San Jacinto Panciteria On A Sunday

You know you're in a Chinese restaurant when you see a small bowl with a ceramic soup spoon.

Classic :)

San Jacinto Panciteria has been along C5 Libis (Across SM Hypermarket)

for more than 15 years already.

And yesterday, we were supposed to go to Pancake House for lunch.

It's a good thing my sister did a quick thinking and thought of one of 

our favorite family restaurants - San Jacinto Panciteria.

Menu 4 Stars 

They didn't have the shrimp salad until now.

Taste: 5 stars!

Gotta try that San Jacinto Chow Mein... the blurry picture below.

Ambiance: 5 stars!

It's a Chinese restaurant but the restaurant is themed country-style.

I don't mind the contrast from the food.  

It's a very homey place.

Service: 5 Stars!

I don't know if this really holds true but every table seemed to have it's own waiter.

(Most pictures are blurry... so sad!  I was carrying my daughter while running around the table to take pictures of the food before people started digging in.)

Garlic Broccoli

Yang Chow (Kanin pa lang, ulam na!)

Everyone's favorite:
Seaweeds

Fish fillet with special Soy Sauce. 

When they say special soy sauce, they really mean it. 

I poured some of it on my rice.  Sarap!

San Jacinto Chow Mein

This is their signature dish.  

I love this (among everything else).

We looked for something cheap and something everyone can enjoy.

Almond Jelly :)

Home Brewed Iced Tea

And you can't dine without safe drinking water.

Household Lunch at Sushiya Megamall

It was my mother's idea that the whole household go out for lunch.  And so, with my sister in charge, she chose Japanese food for the day.

Taste: 3 stars
^^ But their Kani Wasabi Salad can get a 5 stars from me!  I'm going to go back there just for another serving of this one!

Ambiance: 3 stars
^^ The place is a bit dim.  There were not enough lighting.  I'd rather eat where I can see exactly what I'm eating.

Food choices: 3 stars

Service: 4 stars
^^ I was tempted to give it a 2 Stars because the lady manager thinks it's beyond her to help out in serving the customers.  There was a waiter and a waitress who were friendly and dutiful enough to the work though.

I swear by the KANI WASABI SALAD.

We tried Salmon Surprise Maki 

and Dynamite Rolls (No photos).

The Gyudon looks good.

I ordered this Pork Curry Ramen and it's not good at all.

I thought it would taste as the Curry Noodle soup I had in Heat but it was far from it.

Chicken Terriyake for my grandparents.

I wasn't able to take pictures of the Shrimp Tempura and Katsudon but you already know what it looks like.

I don't know but the Katsudon may not be as good as I have expected because one of our househelp had her leftovers to go.  She said it was lacking taste.  Not savory enough for my Ate Rose. Heheh!

Luncheon at Josephine's

As per my dad's request, we ate at Josephine's Tagaytay for Father's Day.

Food: 3 stars

Ambiance: 5 stars

Service: 4 stars

Price: 5 stars

Mutya Ng Cavite

Creamy seafood soup for starters

And the line up started with Kare-Kare

Seafood Paella is relatively good in comparison with the others that I tasted before.

Waaah!  I miss you Crispy Pata!

Fisherman's Basket is a bit of a mess

but the taste was definitely not.

I had Josephine's Freshly Brewed Iced Tea.

I'd have to say Pho Hoa still has the best iced tea.

Sweet Endings:

A cup of Macchiato

Kahlua Sansrival

And that's the latest trip to Josephine's.

Magnolia's Apple Strudel Ice Cream

Yesterday, while I was on my way to our house in Tagaytay, I just had this random thought that I have never tasted apple-flavored ice cream. 

When we reached our home, my parents were not in sight and the helper told us that they were doing some grocery shopping in Robinson's supermarket along the highway.  When they came in a few minutes later, I saw an ice cream container in one of the bags my father was carrying.  

I took a peak and what do you know? It was Apple Strudel ice cream.  

The colors are whimsical just the way I felt when I was eating my bowl of ice cream.

I swear it was really good.  There were apple bits (like the one we get from McDonalds' Apple Pie) and chocolate-covered pretzels.  

Dimsum: Shrimp Siomai

My husband first bought this from his boss's wife a long time ago who lives in our neighborhood.  And ever since, according to him, he hasn't tasted anything better.  He has been gushing about it for a long time and today, I finally am able to take a taste.  He buys it uncooked and frozen. He likes them steamed but, as always, I like them fried and crunchy like everything else.  

Now I know why my husband likes it very much.

All I can taste is shrimp. It's like a big ball of shrimp.

I believe there was no extenders in these. 

And that is what makes them soooo good.

Hubby let me take home the rest of the frozen dimsum's for tomorrow's lunch at work.

Thanks Honey!

Hubby's Nilagang Baka (Beef Casserole)

We had our monthly visit in our apartment.  And my husband had cooked for me and our six-month old Via.  He cooked potatoes with the Nilagang Baka.  When the potatoes were cooked with only iodized salt as the seasoning, he placed it on a separate container, put some soup in it and sealed it for Via's consumption.  After which, he seasoned his spicy Nilagang Baka version for the both of us.

