Late Lunch at Figaro

Awhile ago, my brother and I met our sister at Shangri-la mall.  We got some gift checks from our mom to spend in the mall. However, we end up eating instead.

I think my siblings understood my need to take pictures of the food we eat every meal.  They even waited for me to take pics of their own food before they actually eat it.

This time, we stopped by at Figaro.  It was our parents' favorite cafe even though they both don't drink real coffee.

Today we ordered the following:

The Five Cheese Pizza

I wonder if there were really five types of cheese in this pizza. 

The amount of cheese is much less than those Ultimate Cheese Pizza of Pizza Hut.

But my sister wanted this more than the regular pizza we buy

from the more well-known pizza restaurants.

Tabasco sauce goes well with this pizza, by the way.

I turned over the slice of pizza and found out it was made of focaccia bread.

I love Pasta ala Carlo.

It was with this pasta that I learned about pesto and basil leaves

years ago.  Also, because of Figaro's Pasta ala Carlo, we learned 

to prepare non-creamy spaghetti. Instead, we started using olive

oil in our pasta at home. 

Chicken Caesar Sandwich

This was what my brother ordered.

I don't know the taste

hence, I couldn't give you a review.

But he seemed to like it very much.

My sister tried Figaro's Peach Latte.

I recommended that she try it because I already did

weeks ago.  I also told her not to put any sugar in it

because the sweet aroma of peach syrup in the coffee is enough

to make you think it is that sweet.

Here's the newest thing I tried from Figaro.

It's White Chocolate Macadamia Roast.

I like this drink because it was not too sweet.

I asked if they have a sugar substitute. But they told me

that they were using real white chocolate bars

and couldn't find any substitute for that.

Well, that works for me too. LOL!

Mommy's Salad

My mom loves fresh leafy greens.  So when she was able to have a small yard in Tagaytay, the only thing she wants is plant and harvest ingredients for her salad.  I think we recently harvested carrots last weekend.

She's been bringing Romaine lettuce here in Manila from her garden and I have been enjoying them in my sandwich.  I love how crunchy they were.

During our visit last weekend, she was able to harvest cherry tomatoes too and so, she prepared a bowl of salad for us.

Almost everything was from her garden except for the grapes. I think we need a larger yard for that.

MokkiLato

One week ago, I stopped by for ice cream while waiting for our order in Hypermarket along Libis, Pasig.  I was so tempted when I saw the trays of colorful ice cream. I gave in when I read one of them as Ferrero-flavored ice cream.  I was just appalled by the price of each small cup.

Sadly, it didn't taste like Ferrero Rocher.  It was not money well-spent.  

I wish there was BTIC around which I could have bought instead.

The BTIC Kahlua is far better than MokkiLato.

Yellow Cab's Dear Darla

Dear Darla,

When I saw your billboard while driving along a main road here in Manila around a year ago, I wanted to try you out.  I don't think I know any pizza that was eaten the way you are supposed to be eaten.  Also, because of you, I was able to eat alfalfa.  I couldn't have known any other alfalfa besides the kid character in some movie ages ago if it wasn't for you.  You are also very heavy on the tummy.  I think I usually can eat just two rolls of you and I'm good to go.

You are the greatest pizza innovation so far.

Love to eat you always,

Anne :)

Snacking at Pancake House

Awhile ago, after my dental visit, my mom and I stopped by a small branch of Pancake House in Robinson's Metro East mall.  I ordered the House Special Set which consisted of Tacos, Spaghetti, Fried Chicken and toast.  In short, all that I wanted in one plate.

I love their tacos.  I think they bake their own taco shell.  And their tacos are far from being Mexican.  I think it's more of a salad in the form of a taco.  I don't know how fresh their vegetables are but so far, I've never encountered Pancake House taco I didn't like.

I was able to try out their chocolate banana shake.  My mom ordered it for me because she knows I love creamy shakes most especially.  Actually, it didn't appeal to me while looking at it in their menu.  I wasn't in the mood for sipping creamy and sweet beverages these days. I think I 'm coming down with something.  Anyway, when you drink this, it's like you're sipping a whole lot of bananas.  I think the chocolate syrup got lost in all those bananas in that one tall glass.

