Divisoria Food Run

We've been to Divisoria for the past 3 months since the turnover of our new condo. We're always on the look for affordable but still of good quality items for our new home. During our last visit,  we had curtains made , got some rods, bedsheets, etc. Our friends accompanied us this time around.

Our visits to Divisoria nowadays has been very easy because there's a nearby mall where we can park safely and the pathway going to the streets of Tabora and Ilaya are well guarded by mall security. But take note, beyond that, it's a "walk at your own risk system".

Over- all, a trip to Divisoria will still be fun and exciting as long as you know the dos and don'ts of this famous shopping district. When we arrived at 8am, parking was already open at the Lucky Chinatown Mall. My husband and I decided to have coffee at a nearby McDonald's while we wait for our friends.  As soon as our friends arrived, we immediately went on with our little adventure. 

By 10:30am we were already done traversing the streets of Binondo. On our way back to our cars to load our purchases, we saw a small food bazaar along Chinatown Walk. The line of food was tempting and the Chinatown Walk was cozy and shady- cool even on a hot summer day. With that, we took the bait.

The food bazaar was composed of various Chinese dishes which were home-cooked. Personally, Chinese Cuisine is one of my favorites. I grew up in a Chinese community in Sta. Mesa and we have friends who are very generous to share their culture with us.

Being able to finish our task early gave us an opportunity to relax and enjoy the rest of the day on a double date. Not bad right? Double date in Divisoria, shopping, exploring and a food trip, quite an adventure I must say. And we still have to go to Ongpin for the real deal food adventure.

I must admit, I went overboard with the food, I got a lot, which we took home. There was just so much food to taste. Part of this food experience was to feel the other side of Divisoria. We often get the impression with Divisoria as the perfect place to get bargains and as breeding ground for all sorts of nasty schemes (snatchers, holduppers, pickpockets). On the lighter side of it, we were able to explore the "real Divisoria"  but at the same time, we also enjoyed some good food and company in a more relaxed atmosphere.

SPAM Tocino

Tocino: is a famous breakfast dish here in the Philippines. It is pork belly marinated in anise wine, annato water, sugar, salitre and salt. But most tocinos found in supermarkets nowadays are free of preservatives. It is often served for breakfast with eggs, tomatoes or atchara. But because it's so delicious, it is also considered as an all-day meal.

Here's something I've been meaning to share... I found out about SPAM Tocino thru a friend via Instagram. I never really asked where to buy it until I saw it from the racks of S&R Congressional branch. I bought 1 at that time just to try it. That evening, I was having breakfast with my husband and kids. Yes, it is good, it actually taste like real tocino only in cuts of a SPAM.

The search continued as I check if other grocery stores sell it, but I was not successful I only saw it in S&R. It is a limited release maybe that's why it's not being sold in local supermarkets.

With SPAM Tocino, there's no way you'll get charred meat as to what we often get from real tocino if we overcook it. It taste like "tocino" but not as sweet.

It's now one of our favorite SPAMS. For this month's S&R Members' Treat, I was hoping to hoard on SPAM Tocino. But I was able to go to S&R on the 4th day of the sale, and as expected, they didn't have any SPAM Tocino in stock at the BGC branch. I always find it in S&R Congressional I'm gonna check next week.

RBy's Steak and Shake

To my fellow foodies out there, here's a grub shack along Maginhawa st. that offers scrumptious steak burgers and shakes.

Every Monday and Tuesday, I regularly go to Sikatuna Village to bring my eldest son to an activity center near Maginhawa st. For the past 4 years, my husband and I have been regulars in some of the restaurants along this "food street" in Quezon City.

I drop off our son to the center, then I go to any of our favorite resto stop in the area for some refreshments while I wait for the time to fetch my son.

Recently, I wanted something new. I drove along Maginhawa st. and found RBy's Steak And Shakes.  I didn't have second thoughts, I went inside as if I've been to the place before. It's cozy interior, comfortable chairs and one of a kind display inspired by Philadelphia's own picturesque city was just inviting.

