Where Locals Dine (or my own version of Surigao Eats)

The new (and not so new places to eat) in my hometown. A low-down of where I usually go to whenever I am back home (there's also places I'll never come back, or hopefully these guys improve their offering):

DINNER AT LOTTY'S AKA SAME PLACE

I say this so many times, my favorite place on Earth is barbecue at home. Yep, no matter how sad, how stressed or happy I am, I always go back to this place for barbecue. I've tried loads of them but I always go back to this place. Formerly known as Lotty's, this place since changed its name to "Same Place". Since I was in high school, this was my "go-to" place for dinner, snacking and even those much needed

"pick me up" meals. It might look like your typical carinderia but this place already has around 6 branches around the city (there's one in front of Gaisano- near the airport, two in the city -other one near Trade Center, two in Bilang-bilang near the port).

I I love this ate and the other one who cooks in their original branch. Their prices remained competitive and the food? tastes exactly the same.

Don't forget to request their "sweet sauce" whenever you have their barbecue. Aside from the marinade, the secret to their perfect barbecue is in the grilling. (Naks this is the part where I need to quote Rex's words): "The fire burns evenly into the meat. No sudden bursts of flames which creates uneven burning on the meat. Ate seems to know how to cook the meat well as there is enough burning without causing the meat to be overcooked.

The damage to your wallet? Not so much. For Php100, you are so good to go.

BREAKFAST IN THE PUBLIC MARKET

 I remember my room mates hating me for finding all seafood meals in Manila underwhelming. Who can blame me when I can have fresh and deliciously cooked creatures back home? Affordable and most of the time never a day's old, these babies are always guaranteed to make great meals at home.

 

 A man's average catch!

 Seafood Section

It's always a good option to buy your pasalubongs here. Just get an icebox before your flight and fill it up with these goodies:

The crab's really good with your home-made version of Alavar sauce and we usually get this huge shellfish turned to soup. Meat's tender and juicy in a not so hotdog way. :)

Another option you have is eating at Babielyn Kitchenette.  This one has to be my folks' favorite. This is one tough feat. Many of my friends know, my dad can be so meticulous on Filipino food. Since he cooks i himself (and quite well actually), he can have such high standards on how fresh and "simple yet well cooked" it should be. My mom usually goes here for fish soup. I love their fresh lumpia here. The owner is very hands-on. Best to head here in the morning and have your market finds cooked here. Better than most eateries found here. The place is located at the back of the market, the second eatery.

(image from Open Rice)

LUNCH AT TT'S FOODCOURT

Pardon me, but that is really the name of the place.If you find yourself near the port (or you just fancy frolicking around Borrromeo Street), head off to their foodcourt for affordable (and yummy) meals.

                      

                             Steamed Rice with Pork             L-R Chicken Feet, Mushroom and Quail Egg Siomai. 

Not in the picture is my favorite Sizzling Beef Teriyaki. They also serve Cassava Cake.

Merienda: HOME BAKER

Sadly, when I came back they already delisted my favorite "Pineapple Bread". Its a 6 inch bread stuffed with pineapple chunks inside topped with melted sweet milk. Not recommended for the diabetic :) There's no other way to have your merienda with this and some Chocolait. :) You can also request the cheese version of this, plus its made with Eden (peak through the boxes inside their kitchen). 

(We managed to order a box of it) Its located near Miranda Hospital (along Km. 2)

The not so quite in my list.

I never diss restaurants just cause there's always room for improvement, and hey if they're still running today they must be doing something right. Who am I to judge other people who eat at this place more and pay for their food? Taste can be so relative anyway.

We ate at this restaurant beside the Provincial Gym. I forgot to note the name since it was my first time to eat at this place. The food was a tad overpriced considering I'm used to affordable, good meals whenever I am in the city. Relatively priced around Php200-300. You might think, but Em? How can you be so cheap? Just head off to Babielyn's, they've got bigger servings and food tastes so much better.

 

Let me start off by saying, I love neighborhood coffee shops. I do. I even love the owners here since they're family friends. The place? It's conveniently located near the City Gym and whenever you had too much partying at Club Alcatraz, you can easily relieve yourself from coffee and dessert.

But I really hated every bit of that sugar coffee I just drank. I hated the gelato, which reminded me that I'll never go back to Italy soon to have or why I should've bought Magnum than this. And why coffeeshops just don't seem to get why they should always, always use Philadelphia Cream Cheese on their cheese cake. I know its just "affordable" cheesecake, but please its cheesecake, never scrimp on my cream cheese or you'll end up tasting like gelatin.

The saving grace? This banana cream pie. I admit hating Banapple's meals but I can never fault them for their Banoffee pie. So here's their version of it. Not the best of the bunch, but hey its a start.

