NIkki's

Nikki's has long been a staple supplier of brownies to Ermita.  The owner is an acquaintance of Becca's (a customer since the very start) and it seems that we've had a steady supply of her goodies for all sorts of occasions.  The brownies are chewy, and although the glazing can get stuck to your palate, the kids just love the taste thereof.  We opened another box yesterday, and it looks like it's already gone!

Mu Noodle Bar

Over at Wilson St., just after the corner of P. Guevara, lies Mu Noodle Bar.  Monique, Vicky and I decided to have a quick dinner there last week, and we were in for a pleasant surprise.  As you enter the place, your eyes have to adjust for a few seconds, as the interiors are dimmed, much like that of a regular bar.  "Of course!" I told myself, the concept was indeed a bar--a noodle bar.  I had thought that the menu would be Japanese ramen, but the noodles slant toward the Chinese style of cooking, and most certainly, the rest of the menu was Chinese.

We started off with tofu topped with mahu (shredded pork floss), which was an instant hit with Vicky (she loves tofu dishes).  I had ordered a large bowl of pork noodles; soup was flavorful and plentiful, the dish can feed up to 3 persons.  We tried a house specialty--braised sea cucumber, and I was initially worried that this wouldn't be agreeable with Monique.  It turned out that this was the smash hit of the evening, and she has added sea cucumber to her list of well loved exotic food.

The mustasa rice wasn't as flavorful as we would have liked (go to Mien San for this), but the oyster cake had a delightful twist--cheese toppings, served on a bed of Sky Flakes!  While Vicky wasn't impressed, Monique and I gobbled up every morsel.  Vicky was wondering aloud about the asado pork in man tou bread, so we got and order--she was very happy about this one.

I probably had the impression that the place served Japanese ramen because of the interiors--beech wood on black.  If you notice in the picture below, the Marilyn Monroe collage creates a certain modern style.  I liked the open kitchen concept--thinking that when you see the kitchen you know exactly how your dish was prepared.   I also admired the nifty look of the bathroom--4 shaving mirrors were arranged to get that minimalist but hip feel.  Kudos to the owners and their concept team!

Icings

We had our quarterly sibling brekky last week to discuss some family matters.  This time we chose to have the meeting in Icings, along Dr. Lazcano St in the Scout Area (near the corner of Tomas Morato).  As we plopped into our chairs, the girls immediately ordered their morning coffee.  I missed out on this; while I love the taste and aroma of black brew, I just can't hack the effects of caffeine.

Anita had panini, while Erika tried the dory fillet in cream sauce.  Mikaela ordered corned beef and I took a frankfurter combo.  While they had better luck with their meals, I was unfortunate as the beef frank was definitely old stock.  Upon my complaint, the staff were gracious enough to substitute this with a Hungarian sausage, which was satisfactory.  Of course, the blame was placed squarely on the shoulders of the meat supplier.

Interiors are homey and simple, there were a couple of other tables taken when we were there.  We spent something like P300 per person.  They also sell cakes and pastries, mostly colorful, and fragile-looking (probably because it looks to me like the decorations will break).

Pegi Waffles

Monique and I found a gem right along P. Guevara St. in San Juan.  Pegi Waffles has been around for some time now but we only had the chance to visit their shoppe last week.  The ravioli is an absolute steal for under P200 and we had a chance to taste both the tomato and the creme versions.  Flavorful, yummy.  The savory waffles were also good, and we liked the salami and the tuna flavors (ham & cheese was a bit ordinary).

We had the Stroop wafers with iced yoghurt filling!  This was a delicious cap to our meal.  We spent something like P400 per head, and Monique decided to invite her cousins over to this restaurant one of these days.  We had a chance to meet Anna, the owner, and she informed us that they supply some local stores and restos with their ravioli and wafers.  We'll certainly be back!

Vignette

Had a meeting at the Vignette Bistro at the Ortigas Center.  This restaurant is located at the Ortigas Park, in between Emerald and Ruby Sts.  We had a pizza (topped with chicken) to share.  I wasn't too happy with it, while the flavor was good, the crust wasn't crunchy at all, not even the sides.  It's probably in the formulation of the dough; it's not like I'm looking for the crunchiness of crackers, but I like to have some crunch on the ridges and outer edges, while having the gooey sensation right where the filling hits the dough.  Recipe needs some tweaking, I guess.

Despite the summer heat, it was comfortable at their 2nd floor tent area.  Service was okay.  My friend spent something around P300 per head; this included some cold drinks as pantulak for the pambara.

