Marciano's Cafe + Bakery

August 23, 2014

Kim has been home for the past 2 weeks. We've eaten out already a handful of times, but mostly at places she has missed eating at for the past 5 months she spent in Hong Kong. It was only last Saturday that we got to try a new place again, Marciano's at the Fairview Terraces by Ayala.

It was also Kim's first time at this newly opened mall by Ayala. Fairview Terraces is full of different restaurants, ranging from cheap to the more upscale. We picked Marciano's because it was something we haven't tried before and it looked really nice from the outside.

Marciano's serves Italian- American food. It has a small bakery section up front where you can buy different pastries for takeout or for dine-in. The place had a warm and inviting vibe to it with the use of wood and yellow lighting for the interiors.

We didn't get to try any of their pastries as we were hungry and opted to share two different orders from their main menu.

We ordered the:

Classic Burger.

The burger wasn't that big compared to most we've had at this price range. But the taste more than made up for it. It was juicy, well-seasoned and it was grilled really well. The side of fries was a treat as well.

Buttermilk Chicken.

This buttermilk chicken fad is the latest one in the country, with Kettle's version arguably the most popular. We haven't tried Kettle yet, but we can say that Marciano's chicken was just okay. It was a little dry and not really all that flavorful. Kim was so disappointed that she seriously just wanted some Chickenjoy at that moment! The serving was more than enough though, and came with mushroom gravy, side of stringbeans, and biscuits which were quite hard and weird in texture.

Taste wise, the food was just okay for its price. Maybe we'll try the other items on the menu in the future just to see. The service was great though, with the servers being quick to attend to you. Go here if you want to dine in a place with great ambiance that is good for conversation.

Marciano's Cafe and Bakery
U/G Fairview Terraces,
Quirino Ave, Quezon City
https://www.facebook.com/marcianosph

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

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

Boon Tong Kee

October 5, 2013. Saturday.

We visited the newly opened UP Town Center in Katipunan recently. The place was packed since it's fairly new and has different restaurants, which most are making its mark in Quezon City for the first time. We were there at around 8:30 PM to get some late dinner with my family. Almost all establishments still had waiting lines. We settled for the restaurant with the shortest queue which was Boon Tong Kee.

*We apologize for forgetting to take a picture of the signage. We were very hungry then. :( 

Boon Tong Kee is a Singaporean export that specializes in -- you guessed it right, Hainanese Chicken. It has branches in Power Plant Mall, Mall of Asia and Tomas Morato. The UP Town branch was small, but it didn't feel cramped. But the small space could have played a part in the very poor acoustics of the place. And considering it was dinner time, they were undermanned. The waiters were courteous enough, though. They were still on soft opening so maybe they can still improve on the service and acoustics. More staff during peak hours and some acoustimats behind the wall perhaps?

We ordered the following:

Boiled Seaweed Soup with Bean curd. 195php.

This actually tasted better than it looked, and everyone seemed to have enjoyed it. The cloudy broth wasn't really all that special, but taken in together with the meat, seaweed and bean curd, it created a great mix of subtle flavors and textures in one's mouth.

Signature Boiled Chicken (Whole). 845php.

Almost everyone I know likes Hainanese Chicken which really puzzles me since I've always found it bland and tasteless. And this meal was no different, everyone in the table raved about the chicken while I still couldn't see what's so great about it (I still tasted it despite my aprehension about it). Since my family and Kim loved it, I'll take their word for it that it's a great dish. They loved putting copious amounts of the different condiments (crushed ginger, soy sauce, chili) at the table on it.

Crispy Roast Chicken (Half). 425php.

This is basically a roasted version of their Hainanese Chicken/ Signature Boiled Chicken, and it was ordered especially for me. LOL. Now this is more to my liking. I find this way more flavorful even without the crushed ginger, soy sauce and chili sauce.

Crispy Cereal Prawn (Large). 655php.

This certainly didn't look like anything we expected it to be. It actually resembled the floss breads from Break Talk and similar establishments. Despite how it looked, it actually tasted great and didn't feel oily at all despite it being obviously deep fried. The cereal outer was crispy and the prawn inside was moist enough.

Coffee Pork Ribs. 295php.

