Bar Biscotti, North Strathfield

Every Saturday, my friends and I head to bicentennial park and we EXERCISE. We do all sorts of crazy drills and routines. Pushups, burpees, box jumps, pull-ups, and the like. As a reward after each workout, we do go out brunch. This time we headed down to North Strathfield to have a look around and hopefully find somewhere decent to eat.

Meet Bar Biscotti.

I love the contrast of the brick wall against the bright red retro chairs
and also against the polished concrete floor.

We ended up at Bar Biscotti, it was a modern, clean, and airy cafe with a great atmosphere. There were all sorts of simple dishes on the menu. But if you know me well enough, you'd know that nothing seals the deal like steak. I ordered the steak salad just because that perfectly fit my craving for both meat and greens. And what would a lunch at a cafe be without coffee, right? I had a cappucino as always. It had a really frothy top that was just great! Plus, the coffee itself was notable too!

Astralis, Rockwell

Last month, Chloe and I hit the Supersale bazaar at Rockwell. I think that was the same day we watched Harry Potter 7.2.* Honestly speaking, there is practically nowhere to eat in Rockwell – neither of us liked any of the restaurants in the foodcourt (read about our unfortunate experience at Myron's here) or felt like eating at Cibo. So we went outside, looking for other restaurants. And we stumbled upon Astralis, which is operated by Diamond Hotel and has garnered several awards (I forget which!)

Shakespeare Hotel's Epic Cheap Steak.

I've been skipping breakfast to catch up on sleep.

It's really bad.

Midday, I crave steak.

Big fat juicy hearty steak.

My friend Adara is adventurous, and craves just as much as I do.

We headed to Shakespeare for the infamous $12.50 T-bone.

The T-bone comes with a side salad, mash or chippies, and your chosen sauce.

We had a good meal and ended up with full, really stuffed bellies.

It's a classic.

Good pub, good grub.

A tad dodgy looking sign outside. 

Classic.

The beers on tap.

Masseto, Makati

The other night my mom, sister, brother and I had our regular start-of-the-weekend dinner, and we gave Masseto a try.

M is for Masseto. This reminded me of The Secret!

Steak & Sprouts

You see, I've got a couple of posts up my sleeve but like everything else on my plate these days, I'm at a loss for both actions and words.

  Have I not been eating enough brain food? Beats me. 

So I'm trying to compensate by posting these gorgeous step-by-step polaroid pictures. 

Recipe for the Brussels Sprouts is based on Momofuku.

Gotta love Momofuku.

For the Brussels Sprouts

Baby, baby, baby oh, BABY BRUSSELS SPROUTS.

Step 1: Rinse your sprouts.

Step 2: Chop the stem off and halve the sprouts.

Myron's Place, Greenbelt 5

This is what I thought of today.

The weather was terrific today. Nothing brings my spirits up like a nice sunny yet breezy day. 

1. I get to wear shorts and sunnies.

2. All the more reason to wear flip flops.

3. No cold sores or windburn. 

4. I don't eat every 10 minutes.*

Honey Rye Bread & Butter

ROASTED GARLIC FOR THE WIN.

The weather was also great when we dined at Myron's Place. When we were in highschool, we'd always go dine at Myron's at Rockwell.** What did we used to have? Hmm. I remember we had a Seared Tuna Dish with Pasta once. And there's nothing I could remember more than the roasted bulbs of garlic that we would always smother on the bread.

Being overly hungry, we ordered a feast.*** Daryl with her oysters and steak, there's nothing new. These are the things she always craves. Whenever we're out to eat, the first thing that comes out of her mouth is- I WANT STEAK.

Ninyo, Katipunan

Hello, world!

The other night, I had dinner with ma maman et petite soeur at Ninyo. It's a small, quiet restaurant with pretty interiors. I loved how they had KOI (the goldfish) towards the entrance. And once inside, you are literally FLOODED with the smell of sampaguita (from the candles, not a plant. I would have loved it if the smell had come from a real, actual plant).

It was raining like no tomorrow outside and I was starving and reading Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex while waiting for my mom and sister to arrive...

I just want to make a plug for The Second Sex. I suggest that everyone READ it. I think it has changed my life (in terms of how I perceive women, including myself).

Anyway, are you ready for the photo flood?

Pumpkin soup cappuccino, with bits of hard bread inside

L'Entrecôte, Taguig, Philippines

We haven't been blogging for... 3 days!


Cause there was a glitch in our system.


It was overly inconvenient but whatever, WE'RE BACK and that's what matters.


Back to blogging- with a BANG!