I'll leave you folks with my not so graduation picture this year. This one's for them since without this stint I had I would never have headed off back home. 

PS Special thanks to M' Tabar for making me love History and M' Bonono for scaring us so much that it seriously improved our Tagalog vocabulary :D

Nightlife in Bangkok (aka getting drunk "safely")

So you tell yourself, I don't want to overspend in a "sky lounge" or nurse my aching heart in some red light district in Patpong (not to mention, that YOU MIGHT BE PICKED UP). Where to head? Here's my top 2 bar destinations. And I seriously would spend my nights in Bangkok here. Great way to chill and have a few Singha bottles. (Hey, if you are too desperate and cheap, you can grab a bottle in your nearest 7/11 and drink in your hostel). Lub'd Hostel has a bar so you can conveniently go to your room when you have too much to drink.

W.T.F Bar and Gallery

 My Cubao X away from home. This place has a gallery upstairs. More like where unpretentious, fun-loving people hang out to see art and get a few vintage records. They've got exhibitions on the second floor and a record store next door. You can't miss this place. It has a huge graffiti outside. Hidden in a little alley way in Sukhumvit (near BTS Thong Lo), you can chill with a good cocktail while listening to old rock records. Away from the noise of most bars, great place to just talk and enjoy company of great friends.

(Graffiti outside)

Here's Ez with our drinks and food. What we ordered:
1. Pegu Club (240 baht)- "deceptively strong" that's they key word that Ez ignored that night. Halfway with her drink, she got a bit tipsy already. Needless to say, the drink is infused with her favorite Tanqueray so all's well :D
2. Moscow Mule (220 baht)- Do you like ginger? Or at least like the taste of Gilbey's Premium Strength (GPS?). This drink has ginger infused vodka and ginger beer plus a bit of lime.
3. Mojito con Cerveza (240 baht)- Your favorite mojito with beer. Refreshing! Plus you get to have the extra beer (goes well with the pizza)
For pulutan, we ordered pizza, Bocadillo (100 baht) quite small serving, more like a mini-sandwich and the Flaming Chourico (a bit salty but great if you had a few cocktails and feeling a bit woozy).

How to go there:

Really near the station!!! Exit 4?! Just opposite Rex Hotel. The station closes around 11 pm so you gotta gorge your drink fast or prepare to shell out for a taxi ride. :D

Khao San Road (and its nearby streets)

The hippie in you knows this has been featured in Alex Garland's The Beach and you detest it so much just cause its labelled "The Backpacker's Place". Fear not, despite Khao San's notoriety for looking like a tourist trap (it looks more like a night market meets Red Light PG 13), there's still loads of stuff to do here. Plus, its not that accessible by train so you have to take a bus.

Khao San Road (shopping and more shopping)

Rhambuttri (the street next to Khao San)

If you read further ahead, my friend and I had this awful experience of dining with the rats just cause I felt that "we should eat where locals eat". So if you want to eat Thai food in a more hygienic environment, this street offers a lot of restaurants (and bars that have Thais singing their renditions of Jason Mraz and other pop hits). Frankly, I prefer our local bars but hey, they serve Thai food there so who am I to complain. There's also a book store (connecting to Khao San Road) where you can buy ..books? :D 

 Rambuttri and loads of Sang Som Rum

Near 711, there's this side street bar that serves 100 Baht Singha beer and Sang Som Rum. Where do you pee if you have too much to drink? A nearby restaurant offer paid toilets for 2 baht (so not bad). Plus they whip out some salsa tunes and the owner gives away free peanuts so GV na.

 Here's a side note, no matter what blog you read about "where locals eat" beware that Bangkok does have a lot of RATS. Pick a place that looks a bit brighter and cleaner than the rest. :) No matter how yummy this basmati chicken rice looks, we can even barely finish our satay with rats all over our feet.

Yes folks, that's how HUGE our friend is :) Imagine 5-6 of them BESIDE you. 

 You'll see this guy just opposite of a series of shops in Rambuttri on the farther end of the road. He sells REALLY GOOD PANCAKE for 50 baht. Trust me, its WORTH IT. Order the Banana with Nutella pancake. Kuya knows how to make a decent batter/dough with his hands. Commendable ang skills on whipping up some great pancake.

Plus if you are a bit weird like us, we got ourselves several bottles of Singha plus this pancake for pulutan. There's a side-street bar here (and a Pad thai place, check out the foreigners in the photo? They're actually ordering the Pad Thai).

PS: We were supposed to head off to Cheap Charlie's, another bar in Sukhumvit (BTS Nana). Since, we spent our time in WTF Bar, here's a map of the place if you are interested.

Cheers!

