Group Buying Discounts - Ensogo, Metrodeal, CashCashPinoy

Group buying is very popular these days. Well, it has been for a few years now. I can say you can really find great deals in  group buying sites since I've bought a few vouchers already. But let me make this disclaimer. I have only supported vouchers for food and services. I've never tried vouchers for travels and various products. Anyway, I'll post here some of the latest discount vouchers for eat-all-you-can/buffet meals. I've also included their prices and location. But please check out the actual group buying sites since I only listed the lowest price and it is more often than not just for weekday lunch. Weekend rates and dinner rates are uaually higher.  You can click the names of the sites to see the details.

Ensogo

1. LolaMaria. P325 instead of P480.
2. Dads World Buffet (includes Saisaki and Kamayan).  P569 instead of P688. Glorietta and 3 other branches.
3. Berjaya Hotel Buffet. P349. Makati Ave. coe Educque St., Makati City

CashCashPinoy

1. Sofitel Bbq Buffet. P1,399 instead of P2,700. CCP Complex, Roxas Blvd., Pasay City.
2. Nong Chinoy Buffet. P299 (for 2 persons) instead of P500. Victory Pasay Mall, Pasay City.
3. Sodam Korean Buffet. P299 instead of P449. P. Guevarra St., Little Baguio, San Juan City.

Metrodeal

1. Manila Bay Cruise and Sunset. P345 instead of P650. MOA Ferry Terminal (between Vikings and One Esplanade)
2. Ba-Be-Q (Korean Restaurant). P399 instead of P599.Metrowalk Commercial Complex, Pasig City.
3. Buffet 101. P559 instead of P699. Glorietta and  other branches.
4. Yakimix Prime. P470 instead of P588. Bonifacio High Street, Bonifacio Global City.

Apart from these deals for buffet meals, there are also other ala carte and set meals available. Check them out too.

Maple - on the list of Top 10 Fish Tacos in the Metro

I was viewing my facebook timeline this morning and saw this post from www.spot.ph talking about the Top 10 Fish Tacos in Manila. I meediately clicked on the link coz I knew one of the restaurants I reviewed last year would be included on that list. And I was right. Maple Restaurant is indeed included on that list. It's listed as Top 6. Maple Restaurant can be found at LG/F East Wing, Shangri-La Plaza in Mandaluyong and I  also heard they have branches at San Antonio Plaza, Forbes Park, Makati and Commercenter in Alabang. Anyway, if you want to read my review of Maple Restaurant, click here.

The Top 1 on the list is El Chupacabra, Felipe cor. Polaris Streets, Makati City. Of all the pictures included in the post, this one looks really the most interesting. I'm looking forward to trying this taco coz it really  looks delish...well, except for the green stuff on top. But hey, I can ask them not to add teh stuff, right?

Music on Rewind

Last Friday, I went for a night out with some friends from the office. Well, it wasn't really a nightout nighout since I was sure we were just going to have dinner and have a drink or two. We went to a restaurant called Rewind. It's in that complex called The Collective along Mayapis St. in San Antonio Village, Makati City. We see it always when we go to Wingman, another popular bar in that area, but this is our first time to try it out.

When we entered the first thing we noticed was that the placewas hot. It turned out they just turned on the AC a few minutes ago. Anyway, it got cooler after about 15 minutes so there's no problem there.

When I saw the menu, the first thing I noticed is that their food is really affordable. Yeah. It is. I mean for P39 you'll already get  a hamonado and rice on a sizzling plate.  2 piece burger stake, also with a cup rice served hot on a sizzling plate costs just P49. Sisig is at P79. And that's with a cup or rice too.The most expensive on their list is Porterhouse which costs P149. Not bad. T-bone  is at P129.

Well, while the prices  are great, the taste isn't as impressive. They're good. But they're not exceptional. The liempo for example tastes how it's supposed to taste but it has nothing "extra" to get you really excited to come back. The burger steak is also just right.

The other dishes taste better. The tokwa't baboy is good. The tokwa and baboy again taste just fine but the sauce is very good. I was actually tempted to sip the sauce like soup. Well, I gave in. lol

The crispy pata is also worthy of praising. The meat is tender and the skin is crispy. And  the serving is big. Yum.