The Ribs had a nice aroma to it when it was served. You can certainly smell and taste the coffee in it. It was more sweet rather than being bitter which is how coffee more often tastes like. There weren't really a whole lot of meat on it since it was ribs, but it was flavorful.

Fish Fillet in Soya Bean Paste. 445php.

This really didn't stand out over any other fish fillets we've had before, but it was still cooked nicely and tasted good.

The food were a little pricey but considering we don't have a whole lot of Hainanese Chicken restaurants around, I'd say it's justified. The location of Boon Tong Kee, and UP Town Center as a whole, would certainly guarantee more than enough diners on any day of the week so it's best to arrive early or late during peak eating hours. We'll certainly consider eating here again, but probably after trying out the other different restaurants inside UP Town Center first.

Boon Tong Kee
2nd Floor, UP Town Center,
Katipunan Ave., Quezon City
https://www.facebook.com/BoonTongKeePH
http://www.boontongkee.com.sg/

Gaucho

September 9, 2013.


It's our blog's 1st anniversary and we decided to celebrate by trying out a new restaurant! (As if that's totally new to us.) Anyway, we ate at Gaucho Cocina Y Vinos Argentinos at Robinson's Magnolia. It was only through blog hopping that we came to know about this place, which was odd since we always frequent Robinson's Magnolia. Gaucho is located at the third floor of the al fresco area of the mall.

Gaucho is an Argentinian restaurant. Although we have already tried Argentinian/ South American cooking before in Cocina Juan, we were still quite excited to eat at Gaucho upon reading the positive reviews. Kim was personally excited to the baby lamb they serve and I was just excited to eat, haha.

We haven't been to any authentic Argentinian restaurants before, so we can't expertly say that the interiors were proper for the theme. The checkerboard floors, pastel colored walls, and stuffed animal heads hanging around the dining area all together made the ambiance interesting but remains cozy. 

 

The place is actually bigger than it looks outside since it has 2 floors and a very spacious round dining area, which we found out that is transforms into some sort of a dance floor every Tuesday for their Tuesday Milongas where everyone is free to tango. The main attraction for everyone though is the glass enclosed fire pit! Everyone is free to see and watch different meats/ animals get roasted. (Pardon for the vegetarians.)

For started we ordered the Chorze de Cerdo.

 

The chorize was roasted in olive oil and garlic. It was very aromatic, and tasted good. But there were parts of it that tasted a little burnt. Another thing is this was really very oily, and this is coming from a very unhealthy eater.

Kim was excited for her lamb, but to her disappointment they only start serving it at 7PM during weekdays (wholedays during weekends). We got there an hour early for dinner since we were really hungry. Kim had to settle for a different dish. In place of the lamb, we ordered the Falda a la Cruz.

Falda a la Cruz. 550php.

The Falda a la Cruz is US Beef Shortplate. This is from the El Pozo De Fuego (Slow Roasted from the Fire Pit) part of their menu, just like the lamb Kim was looking forward to. Everything from that part of the menu came with chimichurri sauce, organic pickles and unlimited steamed or garlic rice that can be shared. The beef was juicy and just had the right amount of fat on it, considering shortplate is usually a little tough and very fatty since it comes from the belly. The chimichurri was a great partner to the beef, as is always the case with grilled meats.

We also ordered Pollo Asado.

Pollo Asado. 360php

The Pollo Asada is a roasted half chicken. It's roasted in a coal brick oven, with just olive oil, lemon and garlic. It came in a clay pot and was swimming in some of its juices. This has got to be the most tender chicken we have ever had-- the meat can literally be taken of the bone! We tried putting chimichurri sauce on it also, and it works!

We'll surely try to come back here to get a taste of the roasted baby lamb they have. And I'm sure there's more to the menu that we would love to try including some of their desserts! Hmm, maybe we'll try to drop by on a Tuesday and see how people tango.

Gaucho Cocina Y Vinos Argentinos

3rd Floor Al Fresco, Robinson's Magnolia,

Quezon City

(02) 654 3184

https://www.facebook.com/gauchomanila

Sbarro

Despite being always in Eastwood, Kim and I never had the chance to eat in Sbarro when it was still located in Citibank Square. We always made plans, but never got to it since it was quite cumbersome to walk all the way to Citibank. Then that Sbarro closed down. Luckily for us, Sbarro opened up shop again in Eastwood but this time inside Eastwood Mall. The new Sbarro is located on the top floor, near where the cinemas are.

