All about good food…. hopefully

September 30, 2009

ERSAO – Banawe St. Quezon City

Filed under: Banawe, Chinese, Taiwanese — gourmandtales @ 2:41 pm

Address: 

668 Banawe St.

Quezon City, Metro Manila

 Tel No:(02) 413-5037

Parking: Street Parking

With the advent of the pearl drinks in the late 90s, this brand had the staying power that outlasted some of the pioneers of the Pearl drink.. though ZAGU is still there together with Quickly,SP_A1416 but the main difference is that they don’t use powder in their drinks. And they serve hot food.

Pearl drinksSP_A1415P45 each- made from fresh fruit puree. A definite thirst quencher.

Spicy squid- SP_A1419SP_A1421slices of squid breaded in their special breading then quickly deep fried to produce a delicious seafood crispy that both chewy and crunchy.  Ask for their  special powder and special sauce that compliments all their fried items perfectly

Chicken SteakSP_A1418SP_A1420- Boneless chicken piece breaded and fried then sliced.  Crispy on the outside, hot and moist and tender inside.

They have lot more food to offer now like  noodles and rice dishes. Everything is affordable. And they also have frozen items where in you can take home and fry these beauties yourself.

September 27, 2009

Daifu Noodle House – Banawe St. Quezon City

Filed under: Asian, Banawe, Family servings, Quezon City, Taiwanese — gourmandtales @ 12:26 pm

Address:  886-B Banawe St., QC

 Tel no: 4122846
Parking Available in front of the restaurant
Banawe has a number of Taiwanese theme restaurants like Feng Wei Wei, Ersao, Tasty Dumplings and this place.

who doesn’t love a noodle house? Especially when it is raining, a bowl of hot noodle soup is the perfect meal

Beef Noodle Soup-Photo-0003 using those thick Taiwanese noodles, that resembles Japanese Udon, the broth was excellent and soothing, the beef was tender and give you hints of its marinade which I presume to be soy sauce, star anise, 5 spice powder. It didn’t over power the noodles.

Braised beef-Photo-0006 same as the ones used for the noodle toppings.  Tender and cooked well

Fried dumplings-  Photo-0001served with sweet and sour sauce, the fiiliing is primarily made from pork, the wrapper was beautifully crispy and was not oily at all. The filling tasted good.

Siomai-Photo-0002 big in size, but not big in taste

Orange Spareribs- Photo-0005 forgettable, tasted like orange concentrate on fried ribs

Chicken something—Photo-0004forgot the name, it was said to be one of their best sellers, don’t know why, didn’t taste too great

Kiampong Photo-0007– not a good version, MAKI haus has a better version of this dish

Come here for the noodles. But not for their short orders. They have a new line of dessert which looked interesting. Might give it a try nest time.Photo-0008

September 25, 2009

Yellow Chicken – Banawe St. Quezon CIty

Filed under: Banawe, Family servings, Filipino — gourmandtales @ 12:28 pm

Address: 808 Banawe Street. Quezon City, Philippines;

Phone: 467-0808

Parking: Lots of spaces in front of the restaurant

Just looking at the name, made me smile.. it was catchy and nice. What other Chicken dish is colored yellow, aside from curry?? But of course. Inasal. The Pride of Bacolod.  THere has been a lot of New Inasal places being open in the city and here in Banawe this is one of the newer places.

The interiors were kept simple. wooden chairs, and tables, I love the myriad of sauces and the nams that they conjure for the achuete oil :) SP_A2795

Lets get down to the food

Pork Sisig-SP_A2797 this was good, but the serving size was quite small. AS you can see in the pic there sizzling plate was not full. But tastewise, it was delicious. It could do without the mayo though..

Sizzling bulalo–SP_A2798 base on the pic.. you would think we got a good deal, but in fact…. there was more bones than meat… it was tender though and the sauce was good on top of rice/

Now for their specialty- THe yellow chicken Inasal. Pitso- SP_A2799SP_A2800Breast and wing part-  It looks very ncie, but sad to say, it was dry. Not only dry, buy VERY dry.. Sayang, i hope it is not like this everyday, maybe a bad day for their grill chef?  Will i give it another try?… Maybe.. but there are a lot of new place opening in Banawe…. Arrrgghhh SP_A2796

September 23, 2009

Mercado – Resort World Manila, Pasay City

Filed under: Pasay City, buffet — gourmandtales @ 1:33 pm

Address: Newport City complex, infront od NAIA terminal 3

Tel no: 02-836-6333

This new place is the talk of the town lately. Opening At the End of August. This palce houses a huge casino. Which is the first thing that open to be followed by Shops, Boutiques, Movie houses etc..

