Restaurants | Mónica

My Date

October 8th, 2008 2:32 pm Restaurants 2 comments

SINGAPORE - Sticky Date Pudding @ PS. Cafe. This had to be one of the best desserts I have tried in this city. The date pudding was warm and moist, and the sticky nutty toffee made it extra sinful. I felt really gluttonous eating it all by myself, but at the same time it was too good to share.

The Doors

May 3rd, 2008 1:24 pm Restaurants Leave a comment

These were the very same doors which the tanks rammed down during the ~~January~~ November 2007 stand-off. It’s back to normal as if nothing ever happened. Sitting here at the lobby, enjoying the jazz music, just had dinner, enjoying free wifi, wondering if I should have dessert.

An Artist’s Cafe

June 5th, 2007 1:15 pm Uncategorized, Art, Manila, Philippines, Restaurants Leave a comment

I went to visit the gallery of Fabrice Sergent, the French Artist I met a few weeks ago, and stumbled upon the works of two amazing artists and a cafe. Located at the same building is Ricco Renzo Galleries and their lovely Ricco Renzo “The Artist’s Caffe”.

Ricco Renzo - The Artist’s Caffe

The Artist’s Caffe is a simple, yet very vibrant cafe/restaurant that is surrounded by brightly coloured table linens (which I am not sure I fancied), and some fantastic artworks. The one artwork that I thought stood out was the one by artists, Norly (or is it Norlie) Meimban (2nd Photo, 1st Painting on the left). At first glance, I couldn’t sus out what it was suppose to be. Perhaps because of the proximity of where I was seated. I then realised it was a nude painting of a man’s back. I never really was one for nude paintings, but this one I thought was exquisite.

Another artist that I understand usually exhibits his work there is Danny Sillada.. His works, unlike Sergent and Meimban, leans towards Dali’s surrealism with Khalo’s realism style. I have never come across a local surrealism artist before!

Thai Chicken Skewers with Cilantro Sauce

And of course, what is all the talk about a cafe without talking about to good stuff. The food at Ricco Renzo’s is really quite good and very reasonable. If the artwork is not your scene, it is worth the visit if only for the food.

Ricco Renzo Galleries
210 N. Garcia Street (formerly Reposo)
Makati City

Mezze! and Mojito

May 16th, 2007 2:08 pm Manila, Philippines, Restaurants 2 comments

Hors d’œuvres: Hummus, Roasted Peppers, Baba Ganoush

A visit to Mezze! @ Greenbelt yesterday was meant to be a Mojito and grab a quick mezze type meal, but it turned out more than just that and an even better experience. Having passed Mezze! several times in Greenbelt, I was always curious to check it out, but had the impression that it was rather on the pricey side. Sandwiched between two fine dinning restaurants, you can’t help but assume the same thing. Not to mention the funky elegant style of the restaurant. After checking the menu and their prices, it didn’t seem so bad at all.

It being two in the afternoon we were the only ones in the restaurant, apart from another one which I had assumed were the owners. The first thing we (my mom and I) ordered was the Hors d’œuvre Mezze which comes with Hummus, Roasted Pepper and Baba Ganoush. It was a first for me to try Baba Ganoush, and it was extremely good (the next thing I attempt to make). The Roasted Pepper type Baba Gammus (tasted like a combination of Baba Ganoush and Hummus, haha) I don’t know what it was, but tasted fantastic! The Hummus on the other hand was not too great, specially now that I was able to make it and it tasted just like the mamas in Persia used to make it! The Pita Bread, was not up to par as well (as seen in the photo).

The Piadina Margherita, was quite good. I expected a sort of Panini as it was meant to be a sandwich, made of Mozzerella, Tomato and Basil. It tasted good despite what I had in mind.

After the meal, we were contemplating on coffee and perhaps something to end the meal sweetly (aka the good stuff - dessert!). As we were about to order, we started having a chat with the owner and we ended up finding out she was the neighbor of my uncle and she knew him too! What a small world! She asked us what we thought of the place, and my hidden desires of being a food/restaurant critic kicked in instantly! haha! I told her one thing to attract more clients and told her she needed to have better quality of pita bread! haha! I’d like to think it was the Mojito talking. She invited us to an event on Thursday night (tomorrow) at the restaurant, as they have invited a Spanish and a French Artist to exhibit their works, and they will be having Latin music as well. She was a very nice lady and I loved the fact that she was very hands on with the restaurant and thought about every thing from the service down to the plates and cutlery. That’s how it is done!

We did end up having a sweet ending. It was a tough choice as it all looked really good. The owner suggested the sampler platter. It was a very good idea, as you get really tiny portions of 5 different desserts to share. I refrained from taking photos as to not torture you reading this, and perhaps entice you with the thought of having it here with me instead.