I think Pancake House has the best tasting yogurt there is.  I have tasted frozen yogurts from other brands but I think Pancake House serves the best of them all.  I ordered the one with a big helping of sansrival bits on them. I highly recommend this and that includes the sansrival toppings.  Oh, by the way, they call it Gurtz.

Kit Kat Orange

I have tasted orange-flavored chocolates before but I haven't tasted something as orange-y as Kit Kat's Orange before.  Upon breaking into its foil wrapper, you could already smell the orange scent.  And when you take a bite of it, the original taste of Kit Kat chocolate is all gone.  What's left is somewhat creamy chocolate-y orange-covered wafer.  I think they gave a generous helping of orange oils on their chocolate mixtures.  

You'll like it too if you're into something different.

Ritter's Biscuit-Filled Milk Chocolate

All I can say is this is such an English chocolate.

The Brit has been known to have invented chocolate-covered biscuits.  Ritter's takes it into a higher level.  The proportion of chocolate to the biscuit is more than 100%.  We have our our own version - Fibisco's Crunchies which I also love.

But this one, it's really something. There are small biscuits inside.  And when the chocolate is slightly soft, you'd think that you have dunked the biscuits in very thick semi-sweet chocolate.

If you feel like you're not impressed, you could have another choice. 

Somebody brought this home and I was the one who opened

 it because it will probably end up forgotten.

Kimpura in Trinoma

Last weekend, my sister told me to get ready because we were going out for lunch. The reason was that the cook left with my parents for Tagaytay. And there was nothing to cook since nobody has done the weekend food shopping in the nearby wet and dry market akapalengke.  LOL!

And so, we roamed around Trinoma to look for something different to eat since my siblings were as adventurous as I am when it comes to food.  And so, we saw the big letters of Kimpura beside their restaurant.  We entered the restaurant since Japanese food sounded good to all of us at that time. 

And so we tried the restaurant for the first time.  (But I believe, this restaurant has been around for a long time already.)

Some fish, seaweed and vegetables for the appetizer. 

 The plate was so small.  It was like they were giving us a preview

 of the meal that was about to come our way. 

Another small plate of their appetizer of seaweeds

A cup of miso soup taste the same as other restaurants'.

Super California Maki is bigger than the regular makis I had before.

 Also, it is topped with sweet and crunchy slice of fish.    

Tori Chizu Maki...

...is oozing with cheese.

Okonomiyaki is another term for Japanese pizza.

 I thought the cook was going to give us something that tasted like scrambled egg 

because it looked like the one below when it is being cooked.

It turned out like this.

I can't describe exactly how it turned out but it is pretty good.  

It tasted like barbecue-flavored pizza.  Their version of their pizza was soft but not soggy.

I'd hate it if I was eating something soggy.

Beef Usuyaki are rolled beef slices filled with vegetables.

It didn't look very impressive but it really tasted good. 

It oozed with chopped and sliced and diced vegetables.

The beef was tender and juicy.

They were very thin slices of beef that was cooked first then rolled.

Here now is the Oyster Filled Bacon!  

I didn't get the Japanese name of this one but I kept the taste in my mind. 

I'd hate it if pork tasted too porky.

This one wasn't like that.  

The bacon tasted better than most bacon. 

You enjoy it more since it blended with 

the taste of oyster.

The combination may sound strange to you

but trust me when I say that it is really good.

Here's the plate the cook fills up with food every now and then.

They serve green tea as their house tea. 

This is us watching the cook cook. LOL!  

By the way, you wouldn't really smell 

like you've done any grilling or cooking

when you dine in this way.  

I think the exhaust works so well, it doesn't allow any smoke

to go our way.

I wish my siblings enjoyed it as much as I did so that 

we could visit Kimpura again.

CBTL's Apple Caramel Blended Cream

Awhile ago, we were in Trinoma because my sister had to meet someone for a (monkey) business transaction.  LOL!  She made the meeting place to be in Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf because it was nearby Kimpura where we ate lunch (another blog post for that, though).

Since I don't frequent these pricey coffee shops anymore these days, I ordered their featured new drink - Apple Caramel Blended Cream.  I'm a fan of anything that is caramelized (hence, my love for leche flan).

