Bagoong Club Resto

I recently lost my phone which I use to take pictures of my eating adventures. Sadly I have not saved all the pictures I took. Whatever I have saved I will share with you this week. The notes about them however are also on that phone so I would describe them based solely on what I can remember.

Do you like bagoong? I do.

Last February my good friend and I saw this restaurant called Bagoong Club while cruising along  Scout Dr. Lazcano in Quezon City. I asked her if she's been to that place and she said yes. She said she likes the food there. Unfortunately we couldn't try the place out that night because we were going someplace else. Then last March we passed by that area again and I told her I want to eat there that night. We didn't have any specific place to go to so she readily agreed.

While looking at their interesting menu (I'll talk about this later) the waiter served singkamas with bagoong. There were actually two kinds of bagoong. If my memory serves me right, one was their Bagoong Club Special and the other one is Bagoong Buhay. They have various flavors for their bagoong -- which is expected because their place is called Bagoong Club afterall.The Bagoong Club Special is spicy. The menu says it's not for the weak of heart. Bagoong Buhay, the menu says, has coconut milk.

Singkamas with Bagoong Club Special and Bagoong Buhay

While feasting on the bagoong (yes, I ate more bagoong than singkamas) we decided to order Kare Kare and Inihaw na hito.

Kare Kare

Inihaw na Hito

The Kare Kare has thick sauce. They used 'real' ingredients and not 'instant' mixes. I love the rich ground peanut flavor. There also used lots of vegetables. The eggplant and the pechay were cooked just right. I can't say anything about the string beans because I didn't eat any. I do not eat beans. The meat is also tender. Unlike kare-kare in other restaurants, the meat doesn't feel rubbery or 'bubblegum-my' when eaten. However, they didn't put in a lot of mean. There were probably just 4 small slices. The vegetables and the sauce could probably be shared by three people but for me the meat is only just for two. It was served with regular bagoong which also tasted good. By the way I also ordered a serving of Bagoong Pag-ibig. It's their sweetened bagoong.   

The Inihaw na Hito is just your usual grilled hito but it was served with fish bagoong. I didn't expect that they would serve the hito with bagoong so I was pleasantly surprised. I also like fish bagoong.

Overall, even if we only ordered two dishes, I was fully satisfied. I mean I felt literally full.

The service was also good. The waiter who assisted us was friendly. Both orders were served fast. They even gave us an extra serving of the singkamas.

The place was clean. It looks like a big, old house converted to a restaurant so it actually has that home-y feel. It gives a feeling that you're eating 'moms signature dishes'.

I said above that I'll talk about their 'interesting' menu. They gave cool names for their dishes that's why I said the menu's interesting. To give you an example, they called their beef dishes BAKA SAKALI (baka is the Tagalog term for cow or beef). They called their salads ENSALADAKADABRA. If you want to know the other names just look at the pictures below.

As a last note, you can sing Sitsiritsit while waiting for your order to be served. The lyrics of the song is prnted on the place-mat.

Bagoong Club Resto
122 Scout Dr. Lazcano, Sacred Heart, Quezon City
(one of the streets perpendicular to Tomas Morato)
Tel: 929-0544

Tingnan ang Mas Malaking Mapa

Magnum Ice Cream by Selecta

Aside from the  McDonald's Eat All You Can promo, another widely talked about food product we have recently is the Magnum Ice Cream by Selecta. I have not tried it but have heard so much  about it. Somebody even said it's the social climber's ice cream because people from all walks of life are raving about it. They say even the not so 'rich' ones are trying to  have a bite of it so as to say they have also tried what popular celebrities have tried or are endorsing in facebook and twitter.

I'll give a feedback about Magnum Ice Cream as soon as I have tasted. Perhaps tonight? Hmmmmm......we'll see.

McDonald's Eat All You Can P 149 on March 26, 2012 - continuation of the Buffet Saga

I tried to look for articles on the net to verify the McDonald's Eat All You Can promo on March 26, 2012 (7 - 9 pm). Unfortunately, Google didn't provide much help. There were only two blogs about it. One mine and the other one www.certifiedfoodies.com. The nice thing is that certified foodies found pictures of the tickets that are apparently being sold if you want to avail of the promo. The ticket is sold at P 199.00. I know, its P 50 higher than the supposed published rate. That's because a manager is supposed to verify first if you have no leftovers. If they find out you have none, the P50 will be returned.

McDonald's Eat All You Can P 149 on March 26, 2012

What's the truth behind the  McDonald's Eat All You Can thingy in Baguio City? I saw at least two posts on my facebook wall about it yesterday. The post says that the McDonald's Eat All You Can promo will  be on March 26, 2012 (Monday) from 7 pm to 9 pm. I mean everybody is all agog about it because the promo says the Eat All You Can costs only Php 149.00. There's actually a picture of a McDonald's Baguio Branch where there's an tarpaulin announcement.