Portico & A Diabetic Coma

March 4th, 2007 11:26 am Uncategorized, Manila, Philippines, Restaurants 4 comments

Last night was spent at Serendra with my brother and some friends. Serendra is an up and coming area at the Fort. I have been hearing about this place since I arrived, but it was not until last night I got to and see what it was all about. After reading several blogs online, I have come to the conclusion that people who come to Serendra, go for a meal, then end up queuing for the country’s well talked about cupcakes and check out the huge shrine where you are most likely to see Homer Simpson (or my younger brother-in-law). So we did just that.

We started out at the restaurant called Portico (Chateau 1771). Elegant interior with modest prices. The food was pretty good too. Nothing spectacular, but a nice meal out. It was the first time for me to try Pomelo Salad, which my mom keeps raving about. I must admit, it was rather good. Unfortunately, I did not take any photos as I think the people we were with would have probably though I was round the bend for photographing my food! After the meal, I went to be excused and there were two western ladies in the WC in there with me. One of the told me I could go ahead of her as she wasn’t queuing. She reminded me so much of my mom’s friend. I thanked her and asked her where she was from. I had an inkling that she was from the U.K., sure enough she was. She said that she was visiting her son who works for Shell Manila. It was a nice quick chat and I feel like I have turned into my mother! Talking to complete strangers. I guess I couldn’t help not talk to a fellow foreigner.

After dinner, as I suspected, our friends suggested we try some Cupcakes by Sonja. We joined the semi-long cue for these much talked about cupcakes. My brother and I took a moment to reminisce on my mom’s cupcakes which she used to make when we were kids. Ahhh…yes, the good ol’ days. This place was rather cute and felt like strawberry shortcake’s country house kitchen. Bordering on sickeningly sweet — and that was just the shop. The cupcakes to my disappointment were extremely sweet and the icing on the cupcake was grainy. It was a nice experience to try, but I think it’s a place for a girl aged 6.

As if that wasn’t enough sugar, we headed to the other side of Serendra, to check out Krispy Kreme. The area is called “Bonifacio High Street”. I couldn’t help but roll my eyes and think how they are trying to copy the UK’s “high streets“, which are actually just shops along streets! I wonder if they would eventually call it “High Street Boni”, kinda like “High Street Ken”. Trust me, this has got to be the plushest high street that exists — same goes for Krispy Kreme. This must be the most elegant and biggest Krispy Kreme you will encounter. And just like in Harrods, they do give you a free doughnut when the red sign is lit. In this country, I couldn’t help but think of the losses they would have by doing that. At under Php 400 for a box of dozen doughnuts. The doughnuts tastes different from the ones in London. The flavours as well seem to be different, perhaps they are taking the same ones from the states. Again, it seemed a lot sweeter than the London ones.

It would be interesting to go back and check out the other restaurants in that area. One of them being a Spanish restaurant called Gaudi and another one called Duo, which my mom has been several times. I noticed that they will be opening what I think is, the UK franchise of Fish & Co. — at High Street Boni.

Kulinarya

February 27th, 2007 5:15 pm Uncategorized, Manila, Philippines, Restaurants Leave a comment

Had dinner this evening in Kulinarya Kitchen at Rockwell. I guess until I find myself a job, I am going to be doing my “frustrated restaurant critic” undercover work. I have been to Kulinarya years ago and back then I thought it was good. Having tried it again, I must say I am quite amazed that it is even better. The food seemed a lot better and even more impressive is that, unlike most restaurants in Manila, it has managed to keep it’s quality as good or even better than when they started. I feel that almost all restaurants in Manila have a shelf life. After six months, quality goes down, the vibe of the place changes, service dips as well. Hence why I was really pleased with Kulinarya.

And now for the fun part… the food.

For starters, we ordered 2 Crab and Mango Salads to share amongst us four. In which, they nicely plated for us already in our shared portions. The salad is a bed of lettuce with crab sticks and mango slices, dressed with balsamic vingar and some special mayo. For the main course, I had the Pork Tenderloin Scallopine. It was better than I expected it to be. Together with the Pork Tenderloin was a small portion of mushroom risotto and a hint of what I assume was pesto dressing on the side. The whole dish was so moorish! Over all, good dinning experience and very reasonable too.

Dulcinea

February 1st, 2007 6:55 pm Uncategorized, Manila, Philippines, Restaurants Leave a comment

Churros con Chocolaté

I’m back in the game, only writing about food from the homeland. Dulcinea, was always known to have pretty good if not the best Churros in town. In fact, I don’t know if there is any other place here that actually sells the stuff. I’m sure there must be. We can’t have been colonized by the Spaniards for 300 years only to get only one place to serve us churros!