But it is not the food nor the drinks that  we really enjoyed. It is the music that we liked. Initially, we felt that the place was too noisy and we totally  did not enjoy the music. At some point I decided to call the waitress to ask her to lower the volume just a bit. Instead, she said that maybe we would like to request the music that we would like to hear. So my  friends said something from the 80s and 90s. And just like that we were transported to those two decades that I believe have the best music. Madonna. Cindy Lauper. Ricky Martin. MJ. Spice Girls. Backstreet Boys. MC Hammer. Janet Jackson. Hansons. Boyz II Men.

We really enjoyed the music. We liked the music as if we are on "rewind" that we stayed there for almost 5 hours.

McDonald's twister Fries is Back

So the McDonald's TWISTER FRIES is back. I haven't had the chance to go to McDonald's yet but I'm really excited about it. But have you ever wondered how they twist it? I've sliced potatoes a number of times already and I've never experienced having twisted potato "sticks". Makes me curious, really. 

Ramen Nagi - the Power to Decide

Ramen houses are in these days. There are now quite a number of restaurants specializing in ramen in Metro Manila. Last May, I tried Ramen Nagi in SM Mall of Asia. I've been hearing a lot about it so a friend of mine and I went there to check out what people have been talking about.

We ordered the Original King (Butao) and the Black King (Kuroo). We tried the Original King because it's probably the "classic" or the base of all the other versions. The Black King is I think the most famous so I felt we had to have it too.  The other choices are Red King and Green King.

Once you place your order, you will be asked by the waiter to fill out a form about the different levels of flavors you want to have. You can choose the level of "hotness" of your ramen. The waiter said their "hotness" standard is high so I chose to be in the middle which he said is very hot already. You can also choose the level of garlic to add in your order. You will also be asked if you want pork in your ramen and should you want to, you can choose if you want shoulder or belly part. You also  have the power to decide the tenderness level of the noodles.

There are actually a lot of things they would let you decide on. At first I thought it's going to be perfect since you get to decide pretty much everything. But of course, what's normal for you may not be normal for them or the heavy for you is still light to  them.

Overall, I liked both the Butao and the Kuroo. They were able to follow the things I indicated in the form. However, I felt like I could still have something "hotter" than what I got. Their "hotness" level is not very high afterall (or they did not follow my preference).

The servings, by the way, is big. It's not really big enough for two persons but it is certainly  more than enough for a single regular eater.

You have to prepare at least P800 for a meal for two and that does not include drinks yet.

The Ramen Nagi SM MOA branch is a bit small. You have to wait to be seated if you want to eat inside but there is usually  available space if you prefer al fresco dining.

Uncle Cheffy's and their Uninvited Visitors

I had dinner last Friday at Uncle Cheffy, MOA (Prism Plaza). It was a late dinner because my friend had to go somewhere first. We arrived at around 10 so there weren't many people inside although almost all the tables outside were occupied. There's a band playing so many people in the various restaurants at the Prism Plaza preferred to eat outside. Anyway, I don't know how to describe the experience because I know I liked a lot of things but there was one major downer. Anyway, I'lltry to beas objective as I can with my comments about the food. Let me start first with the Brick-oven Panizza which many said is a must-have. We ordered medium Crazy Bacon and Garlic Panizza. It is served with alfalfa sprouts, arugula and tomato slices. It's a thin pizza that you top with the the things I mentioned. Then you roll it like a burrito. I like how the taste of the cheese and the toppings blend so well. There's really no need for bacon or whatever other toppings they have on the list. Hmmmm. Let me retract that. I love bacon.

Then we had the New England Pot Roast Beef, Garlic Studded Pork Belly Lechon and Mushroom and Brown Rice Pilaf. The New England Pot Roast Beef is a new favorite. The beef is sweet and juicy. The sauce is also good but I didn't need much of it because the beef is already tasty enough. The meat is tender too so wont have trouble eating. It is served on top of carrots and potatoes.