Can anybody tell me please if this is true or not?

Saisaki/Dad's Eat All You Can (Japanese Buffet +++)

I was at Dad's last week. We originally planned to eat at the Saisaki part only but we were told by the lady who seated us that the price difference is only P40 (or was it P80) so we decided to just have a crossover.

As usual, the food they served at the Saisaki area was very good. Super yumyum. I had various kinds of sushi and sashimi. But the best for me of course was the uni. I so love uni. Then I also had sukiyaki. It's nice 'coz prepare in front of you.

I also went to the Kamayan portion. I had a few pieces of lechon. Sorry, I know it's not part of my healthy diet but I couldn't resist. Then I got a small slice of angus beef.

Eat all you or buffet a Dad's is always good. For a little over P600 you can eat a little of everything you are craving for.

Pineapple Chicken - Pine-Apple Chicken for Sunday Meals

This is a very easy recipe for Sunday lunch. This is for moms who would like to make their Sunday meal especial without getting too tired because after all, moms still need to preserve energy for the Monday workload. This can be prepared in less than 30 minutes. There is no need for very long preparation time. No special culinary skill is required.

This Sunday meal recipe is good for a family of 3 or 4. 

Pineapple Chicken - Pine-Apple Chicken

Ingredients:
1/2 kilo chicken (choose small pieces)
1 big potato (cut into cubes)
1 big carrot (cut into cubes)
1 big apple (sliced about 1/2 cm thick)
1 onion (sliced into rings)
1/2 clove garlic (diced)
1 small pack of young corn
1 green bell pepper (if kids like it)
1 can pineapple tidbits
salt and pepper
oil
water

 Procedure:
1. Saute onion and garlic in oil.
2. Add half a cup of water.
3. Add chicken. Let it simmer for about 10 minutes.
4. Add the syrup from the pineapple tidbits. Add the potato and carrot cubes. Let it simmer for another 10 minutes.
5. Add apples slices, pineapple tidbits, young corn and bell pepper.
6. After a couple of minutes add salt and pepper to taste.

*To prevent the apple from turning brown after slicing, dip it into the pineapple syrup or squeeze lemon/calamansi over it.

I hope this Sunday meal recipe will help you have a special family bonding time on Sunday.

How to Make Chocolate Candies - Valentine's Day Fever

Okay! It's February and as they say love is in the air! Well, I'm not so into this Valentine's Day stuff but since its something I cannot runaway from then I'll just join the bandwagon. No, I'm not gonna go out on a date on Feb. 14. I mean I'll just give you a recipe for making chocolate candies.

Ingredients:

chocolate block (dark or milk chocolate)
fillings (nuts, raisins, marshmallows, dried fruits, shredded coconut, oats, corn flakes)

pic from kev79.wordpress.com

Materials:

double boiler
spatula
mold
flutter paper cups
boxes


Procedure:

1. Cut the chocolate block into small pieces (to melt easily).
2. Put the chocolate pieces in a double boiler.
3. Place the boiler over steady heat. When the water simmers the chocolate will start to melt. This is the signal for you to start stirring (use wooden spatula). Stir constantly until chocolate becomes smooth and thick.
4. When the chocolate has completely melted, scoop some chocolate and pour onto the mold. Fill only about half of the mold.
5. Add your desired filling.
6. Pour chocolate again onto the mold.
7. Let the chocolate cool for a bit then put in the refrigerator (small ones could be kept in the refrigerator for about 5 to 10 minutes while larger ones would need 10 to 15 minutes).
8. When the chocolate is already firm, turn the mold upside down and tap to remove the chocolate candies.
9. Put in flutter paper cups or just simply arrange in a box.

You can buy chocolate candy molds at low prices. Some of the shapes are star, heart, moon, flower, etc. But do not be limited by the molds that you can buy in stores. Look around your kitchen and you  will surely find something that can be used to give shape to your chocolate candies.

One thing I would like to try as a variation to the regular fillings is using fresh fruits. It may decrease its shelf life but fresh fruits are still nicer than dried ones. Instead of drying you may just need to drain the fresh fruit slices well so that whatever liquid they contain will not mix with the chocolate. I'll try it soon.

NOTE: Practice first with this simple recipe before venturing into making flavored chocolate candies. Also, practice with regular molds before trying  to make chocolates with elaborate designs. Practice then practice some more. Who knows, maybe next Valentine's Day you can already make export quality chocolate candies.