There are 3 main dining destinations here, Mercado, Noodle works and Bar 360.

Just found out that they are offering buffet breakfast for only 88pesos +. sounds interesting to me so i just have to give it a try. The buffet breakfast starts from 6am to 10am.  THe place is located inside the Casino area so only people 21 YEARS OLD and ABOVE are allowed to dine here.  The promo will run till October 6, so better call first if you want to dine here

Place looks very neat, the staff are very friendly.  Tall Ladies all around the casino and reception area. The Buffet area is seperated into three sections, mainly the bread section with selection of different bread and muffins plus butter and Jam.Pic-0003 The main course section which included, Scrambled egg and hard boiled egg, Longganiza, BACON!!, rice, Daing na bangus and congee with its condiments.Pic-0001 The third station consists of their salad bar, Cereal bar and fresh fruits.Pic-0002 Drinks included  in the buffet price of 88pesos+ are a glass of juice and a glass of either coffee, tea or hot choco.

Plate no.1 Pandesal, Multigrain roll, Scrambled egg, Longaniza, Bacon.- DSC02394THe longanizza was just the way i like it, not too fatty, sweet with a hint of garlic. Not too overpowering. THe bacon has crispy and chewy parts. The bread were nice and soft. not hard and dry. THe eggs were scrambled well.

Congee bowl-  i love their congee because it has lots of seafood condiments, so i piled it in their respective places. DSC02397DSC02399There are chopped prawns, cubed white fish fillet and diced squid and finely chopped fried garlic…. and i add chopped bacon… which was not part of the condiments but who can resist bacon:) JUst this dish  for me makes the buffet worth it. :) DSC02400DSC02401The congee was full of flavor and fantastic aroma. Each spoonful has the combination of all the seafood. yum yum

Fresh Fruits and corn flakes-DSC02402 the fruits were sweet and fresh. i just added cornflakes for the crunchy texture:)

THey also serve lunch buffet for P188+  The buffet area will move to a bigger placein a couple of weeks time, will they increase the price of the buffet, most probably. But i got my P88+ or P96 all in, worth it:) if you are in the area, come give it a try.

September 19, 2009

Maki Haus – Banawe St. Quezon City

Filed under: Banawe, Chinese, Quezon City — gourmandtales @ 11:43 am

Maki Mi – to the uninitiated is a chinese noodle dish that is colored brown, the consistency is gooey and slimy, with chunks of flour covered pork pieces. It doesnt really sound appetizing, but mind you.. it is pretty delicious:)

The best place to get this and most accesible before was HA YUAN in Masangkay St. Now this place sprouted up. Opened only for less than 2 years. The name of the restaurant speaks of its specialty and I was curios to try it if it serves the best MAKI MI.

Maki Mi-SP_A2571 Their version is very very good, nice consistency, very substanstial  amount of pork pieces,  the broth didnt become too watery even after an hour.  THe noodles were cooked aldente.

Some other dishes Available

Kikiam SP_A2572- wrapped in thin bean curd sheet, the filling is pork based seasoned with 5 spices, steamed then sliced and fried to golden brown.. or is it more borwn color. It was crisp and was just okay

Kiampong-SP_A2570 Chinese version of Adobo rice. This also was jsut okay, it would be better if it has more taste.

For a Quick Fix, this place is indeed a nice place to eat at.  Especially for noodle lovers. If you havent tried Maki Mi, this is a nice place to get your first taste of itSP_A2569

September 16, 2009

Coral Garden – Banawe, Quezon City

Filed under: Banawe, Chinese, Family servings, Quezon City — gourmandtales @ 7:01 am
96 Banawe Street, Quezon City, Metro Manila  
tel no:  7110255
Capacity: 40 pax
Parking: Available in front of the restaurant.
Before Banawe became a eating destination, there were just a few restaurants in the area. This place is one of the first restaurant to build a name , here. Serving excellent chinese cuisine.  The place has underwent minor renovation but i donr know why they havent torn off the old delapidated signage…. maybe its good luck for them?
On the table

 

Crispy Beancurd P198-SP_A2313SP_A2314 soft tufo cubes, breaded then fried to a wonderful golden brown crisp exterior but still moist and silky smooth inside. The sauce is a sweet soy glaze with a hint of tanginess that is just perfect. the way i eat this is i cut the cube in smaller squares before dousihing it with sauce so it penetrates the tofu.

