Italianni’s at Robinson’s Place Manila

About three weeks ago, I had a lunch meeting at Italianni’s Robinson’s Place branch. Although Italianni’s has been in operation for how many years already, this is only the second time I was able to dine here (and the first time for this branch). 

Italianni’s is located just outside the mall area (Midtown wing, Ground level). Its interior is nicely decorated with photos and paintings; wooden tables and furnishings were simple but elegant. But even if it was peak time, only about four tables were occupied.

A complimentary basket of freshly baked Tuscan and Foccacia bread paired with olive oil and balsamic vinegar was served first.

For starters, we ordered Sicilian chicken salad. It is chicken breast, romaine lettuce, ripe mangoes, red grapes and walnuts in anchovy dressing. It is creamy and filling (generous amounts of chicken!).

Sicilian Chicken Salad, PhP 650 regular size

And of course, we had the highly recommended Spinach and artichoke formaggio (Php 695 abbondanza). This one is spinach, artichoke and mushroom in a creamy blend of cheeses served with toasted garlic bread. It tastes so good that when I remembered to take a photo of it, it was all gone!

For the main dish, we tried the Farmer’s Bundle consisting of choice of Aglio spaghetti or Spaghetti pomodoro (we chose Pomodoro), Herb roasted spring chicken and Baby back ribs. The Pomodoro has a light, spicy olive oil-garlic taste. The tender Ribs has a really tasty barbeque sauce while the Roasted chicken just tasted okay. Though, I must say that I find the serving size for this Bundle too small.

Farmer’s Bundle, PhP 1,345

(forgot to take a photo of the roasted chicken, so placed text instead!)

For the drinks, we tried their Berry dalandan and Lymonada. Lymonada is just like the usual lemonades in other fine dining restaurants but the sweetness of strawberry and sourness of dalandan makes Berry Dalandan unique and refreshing.

Berry dalandan, PhP 120

Lymonada, PhP 140

Food is of good quality and has that authentic Italian taste. Plus, they have a variety of dishes and drinks to choose from. Service is good also, but prices are quite expensive. For more information, visit their website: http://www.italiannis.com.ph/

Metro Blogger First Night Out!

October 22, 2014 proved to be a night of fun and friendship as select bloggers—lifestyle, food, fashion, travel--gather at the classy Gramercy Skypark for the first ever Metro Blogger Night Out.

Metro Blogger is a newly-formed social circle of online writers around the Metro who shares the same views on personal and professional know-how. The group aims to be a venue to share valuable information, event invites, new products/services and campaigns that would be of great interest to everyone.

the lady bloggers with Ms. Fion Lee of Emerge Systems (2nd from right)

Over cocktails, the bloggers mingled with Mr. Jess C and Ms. Ana Regala, organizers of Metro Blogger and the sponsors who made the First Bloggers Night Out possible--Rapid Cloud Singapore (with Mr. Ong Pang Seng, CEO), Emerge Systems Sdn. Bhd. (with Ms. Fion Lee, Head of Sales and Ms. Agnes Degamo, Branch Manager for Emerge Philippines) and iTWORKS Global Solution (with Mr. Simon Miller, Managing Partner). Other partners are Slimmer’s World International, Hawk Bags and Kingdom Magazine.

top photo: (from left) Ms. Ana Regala of Metro Blogger, Mr. Ong Pang Seng of Rapid Cloud Singapore & Ms. Fion Lee
bottom photo: representatives fom iTWORKS Global Solution & Mr. Simon Miller (extreme right)

left photo: Ms. Agnes Degamo of Emerge Philippines & Mr. Jess C of Metro Blogger
right photo: representatives from Kingdom Magazine

Rapid Cloud Singapore is a top Singapore web hosting and e-business consulting company while Emerge Systems Sdn. Bhd. is Southeast Asia’s premier enterprise website and e-commerce solutions provider. Both are subsidiaries of RapidCloud International Plc, which is listed on London Stock Exchange AIM.

Slimmer’s World International is the Philippines’ foremost name in slimming, fitness and beauty with over 35 years of providing great bodies & great skin. On the other hand, Hawk Bags is a recognized brand for its craftsmanship with a wide range of quality bags suited to match every lifestyle.

Bloggers were also treated with Slimmer’s World International gift certificate, Metro Blogger notebook, pen and pin.

With these developments, expect the online community to be more exciting. Looking forward to Metro Blogger's coming projects and events!

