Pinoy Word of Mouth

Focusing on Delivery & Catering - Pito & Mita

2012-01-27T18:20:00.000+08:00

The text below is from the Facebook page of Pito & Mita. They're closing their resto, but they will still continue cooking for us! Good news, because I love their food. Details below

...Our Valued Patrons, Friends and Family,

Pito & Mita Restaurant has formally closed. However, you may still continue to enjoy our home-cooked dishes at the comfort of your own homes. We still continue to accept food orders and simple caterings.

For inquiries, you may contact 2154056 or 0917-5553153.

Again, our heart-felt gratitude to all of you for your patronage! God bless.

World, meet Dilis. From the Philippines!

2012-01-08T23:15:00.002+08:00

My own take of the Philippines' Department of Tourism Campaign. I love their new campaign.

Chikaan Abreeza Mall Davao City

2012-01-05T17:16:00.001+08:00

Either I came late or I'm sensing a developing trend in the world of Davao restaurants. What trend? Good food? Nah, been in Davao since Adam. Affordable? Nothing new, in existence ever since. How about - fast service? Right on the money. But let me go back to good food. Sabaw sa Utan at Chika-An Abreeza Mall Davao City.

Sabaw sa Utan or Soup of Vegetables is sooo ridiculously good. Food presentation will give you the impression that this soup is just like law-uy (A famous Visayan food dish made up of vegetables) with a lot more soup or sauce, but once you taste it, you'll be surprised. Delicious.

Mentally stimulating. We also tried to dissect the dish and tried to pin-point which ingredient was responsible for this and that flavor which combine produced such a delectable ensemble. We gave up analyzing the dish after a few minutes and just finished the entire bowl.

Aside from that simple masterpiece, we ordered ampalaya and dilis salad, eggplant salad, griled tuna belly, and barbecued chicken. The regulars were good but the limelight was on the soup. Superb. A must have.

New Orleans Cafe Davao City

2012-01-02T15:20:00.000+08:00

Cafe at 2pm in a fairly new Coffee Shop in Davao City. I'm at New Orleans Cafe located along Bajada Road fronting (Davao City Water District office) while waiting for my wife who is having her 2-hour long massage at a nearby massage joint. What to do in 2 hours when I'm not in the mood for a massage? Find the nearest coffee shop with wifi, surf the internet, have coffee and biscuits, and blog about the coffee and biscuits. For this afternoon though, it's coffee and beignet. Yes, beignet is definitely a French word, and is just that. They don't have the right to claim it's origin. Any country or state can make it part of their tradition. In fact, beignet is The official state doughnut of Louisiana, USA. Points then for this cafe's application of this little known fact. Thanks Wikipedia. Had to research this after it came with my coffee.

Then I was hungry again. I remembered spotting a crepe maker behind the cashier when I was paying for my coffee. So ordered what the staff suggested - Crepe with mangoes, bananas and mandarin. I tasted crepe where crepe should be tasted and I must say although what was served was a little bit thinner than what I expected, it still satisfied my palate. The fruits and the creme that topped it was heavenly. Either that or I was just so used to crepe avec lait sucre (crepe with condensed milk). Well upgrading to something healthier than condensed milk was worth it. Price was also affordable, a little bit cheaper than the crepes in Manila and I can buy 3 of these with what I paid for one in Paris. Will definitely be back.

Cafe Laguna Abreeza Mall Davao City

2012-01-01T17:14:00.000+08:00

Happy New Year!...So what's for lunch?! My family and I went for lunch at the new Cafe Laguna restaurant in the new Abreeza Mall in Davao City. Yes, I'm in Davao now. Yesterday's post was looong due for release. Well, we've been in Davao for over 2 weeks now and we haven't stopped filling our stomachs with this marvelous city's fantastic seafood delicacies. Notice the specifics? Seafood. Stress on seafood because, Davao, is hands down, the best source of fresh succulent affordable seafood dishes in the Philippines. If anyone wants to challenge this, their free to send me a plane ticket to their city and have me try their best bet restaurant. I'm free for Amanpulo between January 2 to 8, 2012. I bet Amanpulo will have a run for their money...did I mention affordable?.

Going back to Cafe Laguna, well the family just ordered 3 dishes, seaweed salad, "sinigang na baboy" (tamarind soup with pork), and my favorite, "kinilaw na tangigue" (Spanish Mackerel cooked in vinegar) with grilled pork bits. I didn't get to take a picture of the seaweed salad. We gobbled it up before I could gather up my senses. Below are the two dishes who had their photos taken. I won't comment on the taste. Ok just one, it was a welcome break from cheese. The whole meal just cost us around 800.00 pesos or just $18. AFFORDABLE.