Unfortunately, the experience of having Churros yesterday wasn’t a good one. The Churros in Dulcinea was very oily and rather tasteless. It had a hint of burntness to it’s taste. Oh well, I thought maybe the Chocolaté will make up for it. But that wasn’t impressive either. The chocolate was very runny (note the chocolate in the side of the cup) and didn’t coat the Churros as well as it should have. It tasted quite stale as well. So, sorry Dulcinea, you need to step up your game.

Yesterday’s experience made me miss the Churros I had in London just last weekend. It was extremely good. I didn’t find the churros oily at all. It was just so moorish and the experience being there made it even better. I guess I really am going to have to learn to make Churros myself in order to satisfy my craving.

Other foodie report is my search for good bread. I wasn’t successful in that department as well. I went to check a bakery called Le Coeur de France, but still it was all white breads being sold. Not impressed, I went to check the supermarket two doors down and found something which I thought was vaguely better. It was by Village Baker, Sourdough. It didn’t look right, but decided to give it a go. Had some of it for dinner, and it was still your white bread on the inside. Que sera. I think I am going to have to check The Peninsula bakery for this one.

On other news, I had my first beauty sessions yesterday. Getting nails done for a mere £2.50 and eyebrows for £1.90!!! That is 100% less than what I used to pay in London! Plus the can do customer service attitude. So there were some highlights to my day.

The jet-lag doesn’t seem to be getting better. I am able to sleep early but I always wake up around midnight or just after — starving. I guess it’s my body thinking that it is almost dinner time in London, and it wants me to give it some food. So I guess it is time for a tiny Non-sourdough bread with some Paté.

The Itsu on Regent Street

January 14th, 2007 10:08 am London, UK, Restaurants, News Leave a comment

I was walking along Regent Street this week and I noticed that they had closed down the Itsu in Piccadilly. Itsu is a chain of sushi restaurants in London. Early November 2006, after the controversial incident of Mr. Litvinenko falling ill due under suspicion of trace of a radioactive substance Pollonium, Itsu became internationally known for this political press. Consequently, this branch of this sushi bar was closed down because it was believed to be the reason of former KGB’s death. I would occasionally go to this sushi bar and I can’t begin to imagine what it could have done to their sales.

Speaking of Litvinenko, I read today that Johnny Depp is to produce a film on the life of the former Russian Spy. I think this could rather be interesting, Mr. Depp.

Bar Gansa

December 5th, 2006 11:24 pm Uncategorized, London, UK, Restaurants 4 comments

Oh it has been a busy (alcohol induced) weekend. With lots of meeting of friends and Xmas preparations, it has been a busy week. Last Sunday, I met my friend Julianna for a post birthday celebration. We met in Camden as I have never been there before. It was quite an unusual place (for London) and it reminded it much of the Greenhills in Manila. The stuff there were nice to look at, but not necessary nice to own. I saw a few pieces of clothing that I would like to get, but then I found it outrageous to pay those prices in a market when it is the same price I would pay for Zara or Mango. But then Juls reminded me that it was after all, vintage.

After seeing Camden Market, we decided it was time to sit and grab some grub. We both agreed that Bar Gansa seemed quite interesting and she wanted me to practice my Spanish. hehe! And indeed I did. I was able to order our meal in Spanish and ask for the bill as well.

I must say, as we sat there for a few hours enjoying our Sangria’s, Tapas and Paella, the place really grew on me. The staff I thought was fantastic. They were so friendly and made our dinner experience great. The one thing I love about dinning in London is that if you dine let’s say, in an Italian restaurant, you will have Italian people serving you and the guests too are Italian. Same goes with Chinese, Indian and Spanish. That is one thing I surely will miss. I loved being able to speak to the people in Spanish and make me feel for those hours, I was in Spain. The food in Bar Ganza was really good as well. I kind of prefer this restaurant now than La Tasca, as it is independent and not commercialized. If in Camden, check out this place in Inverness Street. It is even worth making the trip to go check out this place.

As if I hadn’t had enough alcohol, after dinner we decided to head towards west end and find a place to keep up the Latin spirit. But as it was Sunday, everything was closed. So we ended up and some pubs. haha!

It was a very good, if tiresome weekend.

six more days

Stern’s World Cafe

November 20th, 2006 11:27 pm Uncategorized, London, UK, Restaurants 4 comments

I had to go to an embassy around Warren Street today, and I found a new place around the area. The first thing that caught my eye was the fact it said “World Music Cafe” on the window. Sounded like my kinda place, since I enjoy listening to Brazilian/Portuguese and Spanish music.

