Friday Food Trip: Jatujak + Choco Moist & Fruits

 When: November 26, 2010

After savoring healthy and delicious Vietnamese food in our recent Saigon (now: Ho Chi Minh City) getaway, we decided to check out another superb Asian cuisine - Thai food! While writing this post, I suddenly have this crazy craving to find the most delish bánh xèo (Vietnamese pancake) in Manila. But for now, let's go Thai at Jatujak. The resto name is quite catchy; it refers to the largest market in Thailand.

 

 Very round spoon eh?

 Thai iced tea (Php 78 each)

I must admit that their iced tea was superb. It's certainly not powdered ice tea mix that you blend with water but it was real tea with milk. It totally reminded me of my favorite nai cha or the Hong Kong-style milk tea.

 

Pla Mug Kratiem Prig Thai (Php 220) ~ squid with cilantro, garlic and pepper

The waiter told us that the dishes are good for sharing, so we didn't bother ordering more. Perfect for  budget-conscious people like us. The squid dish was rich in flavor and not overcooked. Perfect with the fried rice below.

Kao Pad Ruamit (Php 155) ~ fried rice with chicken, pork and shrimps

Their generous serving of fried rice can feed three people, thus we carbo-loaded that night. Whew.

Since I'm not in the mood for sticky rice dessert, we capped off our delicious dinner with yummy choco moist from SM Supermarket. I have grown to love chocolate cake as a dessert and I discovered this affordable but yummy chocolate cake a few months ago at the grocery area. Last week, this was only priced at Php 69 so I was surprised when I saw this! A five-peso increase in a week? Oh c'mon!

 

Choco moist (Php 74) at SM Supermarket bread section

Affordable, perfect for sharing, moist and not cloyingly sweet.

Grapes and orange wedges (with rock salt please)

Inspired by the healthy lifestyle of the Vietnamese, I munched on fruits when I got home. Burp! I love love love Friday food trips! 

Jatujak

UG/F Building A

SM Megamall

Army Navy

When: November 19, 2010

I was tad curious about this fierce-sounding burger joint in the metro. My friends had warned me that the burger is not that impressive as compared to Chili's but my curiosity reigned as always.

After placing our orders, I took the chance to take a good look at the interiors. I find their wall signs unique. I could picture out a giant burrito monster at the end.

It seems that only a few members of the crew manned the kitchen that night. After a major, major delay, our orders came out from the small window in installment basis. Argh. First off, the fries.

Freedom fries (Php 60) ~ seasoned thin cut, crispy, zesty fries

I love these fries! Very flavorful and less oily than Mcdonald's twister fries. They vanished in the blink of an eye.

After what seemed like forever, the burgers arrived in metal plates.

Classic burger (Php 135) ~ single quarter-pound beef patty with lettuce, tomato slice and onions

True enough, it was not an all-beef patty. It's high on extenders. The toasted sesame seed kaiser bun saved the day though.

 

Small bite

Big bites!

Good thing there's unlimited supply of mayo in the condiments area. I literally splattered my burger with it. Yummy nevertheless.

Army Navy

Glorietta 5

I ♥ Dulcinea's Churros con Chocolate

When: November 7, 2010

Whenever I see Dulcinea in malls, churros con chocolate immediately comes to mind. This Spanish doughnut  used to be my favorite during my senior year in law school. Whew! It seems like only yesterday.  Since there's nothing interesting to blog about these days, I might as well proceed with my food blogs. On an afternoon stroll en route to my Sunday trip to Booksale, I chanced upon Dulcinea and decided to relive my churros days! Yes, I am that random and quirky.

Desde 1963 

We ♥ churros

 Churros con chocolate (Php 98)

 

Sopa de mariscos (Php 85) ~ seafood medley soup

The soup was surprisingly excellent and perfect partner for churros! 

More churros lovin'...