It seems that I was drinking a creamy apple juice with a hint of caramel.  I'm not that thrilled with the drink at all. Maybe it's because of my preference for coffee that my taste bud was looking for it when I entered CBTL.  Too bad, I should have bought myself a coffee drink instead.

Anyway, it was still good to try something new.

Flat Pasta

Sometimes, here in my parents' home, you just open the fridge and there they are - good-as-new leftover food.  Before I ask the cook to prepare a meal, I always have to check the fridge for these leftover goodies.  I have become designated recipient of doggy bags in this house.  Sure! It's pathetic.  But since I enjoy them, nonetheless, I don't mind eating them at all.

So one time, I opened those non-earth friendly styropor package and found something I've never tried before.  It was a two layer flat lasagna-like pasta meal.  It tasted like lasagna to me.  But the thick non-salty, white cheese in between the flat pasta was something else.  I think it tasted like carabao cheese (kesong puti) or feta cheese to me.  It's too bad that I'm not familiar with all types of  cheeses.  I really want to identify it in this dish.

I don't even know from what restaurant it came from.  Teehee!  Still, it was still worthy of a food blog.  :))

Pork Steak

Spent yesterday afternoon with Honey in the apartment.  And he prepared lunch for both of us.  I don't miss his cooking so much.  It's because he keeps sending me food at home.  Also, I think we're going to have our weekly visit with him every Saturday.  I have to pass up trips to Tagaytay every weekend in the process.

He prepared pork steak and mango-banana milk drink.  And I was trying my very best not to get my 3rd serving of rice.  I finished my 2nd serving but it wasn't enough.  I really wanted more.  But the thought of gaining a lot of weight and trying to lose them all over again was enough for me not to scrape of rice from the rice pot.

Since he's Bicolano, he made the pork steak medium to very spicy.  It wasn't as salty as expected considering that he cooked it in soy sauce.  And the pork was tender.  He placed a lot of onions in it and the appetizing aroma filled our apartment.  I love the sweetness the onions brought to the dish.

It was a fusion of sweet, spicy and salty.

  We were almost done with one jug of mango-banana creamy milk drink.  We were talking about getting our own blender someday if we finally have the budget for it.  Then we will have fruit shakes anytime we want.

And for merienda at 4pm, he prepared noodle soup using noodles from Bicol.  He calls it Pancit Bato or Pancit Bicol named after where it originated.  It consist of flour noodles, and chicken liver (Yes, liver for snack). He said that it doesn't quite taste as one would expect when one eats Pancit Bicol.  Well, at least he tried his best.  And at least, I tried something new again.

Yan Yan

There are just some things you can't let go.  In my case, I couldn't get over some of the goodies from childhood. One of them is a canister of crackers and chocolate dip.  If the west has cheese and crackers snacks for children, the east has chocolate dip instead of cheese.  And I must say, ours is better than theirs.  I still like cheese and crackers, mind you but it's not as enjoyable as chocolate.

Yan Yan was for special days back then.  I think I was able to eat them only when I was going out for a field trip.  It was expensive back then and it is still relatively expensive to eat one nowadays.

Children today can read words on the crackers.  Mostly, three letter word.  And at the other end of the stick is the short clue of what that word is.  If I was a kid, I would read each one.  But now that I'm an adult and I'm just after the enjoyment of eating, I don't bother to read them at all.

I think Meiji's Yan Yan's chocolate dip is in line with that of Nutella.  It doesn't taste the same but you enjoy it as much.

I had Yan Yan for dinner last night.  And I had nothing but good dreams and a deep sleep.

Reyes' Chicken and Pork Barbecue

For some people (like hubby and me) who are constantly on a tight budget, there are some things that they can actually enjoy.  And one of them is Reyes' Barbecue on a stick.  I usually order one stick of pork and one stick of chicken barbecue.  One cup of their java rice is not enough so we have to order another cup.  This time, we buy ourselves some plain steamed rice instead.  (But of course, if we were okay to splurge, we would have gotten another Java rice.)

I love their peanut sauce that can go with anything you order in Reyes.