All about good food…. hopefully

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

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 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 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 7, 2009

OCTOBOY – Banawe St, Quezon City

Filed under: Banawe, Japanese, Quezon City — gourmandtales @ 12:45 pm

Address: 670 Banawe St, Quezon city, Near China Bank

Tel no:  409-2704, 583-5496

Operating hours- 11am to 11pm, monday to sunday

Capacity: 10 pax..dont know if they have a 2nd floor though

Parking: Street Parking

A new eating place in the busy street banawe that is said to specialize in Japanese delicacies like okonomiyaki, takoyaki and yaki soba

Place is quite small yet was ablt to fit few tables for dine in customers.  It is said to be open till midnite, so perfect for the late evening snack.

I love takoyaki, but the authentic kind like the ones I tried in Hongkong Gindaco which is a franchise from Japan. Let see how Octoboy will fare

Everything is made to order which guarantee you hot and fresh food.octoboy5octoboy6

Takoyaki- 6 pieces for 90 pesos, a bit more expensive than the ones we get at the malls like “samurai balls”. octoboyoctoboy3Size was fairly adequate. It was moist inside with a piece of squid that was just cooked perfectly. It was good, not as good as the ones in Hana in Makati cinema square but definitely better than the takoyaki of KOZUI.  Funny thing here, they name their restaurant  as  Octoboy but they don’t serve Octopus meat… WHY???

Okonomiyaki- P245.. a bit expensive.. comparable to the price of okonomiyaki at KAGURA in little Tokyo. octoboy1How does it taste like? They used the same batter for the okonomiyaki and takoyaki, which shouldn’t be the case.. It has a  tad too much cheese, lack the ginger flavor  and it was oily. I hope they would reprice this dish to be around P150-160… because I really think it is a bit overprice.  To those who don’t know what a okonomiyaki taste like, go to Little Tokyo in Makati, and proceed to Kagura for a real okonomiyaki experience for the same price range, but Octoboy would lower the price then I would give this okomiyaki another chance.

They also serve rice meals here, as of the moment, I would recommend the Takoyaki balls…  and hopefully they would put octopus instead of squid….octoboy4

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 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 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

August 10, 2009

I Have Two Eggs – Tomas Morato, Quezon City

Filed under: Family servings, Filipino, Quezon City — gourmandtales @ 11:14 am

Address: 238 Sct. Bayoran cor. Tomas Morato

Quezon City, Metro Manila

TEl no:(02)4113105

Capacity: 60pax

Parking: Ample Space available in front of the restaurant

 

Located in the dizzying area of Tomas Morato with the numerous restaurant to choose from. We ended up eating at this place with a funny name:) All rice meals are served with what else…. but two eggs. 

Place was well lit, clean and big.  There is an LCD TV showing your favorite sport  show, either Basketball or any other sports . There is a big function room for private parties.

Serving primarily Filipino cuisine with a few “americanized” versions of  dishes. 

Let go to the food

Ground pork wrapped in Cabbage- 2eggsthis looks more like a chinese dish than a filipino dish. Ground pork wrapped in cabbage leaves and nori  then braised till cooked. It was a average appetizer, not something i would order again though. The meat inside was substantial and seasoned just right.

Steak and Eggs- 2eggs5served with two eggs cooked the way you like it. I asked it to be cooked sunny side up and it was done perfectly. Dont expect any Angus or Wagyu beef here. you will get local beef and if you are lucky it will be tender. Good thing i was lucky anf i got a tender piece. Cooked medium well to well. I cant blamed them coz it hard to cooked a steak this thin. But i least i got my meat craving with this dish. It would have been a perfect breakfast to have this every morning:) right carnivores???

Archie’s Special- 2eggs2this is pert of the “americanized” dishes, they have another one called Popeye’s, which is just spinach and eggs, i got this dish because it got bacon and ham. The sour cream drizzled on top gave it a tart taste, i know some of you wll either love it or hate it. I like sour cream so i love this dish.

Binagoongang Baboy-2eggs4 served crispy on a bed of sliced eggplants, the bagoong penetrating the pork pieces very well, imparting a salty taste but not getting overboard with the saltiness. Nice to eat it with rice:).

2eegs01

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