Ming the Merciless

Charles Middleton as Ming the Merciless

Gwammy was serving mongo soup this rainy night, and much of the discussion was centered upon the twin furies brought about by typhoon Mario and the eruption of Mt. Mayon. Connecting the three events, I was somehow reminded of Ming the Merciless, the evil ruler of the Planet Mongo.  He was my favorite villain when I was a kid watching those afternoon reruns.  To me, Flash Gordon was just another swashbuckling hero, but Ming the Merciless had some style!

Maximo

Tito Em celebrated his birthday at Maximo Comfort Cusine along Katipunan (C5) Avenue, very near Santolan Road.  I must say that the initial feedback I got from friends was dead on the spot--ang sarap ng pagkain dito!

Chicharon Mushrooms

Lengua Sisig

Seafood Chowder

Mushroom Soup with Truffle Infused Oil

House Salad

Lamb Curry

Beef Rendang

Callos

Binagoongan Bagnet

Fish in Coconut Sauce

Slow Roasted Beef

Iberian Chicken

Chocnut Chocolate Cake

Butchi with chocolate center

Mamon Bibingka

The restaurant has only been open for a few months, and yet the seats were all taken.  All you need to accompany your meal is hot white rice and you are set to go.  The staff are still new and a bit bewildered at the steady stream of guests walking in, but we were assured by the owners that they are slowly getting their system in place.  The best part is that meals are very reasonably priced--you can literally have a feast with some P600 to P700 per person.  If you want to cheer up these gloomy rainy days, head for Maximo, and enjoy their comfort food!

Pages Deli

Dining al fresco isn't much of my thing, especially during hot and sweaty days.  But when the weather is cool and the winds are agreeable, it can be a good experience.  My guests wanted a fast meeting at the Shangrila Mall, and they chose to have a discussion over merienda at Pages Deli, a street side restaurant at the ground level.  It's right next to the Brozheit German restaurant, and I was surprised that it even existed, as I had never paid any attention to it prior to this appointment.

We had a fast round, carbonara & putanesca pasta, pastrami sandwich and a pizza to share. I was told that the putanesca was nicely done, with a subtle hint of spice, letting the anchovies, olives or capers carry the brunt of the flavor.

I was surprised that the pricing was pretty reasonable.  You can come in, spend a lazy three hours with a bill of around P400 per head.  Interiors were fancy, not for the young crowd, though, and air-conditioned seating is limited.  It's best to dine outside, but you can do this only on cool and windy days.

Project Pie

I like the concept of Project Pie, the latest pizza fast food brand to be brought into the country by the Prieto family, the same people that have the local franchise of Shakey's Pizza. It's run like a college cafeteria, you get on a line while they prepare your pizza, you pay at the cash register and wait at your table for your number to be called.  Pretty simple.

The difficult part is to think of what toppings you want for your pizza.  They only have one size, and for P285 you can have any topping of your choice.  Any which one placed atop your pizza, and that is why their blurb goes--"designer pizza, designed by you!"

Tomato or oil based?  Which cheese do I put in?  Mainly mozzarella, a little ricotta, some parmesan.  Blue cheese?  Proscuitto?  Yes, put in salami and pepperoni, add slices of onions and green pepper.  Black Olives?  Basil?  No pineapple please.  Sprinkle some garlic. Tomatoes?  No, not today...

It was a rainy night, but we braved the parking lot puddles to get to their branch at the Blue Bay Walk.  The combinations are endless.  The girls won over the boys in the taste competition.  I think both concoctions were fantastic.  We wound up eating one pizza each! Monique and Angie wanted to bring home some pizza, but I told them that half the fun was in the design, and that Mumsie and Tita Becca would have to wait for the next round.  Good pizza, good times!

Jaguar XJ

We were at the Greenbelt Mall, and walked past the Jaguar XJ that was on display.  Andie scrutinized the vehicle, as if to tell me "Daddy, can we get one of these?"  Oh my, the kids nowadays... they know what to ask for!

Xin Tian Di

I had a lunch meeting at the Xin Tian Di which is the Chinese outlet of the Crowne Plaza Hotel in the Ortigas Center.  It's a restaurant that I've only heard about from friends, and it was the first time I was going to try the place.  Fancy name (translation: New Heaven and Earth), nice interiors, impeccable service.  I noticed that the menu had some Singaporean, Shanghainese and Beijing style cooking, but since it was supposed to be a fast meeting, we opted for the dimsum-all-you-can promotion, which was around P1,200.

We had a variety of dishes, and the good thing about the ordering system is that except for a few items, you can order by the piece, rather than having the usual serving size of three to four pieces.  The hakaw was pretty good, shrimps were quite fresh.  Wasn't too happy with the siao long pao though, I had expected the soup to ooze out and for me it was dry.  I also had duck noodle soup, and it was good that this order comes in a small, manageable sized bowl.

I liked the beef Ho Fan.  Came in freshly cooked, the beef was tender and the rice noodles were gooey and full of flavor.  They had a lot of desserts, and I found the coffee gelatin very potent--full of coffee goodness, enough to keep you awake for some time.  Interestingly, they have the "ampalaya buchi," which I thought had ground ampalaya (bitter gourd) mixed in. It's actually a mere buchi, colored green and shaped like an ampalaya.  

Overall, I can't say the food was bad, but I'm probably not going to take the unli-dimsum offer again.  You really just can't eat much dimsum (it's supposed to be snack food, not banquet courses), and it's probably cheaper (and healthier) to order individually.  Next time I come to this restaurant, I'm trying the special dishes that they have on the menu.