PICC

Villa Ibarra

Light of Love

Pio's Kitchen

My brother-in-law decided to give my sister a surprise birthday party, and my nieces chose Pio's Kitchen for the venue.  This restaurant is along Scout Fuentebella St., and used to be the home of the grandparents of Chef Chin Bagis, a Barcelona-trained chef who honed her craft at the kitchens of a prestigious Middle Eastern airline.  I had the impression that Pio was the name of her husband, but she pointed out to me that the restaurant is named after Padre Pio, the Italian friar-saint.

You can see Chef Chin above, preparing the spread--various cold cuts and cheeses, fish, roasted pork, salpicao and of course, paella Valenciana and paella negra.  She takes time and patience to make everything as perfect as possible for her guests.

I must say it was a lovely buffet spread and our tummies were stretched to the limit!  If you notice, I didn't take pictures of the paella--that's something you should see and taste for yourself!  A-1 in my book!

The restaurant is more like an event venue than a regular diner, dining is by reservation only.  Make sure to book in advance, as the slots get filled up quickly.  Cheers and more power!

Oasis

Kylie had her debut at the Oasis, and we certainly had a wonderful time.  This events place is neatly tucked at the Aurora Boulevard end of the New Manila area.  The entrance seems demure, but as you enter, the beautiful lawn gives off good vibes.  We had the party at the Orchard function room atop the parking area, and the place was nicely decorated with balloon and candles.  The food was yummy and the program went on smoothly, with nary a hitch.  The best part?  Dancing was on till the wee hours of the morning!

Happy 18th birthday, Kylie!

Party! Family KTV

C2

I arrived early for our meeting at the C2 restaurant along Missouri St. in Greenhills, with just enough time for me to explore the adjoining C3 function room area, which could easily sit 200 people.  I understand from the staff that the restaurant was somehow connected to the Cravings Group and the Center for Culinary Arts along Katipunan Avenue.  While I wasn't able to take pictures of our food, I must say that I enjoyed the meal very much.  Casual dining and good Filipino food, the centerpiece of which was the crispy kare-kare, a combination of crispy pata and kare-kare sauce and condiments.  The ribs kaldereta and laing were also crowd favorites, and the dishes were passed on from person to person, and plates were wiped clean in just about 3 minutes.  Overall spend was something like P600 per head, and that was quite a fiesta for us.

Sweet Harmony Gardens

Vicky, Becca, Andi and I traveled to Taytay to check out the Sweet Harmony events venue.  The Saturday morning traffic was pretty heavy and it took us around 30 minutes to get past the junction right after SM Taytay leading to the Pure Gold mall.  By the time we got to the place, the open gardens that greeted us was a welcome sight, and it was a very good time to let Andi roam around for some picture taking.

I understand that the place is also a favorite for school kids' excursions.  They have a play area and a mini-zoo area featuring different fowl.  Paul Calvin's Bakerie is also within the grounds, and Vicky was able to purchase some of her favorites--pizza bread, chocolate malunggay cookies, and Brazo de Mercedes with sweetened mashed pumpkin core.