There's a lot to try when it comes to RBy's house specialties... From steak burgers, their Philly Cheesesteak version, side dishes and milkshakes.  But on my first visit, I went for something familiar to my palate.

In and Out Mushroom Burger 105php 

 (add 65php: for french fries, iced tea or pink lemonade)

It's one of the best mushroom burgers I've ever tasted. Everything was cooked and prepared on the spot. The cheese and mushrooms bits blended well. It wasn't salty. The patty was juicy and tender. Plus, the french fries reminded me of the ones I prepare at home, made of real potatoes. Of course, once I saw that they have pink lemonade on the menu, I just gotta try it. It's one of my favorite refreshments.

 

Philly Pasta 145php  

Pink Lemonade 35php

At first, their Philly Pasta looks like any Carbonara dish. There's an herbal twist to it and there's a lot of bacon and mushrooms to enjoy. I love it!

More food finds from RBy's Steak And Shake soon on this blog.

Location: 152A Maginhawa St. Sikatuna Village, Quezon City

Like: RBy's Steak And Shake on Facebook

My Sister's Birthday Celebration In Subic

This was the first time that a member of the family celebrated her birthday for 3 consecutive days. For some reason we just thought of taking my sister's 26th birthday celebration out of town. It all started in a small conversation. Everytime we see each other we ask how everyone's doing in the family. So she opened up that since she got a job some 2 or 3 years ago, she didn't really had the time to go on long vacations and focused more on work. But this time, she chose to go at least for a long weekend break in celebration of her birthday.

As we were also planning on bringing the kids to the beach, my sister thought of making the said out of town trip as her birthday celebration as well.

Being the eldest, I planned something else with my other siblings and surprised the birthday celebrant for a weekend stay in Subic.

During the first day, we brought food to the beach to be grilled. I was in- charge of marinating everything. From the liempo, boneless bangus and shrimps. My brother took the responsibility to grill/ cook once we were at the resort.

It was a simple gathering where family, the beach and Filipino food made it all memorable. We stayed at the beach the whole day. Later in the afternoon, we went back to Forestview where we had a Deluxe Villa reserved a month before the said trip. Once all freshened up, my brother, my younger sister Les, my husband and me went to the Harbor Point Mall to buy a birthday cake, some beer and more food still in celebration of my sister's birthday.

When we got back, it was surely a surprise for the birthday celebrant to see more food, beer and of course a birthday cake. With all the waiting, she thought that we were just buying ice and she heated up the left- over food for dinner. "Forget about the left- over food, here's another feast for you."

Our evening went around singing for the birthday celebrant, enjoyed and shared with the birthday celebrant's favorite food from Max's Restaurant: Kare-Kare, 2 Whole Fried Chicken, Sizzling Tofu and Chopsuey.

The following day, we're suppose to continue our celebration at Meat Plus. When we thought that one of us called Meat Plus to have a table reserved, maybe to our excitement, turned out that no one did (hehehe!). Even with that, we tried our luck if we can still get a table, but Meat Plus was really full and the waiting line was very long. From there, we went to Aristocrat Restaurant near the Harbor Point Mall and had barbecue (pork, boneless chicken) 2 orders of birthday pancit (canton and guisado). Even if we didn't get a table at Meat Plus, this only proves that Filipino dishes can beat anything especially when it comes to celebrations. 

Our celebration continued when we got back in Manila the following day. We met up with our parents at the restaurant which my younger brother is managing. It was a fruitful gathering worth remembering. The family's complete, we had good food and lots of laughter. 

Mother's Day is near, until our next...

All- Natural Food in Baler, Aurora

If there will be a reason why my family will want to have a property in Baler... aside from the beaches, food is a big factor, everything in Baler is all- natural/ organic. It's a big blessing to have a friend from Baler. Every time we go there, we're served with home-cooked food from breakfast, lunch to dinner.

Upon our arrival, a local fisherman and his wife with their fresh catch paid us a visit. Who wants fresh Tanigue?! In Manila, a kilo of Tanigue costs from around 280-300+php and it's not as fresh anymore.