Posh, posh, L'Entrecôte

So, L'Entrecôte, they say it originated in Geneva, or somewhere in Europe, yeah, something like that. The whole concept of Steak and Fries isn't much of a newbie for me since it's such a regular at the pubs in Aussieland.

What I Cooked for Christmas Eve

So it's the one day I actually pull out all the brakes and cook like a mad woman.

It's obviously the season for it anyway, yea?

S helped me fill up the deviled eggs.

As per request of my sister, deviled eggs. It looks messy, but can you blame a 12 year old for putting her best foot forward? I reckon NOT.

DEVILED EGGS: EGG YOLKS+GOOD QUALITY MAYO+MUSTARD+ANCHOVIES+S&P

Mamou: A Home Kitchen, Serendra, The Fort

I've been to Mamou endless times. I like the place cause it brings back flooding good memories dating back to high school and as well, it has undoubtedly good food that reels me in. My favorites are the Fish and Chips with Malt Vinegar and Lorenzo's Truffle Cream.

The kitchen and busy staff

Today, I decide to cut back on the fried stuff as well as the creamy buttery ones. I shuffled through the menu a couple of times and I was puzzled which dish to pick. I know Mamou has been very famous recently for their Dry Aged USDA Prime Grade, the issue is, I'm not allowed to chow down a wad of beef since it's bad for my particular diet. So, I decided to get the Roast Pork and Chicken cause it did seem appetizing.

Bread and butter

As per always, they always give complimentary dinner rolls and butter. I like their bread very much cause it is dense and a fair bit nutty. I do however favor the brown bread over the white ones.

Roast Pork and Chicken- Mamou's citrus roasted pork and chicken,
buttered onions, red cuban rice, cinnamon saba, and black beans.

When my main arrived, it seemed like a whole plate of cuban influence was dumped right in front of me. The plate looked gorgeous with all the different colors outshining one another. The beans seemed a tiny bit overcooked, but that wasn't the case with I swooped some into my mouth. It had a smoky flavor that was utterly satisfying. The bananas were partially caramelized with cinnamon sugar, the slight crunch proved to be very inviting. As for the chicken, it was moist and packed with the citrus flavor, it was impeccable. The pork's skin was burnt and not quite palatable.

Beer Battered Fish with Malt Vinegar- Choice of potato wedges,  mashed potato,
red or white rice with tartar sauce and malt vinegar.

We also ordered the Fish and Chips with Malt Vinegar. Still the same banana as it used to be. The hot crisp batter with the velvety flaking of the fish. Bliss. Arguably still my favorite item on the menu. Oh there was a side of rice since someone decided to choose it over the chips. The rice was buttery and perfectly cooked.

Slow roasted bone-in, Prime Rib/ Yorkshire Puddings
Choice of two sides.

For the ultimate piece de resistance, there was Wawa's Prime Rib. We had a short chat with the owner and she said that this is one of those dishes that has been passed down in her family. I would simply describe it as a full-on juicy steak with a perfect gravy. The steak was a pleasure, or it was up until we hit the bone which proved to be a little bit shifty cause it was hard to carve and the meat there was definitely on the raw side. There was a huge amount of fat on the steak as well. The Yorkshire puddings were dry and bland, not their best. The mashed potato and creamed spinach were equally good, and did I mention the amount of butter? It's something that you probably wouldn't miss in any case.

Mamou: A Home Kitchen
8563569

Serendra, Bonifacio Global City

Taguig City, Metro Manila

Philippines

Uncle Cheffy, Eastwood City, Libis

However cheesy it may sound, I absolutely love having lunch with my grandparents. When I was a kid, I loved it cause they pay for everything and they spoil me to bits. These days, I pay for the meals but it's such a small price to pay in exchange for quality time with people that I love.

I asked my grandparents where they would want to eat, they told me it's my choice. But it's like I already knew that they wanted to head to Eastwood. They love the new mall so much because its very clean and not crowded. They hit the mall once a week at the very least. Despite wanting to head who knows where to grab some grub, I reluctantly agreed on Eastwood.

Uncle Cheffy :) zoom in to see me! jokes :)

There are a fair bit or restaurants there and it took time for us to decide. As I've said, my grandparents head over that area pretty often so they've already tried almost all of the restaurants! One of their favorites is Uncle Cheffy. If I'm not mistaken, it's related in a way to (or even by) Chef's Quarter. 

The ambiance I've found quite relevant to the food. I wouldn't be able to pinpoint a particular cuisine that it is focused on but what I can say is it's influenced by Filipino and Western cuisines. Sometimes restaurants that are diverse tend to be all over the place and messy. In this case, it was presented professionally and very appealing. There were all sorts of interesting dishes on the menu and it took us some time to actually decide on what we were having. Today, I was feeling extra hungry after the gym so we ordered a feast.