Niu by Vikings: A “niu” upscale buffet

As one of the Blogapalooza bloggers, I had a chance to be treated to a food tour by Niu by Vikings last October 11, 2014. Niu, located at the 6^th level Skypark, SM Aura Premiere is the latest offering by popular buffet chain, Vikings.

Just like Vikings, it has a vast assortment of dishes. The only difference is, it is much more luxurious as evidenced by its posh interiors, sophisticated lighting and lush chairs. To add to its hotel-like ambiance, Niu also has a pianist who performs at the center of the dining area.

For a more private dining experience, they also have three function rooms to accommodate varied number of guests.

Their one long stretch buffet area is situated at the left side of the restaurant.

And it starts with the Dessert section. There’s fondue and mini cakes (blueberry cheesecake, chilled mango cheesecake with fruit pastille). They also have native Filipino kakanin like biko and cassava.

Since it was around 5:00pm when the food tour was held, most of the dishes were not available. I guess they are still preparing for the dinner buffet schedule. Anyways, here’s what’s available:

Japanese cuisine- sushi, sashimi, different maki rolls, tempura and various sauces

Drink station- Exciting fruit juices (tamarind juice, mint lemon lime, lemongrass honey, blueberry lemonade, etc), imported wines, draft beer, sake, cocktails (mojitos, etc), sodas, teas, coffee—all included in the buffet price!

Pan-Asian section- Asian and Filipino dishes like mechado, sayote and carrot soup, chicken pot pie chowder, etc

Chinese cuisine-dumplings, siopao, siomai and lechon macau, among others

Grill station-various meat and seafood like gindara and lapu-lapu. Also, a wide variety of sauces to choose from.

Continental Cuisine- various flavors of Europe—from pizza, stromboli, bruschetta, pasta and unlimited foie gras!

It was just a quick food tour so I was only able to taste the following:

The bite-size lechon macau with cucumber and mustard merits a second round. The bruschetta with ground pork topping and sliced stromboli with creamy dip were okay. But what I liked most is foie gras, of course! The blueberry cheesecake with strawberry topping was good also (but then again, I can appreciate cheesecakes from any restaurant!). The fresh mint lemon lime juice was a little bit weird for my taste.

The short food tour was not really enough so I’m planning to go here again so I could taste the dishes that were not available during the food tour.

Niu By Vikings is open every day 11:00am-2:30pm (lunch) and 5:30pm-10:00pm (dinner). Here are the rates:

For more information, follow their accounts:

FB: https://www.facebook.com/niubyvikings

IG: http://instagram.com/niubyvikings

Dinner in the Dark + Black Magic Show at Residence Inn Tagaytay

Dinner in the dark? The first thing that came to my mind was perhaps it was a dim-lit dinner of some sorts. But when representatives of the Zoomanity Group and Eye Bank Foundation of the Philippines started discussing that this will be dining in total darkness with visually-impaired/blind persons serving us, I knew I was in for a unique experience.

I was from among a group of bloggers that was invited to experience this unforgettable dinner last October 18 at Residence Inn Tagaytay. Zoomanity Group owns Residence Inn Tagaytay and is a part of the Yupangco Group of Companies. Residence Inn has been a landmark in Tagaytay for years, known for its mini zoo overlooking Taal Lake.

After a few introductions and some briefing, we were instructed to have our jewelleries and watches removed. Mobile phones and cameras were also not allowed inside the dining area (so, sorry no photos for this!). We were blindfolded and ushered in to the room and seated by the blind staff. Even if the blindfolds were removed, it was still total darkness! The staffs were introduced and the one-hour dinner started. It was really a struggle to hold the utensils and get food into my mouth as I cannot see anything. An added factor is I don’t know what is on my plate! But hey, the food tastes great! Based from the taste and texture, I surmised that there was rice, vegetables, fish fillet, breaded meat, and buco pandan for desert. To enhance this “blind” dining experience, a singer (I’m assuming he is blind also) serenaded us all throughout. I was amazed at the blind staff for serving us well despite their condition.

This experience made me understand blind people more and appreciate that gift of sight that God has blessed me with. I encourage everyone to try this one-of-a-kind dining experience on November 1 at Zoocobia Fun Zoo in Clark Pampanga and November 8, 2014 at Zoobic Safari in Subic. Part of the proceeds will be for the benefit of the Eye Bank Foundation of the Philippines.