Aside from 2 big Tanigue's, the fisherman also brought some small fishes. The farm we stayed in is just 5 minutes away from the ocean, so imagine the freshness of these fishes they delivered to us that day. In the evening, our host grilled slices of the Tanigue for dinner and paired it with Pako Salad (Vegetable Fern Salad).

Pako is another organic vegetable that's very abundant in Baler, Aurora. It's by luck to find fresh Pako in Manila. Pako grows along "clean" riverbanks or sapa. The tips are often blanched then used for salads or to match with any Filipino viand.

Pako is one of the food I enjoyed when we were in Baler. As a matter of fact, I bought 6-7 bunches at the Baler market. It survived our 6 hours of travel back to Manila. Aside from fishes and vegetables, Aurora Province also offers a vast variety of seafood. During our 2011 visit, my husband and I was already at the Baler market as early as 6am picking and buying fresh squid to be taken home. Same with mangoes and other fruits like watermelon.

Other things that can be very useful in cooking which you can find in Baler is coconut vinegar or sukang tuba, red/salted eggs, rice, potatoes and onions. Life in Baler is very healthy because processed food is not part of their lifestyle. Not a fast- food chain around.

When in Baler, it's either you eat at the only 5 star hotel in Sabang beach, dine at the small eateries by the beach,  rent or get a house where you can cook the fresh ingredients you bought from the market and enjoy healthy home-cooked meals throughout your stay.

Tagaytay Bound First Day of 2014

First day of 2014, the girls decided to head out of town. Braved the 2 hour slow traffic to Tagaytay and another 30 minutes to 1 hour just to get to our choice of destination. We just thought that a dinner in a cool place, away from Manila was perfect to open the new year.

Just the other day, I shared a post on my other blog on how I spend quality time with my sisters and my mom them being my best friends too. Here's one instance when we just go for something unplanned. It just so happen that we're all okay with the idea, my family slept over at my parents' house in celebration of the New Year. The following day, us girls were still in celebration mode, and so we went up to Tagaytay. We borrowed our dad's car so my husband and kids can tag along as well.

Even for frequent Tagaytay visitors like us, we never fail to have an order of the famous Bulalo which is a native dish at this part of the Philippines. Bulalo is a beef viand particularly made of beef shanks and marrow bones slow- cooked for hours until meat is tender. The soup of the Bulalo matches the cold weather in Tagaytay. Aside from Bulalo, we also ordered Kilawin na Tanigue, Eggplant Salad (Ensaladang Talong), Beef Kaldereta and Pork BBQ. My husband thought of ordering some beer to go with these Filipino dishes but we decided to save it after dinner.

The nice view of the Taal Volcano made our trip worth it. After our delicious dinner, we decided to head somewhere we can have some more drinks. Coffee for my mom, beer for me and my husband and some non alcoholic beverage for my sisters. As we relax in preparation for the long traffic back home, part of our conversation went around sites where one can buy non alcoholic wine online. My husband and I loves to explore and taste new things when it comes to beverages. Well, mostly alcoholic but non alcoholic are worth trying as well. The topic alone warmed up our evening, it was just too cold in Tagaytay.

Closing 2013 with Lunch Date at YABU

After Christmas and before welcoming the new year, my husband and I was able to find some time off together. Actually, we went on a quick errand in SM Aura to look at some shoes at a Palladium shop. While we were there we checked on the list of movies showing. We're kinda hoping that The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug was still showing. IMAX didn't turn us down. We were very happy that IMAX has a special viewing of The Hobbit in the middle of the MMFF Festival.

So we bought our tickets around 1pm, movie starts at 3pm, we still have 2 hours to find a good restaurant and enjoy our lunch date. The choice of restaurant was YABU. As a couple, we always find YABU a good place to enjoy good food, ambiance with friendly service. We only hop into another retaurant if the waiting line in YABU will take more than 30minutes.

But on a beautiful Monday afternoon, even with a long waiting line, we were seated immediately and by the window with a fresh view of Bonifacio Global City.