The cool thing about Stern’s World Cafe is that not only do they play world music, but also sell world music too. Unfortunately, the food sold in the cafe was not very impressive. Although they serve Guatemalan coffee, which is revered as one of the most flavorful coffee, I am not a fan. I prefer the taste of Italian coffee (i.e. bristot, illy). But then it could be all a matter of taste. The ambience is pretty cozy and I would recommend it if you want to have a cuppa tea and a chat. I wasn’t impressed with the staff either. I was hoping to grab some brunch and I asked them if they did sandwiches since I could see that they had some ham, cheeses and salmon. They lady said no. So I then pointed and said that I would have a pie (meat pie). Sat down, my coffee and “pie” arrive. Was just surprised to receive an apple pie and not a savory pie. I would have said something, but then I didn’t wanna go into more miscommunication. Only thing is, I don’t like apple! I don’t mind apple as long as it is cooked and in a warm pie. Even then it’s not my favorite. I do like the Swedish Apfel Kaka (apple cake) though. Anyhoo, as I was eating this cold apple pie only to see the lady behind the counter make a baquette sandwich. Hmmm…

Anyway, while I was sipping my coffee, listening to the music, I decided to write a Life List. Ellen Degeneres keeps going on about it, and my mom has been telling me for ages to make one. She really believes in the power of visualization. A case of “if you build it, it will come”. So there I was, writing down this list (perhaps one day put it up on here) and I also ended up making a list of the things I was fortunate enough to do and always wanted to do (i.e: go skiing, see a musical in London etc.). Hopefully, one day when one of the things in my Life List become a reality, I will have fond memories that I was once writing about it in a cafe in London, that served me Guatemalan coffee and apple pie.

My first movie clip! (…and YouTube post)

November 11th, 2006 12:19 am Uncategorized, Quirky, Art, London, UK, Restaurants 2 comments

Look out Spielberg! Jiandani coming through! haha!

I finally got to make my first video clip using my niffty piece of computer equipment. With the use of my mobile phone I took two short clips of the Jasmine Flower Tea from one of my favorite restaurants, Ping Pong. They give you an empty glass with this flower bud inside and as they pour hot water the bud slowly grows in the water and starts to bloom into the flower. My sister was really freaked out by it hahaha! But it is really lovely to have with your dimsum.

Anyhoo, with the two clips I took with my phone, using Quick Time Pro (Thanks Jai! LOL) and iMovie I was able to put the clips together. As you will see, the editting isn’t too great, but not bad for a rookie! With the use of GarageBand I developed the “theme tuuuunnnne” (write the theme tuuunneee, sing the theeemmmeee tune! haha - off Little Britian) and wham bam thank you mam, added it to iMovie! ~~I was going to use YouTube to uploaded it, but then it wasn’t working in my favor, so it will have to be photobucket for now. The upload has compromised the quality, but oh well.~~ I’m off to bed! Enjoy!

Update 11/11/06 18:29 Was able to get Youtube sorted, this is a better quality of the video.

Soho, London

November 5th, 2006 7:05 pm Uncategorized, Quirky, London, UK, Restaurants Leave a comment

Last Wednesday I went to do some errands, and I found myself walking around Soho (as you do in your free time. Haha!) It is always amusing being around the area, from the pornofocation (that word is bound to get me spammed!) to the lovely specialty shops. And I mean — food shops. As I was walking towards Soho, I passed this shop and the print on the glass immediately caught my eye.

I tutted at myself for being so crude but then the woman walking infront of me turned back to see if she was reading it right! Haha! So it wasn’t just me. Turns out, it was an eyeglasses shop. How very soho!

As I was in that area I decided to check out Camisa as I hadn’t been again since my attempt of making Tiramisu. As always, it has a very nice friendly vibe in that shop, if a bit small. I recognised something I had seen being made on TV a few weeks ago.

Ta-dah! Cannoli. I have never had it before and I was quite interested to try it. Specially if it is from Camisa, it is bound to be authentic. We had it for dessert one evening and all I can say is: Divine!

After my great Italian find, I decided to call it a day. Walk back towards Oxford Street, I stumbled upon this creperie and I realised that I was feeling a little peckish. I decided to give it a go. I mean on an autumn cold afternoon. Who can resist a warm banana, nuttela crepe and a cappuccino? It wasn’t THE best crepe I have had, but it did the trick. If in the area yeah, I would recommend it.

A bit of trivia: Crepe Affaire was formerly where Eat-ties used to be. I went their a couple of time when I was working in the area. And right next door is “The Turkish Place”, where I used to frequent with the guys at work as well.

Anyhoo… all these talk of food has got me hungry… Till the next post — tah tah!

Mónica