Arabela: Liliw's Gem

Liliw is a worthwhile stop-over for those on a roadtrip. It has an old church and this quaint cafe/restaurant to go to. The cafe is situated on an old house (I really think its a bodega before/ or the residents were not that tall, just because it has a very low ceiling.) Nonetheless, the place serve decent food.

 Sicilian Chicken Salad. P220 I never thought that Sicilians liked their salads laden with mayonnaise. The mayo is really overpowers everything. It has grapes and mangoes and the usual greens.

 Bread Pudding P50. Claims to be the restaurant's best seller, and our dinner's biggest letdown. It was cold and not moist. Felt like eating stale bread. 

Rib-eye Steak P240 The only affordable restaurant in here that serves medium cooked steak. (No, I can't afford to eat at Mamou's regularly.) I would definitely order this one again!

  

Seafood Marinara P220

If you classify fishballs and other street food turo-turo staples as such, then you are in luck. I know I am allergic to seafood but they really don't have to scrimp on that one just to lower down the cost. But I do love how they're able to capture what I normally want my "red sauce" pasta to be. The pasta's al dente as well. I find it strange why most restaurants (a lot actually) can fuck up a dish that is so easy to make (yes, that's coming from a person who can't cook, who can actually make a decent arabiatta dish). Pasta is so easy to prepare and I still don't get it why the noodles get all so soggy and why they put too much sauce (because I never order a seafood pasta in red soup). I also hate it when restaurants assume that everyone wants their pasta SWEET or worse, resembling banana ketchup . Is it so hard to open a whole-peeled tomato canned? They don't even need to use the real thing. Sigh. Anyway, I was just too happy even if I didn't get to have "seafood". The shell on top? That was probably the closest thing I ever gotten to seafood and bits of tiny shrimps. Don't get me wrong, the fact that I am still willing to order this means it actually is better than most crappy pastas out there- it tastes like "seafood" (hint: shrimp-y) and it has the tomato flavor to it.

Dulce de Leche Cheesecake P95

I wouldn't call this a cheesecake perse just because I mainly judge cheesecake based on the cream cheese used. It's better to view this one as "mouse". It has the soft, creamy texture on the white part and the supposedly solid chocolate below (too solid that its frozen and I can't easily slice my way through it even with a knife). Needless to say, I love the whole thing, even the cream/milk on the side. Perfect coffee companion.

 

This is not ideal for tall people, if you are 5'7" and above, you might find yourself slouching or bending too much to navigate around here. The place closes at 7 pm, even on weekends. I don't understand why they don't serve dinner but if you earn enough to break even at an 8-hour shift for a restaurant, good for you. They don't have much competition  in the area anyway. They also open late, around 11 am so you'd only get this place for lunch and merienda. 

Other items we got were Watermelon Shake P95, Cafe Late P95, Chicken Roll P190 (average) and the Deluxe Pizza P260. A word of advice, NEVER order this pizza. Not only is it under seasoned, we tend to steer away from onions that aren't caramelized and the ham wasn't even browned. I tend to separate cold cuts from my pizza.

Bonus: they use Frank's. I am already sold at restaurants who bother themselves with using this one instead of the cheaper ones. And for you to actually claim to serve "Buffalo Wings" you gotta have at least this or Trappy's. I also love the fact that they have a complete selection of GOOD, CHEAP wines. Rex and I love 

Beaujolais, it pairs well with pasta. Overall, this place is worth the visit. I'd go back again for the "cheesecakes" and the steak. Oh, if you are in the generous mood try the wine with the pasta.

You pay for the Ambiance and the Service: Tiyo's

Tiyo's in Marikina is the place you go to if you want to chill and have the "get out from the house dinner". I am surprised that a restaurant like this exists in Marikina. The service was excellent. I never had a waiter so attentive that he even bothers to check on the lighting to make sure I have a decent photo. From the outside, it looks like a bar (after all, the original Chef and Brewer in Ortigas has the same vibe. They even have bands there!) Anyway, I love how Marikina has more (good) restaurants these days. The place is spacious. If you aren't the drinking type, inside you'll see this well-designed establishment that can easily be a catering/wedding venue. Great for big groups and dates. 

Rex often tells me that whenever I evaluate which restaurant to visit again, its always the "price-to-taste ratio". The place is on the pricier side for average food. We just love the fact that it has really attentive and nice waiters. Anyway, here's a rundown of the stuff we had:

Samurai Pizza P395

Sabi nga ng dad ko, put any cheap pizza and add mangos to it for novelty. I disagree, this is quite better than most just because they use mozza (even the cheaper variety). I find it interesting just because it has unexpected ingredients (crab sticks and mango?!). Would I order it again, probably not. 

Tiyos Rice P250

Rex loved the fried rice because it reminded him of the good old fried rice of Korean Garden in Malate. I liked it just because it didn't remind me of Star Margarine.