Milan Italy a Reintroduction to Great Food

2011-12-31T10:00:00.000+08:00

A few months of cheeses, chocolates, and breads makes one Filipino crave for something close to the Filipino palate. Something salty, something oily, or simply put, something a little bit unhealthy. This made the days before our trip to Milan oh so exciting and oh so long. I was craving for Italian food days before our adventure in Milan. Moreover, our Filipino friends told us that the food in Italy costs 40% cheaper than in Switzerland, by this time, we couldn't wait anymore.

Milan. Soon as we checked in in our hotel, we went for lunch at a nearby restaurant. The restaurant was all I imagined it to be. Not so crude, very simple, typical hole in the wall. The menu was inkjet printed on plain paper, nothing fancy. The dishes couldn't remember the names nor the prices. We just ordered, took a few photos and jumped in. All I could remember is I ordered, red wine, risotto, salad, beef, the price, I remember the comments that it was way cheaper, and the taste was fantastic. To top it all, I believe it was all healthy.

Heaven. Like the restaurant's facade, the food presentation was ordinary. However, the taste was heavenly. What a great way to reintroduce myself to great food. Can't wait to eat Filipino Food again. Let my pictures tickle your palate's imagination. Bon appetit.

Qatar Airways Food Leaving for Switzerland

2011-08-17T17:39:00.002+08:00

Dear followers, instead of the usual posts about the Philippine food and sites, the author will be temporarily posting about visits and tastes of places and dishes around Europe. Yes, my family and I are temporarily based in Switzerland, courtesy of my wife's company.

To start off the gastronomic escapades of the author, let me tell you about the meal on board Qatar Airways. We left Manila via Qatar Airways last May 21, 2011.

Business class meals are listed in the menu below:

For starters, there was only one choice for the appetizer, Palate Pleaser Oriental Chicken Salad in Crepe Roll. Fittingly, this was the start of my crepe encounters. Crepes are everywhere here in Europe, at least in the countries we've visited. Though, I'm only fond of one type - crepe with butter and sugar topped with vanille ice cream.

The tiny crepe appetizer looked lovely (see how photogenic above), tasted good, in fact I got my daughter's serving.

The main course was not as good as the appetizer, but still yummy, no need for second servings though - Pan fried chicken breast with paprika, rosemary sauce with whole garlic, roasted potatoes and grilled medley of bell peppers.

For the finale, I had Vanilla ice cream. No picture needed.

The whole meal was tasty, light, and refreshing. I just regretted taking white wine. It didn't went well with the whole meal. It would have, but my palate was not yet used to wines. I'm just starting to learn.

Au revoir!

Wingman Makati City

2011-05-17T15:20:00.000+08:00

I developed a liking for buffalo wings a few months ago when I was introduced to Buffalo Wings and Things at Home Depot Compound Pasig by an officemate. Since then, buffalo wings has been part of my fave food list, on the same level as steak, but a step lower than raw salmon or tuna.

For several times, a few weeks back, my family and I passed Malugay Street in Makati City and noticed this new joint named "Wingman". One Saturday evening, my wife and I decided to check this resto. I was ecstatic upon knowing that the specialty was buffalo wings!

Like any other restaurant that serve buffalo wings, this place also offers different levels of spiciness for the buffalo chicken classic sauce. Theirs were Medium, Hot, Apocalyptic, and Pinaka. I didn't bother to ask what "Pinaka" meant and Apocalyptic sounded suicidal, so I ordered Hot to be safe (excuse the pun).

Wingwan Wings Buffalo Wings Classic in Hot Sauce was salty. The spiciness was tolerable. Tolerable meant two bites and a glass of water and occasional snots. Intolerable meant, one bite and a gallon of water. Going back to salty, yes this was a drawback. I'm not sure if the saltiness was an effect of the spice, but it sure stopped me from finishing my order. Same thing with the Wingman Wings Honey Garlic.

Good thing we ordered Wingman Wings Hickory Barbecue, no way was salt going to over-power this sauce or else it wouldn't live up to its name. This dish was yummy. I'll be ordering this dish soon as my salt-shock subsides. Oh we ordered french fries too and it didn't help either, obviously fries and salt, their somewhat made for each other.

So now it got me thinking, is "Pinaka" a prefix for Pinakamaanghang or PinakamaSalty?

Well, their other dishes may be ok. Heck, "heckory" (excuse the pun again) barbecue wings was delicious. Well, I'll be requesting less salt on my wings on my next visit.

