Dennis the Grill Boy - SM Mall of Asia

I had dinner at Dennis the Grill Boy in SM MOA last week. It was my  first time in that restaurant so I didn't know what to order. I would always pass by the place but I never got the chance to eat there because it is always full. That evening I  saw that there were a few vacant tables so my friend and I decided to get in.

We ordered Dennis Grilled Liempo, Laing and Batchoy Supreme. The place has "unlimited rice" offer so it is definitely a good place to eat for those who have big appetite. For less than a hundred pesos, you'll  get to eat a reasonably big grilled liempo and all  the rice that you can eat. The laing and batchoy  is also reasonably priced. My friend and I actually just shared I order of laing and batchoy but our tummies were satisfied.

Watami Japanese Casual Restaurant

Got the chance to eat at Watami Japanese Casual Restaurant last week. A friend of mine celebrated her birthday there. When we arrived at the restaurant food has already been served since we came quite late. I was worried because might be too cold already. But when my friend saw us enter the restaurant, she asked the waiters to reheat the food without questions. Good first impression for me.

Anyway, we had Watami Salad, Tempura, Salmon Croquette, Beef Pepper Rice and California Maki. I guess my favorite is the Watami Salad. The greens were crisp and the dressing was unique. If I had a choice I would have ordered for more of the salad. The Beef Pepper Rice was also very good. It can actually stand on its own. Well, not really. I'm sure you'd enjoy it more with other stuff but it was really very good.

Watami Salad

I also liked the salmon croquette. It was crispy on the outside and the filling is somehow creamy. The tempura wasn't outstanding. It wasn't bad but I had better.

Watami can be found in Glorietta near the entrance of Glorietta 2, Hotel Dr. I didn't get to ask why it is called a CASUAL restaurant. The place doesn't look casual. In fact it looks formal to me but not very intimidating like other Japanese Restaurants.

Paul French Bakery Restaurant

It was my first time to go to SM Aura last week. It looks different from all the SM Malls I've been. It is more elegant than the rest. It's cleaner too. And I was surprised that it actually smells good. I think they have centralized air-freshener spraying system (whatever they call it). Anyway, the reason I went there is not really look at the place but to visit Paul French Bakery Restaurant (Le restaurant du boulanger).

Paul French Bakery Restaurant was recently featured by Ms. Kris Aquino on KrisTV, her daily morning show over at ABS-CBN. I'm sure there are a lot of people watching that show and one of them happens to be my friend. She asked me and another friend to check out the place.

Paul is right next to one of the entrances of SM Aura. It is not a big restaurant. There are maybe 10 tables or 15 tops. And there is also a small bakery inside where bread and pastries are sold.When we arrived the place was almost full. There is actually only one vacant table but since there were no other customers in line we got to occupy that table. 

It took us quite a while before we decided on what to order. The names of the food are in French so it was quite difficult to choose what to eat. There's English description for each item on the menu but you still need to focus well so you don't get order something you can't later on eat.

I ordered Saute de poulet aux champignons. The descriptions says  its chicken in creamy mushroom sauce. It's served with slices of Paul's country bread and some greens. The food actually tasted good. The chicken is tender. The sauce is flavorful. The bread really suits well with the chicken in mushroom sauce but unfortunately there is not enough of it for the entire dish.  I asked the waiter if I could order extra slices of bread but he said they only provide one serving. Ooooppps! I was somehow reminded that this is not an ordinary restaurant where you can order "extra" rice.

My friends ordered Cuisse de poulet rotie and an open sandwich whose name I forgot to write. The description says roasted chicken with herbs, served with salad, potatoes and shallots. It's like your regular roasted chicken except that it has lots of herbs to give it flavor. The chicken actually absorbed the flavor unlike other roast chicken whose flavor who is concentrated only the skin.

We also had creme brulee. It was good because it was not too sweet. It also has a very fine texture. One order was enough for the three of us. 

The whole experience at Paul French Bakery Restaurant was good. The long travel was worth it. It's good my friend saw Paul French Bakery restaurant on KrisTv.

Hen-Lin. Kimmy Dora. Girl, Boy, Bakla, Tomboy.

Last Sunday I went to SM Mall of Asia to watch an MMFF film. I haven't decided yet what I'd watch when I arrived in SM MOA so I  looked at the schedule hoping that the information would help me decide what movie I should watch. After seeing the schedule, I still couldn't decide what to see so I thought I'd eat dinner first. I went to SM Hypermarket where there are various stalls that sell food at reasonable prices. I didn't want to spend a lot on food that night because I would already be spending for a movie ticket -- it's worth P 220. I chose my favorite Hen-Lin.

As I said Hen-Lin is my favorite but that was actually my first to eat in that branch. I usually eat Hen-Lin siomai every Saturday when I pass by SM City Lucena on my way to our town. I was surprised when the sales clerk asked me if I wanted the siomai fried or steamed. In SM Lucena they only serve steamed siomai so I didn't know that you can have it fried. Since it was new to me I ordered fried siomai. I was happy that I tried it because I was satisfied. The siomai was crispy. It was not overcooked. It didn't have the "overused" oil taste too.

After dinner i had no choice but to make the decision on what movie to watch or just go home.  I chose Kimmy Dora over Girl, Boy, Bakla, Tomboy. It was really funny. Eugene Domingo did a great job in portraying two characters.

What and what not to eat this 2014

Happy New Year everyone! Happy 2014!

I was planning to write recipes to creatively 'manage' your leftover holiday food but it's rather late. So let me just give you some suggestions on what you should eat and what you should avoid this month.

Let's start with some food you should avoid.

1. Ham and its cousins like bacon - have you not had enough of ham last Christmas?
2. Chocolates - forget about chocolates first because if not, ants will be running after you. Don't worry, February 14 is just around the corner so you'll surely enough chocolates again.
3. Spaghetti and its derivatives - in almost all  the parties I attended during the Christmas season spaghetti was present. I'm sure the same is true with you so let's all forget about it first. Try instant noodles instead.


What you should eat

1. Vegetable salad - well, you need fibers to flush out the toxins you stored during the holidays
2. Fish  - all those meat dishes you ate surely gave you more than enough calories from fats to last you til next Christmas so have some fish this time. Grilled or bake fish is good.
3. Fruits - you had a lot of fruits on your table last New year's eve, right? Eat them,. for crying out loud.

So there you go. These are my suggestions. Actually, I  wrote this for myself but I guess they can help you as well so....

Happy year of the horse! Happy 2014!