Dinuguang Bagnet P375

Dad found it interesting that they totally "deconstructed" the dinuguan concept. The bagnet on top of the sauce (blood), making sure that you get to really taste the individual components. Plus, it was well-balanced.. It wasn't too salty or too sour (although, I have this weird thing for liking my dinuguan on the sour side). Everyone on the table liked this dish.

Pork Sisig P290

Dad finds the taste of the sisig good, pointing out the fact that it is spicy and well-seasoned. Rex loves it just because it doesn't go overboard on Knorr. They both wished the sisig has crispy bits in it. But overall, puede na raw.

Rolletas (Chix) P350

Filling, great for all PGs out there. I didn't like the mayo on top that much, just because I hate mayonnaise on the sweeter side.

Adobong Kambing P400

If it was just me, I wouldn't get this dish because kambing and adobo is not worth P400 . I am happy with eating Manang's Paklay anytime. But I have to give it to the resto for making sure the meat was not overcooked. Rex totally hates most restaurants for making sure you can barely touch the meat because its too tough. This one was tender and the adobo flavor isn't overpowering (hint: easy on the soy sauce everyone).

Another plus: spacious parking outside. Hard to find though if you are not familiar with Marikina. 

What Sir Beng would eat: Phuongs (Vietnamese in LB)

Phuong's is that place you go to if you want that hole in the wall vibe and if you don't mind waiting for your food. It has a carinderia set-up and there's only one person doing everything. If you don't want to wait for a very long time for your food, order in advance or go here during "non-peak hours". We were lucky we were the only customers there (we came at around 2pm). 

                                                       

The place's is quite small. It could fit in probably three groups of four. But it does manage to make you feel you are in Vietname partly due to the fact that its really hidden and the place looks like a house converted to a carinderia. You can even see her small kitchen from outside. Even Rex's kitchen at home is thrice its size. And she makes everything by herself. Plus points for her multi-tasking skills. I'll keep her in mind whenever I complain a lot that "running your restaurant is so hard".  Since she tends to all the orders and cooks everything herself, remember to be a bit considerate.

Here's a rundown of Rex's choices. He just broke the "three dishes per resto" rule:

 #5 Spring Rolls P80

#16: Fresh Vermicelli with Sauteed Shrimps P100

#24 Sauteed Vegetables and Taro Stems P80

#4: Chicken Noodle Soup P120

 #10 Fresh Lumpia with Pork and Shrimps P150

Here's my mom getting all giddy.

And manong's such a sport, he ate the spicy Vietnamese soup. Just don't go crazy with the spicy condiments. It is really hot! The herb that they use are fresh. Basil has its punch! You can even smell it when eating your fresh lumpia. The real deal for Vietnamese food lovers. Plus, its cheaper than Pho Hoa. :)

Here's the menu if you want to check the place out:

The place is located at a narrow street on the right of Lopez street. If you see Vhec Store go right.
Everything's made to order. You can order in advance so you don't have to wait for it. She makes everything in her small kitchen : 09297028421.

Los Banos on a Plate

It's my 24th birthday and what better way to celebrate it than go on a road trip with my family and boyfriend.  My dad wanted to explore Laguna so I decided we NEED to drop at Los Banos! LB will always have a special place in my heart because I spent two months there for an IP project back in high school. My friends and I would walk the school grounds, us feeling like "college kids" staying in the dorm and hitting the laboratory. Sadly, that experience didn't convince me that I should be in the sciences (I've never been good at laboratory works and I'll forever be the clumsy one).
I digress too much. So around by the time we were there I was so set on trying out  five establishments:

Order as follows:
1. D Original Buko Pie
2. Nings Thai Restaurant
3. Phuong's
4. UPLB Dairy Institute
5. Faustina's

I decided I'd skip the usual Mernel's Chocolate Cake (I've eaten there before. The chocolate cake's affordable for Php125+.The cake is moist and soft). There are a couple of restaurants that I'd love to try if I only stayed longer (Considering I have three hours to stuff myself crazy with fifteen dishes only because I asked my dad to limit himself to a maximum of three dishes per place). There are two vegetarian restaurants that should've made it in my list: Mio's and Herb Republic. But vegetables can always wait for next time. Plus, it's my birthday after all and I only want to indulge myself that day. I also heard a lot of good reviews for Joe's, but decided against eating there last minute because I figured I can only have enough space for  pizza and pasta. There's always another time for that.

Another thing to note about Los Banos is its traffic. The road's too narrow and there are a lot of jeepney. While I love the whole small town vibe, the place gives you a feeling of being in Manila during rush hour minus the tall buildings. And you know you are nearing Los Banos if you see a lot of resorts and buko pie stannds. There are a lot of new establishments but I feel so nostalgic whenever I see the old Pizza House in Olivarez. Back in high school, we would finish two family sized stuff crust pizza and bottomless iced tea. Almost an hour in the road and nearing one o'clock, we decided to suspend the buko pie session for later and start with a decent meal. Sadly, Ning's was closed and it was IMPOSSIBLE to find Phuongs.