 

Kim has been craving for a slice of the white Chicago Deep Dish Pizza, so we ordered a couple of slices of those along with a plate of Roasted Chicken with Rice.

Chicago Deep Dish. 172php.

The slice, as usual, was packed and filled with different toppings (wait, do you still call it toppings if its inside?) and served with white sauce over it. We loved how the cheese was just the right softness -- not too melted and just a little gooey. Despite it being a little big for a single slice of pizza, we certainly enjoyed finishing it to the last forkful as it was very flavorful. A slice of this can definitely be a whole meal on its own!

Roasted Chicken with Rice. 169php.

I never understood why Sbarro serves their chicken with red pasta sauce on the side and I've never bothered putting it on my chicken. I've always liked their chicken and rice, which is a perfect combination. The chicken is aromatic, herb-y, tender inside, and just crisp on the outside.

Since it has been around a long time, Sbarro tends to get overlooked by all these new food chains that has been popping up left and right. But Sbarro is still one of the best fast food chains around, especially if you're looking to satisfy your Italian food craving.

*Because we were very hungry, we forgot to take a picture of us. :(

Sbarro
4th Floor, Eastwood Mall,
Eastwood City, Bagumbayan, Quezon City
http://www.sbarro.ph/
https://www.facebook.com/SbarroPhilippines

Racks

April 27, 2013. Saturday.

Kim and I were craving for steaks but we were on a tight budget and our regular steak place, Outback, was a little out of the way. Good thing we were in Trinoma and we chanced upon Racks! We noticed while browsing through their menu that they seem to have just about everything that Outback has, only at a much much lower price! And by lower we mean that my usual order in Outback would pay for everything we ordered in Racks!

Sorry, we forgot to take a picture of the signage.

The Racks in Trinoma was a little cramped and we were lucky enough to get the last available table when we got there. Even though the place was packed, the service was quick and efficient. We had a little fun going over the menu as we tried to name the Outback counterpart of most items on the menu. We ordered the following:

Ribs and Hickory Smoked Chicken, with sides of shredded corn, Mac and Cheese. 489php.

I haven't dined in Racks for quite a while now, but the ribs hasn't changed one bit. It still fall off the bone goodness and juicy as ever. I know that a good 'cue is supposed to not need any sauce, but Racks' Original Barbeque Sauce is just the perfect complement to their ribs (or any of their meats for that matter)! The chicken was a little disappointing. It did fall off the bone but it was a little bit dry, good thing there was a whole bottle of sauce to give flavor to it.

Angus Au Jus with sides of mashed potato, and carrot and corn. 680php.

Kim had it medium well. For something that costs half as much, it certainly could hold its own against Outback's (well that's Kim's opinion). You don't need much sauce to give it flavor, since it was swimming in Au Jus -- it's own juice! Kim had to take home half of it since it as a little big for her, and it was still good when heated the next day.

All in all, dining in Racks was a pleasant experience for us. We were surprised that we weren't disappointed in it even after comparing it to Outback and Cue. Of course they are marketed differently, but Racks more than provided quality food for its price. Will we be picking Racks over Outback now more often? Probably not, but if ever in the mood for steak and on a tight budget, we will definitely consider dining here again.

 

Racks

2nd Floor, Trinoma, Quezon City
http://www.racks.ph/
https://www.facebook.com/RacksPHL

Serye

November 17, 2012. Saturday.

It seems like we've been eating out a lot more than usual lately. There's a whole load of entries that Kim has been bugging me to get into and finish. So instead of doing one entry a week, we will be doing about two just until we have cleared the backlog.

We first have Serye, formerly and more better known as Aristoctrat. Serye is actually a play on the surname Reyes, which is the family that is behind this restaurant. The name may have changed, but the food hasn't. They still serve some of the best chicken barbecue in town and of course, it is still best served with that java rice.

 

We've eaten here a couple of times before but we haven't started our blog yet during that time. So for this instance, we wanted to order something that we haven't gotten yet from before. As what the case usually is with us, ordering was a really tedious task since we wanted to order a lot again. The following are what we ended up having.

