ENTER THE DRAGON GATE

Cue In: Theme from "Enter The Dragon" - *Tan Dun* HHWAAAA!!!

     If you haven't been to the restaurant "Dragon Gate Seafood Restaurant" yet, i suggest you log off and make your way to Roxas Boulevard RIGHT NOW. (Forget your job.. you can always apply somewhere else).

       From the outside, it looks like one of your typical Chinese restaurants that looks like a huge ballroom... But what sets it apart from other great Chinese restaurants in the metro, you ask?

      One dish & one dish alone - The Mixed Meat with Sesame Bun.

       I'm telling you.. it's so good, I've decided to give it the first ever "Pickiest Eater One Of The Best Things Ever" award. (I didn't have much time to think up of a name) 

THE RICHIEZ QUARTER POUNDER Aka "KIDS, DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME"

Isn't she loveeelyy.. Isn't she wonndeerrrful....

                 My love of McDonald's is stuff of legend. It's also probably what made me fat. Yes, I've watched "Super Size Me". The only thing it did was make me hungry. If I was Superman, a McDonald's Burger would be my Kryptonite. Any of them. Except the Burger McDo. It's my weakness. I just can't resist it. A standard order for me would be a Cheeseburger Deluxe, 6 pcs Chicken Nuggets, Large Fries, and an Apple Pie. The Burger can vary, depending on my mood, but it often revolves around  the Quarter Pounder with Cheese, Fillet-O-Fish, or the Mc Chicken. Maybe every now and then I'd try the occasional Big Mac, but that's not very often. 

                   No matter what burger I try though, There is one constant. As in, I cannot eat a McDonald's burger without it. And that's the BBQ sauce from the Chicken Nuggets. Whether its a Double Cheese Burger, a McChicken, or a Fillet o Fish, it's gonna get drowned in BBQ Sauce. Rina would laugh at me because one time when we had some McDonald's delivered, I forgot to order the sauce, and I had a frown on my face throughout the whole meal. The next time we ordered delivery, I ordered 5 extra BBQ sauces, and kept it in the ref, so I never have to eat a McDonald's burger without BBQ Sauce ever again. I actually just saw an extra BBQ sauce packet in my office drawer, and I don't have the slightest clue how long it's been there. 

                  Trust me when I say this: McDonald's Burgers are good, but they're even better with BBQ Sauce.

                Another thing I  do that's a bit out of the ordinary, but not really all that odd, is grab a handful of fries and chuck in into the burger. To me it gives it a nice crunch with every bite. I mean, since I stuff the fries into my mouth after every bite of the burger anyway, why not make a short cut, right? 

                 Given the fact that there aren't that many burgers to choose from, I often look for ways to jazz things up a bit. So, One day after ordering a Quarter Pounder with the usual suspects, I decided to try this.

EATING ITALIANNI'S

The bread basket is empty.. I wonder who could the guilty party be..?

         
              When I was young, my favorite dish was Lasagna. I have an eerie feeling though it had something more to do with my love of the comic "Garfield" than it did the actual dish. As I got older, and my acid attack became more and more frequent, I had to lessen my intake of Italian food, especially considering that tomatoes are a very prominent ingredient in the dishes I love, (Lasagna, Spaghetti, Canneloni, etc). 

              All that gets thrown out the window when I visit Italianni's. I sit down and can't wait to get started! Their diverse menu offers a lot more than tomato based dishes, so If you're hyper acidic like me, you'll have no problems at all trying to find something to eat. In fact with all the choices in their menu, you won't know where to begin.

MR. JONES AND ME

The Smile on my face says it all..

           I don't know why i'm attracted to Diners so much. Maybe it's because I don't really consider myself a "Picky Eater" as much as I do a "simple eater", and to me, Diners are basically a place where you can find a whole bunch of simple dishes that you could actually make at home. Short stack of pancakes, omelets, bacon, sausages, etc. (Ok fine, I probably can't make them by myself at home, but the cook at my mom's house can, happy?) And they're most likely the greasy/unhealthy type of food that i'm known to famously love. 

      Even before it opened, you could easily tell from the outside that Mr. Jones was going to be a Diner. Perhaps it was the prominent red booths and vintage soda bottles. Or maybe it was the Americana decors that gave it away. But the bottom line was, it got my attention, so I watched out for the opening. Then one weekend, whilst Rina and I were strolling hand in hand (pa sway sway pa) along Greenbelt, I saw they had their soft opening. They were giving out flyers of their menu, and reading it was like looking at the map of Disneyland. 

              All the dishes sounded so good, I had no idea where to start.  

                     

TWO TIMES BANNAPLE

 I heart Banapple too, but I don't understand why the smiley has to be sideways "text" style..

