Bang-for-the-buck banquet at King Bee Chinese Restaurant

My mom and us siblings recently marked the first death anniversary of our dad. Since he was laid to rest in Antipolo, we decided to look for a restaurant there where we could take our relatives after praying in the cemetery. One of our cousins who lives in Antipolo (we take residence in Manila) was the one who looked for a suitable place for our huge group (we were 34 in all). His choice? King Bee Chinese Restaurant, which turned out to be a very good choice in terms of service from the time I called for arrangements a few days before the date till we were actually there. After giving our orders over the phone, I was asked to text an hour before our expected time of arrival so they could start preparing all the food. Very convenient and hassle-free! On the day itself, 
everything went smoothly and we were immediately 
served the food once we were seated. 
Our orders:

Hototay soup

Our soup being poured into mini bowls.

Yang chow fried rice

White chicken

Bihon guisado

Lumpiang Shanghai

King Bee fried chicken

My family and our relatives were satisfied about the nice, filling meal that we enjoyed over loads of laughter and banter. I personally liked all our orders except for the Lumpiang Shanghai basically because of its unusual size. I (all of us in our table, actually) thought it wasn't "normal" for it to come in such a large size, making it uhmmm... dubious. Tee-hee. And the crunch was absent, too, which is sad because it's what makes me love lumpiang Shanghai aside of course, from the taste. Everything else was delicious, though, specially the Hototay soup and White Chicken. But as for the pancit bihon, I remember having it sooo good at King Bee-Fisher Mall, way better than the one we had  here in Antipolo, which was a bit dry. Hmmm..

Anyway, we didn't order any dessert because we brought a huge box of delicious "sapin-sapin" that my sister-in-law gave. And bless the King Bee manager, not only did he not charge us corkage fee, he even had the sapin-sapin plated and sliced for us. What excellent service! 

What's more, our bill was surprisingly low at only a little over P7,000, considering we were 34 persons in our group. Wow, real value for money!

I would definitely recommend King Bee Chinese Restaurant to everyone as it's perfect for family dining. Food is generally good at very affordable prices and service is fast, friendly and attentive.

Inside King Bee-Antipolo

King Bee at 120 Marcos Highway, Antipolo City

King Bee Chinese Restaurant also has branches in Fisher Mall, Commonwealth and 
E. Rodriguez in Quezon City, Las Pinas, Laguna, Cavite and in Angono, Rizal. 
Visit their website and Facebook account for more information.
Happy eating, folks!

A taste of Lebanese cuisine at Beiruti Bite

When I saw this relatively new (less than a year-old?) restaurant on Facebook, it stirred such excitement in my foodie heart, making me want to be there at once and wished I could "teleport". Hehe... I was then at the height of my Middle Eastern/Mediterranean cuisine journey, and ate shawarma or falafel, 
or kebab at every chance I had. 
Beiruti Bite, offering Lebanese/Mediterranean cuisine and with simple, cheery ambiance, couldn't be a better place to go. It was accessible, affordable, exciting! Just looking at the food pictures on social media made me hungry! Thankfully, it didn't take so long before I was able to haul off myself and my office food buddy to Timog Ave. in Quezon City for our afternoon break one weekday.

At Beiruti Bite, we were introduced to Lebanese Chef Elly Kasser, who was very friendly he even let us watch him cook our orders and have a picture taken with him. Minutes later, our orders were served. Our eyes feasted on the bevy of colors 
right there on our plates!

Beef Shawarma with rice, P180.
I opted for this heavy fare because I hadn't had lunch at 3 p.m. And this shawarma was so different from the all the others that I've had before. I knew it even before I tasted it, just by looking and smelling the aroma. Notice that the chunks of beef are of beautiful burgundy color. And the aroma was very strong and distinct! The taste? Different, too, from that of the usual shawarma I eat, moreso when I mix in some tahini sauce. The beef is a bit sweet and the texture (and not to mention the color) reminded me of chunky corned beef. I guess this is how Lebanese shawarma really is. It's delicious in its own way. I loved, too, that it's accompanied with lots of veggies that made my lunch 
not just colorful but healthy, too.

                      Tahini and garlic sauce served with shawarma rice                                            Tahini is a sauce traditionally used in Middle Eastern cuisine and made out of tahini paste, garlic, lemon juice and water.

Jebneh, P60.
Jebneh is Lebanese cheese pie. The taste makes you think you're eating soft-dough pizza. My friend ordered this and she loved it.  She let me taste it and I, a certified cheese-lover, found it very tasty! It would be perfect to have if you want a light snack to have with coffee.

