Shawarma Guys

September 21. Saturday.

Kim and I love our shawarma and kebabs, so when an opportunity comes up to try a new shawarma spot we don't pass on it. We were in The Fort Strip with our good friend JT to watch a late show and it just so happened that Shawarma Guys was located there. Since we haven't had dinner yet, we decided to dine there.

We've read good reviews about it online and have always kept a mental note to try it out. But I'll warn you now, this has got to be one of the worst dining experiences we've had. From the food to the service, everything was just bad. First the wait staff was really slow and inattentive. Considering there was only our group and another group dining, then they should really be efficient and attentive but that just wasn't the case. The waiter took his sweet time to get to us to take our orders, but was such in a hurry to clean up that I haven't even finished my food yet and he was already going to take my plate out. Yes, he asked if I was done already, but only AFTER he has lifted my plate off the table. Disgusting behavior. On any other occasion, I would've smacked the living hell out of him but I tried to keep my cool since we still had a long night ahead.

Then the food. It was burnt and overcooked. And for the price of the meals, really just a quarter of a teaspoon of butter? I was just really hungry to complain and the staff really didn't seem to pay attention as they just chattered about themselves.

Kim ordered the Lamb Kebab.

Lamb Kebab. 250php.

The lamb was tough and chewy. It was burnt, and the sweet taste of the sauce and lamb itself really made for an unappetizing meal.

JT and I got the Beef Kebab.

Beef Kebab. 190php.

Compare the picture from their menu and Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=220035614837860&set=a.125795090928580.24173.125513780956711&type=1&relevant_count=1
And take a look at what we had. Just disappointing. The kebabs were very dry and tasteless (except for the burnt taste).

I also ordered a Beef Shawarma.

Beef Shawarma. 150php.

Kanto shawarma stalls serve better shawarma than this! Bigger and meatier at half the price, too.

Considering Shawarma Guys is from the same group behind URBN and Relik, this was really disappointing. Maybe it was just a bad night for everyone in their staff, but after dining I saw three of their kitchen staff just lounging outside and smoking looking relaxed. So maybe they really don't care about the service. To anyone looking for their shawarma and kebab fix, I'll just tell you to consider other joints. You'll be better off spending your money on Mister Kebab, Uncle Moes, or even Tri Mo Shawarma Co.

*We forgot to ask for the waiter to get a photo of us, maybe because we were so hungry then or we were so dismayed.

Shawarma Guys
G/F The Fort Strip
BGC, Taguig City
https://www.facebook.com/ShawarmaGuys

P.F. Chang's: Migs' Birthday Treat

April 13, 2013. Saturday.

I wanted to treat my family out for my birthday. And I wanted it to be somewhere a little upscale, and somewhere most of us have never eaten at. So last Saturday we ate out at P.F Chang's in BHS, which is the 2nd branch in the Philippines of this Asian- themed American restaurant chain. It is located in the W Global Center on the same street where Nike Park BHS is. It is next to California Pizza Kitchen and IHOP.

Replica terracotta horses greet you at the entrance of P.F Chang's. Inside, miniature replica terracotta warriors are scattered throughout. The place has a Chinese restaurant feel mixed with Western influence. Wood is used a lot in the place, and I like it. I've always felt wood gives some sort of relaxed and homey ambiance. It's a little cramped and dimly lit for my liking, though.

Days before Saturday, I spent time online reading about reviews on P.F. Chang's and its menu. I then made a shortlist of menu items that I wanted to order. Since there were 12 of us for dinner, I was torn on whether to order a lot of dishes to sample more food (but a single order of one dish might not be enough to pass around), or to order fewer dishes but to have double of everything. In the end, the latter won.

We ordered two of each of the following:

Chang's Chicken Lettuce Wraps. 285php.

This is their signature appetizer. The wok seared minced chicken already tastes great with the cool and crisp lettuce cups, but it is even better with their sauce of honey mustard, soy sauce and chili.

Dynamite Shrimp. 295php.