Your friendly food court guide to Bangkok

Yes you heard me right, its the food court ladies. :) I know most people detest "food courts" just cause most people think its "expensive street food". It probably is but at least your guaranteed of 1) safety (one time, we ate at Khao San Road, "where the locals eat" and suddenly, we are dining with RAAATS on our feet). 2) convenience (usually located on top floors they won't cut you shopping time).  3) They have ENGLISH TRANSLATION and pictures of what you are eating-->> your fool-proof guide to ordering a foreign food. Do yourself a favor and order something else apart from Pad Thai :P You are in Bangkok for God's sake.

Note: You do need to buy pre-loaded cards (if you are in a group, safe to estimate 100 baht with drinks/person)

MBK (6TH FLOOR)

1. Fried Rice with Shrimp Paste

 Your not so typical bagoong rice. My friend here got herself an upgraded version of it. With Lime, chilies and everything in between (plus loads of condiments). It's good! She emptied her bowl in 5 minutes. :P

They also have their version of dried curry fried rice. (Yeah oddly enough the "Fried rice+dried curry" was a bit too dry for my taste). Yes, you might ask, duh? its dried nga?! Probably, because I'm used to having my curry HOT and "soupy".

Khao Neoew Ma Muang (Sticky Rice with Mango) Admittedly, our mango is still better. Ours is sweeter and.. juicier (?). But I have to say, Thai desserts' are a combination of savory and sweet so you never feel that you'll get diabetes by eating a bowl of this by yourself. Its mango with malagkit and coconut cream and corn. Quite filling but a great way to end a spicy dessert.

RECREATE A VICTORY MONUMENT EXPERIENCE WITH THE BEST CURRY YOU CAN FIND IN A FOOD COURT:

Actually, I got the BEST TASTING CURRY ever from this hidden carinderia in Victory Monument. Its so hidden that we spent almost an hour finding this place. (Yeah stupid me for not taking a photo outside). It's so spicy that we had to drink milk with our food). Warning! If a) you do not have any affinity for spicy food, you will surely NOT enjoy every bit of this meal b) you have the tendency to SWEAT whenever you eat spicy food, you better bring a hanky or loads of tissue. You will be wet.

I call this meal an ode to Tom yum. (Yes, they do have an English menu but the waiter CAN'T understand a word I say so I just point this one out). It has every seafood stuff you want in your tom yum plus the title of the "spiciest" dish we had for that night.

Panang Gai- If you got to have at least one curry, in your short stay in Bangkok, I say you gotta have this baby. It's sweet, it's flavorful, it's hot, its heaven on your plate. (I know I exaggerate). Mark Wiens, (just read his article on .CNNGo or his Bangkok Eats blog), got it right when he described the food as "Red curry paste fried up with chicken and then doused with coconut cream creates a succulent and spicy red curry. The dish is then served with finely chopped kaffir lime leaves sprinkled on top." This dish tops as my FAVORITE THAI food. :)

(I promise to do a separate account of the food place, in case you are still willing to get lost for this)

PLATINUM MALL IS LOVE

If you have one day in Bangkok (and would consider breaking your bank account for shopping alone), you gotta head to Zone 2. They've got 5 floors of dresses, accessories and shoes. I LOVE this place. 

Their food court offers a wide array of dishes as well:

1. I know I get a lot of comments from people "I do not like spicy food". So instead of heading to your nearest Mcdo, why don't you try Pad Thai. The same place also serves Oyster Cake. I suggest you get this as well. It looks like a huge oyster sisig plate. :)

The picture above shows you the pad thai we ordered plus the condiments we stuffed it with (nuts and chilies, you can never go wrong with that). The other plate is found a few stalls away from the the pad thai (on its left): its specialty is the spicy fried rice. We got the tamarind base (yes, if you are not into spicy meals). It goes well with the fried fish. You can also order your own veggies to go with the dish

(Pad Thai): Don't forget your nuts and chillies).

Red Pork with Black Pepper (Khao Moo Daeng)

This is one of those episodes where Ezra and I just point at the most random stuff we can find. So its not dimsum, or sharks fin soup or Hainese chicken rice (which she have eaten several times in Singapore). So there it is, its like a more complex asado. A better version of ours here, sweet but with the assortment of condiments, it transforms to a different dish entirely.

(Marinated Pork? Rice)

This one's close to the escalator. It's like your humba made better, with a few pork fat in between, this meal is sinful. Never mind it has veggies on the side, dose your meal with this combo of condiments and you're sure to break your diet.

 

Another dish that has coconut cream in it. This is Coconut Cream with Tapioca Pearls and Corn. :) Please tell the lady that you'll have it "Iced" or "Cold". Refreshing and good for a light snack after shopping.

 Don't forget your Chai yen (Thai Iced Tea) absolutely my favorite drink to go with your spicy dish! Happy eating (and shopping!)