All about good food…. hopefully

November 9, 2009

Shakeys- Angus Steakhouse Pizza

Filed under: Pizza — gourmandtales @ 12:17 pm

I saw the giant ad at the corner of South Super Highway and Quirino. And my mouth was wide open due to the beautiful picture of the pizza.

Steak- according to Mr. Webster is a cut of meat, usually perpendicular to the muscle fibers. So i expect the pizza to have beef pieces.

I was so excited when i got the chance to order it, but when i opened the box… my golly gee.. this is what i saw….DSC03009 pieces of ground beef… ARGH!!!!! Why oh why… they advertise steak.. so i expect steak,…. sana na lang they said angus beef burger.. then i would expect something like this.DSC03007DSC03010

Anyway, if not for expecting the steak.. it was actually good and filling. THe bround beef pieces are softer and more thender than the usual beef pieces they give.. but still i suggest that they change their advertisement,… IT IS NOT STEAK!!.

Anothe thing… what is a Shakeys meal without Chick and chips… really good fred chicken!!!! and the mojos.. o… the mojos.. i just wish they would slice it thinner:)DSC03012

November 6, 2009

Cajun Red Rock – Amoranto St, Quezon City

Filed under: American, Quezon City — gourmandtales @ 7:35 am

Address: 105 N.S. Amoranto St(Retiro), Quezon City

Tel no: 4152605

Parking: Limited spaces available in front of the restaurant

This place used to be Cajun burger, but they changed the named to Cajun red rock.. dont know.,..why they change… they added more stuff to their menu,. Place is quite lonely. it could use better lights, and more advertisement to attract more people. cajun12

Shrimp and squid fritters with red butter- this was the first item that caught my attention…. cajuncajun3I love butter though I also hate it because of its high cholesterol content but the taste of butter just lifts up a lot of ordinary tasting dishes. Cant imagine what a red butter would taste like and to combine it with shrimp… LEMME have it I said to the waiter. Hehe.

The shrimp and calamari were substantial in amount. The shrimps were plump and fried just right, the calamari was also tender and cooked well. The sauce was good, it wasn’t overpowering in buttery goodness, it was just right.   It suited the seafood well. The meal just lacked bread so you can soak up every drop of the sauce.

Volcano Burger- This is the only place that serves burger this style… here in manila.. I don’t know if they serve this in any other country.  cajun5cajun6The serving size looked daunting. But upon close inspection , the filling was not as thick as I want it to be. But I love the cheese sauce, the volcano effect was a nice concept. But the onion strips they used was breaded TOO THICK, you can hardly taste the onion.  This is the beef version and the bbq can be a bit overwhelming. Next time ill try the fish burger or the chickencajun9cajun11

November 3, 2009

Shang Palace – Makati Shangri-la

Filed under: Chinese, Hotel Restaurant, buffet — gourmandtales @ 6:27 am

2nd floor of the Makati Shangri-la Hotel

Tel no: Trucnkline- 813-8888 then have yourself connected

Shang Palace Dimsum Plus buffet

Shang Palace, arguably one of the best Chinese Restaurant in the country. Is currently offering Unlimited freshly cooked dimsum for P995 net.  Promo is until the End of December.

SO as soon as my schedule opened up,  I grab the chance to visit the place and try it

They offer 16 different types of dimsum, unlimited fried rice/steam rice, unlimited noodles and congee, a single serving of main dish and unlimited dessert.. If you love Chinese food and if you love dimsum  come over and try it.

They cooked each dish upon order.

Freebie: DSC02403 Fried tofu… love this freebie, its crunchy on the outside soft inside, not oily and seasoned perfectly

Siomai-DSC02410 huge size siomai with shrimp, pork and mushroom.  Definitely the best in manila.

Hakaw-DSC02422DSC02407 best wrapper IMO, the filling was also sensational, very fresh,  plump and crunchy. Delicious!!