Wingman Wings cost P180.00 for 6 pieces and P300.00 for a dozen. The restaurant is located at The Collective, Malugay Street, Makati City.

Wabi-Sabi The Collective Makati City

2011-04-02T19:02:00.006+08:00

How can one be objective but not offensive. I don't know. Here's an attempt.

The first time I tried vegetarian food was when I was about 10 years ago in a vegetarian restaurant in Davao City. I remember eating something that resembled pork barbeque but tasted like the smell of paper. I can't say tasted like paper, I've never eaten paper. That is writing paper, but I remember eating the inner wrapper of White Rabbit Candy. If that was paper, then I've eaten paper. But it was a hell lot better than the fake barbeque.

After 10 years, my family and I found ourselves in Wabi-Sabi inside the The Collective along Malugay Street, Makati City. This small restaurant serves Asian vegetarian food. I ordered Mushroom Shumai aP55.00) and Shoyo Ramen (P95.00). We'll to be honest, the dishes looked appetizing. However, I still have to train my tongue to appreciate vegetarian food. I still have a lot to learn about vegetarian dishes...

The Mushroom Shumai was not able to veer my mind off the normal Sho Mai.

The Dumplings were yummy.

The Ramen was Ramen. I'm not sure about the other stuff in it.

The Collective...

All About Goto, Merienda Atbp. Tagaytay City

2011-03-30T00:40:00.001+08:00

Sometimes we crave for simple, unassuming, no nonsense food. For me its Arroz Caldo and Tokwa't Baboy. For many these are two dishes, NO it's just one and not to be compared please to Dinuguan and Puto, which I think is way too off to be called a pair. Tawilis and Monggo is better and might just be called A dish. Dinuguan and Puto, two dishes.

Well, I got the cravings at 8:00am last Sunday upon waking up in Tagaytay. My family and I decided to sleep over the night before upon getting news that Summit Ridge Hotel had one room worth P3,250.00. Their rooms usually are priced double than that. We grabbed the promo, slept, and ate Arroz Caldo at All About Goto, Merienda Atbp. in the morning. The Arroz Caldo was heavenly at only P50.00. Yes, I'm a cheapskate, but honestly this was heavenly. Tokwa't Baboy was good enough but not the best that I've tasted. So far Davao City's Dencia's still serves the best Towa't Baboy, even if All About Goto serves theirs with a crunchy tokwa. All About Goto sells their Tokwa't Baboy for only P45.00. To end, breakfast was satisfying.

Tiny Kitchen Davao City

2011-01-23T10:56:00.000+08:00

Aside from reflecting on the meaning of Christmas, the holidays, also means enjoying tons and tons of different kinds of delicacies prepared by restaurants, caterers, our families in parties, and pot lucks during holiday get-togethers. During our annual Christmas vacation in Davao, I tried reflecting and skipped the food. Not so much on calorie loading. I indulged for just one night during our barkada Christmas party and that was it. I'm currently on a race trying to reach normal weight before a heart attack beats me.

So in Davao, I ate normal small portions and tried to veer-off from sweet temptations. Until, my wife asked me to drive her to Tiny Kitchen to look for food pasalubongs for her officemates.

Tiny Kitchen is a popular hole-in-the-wall type of restaurant, slash bake shop, slash coffee shop, stamped "TINY". The place is small as well as it's kitchen, as what its name suggests.

As my wife was asking the attendant for bottled tuyo, I saw an article of the Philippine Daily Inquirer posted on the wall. it was about Top 25 desserts of the Philippines. On it I saw an article about Frozen Chocolate Brazo. It was Tiny Kitchen's masterpiece. Its not ranked though, but nonetheless, it was worth trying. We bought I box.

The cake was heavenly. The brazo was extra soft without a hint of any slight overcooked part. It wasn't as sweet also which was good, and it blended well with the chocolate ice cream sandwiched in the cake. This is one for the books. No wonder it caught the eye of one Inquirer writer. Good find. Tiny Kitchen is one stop you shouldn't miss when in Davao. A Photo of the Philippine Eagle and a box of this Frozen Chocolate Brazo is enough to document a good vacation in Davao.

Tiny Kitchen is located at the corner of Torres and Mabini Streets, Davao City. Contact them thru (082) 3059232, (082) 2346095 or e-mail them at tinykitchencreations@yahoo.com. Tiny Kitchen also offers other desserts and must-try bottled fish products.