Bacolod Chicken Inasal

I dropped by the Bacolod Chicken Inasal branch at the Robinson's Otis for a few sticks of quick merienda and learned why their branches are almost often full.  The BBQ is wonderfully done--the skin was crispy and the meat was juicy, nicely vinegared, not too sour nor bland, exactly as inasal should be.  To accompany my chicken leg, I also got a stick of baticolon (gizzard, or balunbalunan in Tagalog).

Admittedly, I am such a gourmand (sometimes derogatorily in the gluttonic sense rather than the gourmet sense), such that I couldn't resist ordering another stick of atay (liver).  What was supposed to be a mere snack turned out to be dinner... I spent something like P200 but I came out of the restaurant very pleased.

Virgie's

Another Hiligaynon friend of Vicky gifted her with some boxes of Galletas de Bacolod from Virgie's last week, and we decided to open one this morning.  Crunchy and lightly sweetened, this is just right for me.  When we were kids, we used to be so naughty, we'd make like the priests and would play with this cookie since it had the exact feel of the ostya...  oh, we were really pilyo!

Teletubbies

* photo courtesy of bbb.co.uk

Of days gone by.... Monique and the Callars will never forget the Teletubbies which featured the adventures of Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa and Po.  During their childhood, they used to watch this educational TV series a lot, and would even sing the opening song to tease each other!  Is the show still around?

Inikot

I was at the Robinson's Place in Otis St. and since I was waiting for my turn for a hair cut, I decided to grab a snack.  I came across the Inikot stall and spent a few second processing what the idea was all about.  Simply put, it's the Pinoy version of a burrito.  One third cup of rice, fried with some garlic and a tablespoon of the viand of your choice (I took beef tapa), then wrapped in lumpia wrapper.  Sold at P29 each.  It's easy enough to make to wait for, but one tablespoon of viand hardly gives enough flavor to the roll--well, you can't expect much for a budget meal.  Still, it's a quick snack.

Koko Buri

Had a quiet dinner with my wife at Koko Buri restaurant at the Avenue of the Arts Building along Roxas Boulevard (near the Bayview Hotel).  We were in the area to check out some restaurants and decided to have dinner at what we initially thought was a Korean restaurant.  It turns out the the owner is a Korean national, but the food is actually a fusion of sorts, with Western and Eastern flavors thrown into the menu.  We quickly learned from our lovely food attendant that the chain started out with branches in Angeles City, Clark Field and Subic Bay, and that this Roxas Boulevard branch was the first foray of the group into Metro Manila.

Vicky goes nuts about onion rings and couldn't resist the temptation.  To her delight, these came in hot and crispy, just enough beer batter to make it a light appetizer.  We ordered the Nagasaki Champon, a spicy seafood soup complete with clams, shrimps, and mussels.  This was good for 4 people, so we had to take home almost half of the bowl.  Nice broth, flavorful and filled with lots of vegetables too.  We took the Koko Buri chicken, but we were a bit disappointed--while we thought that this was the house specialty, it was, in reality, merely crunchy coated fried chicken.  The chicken featured on the menu photos was actually the soy garlic chicken, which Vicky would have enjoyed better (same price).  It wasn't bad though, it just wasn't what we wanted to taste.

As it to make us feel better, our food attendant came over with a leafy salad plate, on the house.  We couldn't complain!  The interiors of the place are neat and simple, but aside from one other table, we were the only ones eating in the restaurant.  I guess that since this branch has just been open for 4 months now, they still need some local advertising to get the warm bodies in.  We spent something like P550 per person, but if you are on a budget, there are other items on the menu that could make you lower your average spend.

Fat Skillet Cafe

After staying over at Annika's house in Loyola Heights for a week, Monique decided to treat her cousin to dinner at Fat Skillet Cafe along Katipunan Road in the Blue Ridge area. It was our first time to try the place--the restaurant is located in a non-assuming building, but the name itself connotes some kitchen savvy and we were not mistaken.

My order of beef calderetta was superb.  Just the right meat gooiness combined with that nicely-livered tomato sauce.  The kids had pasta; Annika ordered Hungarian, while Monique took the Fat Skillet special (shrimp toppings) and both came in al dente, just right to the bite!

My sister and her hubby took prawn fritters and garlic pork steak, which were also winners--in taste, consistency, temperature and presentation.  The best part of it all is that you can come in with a P250 to P400 per head spend in mind and still, you can have some good meals with your budget.

The place also serves some foreign beer brands, and I guess it is an established hangout of college kids from the Katipunan and QC areas.  Interiors are clean, simple and cozy.  While there was only 1 food attendant, she was very efficient and attentive to all our needs.