BBQ pork and apples pastry- DSC02418DSC02420 the apples added a nice soft and sweet crunch to the pastry. The combination of pork and apples are good.

Seafood Salad Roll- another winner, DSC02423the filling were shrimp, fish and mangoes. The mayo dip was also good as it was not too thick.

Fried Hongkong style shrimp roll-DSC02415 this was a bit oily.

Asado Siopao—yummy yummy

Sapreribs in tausi-DSC02445 compared to the ones I had in Gloria maris, this was really exceptional.

Vegetable dumplings- DSC02446I love this even if there was no meat and seafood here.

Asado Siopao(char xiu bao)-DSC02455DSC02456 done excellently, great filling, great dough.

EFU noodles/ Fried Rice/Fookien fried rice— Among the three, DSC02435DSC02448DSC02451 I llike the fookien fried rice the best, it has an savory sauce with bits of meat, mushroom, and shrimps. Mixed it with the rice and add a bit of hot garlic sauce… simply divine…..

Chicken and corn soup/Hot and sour soup- DSC02414 this was just okay

Lapu lapu fillet in orange sauce- I though this dish holds so much promise… DSC02427but when I tasted it. The sauce tasted like sunquick prang concentrate. The fish was good though, fried beautifully, but still tender, flaky and moist inside.

Steam Scallops- DSC02438so sad also that they sliced the scallops so thin. The sauce on top was also  not to my liking, but I think its an acquired taste.

Mango Sago/Almond Jelly- DSC02460DSC02461they have the best tasting mango sago …. BEFORE… this version was not as good as what I remembered. May be a bad day for the dessert chef?:)

Some other pics i taken, like the fillinf of the hahaw and the lonely siomaiDSC02441DSC02443.

Try to eat here, but only if you eat a lot, a serving of Dimdum cost around P250 per order so if you are not a big eater, the buffet might not be a good idea and just order ala carte.DSC02458DSC02444

October 31, 2009

Fook Yuen – Banawe St. Quezon City

Filed under: Banawe, Quezon City, Seafood — gourmandtales @ 11:01 am

Address: 558 Banawe St Quezon City

Tel no:  7113057

Parking- Limited spaces in front of the restaurant

Capacity: 20 pax

 pre=”">Fook Yuen- one of my favorite banawe restaurant. And arguably, one of the best places to eat crab in metro manila. Not counting the ambience though.

Oyster balls-  SP_A2376clumps of oyster meat, dip in a light batter then fried/ The oysters were plump and sweet with no traces of “fishy odor”.

 class=”hiddenSpellError” pre=”">Fook yuen crab with sotanghon-  this dish may not look appetizing, but trust me, this is one of the best crab dishes in town. SP_A2377SP_A2378SP_A2379The sauce is creamy and savory and is perfect for the crab. Eat it with the sotanghon is not enough.. you have to order rice here. And have the rice soak up the sauce while you pick the meat from the crab. The meat is cooked perfectly . sweet and so heavenly, I could eat this everyday,

October 29, 2009

LAM TIM Tea House – Banawe Quezon City

Filed under: Banawe, Chinese — gourmandtales @ 10:25 am

While driving by Banawe, this place suddenly popped out., I never noticed it being constructed. lamtim Oh well, there were  lot of cars parked outside, which made me want to give it a try.

Place was bright, because of all the windows around it. So it can get a bit hot during lunch time. Tables and chairs are not the most comfortable in the world but it does its purpose.lamtim9

Service was quick, food served hot and fast.

Hakao- big pieces of hakao… inside were chunk of shrimp slices. lamtim1lamtim3Very very good. Cooked to order ensuring the freshness of the dish. My only rant here is the wrapper, it wasn’t soft and elastic…

Sweet and sour fish fillet- using dory fillet.lamtim6 Their servings were big. Perfectly cooked. The fish was tender and soft. And the sauce have the right sweetness and tanginess.