Jie Xiao Chao Makati City

2010-12-12T02:38:00.008+08:00

An authentic Chinese Cuisine for me would be a Chinese dish cooked by a Chinese Chef, in a Chinese kitchen, of a Chinese resto, located within the borders of China. Although my description and parameters may appear close to credible, it still is not accurate. How about the taste? That I wouldn't know. Only a person, regardless of of race, who has in-dept knowledge and vast experience of Chinese cuisine can accurately say that a dish is authentic Chinese. Yes, the first few sentences are waivers. So let me just describe what my family ate at Jie Xiao Chao, located at 6404 Camia Street, Guadalupe Viejo, Makati City, a few meters around the corner Guadalupe Viejo Barangay Hall.

We ordered Steamed Fish Head (P350.00), Gong Bao Chicken (P180.00), and Fried Kangkong (TBA)

At 350.00php The Steamed Fish was fairly priced. It can feed four, but with rice of course. This dish is spicy. Fortunately. the chili doesn't entirely penetrate the fish meat. Majority of the spiciness is with the soup or sauce. Just scrape of the sauce and chilis from the fish and the kids can eat it, but DO CHECK FOR FISH BONES. This dish is heavy with bones - think Bangus. This dish and all others in this resto, for me, need a certain acquired taste to say it's delicious. If this what uncommercialized food tastes like, then I still need to train my palate.

The Gong Bao Chicken, is also, for me again, a challenge to comment on the taste.

Again, this one also doesn't taste familiar, maybe a few trips to China would make comment accurately on the taste.

Bottomline, Jie Xiao Chao, located at 6404 Camia Street, Guadalupe Viejo, Makati City is worth a visit. Contact Numbers - 09154252972, 09277876999

Buffalo Wings N Things Home Depot Compound Pasig City

2010-10-25T23:20:00.002+08:00

A buffalo wing, hot wing or wing is a chicken wing section (drumette or flat) that is traditionally fried unbreaded and then coated in sauce. Classic Buffalo-style chicken wing sauce is composed of a vinegar-based cayenne pepper hot sauce and butter. Buffalo wings are traditionally served with blue cheese dressing.

Buffalo wings are named after the famous dish from Buffalo, New York.The residents of Buffalo New York normally refer to them as "wings" or "chicken wings" rather than "Buffalo wings."

I only got to know about this dish in the Mid-90's when Don Henrico's, a famous Italian-American inspired restaurant opened in Davao City. From what I remember, I only tried their buffalo wings in one sauce. Their sauce was sweet without a hint of chili. Don Henrico's didn't last long in my hometown - I didn't get the chance to grow fond of the dish.

Fast forward, cable television came and I got to watch The Food Channel. Then I knew that buffalo wings were meant to be spicy and eaten with beer - still wasn't craving for the dish.

Last week, an officemate introduced us (together with other officemates) to Bufallo Wings N Things, located in Home Depot Pasig City. We ate on a weekday, I immediately went back with my wife and kid on the weekend. Obviously, I liked their food.

Just sharing what we ate and a few comments...

I ordered Triple Sampler prced at P338.39, not including service charge. This dish consists of 14-16 pieces of chicken with the option to coat the chicken pieces in three different sauces. So I had 5 pieces coated with the "Firehouse" sauce. This was the "Introductory" hot sauce variant. Next sauce level was spicier (so tame a descritption) or rather hotter, "Nuclear", but I didn't get to order this one. My wife had to had her share. So she ordered 5 pieces of chicken coated in Garlic Sauce, that's the dish shown below -

I tried the Garlic Sauce coated chicken first. This was heavenly, no chillis, but still darn good chicken. So good, that my wife and I blurted out the same comment on our first bite. Correction, she blurted it out first, while my mind just blurted it out to my skull - didn't get the chance to say it, so I just nodded.

Next on the order list was 2 pieces coated in Armageddon Sauce. This one's HOT. This sauce is the reason why big-packed napkins are placed on each table. The type of napkins we usually use in wiping crumbs and liquids from our dining tables. Why that big of a napkin, it's to hold either the dripping liquid from your nose or the dripping sweat on your face and neck or both as result of the chili on our bodies. It was confusing - This was what ran through my mind as I took my first tast of Armageddon. I didn't know whether to drink water, eat rice, take another bite at Armageddon or wipe the mucus of my lip (yes, it dripped to that area immediately after the first bite). I might have done all actions in under ten seconds after that first bite. Thankfully, I just had two pieces coated with this sauce. I finished both, and struggled to just limit myself to just a glass water to ease the chili burns. - But I liked it. Next time, I'm bringing my best friend to this joint (He can normally down 5 chillis with his soy sauce when eating grilled dishes without breaking a sweat).