This was spicier than I expected, but it was still really good. In true Pinoy fashion, even though this was an appetizer I ate them with my rice.

Chang's Spicy Chicken. 320php.

The chicken in this was really tender, but not that flavorful on its own. But the sweet and spicy (yes, sweet and spicy despite it being called Spicy Chicken) sauce is this dish's saving grace.

Pepper Steak. 680php.

The US Angus Beef was tender and flavorful, but this might be a little bit too peppery for some. It also had some sweetness to it with the yellow onions in it.

Shrimp with Candied Walnuts. 795php.

I was excited for this dish since the first time I read about it! And all the pictures online, only added to the excitement. But to my dismay, it didn't live up to my expectation about it. It was good. The creamy sauce really went well with the shrimp, walnuts, and honeydew. But for its price, I can say that we probably could have ordered something better.

Chang's Fried Rice. 200php.

Mango Cream Cheese Wontons. 150php. Mixed Berries Cheesecake. 265php.

I didn't get to taste this but it looked good! I'll make sure to order this one again. Mango, cream cheese wrapped together then deep fried? Sure looks like a good combination to me. We've had lots of better cheesecakes in our life, but this one wasn't really that bad. It was a little too tart-y for our taste though.

Despite being a little expensive, we think it was worth it. The food was great and the ambiance was certainly different from most normal restaurants in Manila. Kim and I will be sure to go back here, as we both love Chinese food. We'll make sure to try different dishes in the future.

P.F. Chang's China Bistro
W Global Center
The Fort, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig
(02)  664-5956 
https://www.facebook.com/pfchangsph 

http://www.pfchangs.com.ph/

Early Bird Breakfast Club

March 16, 2013. Saturday.

I noticed that since the year started there has been a healthy influx of new restaurants that carry all day breakfast menus every single day of the week! First there was Recovery Food, then the much publicized local opening of IHOP, and now we also have Early Bird Breakfast Club. Aside from sharing the same theme of offering breakfast food at all hours of the day, all 3 restaurants are located in BGC, Taguig. Considering the area is ripe with BPO offices and party places -- serving breakfast food at odd hours makes sense for me. Just think of them as your local 24/7 lugawan/ gotohan, only fancier and definitely more expensive.

I love breakfast food, and it doesn't matter what time of the day it is. It is sort of my comfort food, especially any -silog dishes. Just came home from drinking? Breakfast food. Tired from running and biking? Breakfast food. Lunch break while at work? Breakfast food. But I digress. For this entry we tried out Early Bird Breakfast Club (or EBBC as we'll refer to it for the rest of the entry).

EBBC opened roughly around the same time as IHOP. Being a smaller restaurant, it got lost among all the hoopla surrounding the opening of the bigger SoCal dining fixture. Kim and I initially wanted to try eating at IHOP, but then I found out about the lines during weekends and we decided to wait until the hype about it has died down. Luckily, we read the great reviews about EBBC and decided to give it a try.

The first thing you'd notice as you enter the restaurant is that it is adorned in very lively colors. On one side of the wall you have mirrors and a light figure of a half egg shell, while the other wall had a predominantly blue mural on it. Add to that the lights and high ceiling, making the place bright and well- lit just as you would want it to be when having your breakfast. The have the standard height chairs and tables, but we chose to sit on the lower chairs which had a round table between it.

We ordered the following:

Viva Longganisa. 345php.

I ordered the Viva Longganisa. First, I loved how this was plated. The fried rice was in a cup/ glass, and the vinegar was in an egg cup. Really a nice way to spice up what should otherwise be just a traditional  longsilog. The longganisa itself was really meaty and had a sweet flavor to it. You can choose which way you want your egg to be cooked, I had mine scrambled. I just wished they'd ask me before they sprinkled some kind of chili powder over it.

Sunny Salpicao. 315php.