Beiruti Bite Champagne, P120.
This was my friend's drink which she raved about. I tasted it, too and swore by its delicious fruity punch! Don't be fooled by its name because it's non--alcoholic and my friend was able to go back to work afterwards. Haha! This was so refreshing and healthy, too! Those chunks of apple and peach were delicious and fun to eat in between sips. 

Turkish Coffee, P50.
I loved that this was very much like "normal" coffee, only a bit too strong so I asked for some hot water to dilute it. Coffee in Mediterranean and Middle Eastern countries is made and served in small metal (usually copper) pots called "ibrik" or cezve".

Menu

  Inside Beiruti Bite

Lebanese food, soda and beer on display and maybe for sale (I forgot to ask!)

Beiruti Bite is at ITC Bldg., Panay Ave. corner Timog Ave., Quezon City

It was one exciting foodie adventure we had at Beiruti Bite as we took in 

both food and culture. I hope to be back soon to try the other Lebanese/Mediterranean dishes they offer. Hope to meet you there, folks, one of these days. 

Happy eating!

Shawarma Snack Center: Ermita's best-kept secret?

Where were you and what were you doing on Good Friday? Me? Food tripping! In between church activities and service, that is. I know those who are Catholic abstain from meat or too much food during Lent, but we born-again Christians have a different practice and particularly at our church, we do have an annual fast 
for three days after New Year's Day. 
Last Good Friday, activities and service in our church lasted from 9 a.m. till 8 p.m. and in between, we had an over two-hour break so I decided to make a little trip into one of those small streets in Ermita, Manila near our church, where one 
can find authentic Middle Eastern food. 
This post, by the way, is Part 2 of my Middle Eastern cuisine journey sharing. In my previous post, I shared about Mister Kabab, where I started that "journey", and also Hassan Kabab and Steaks, and Kebab Turki Baba Rafi. Now, as I've mentioned, I'm sharing about Shawarma Snack Center, which is a gem tucked away in Ermita, 
for those who love Middle Eastern food.

SSC at #484 R. Salas St., Ermita, Manila

We reached SSC by crossing Adriatico St. from Robinson's Place Manila and walking on that alley, R. Salas, toward Roxas Blvd. We crossed Mabini St., too, and then M. H. del Pilar, and then there was SSC in just a few more steps. It's huge, you can't miss it. Also, there's two of them, one in front of another. The one on the right (if you're going towards Roxas Blvd. from Adriatico), is like a carinderia and is not air-conditioned while the one opposite it is much bigger and is air-conditioned. We chose the latter.

Main entrance

We went through this door and seated ourselves. I was a little surprised that the room was almost full and that most of the customers were Middle Eastern-looking foreigners. However, most of them were smoking using a strange-looking apparatus that I later learned to be hookah (they were smoking shisha or flavored tobacco), and I felt uncomfortable. Good thing a server offered to bring us upstairs, saying he knew by the look in our faces that we didn't smoke. Tee-hee. 
But then, it was full upstairs with not a single table vacant so we had no choice but to go outside, in the open-air smoking area, which was huge! Thankfully, we were the only ones there so nobody was smoking. We were handed the menu and 
after some time, we had our orders:

Falafel Sandwich, P85.
I just love how a plate of Middle Eastern food bursts with bright colors from those slices of fresh vegetables and herbs. Very healthy too! I ordered this because I loved falafel the first time I tasted it at Mister Kabab. Falafel, just in case you don't know, is deep-fried mashed chickpeas or garbanzos, and eaten in between folded pita bread. I don't eat falafel as a sandwich, however. I eat the veggie balls and pita separetely. I just bite into those browned patties and tear the pita into small bits and dip them into hummus before munching on it. Well, at Mister Kabab, the dip that accompanied the falafel was hummus. But here at SSC, I forgot to ask, 
though I ate my food the same way.

Pita bread

Turkish coffee, P85.
It was my first time to try this coffee and I was excited, only to be taken aback by the distinct aroma. Also, it was very thick and very strong! I was only able to have a few sips. Turkish coffee, by the way is made and served using a small pot usually of copper material called an "ibrik" or "cezve" that is shown in the picture above.

Beef Shawarma with rice, P195. 
This was my daughter's order, some of which I got to eat. The serving, as you can see, is big! The slices of grilled beef are tender and tasty, much more when mixed with the white garlicky sauce.  Again, lots of veggies which I love!

Menu

      Upstairs smoking area

This is where we were seated. That's my daughter reading the menu.

The "other" SSC across the street.

It was a great foodie experience dining at Shawarma Snack Center, which, to me, is Ermita's "best-kept secret". Here, the food and company you have will make you feel like being instantly transported to the Middle East!  
Happy eating!
*  Next in my Middle Eastern cuisine series, Beiruti Bite!