The last two pieces of the triple sampler were not coated with any sauce. We ordered it that way for our daughter. The cook was gracious enough to allow this.

Aside from chicken we also ordered rice and french fries (P30.35 - rice, P88.39 excluding service charge). They called their rice, dirty rice. It tasted like Jambayala rice. Honestly, the french fries went better with the chicken versus the rice. The french fries were also better in calming the chili versus the rice. Hopefully, going a notch higher, in the future, they can serve Mashed potatoes.

Check out their Facebook Fan Page - http://www.facebook.com/#!/get.buffaloed

Pito & Mita Mediterranean Cuisine BF Homes Paranaque City

2010-09-19T20:54:00.003+08:00

For a food and travel blogger, excitement comes from hearing about a start-up restaurant that serves good food in a location outside of Libis or Jupiter Street. Today's Sunday lunch was confirmation time. The venue, Pito & Mita Mediterranean Cuisine along Aguirre Street, BF Homes, Paranaque City. So from Makati City we went down south to Paranaque.

My sister told me about Pito & Mita a month ago. I chose to keep it in mind. So when I had time and enough reason to travel down south, I brought my family with me. Aside from the restaurant, we also had to go to this furniture depot in Sucat, Paranaque.

Soon as we parked outside the restaurant and saw the interiors through the windows, I knew we found something special. True enough, the food was divine (my review only applies to what we ordered). For starters, we ordered, Spinach Artichoke Dip with Melba Toasts. The Dip looked and tasted liked mashed Artichoke, with Olive Oil and Garlic, delicious. A perfect starter, since it tasted good and it kept us busy while our other dishes were being prepared.

We didn't wait long, less than 15 mins. passed and my Parmesan-Crusted Baked Fish was served. Yes, it was both crusted and baked. So was it crispy? Indeed the parmesan crust was crispy in the outside and the fish was perfectly cooked inside. It came with Mashed potatoes and Carrots and Corn. And was it delicious? No, it was divine. That's why it's their best seller.

My wife's order came in next. Roast Pork cooked perfectly tender, served with mashed potatoes and vegetables. I pinched a bite and never regretted it. It was fine. Not as tasty as tmy fish, but still worth ordering.

My daughter and nanny ordered garlic chicken, my nanny said it was "ok". So I'm assuming it was just "ok".

The drinks were a little bit above the ordinary, we ordered Bottomless Lemon-Moringa Juice, it's a sweet lemon flavored MALUNGGAY Juice. A must try.

Bottomline...the experience was accurate (courtesy of my sister's assessment), surprising, and insufficient - I needed to taste more, but we had to go to this furniture shop.

Prices: Spinach Artichoke - P150, Roast Pork- P175, Garlic Chicken - P180, Bottomless Lemon-Moringa Juice - P60.

Pito & Mita Mediterranean Cuisine is located at 176 Aguirre St., BF Homes, Paranaque City. Contact them thru -826-3634

Chic-Boy Chicken at Baboy Restaurant Makati City

2010-08-02T21:28:00.000+08:00

In my 31 years of eating, I've tasted different types of lechon. Although not the best tasting lechon in the Philppines in my opinion, Cebu lechon still ranks on the top 5 of the best lechon variants in the Philippines. Being in Manila, it is a rarity to eat lechon in parties and small, regular, get togethers. In Mindanao or Cebu you get to eat it (served in whole) regularly. This is mainly because in Manila lechon is expensive. In Vismin its cheap. A group of ten can chip-in ad buy a whole lechon. In Davao last year I got to eat it almost monthly when served in whole and weekly on Sundays when I buy it just a block away from our house for only P250.00 per kilo. Here in Manila its P450.00 pr kilo.

Last month, while on our daily route from office to house, we noticed a new restaurant. The restaurant's name Chic-Boy. Pretty catchy name for a restaurant. Days passed and we forgot about the place until one Sunday, after church, we were undecided where to eat - then we remembered Chic-Boy. So went, expecting little since our assumption was that the place was the usual Inasal type food joint.

To our surprise they sold lechon. For my wife and I, both hailing from Davao, our similar childhood Sunday memories include lechon for lunch. Even now when we visit our hometown we usually buy the cheaper tastier lechon (than in Manila). Actually, we prefer it more than Tuna.

In Chic-Boy, the serve Cebu lechon per meal. More surprisingly they sell it only at P99.00. Now that price makes it more appetizing!

We also ordered Batchoy. Based on my very experienced tongue, it was comparable to the original La Paz Batchoy of Iloilo. As salty and garlicky as the original. A must-have for batchoy lovers in Manila. And oh the price. For a heaping bowl you just pay P48.00!