Lechon Kawali- pork belly fried to crispy perfection. lamtim7The pork belly used has more meat than fat which was a good thing, I hope they could maintain such cut of meat. The skin was as crispy as it can be, without drying the meat out.

Noodle feast- doesnt this remind you guys of another Chinese restaurant that serves exactly the same thing?:)  lamtim4this is a complete meal by itself. Complete with chicken strips, wantons, dumplings, beef brisket, noodles and soup which is served separately.

Sagot Gulaman-  lamtim8refreshing, huge glass, ask for extra crushed ice. because it can be very sweet.

This place is indeed a must try, food is cheap and affordable but delicious

October 26, 2009

Old Chinatown Kopitiam – Quezon City

Filed under: Asian, Chinese, Quezon City — gourmandtales @ 9:59 am

Address: 86 Maria Clara St. Sto Domingo Quezon City

Tel No: 415-1145, Operating hours from 11am to 11pm

Parking- Street Parking

This placed open last year and it was packing in customers that you have to line up if you want to eat here. It has been featured in famous food blogs already. This is my turn to feature this resto.

Place is quite cramp. Wish they would transfer to a place that’s bigger. They serve Chinese and Asian food.  Service was average. Nothing outstanding.

Black and white gulaman(P48)-SP_A1154 grass jelly with almond. One of my favorite drinks

 Kway teow(228)- SP_A1155SP_A1156 full of ingredients like prawns, sliced beef, sliced pork asado. This was good, a little oily but very good. The noodles were cooked just right

Pan fried crispy tofu (P178)- SP_A1158described as stuffed with Chinese sausage. It tasted more like radish cake than tofu, I was expecting it to be silky soft with sausage slices in between. But the sausage was minced and incorporated to the tofu.

 Kopi Spareribs(188)- SP_A1159 this was pretty good, the spareribs were tender and the sauce was something new.  The coffee aroma and flavor was indeed there.  Made into a sweet and slightly salty sauce. It coats the spareribs lightly but perfectly.

Hainanese Rice-(45)SP_A1157 the color was more evident than the taste. I would not order this again..
Will certainly be back to try the other dishesSP_A1153

October 23, 2009

President Grand Palace Restaurant – Binondo Manila

Filed under: Binondo, Chinese, Family servings — gourmandtales @ 8:56 am

Address:  746-750 Ongpin St, Binondo Manila

Tel No: 2445886

Parking: Street Parking

Let me just announce to everyone,…. THE PRESIDENT IS BACK!!  Its been more than a year since it closed and a lot of chinese here in manila has been missing one of the best Chinese  restaurant in town. So i bet a lot of people are happy that they opened!!

And to be invited to a lunch party here, i didnt even think twice in going.

THe place had renovations, the giant chandelier is now looking more modern in style. The place is brighter and cleaner looking. But what is important here is …… Is the food still great? Let me try it out for you’

Mixed appetizers-  president01presidentwith roasted pork asado, century egg, soy chicken, Jelly fish, Roasted Goose- everything was good, the Pork asado was very tender and has the perfect meat and fat ratio. Very juicy. The Roasted Goose was also delicious.

Cha Misua- carbohydrate overload!!! president1president2lots of noodles with bits and pieces of meat and seafood plus the famous orange quail egg. This dish was seasoned perfectly and cooked just right. The noodles are aldente and doestn break apart easily. It wasnt dry.

Breaded fisn with ham-  president3this was my least favorite dish of the day. The breading made the fish dry. It would be better if they used a batter kind of breading.. like the one they use in fish and chips. It could have maintain the moisture of the fish.

Scallops and Brocolli-  president4both items were cooked excellently. THe brocolli maintained its color and crispness even when cooked. The scallops were easy to eat. Dip it in chinese bagoomg to enhance the taste.

Shredded chicken soup-president5 president6this was just okay

Suahe- big size suahe, steamed to perfection. the suahe meat was sweet and plump. Peeling was nto a chore… evident that it was cooked just right.

