Ba Noi's and Honolulu Cafe REVISITED

It's been more than a week since I last posted something here. It was a busy week so I was not able to sit down and write something for you. However, even if it was a busy week, it didn't mean that I didn't get the chance to go out and eat good food. I have a rather long list of restaurants to feature now actually. But those reviews have to wait. What I'd like to do now is to give you feedback about the REVISITS I made in two places I previously discussed here -- Ba Noi's and Honolulu Cafe.

My friends and I went back to Ba Noi's the other day. We wanted to try their other dishes so we ordered chicken curry, fried spring rolls and grilled pork. Of course we ordered again our favorite shrimp and pomelo salad.

The fried spring rolls was flavorful. It looks like your regular lumpiang shaghai but there is a twist because you have to wrap it in lettuce before you eat it. Well, wrapping it in lettuce is not really a requirement but just a suggestion -- and I must say it is a very good suggestion. The spring rolls is crispy. The meat filling doesn't taste as if it has lots of flour or other extenders. The lettuce is crunchy as how fresh/raw lettuce should be.

The grilled pork doesn't not look different from other grilled pork chops served in other restaurants but it tastes different. It doesn't taste as if it has been marinated in soy sauce for hours. It has a slight hint of herbs but those who doesn't like herbs need not worry because as said, it is just 'slight'. One order of it means you'll get three pork chops/slabs (?)and some greens. Each slice of pork is big enough for one person with a regular appetite.

The chicken curry is nothing unique. It tastes just like those you'll find in other good restaurants. And an order also has three slices of chicken. I wonder if 3 is really their standard number or they just saw that we are three so they gave us three. Oh, did I say that an order of spring rolls means you'll have three spring rolls? We'll, you'll see six pieces but it's obvious that each piece is just half of one roll.

I do not want to give another review of the shrimp and pomelo salad because the only thing I can say about it is that 'I laveth".

When we were about to go, I noticed in the bathroom a sign that says they give a wine bottle for free for every P 1, 000.00 food purchase. Our bill was more than P 1,200.00. Even if you take away the drinks we are still entitled to a bottle. When we asked the waitress she said she will serve it to us. I asked her if we could take it home and she agreed. Well, initially she refused because she said it's only for 'dine in'. She only gave in maybe because I told her it was okay had she told us about the promo earlier. I figured they are not going to tell about it unless you really ask. They have signage about it on every table but I think not a lot of people pay attention to them. Anyway, we're happy with the red wine we were able to 'take out'.

After dinner we went to Honolulu Cafe. We ordered iced tea with spicy apple flavor. I ordered it because I got curious of the spicy apple flavor. I mean it is not something you would always find in a restaurant or the grocery store, right?

My friend said she immediately tasted the 'spicy' flavor in her throat. I did not. I only tasted a hint of it when I was about to finish my cup. Hmmmm....Was I expected to 'shake it well' so I could taste the 'spicy' flavor? Overall I can say I liked the iced tea. It tasted different from the usual iced tea.

Before we left the place we were given a certificate that says we can get a cup of coffee for free if we order two cups. How did we get the certificates? I'm not gonna tell you. Find out for yourself.