For me eating in this joint made realize bargain iss synonymous to good taste. Try this joint and share my realization.

Chic-Boy is located at 112 Jupiter Street, Bel-Air Makati City. Contact them at (02)5136393 and visit their website at www.chic-boy.com.ph

This is not a paid blog. The post is my personal account and review on Chic-Boy Chicken at Baboy Restaurant

Kanin Club

2010-08-02T19:17:00.000+08:00

The Philippines is cradling the Asian fusion bandwagon a little too long. In my opinion, going back to grassroots and building on on our Filipino dishes is what is more challenging and exciting. For the past few months, I've been scouring the Metro and provincial Luzon on Interesting dishes. Most of the joints and dishes I've tried served Asian fusion and a few - Creative Filipino Dishes.

When I say creative Filipino dishes, I mean Kanin Club.

A Filipino friend of mine, who is now based in Singapore, asked for my suggestions for dishes to be served in her restaurant in Singapore. Her small restaurant will be serving Filipino, American, and Fil-Am fusion food. Soon as she finished asking, I asked her, "have you tried sinigang (tamarind soup) rice?" and literally her mouth opened. She found it a great idea. Yes, understandably, she's been out of the country pretty long not to have heard about this dish.

Reminiscing on the time when I was a salesman and frequent Sta. Rosa Laguna, I remember eating Crispy Dinuguan, with its oh-so-yummy sauce and crispy "chicharon" (deep fried pork skin with little meat) bits, with sinigang rice (tamarind soup flavored rice) and ampalaya (bitter gourd) salad. We usually eat these dishes on payday. Not that the dishes are expensive, but there are a lot of cheap food around Sta. Rosa Laguna, however, they don't taste as good Kanin Club.

Kanin Club is located in Paseo De Sta. Rosa.

Kitchen Greenbelt 3 Makati City

2010-07-24T15:16:00.000+08:00

Kitchen has always been synonymous to Greenbelt. From its old location in the old Greenbelt shopping center located along Paseo De Roxas and Legazpi Streets to the new posh Greenbelt 3 located near Greenbelt Chapel and parallel to Pasay Road, Kitchen still holds that air of ownership over all other restaurants in the area. Just think of Greenbelt without Kitchen and you'd get what I'm driving at.

Things that I love about this restaurant: It serves simple dishes - no frills, price is commensurate to amount per serving, homey and modern interiors, and their Palitao with Ice Cream.

However, my favorite dessert - Palitao, seems to have more coconut shavings than when I last ordered it. I prefer less coconut because it absorbs the ice cream. More of it leaves less ice cream on the palitao. They must look into this.

We'll everything else about my favorite Makati restaurant remains the same. Here are some pictures of Kitchen.

1959 Porkchop and Chicken Carmona Exit Carmona Cavite

2010-06-20T07:53:00.000+08:00

At P87.00 you get a straight forward meal of fried peppered porkchop rice and coleslaw salad served to you in less than 15 minutes. That's what I ordered in 1959. It's a restaurant I frequetly visit in Carmona Cavite during my past life as a salesman.

Last week I brought my wife and daughter to this restaurant when we were enroute to Los Banos Laguna for our regular weekend travel.

We were delayed due to traffic as we headed for Los Banos and we needed a quick lunch. Fortunately, my memory kicked in and 1959 crossed my mind and our hunger was immediately satisfied by this restos fast service.

For a quick bite visit this resto that only serves fried chicken and fried porkchop as their main course at only P87.00. They also offer light yummy snacks like spaghetti and sandwiches.

The restaurant is located in a commercial center at the left side few meters from the toll gates of Carmona Exit.

Mio's Cucina Los Banos Laguna

2010-06-14T10:10:00.002+08:00

Young 20 something locals give the best dining suggestions. Effective. I tried it once in Baguio and it led me to Zio's. Last weekend I asked our 20 something resort receptionist for her suggestion on the best place to have dinner in Los Banos Laguna. She answered "Mio's". Her direct no nonsense automatic answer convinced me instantly that this place was "The" (pronounced as dee) Dining Destination in Los Banos. Either that, or two reasons - this was the only restaurant in Los Banos or her father's name is Mio..and he owns a resto in Los Banos.

Convinced by the snappy suggestion of our lovely receptionist, my family went on a short trip first around Los Banos. From Splash Mountain we traveled to U.P. Los Banos and up the Boy Scouts of the Philippines campsite and went to search for Mio's Cucina. If there's one word to describe the location of Mio's, the word would be -Where?