Most of the time, our orders goes around the usual Tonkatsu set or a Seafood set. With our recent visit, my husband had a Original Katsudon Set and I went for a Chicken Mixed Seafood Set.

Turf meets surf: Chicken, Black Tiger Prawn, Squid, Oyster and Eggplant & Pepper.

Just a friendly advice, in case you can't figure out what to order, I greatly recommend YABU's Chicken Mixed Seafood Set. It has everything your palate will enjoy. It is "the set" if you want to try more than one specialty.

I was pumped up enjoying my meal. I had a refill of everything: Japanese rice, miso soup, fruits, even the pickle and not to forget my bottomless house blend iced tea. I don't go for refills in any restaurants, but at that moment, I told myself not to hold back on a second round. It's been awhile since I enjoyed a real meal.  Being sick for a week before Christmas was such a drag. So when I was feeling much better, I didn't waste a single second savoring each moment when I get to taste something beyond my kitchen.

Our lunch date to end 2013 was remarkable. As we enjoyed our food, we also cherished every minute of the short but sweet time given to us as we take a break from being Papa& Mama and just be plain Dolf & Enchie.

Canterberry Café

It was my usual weekend visit to my parents, there was nothing to do... my husband was at work, my dad's busy with stuff needed to be fixed, my brothers were both working. The girls are the only ones in the house. My mom, my sisters and I were having a good laugh, boredom sets in, it's almost lunch we decided to drive and have a good meal at a nearby restaurant.

I lived in Taytay Rizal half of my childhood until I got married. This restaurant discovery my sisters shared with me was worth it. I never thought that something like it will flourish at the heart of the town itself.

They call it Canterberry Café .

Canterberry Café offers Filipino viands for a very affordable price. An All-day Meal which consist of a viand and rice costs around Php50-80. Sizzlers and Appetizers good for 3-4 costs Php95-380. A pitcher of iced tea is at Php90. They also have a delectable line of desserts, snacks, sandwiches, pizza and pasta. Even for a single order, satisfaction is guaranteed, it's as good as eating our favorite home-cooked meal.

The restaurant itself is not air-conditioned, but its big windows keeps the place cool enough to enjoy ones dining experience. Canterberry Café is often visited by students like my sisters. They love Canterberry because it's a place where they can eat clean, delicious food and hangout with their friends. On a food adventure, I always take note of the crowd or the people that often makes up the place. In Canterberry, I was happy to see families, couples maybe on a lunch date and a bunch of youngsters having a good time.

As a foodie who loves to try everything and anything that will make my tummy happy, I am very proud of this restaurant find because I experienced quality service, good food and nice ambiance in a restaurant found in our humble town of Taytay Rizal... as if I ate in a restaurant within Makati or Quezon City. If you're in the area of Rizal, stop by.

Canterberry Café

E-149, E. Rodriguez Avenue, Taytay, Rizal 1920

Find more, visit and like: Canterberry Café on Facebook

Good 'Ol Miggy's Super Tacos

If you're on the hunt for the nearest Miggy's, here in Quezon City, it's located at Maginhawa St (Sikatuna Village) right beside Good Burgers. Miggy's Super Tacos I must say is one of my generation's favorite hangout and choice of Tex-Mex food. Miggy's  serves Mexican dishes at a very reasonable price. The Miggy's haven in Sikatuna is our usual stop everytime we're in the area. It's such a blessing I must say, because it's near my son's tutor. Most of the time, while waiting for my son, I drive to Miggy's and that's where I wait while having my Mexican fix.

Our friends from Alabang miss Miggy's so much because they mentioned that the nearest Miggy's in their area closed down. We promised to take them here at Miggy's Q.C. on their next visit to our place.

Here are our regular orders from Miggy's Super Tacos:

Chicken and beef Burrito

Nachos Grande

Raspberry Iced Tea

Chili Con Carne with Rice

Their dining area is small but very cozy, air-conditioned and they also have Wifi available. It's a food stop where one can enjoy good food without spending too much. A place for everybody.