 

Sizzling Spareribs- SP_A2316SP_A2317served stil bubbling and sizzling. the pork spareribs were so tender that you can eat it with just a spoon and fork and it just fall off the bones. The sauce is sweet and spicy and delicious.

 

Asparagus and Scallops-SP_A2315 using small sea scallops, the asparagus and scallops were cooked perfectly, maintaining a slight crunch in the asparagus and the scallops were not chewy. cooked in a garlic based sauce. it didnt over power the veggie and seafood.

 

Black and white gulaman P55SP_A2312- almond gulaman together with grass jelly. Yummy

 

one more thingSP_A2318…. the hot chili garlic sauce was awesome
Try the other dishes here like the crab dishes and the coral chiccken:)

September 13, 2009

Gloria Maris Dimsum Buffet!!!

Filed under: Chinese, Malls, buffet — gourmandtales @ 10:35 am

Rockwell and Podium Branches

A break from the Banawe Restaurant series

Gloria Maris has always been serving good chinese food since they started in the CCP complex area.   Been eating here eversince.  And it nevfer failed in delivering delicious chinese food.

Lately, it has been expanding to malls all around the metro. And I was glad that they are offering this buffet, so as soon as possible I went to the Rockwell branch to try it out.

Here it goes:

THe buffet is only avaialble from 230pm to 530pm. Costing P238 per person, it consist not only of dimsum but also of some hot dishes, rice and congee plus dessert like buchi and my favorite.. freshly made TAHO!!!

THe dimsum are cooked to order and they change every so often by the day.

Steam Spareribs- DSC02280perfectly cooked and perfectly seasoned. very very tender

Chicken Feet-DSC02273 tender pieces of chicken feet, not too thin and not fat, i love the red oily sauce they cooked the chicklen feet in.

Seafood Roll-  DSC02279kani, shrimp, fish and squid rolled in sotanghon.. this was a filler. big and delicious.

Spinach dumpling- DSC02285 lovely dimsum, the skin was thin and elastic and the filling was fresh with bits of prawns. 

Radish cake- DSC02277 pan fried, i love the contrast between the crispy exterior and the savory mashed radish inside of it.

Asado Siopao-  DSC02284this was also good, hot and soft bun, yummy chopped meat inside.. i could eat 5 pieces of these things:)

Siomai- DSC02286 this was the only letdown in the dimsum choices…it didnt look appetizing as the regular siomai they served ala carte. Tastewise, it wasnt also that good.

Congee-  DSC02281topped with spring onions and fried wanton skins. the meat here is ground beef. it lack a little in taste. But the texture was perfect.

Fried rice- DSC02269 this was good. mixed with a small dallop of chili garlic sauce… delicioso

Lumpiang shanghai and chicken w brocolli-DSC02270 the lumpiang shanghai was just okay,  the chicekn and brocolli was good, the brocolli was cooked perfectly, it still has the crunch and maintain the fantastic color

TAHO–DSC02288 yummy yummy taho,.. topped with the arnibal and lots and lots of tiny tapioca balls:)

the P238 tag price was indeed worth it, try it, they serve this till the end of the month of September. dont forget.. only at Rockwell and
Podium branch…:)

September 10, 2009

Cafe Monaco – Banawe, Quezon City

Filed under: Banawe, Korean — gourmandtales @ 6:30 am

Address: 647 Banawe Street Quezon City

Telo no:  (02) 743-2685 

Capacity: approx 20 pax

Parking: limited spaces in front

I never thought this place would last this long, but well, it did. And i am glad it did even when theres a lot of new coffee places sprouting up in banawe.  I found out this place is own by a korean…. so its dishing up korean food.:) and then some other stuffs.

On the table:

Hotdog and ham sandwich-Photo-0003 everything here is freshly prepared. The filling were hot.  The sandwich was stuffed to the frim, with fresh veggies.  Defintely very good.

Shrimp Tempura P170 – Photo-00045 pieces of shrimp tempura, fried to a crisp perfection. It would have been better if they use bigger shrimp or prawns.  But at 170 for 5 pieces, what more can someone ask for. :)

Strawberry shake -Photo-0002 this was just average, nothing to brag home about.  nice thirst quencher though, a calorie laden one at that:)

Bibimbop P130 – Photo-0001this is their best seller and i would agree , it is one of the better ones here in the Metro. Right amount of toppings, you can request it to be spicy or not.  For 130 buck, i wouldnt ask for more.

