Manila Foodistas | Food, Lifestyle, Travel: May 2012

31 May 2012

New Kid on the Block: Marielle loves Chili’s

Hello, everyone! I am the newest addition to the Manila Foodistas family, also an alumna from the University of the Philippines. I thought it would be a good idea to share with you my favorite restaurant for comfort food and pigging out – Chili’s! I specifically am fond of the Tomas Morato branch, because the people are friendly and attentive, plus it’s the nearest branch from our house.

Chili’s has that casual atmosphere where people need not mind their manners while munching on mouth - watering Southwestern cuisine such as ribs, fajitas, nachos, burgers, and steaks. Here are my ultimate favorites:

Classic Nachos

Crispy Chicken Salad

Ribeye Steak & Shrimp

Chili’s is top of mind when my family wants to pig out. I’ve tried majority of their dishes, having celebrated several special occasions there. Here is a photo of me with my family after my college graduation. We couldn’t walk straight after dinner!

Our orders from left to right: Fajita Trio, Guiltless Grill Salmon, Classic Nachos, Crispy Chicken Salad, Monterey Chicken, and Ribeye Steak & Shrimp.

If you’re out celebrating with friends, you can try their Presidente Margarita! My dad allowed me to have one since it was my graduation day.

Branches: Rockwell, Greenhills, Greenbelt 5, and Tomas Morato

Check out their website for more mouth - watering dishes! :)

Therese in Taiwan: Saizeriya 薩莉亞

One day, while my classmates and I were walking around Taipei City Hall, we saw this restaurant called Saizeriya. According to my Japanese classmate, it's a Japanese owned chain of restaurants that serves Italian-inspired dishes. Since we were hungry, and the food was reasonably-priced, we entered the restaurant.

Here are a couple of shots from their menu (pasta selection):

I was in the mood for pasta so I went for the Spaghetti "Nero di Sepia" 墨魚義大利麵 (which I think should really be spelled as "Nero di Seppia"), or otherwise called spaghetti with cuttlefish black ink. I wish it had more cuttlefish, and that it was a bit more... moist. Other than that, I liked it.

Spaghetti "Nero di Seppia" 墨魚義大利麵 | 90 NTD (~131 PhP)

If I remember correctly, you get unlimited drinks for an additional 30 NTD (~44 PhP).

One of the pizzas we ordered. I forgot what it's called and how much it is! >___<

One of my classmates had Spanish paella || 120 NT (~174 PhP)! Looks yummy!

The branch we went to is located in the mall beside MRT Taipei City Hall:

阪急店
Operating hours: 11AM-10PM
Telephone number: 02-2723 2339
Address: 台北市忠孝東路5段8號B2樓統一阪急百貨B2

There are also branches in Ximen 西門店, Zhongxiao Dunhua 忠孝敦化店, and Zhongxiao Fuxing 忠孝復興店.

Official website: www.saizeriya.co.jp

22 May 2012

Tiffy: Ristras Mexican Grill

Ristras Mexican Grill
By Tiffy

I'm going to come clean: I'm not really very adventurous with the restaurants I visit. Most of the places I visit are recommendations of friends and the like. Whenever my mom (or anyone) would ask me where I want to eat, I'd say "kahit saan (anywhere)".

So when we were deciding on a place to eat, Tim was the one who suggested that we eat at Ristras. They have good burritos, he said.

It's actually a small place and very comfortable. You know that it's really a place where people EAT.

If you finish their Godzilla Burrito (2.5 kg | Php 1200 | US$ 28.08) in 90 minutes or less, your name will land on their Wall of Fame. Winners will get a Bragging rights T-shirt and your Godzilla Burrito for free. Losers need to pay Php 1000 (ouch).

Trust me, it's a big burrito.

"Wet My Burrito" for an additional Php 90 | USD 2.11

They put in some kind of sauce before lighting it up.