You'll find Mio's Cucina tucked in a driveway between two old buildings along Lopez Avenue. yes, it's the road you pass going to UPLB.

We were impressed by the interiors of this small restaurant. The tables, chairs, and wall frames blended well making the place soo cozy. I could just imagine myself sitting here on a lazy Saturday afternoon having coffee and reading the newspaper. I didn't bother to ask if there was wifi. If I were here on a lazy drizzly afternoon like last Saturday, I'd prefer reading paper than my laptop screen. That is if rest was my purpose, then a laptop screen would wait.

We ordered Pako Salad (P110.00) which was an extraordinary salad. The slight bitterness of the pako stems and leaves are balanced out by both the vinaigrette and the kesong puti. The taste is nothing near spectacular, but the combination seems to entice you to eat more of it after every bite. It grows in you. It's interesting for lack of a better description. Try it.

Steamed Sole Fish Fillet (P265.00) came next. It's basically steamed dowry. This one was cooked right, but I had a hard time pairing it with rice. A stronger flavor could have done the trick, but I just opted to eat it with less rice. By itself it was good. Optional to order when visiting.

We also ordered Ginataang Sitaw and Kalabasa (P130.00). This vegetable dish is comfort food for many. It is for me, and it was it's purpose at Mio's last Saturday. Cooked right in gata and all veggies crunchy to soft. While it was hot, it was divine.

Last on on order list was Spicy Chicken and Adobo (P195.00). I was confused with this dish. It was priced high and tasted normal with very few pieces. This one needs improvement. Honestly.

Bottomline, it was refreshing to have visited a hole-in-the-wall type of resto in a place which I didn't expect to have one. The food was good. But my review is only limited to the dishes I tried. I believe there's more to this restaurant and I need to taste all of their dishes before I make a credible review. Till my next visit Mr. Mio.

Mio's Cucina

Serving Fine Filipino-Asian Food

10395 Lopez Avenue,

Los Banos, Laguna

(049) 536 3311

Tip: Located behind Community Cable Building along the road leading to UPLB

Mom and Tina's Bakery Cafe Makati City

2010-06-11T14:53:00.008+08:00

Pasig and Makati residents have something in common. Both are fortunate to have branches of this warm and cozy restaurant that serves gourmet comfort food at reasonable prices. Mom and Tina's Bakery Cafe is located both along C5 in Pasig City and along Dela Rosa and Perea Streets in Makati City. My experience is based on a weekend visit to their Makati branch.

This place is special but offers nothing spectacular. It's not a hole in the wall type of cafe which you hear about through word of mouth and travel to and find out it's located in a place you don't expect - like finding a great steakhouse in Binondo. ("Everything at Steak" has a branch in Binondo) Nothing like that. However, what makes this place special is how it's interiors makes itself so comfy to dine in and how their food reminds you of how it should taste. Think about being at home having brunch with your tito and titas and eating homemade burgers and lasagne. That's as homey as I can describe it. Aside from that, it manages to draw in loyal customers amidst competition around, proving that it has or slowly establishing heritage around its name.

For last weekend's visit I just ordered Sirloin Burger (P225.00) which very delicious. A welcome treat for me since I've been eating a lot of those famous commercial burgers for the past two months. We also ordered Meat Lasagna (P150.00) which I also yummy.

Mom and Tina's Bakery Cafe is located along Dela Rosa and Perea Streets, Makati City. Tel. No. 840-4299.

Fruili Trattoria UP Village Quezon City - Answer Survey Question Below

2010-06-06T08:22:00.005+08:00

I read an article on a leading newspaper about several small restaurants along Maginhawa Street near U.P. Diliman. It got my wife and I interested for two reasons. First, my wife being an alumnus of of U.P., had never explored this part of the University's vicinity, and second, I only frequent two dining spots in UP - Chocolate Kiss and Mang Jimmy's. We visited Fruili Trattoria.
We ordered Three Cheese Pizza and Putanesca Pasta

The pasta tasted fresh, but it's sauce had a hint of burnt garlic with it. Nevertheless, it tasted good and I'd recommend it to my friends. Price of pasta is P120.00 and feeds 2

The pizza was delicious while it was hot with the melted cheese making up for the hard thin crust. This was good, but will not be a keeper. Vizco's still tops my list of best pizzas tasted during my travels. Price of pizza is P160.00 and serves 2.

The quality of food was good. Nothing spectacular though, but considering the cost, this food joint is a worthy stop for anyone traveling towards U.P. Diliman. Sulit.

Fruili Trattoria is located at 79-A Maginhawa St. U.P. Village, Quezon City.

