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/

Mom and Tina's Bakery Cafe

April 20, 2013. Saturday.

I have always noticed the Mom and Tina's signage every time I pass by along C5 when going to work. I always thought that it was just a pastry/ cake/ dessert shop since I have never tried going inside it. But since Kim and I had some time to kill this Saturday afternoon, we went looking for a place to have a "light" snack in. Passing along Katipunan, we impulsively ducked into the Regis Center from the sweltering heat. We still didn't know where to eat and pass the time, so we browsed through the selections. But once I saw that Mom and Tina's menu had silog meals in it, we quickly settled for a table there.

We never thought that Mom and Tina's served main courses aside from their pies and cakes, so we have never bothered eating there even though we often pass by their C5 Pasig and Katipunan branch. The place had a nice homey, cozy and welcoming feel to it. It was like dining in your own dining room. Well, if your dining room was this elegant. The place was a little small, but not cramped. The mirrors that fill up one side of the wall sort of expands the restaurant though, so you definitely won't feel claustrophobic.

You might be confused with the opening paragraph mentioning both light snack and silog meals in the same breath. Yes that's our definition of a "light" snack. Oops, have to change that to "my definition".

I ordered the Tocino and Egg.

Tocino and Egg.

I usually order Tapsilog when I'm having breakfast fare, but I decided to change it up this day. The tocino was tender and just had the right sweetness to it. I would've preferred for it to be a little more toasted though. I just love those burnt edges off my tocino, but that's just me. The egg was a little runny which was to my liking.

Bacon and Cheese Empanada. 40php.

Being a typical Filipino, Kim bought two thinking that a single pastry is usually not enough. Little did we know that this 40-peso stuffed bread is really worth it's price. It is like the most refined version of the yummy empenadas at local bakery shops. Once bitten, you could really see that your perfectly baked bread is filled with equally perfect melted cheese with bacon. And since this heavenly bread is almost as big as a fist, Kim only managed to finish one.

We loved the food and the ambiance of the place, but the service could definitely use some improvement. We had to wait for a while for our food to be served. I don't know if that is usually the case, but they only had 2 waiters to serve everyone -- and the place was packed! But if ever in the area again and we are in search of breakfast fare, we will definitely give Mom and Tina's a try again.

Mom and Tina's Bakery Cafe

2nd Floor, Regis Center,

Katipunan Ave, Loyola Heights,

Quezon City

(02) 990- 2875

Cafe Xocolat

January 31, 2013. Thursday.

 

Cafe Xocolat is a little restaurant located on a sidestreet in the Katipunan area. It's a chocolate themed cafe that provides traditional chocolate drinks and desserts, and creative chocolate infused meals. The place has a warm and homey vibe, well in part because it is an old home converted into a restaurant! It has managed to mostly retain parts of the house, which really exudes an 80's family home vibe. The inside is well lit with colorful artsy stuff adorning the walls. The al fresco on the other hand, is a little dim with soothing music setting the ambiance.

 

The menu is mostly made up of chocolate drinks, cakes and pastries. But there are also a few pasta dishes, sandwiches and rice meals on it. Some of them are actually chocolate infused and inspired.

We ordered the following dishes:

French Toast.

French Toast. 175php.

We ordered this to share as our appetizer. It tasted good but it was nothing like any French Toast I have ever had in my life. The bread is dipped in cacao batter instead of the normal egg-based batter. But even with that, this tasted more like brownies than bread. It came with country style sausages that were really cold.

Gamberetti Pasta.

Gamberetti Pasta.

This was my order. This is a pesto pasta with sauteed garlic shrimps. Although the taste of the pesto was a litte too mild for my taste, I really liked this. The shrimps had a nice garlic flavor that enhanced the taste of the pasta.

Xocolat Chicken Pasta.

Xocolat Chicken Pasta.

Kim wanted to try some of their chocolate infused dishes and ordered this. This is a creamy pasta with chicken strips rubbed in cacao topped off with chocolate shavings. The dish was really fragrant when it was served, you could really smell the chocolate wafting from it. The chicken strips were really tender, but the cacao rub didn't provide any different taste to it. The chocolate shavings though gave a nice, slight bitter taste to the creaminess of the pasta.

Churros Con Xocolat.

Churros Con Xocolat. 95php.

The real reason why we dined here was because Kim wanted some churros. Unfortunately she was disappointed with the churros. This has got to be the hardest churros we have ever tried! The sticks were so thin that there were no soft middle left at all. It was just rock hard from outside to the inside. The plate presentation was the only saving grace of this dish.

Dalandan Honey.

Dalandan Honey. 95php.

I wanted something refreshing so I ordered a Dalandan Honey from their fruit shakes. I loved how it had maintained a little sourness from the dalandan. The honey provided a a nice sweet taste to the ice cold drink that was served in a nice jar.

Overall, Cafe Xocolat is a nice, laid back place to hang out and have quiet conversation in. It provides some good quality food for a good price. Our one main qualm with this was the service was really slow. Our food made its way to our table a good 25- 30mins after we have ordered it. So if you are in a hurry, this might not be a good place for you. But if you have time to kill and have some good stories to share, the ambiance here is perfect.

Cafe Xocolat
Casa Xocolat, 172 B Gonzales St.,
Loyola Heights, Quezon City
http://xocolat.com.ph/

Flaming Wings

January 4, 2013. Friday.

We love trying out food places that we haven't been to before, but sometimes that sets us up for disappointment. In the 6 months since we have started this blog and in the one year that we have been together, we have set some standards for different food items. Like for example, Rodic's will always be the best tapsilog for us. But we still try different tapsi joints even though we know it will pale in comparison to our standard and leave us open for disappointment.