The Garlic Studded Pork Belly Lechon is also good. Well, I love lechon so it is already a given that I will love this. But what I like about Uncle Cheffy's lechon is that you don't need the liver sauce to enjoy it. The meat tastes well probably because it is "garlic studded". The portion they served us I think is well balanced -- it had just enough fats to satisfy the lechon-y taste and just enough skin again to satisfy the crispy-skin craving when usually has whenever lechon is served. I just noticed that the skin is too crispy as if it was fried -- nothing wrong with this except that leachon skin is not supposed to be fried (did I make sense there?). You can order this lechon belly by 100-grams. The minimum order is just 200 grams.

The Brown Rice Pilaf is also good. It is rich in flavor it is almost what I'd call a "stand alone". I think it's a good match for out orders. You probably shouldn't have it if you order something with sauce like their Lengua Salpicao.

Now for the downer. When our order was served I noticed a couple of flies on our table. They're not house flies but the little fruit flies I usually associate with uber ripe bananas. Anyway, I let it pass because they flew away when I shooed them. But the big let down was the cockroach that crawled on our table. It came from the side and didn't go into any of our food but the mere presence of it is really bad. When I called a waitress to tell her about it, she called another lady who's probably in a higher position and could probably explain and handle the situation better. It was that other lady who got a tissue and remove the cockroach. The waitress should have immediately acted to remove the crawling creature. I mean she shouldn't have wasted time to call someone else coz the raoch could have crawled on our food while doing so. Anyway, the second lady asked if it crawled in any of our food but I said no. She stil offered to replace the panizza which I also turned down (which I later on I thought I shouldn't have lol). I was wondering why she offered to replace the panizza and not the others. Maybe because it was the cheapest. Anyway, I asked her why they have cockroaches in their restaurant. She said it has been their problem that's why they had "spraying' or whatever term she said two weeks ago. She said they do it twice a month. I said maybe twice a month is not enough. There. I loved the food but it's sad that the place has unwanted crawling visitors. If they have those things in the dining area I can't imagine what they have in the kitchen thatwe can't see. I'm going to eat again at Uncle Cheffy's for sure but I mayhave to try their other branches.

Grilled Corn on the Cob

It was raining when I got of the bus in Lucena City last Saturday. The bus stopped right across SM City Lucena but the rain was so strong I  didn't dare cross the street even if it was just a short distance. Instead, I stayed outside one store where fortunately a vendor was selling grilled corn. I'm not even sure if that's how it's called but it's really yummy.

I've loved since I was young but Iseldom get to have this now. I remember eating grilled corn  everytime I would go to  Baguio City. There are lots of this in the Mines View Park area.

Anyway, I like it because you can really feel the sweetness of the corn. Since it was not cooked in water, the real flavoris kept in the kernels. No sweet juice I think is lost in the cooking process.

If you get the chance to eat grilled corn, try it. And enjoy it.

New Falvors of Ryu Tantanmen at Ryu ramen and Curry

I've been seeing posts of Ryu Ramen and Curry on their instagram account @ryuramenandcurry. They have new ryu tantanmen flavors like the classic tantanmen (click here for my previous review), gyu tantanmen, yaki buta tantanmen, karaage tantanmen and ebi tantanmen. I'm so curious about this and I'm planning to go there to sample some especially the ebi tantanmen and yaki buta tantanmen. Soon! yes, I hope I can visit Ryu ramen and Curry soon. And this time I hope to see Regine Velasquez and Ogie Alcasid lol

Minute Burger Black Pepper Burger - Buy 1, Take1

Buses coming from Quezon to Manila almost always stop at 7-11 in front of San pablo Colleges Medical Center, San Pablo City, Laguna. This is the time for passengers to stretch or go to the restrooms. This is also  the time for them to buy snacks at the stores below or from the ventors that go up the bus.

A few weeks ago, on my way to Manila,I got the chance to buy from one of the vendors who went up the DLTB bus. I bought from a Minute Burger vendor. Usually, they sell double minute burger but that day they had something new. The vendor said she's selling Black Pepper Burger - buy 1, take 1- for just a little over P 50. It was really affordable - you can call it SULIT. ButI asked the vendor if I can buy only one at half the price coz I thought 2 burgers are way too much. Of course she said no because it really comes in pairs - the box is in fact designed for two burgers.

I'm really glad they have the buy 1,take 1 offer because I really loved it. It was so yummy I finished the two burgers just an hour apart.

Now I'm craving for Minute Burger Black Pepper Burger. I don't know why they're not selling it again on the bus anymore.