Just A Survey:

Sa mga taga-U.P. Diliman..What are the 5 top restaurants inside the U.P. Diliman Campus? Place your answers in comments box below.

1. Best
2. Great
3. Good
4. Good
5. Good

Legazpi Sunday Market Makati City

2010-06-01T23:18:00.003+08:00

For several years now, every Sunday after the 9:00am Mass, my family decides on where to eat lunch. In almost all of those instances, Legazpi Sunday Market has always been included in the list of choices.

I've seen the market developed from a handful of stalls selling organic vegetables and native slippers to the several stalls now selling various types of products ranging from wheat grass to framing services. Before, the market was located on the parking lot of Washington Sycip Park. Today, it is located on the parking lot of a Park located along Legazpi and Rufino Streets. I like the Market now. It has more stalls, wider mix of products, a lot of parking space, and no shortage of tables and chairs - though we usually arrive at 11:00am and leave before noon so I can't attest to anything beyond lunchtime. Also, Legazpi Market is almost as big as the Saturday Market in Salcedo.

I usually recommend this place to our friends and relatives who visit Manila. For visitors from Davao who travel to Manila usually for shopping, the Market is a welcome treat. There is no regular Sunday market like this in Davao City and I haven't visited nor heard of the same activity in Cagayan De Oro or in Cebu City.

Below is a map of Legazpi Market (parking lot)

Davao City Tour

2010-05-30T20:40:00.000+08:00

Here's a vacation schedule I suggested to a friend who's planning to visit Davao City this June 2010.

The pictures shown are courtesy of my friend photographer and entreprenuer, Jofort Fortugaleza, of Dipolog City. Be amazed by this artist. Visit his photo gallery - http://http://www.flickr.com/photos/30594175@N05/www.flickr.com/photos/30594175@N05/

Below is a four-day activity schedule I believe is worth your time and money.

Saturday

- Take Cebupac to Davao. Flight takes only 1:45 airport to airport. Take an early morning flight to have more time to experience Davao. Go there on a Saturday.

- Book in Humberto's Hotel located along Bonifacio Street. Check-in and leave bags.

- Take your breakfast at Dencia's located along Ilustre Street.

- Go back to the hotel to check-in again or freshen-up and rest.

- Have lunch at Aseya at the ground floor of Humberto's Hotel (Asian Fusion Food - Cheap) Look for Ochie he owns the place. He's the cook also.

- After lunch rest. At 4:00pm go to Crocodile Farm and watch the shows at only 150php per person. At the Crocodile Farm reserve a slot for Sunday's Zip line (this is the longest in the Philippines).

- Dinner at Harana, Torres St.

Sunday

- Hear mass at San Pedro Church at 6am.

- Jog at People's Park at 7-8am.

- Go back to the hotel and go to the Zip Line activity.

- Go back to the hotel freshen-up.

- In the evening go to Oriental Touch for massage. The best massage value for money wise.

- Dinner at Penongs ( a lot of branches in davao).

Monday

- Go to Philippine Eagle Santuary in Malagos. Get a taxi and hire him for the day. Estimate 2k. Half-day.

- Take lunch at Suribas, a Hito Karenderia place.

- In the afternoon, check out from Humberto's Hotel and go to Samal and check-in in Paradise Island Resort.

- Enjoy the beach for the rest of the night.

Tuesday

- Eat breakfast at the resort. They have the best tapa in the Philippines.

- Enjoy the beach.

- Check-out at 12nn.

- Leave Davao

*** buy fruits at madrazo fruit stand (durian and pomelo/suha)

*** Grace I'll post this in my blog. Ok lang? Please confirm.

Paseo 4 at Paseo de Sta. Rosa Sta. Rosa Laguna

2010-05-25T09:43:00.002+08:00

A new area within Paseo de Sta. Rosa opened last September 2009. The name, Paseo 4. This section, at a glance, whisphers, "middle class". With shops like Timberland, Debenhams, and Marks & Spencer already open, the mid-class residents of Sta. Rosa and people who travel from Manila to Tagaytay are treated with a new option aside from the factory outlets of Paseo de Sta. Rosa.

Havaianas Paseo de Sta. Rosa Sta. Rosa Laguna

2010-05-22T08:00:00.001+08:00

Paseo de Sta. Rosa is synonymous to factory outlets. Our weekend travel itirenary in Sta. Rosa and Tagaytay City included this Stop. And at Paseo De Rosa, we went to the Havaianas store. There I found out that they offered 20% to 30% discounts on sandals all year long. If you're travelling to Tagaytay or Laguna, drop by this store.