... and some more churros lovin'

I guess our churros was the most paparazzi-ed churros that afternoon.  :)

Dulcinea

2/F Ali Mall

Araneta Center

Pinoydon + Starbucks Peppermint-y Goodies

When: November 6, 2010

In this blog of mine, I show my slice of gratitude to the BF.  He has now evolved to a perfect companion during food trips. Why? He now gave me full support to take pictures of what we're eating, unlike before wherein I contented myself with ninja shots of food. So, thanks are in order. Oops, it's not really my dream to be a food photographer but I take simple delight in staring at food pictures. Yes, I torture myself with those. :)

Last Saturday, we had dinner at Pinoydon. It's a simple resto that boasts of Japanese-Filipino fusion cuisine.

The menu

Batchoy ramen (Php 120) ~ ramen noodles in a rich Japanese broth topped with sliced pork, chicharon, quail eggs and fried garlic

Manila maki (Php 125) ~ nilasing na hipon and lettuce, rolled in garlic sushi rice and topped with Japanese mayo

Tocino alfredo pasta (Php 145) ~ creamy carbonara with tocino bits and served with pugon slice

The pasta was so heavy on the tummy. It took me a long time to finish the whole plate. The overall taste didn't impress me though.

Pics with Santa Claus

After dinner, we continued strolling and found a familiar fellow - Santa Claus! We didn't waste our chance to have a picture with him. Young at heart we are! Since we're then enveloped with Christmassy-like happiness, we capped the evening with holiday treats at Starbucks. Oh, for the love of that planner.

Tall peppermint mocha (Php 150) and peppermint brownie (Php 70)

I skipped coffee since I want to sleep the night away. To the man who still makes my heart skip a beat (in a good way, that is) - thank you so, so much! :)

Pinoydon -5/F
Starbucks -G/F

The Podium
 

Yaku Japanese Grill + Sebastian's Chilly Burger

When: November 5, 2010

Friday traffic can really make a person hungry. In our case, that's what happened. While braving the traffic, the carbo monster in me got so famished even though I had already stuffed myself with delectable portions of spaghetti, pancit palabok and pichi-pichi before leaving the office. So, BF and I decided to eat again.  In an instant, I voiced out my craving for something Japanese. After browsing almost all the restos at The Podium, we found ourselves entering this partially lit Japanese resto called Yaku.

 

Free appetizer: dilis!

Their dilis is to die for! It's sweet and crunchy at the same time.

 

Nabeyaki udon (Php 292.32)

We asked the server if they can split the serving and he accomodated our request. Their udon was far more tasty than Kimono Ken's. Their nabeyaki udon contained generous pieces of mushrooms, shrimps and other meaty/chewy bits. More importantly, the broth tastes a-okay.

 Gyuniku (Php 161.28) ~ spring onions wrapped in beef

At first, I had no idea what gyuniku is. I was captivated by the pretty picture in the menu and I pointed it out to the server. We're happy that this Japanese food taught me to appreciate spring onions. Never underestimate this dish because it's so filling.

Presenting our busog faces! 

True enough, Yaku Japanese Grill boasts of an ambiance perfect for those who want to have some peace and quiet and, of course, delicious Japanese food! We consider going back to Yaku when Japanese food craving strikes again.

We capped off our dinner date with chilly burger from Sebastian's Ice Cream Studio and had it split into two halves. It only took me one bite and I was in ice cream nirvana!

 

Chilly burger (Php 120) ~ peanut butter cup burger (peanut butter cup cookies filled with chocolate ice cream and rolled in even more chopped peanut butter cups)

Interesting ice cream variants

I'd love to try that Fro-Ya flavor next time! Now, who doesn't love Friday dates? ♥♥♥

Yaku Japanese Grill

3/F, The Podium

Sebastian's Ice Cream 

4/F, The Podium

Kangaroo Jack

When: October 30, 2010

A quick research tells me that Kangaroo Jack is "a steak lover’s haven with its menu boasting of delectable porterhouse, tenderloin, and T-bone steaks, sizzling meals and grills. It also serves burgers, pizza, nachos, quesadilla and a variety of chicken, ribs, seafood, and pasta dishes, all priced much lower than that of the big brands currently available in the market." Just to satisfy my curious foodie self, I convinced the BF that we should try it.

 

The menu

The resto interior was surprisingly impressive, maybe because it's fairly new.

