Chicken BonChon

About the food:

I've been hearing a lot of reviews about Chicken BonChon and one day, I had to just try it.

Where to buy and how much:


I ordered six pieces of drumsticks for PHP365. You also have the choice of ordering either wings or chops. The flavor I got was the soy garlic. I tasted it myself and let my family taste it too.

Based on what we tried, the chicken skin was indeed crispy, maybe it would be crispier if it were dine-in. However, the meat tasted bland. The sauce or marinade did not seep in enough for the meat to have more flavor. Perhaps I should have gotten the wings or the chops instead. Perhaps the result would have been different.

I bought my BonChon at Greenhills Promenade. Currently they have a new branch just opened along Katipunan Ave. as well. They also have  a branch along C5 Libis.


Rating: 7.5/10

Nagomi Authentic Japanese Cuisine

About the food:

There are a lot of Japanese restaurants, like Teriyaki Boy, Tokyo Tokyo, and many more. However, only a few can be said to be truly authentic Japanese cuisine and not customized to filipino taste (i.e. more sweet).

Nagomi is one of the most authentic japanese restaurants we have tried so far. For instance, while most restaurants have tuna and salmon sashimi, Nagomi is the only one I know that has tako sushi, or octopus sushi. The octopus was good. It was fresh and not hard as rubber.

tako sushi (PHP 250)

Furthermore, they have generous servings of authentic tasting ramen.

One order of the Gomoku (seafood) ramen is good enough to be split into two large bowls. When I say two, its really for two hungry adults, and not one and a half. What really sets this ramen apart from other japanese restaurants is their flavorful broth. It's so full of flavor that you'd want to sip every soup.

gomoku ramen (PHP370 excl sc)

On a sidenote, they also provide some complimentary appetizer while waiting for your orders.

Moving on, we also ordered beef miso yaki. The beef was very soft and tender and highly recommended.

beef miso yaki (PHP360 excl sc)

Finally, for dessert we ordered coffee and milk jelly.  Both the milk and coffee proved to be a great end to a great lunch.

Where to buy and how much:

Nagomi is located in El Pueblo, Ortigas, near The Podium and Discovery Suites.


Rating: 9/10

Breakfast at Cafe 1771

About the food:

Another fantastic place to have THE best breakfast meal, aside from having it in a hotel, is at Cafe 1771.

cafe au chocolat (PHP170)

For one, they have that special cafe au chocolat beverage which is hot chocolate with a slight hint of orange. Maybe if the chocolate were darker, it would be even more fantastic.

For the meal, I got the unique Croque Monsieur.

croque monsieur (PHP350)

This is made out of ham, gruyere cheese, and bechamel sauce. In other words, this is a great way to start the day.


Where to buy and how much:

Cafe 1771 is located in El Pueblo at Ortigas, Pasig. It's near The Podium and Discovery Suites. 


Rating: 9/10

Swirls Kefir

About the food:

Once, I went to SM Mall of Asia and found this new dessert concept. It looks like frozen yogurt, but it's not. It's actually Kefir. It tastes just as sour as yogurt but is healthier because it has more active cultures than yogurt.

This one costs PHP90 + PHP30 for the two toppings

Where to buy and how much:

Swirls Kefir is found at the ground floor of Mall of Asia. It's not in the airconditioned section but on the outside. See their facebook wall photos to get an idea of the store layout https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.190387264324792.51319.110514698978716

Rating: 10/10

Paella Buffet @ Alba's

About the food:

Spanish cuisine, the authentic one, can be quite expensive. But the Paella is really worth it especially if you love rice. At Alba's you can enjoy paella as much as you want, through their buffet option.

To start off, you will be served a bisque soup.
 

Part of their buffet includes clams stuffed with cheese..

...roasted chicken..

fried chicken..

 spanish cold cuts.. these are quite good.

their best selling paella.

small appetizers..

