The Podium: Borough

It was a long night.

Restaurant Review | Lu Restaurant

Since it was my mom's birthday last April, she asked us to look for a restaurant for us to try. My sister picked Lu since she read that it served Mediterranean food with Moroccan flavors (hello Google!).

The place looks very neat and simple. It felt very casual--the sort of place where you meet friends at and just talk. I also noticed that most of the customers were middle-aged.

Appetizer

Lu's Sizzling Gambas
Php 385, US$ 9

By the time I brought out my phone to take a picture, everyone already grabbed some of the gambas as we were all starving.

As I was about to take my share, my mom's friend warned me that it was a little spicy.

The night just started to get better. 

I love seafood and I love spicy.

- more appetizers -

crispy prawn & shiitake spring rolls, vietnamese rice rolls with curried chicken sampler 

Php 275, US$ 6.34

argentinean hand-chopped beef empanadas 

Php 225, US$ 5.19

Salad

Falafel & Greek-style Yogurt (over mixed greens) 

Php 275, US$ 6.34

I love falafel and I love yogurt. As a student, I would frequent Mister Kabab just to have my fill of their falafel sandwich. 

My good friend Don went on a tour in Europe and told me about how he ate falafel almost every day. 

This salad was sweet and the falafel balls were a the right bit of crunchy on the outside. Yummy. 

- more salads -

sweet mandarins, goat's milk feta from davao & roasted cashews (over mixed greens)

Php 345, US$ 7.95

twisted caesar (a fusilli remix of the classic) 

allergen alert: dressing contains shrimp

Php 275, US$ 6.34

Fish & Seafood

feisty moroccan fish & shrimp brochettes (with edamame rice) 

Php 425, US$ 9.79

Steak!

USDA Premium Angus Ribeye Steak (with roasted garlic & 2 sides of your choice) 500g boneless

Php 1,850, US$ 42.64

The meat so tender and the mashed pumpkin so sweet -- my kind of dish

After the steak, I was too full to even enjoy the pasta dishes that we ordered. I don't even remember what they taste like now. I just remember one of them being really spicy too. 

LU RESTAURANT
G/F Joya Building Joya Drive 
Rockwell Makati
Metro Manila
Philippines
+63(2) 4033991

Taiwan Street Food: Sweet Potato Balls

One of my favorite street foods in Taiwan would have to be what they call 地瓜球 (di gua qiu) or sweet potato balls. They're deep-fried yummy little balls that are a bit sticky inside. They're 20 TWD (30 PHP) for a small serving and 30 TWD (45 PHP) for the bigger one.

It kind of reminds me of the texture of tikoy. I seriously don't know how they got it to be so sticky! I try not to eat so much of it cause it's deep-fried.

Wu Fen Pu: Wholesale Garment Market

If you ever end up in Taipei, you have to go to Wu Fen Pu. It's a station away (you get off at Songshan Station) from Taiwan Main Station (14 TWD | 21 PHP) and the place is full of clothing shops. Clothes, shoes, belts, bags, hats, eyewear -- shoppers will love it there. Racks by the road are usually on sale, and they go for as low as 100 TWD | 149 PHP. 

There aren't a lot of food stalls as you go deeper into the alleyways so once we got there, we turned right at the first store selling noodles (I didn't even catch the name of the place!).

Tiffy | Thea | Syril

I couldn't understand the menu so I just ordered whatever my cousin ordered. Apparently, the major difference is the kind of noodles they use: they all almost taste the same. A bowl costs 35 TWD | 52 PHP. It's a bit oily and I didn't like the fact that they use styro bowls (I didn't know until it was served), but it was my first meal of the day so I gobbled it down so fast that I stole food from my sister afterwards.

-
Don't forget to like Manila Foodistas on Facebook.