Monaco Halo halo -Photo-0005 for the uninitiated, try this one, its full of fruits and RED BEANS!!! plus a big scopp of ice cream

If your in the area. Try this place. I am not really a coffee drinker so i cant say much about their coffee. But their food is good.

September 6, 2009

Shin Choi Hot Pot – Banawe Quezon City

Filed under: Banawe, Chinese, Family servings — gourmandtales @ 12:39 pm

Address: 778 banawe st Quezon City

Tel no: 4164854

Parking: Limited spaces in front of the resto

One of the newer chinese restaurant in the banawe area. Always pack so it is wise to get a reservation.

King Dao Spareribs 200-Photo-0084  tender, meaty pork pieces fried then doused with a sweet red sauce. One of my favorite Chinese dishes and they do it very well.

Yangchow fried rice 150- hotpot3they also make great fried rice, lots of “sahog”  the rice was stir fried beautifully resulting in a fluffy texture. Yum yum

Bacon roll with minced prawn. Photo-0085Photo-0086– who wouldn’t want bacon and prawn together in a dish, this was excellent, the saltiness  and crispyness of the bacon complimanted the mild taste of the prawn. The inside was hot and moist and yummy blend of mince prawns.

Assorted combination for 4 persons 680- this was indeed a winner. In other hot pot establishment, this along would cost you more than a thousand pesos. It’s a real good deal, consisting of………a lot of things shown in the picturePhoto-0088Photo-0089hotpot

Fresh prawn ball 180-Photo-0092 no extenders here, its pure chopped prawns. Dunk it in the soup and it will result in a wonderful ball that will soak up any sauce you prepare, did I mentioned it is made fresh everyday. Boil everything in the soup, dont forget to drink the soup after cooking everything, it will be the best broth you ever tasted. And dont forget to mix the sauces to your liking:)hotpot2Photo-0091

September 2, 2009

Banawe Chronicles – Coco Asian Cafe and Bistro

Filed under: Asian, Banawe, Family servings, Fusion, Quezon City — gourmandtales @ 12:38 pm

This is be a series of restaurant in the Banawe area. :)

Address:  989 Banawe Avenue, Barangay Manresa Quezon City (just at the back of starbucks coffee)

Tel No. 364-2281

Parking: lots of spaces available

This restaurant has been open for more than a year now and the food has maintain its quality. There were rumors that it was going to close, good thing it didnt.

THe menu spans the whole continent of asia, Representing popular dishes from all over the region.

Lumpiang Shanghai-SP_A1877 this was just ordinary,nothing really great. Serving size was quite smalli

Fried Vietnamese rolls- SP_A1876better than the lumpiang shanghai, filed with vermicelli noodles, mushrooms, ground meat  etc. It uses rice paper so if not fried properly, tends to get a little oily, however they did it well as it wasn’t oily

Fried Catfish Salad-SP_A2386 good version of the dish, the dressing was excellent blend of sour, salty and sweet tones.

Tinumok- SP_A2388another ordinary filipino dish.

Pad Thai- SP_A2391this was good, not as oily as those serve in thai restaurants here

Fried prawns  in shredded sweet potato- SP_A2392it came out like the plate was on fire, am not really a sweet potato fan. The prawn was big and plump.

Humba-SP_A2387 this was very very good, pork was cooked till it was very tender, sliced so as it was not difficult to eat. The sauce was just sweet without going overboard.

Gambas- SP_A2389shrimps were perfectly cooked. Veering way from the traditional gambas, they used diced tomatoes to this dish making it more taste like an italian dish than a spanish dish.

Fried Tilapia- SP_A1879copying the dish from Recipes, they use a larger tilapia though and they friend it beautifully, keeping it moist inside

Seafood Basket-SP_A1881 assorted seafood cooked in a thick coconut cream sauce. Then served on top of a fried potato basket. The sauce was a winner in taste.

Korean beef stew- SP_A1882instead of using short ribs, they used brisket. At first I thought it was going to be a tough. But I was mistaken as it was very soft and tender. The sauce was also reduced and thicken which gave the dish more UMPH and flavor

This is one of the restaurant which has the right concept,  dishing out good dishes..except for some misses, however, the location is not really at a prime spot.SP_A1874

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