See grandfather and the Cheese, Cheese, Cheese Panizza?

For starters, we had a panizza which they're fairly popular for. We opted for the Cheese, Cheese, Cheese. A panizza with mozzarella, parmesan, cheddar, gruyere, blue cheese, herbs, and extra virgin olive oil. It was a tad bit overstated on the menu, from what I could pick up, there was mozzarella, cheddar, and blue cheese. I was disappointed because I'm such a cheese freak and there just wasn't enough of it! I was expecting it was gonna be cheese overload! It had 3 condiments- tomato salsa, lettuce, and alfalfa sprouts. Even though there wasn't heaps of cheese, I really enjoyed it and liked the idea!

Pumpkin Flower (???) Soup

Because of my absurd appetite, I ordered a soup as well! The menu said it's a pumpkin flower soup, never heard of a pumpkin flower soup and I found it quite fascinated and I agreed to order since the server said it's a bestseller. The soup was hearty, but I just couldn't fathom why they called it pumpkin flower soup when in fact it's just pumpkin soup! Disappointing.

Thai Style Fried Pla Pla

For our mains, the 3 of us split the Thai Style Fried Pla Pla and Beef Medallion "Steak Tagalog". These two dishes were equally winners. The fish on it's own without being doused by sauce had a distinct sweetness that I couldn't get enough of. It was fried beautifully resembling a piece of art one way or another.

Beef Medallion Steak Tagalog!:) So Filipino inspired, I'm loving it!:)

The beef dish had such potential and inspiration behind it. It's a bold western move to use beef medallions, and the way of implementing some Filipino influence was to cook it in such an inspired Filipino way. The idea behind it would probably from the "Bistek Tagalog". There was Carabao Milk Cheese on top of them and a green mango, tomato, and onion salad that was really sour it made me flinch. This dish I absolutely thought was dazzling.

And as for desert, NO, I was full to my throat I didn't even have any space whatsoever for desert! But, I did buy some goodies from the ever appropriate Marks & Spencer which I will blog about another time!:)

Uncle Cheffy
Unit A216 and S201
Level 2, Eastwood Mall
Eastwood City
Libis

A Taste of L.A.

I'm anything but a pizza person, but when it comes to pizza from A Taste of L.A., my mouth's wide open! Had dinner there the other day with my mum and darling little sister! Such a treat after a stressful week.

First off, we had oysters Rockefeller. If you're anything in my life (friend, BFF, etc), you must know that I LOVE oysters. Oysters, softshell crab, sashimi, chocolate, and wagyu= enough to keep me happy forever. I thoroughly enjoyed their oysters! Very clean-tasting, fresh, and perfectly complemented by the bechamel sauce and cheese! Speaking of oysters-- if you're an oyster fan, you MUST try Sunday lunch buffet at Mario's (but more on that next time).

Perfection!

What is insanity? Aside from doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result, it's... going to Taste of LA without ordering their pizza. This I can promise: you will not be disappointed. They serve the best pizza, rivaled only by Bellini's!

Their pizza has a wonderfully, WONDERFULLY thin crust. So thin that I tell myself it doesn't have any carbs!!! They have a lot of cool gourmet flavors; one even has lamb on it. My siblings love that lamb one! Sadly I don't eat lamb.. :(

Spinach, ham and cheese. DELISH!

The cheese is not to heavy and everything is just in harmony. Cue clouds in your imagination and Pachelbel's Canon in D. This is pizza heaven!

My sister and mom split a steak! :) They said it was good!

I ordered osso buco. I love osso buco from Cyma and also my own... This one rather disappointed me :| The meat was tender and juicy but the sauce was too heavy and bland and lacking in... tomatoes?

Then we had dessert! The chocolate was SOOO overrated-- the menu made it sound like something epic but it was definitely NOT! Quite pricey too, 200 something for a nothing-special, rather dry cake..

We also ordered bibingka! Now this was good! It had lots of duck eggs in it (which I also don't eat) but I'm guessing that's a good thing for diehard bibingka fans!

I would just like to say that I downright HATE this new blogger setup; it's making it really inconvenient to upload pictures! :(

Also (completely off-topic) I hope that WHAT'S MEANT TO BE WILL TRULY FIND IT'S WAY. Like, I hope that no matter what stupid things people do, even if they diverge really far from the path they're supposed to take, there's this bigger, better, indefatigable plan that will WIN in the end! That you'll be with the person you're meant to be with, even if you held on to the wrong person too long or if you hurt the right one too much. That's all! Hahaha! I just hope we all end up with the one we're SUPPOSED to end up with!