Dimsum Place

At first impression, The Dimsum Place at the Fisher Mall along Quezon Avenue appeared to be a foreign dimsum franchise, but the restaurant is a local concept which holds its own against the foreign competition.  I gathered from the food attendants that the restaurant is part of the King Bee restaurant group, which explains why the quality was pretty good.  Kong Kong and Gwammy were pretty happy with the choices that we made--

Baked pork buns

Steamed Chicken Feet

Siao Long Bao (yes, the soup was hot and delicious)

Ha Caw

Radish Cake

Shark's Fin Siomai

Beef Tendon

Pork Congee with Century Eggs

Rice Rolls

Bean Curd Rolls

Yes, it was a lot, and you can imagine the feast that we had!  It's a good thing that one doesn't have to fly to Hong Kong to enjoy these Chinese treats these days.  Good eats have come to Manila; the restaurants not located in plush hotels but at a mall near you!  Prepare around P500 per person if you want to have variety like we did, but surely you can get by with P300 per person.  Mall parking is easily available at the basement floors.

The Latest Fab Four

My latest set of scents:

   1)  Aqua Fahrenheit by Dior-- makes me feel sophisticated, yet casual

   2)  Uomo by Valentino-- when I want to be non-comformist

   3)   La Coste Noir-- feeling playful yet projecting intelligence

   4)  Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue-- free-spirited, loving the sights and sounds around me

Each scent evokes different feelings in different people...  What're you wearing today?

Recovery Food

I was in the Fort area by 6:30 am, well ahead of my 8:00 am meeting.  I was up by 5:00 am and figured that the best way to beat the Christmas traffic was to arrive early, targeting an arrival time of 7:30 am.  However, traffic was unusually light, and I miscalculated by a whole hour.  Aside from the usual coffee chains, Recovery Food seemed to be the only place open that early, and I decided to have a hearty brekky to start the day.

My rice bowl topped with beef anise was reasonably priced at the P150 level, and the portion size was enough to make me feel energized without being bloated.  I understand that the Recovery concept was just that--simple comfort food for recharging, be it after a hard day's work or after a tad too much booze in the wee hours of the morning.

Most often I like eating with the company of family and friends.  There are exceptions though, and Recovery Food's concept seemed to fit perfectly.  When you've had too much to drink and want to clear the buzzing in your ears, you find yourself wanting some alone time, some peace and quiet away from the pounding of the drums and screeching of the electric guitars.  And that's when eating alone with good comfort food comes into play.  Yes, it was a simple breakfast that day, but the memories of countless hangovers came back, all because of a bowl of hot anise beef rice!

Laceys

I wonder where Becca gets the Laceys cookies we gobbled up during the holiday season--these are thin toffee-chocolate wafers, absolutely melt-in-your-mouth wonders that get finished within ten minutes they are opened.  I understand from friends that the chocolate used for these cookies is sourced from Ghirardelli, the US chocolate arm of Lindt, which is probably why it's so darn yummy!

7 Flavors

The clan lunch during Christmas holiday is usually set sometime during the first half of December. This 2015, we had to look for a venue in San Juan to accommodate one of my nephews, who had an appointment somewhere in the area.  We found the buffet at 7 Flavors a good choice for food variety, room availability and sufficient parking space.  Most of all, the meal pricing was well within our self imposed budget of P600 per person.  My nieces told us that the restaurant is operated by celebrity chef Boy Logro.

The buffet had a little of everything--pizza, tacos, pasta, Mongolian BBQ, Filipino and Chinese dishes.  My overwhelming favorite was the callos (seen above), which had a lot of soft tripe and black olives.  Iced tea and desserts are included in the spread, so the kids were pretty happy.

The only drawback is that the buffet is located at the second floor; the ground floor reserved for ala carte orders.  The senior citizens had slight difficulty in climbing the winding stairs. Over all though, everyone enjoyed; these days, getting together at restaurants is much easier than having to cook & prepare for in-house parties.

Hoy Panga

The Davaoenos have made such a mark on grilled tuna jaws, and my theory is that the pun on Hoy Panga! could only have come from a Davaoeno.  Monique couldn't resist the temptation, so we stopped by their Fairview branch and picked up an order each of jaw and belly, grilled right in front of us.  The meat is soft and the flavor is tasty; prepare around P400 per order.

Zigla!

It was an interesting visit to the fast-food basement of Robinson's Magnolia, and while Andie pushed for her favorite Jolibee spaghetti, the rest of us looked for interesting things to eat.  I went for a beef wrap at Zigla! which boasts of fresh organic creations that taste good. Not bad; you can get your fill for around P200 per person.  Portions sizes are not that generous though, so for heavy eaters (like me), you probably will want to take on a couple of orders...