Lechon feast for everyone at Lechon Haus

Lechon, that golden, glorious-looking whole roasted pig is no doubt the star of 
any feast whether we Pinoys are celebrating Christmas, a town fiesta, 
birthday, or practically any occasion. But at around P5,000 for the 
smallest pig, not anyone can afford it. 
Good thing there's now Lechon Haus, a casual restaurant that serves delicious lechon at a very affordable price. It's been my go-to place on those times that I'm craving for lechon, especially its crunchy, crackling skin. They serve other Pinoy food favorites too such as pancit, sisig and halo-halo. And they offer unli-rice, which could be the reason I see many students dining at their store in SM Manila, which is the only branch I've gone to. Young ones do eat a lot of rice! (Like I also used to. Haha!) 
These are what I've had at Lechon Haus:

Lechon Belly with rice 

Tender, juicy meat and crackling skin. Love, love, love! 

Half-Half (lechon belly with chicken and rice)

If you're craving for lechon but want chicken, too, fret not 'coz you can have both 
in a single order. It's a steal at just P149.!

Sizzling Pork Sisig with rice

I'm not a fan of sisig but decided to try this one time. It's juicy and flavorful but because I love all things spicy, I put in some chili for some zing. 
Thumbs up for this pork Sisig! 

Garlic Kangkong
This is the only veggie dish on the menu and a good one at that. I love garlic, especially the toasted bits sprinkled on top. This dish, although simple, is flavor-packed. Good to have as side dish for any of the meat and seafood 
(they have Buttered Shrimps!) dish. 

 Menu

Interiors

Lechon Haus at the third level of SM City Manila 


Lechon Haus currently has 19 branches nationwide. Aside from the one at SM City Manila, they also have stores at other major malls (mostly SM) in some key cities. 
Visit one near you when you're having the lechon feels. 
Happy feasting! 

Earth Hour 2019

Where were you during Earth Hour last Saturday, March 30? I was at SM City Manila, enjoying a bowl of ramen, completely forgetting about it because of hunger. When I was done eating and went out of the restaurant, I was surprised how dark it was 
at the mall. Then I quickly realized it was Earth Hour. 

Hats off to SM Malls for showing love for the environment by participating in this annual lights-out event! Shops still had some lights on but the 
mall itself turned off most of them.

If there's one advocacy that's close to my heart, it's caring for the environment. I believe that doing something good to God's creation is a form of worship. 

That said, I encourage everyone not to throw garbage anywhere, to help clean up our waterways when we have the chance, to plant trees and
 to minimize the use of plastics. 

And because it's summer, I also appeal to beach goers to use only all-natural sunscreens and lotion because the chemicals in most commercial products can do harm first, to people who are using them and second, to marine life. 
Let's all be caretakers of Mother Earth. After all, it's the only home 
we've got while in this present life. 

Red Table for good, affordable Korean food

How often do you have that feeling of coming out of a restaurant happy and fully satisfied because you've just had a delicious, filling meal and without breaking the bank as a bonus? That's exactly my feels every time I have my favorites at Red Table -- that casual Korean restaurant that you find at SM Malls. I say every time I have my favorites because not every order left me truly happy. There are some things that were quite good and then there were those were really, really good 
that I crave for them from time to time.

I love Red Table for a number of reasons: One, they serve yummy, flavor-packed food. Two, their serving size is perfect for me. Not too little, not too much (I'm not a fan of "unli" restaurants because even though I love food, I don't and can't eat much). 
Three, I love Korean food for scoring high in the nutrition department

(there's always vegetables whatever you order). 

And four, I love the affordability. 

Well, here are the dishes that I've so far tried at Red Table. 
At the top are my favorites while at the bottom are those that are not.

Samgyupsal
I super love the flavorful, tender and juicy meat, plus lots of onion and garlic slices. The soup and kimchi are included in the set but the cup of rice is ordered separately. I often crave 
for this filling and very satisfying meal. Two thumbs up!

Bibimbap
This is one of my top favorite Korean dishes. Healthy and delicious, it's a complete one-bowl meal with meat and veggies coming in a frenzy of colors, flavors and textures. Delicious!

Osam-Bulgogi
I was impressed by this flavor-packed dish of pork, squid and vegetables. The combination of sweetness and spiciness makes the taste buds dance in a delightful hysteria! Be forewarned, you'd be eating a lot of rice with this, so gather up some self-control 
if you're trying to cut back on carbs.

Sundubu jjige
This is spicy soft tofu stew that I fell in love with on first taste. That kick 
is sure to chase the blues away!