This is one of those cases again. No matter what anyone says, Buffalo's Wings N' Things will always be the best chicken wings joint for us. But that doesn't mean we don't go out and try other wings places. So for this entry, we were in Flaming Wings White Plains.

I like the predominantly red interiors of Flaming Wings, it felt cozy together with the leather seats and blacktop tables. It was also well lit with pinlights all over the celing. Since it was our first time, we browsed through the menu first. Their menu has a whole lot more other items than just chicken wings. There's pasta, sandwiches, rice meals, and desserts. But since we went here for the wings, we had to get wings! All orders we had were for sharing.

New York Style Chicken Wings, 5pcs.

New York Style Chicken Wings, 5 pieces.

5 wings to share?!?! You must be shaking your head in disbelief. Calm down. I was a little disoriented by how Flaming Wings quantifies their wings. We were originally going to order the 15 pieces since we were sharing it, but the waiter informed us that the 15 pieces was actually 30 pieces since there's the wing itself and the sort-of-shoulder part that connects the wing to the body. Good thing he informed us, or else we would've been served with a whole lot of wings! So 5 wings (which was really 10 pieces) it was. As soon as it was served on our table, I was quite puzzled at how dry it looked. I'm used to having my buffalo wings glazed, if not swimming, in its sauce. This one just looked like any plain old deep fried chicken. The taste was okay, it had that mild zing and a little sourness. It was fried nicely, but you can't serve buffalo wings and skimp on the sauce! Plus, the blue cheese it came with was just weird to the point that we didn't even bother using at after initial taste.

Fish and Chips.

Fish and Chips.

Surprisingly I liked the fish and chips more than the chicken wings in this place. The fish a light coating of batter, which was really crispy. I'm not sure what batter they have (if it had any beer in it) and what oil they used to fry the fish in (if it was drippings or lard, or just regular vegetable oil), but the fish was really good. The chips/ fries were also perfectly fried, and cooked to the inside. It was a little oily, but then again most great fish and chips are! If there's one thing to nitpick here, it's the sauce. Just like with the chicken wings, the sauce served with the fish was really weird. I've never seen a green colored tartar sauce. I'm not even sure that green gunk was tartar sauce. It had the consistency of mayo, but really tasted lemony sweet like it had sugar in it. Ugh.

It was a hit and miss for this visit to Flaming Wings. The food, the wings in particular, wasn't really bad. It was more of it wasn't up to par to what we expect. Anyway, the place was nice and the staff was really courteous especially with explaining the menu. So despite my qualms about this place, we really didn't feel ripped off afterwards. A good meal is still a good meal.

Flaming Wings
Bellitudo Lifestyle Center, Katipunan Ext.,
White Plains, Quezon City
(02) 738 1263
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Flaming-Wings/265052803521204

Sandwicheese!

August 30, 2012. Thursday.

In the last few years, Katipunan has developed into foodie heaven. And I'm talking about Katipunan extending all the way to White Plains, not just the part in front of Ateneo and Miriam. Sandwicheese is one of those food places that now occupy the busy stretch of Katips right after Qurino Memorial Hospital. We wanted to deviate from our normal Eastwood/ Bonifacio High Street food choices, so we went to Sandwicheese last Thursday. It is also from the people that put up Bannapple. It located right next to the original and smaller Bannapple. If you like and love your sandwich and cheese, then this place is definitely right up your alley.

The place has this homey deli vibe going for it. We loved the quirkiness of the design of the small space. It had checkerboard tiles, cute little ceiling fans, bread decors on the wall, and half of the place is under a big sunroof! The sunroof made sure that the place was very well lit, but I'm thinking that on hot sunny days that could also be an issue.

I ordered the Chili Frankfurter Sandwicheese.

Chili Frankfurter Sandwicheese. 150php.

The moment it was served in front of us, I knew it was good! The bun and frank was overflowing with a combination of garlic cream cheese, parmesan, mozarella and chili!  You know how to gauge if you got good cooked hotdogs/franks? There should be a certain snap when you bite off it. And this one snapped! I was surprised that the cornmeal bun they served their sandwiches in held really well from all the cheese and oil.

Kim got the Cheesy Roast Beef.

Cheesy Roast Beef. 160php.

This one was almost the same as my order, except it had pimiento cream cheese and roast beef instead of garlic cream cheese and frankfurter. Kim found the roast beef was seasoned well and tender. It was also juicy enough that you had this pool of oil, cheese, caramelized onions inside the serving box.

We got Chili and Cheese Nachos to share.

Chili and Cheese Nachos. 90php.

The nachos tasted like.. nachos. I don't ever think you can make bad nachos. It's so basic. It's always a good partner to any snack.

We also got a couple of Bannaple Home Made Brewed Iced Tea. 60php each

Iced Tea. 60php each.

Kim found the Iced Tea to be too sweet for her taste even after diluting it with water. I found it just right. Weird, 'cause I'm the one who doesn't like sweets. Different preferences, I guess.

Overall, it was a pretty great dining experience for both of us. We happily traded bites of our sandwiches with each other, and we were satisfied with both our orders. For heavy rice eaters like us, we found the sandwich and nachos combo was pretty filling enough. I thought I needed to get two sandwiches just to get my fill, but I was wrong big time. Good thing, Kim stopped me from ordering two sandwiches for myself. It might be a little pricey just for some sandwiches, but take into account that these are freshly made sandwiches from top notch ingredients. If you want to get a heavy snack, Sandwicheese and its affordable menu is your stop.

Sandwicheese!
225 Katipunan Ave.,
1109 Quezon City, Philippines
https://www.facebook.com/Sandwicheese
sandwicheese@bannapplekitchen.com