And our fun night at Residence Inn Tagaytay didn’t stop there. After the “Dinner in the Dark,” we were treated to a “Black Magic Show.” It was a 30-minute performance featuring magic tricks, Halloween characters (Dracula, White Lady, Frankenstein, etc) dancing, and manananggals ziplining!

The Black Magic Show will run every Saturday, 6:00pm from October 25 to November 29, 2014 at Residence Inn Tagaytay. For rates and schedules, please visit:

www.zoomanity.com.ph

https://www.facebook.com/zoomanitygroup

Blogapalooza 2014

Stoked!--my first time to attend Blogapalooza last October 11 at SMX Aura. So what is Blogapalooza? It is where businesses can network and showcase their products or services to the online community.

Hundreds of bloggers and social media influencers trooped to the whole day event. Plenty of booths were set-up for the sponsors and they were also given time to present their products and services.

registration area

some of the booths

sponsors' presentation time

I didn’t go to all of the booths, so what I’m going to run down here are the ones I visited. Most of the gimmicks were about taking photos, just like in the booths of View Park Hotel Tagaytay, Ace Hotels & Suites and Caronia.

For My Shopping Box, Chooks To Go and Flawless, you have to participate in games in order to win a prize.

I won 2 gift packs! And I thought I was such a loser in darts :)

There were also booths for registering for Sample Room (www.sampleroom.ph), EatOutManila (www.eatoutmanila.com) and Zap (www.zap.com.ph), which are offering interesting services—I highly encourage everyone to check out their websites.

Some, like Max’s, Crocs, Bioessence, Ysa Skin & Body Experts, Chips Ahoy) gave away promo materials or product samples.

Some of the freebies from the various booths

Going hungry while booth-hopping was not a problem since Yellow Cab and House of Lasagna gave away food samples-yum! But what I really enjoyed most is the make-your- own-doughnut gimmick of Krispy Kreme.

My finished product!

Niu by Vikings also had a food tour, which I shall write about in a separate post.

Thank you and congratulations to the event organizers, WhenInManila.com and OurAwesomePlanet.com. Looking forward to Blogapalooza 2015!

Chef Laudico Guevarra’s

My dining experience at Bistro Filipino by Chef Laudico at Bonifacio Global City months ago was gratifying so I was really looking forward to try their Filipino buffet restaurant, Chef Laudico Guevarra’s.

Since it is our first time to go at Guevarra's last October 3, we find it difficult to locate the place--387 P. Guevarra St. cor. Argonne St., Addition Hills, San Juan. After asking for directions, we finally arrived at a white-painted ancestral house. The lighting and the garden gives it an old romantic charm.

It was hard to get a nice shot from the outside since it was raining that night.

Here are the dishes (from what I can remember):

An assortment of starters/appetizers-- radish cucumber salad, macaroni salad, steamed vegetables, longganisa, squid, lumpiang ubod, angus beef, grilled chicken, liempo, chicken skin, camote croquettes, fried danggit, calamares, seafood pizza, karnevorous pizza and vegetarian pizza.

Interesting main dishes like--fish escabeche dory, seafood ala pobre, chilli garlic alimasag, halabos na hipon, fried chicken adobo, chicken pastel, beef kaldereta and dinuguan.

They also have seafood tinola and roast angus beef.

And what a better way to cap the night--with sweets! From suman balls, maja blanca, leche flan, tablea and ice cream. Included in the buffet are the softdrinks and iced tea.

an ice-cream vendo machine!

Here’s what I had:

-          - I liked the macaroni salad even if it is sweeter than the usual macaroni salads.

-          - Black paella is good though they need to add more ingredients (It only has a small quantity of squid and egg!)

-          - The pizzas are unflavorful, cold and dry.

-          - I was expecting a different fried chicken adobo but it turned out to be fried chicken cooked in sauce that doesn’t taste like adobo at all.

-          - Chicken pastel, beef kaledereta and pinakbet bagnet were all good!

-          - Leche flan and maja blanca are both deliciously creamy.

-          - I wonder why their chocolate ice cream tastes like coffee. Ube ice cream is delicious but is sort of “watery”.

With such an ambiance, good service and extensive menu, I can say that Guevarra’s price is “affordable.”  Although with regards to taste and quality of food, Bistro Filipino is much better (in my opinion).

