2022 Recap 2023 Restart
Congratulations to Chef Tony Boy Escalante’s for being recognized by the Miele Guide as Asia’s Top 10 Restaurant! I’m happy for him because I voted for him as my number #1 restaurant in the Philippines. The Miele Guide launched last October 31, Friday in the Miele Guide Gala Dinner held at Grand Hyatt Singapore.
In Ron, we would highly recommend ordering the Shoyu Ramen. Most of the ramen would have this sesame oily taste. The shoyu taste is smooth and clean like swimming in Kayangan Lake in Coron. I like the way the ramen noodles are cooked al dente. It is fatter than most of the commercialized ramen houses in Manila. The miso based ramen did not leave a good impression on us.
Our final stop of the tour is a sunset chill-out merienda with Mang Rudy’s Puto in T-house Dining.
We wanted to try out Astralis by Diamond Hotel ever since it opened to give new life to the Rockwell strip.
Every time we visit, the restaurant is empty with one or two groups eating. We hesitated to try it because we find the ambiance boring, and we expected the food to be hotel prices with +10% service charge added to the menu price.
Director Erik Matti’s F*#%^! Word restaurant is the latest hang-out place along C. Palanca which replaced Sake Club. Spanx, Ivan H and I decided to do our pre-production meeting here for the Ultimate Pampanga Tour this coming Saturday. We had fun figuring out what the F*#%^! Word stands for. The most likely meaning, if I would guess, is Filipino Fusion Food.
We literally closed our eyes when we tasted the Ecuador Hot Chocolate Drink of Heavenly Chocolates. This new chocolate haven is teaching the foodies in Manila on how to enjoy cocoa from different origins (similar to wines). We fell in love with the strong full bodied Ecuador and we would recommend this for all chocoholics out there. For Aidan, we ordered the chocolate from Ghana which offers a smoother taste.
I am skeptic about the good reviews of restaurants owned by artistas. I did not expect the pizza in Bellissimo to be really good. All the raves about Cesar Montano’s pizza was true after all. The crust is crunchy and chewy with the right amount of ingredients on top. All the pizzas are line-priced at P330 (P40 per slice) so all you need to do is choose the toppings and taste of your pizza.
The first time I heard about The Stock Market (TSM), the Philippine Stock Exchange popped into my mind. TSM is the newest restaurant at Fort Bonifacio High Street beside Fridays. It is owned by Del Monte Philippines (who has offices on the second floor of Boni High) and operated by the TOSH (The Old Spaghetti House), Grilla, Chilly Willy’s Restaurant group. It is called “Stock Market” because it is a place where Del Monte intends to sell its stock of products which include Del Monte drinks, fruits, and its own line of salad dressing.
Lulubelle has the best ambiance among all the Frozen Yogurt establishments we have visited to date. The hot pink & white ambiance with purple pink christmas tree accent draws you inside this little corner store at the 3/F of Rockwell Power Plant Mall. The Lulubelle logo resembles the cow version of Santa Butsiki of Ang Unang Baboy sa Langit. Lori has the scoop on why it is named Lulubelle in her post, “A Cow Named Lulubelle”.
We celebrated my Mom’s birthday last September and decided to try out an old favorite. Kai recently transferred to the new Greenbelt 5 beside Myron’s with a classy intimidating look. Kai is the japanese word for “gathering” and specializes on Japanese fusion cuisine. It was started by four (4) young filipino chefs Ricky Estrellado, Gilbert Panilinan, Rex Soriano and Pierre Angeli Dee who had extensive experience with Chef Nobu Matshushita’s Nobu Japanese-Peruvian Restaurant in New York.
KAI is known for interesting dishes with a surprising taste. Let me share with you the food that we thought were winners.