You choose what type of food you want. Their menu goes ORDER (list of possible orders) WITH (list of possible content) EXTRAS (extra stuff).

I got a burrito with steak and carnitas (you can choose two! And you also get to choose if they'll mix it up or put half in one side and the other half in the other side). Orders cost around Php 290-340 | USD 6.79-7.95. It's big enough to share between two people. I couldn't finish mine (trust me, I eat a lot).

My friend Alexis asked them to "wet" his burrito!

Fish Taco Especiale (Php 350 | USD 8.19)

UP Diliman Psychology Graduates ♥

J. Abad Santos cor. Lopez Jaena

San Juan City, Metro Manila

Philippines

Tel. No. +63(2)5708159

According to Our Awesome Planet, from Wilson St. turn right on Alex III

18 May 2012

Therese in the Philippines: Mr Choi's Kitchen

One of my cousins got married and had the reception at One Esplanade. We had delicious Chinese food from Mr. Choi's Kitchen. If you ever want to look for a wedding caterer that serves Chinese food, you can check them out! You can also check out Juan Carlo the Caterer if you want something else.

Assorted cold cuts

Assorted meat noodles with quail egg

Braised abalone with black mushroom

Dried scallop fish maw with bamboo fungus soup

Fried pigeon

Hot prawn salad

Minced pork with lettuce

Steamed crab with garlic

Steamed lapu-lapu with soy sauce

I wasn't able to take a picture of our desserts (mango tapioca and buchi) because we were too busy taking pictures at the photo booth!

Congratulations, Ahia A and Achi F!

09 May 2012

Therese in the Philippines: Baler

Intro: You probably don't know this, but I went home to the Philippines last month. In the span of the 9 days that I was there, I tried 5 new restaurants around the metro, and I even went out of town! Therefore, let me take a short break from my Taiwan posts and in my next few entries, I am going to write about the new places I've been to in and around the metro!

Since surfing is on my bucket list, my friends and I decided to go to Baler the weekend I was in the Philippines. It was a weekend of surfing, relaxation, and bonding.

How to get there: We took the midnight Genesis Joybus from Cubao to Baler. It cost us around 650php one way. From what I know, the joybus is 200php more expensive than the regular bus because of the bigger seats and the added amenities (blanket, small pillow, snacks, bottle of water). The bus ride takes around 4-5 hours. You can click the link for more information.

I wasn't able to take a picture of the snacks and the bottle of water because my sister placed her blanket and pillow on my seat!

Where to stay: We stayed at Bahia de Baler. There was a recent change in the room rates so you can just check out the link/send them a message for inquiries. They're very accommodating.

Our basic room. We placed the beds side by side so that we could all sleep next to each other!

What to do: Aside from eating and surfing, we also went to Museo de Baler (where I found out more about the Siege of Baler, the Ilongots, and so much more), Ermita Hill, Balete Tree, and Dicasalarin when we were there. I'm sure there are a lot more things to do/see in Baler but since we were only there for a night, we weren't able to go to other places/do other things.

The survivors/original settlers (?) of Baler

View from Ermita Hill - and yonder is the Pacific Ocean!

I climbed up one of the tree's branches

In and out of the Balete tree!

Dicasalarin

Where to surf: I recommend Charlie Does surf shop, because it's really close to Bahia de Baler/sabang beach. It costs 300php for an hour of surfing lessons. I think they also have a day rate but I don't know how much it costs.

With my surf instructor Jomar - he's really good and he knows how to teach! Day 1, I was able to stand up. By day 2, I was able to ride the waves! Hihi.

The most important thing of all -

What/where to eat: We tried 2 restaurants there: Bay's Inn and Bayler. We also went to Aliya one time for dinner but I don't have photos, and their service really sucks.

Bay's Inn and Bayler are 2 restaurants located nearby. We had breakfast at the former, and we had dessert at the latter. Yummy food! Check out the photos and see for yourself.