My hubby's Nilaga is one of the best I've tasted.  No bias here.

It wasn't even oily (although you can see the latak on the sides of the pot.  

He took the sebo out while he was boiling to make the beef tender.

And look how fresh the pechay is. 

Dexter's Jungle Cake For Gabino

My nephew turned three one month ago and they celebrated it at Jollibee Katipunan.  My sister had his cake ordered from Dexter's as always.

This time, he had a jungle-themed, orange-flavored cake.
I think it is the best-tasting cake I tasted from Dexter's yet.
I haven't tasted all of them yet, that's why.  :)

We didn't think anyone would come to the party because it was raining heavily.

But to our surprise, the tables were filled up even though most of the guests were late.

I think all Jollibee birthdays I have been to have always been super fun.

And my nephew's party wasn't an exception.  

Kudos to the Jollibee staff in Katipunan for doing a great job

in hosting my nephew's birthday.

PHo Hoa's Noodle Soup

I can't deny it.  I'm a sucker for noodle dishes.  And it's a good thing there's Pho Hoa in the country.  I would have missed how good a Vietnamese noodle soups would have tasted.

Pho Hoa Megamall Branch

Taste: 5 stars

Service: 4 stars

Ambiance: 4 stars
(I love the apple green with soft white yellow lighting.)

Price: 3 stars
(Hope they cost less so I could eat a lot more)

Menu: 4 stars
(Their menu haven't changed so much for a long time but I don't mind at all. The choices are more than enough.)

Coffee and Tea in CBTL

After that late lunch in some Mediterranean restaurant, my sister and I headed to the nearest coffee shop in the compound (Meralco Compound).  I was to catch up on my reading and she, to start watching her tutorial videos.  I don't know why, but we seem to do more work when we're outside the house.

Anyway, I had a hot cup of Chai Tea Latte and she got her coffee which I forgot what kind.

I enjoy Chai Tea Frappe in Starbucks but I like it hot when I'm in CBTL.

Note: I'm not really a fan of pricey signature drinks because I believe that you can prepare them at home or you can get a cheaper version without sacrificing the taste.  But there are not so many coffee shops that serve this kind of drink.  I wish there were.

My camera has lost it's zooming in function for a month now.  All of my pictures have shadows on them... my shadows!  Darn it.

Late Lunch at Cafe Mediterranean

When I say late, I mean almost three in the afternoon.  My lunch break at work is 8 in the morning and after that, there's no more snacking until I head home.  So when my sister invited me to have late lunch with her, I didn't think twice before I said "yes".  Usually, I head straight home to eat a quick snack before I take a nap beside my baby.

We headed to Rockwell Center beside Medical City.  And among the few restaurants they have there, we chose Cafe Mediterranean.  No Japanese food for us that afternoon even though we saw Kimono Ken almost beside it.

Ambiance: 4 stars
Food: 4 stars
Service: 5 stars
Price: 3.5 stars

Even the floors scream Mediterranean.

This is my sister's favorite: Quattro Formaggi.  

There's not a lot of cheese on it.

Even so, the pizza was bursting with flavor.

It has mozzarella, gorgonzola, fontina and parmessan cheese on it.

White one is not so spicy while the other one is truly spicy.

I drizzled some on my slice.

One plate was good for two.  

We made a mistake of ordering one for each of us.

But not really, because there was almost nothing left on my plate

when I was through with it.

Some couscous which I objected to when my sister was ordering it.

I'm not a fan of couscous.  I rather have the long grained ones they serve

in this kind of restaurants.

Egyptian Spiced Orange and Raisins P95.00

Now, I highly recommend this for those people who want to try something different from the usual.

The panna cotta is so soft, you wonder how it held up like that.

The topping is originally poured over vanilla ice cream in the Middle East.

In this restaurant, they tried pouring it on panna cotta. 

Perfect to end a late lunch.

Godiva's Thin Squares

Well, they're not really called "thin squares".  I just used the term because they really are thin squares of milk chocolates.  Although it is not comparable to a Hershey's chocolate bar or Twix caramel chocolate-covered camachile cookies (ehehe!), they have this "breather" effect on me.  So comforting!

One bar didn't last long.

Cherries

My mom went to Bangkok last weekend with a couple of her shopingera friends.  We were all anticipating all the sweet tamarind she was going to bring home for us.  But when I got home on the day she arrived, I opened the fridge and I found the plastic bags of Cherries.  A couple of bags contained the light colored ones and the others contained dark cherries.  They all looked so scrumptious.  

And they really were.  There was some crunch in them which tells me they are really almost freshly harvested.  I didn't know Thailand grew cherries.    

Shakey's Pizza Night

I still think Shakey's Pizza Parlor serves the best pepperoni pizza on thin crust.  It is best eaten when you sprinkle it with dashes of salt and ground pepper.  And sometimes, you may crank it up a bit with Tabasco green pepper sauce.

Best eaten upon delivery ;)