Whole Pet Kitchen - Anna K's (our beagle) Birthday

Our beagle, Anna K, turned one last January 21. To celebrate her birthday, we ordered some dog cakes and treats from Whole Pet Kitchen. And in case you were wondering, yes, our dog is named after Anna Kendrick. We had the whole gang (The Riot Family!) celebrate her first birthday.

Anna K. (beagle)

Hayley (labrador)

Bubba (chowchow)

Kim and Kidlat (Shih Tzu)

We ordered the Bone Shape Cake. 780php.

We had Whole Pet Kitchen put in a birthday greeting for her as frosting. The cake had a liver base and cream cheese frosting. It certainly looked good enough to be eaten by humans (and Whole Pet claimed it to be safe), but this was for the dogs and we didn't want to divide in their share.

We also ordered some Pupcakes. These were cute little cupcakes for dogs! It had a banana-oat base and cream cheese frosting with cute little pawprints on them.

All four of our dogs enjoyed the cakes, especially our old, arthritic Labrador, Hayley. The smaller dogs, Anna and Kidlat, had a little trouble biting into the cake at first because I cut them too big. But once we cut them into smaller pieces, they quickly ate away. Bubba only had a few bites but that's because she's so pihikan with food.

We also had Chamomile and Cheese Biscuits delivered. It's supposed to be a calming treat, but it only made our dogs more hyper as they jumped around and jostled for position as to who would get the treat.

Aside from the cakes and treats, we also had all our dogs wear DIY paw-ty hats! This might seem a little excessive for some, but our dogs are here on earth for a short time compared to us, so we must celebrate each moment that they provide fun and happiness in our lives :)

Thanks to Whole Pet Kitchen for the great (dog) food and speedy delivery! So for those who are planning on throwing their canine buddies a party, you might want to hit up Whole Pet Kitchen for some awesome goodies!

By the way, here's a video of the paw-ty! :D (Better to watch it in HD :) )

Whole Pet Kitchen
http://wholepetkitchen.com/home/
https://www.facebook.com/wholepetkitchen

Ramen Nagi

We finally got to try Ramen Nagi which is hailed as the best tasting ramen in Manila. Popularly known as Butao in Hong Kong, this award winning establishment finally opened in Manila early this year and now has two branches in SM Aura and SM Mall of Asia. We visited their branch in SM Aura with Kim's friends.

The restaurant's interior is best described as an updated ramen bar with the usual wood furnishing and colorful and quirky displays on the walls and above each table. As with most ramen bars, you can't rearrange the tables and chairs to your preference. So that means you might have to dine and rub elbows (figuratively and literally) with someone you don't know which might be an issue to some. But with ramen this good, you probably won't mind.

They only serve ramen here. There are no rice meals, no gyozas, no dumplings. To order, they give you this sheet of paper called the Omotenashi Sheet where you can specify your ramen to your liking. There are 5 kinds of ramen that they serve: Butao, Black King, Red King, Green King and the Limited King which varies from time to time. During our visit, the Limited King was Ebi King. First, you need to select your ramen. Then, you tick off the following items on how you'd want your ramen to be.


You can see how we ordered ours:

Kim ordered the Limited King, which is the Ebi King. 410php.

Kim selected the pork belly to go with her rich soup base along with green onions. She had her noodles Extra Hard (some people might get the wrong idea of having "hard noodles," but this was just really firm in texture). She also had an extra order of Tamago or boiled egg (50php). Since this was our first time in Ramen Nagi, she just got the level 1 Spicy of the firesauce as suggested. Kim loved this since she loves shrimps, and this had a real, nice shrimpy flavor and aroma. The serving was a little much more than she could handle though.


I ordered the Black King. 410php.

Black King ramen gets it flavor from garlic and squid ink, which explains the black soup. This might not look like the prettiest thing to eat but it was really good. I liked how the subtle garlic flavor provided a nice kick to every spoonful. But since I had my soup base just Normal, it might vary for those who'd want a rich garlic flavor to their Black King. And just like Kim, I also ordered Tamago for my ramen.

We're not really ramen experts, and we haven't eaten a wide range of ramen in different ramen bars to say that this was the best we've had. But both bowls we ordered were really good! Although it's a little pricey, most ramen places are pricey anyway. We were a little surprised that's there no other menu item aside from the ramen, because we usually order gyoza or some chicken karaage to go with our bowls.

We suggest that for those who plan on visiting Ramen Nagi to arrive earlier than normal dining hours (lunch and dinner), as lines can get crazy. And no, they don't take any reservations. Also, make sure to mix your soup before eating to completely mix the firesauce with the soup base. I found this out the hard way as I took a spoonful of firesauce.

Ramen Nagi
5th Floor SM Aura Premier
McKinley Parkway, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig
https://www.facebook.com/RamenNagiManila

Green ATS

This will be our first post in a while since I dislocated my shoulder last December.

We celebrated Valentine's in Tagaytay and we stayed at the T House. But that will be for another post, as this post will be about our post Valentine's lunch last Saturday at Green ATS, also in Tagaytay.

*Some of the pictures are in night time (during our first visit) because Kim forgot to take some pictures in our recent visit because as usual her hunger got in the way. :/

View from our seats

There are a lot of places in Tagaytay that serves bulalo, some on the affordable side and some on the higher end of the price spectrum. Green ATS falls under the former.  Green ATS also is a little further than most of the restaurants in Tagaytay. So, why travel further just for some bulalo which can be found in other restaurants too? Simple. Bulalo with Fillings.

Bulalo with what? Bulalo with Fillings. 470php.

This is Green ATS specialty and take on the popular beef soup that Pinoys love to sip on during cold weather. They still have the normal bulalo on their menu, but when you dine here, you have to try this! We promise, you won't regret it.  Well, your heart probably won't but hey we're only young once! So what's so different with this bulalo? For starters, it has "fillings." There's chopped up greens, onions, tomatoes and mushrooms with it. Okay, so it might have a little extra to it other than the normal lettuce but what makes it really special is that the beef shank is deep fried! Yes deep fried! So this makes a little more deadlier than your normal garden variety bulalo but also makes it that much more special. The deep fried shank and it's fillings are served separately from the broth. The beef was so tender that it almost melts in your mouth! It is also seasoned perfectly. The broth was very flavorful since the beef shank was cooked in it until the fat has melted into it. And of course the bone marrow! No bulalo would be complete without bone marrow. It's sinful but it's also the single most flavorful and richest part of this dish. Best to eat it with rice while the soup is still piping hot.

We also ordered Crispy Tawilis. 150php.

Tawilis is a freshwater fish native to the Taal Lake. They are small but they pack flavor. The saltiness of it is a perfect complement to the richness of the bulalo. It also can be perfectly eaten on its own, together with steamed rice and dipped in white vinegar.

Green ATS provides a great view of the Taal Lake, and also very good food at affordable prices. It might be a little further down the road than most restaurants, but since you've already made the trip to Tagaytay what's a few more kilometers?

Green ATS
Tagaytay - Nasugbu Highway, Tagaytay City
(It is after Taal Vista and right before Breakfast at Antonio's.)