Café de Coral

Kim has been staying in Hong Kong since early April for an internship. And as a result, KiMiguel hasn't eaten out for a while, hence most of the last few posts are older food dates of ours. But for the week of her birthday, I went to Hong Kong to visit her from May 21 to May 25.

I arrived at around 7PM at Hong Kong International Airport, since my PAL flight got delayed by almost 2 hours. I was slightly annoyed by it, but then I have been flying just with PAL for the past 2 years and I've gotten used to it already. I always joke that PAL stands for "Pare, Always Late."

I got to Causeway Bay and met Kim a little before 9PM, and by then I wasn't really that hungry anymore. We decided we'd just get something light to share for dinner. We first walked over to Butao King, which is recognized as one of the best (if not the best) ramen spots in Hong Kong. There was a line and it didn't seem like it would end soon. We wanted to try it to compare with Ramen Nagi in the Philippines, but left that for a later time. 

We went to Café de Coral next since we just wanted a quick fix. Café de Coral is a fast food that is found in a lot of locations in Hong Kong. During my previous trips to HK, this is where we would eat if we wanted a safe and good tasting meal for a decent price. Their menu tends to vary from location to location though, as what I have observed. And the food tends to thread the fine line between Chinese and Western.

Kim has never eaten in one since she thought that it was a really pricey restaurant. Its interiors sort of give that vibe. Wood is predominantly used in different shades and textures. Seats are leather lined and comfy. And the lighting really gives a great relaxed mood. But despite all that, this is a self service restaurant where you have to line up to order and wait for your number to be called to pick up your food.

We just ordered a plate to share because we weren't really that hungry. We ordered a meal that consisted of Pork Chop, Sausage, Tomato Sauce (or you can have Black Pepper Sauce), Bun with Butter, Rice (or spaghetti noodles if you prefer) and some side of greens. It also came with a drink which I naturally turned into coke. Kim has been craving for Fruitas or fruit shake since she got here in HK, so she ordered a Fruit Punch. The total bill was 55HKD.

The meal was really good. The sausage had a nice crisp outer skin that snaps when you try to bite off it. The pork chop was fried perfectly. And surprisingly, both went well with the tomato sauce which I was apprehensive of at first. All in all, the set meal was great and came with an affordable price too. If we were both hungry, we could've finished one each of these since it was good. Kim's drink was far from Fruitas. It turned out that the "punch" part was soda with some nata de coco and pineapple bits on it. She had me finish it. :|

On the way home to Kim's flat, we stopped by to get some pancake balls at a street food stand (14HKD). This popular HK street food is a simple mixture of flour, water and sugar. It was light, fluffy, and just the right amount of sweet. A perfect after meal snack.

Café de Coral
Hennesy Road, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

Bacolod Chicken Inasal

We were in Metrowalk to go to a bazaar one weekend. But since we haven't had lunch yet when we arrived there, we decided to eat first. We settled for Bacolod Chicken Inasal since it was one of the few restaurants that was open early, and had air-conditioning.

We're big Mang Inasal fans 'cause we're fastfood dorks that way, haha. We know that the inasal from Mang Inasal is a little way off from the authentic ones, so eating here at Bacolod Chicken Inasal provided us a good comparison of fast food inasal and authentic (or so they say) inasal.

Bacolod Chicken Inasal's walls are plastered with Bacolod's Masskara festival. Having the dominant color yellow, it brings out a certain cheery vibe to the whole place.

We ordered the following:

Petso and Paa. 99.50php each.

Kim's first reaction was, "where's the chicken oil?" Haha. We have gotten so used to Mang Inasal's chicken oil that we assumed that it's a standard for eating inasal. We found Bacolod Chicken's version of inasal a little too dry. It tasted good, but not as flavorful as we expected it to be.

Sizzling Gambas. 197php.

The gambas had a nice sweet and spicy flavor to it. Really great with a spoonful of rice.

We plan on going to Bacolod soon, and we hope that the inasal there is better than what we had at Bacolod Chicken Inasal. It's not that it was a bad meal, we just expected something more. Overall, the food was okay and the price was okay. Service was great, though.

Bacolod Chicken Inasal
Metrowalk Commercial Complex
Meralco Ave., Ortigas Center, Pasig City

KiMiguel Eats Out Food Bites!

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KiMiguel

Outback Steakhouse

We haven't been back in Outback Steakhouse for a while, because eating there isn't exactly cheap. But with their Lunch Specials, you could save a few hundred bucks and have your steak at the same time. Their Lunch Specials isn't reallya new thing, and its menu has changed from the last we were here but not to worry, as it still has some great dishes for really great prices. It's only available on weekdays, from 11AM to 3PM.

