Ristras Mexican Grill, Greenhills

Well done! :)

I'm a huge fan of Mexican food, I love the freshness and all the different textures and contrasting flavors. It makes a rather exciting symphony. Truth be told, there aren't many places in Manila that actually serve commendable Mexican food. It's likely to lack the freshness and zing. 

Quite packed ey?

When Ristras initially opened, it was always packed- definitely a good sign. That was well over a year ago. These days, it's probably one of my favorite places to go for some superb honest food. 

Meats and beans!

During my particular visit few days ago, it wasn't as packed as it used to be but still, I can tell that nothing has particularly changed. The place still delivered the same vibe that it used to. Oh, come to think of it now, the concept of Ristras is vastly similar to that of Chipotle Grill in America.

Filling in the burrito

Grilled Chicken Burrito FTW

I went for my usual grilled chicken burrito with chorizo brown rice which my mum split with me. I always choose the brown chorizo rice over the lime rice since it delivers more flavor. The beans were creamy but there was not at all the sense of mushiness. The chicken was juicy and tender, the lemon and lime marinade it was sitting in definitely steeped in. Check plus, plus!

And now it was quesadilla time

Quesadilla with Carnitas

My dad and my sisters split two orders of quesadillas. The thing that anyone would adore when it comes to quesadillas would be the fact that it was saddled down with mounds of cheese. In addition there was tender flaked pork, peppers, and that crunchy crust. The rust had the brown bubbly things that were downright crunchy and it illuminated the whole dish.

Nachos

When it came to the nachos, there wasn't anything fancy about it. It was just a pile of chips with some salsa and melted cheese as dips. I reckon the Ball Park Nachos would've been a totally better bet. But my sisters like to keep it plain and simple, so there it was! But I wonder, what ever happened to the purple corn nachos? It has been replaced by some magenta and green ones that are totally unappetizing. It's food coloring at it's worst.

As for drinks, whatever happened to all the Bundaberg Sarsaparillas? I've noticed that the beer selection has also diminished, possibly by half. What's even worse was the old Corona bottles that hosted different sauces that were placed on the table were absent! Such a shame since I loved the garlicky sour cream one.

I would say that I used to enjoy it more cause it had a few more perks but it's still undeniably good Mexican food for Manila, still my top pick.  

Wall of Fame

Oh yeah, they do have this Man vs. Burrito challenge now wherein you've gotta scarf down a 2.5kg burrito in 90 minutes! You get a shirt and bragging rights, of course, the burrito is free of charge as well. Lose and you pay up 1000 pesos! Another challenge that they have is the Fastest Burrito Challenge. Fastest time to finish an 800g burrito! As long as your name is still on the wall, the burritos are free of charge!

dried chilis as decor

Ristras Mexican Grill

J. Abad Santos corner Lopez Jaena, San Juan

(From Wilson Street in Greenhills, turn right at Alex III)

Burger Avenue; A.venue, Makati

I recently had a bazaar at A.Venue. I have a new product called PATOOTIES. Will blog about them separately, soon!

Bazaars always make me gain weight; there are zero exceptions (I pray that today will be the FIRST exception, as I intend to practice self-control). There's just so much food around you that it's difficult to resist (but today, I really, really, really will. Or so I say. Again). Anyway, one of the things I pigged out on at the A.Venue bazaar, Esprit de Noel, was the Ridiculous Burger from Burger Avenue.

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

Hyde Park Night Noodle Markets

Glorious Hyde Park during Night Noodle Markets

Some of the many stalls in the area

I reckon Hyde Park should be like this for more or less most of the year. Why? It's a ton of fun and you get to meet new people. What's even better is people get to appreciate and bond over the food. Sadly, I only went to the Night Noodle Markets once during the Crave Food Festival. I got too caught up in school and now, I guess there's regret.

Heaps of people, you see?

There were more or less a hundred stalls with all sorts of gorgeous food that you could choose from. It got quite confusing cause it was dark and the place was just overpopulated- much like swarming ants.

The people at Spanthai with their huge pans!

Pad Thai and the Saffron Chicken

I opted for of Spanthai which was the fusion of Spanish and Thai cuisines. It was certainly amusing. Apparently, they used Spanish paella pans to cook their food, the pans were ginormous. I guess I was a tad caught up with the idea of these huge paella pans! Anyhoo, I ordered some Pad Thai and some fried rice. The only time I'm a carb freak is when it comes to noodles. The flavors were right on, but the food was just resting in the pan for quite some time and I guess they got soggy- not al dente at all.

Japanese people in costume serving up some Jap pancakes!

Okonomiyaki

We also had some Okonomiyaki which was greatly salty. I guess the server was "trigger happy" when it came to the sauce squeeze bottles. It was quite disappointing cause the Japanese Pancake itself was tasty despite a bit chewy and doughy.

Scrumptious gozleme!

The gozleme was defiitely a winner! When Turkish food is cooked by the right people, they do their country justice. It was amazing. The slight browness of the dough gave a pleasant crunch before sinking your teeth into the goodness of the spinach, cheese, and chicken filing. I can't tell you how satisfying a perfect gozleme may prove to be.

The guys at Chat Thai

Coconut ice cream which would only be good when it is paired with the fried goodies!

Fried banana and sweet potato balls!  Got to learn how to make the sweet potato balls!

Mango and the sticky rice

Finally, the piece de resistance, dessert! I love Chat Thai for making some epic desserts that just ultimately leave me speechless. I love the fried banana with the sugar crust and sesame seeds, what I loved even more would be the fried sweet potato balls that came with it. They were greatly chewy and yet, they don't give you the slightest impression rawness. Paired with the coconut ice cream, it was the perfect symphony. Another thing that we had was the sticky rice with pandan essence and mangoes. Living in the Philippines, I would say that the Filipinos do a dish that's really similar and I find it more appealing to me. It might be because of the mangoes cause the sweet and fragrant mangoes in the Philippines are to die for.

I can't wait for the next Night Noodle Markets! But then, it's still in October which is a fair bit away. Nevertheless, some of the food found at the markets can be found all over Sydney anyway. When it comes to the Night Noodle Markets, the food, ambiance, and friends make it so worthwhile.