One of Kim's favorite food is Salpicao and when she saw that EBBC had it in their menu, she just had to order it. She was so excited about it that she forgot to read one important detail about it.. it was chicken! So imagine our confusion about it when we tasted it. It certainly wasn't beef, and we only found out after ordering it. It was served on a hot plate, with the fried rice in the middle. It certainly made for a great looking plate, but it was sort of hard to eat it from there since everything was so compact inside the small hot plate. As for the taste, it was certainly different from a Beef Salpicao, but it wasn't bad at all. Granted that the texture of the chicken was different from the normally medium rare beef in this dish, good thing then that the taste of the garlic and the oiliness of it really satisfied Kim's craving.

Breakfast Sausage Tart. 285php.

The menu had a section called Breakfast and Eggs and I wanted to order everything from there! I loved eggs with my breakfast, err with almost every meal I mean. We settled to share the Breakfast Sausage Tart. Or at least that's what we ordered, but what was served was the Bacon and Cheddar Frittata. The tart was supposed to have sausage, bacon, mushrooms, tomatoes, cheese and of course egg! While the frittata was egg and potato baked with bacon, cheddar and spinach, and that's what came to our table. I only noticed the confusion after the meal, so I forgot to ask the server what was really served (maybe next time). Whatever it was, I'm glad it was good! It was served on a hot pan, and came with a tomato and pepper salsa. If I had to choose which of our entrées was the best, this was it. The egg was light and fluffy, the potatoes was soft and filling. And the  melted cheddar was just heavenly. The bacon was a little lean for our liking though.

Nutella Cheesecake. 350php.

This is what we ordered for dessert and Kim absolutely loved it! I already knew how this was going to be served, so I told Kim that she's in for a surprise. And was she surprised, in a good way. The cheesecake was served inside a square jar! And if that's not different, this one was topped with Nutella! Surprisingly this was the most expensive thing we ordered. 350php might seem a bit much for dessert, but I'll gladly pay for this again. The biscuit base provided a nice contrast in texture to the smooth cream cheese and creamy Nutella topping. It is then topped off with chocolate shavings. It might seem too sweet when you look at it, but it's not. It's just has the right amount of sweetness and saltiness from the cream cheese. Really a nice way to end our meal. And oh you need to cough up another extra hundred pesos just to take the jar home with you.

EB Signature Iced Tea. 125php.

Ginger Peach Lemonade. 125php.

We ordered these for drinks. A little on the expensive side considering they weren't bottomless, but we wanted to try some of their signature drinks since it was our first time here. They were different from most Iced Tea' and Lemonade's we have tasted. Kim's Iced Tea had a nice minty flavor in addition to the subtle sweetness it had. My lemonade was certainly fragrant. You can smell a nice hint of the ginger as soon as it was brought to our table. I liked that it wasn't overly sweet or citrus-y.

We loved everything about EBBC! The ambiance, the courteous staff and of course the food. Breakfast for dinner? You can never go wrong with that! The restaurant's menu might not exactly be cheap, but you get real good value for your money. The food might be common and traditional, but EBBC has made it different enough to keep it interesting and fresh. So if you're nursing a hungry belly after a night of all- out drinking and partying and you just happen to be in BGC, a meal at EBBC might be the right cure.

Early Bird Breakfast Club
Unit C, Ground Floor, Fort Pointe 2 Bldg., The Fort Complex, 28th Street, Bonifacio Global City, 1634 Taguig
(02) 4708847
(0917) 859 4950
https://www.facebook.com/earlybirdbreakfastclub?fref=ts
http://www.earlybirdbreakfastclub.com/

Nolita: Revisited with Friends

February 8, 2013. Friday.

Special Note: KiMiguel are joined by Migs' Chicks-n-Wings groupmates, Brent and JT. They picked up the group's new impulse bike hobby after folding bikes -- fixed gear bikes.

Thinking there wouldn't be any traffic since it wasn't a payday Friday, we decided to get our fixed gear bikes on this day. We were so wrong. It was one of the worst traffic jams  in C5 I have experienced in a while. After a grueling hour and a half battle with traffic just from Tiendesitas to Comembo, we were really exhausted. Wanting a good meal after paying for our bikes, we trooped to BHS Central to introduce our friends to our favorite burger and pizza joint, Nolita.