I ordered the Barbecue Duo 2.

Barbecue Duo 2. 385php.

The Barbecue Duo 2 consists of 2 pieces of chicken barbecue, a strip of barbecue spareribs served with atsara, java sauce and java rice. This plate is like having what's best about Serye -- their chicken barbecue and java rice. Of course there's more to Serye than just those two, but I digress. The chicken barbecue is just like what is has alway been. It's tender, juicy, sweet and smoky. The same thing with the spareribs. Couple those with the java sauce and java rice, it's just a perfect storm inside your mouth.

We then got Pork Sisig with Egg to share.

Pork Sisig with Egg. 270php.

Kim likes her sisig to be crispy, not chewy. This one was of the latter kind and it was also a bit savory. Nonetheless, the sisig was really good. It was served on a hot plate, and was a very good partner with the steamed rice Kim had.

And Pork Sinigang, also to share.

 Pork Sinigang. 265php.

The Pork Sinigang came in late. Very late. I was almost done with my plate, and so was Kim when it arrived on our table. To top it off, it really didn't taste good. The pork was very hard, and the vegetables tasted like it was just dumped on the broth the very second before it was brought to our table. Don't get me wrong I like my vegetables a little crunchy, but not like it tasted like it was just washed off.

Aside from that minor issue with the sinigang, Serye still proved to be an old reliable resto when it comes to Filipino food. While the prices might not be really all that affordable, the food and service should be enough to keep one satisfied.

Serye
Eastwood Citywalk 1, Eastwood,
E. Rodriguez JR Ave., Bagumbayan,
Quezon City
http://www.seryecafefilipino.com/

Uncle Cheffy

November 2, 2012. Friday.

If you love slow cooked, tender, slide off the bones goodness.. then you're in for a treat with this post. Be forewarned though, the amount of food in this post is much more than what a normal couple orders. But then again, we don't order conventionally. Ever.

Kim has been bugging me to eat in Uncle Cheffy for a while now. It has never really caught my fancy because my initial image of it is panizza, and I don't like panizza. But last Friday, I finally gave in and we took in late dinner at the Eastwood Mall branch.

I quickly browsed through the menu if there were food items other than panizza that we could order. I spotted the Grill and Specialties section, and saw that they had steak, ribs and chicken. Almost everything was slow cooked inside a brick oven which guaranteed tender and juicy meats with all the flavor locked in. My sense of relief quickly turned into dilemma, as we couldn't decide which one to order. Then I saw the All Meat Barbecue Platter. It didn't matter that it was for 4- 5 people, we just had to order that.

All Meat Barbecue Platter. 1,600 php.

That's it. That was our only order for the night. ONLY here is just a huge understatement. This platter contains chicken leg, lamb breast, pork and beef ribs. It also comes with baby potatoes, rice and house salad. And for the meats, you can dip it in your choice of either bbq sauce, chimichurri sauce or tomato salsa.

Everything was really good! Well, except for the beef ribs which really tasted weird despite it being tender. Even quoting it with the bbq sauce didn't help. Other than that, everything was really comparable to Cue's A Lil Feast platter. One caveat about ordering a spread this big with only 2 persons to go through it, is that the meat grows cold on you and the juices and oil start to crust on it. But since we were really hungry, we managed to go through a little more than half (finished the lamb, and most of the chicken and pork ribs) of the board before it really got cold.

We really enjoyed the lamb and chicken. I loved how the chimichurri sauce went well with the lamb breast which was really fatty, so it really had a lot of flavor in it. The sourness of the chimichurri provided a nice contrast to the richness of the lamb. The chicken tasted like good old deep fried chicken but without all the excess oil that came with it since this one was brick oven cooked.  The pork ribs was okay, but it was nothing different from all the baby back ribs we have tasted all over the city.

We're definitely coming back here to have lamb and chicken. We probably won't order that big platter again, just the half that we liked. And I just might finally give in to ordering panizza.

Uncle Cheffy
2nd Floor (al fresco area), Eastwood Mall,
Eastwood City, E. Rodriguez Jr. Avenue,
Bagumbayan, Quezon City
(02) 470 2750 and (02) 3837215
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Uncle-Cheffy/195383127315