Lopez Street is your go-to place if you do want to sample everything. I envy students staying there today because there are a wide range of restaurants to choose from (depending on your budget and taste). Back in the day, we would eat at that sizzling place (a few meters  from Chowking/Jollibee area) EVERY NIGHT. Today, they have an assortment of bars, cafes and ..even milk tea stands. (Sabi nga ni Rex, a university area wouldn't be the same without Moonleaf.)  If its your first time in LB, just find the big Jollibee on your right (if you are coming from National Highway and then turn right, or you can always follow the traffic). This is where the street where you'd find Mio's, Dalcielo's (for the cakes), Ning's, Ellen and most of the bars.

I panicked just to end myself at the gate without deciding where to eat. So we settled for Bonito's. It was never in my list just because I felt that most of the food there can be cooked by Rex at home. But dad was hungry and they have wifi. (We needed to find Phuong fast!). My take on their food on my next post.

My dad wanting to try out other stuff went to the sisig place nearby. It was an old house turned into a restaurant by the owners. They serve sisig. Just sisig.

Rex finally found the Vietnamese restaurant and we had to spend another hour waiting for our food to be prepared at Phuong's because there's only one person who mans the restaurant, cooks your food and entertains the guest. You really need to order in advance if you plan to eat here.

Desserts at Philippine Carabao Center. My dad wanting to try every yogurt flavor on the menu and Rex getting the biggest rejection out there.

Rex: Ate, may fresh mozzarella ba kayong hindi frozen?
Ate: Sir, dapat talaga frozen ung mozza pagkinain mo. Kasi ginagrate mo talaga yan, hindi po yan kinakain lang ng nakaslice.
(Rex walk away mumbling, face palm. He goes on to rant later on about proper storage of cheese and an ice cream's perfect texture).

Oh and I just had to have my "carabao shot". Ask my UPLB friends, its a "to do" thing whenever we are here.

Revisting: Su Zhuo

Su Zhou
A. Mabini Street, Malate, Manila
If you are quite familiar with Malate (but for God knows why, you don't know where Su Zhou is), you can head off to Tao Yuan then head off to your right.

Wu Xi Spareibs (290). This turns out to a "small" serving for its price. But I love that the meat is tender and flavorful. Try google, to learn more about the dish (http://taiwanfoodculture.net/ct.asp?xItem=48230&ctNode=2684&mp=1502) and coincidentally, it is like what I thought it was a better version of humba we usually cook at home. A specialty in the Wu Xi province, meat is simmered in soy sauce, wine and sugar. Sinfully delighting.

Xiao Long Pao (90) Best ones I had. comes close to Fu Xi in Banawe (but those are dumplings) .

Mustard Vegetable Fried Rice (130) Rex's dad ordered this dish to give himself a break from getting the usual Yang Chow Rice. I am not a usual fan of dish with vegetables but this will do.

Peppery Mapo Tofu (150) Rex is addicted to mapo tofu. You can request to have this spicier.

It's an Eng Bee Tin Holday.

For many, Chinese New Year means their annual mecca to Ongpin- ordering that fried siopao (really don't understand the hype for this) and ridiculously queuing for Eng Bee Tin tikoy. Sadly, we did the latter (Rex's dad wanted the brown and white tikoy). The Chinese restaurant lunch we advanced last week at Uno. Another reason for that love/hate feeling I have for this annual thing is Binondo's street becomes more crowded and traffic's worse. That's saying much considering its always troublesome to find a decent parking there, add ridiculous amount of people and dancers flooding the streets.

Anyway, I was just glad that I did manage to visit Eng Bee Tin that day because they have awesome new flavors of tikoy and hopia.

I was never a sucker for hopia. I always try to avoid "savory desserts". I can't seem to remove myself from picturing hopia and baboy together. Familiar flavors include ube and monggo (both I am not really fond of). I was a bit surprised when they had this flavor. Eating Custard Hopia is  like having sweetened gelatin but hey, enough hate.  I really think it's a nice addition to the usual  hopia flavors. This would probably be the only hopia flavor I can muster to eat anyway. For big custard fans, this still work. It's not too sweet and you can still taste the "egg" flavor from the hopia.  Keep this baby refrigerated though.

For those wanting to be different this year, you can try out their TEAkoy flavor:  (Jasmin, Green Tea, Red Tea, Milk Tea). I never get t try this one out, too expensive though. I can't pay for a P400 tea-koy. But hey, this one's a nice alternative to the brown/white gelatinous stuff you hand out every year. Plus, its definitely a starter for all milk tea lovers out there.