 

Since it was already past 7PM, Nolita was really packed inside and out. We just lucked into a table as a group just stood up just as we entered the restaurant. We ordered the following.

Spinach and Artichoke pizza.

Spinach and Artichoke Pizza. 210php.

Brent, still on a vegan diet, ordered their Spinach and Artichoke pizza. So despite this being a pizza and burger joint, vegetarians are more than welcome to enjoy themselves here.

Angus All Beef Cheeseburger.

Angus All Beef Cheeseburger. 320php. Mozzarella and Cheddar respectively.

Both JT and I had their Cheeseburger. I had cheddar on mine, while he had mozarella. JT commented that it was a little too salty for his taste. I agree, but that still doesn't change the fact that this is one of my most favorite burgers in the metro. It has always been a little saltier than most burgers ever since we first tried it summer of last year, and the taste hasn't changed. It doesn't bother me though, since I really like it.

Shrimp Carbonara Pizza.

Shrimp Carbonara Pizza. 290php.

Kim had been waiting for the opportunity to taste this, but it always wasn't available whenever we dined here. Fortunately, it was available on this day. It was a little let- down from what Kim expected. It had that carbonara sauce going on top of it, but it was really almost non- existent in taste. It wasn't bad at all, but it really just fell short of all the build up going into it.

Bowl Of Chili.

Bowl of Chili. 240php.

We also ordered a Bowl of Chili. Locally, we might know such dish better as chili con carne. In the US, this is most commonly known as just chili and is a staple of Tex-Mex cooking. We usually eat this as a topping to our sandwiches or as a side to our meals, but this can also be a meal on its own. Nolita's version had a lot of beans, which was really the only little thing I didn't like with it. It was creamy, hot, spicy and really good for a hungry tummy.

So that's it for our 3rd entry covering Nolita. We probably won't blog about Nolita again in a while eventhough we will still frequent it, as we think it is obvious that you know our love for it :)

NolitaUG/F Bonifacio High Street Central,
7th Ave Cor. 29th St.,
Fort Bonifactio, Taguig City
https://www.facebook.com/NOLITA.PIZZA

Past Nolita entries:
Nolita (North of Little Italy)
Nolita (North of Little Italy) Again!

T.G.I. Friday's

August 18, 2012. Saturday.

To celebrate the last day of Kim's airbrush makeup class, we went to BHS to eat at TGI Friday's.

For starters, we ordered Fried Mozarella.

Fried Mozzarella. 315php.

This is best eaten as soon as the plate hits your table. Grab a piece even while it's very hot, dip it generously in the Marinara sauce, then take a bite. Forget about your burnt tongue. You'll thank me later. This might seem expensive for an appetizer, but then again mozzarella ain't cheap.

Kim got Jack Daniels Triple Treat Barrel Chicken, Chop & Shrimp.

Jack Daniels . php.

The set included porkchops, quarter chicken, and shrimps. All cooked/ glazed in Jack Daniel's sauce. Kim's regular order at TGIF is something similar to this, just without the porkchop. She said she loved how crispy the shrimp was, and how the Jack Daniel's dipping sauce complemented it with its sweetness. The chicken and porkchop was just okay. It was tender and juicy but the signature sauce was too sweet or weird for it.

I got Friday's Cheesburger for myself.

Friday's Cheesburger. 375php.

The patty was cooked medium rare. I should have asked for it to be medium- well. But even with that, the burger was great! I love burgers and Friday's has never disappointed me with theirs from all my visits here.

We each had a bottle of San Mig Light.

SMB Light. 85php.

Dining at Friday's isn't cheap. But the ambiance -- American diner/ steakhouse full of Americana, and the quality of food more than makes up for the dent in the wallet.

T.G.I. Friday's
Quadrant B3, Bonifacio High Street Taguig City
Contact No - 8562996 | Fax No - 8562997
http://fridays.com.ph/
https://www.facebook.com/welovefridays