corned beef, and a side of longanisa. The drinks are not part of the meal, and you can get a banana if you like.


I would like to praise P&P for a lot of things, not the least of which are the excellent wait staff, clean (and nice!) comfort room and the huge servings. But if you ask me how I found P&P, I would first harp about how cheap the food are. We only spent less than P180 for everything. Considering the size of the place, the prominent location, and the fact that it is owned by the wife of Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, with Petra and Pilar being the names of the couple's mothers, it seems like a humble endeavor to make high quality home cooking accessible to everyone.

We were quite satisfied with our food-- although the corned beef was from a can, it's P&P's own concoction, and the beef shreds are longer with less fat, unlike what you get from grocery bought corned beef. The longanisa had a very strong spicy, sweet taste, which overwhelmed everything else. It's good to eat with lots of rice.

Although the novel idea was to offer affordable homecooking served sosyal style, most of the restaurant crowd still comprised of senior executives, and rich looking matronas. Ok you didn't hear that from me. I observed this when we came back for lunch a couple of weeks later. P&P's lunch offerings are P100+ a viand (except for simple things like lumpia or vegetables). This is still inexpensive as the serving of one viand is big enough to share. The unique thing about P&P is it has a special viand for each day of the week. On Tuesdays like the day we went, the specialty is Cebu lechon. P200/order is steep, but if you consider that it can be shared, and that it's Cebu lechon, after all, it's not so bad. I'm not sure if it was lechon shipped from Cebu, or lechon cooked like they do in Cebu, but I noticed the difference from normal lechon. It was juicy, soft and tasty without the sauce. If it had been shipped from Cebu, the pork skin was too crunchy to tell.

Petra and Pilar made a good impression on me, but it's unlikely that I'll be craving for it. I imagine the times I would choose to eat there to be when I want someone to try it, or if I'm in the area. I heard that their cheesecake is really good, so maybe I'll try that when I go back. Read more