For dessert, they have tiramisu in their buffet,

as well as smooth and soft canonigo.



Where to buy and how much:

Alba's buffet costs PHP650, excluding beverages. Alba's is located along Tomas Morato St., corner of Scout Lozano. Click on this link to see the map http://www.alba.com.ph/location/interior_tomasmorato.htm

Rating: 8.5/10

As a note of caution, those who are allergic to seafood such as shrimp and mussels should not try the paella. Especially the seafood paella, even if its just the rice. To make the rice more flavorful, it has seafood broth aside from other broths like that from chicken.

Greek Food at Cafe Mediterrenean

About the food:

One time in  Powerplant Mall, we decided to try Greek cuisine for a change, so we opted for Cafe Mediterrenean.


First we had the olives. They're fresh and tasted well.

It came with a serving of warm pita bread. From my point of view, it's best to order the olives for sharing. Eating too much olives in one sitting can weaken your appetite.

Next off, we tried the Lentil soup. This one is worth trying. This is available for solo and for sharing.

For the main course, we tried their famous gyro. We got the tuna gyro. I remember having a tuna gyro long ago that had fresh and juicy tuna cubes. I guess those days are in the past now considering that what we got had a little more vegetable than usual, and a drier tuna meat.

One thing that has not changed though is this fillet meal with added couscous. The fish was soft and tender and the couscous an excellent alternative to rice.

Where to buy and how much:

A good budget for this restaurant would be around PHP500 per person. With PHP500 you can have soup, a gyro, and a beverage.

They have several branches. So far I've only tried their Greenbelt branch (my better choice) and the Rockwell branch.

To see the other branches, visit http://www.thecafemediterranean.com/

Rating: 9/10

Rose and Grace at Batangas

 About the food:

One of the restaurants we go to whenever we want to taste the best Bulalo is in Rose and Grace Restaurant, located somewhere in Batangas (see website link below).

Their bulalo broth is simply best served hot, with rice and soft and tender beef. Not only that, their servings are large, and the prices reasonable.

pusit na lumot

This is one order of squid (the big type). It is soft and chewy, and sweet.

This is one order of sinigang na isda. The fish was certainly big however, it was too fatty. In our previous visits, the fish used in sinigang were much fresher and had less fat.

One thing really worth going to at Rose and Grace are the delicious tikoy that  were being sold there, which looks like corn on the outside.

Once you try it, you're bound to finish everything in one sitting. Even a picky food eater would like this.

Where to buy and how much:

Here is the website/blog of/about  Rose and Grace. http://roseandgrace.net/

This restaurant is best for dining in groups, because the servings are really meant for sharing.

An estimated budget for one person would be around PHP300 at least.


Rating: 8/10

Their delicious bulalo is really the only thing worth trying.

Yakimix Feast

 About the food:

Yakimix is undoubtedly one of the most successful eat-all-you-can concepts in the country today. They offer a mix of various cuisines (Cantonese/Chinese, Japanese, and even Korean). All of these cuisines are available for a reasonable buffet price. It is no wonder people are willing to wait for a long time just to get seated.

To proceed, here are some of the food that we tried there.

temaki (cone shaped sushi)

squid sushi

salmon sashimi

various maki flavors

mushrooms for grilling

bacon, beef for grilling

salmon for grilling

the grilling process

their grills are smokeless, meaning you don't have to worry about smelling like food the moment you exit the restaurant. 

beef for grilling

Add caption

cooked vegetables in the chinese cuisine

They offer bottomless red tea. 

For those who love sweets, here are some of their treats. 

Where to buy and how much:


Yakimix has several branches already. I am only familiar with the branches in Trinoma, SM Mall of Asia, and Seaside Market in Pasay.

As for pricing, I remember their buffet price being cheaper on weekday lunches (PHP499+SC) as compared to weekends (PHP580+SC). Bottomless drinks entail an additional (PHP65).


Rating: 9/10