Bulgogi sizzling pan

Bite-sized beef slices are tender and fun to eat. Cabbage adds nutrients to this delicious viand.

Bulgogi deopbap

I hope I remembered right the name of this dish. The sunny side-up egg makes 

the bulgogi one notch more filling and satisfying.

Japchae
Korean pancit with glass noodles, beef and veggie strips plus strings of fried scrambled egg. 
This one's yummy but a bit too saccharine for me.

Gimbap
Korean version of my favorite Japanese comfort food. I still prefer sushi, though.

Menu

 Inside Red Table at SM City San Lazaro

Red Table is my go-to place when I'm either at SM  San Lazaro or Manila and craving for my Korean food favorites. Most of their offers are really good and no item on the menu is above P200 per order.That means saving a lot of moolah compared to eating at unli-barbecue restaurants (That is if you aren't a big eater or not famished, I clarify). What's more, the place is nice and clean and servers are courteous. 
There's nothing that's hard to love at this place!

Gerry's Restaurant and Bar: My new fave Pinoy food place

Gerry's Restaurant and Bar (formerly Gerry's Grill) is one of the most 
established chains of Filipino restaurants in the country. With 75 branches across the country and abroad, it's just about anywhere! Whatever mall you go to, you can be sure to find a Gerry's Restaurant and Bar. And it's been around for 19 years already, since its very first store opened 
in Tomas Morato in 1997.
This is why I don't know why it took me so long before I ate here for the first time only this year. I was chaperoning my sister who was vacationing from the US. It had been three weeks into her vacay and we've dined at most Pinoy restos in the malls except for Gerry's Grill. Finally, we were there at the SM City Manila branch. My son and his girlfriend, who were incidentally in the same mall, joined us for merienda.

Our orders:

Pancit bihon, P165. If you've been a regular visitor to this site, you already know that I love pancit bihon but am choosy with it. Well, Gerry's version did not disappoint and I actually loved it. Delicious and meaty!

Pancit palabok, P175. This one's my second favorite among Pinoy noodle dishes and I also loved it here at Gerry's. The sauce is not so much, just enough to cover and flavor the noodles. Thumbs up!

 Fried chicken, P255. I loved that this all-time favorite food of mine wasn't only delicious and crunchy, it's also served with fries. It's double the yum! I'm sure kids would love Gerry's fried chicken.. One serving has six pieces.

Batchoy, P135. Though we've ordered quite a lot or more than we could eat, my sister couldn't resist a bowl of hot soup. Batchoy is her favorite noodle soup dish as well as mine. And Gerry's served justice to this original Ilonggo favorite. Perfect for warming up a growling tummy!

Iced tea, P80 (bottomless); Coffee mug, P65.

Gerry's Restaurant and Bar at SM City Manila

I loved Gerry's Restaurant and Bar on my first-ever visit and would certainly love to be back. It's a good family restaurant as the servings are huge and meant for sharing, but as it is also a bar, it's also a nice place (for some people), to bring their friends for a drink. The menu is impressively extensive - 12 pages! Whatever Pinoy food you're craving for, chances are it's offered at Gerry's Restaurant and Bar. From bulalo to sinigang, kare-kare, crispty pata, kilawin to sisig and inihaw na pusit, they're all available here! Prices are reasonable and service is friendly though a little slow, at least during that time and in that branch. You bet it's so apt a place to bring a balikbayan. 
See you, folks, at Gerry's Restaurant and Bar!
Happy eating!

Going solo at Big Daddy's

I rarely try out new restaurants without someone to share the fun with. Yesterday, though, I had the urge to eat for the first time at Big Daddy's in SM City Manila even by my lonesome after a medical check-up nearby. This restaurant offers mostly American comfort food like burgers, steaks and buffalo wings. But they also serve a few kinds of pasta 

as well as soup, taco and nachos. 

I ordered:

Angus Burger, P100.

Taco, P85.

Brewed coffee, P75.

                                            
                                                  Inside Big Daddy's at SM City Manila 

 

Is it obvious I was hungry? I demolished everything that was on the table. Haha! The grilled burger patty had a nice, smokey flavor. You might say it's a little bland but it's fine with me as I'd rather go low in salt. The mustard and some ketchup gave the burger more zing and I enjoyed eating my sandwich to the hilt. The taco was delicious! It was meaty, cheesy, full of Mexican flavors and with lots of chopped veggies. I enjoyed this one, too. And then, there was a cup of brewed coffee to end a satisfying lunch. Plus point for Big Daddy's

 for serving coffee! Well, not every restaurant does.