 Spot 'em!

We noticed that there were hardly no diners that afternoon. Either people are busy trooping to cemeteries or the food's bad, I didn't know yet at that moment. The couple on the far end are members of the crew having their late lunch. Now, let's go to the food.

Marinara (Php 169) ~ house favorite, a mix of all-time favorite seafoods tossed over special marinara sauce. Served with garlic bread.

Yes, that's what BF ordered. I took a couple of fettucine strands to pass verdict. Well, the pasta sauce was too sweet.

 

Hungarian & pasta (Php 139) ~ grilled hungarian sausage served with white or red pasta and garlic bread

I chose this combo meal since I love pasta and hungarian sausage. My verdict? Just okay. You really got what you paid for. I can tell that the sauce came straight from instant spaghetti sauce pouch. :)

Banana fritters with vanilla ice cream (Php 55)

I thought that the dessert would save the day, but we were wrong. They used rancid oil for frying the turon. Oh well, it must be the food and not the holiday.

Kangaroo Jack (near Mang Inasal)

Araneta Center

Carver's Steaks and Sizzlers

When: October 19, 2010

One day, the BF and I practically ran out of food choices in the Araneta Center area. It must be a massive oversight on my part for not eating at Carver's Steaks and Sizzlers. It was surprisingly cheap and the food was good in this price range. So I pointed out to him this food joint which is easily transformed to a beer-drinking yuppie place at night.

The menu

I just had my hair chopped off before our dinner date. I've been sporting my new 'do for almost two weeks now and my hair has been very obedient. Good job to Going Straight!

What's with the face, huh? LOL!

Combo meal: 2 cups of Java rice, sizzling chicken and beef strips, pitcher of iced tea and moussert (Php 299)

I didn't expect much from the featured dessert called moussert. It's actually an overly sweet cheapo kind of choco mousse.

 

Sizzling goodness up close

The beef strips were exceptionally tender, while the sizzling chicken was just okay. Imagine your ordinary fried chicken with lots of gravy on top and that's it.

New find: Nestle Chuckie choco swirl (Php 15)

After the meal, I begged the BF to go to Rustan's Supermarket ice cream section and I'm proud of my new find - Nestle Chuckie choco swirl! I love the gooey chocolate swirl in the middle of the popsicle! Definitely one of life's cheapest thrills! :)

Carver's Steaks and Sizzlers

Shopwise Arcade

Araneta Center

Dinner @ Super Bowl of China

When: October 8, 2010

Our Friday date always starts with this classic question -Where shall we eat? Where, where, where? We've been together for more than a year already and yet we don't have a default resto. That's partly the reason why it's quite difficult for us to compromise on where to eat. But we do have a default cuisine and it's Chinese. No sweat. Super Bowl of China always comes to the rescue when it comes to Chinese cuisine. I couldn't forget our peace treaty which was signed in Super Bowl Gateway early this year. Hahaha!

 Complimentary prawn crackers

SB celebrates its 10th year anniversary hence the Php 99 promo on their crispy noodles which is ongoing until October 31, 2010.

 The food server offered to mix the crispy noodles.

 Crispy noodles with assorted seafood (Php 99; original price is Php 250) ~ crispy fried egg noodles smothered with cuttlefish, boneless fish fillet, shrimp & other seafood, mixed vegetables, and mixed mushrooms in a clear, light seafood sauce

It's more than enough for two persons. We didn't manage to finish it all off.

 Combination platter (Php 395) ~  a combination of pork siomai, hakao, deep fried wanton, BBQ pork asado, roast chicken, sliced cuttlefish cold cuts, jellyfish with century egg, and pickled vegetables. Served with sweet and sour sauce on the side.

I think this platter is quite pricey. There were only two thin slices of century egg. Oh well.

Bottomless drinks:  red iced tea (Php 79) and lemonade (Php 79)

We had three refills for the drinks. Talk about making sulit. :)

Post-CR trip pic. Hahaha! 

People actually stopped on their tracks to accommodate this shot. Amazing.

Super Bowl of China
4th Level Atrium

SM Megamall