Stoops Ilocos Bagnet and JT Manukan in Makati

Last Monday, my friends and I decided to eat at JT Manukan along Malugay St. in Makati because we wanted to eat something good yet affordable. We've been to this place several times already and we usually order a lot. I usually order 1 quarter chicken inasal and 3 sticks of baticulon (spell check!). My friends usually order the same.

Side story:

[In one of our previous visits I saw Stoops Bagnet restaurant beside JT Manukan. I wanted Ilocos bagnet so I asked the waiter at JT if I could order next door. I figured they would allow me because my friends are ordering from JT anyway. The waiter allowed me. Yehey! He even offered to order for me although I declined.]

Going back to Monday's visit: When we got in I immediately asked the waiter if I could order bagnet at Stoops but i informed him I will also order sticks of baticulon. (I usually ask things like this to be sure that I wont be put in an awkward situation later on.) He said yes then he followed it with "Ay, teka lang, sir! Itatanong ko kung pwede." (Just a moment, sir! I'll  ask if that is allowed.)

Another guy came to our table. He was wearing a different uniform from the rest so he is probably a manager or a supervisor. Anyway, I told him the same things I told the waiter. He said it is not allowed. I asked why. He couldn't answer at once. Then after a while he said they had an experience before when someone brought in bagnet and only ordered rice from them. I asked if they didn't order anything else. He said not. In my mind I knew he was lying. Why would somebody do that? Do they serve very special rice at JT that somebody would do that? He was lying just to  give an excuse for his decision.

My friend got irritated so she suggested we go to Stoops instead.

At Stoops I ordered spicy bagnet meal. The bagnet meal (P 90) consists of spicy bagnet, fried rice and a side dish. I got KKB or Kamatis, Kangkong and Bagoong. I also ordered dinengdeng (P 30).


I love their bagnet (both the regular and the spicy variety). It really tastes like the bagnet from Ilocos. And the dinengdeng is also flavorful. Hmmm.

The store is small. It is air-conditioned. Some of the food already cooked like the dinengdeng, binagoongan, igado. Others are cooked upon ordering like the Ilocos bagnet and daing na bangus (this is yummy as well). The set up is like a clean carenderia.

The restroom is clean. The floor is clean. The tables are small but you can join tables for big groups.

Creamy Macaroni Soup Recipe

Here is a simple recipe for preparing macaroni soup which I learned from my father. It is easy to prepare so I'm sure you'll love to do it for your loved ones. It is also good to serve if you are on a tight budget.


                                          CREAMY MACARONI SOUP

Ingredients:

• 250 g - 300 g elbow macaroni
• 1/2 k chicken OR pork - shredded boiled chicken OR  ground pork
• 3 cloves garlic (minced)
• 1 medium sized onion (minced)
• 1 large carrot(cubed)
• 1 medium sized lettuce (shredded)
• 2 cups evaporated milk
• salt
• pepper

Procedure:

1. Saute garlic and onion over medium heat.
2. Add shredded chicken OR ground pork. 
3. Stir until the chicken or pork fat comes out.
4. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Add chicken broth and 5 cups of water. (If you are using pork, pour 8 cups of water.)
6. Add the macaroni and carrots. Let the liquid boil until the pasta is cooked.
7. Pour in the evaporated milk. Stir.
8. Add the lettuce and simmer for about a minute.

There are other ingredients that you can add to make it more special. Some of these ingredients are green bell pepper, corn kernels, liver, boiled egg and celery.

Starbucks - Paseo de Magallanes

Welcoming security guard! Pleasant baristas! Honest service crew members! These are the qualities that best describe the people working in Starbucks along Jupiter St. (the one going to EDSA) However, the same cannot be said about the people working in Starbucks at Paseo de Magallanes. Well, the guard when we went in was not very polite. He didn't open the door for us nor did he greet us good evening. This is totally the opposite of the guards at Starbucks, Jupiter St. The guard when we left was good enough to hold the door for us (a different guard) but he didn't say the usual thank you or please come again. The baristas said some pleasantries when we placed our orders but they already looked tired so I couldn't see much sincerity in what they said. The baristas in Jupiter are such happy people, I must say. Then before we left, we asked for water. The crew said, "There is water near the counter!" Like we do not know! The people in Jupiter gladly serve us water when we ask. We seldom ask actually. We do this only on rare occasions like when we are really tired. Besides, he could have said it nicely if he really didn't want to serve  us. Anyway, I hope they try to improve their service next time.

How Do You Like Your Egg Done?

How do you like your  egg done?

Boiled? Sunny  Side Up? Scrambled?

I like scrambled eggs specially if I'll it with rice only. I like it because I don't get to taste a bit boring white and a more flavorful yellow separately. It's nice when they are mixed because the whole thing then tastes great. I like well scrambled with some salt and pepper to taste. It's also nice with onion, garlic and tomato. I also like it when milk and cheese are added.

If it's sunny side up I like it done 'rare' (in other words not 'well done'). I usually put it on top of my rice before I break the not-so-cooked egg yolk. I like seeing the yellow portion slowly flowing down the heap of rice like lava on an erupting volcano. Okay! Fine! That's not an appetizing way to describe it. Anyway, it nice when the yellow mixes with the rice. I like sunny side up with rice and hotdog or ham.

Boiled egg is something that I'm not really fond of. But if do have to eat it I prefer it soft boiled.

How about you?, How do you like your egg done?

Mesa, Filipino Moderne Cuisine

Thinking of where to eat in Greenbelt 5 is always a challenging thing to do. This is because there are so many restaurants there to choose from. There are a lot of restaurants serving different kinds of cuisine. The last time we were there, we spent a long time deciding where to eat. After a long debate we ended up choosing Mesa which serves Filipino Moderne Cuisine.