Try Big Daddy's, folks and enjoy great food at reasonable prices and served by friendly crew. They have branches at Ortigas Ave. in Pasig City, SM City Sucat, Kalayaan Ave. in Diliman, Quezon City, Tomas Morato also in Quezon City, and Metrowalk 
also in Pasig City, plus the one I visited 

at the 3rd floor of SM City Manila. 

Happy eating!

Good food, big servings at 8 Street Bites

Sunday as it was wont, was time to worship the Lord. I really prefer going to church on Saturdays as I want to reserve Sundays for household chores, but some errands would sometimes prompt me to go on a Sunday. Anyway, as we we needed to buy some things, my daughter and I went to SM Manila after worship service. In between shopping, we dropped by 8 Street Bites on the fourth level for something to fuel us up. It was my first time there, though I had been passing by this somewhat newbie (here in SM Manila and SM North Edsa) for some time. I was thrilled to see some pretty different things on the menu! 

And when our orders came, I was in for a pleasant surprise.

Servings were huge! We had:  

Street Bites Hamburger, P168.

Country Fried Chicken, P148.

French Fries, P28

Tiramisu, P68

Frostea, P48

Inside 8 Street Bites at SM City Manila

Another pleasant surprise when I took the first bites at our orders - everything was so good! 
I ordered the hamburger and my daughter, the fried chicken with milk gravy. The thick burger patty was perfectly spiced and grilled to perfection. There was coleslaw in it, slices of tomatoes, and crunchy onion rings on top. Yummy! I also raved about the fried chicken, which was delicious and not greasy even if it was battered, unlike those at some fast food chains. The milky gravy added some more goodness and enjoyment, making me want to take more bites. And there was a lot of chicken in an order that 
you'd be left fully satisfied and not wanting.
There was one thing that got me really disappointed, though - coffee was unavailable! Aaargh! It wasn't on the menu but it was written there at the counter, only it was not available at that time, I was told. I had to go down one level to get my coffee at McDonald's. Still, it was just a little trouble compared to enjoying the dessert to the hilt. Coffee and tiramisu was a perfectly lovely pair! I so loved the tiramisu at 8 Street Bites - just a bit sweet, thus, guilt-free. Meanwhile, my daughter's drink of choice was the Frostea, which, as I read somewhere, was much like the Slurpee at 7-11. And it came in a huge glass too! 
Well, I didn't find a thing to dislike at 8 Street Bites (except that there was no coffee!) and I urge you to try it, too, if you haven't. You'll thank me. Haha! Happy eating!

The 'trailblazing' French Baker

What's your favorite bakeshop? Mine is The French Baker - yes, that old bread place that's been around long before Eric Kayser, BreadTalk and Tous les Jours came ashore. In fact, it's been in our midst for more than 25 years now since it opened its first store at SM North Edsa. 
Trailblazer? I believe so! 
I love going to The French Baker not just to buy their delicious breads but to actually sit and dine at their cozy stores. What comfort it brings to take a break from shopping at the mall, just sit there for bread and a steaming bowl of soup and sip a delicious cup of brewed coffee. 
Sounds like a perfect time? Yes, indeed it is. :) 
These are what I've loved at The French Baker: 

Chicken salad croissant with sour cream potato chips, P185.

Ham and cheese Quiche Lorraine with soup of the day and honey balsamic greens, P195.

Clubhouse sandwich with potato chips and honey balsamic greens, P245.  

Beef Lasagna, P195.

Soup Starter, P85. 

Blueberry cheese cake, P80.

Carrot cake, P75.

Brewed Tchibo coffee, P85.

Four seasons juice, P62.

Brewed Citrus Iced Tea, P58. 

Iced Mocha, P64.

I love that they put lemon into their service water 

The French Baker at SM City Manila

Among the food items/breads I've had here at The French Baker, my top favorites are the quiche, soup,  salad and garlic toast, the latter also a favorite of my kids. These are perfect for a light snack on a lazy afternoon after church service or in between shopping or errands at the mall. Delicious, lightly filling, comforting. Of course, their Tchibo coffee is one of the best for me and a must whenever I visit. And may I add, it's quieter at French Baker than in most restaurants I go to, giving also the perfect atmosphere for a nice chat to catch up with friends. 
The branches I usually visit are at SM City Manila and Robinsons Magnolia.
Well, whatever you're having right now, happy eating, folks!