Outback really hasn't changed all these years. It still has it's dark wooden interiors, and quirky Australian decor strewn around the place. There's still the bar, where you could enjoy your drinks and food while watching sports on the monitors, which is also located inside the Smoking Area. The service is sometimes kind of touch and go here, sometimes it's great, other times it's not. Luckily for this visit, it was great.

We ordered the following:

Kim had the Victoria's Filet.

The Victoria's Filet might seem like a modest sized steak to some. But this 6oz. packs some great flavor. And despite being smaller than most of the other steaks on the menu, it is also quite filling. Best to have it medium rare as to not lose the flavor. This plate comes with mashed potatoes and some veggies.

I had the Chicken Fried Chicken.

This is probably our favorite from the Lunch Specials, and we have had it a couple of times already. Just can't go wrong with perfectly deep fried chicken topped off with their very tasty gravy. This also comes with mashed potatoes on the side.

And for dessert, we shared a Chocolate Thunder from Down Under.

This might be described as a little too rich, and too sinful. But it's just right for me and Kim... Actually, more than right! It's one of the best desserts we like from everywhere we have eaten. It's the best that every spoonful you have has each of its components --  the warm brownie, vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce and shavings, and the whipped cream on top! It's sweet, it's warm, it's cold, it's nutty, it's chocolatey... It's just a confluence of flavors inside your mouth!

We love that Outback hasn't changed all that much through the years. After all, why fix something that isn't broken?

Outback Steakhouse
E. Rodriguez Jr Ave (C5),
Libis, Quezon City

Kanto Freestyle Breakfast

We just finished walking around the massive grounds of a carshow for the last 2 hours, and we are very tired and hungry. Naturally, same as everyone, we wanted some comfort food. Coming from the Manila International Autoshow held in the World Trade Center in Pasay, we traveled to Kapitolyo, Pasig just to have some breakfast grub which to us is one of our comfort foods.

Kapitolyo has become a foodie hub in the past few years. But one of the newest kids on its block(s), is Kanto Freestyle Breakfast. While not a new establishment per se, this is Kanto's newest branch. We have eaten at the Libis branch before, but this is our first time here.

Kanto serves breakfast food (duh).. but with a twist. I've heard someone describe their food as gourmet carinderia. Calling it gourmet might be pushing it a bit, but this is certainly not your ordinary carinderia fare either. For starters, I'm sure there's no other roadside eatery that puts tomato pesto as a side to their rice meals. Moreover, they plate the food. Sure you are having a simple tapsilog meal but it doesn't hurt that it looks just as nicely as it tastes right? The price might not be as cheap as Manang's little hole in the wall down the road, but with most meals pegged at under a hundred bucks it's still cheaper than going to a fast food chain.

We ordered the following:

Kim got the Breaded Pork Chop.

The breading wasn't as crispy as Kim would've liked, but it tasted good nonetheless. It came with a sweet/sour sauce, but it really should be paired with Mang Tomas which is what Kim did.

I got the Crispy Pork Belly.

This was just heaven in a plate. Crispy, crunchy and juicy. Perfectly fried pork belly that really went well paired with Mang Tomas and steamed rice.

For dessert, we shared an order of the Deep Fried Oreos.

Nothing surprising, as we already have had this previously and also know how to make this at home. But it's still a great dessert, especially when consumed while it's still hot and the insides still gooey.

Breakfast food is nothing fancy, but it doesn't need to be plain either. For those looking for some comfort food, trek on to Eastwood, Kapitolyo or Mandaluyong to have a first hand taste of Kanto's gourmet carinderia. They serve more than your average breakfast food, and I'm sure there's something for everyone in their menu.

Kanto Freestyle Breakfast
1st Street, Kapitolyo, Pasig City
https://www.facebook.com/kantofreestylebreakfast

The Clubhouse

We've been eying The Clubhouse for a while now. But every time we step foot in Robinson's Magnolia, we're immediately drawn to Yabu. Haha. So this time we made a beeline towards The Clubhouse as soon as I parked the car.

The Clubhouse is not easy to locate for first timers at this mall. You could always ask, of course. But for those who prefer to search for it on their own, it's located on the ground floor in one of the small alleyways which you would usually associate with restrooms. There's usually a menu board so it shouldn't be that hard to locate once you are in the general vicinity of it.