For prices and reservations, check their official FB page:

https://www.facebook.com/ChefLaudicoGuevarras

Here're the location based from Google maps:

https://www.google.com.ph/maps/place/Chef+Laudico+Guevarra's/@14.593011,121.033673,18z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x3397c82d530b38d3:0xf0c5b574473f2f00 

Tokyo Cafe: Western dish with a Japanese twist

With its name, one would expect Tokyo Cafe to serve katsu, maki, etc.--well, they have that—but also burgers, fried chicken, pizza, and crepes among others! Curious on this eclectic menu, I researched on the internet and found out that Tokyo Cafe’s concept is “Western comfort food with a Japanese twist.”

So one Saturday evening, I decided to treat two of my friends at Tokyo Cafe’s SM Southmall branch (at the Food Street area) to try this relatively new fusion restaurant.  It has a cozy ambiance—I especially liked their Japanese-inspired ceiling lamps.  After a hard time choosing which to order because of the extensive menu, we decided to have the following:

Miso Soup – warm and light with lots of nori!

Miso Soup, PhP 65

Mango Chicken Salad – the light dressing, ripe mangoes, seedless grapes and romaine lettuce was refreshing. It has a generous amount of tasty chicken salad.

Mango Chicken Salad, PhP 230

Carbonara – classic creamy pasta with liberal servings of mozzarella cheese, bacon and mushroom.

Carbonara, PhP 250

California Maki – their version has “jam-packed” amounts of rice vis-a-vis the “tiny” crab stick, mango and cucumber at the center.

California Maki, PhP 150

Katsu-Ju – tonkatsu flavored with tempura sauce and onion leeks. It is served with scrambled egg on top of steamed rice in what they call a Ju-box. It also comes with miso soup and some vegetable sidings. The deep-fried pork cutlet is tender and lightly breaded.

Katsu-Ju set, PhP 285

And the drinks—Cranberry Juice, Cafe Jelly Smoogee (coffee jelly blended in espresso base) and Iced Green Tea (I didn’t like the leafy-bitter taste!).

Cranberry Juice, PhP 85 * Cafe Jelly Smoogee, PhP 155 * Iced Green Tea, PhP 80

Tokyo Cafe is quite expensive (maybe, that’s why there are only a few diners) but the serving size and taste is worth it. I will definitely come back and try their cakes and coffee concoctions.

For more details, visit their Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/tokyocafephilippines

Classic Favorites at Pancake House

Established in the 1970s, Pancake House has been a favorite in the Philippine restaurant scene. I, for one, have dined here for countless times already. As far as I can remember, I have eaten at these branches—El Molito, Robinson’s Galleria, Bonifacio High Street, Solenad 2, and Cardinal Santos Medical Center. Their branches still has that signature movie posters decor.

But do not be misled by the name, Pancake House not only serves pancakes, but they also have other offerings such as the following: (Good thing, I was able to take photos on recent visits!)

House Specials Set—Pancake House’s non-pancake specialties all in one plate! It has spaghetti with meat sauce and garlic bread, one piece pan chicken, iced tea, and a piece of their “Best Taco in Town.”  The taco consists of beef, vegetable toppings, cheese and tasty dressing.

House Specials Set, PhP 257

Sorry but my friend already grabbed the taco!

Pan Chicken Special Set – Two pieces pan chicken with gravy, tuna macaroni salad, buttered toast and ice tea. This is a full meal even without the rice. As always, the pan chicken and the tuna macaroni salad tastes good.

Pan Chicken Special Set, PhP 246

Hamburger Steak Special Set- Juicy hamburger steak with gravy, spaghetti with meat sauce, mixed vegetables (it is actually corn & carrots) and iced tea. I love their spaghetti but their hamburger steak is just okay.

Hamburger Steak Special Set, PhP 257
w/ iced tea (not seen in photo)

Arroz ala Cubana – Classic Spanish dish of sautéed ground beef served with plain white rice, fried egg and fried bananas. I maybe biased here but my mom’s version of this (her specialty) tastes better!

Arroza ala Cubana, PhP 240

Chicken Fillet w/Cheesy Spinach Pesto Linguini—This one’s a disappointment. It was so bland and they just put in a very tiny piece of chicken fillet.

Chicken Fillet w/Cheesy Spinach Pesto Linguini, PhP 235

I must say that through the years, Pancake House has maintained the taste and quality of their dishes plus the ambiance. Albeit, I find their serving sizes small—it really is for good one person only and not meant to be shared.

For more information, visit their website:

http://www.pancakehouse.com.ph/