Braised abalone with mushroom and cabbage- president7abalone when not cooked properly tend to be tough. this was easy to eat and yummy.,

Steam Lapu-lapu-president8 the soy ginger oil douse on the fish was just perfect for the fish THe flesh was soft and silky.

Fried Crab in ginger and garlic-president9 this was just lip smacking and finger licking good. grabe, i could eat this everyday.

Almong jelly-president11i just topped it with the buchi:)

THe entire meal was just exquisite. could wait to try the other dishes that made me love this resto so much like their fried squid, king dao spareribs.. yummy yummypresident12

October 20, 2009

Flapjacks (promo) – Greenbelt 2

Filed under: Breakfast food, Malls — gourmandtales @ 12:05 pm

flap2flap3Who doesn’t love a good deal? Coming from the same group(Bistro Group) that brought us Fridays, Italianis, Fish and Co .

For two Sundays in October you can get a great deal at Flapjacks!!

They are offering one peso pancakes!!!! Available from 8am till 5pm. The promo is at October 18, and 25.

So grab the chance. They limit the offer to 2 pancakes per table. Pancakes were big and creamy.  I would have preferred it to be cooked a little more. :)

Another item I tried is the Mango overload dessert pancakes(P155)flap4flap7.  They made the batter a bit thinner than their regular pancakes.  Topped with sliced mangoes, which iwas…unfortunately not really sweet. It was tangy… good thing there was vanilla ice cream to off set the tanginess. You can request for caramel sauce, which I did. And it was very good.flap1

October 17, 2009

Muang Thai – Banawe, Quezon City

Filed under: Banawe, Quezon City, Thai — gourmandtales @ 11:18 am

Address:: 494 Banawe St, Quezon City

Tel no: 7418696

This place has been in the area for more than  20years  already. And has been serving authentic and Affordable thai food since..

Catfish Salad-SP_A1866 fish flossed fried till golden brown. Topped with julienne mango slices then doused with a thai inspired salad dressing that is both sweet and tangy.

Calamares with bagoong rice and pad thai- SP_A1867SP_A1870SP_A1868 Serving also rice meals where in you can taste different dishes in one plate. Everything on the plate was good, from the pad thai, to the calamari and of course their bagooong rice

Tom yum goong-SP_A1869  The famous thai sour/spicy soup. Perfect for the cold rainy days.  It loosen up the nasal passages with one sip:)

Chicken pandan- SP_A1871SP_A1872for me they still serve of the best version of chicken pandan in metro manila.  The marinade penetrates all the fibers of the chicken meat resulting in a sweet with hints of saltiness. The chicken is always cooked perfectly, still moist insde.SP_A1865

October 13, 2009

LIYIMEN Seafood Restaurant – Banawe, Quezon City

Filed under: Banawe, Chinese, Family servings — gourmandtales @ 11:07 am

Address: 835 Banawe St. Quezon City

Tel no: 7426200

Parking: Available in front of the restaurant

There are 2 big Chinese restaurants in banawe, one is Causeway and this is the other one. I like the food here better. They cook food better. I only go to causeway for the Dimsum promo they have during the evening.

Sweet and sour pork- who wouldn’t want to get a piece of this…  SP_A2426 The pork was siliced  just right, not too thin and not too thick, floured then deep fried to produce a crispy product yet it was tender and moist inside.  The sauce was just enough and it didn’t flood the plate. The sweet and sour balance was also just right.

Seafood hotpot- other restaurant will serve more tofu then seafood, but here,  the amount of seafood and tofu was equal. SP_A2425The tofu were quickly fried and still silky inside. The seafood were cooked perfectly. The prawns were still springy and crunchy. The fish was flaky and soft, the squid was perfect and not a chore to eat.

Misua- SP_A2427noodles were cooked just right lots or meat and seafood,. Seasoned perfectly

Beef tenderloin chinese style- SP_A2428anyone who can tell me how can a chinese restaurant produce beef this soft and tender?. This was super good…

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