Once inside, it immediately reminded me of our house! There's a brick wall to the left, just like we have at home, only it's red. The tables are wooden just like in our dining room. And the other wall is covered in a bright colored flowered wallpaper, which we used to have in one of our rooms! Well, our house isn't this nice but The Clubhouse's interiors kind of look like our own and certainly has that homey vibe. We also liked the retro looking photographs hanging on the walls, the shelves with the plates and the counter which had cakes and other sweet pastries on display.

We were here for late lunch but as with most restaurants that serve breakfast food whole day long, we gravitated towards the breakfast portion of the menu. I was about to order the Vigan Longganisa Hash, but since I always order that almost anywhere, I tried to look for something else.

I ended up ordering the Lemon Caper Dory.

The Dory had a nice crispy deep fried outside, but I would've preferred for it to be a little less oily. The lemon caper butter sauce it came was really packed with flavor and went really well with the fish and the garlic rice. For those health conscious with their food, this might be a little too rich for you.

Kim got the Cheeseburger.

This had a quarter pound patty, topped with tomato, lettuce, caramelized onions and of course cheese. The edges of the burger were a little burnt, but the inside and middle part was fine and juicy. The same goes for the bun which was a little too toasted for our liking. This was served with potato wedges which were nicely fried.

Kim also had the Peach Iced Tea which peach lovers would definitely love, but it's a little too sweet though.

We'd definitely be back at The Clubhouse as we thoroughly enjoyed our first time here. And next time I won't hold back from ordering some breakfast grub!

The Clubhouse
G/F Robinson's Magnolia,
Aurora Blvd. Cor.  Doña M Hemady Ave.,
Quezon City
(02) 442 5571 
(02) 442 5571
https://www.facebook.com/theclubhousemagnolia

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Masuki

Kim and I go through phases where we'd get really addicted to a specific food or restaurant, that it'll be a constant in our diet for the next few weeks or so. In the past 2 years we've gone through a Nolita/ cheeseburger phase, BWNT/ buffalo wings phase, pizza phase, etc. And now we're sort of in the middle of a mami phase.. specifically mami from Masuki.

We've spent our weekend dates in Masuki for the past 3 weeks! I've always loved mami, but I never thought that Kim would also be quite addicted to it. We've been to both the Greenhills and Megamall branch, and would want to visit the original one in Binondo in the future.

Megamall branch

Megamall branch

I love how mami houses are a no frills kind of restaurant. You go there to enjoy their good food. The menu is always kept to the bare minimum of just different kinds of mami, siopao, different kinds of dimsum, drinks and that's it. And the smell! No mami house would be complete if it didn't smell and reek off the mami broth. Ma Mon Luk is the perfect and quintessential example of a mami house that has all of these characteristics. Just think of Masuki as its more modern brethren. For starters there's airconditioning and it's located in more accessible locations.

I ordered the Special Beef Wonton Chicken Asado. 230php.

This is basically their ultimate mami. It has everything in it! It's for people like me who can't decide which kind of mami to get, so why not just dump everything together. Works for me! Hehe. What I do before eating is to take about 2 spoonfuls of Masuki's special sauce and put it in my soup, then I'll put some ground black pepper in it and mix.

I tend to take a spoonful or chopstick-ful of each thing in my bowl then repeat the process. Usually its broth, noodles, chicken, asado, wonton then lastly beef. Rinse and repeat. This is just heaven in a bowl. Everything in it works together! But of course the most important part is the soup or broth of which its great taste actually ties everything together.

Special just means that it has more soup, more broth and more beef, wonton, chicken, or asado in it.

Kim had the Regular Beef Wonton. 180php.

Same broth, same noodles but this one only had Beef and Wonton in it. Kim seems to enjoy this as this has been her regular order.

We also had a Regular Asado Siopao, and a couple pieces of Siomai to share. 55php and 35php per piece respectively.

Masuki's special sauce works well with both the Siopao and Siomao, but it goes really well with hot sauce on the Siopao. We love how plump and siksik the siopao is, and who un- perfect its shape is compared to those fast food siopaos that just doesn't give off the same vibe.

Masuki's Siomai has got to be one of the biggest we have seen! And even with the size, it is still packed with flavor all the way inside.

So for those who we are friends with on Facebook, expect more Masuki picture posts from us in the coming weeks as we are sure to be back... and back again for more!

Megamall branch

Sekai Center branch (Kuya waiter is so cute! :D)

Masuki
Masuki Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Masuki/193897223966668
2nd Floor Sekai Center,
Ortigas Ave Cor. Madison Street,
Greenhills, San Juan
(02) 744 - 2720