Since we were really very hungry we decided to order something we felt they could serve fast. We ordered tilapia, crispy boneless pata, tinapa rice and sisig rice. They turned out to be good choices in the sense they did serve them fast.

The tilapia was good. It was crispy. And they give different sauces or dips. The serving was also big so we didn't have problems if we ordered just two dishes.

If the tilapia was good, the crispy boneless pata was a big disappointment. It was not only 'not boneless' but it also has less meat. It would have been more acceptable if they did not call it crispy boneless pata but hard less-meat pata.

The tinapa rice was great. It has that distinct tinapa and itlog na maala (salted egg) taste. The sisig rice was not as good. It tasted like steamed rice soaked in soy sauce. Just to prove to you my point, look at the following picture.

Will I go back? If only for the tinapa rice and tilapia, yes, I will. Besides their service is fast and the waiters and waitresses are very accommodating.

Mesa Restaurant can be found at Greenbelt 5 facing the landscaped garden leading to the Greenbelt Chapel.

Can You Guess the Restaurant where these Food Came from

Hi. I have here pictures that have not been uploaded yet. Some of them are extras from previously featured restaurants/fast food chains. For today, what I'd like to do is to upload them but I will not tell  you from which restaurant/fast food chains they came from. What I'd like you to do is to guess just that. Is that okay? Do not worry, I'll be giving you some clues. Ready?

Food Photo # 1

Yes, that's fried chicken! Does it look small? It's small because it is one of their 'promo' meals. But do not worry because if you go to this restaurant NOW, you'll definitely be able to eat MORE than just one drumstick.


Food Photo # 2

This is one of the cheapest  sandwiches you can find nowadays. This sandwich is from a popular fat food chains. When you taste it you'll surely get out of the store with JOY in your heart (or should I say tummy?).


Food Photo # 3

Oh how I love this sundae. I got addicted with this for a time. The sad thing is many also like it so it easily gets out of stock. It's not only great tasting but it is cheap as well. This is available in some outlets of the LITTLE convenience store you find in almost every street corner.


Food Photo # 4

I think not a lot of you will be able to guess where this nachos is served. This is served in a restaurant in Makati which also serves quesadilla and burritos. The store can be found in a building at the corner of 1 McKinley Rd and I think 5th. I actually added this here to give you some challenge because I'm sure you'll be able to easily identify the others. I know of only two people who can immediately identify the restaurant. They are my eating buddies haha.


Food Photo # 5

This danggit is from a restaurant that specializes in grilled chicken. This means that this danggit is just one of the "others" in the menu. This restaurant serves one of the best grilled chicken in town. Maybe that is because they STARTed the grilled chicken craze.


Food Photo # 6

This adobo (flakes) is very delicious. I actually want to have this for breakfast everyday. Unfortunately, I don't think I can afford to eat it on a daily basis. That sauce you  see on the lower right corner is really good. You can have just that sauce and a cup of plain rice and you're already going to be fine. Once you taste this, you'll certainly look up the SKY and wish that you'll have the chance to comeback sooner than soon.


Food Photo # 7

I love Hainanese chicken. It is boiled (or steamed) chicken with the rich flavorsof ginger, soy sauce and sesame oil. There are many restaurants that serve Hainanese chicken but this particular restaurant serves one of the best. You'll surely shout WEEEEE after eating it.


Food Photo # 8

This is seafood kare-kare. This is served in a restaurant that specializes in local dishes. They also serve sinangag  na sinigang, crispy binagoongan and gising-gising. After trying this kare-kare you'll surely want to be part of the CLUB.


Can you guess 8 out of 8 restaurants? Answer in the comments section below and I'll tell you your score.

People's Palace - Modern Thai Cuisine

It's been more than 10 days since i last updated 'eat all you can'. In my last post I said I will be telling you about the lunch I will be having with the bosses. So here it is. As expected, I was not able to take pictures and I also didn't write the names of the food we ordered. But just the same I'll be describing to you what we ordered the best way I can.

We ate at the People's Palace in Greenbelt, Makati. People's Palace Restaurant is adjacent to Oyster Bar. It is a restaurant that serve's modern Thai cuisine.

We had prawn, pomelo and coconut salad. It is different from the pomelo and shrimp salad we ordered in Ba Noi's and Aquaknox which I featured some months back (these 2 are Vietnamese restos). Anyway, it was really delicious. It was supposed to be just our appetizer but it was so good I already ate a lot. We also ordered mango and crispy fish salad (I think it's salad). My companions said the fish is catfish. If the pomelo and shrimp salad is good, this is definitely better. I so loved it I wanted to order extra (to go!). Then we had pad Thai and chicken pandan. The pad Thai was good but I didn't get much because I focused on the salads which on that day were more special to me. The chicken pandan was good as well. Normally, my complaint with chicken pandan is that the chicken is too small. Boy was I surprised with this one. I mean there really is  chicken inside the pandan leaves haha. For dessert, we had Thai thako. It looked boring when it was served because it was pure white. If you want to imagine how it looked, call a taho vendor and ask him to open his big container. Look inside and you'll see Thai thako. They didn't taste the same, though. I think it is mixed with coconut milk. It was good to take away the taste of spices. But for me the best one I got for that day is the shake (or did I get from the smoothies list?). I had mango, ginger and banana. Odd combination? Yes, sounds odd. But it tastes great. I love the subtle gingery flavor. Hmmmm....

The ambiance is cool. Walls are white and the fixtures are black. The high ceiling also makes the place homey. I'm already thinking of going back to the place. Soon.