               One evening, Rina was out with her high school friends, and I was home alone as usual.. (I don't like going out at night.. only to eat hehe) She texted me asking if i've heard of the restaurant called "Bannaple", because she was there at that moment, and felt that i would love practically everything they have on their menu. I saw the colorful Banapple signage along Katipunan, but I had no idea it was a restaurant. I actually thought that it was just a Bakery who sold a "Banapple Pie" (I guess I didn't really think things through). It intrigued me but i never got around to trying it. I did a lot of research, and everyone I asked, and all the sites I checked had rave reviews for the place, so I had to go try it myself.

PUTTING ON DAYRIT'S!

Not a good picture.. the guy looks like he's going to puke..

              I've heard alot about the place called Dayrit's, and it usually comes up in a conversation around the time i tell people that I'm predominantly a carnivore.

Me (Mid-Conversation): ..because I only eat Meat.. No veggies..

Joe Shmoe (not his real name): You love meat? How about burgers?                                                Ribs? Roast Beef?
Me: Dude, you had me at "meat".

Joe Shmoe: Check out Dayrit's. They have a great selection of Meat                       Dishes. Ribs, Burgers.. you name it..
Me: Joe Shmoe (not your real name), I think this could be the start of           a beautiful friendship. 

        I've seen the Buendia branch, but it looked kinda shabby so I never really found it that appealing. I don't blame them though, because I think it's been there since I was a little kid (It's not anymore). One fine morning, I picked up Rina from the Bus Station after her visit to her Lola in La Union. On our way home, we both realized how hungry we were, so we passed by The Fort, intending to go to Serendra for a nice breakfast. On our way there, I saw the sign of Dayrit's on some street lamps,and immediately got to thinking.. Maybe this would be a good time to try it.

STACKERS BURGER CAFE & "RINA'S REMINDER" *DIET SERIES*

Rina: "Don't forget, you're on a diet!" *click*

             My search for the country's ultimate burger led me to Stacker's Burger Cafe in Eastwood. It's a nice cozy place that claims to serve 100% Pure Aussie beef patties on their burgers. Having a 24 hour "Burger cafe" is a good idea, even though i could never imagine coffee and burgers ever going together.

                 
              As I was looking through the menu and trying to decide what burger and sauce would mix well together, Rina lovingly reminded me that I had told her I was on a diet, and no matter what I'd say or do, I wasn't allowed to break it. Of course, she reminded me this, right after we had sat down. As you can imagine, my mood instantly changed.

FINDING FOREST HOUSE

Forest House is just one of the many reasons why Baguio is so awesome

                  Yet another "Out Of Town" Post...    I'm not a big fan of the beach. Maybe it's because I practically grew up on one when I was living in Cebu. We practically spent every weekend there. So in all honesty, going to the beach is no big deal to me. And I'm someone who can't stand the feeling of heat. I really need air conditioning. I joke around that one of my super powers is "Invulnerability To Cold". I sleep practically naked and i need to have all the air of the aircon blasting away at me. (Ok, i'm sure that's a mental picture you didn't want, and you've lost you're appetite.. Given the fact that this is a "food post" i'm going to change the subject) Not being stuck up or anything like that, but I really enjoy cold weather. So predictably, one of my favorite places to go in the Philippines would definitely have to be the City of Baguio.

                  Discovering Forest House Bistro & Cafe only reaffirmed it for me.

THE BATTLE OF HARBOR CITY

It was in this precise moment that the chorus of Chris Daughtry's song "Home" blared in air, as tears welled up in the eyes of my wind blown face..

             My first "out of town" post!! Of course it had to fittingly be, perhaps one of my all time favorite restaurants, Habor City in the beautiful island of Cebu! Backing up a bit, Cebu is the city where i grew up.. or as I like to say, "Didn't" grow up. I lived there for almost ten years, and I have a lot of great memories there with some pretty amazing people. The funny thing is, whenever I go back, i forget to contact my friends, but I never fail to make a trip to Harbor City.

          It is simply that awesome.

LET'S SEE SOME HOOTERS!!

 My very own Hooters girl.. I need to get her one of them shirts.. 

                      I went to Hooters in Baltimore during my 1998 summer vacation with my cousins Raffy and Paolo. Being the kind of guy that.. umm.. how do you say it.. is constantly being accused of being fascinated by certain "assets" of a woman, my trip to Hooters was pretty much tantamount to a trip to Disneyland. Think about it.. Burgers and Boobs? What's not to love?

                 
                You see, that's the whole selling point of Hooters. You can get grilled burgers anywhere. But how often do you get a really hot girl in skimpy orange shorts and a tight tank top that emphasizes her huge rack to serve it to you? I'm not sure if it's because of the time that has gone by that has blurred my memory, but i don't remember what I ordered and if I enjoyed my food during our trip there in '98. All i remember was that our waitress sat down with us to chat while we ate - and gawd dang she was hot.

                   With that build up alone, you can understand why I was very disappointed with my experience here in Hooters Manila.

THE SUPER BOWL OF BIG BUDDHA

What are YOU smiling at?

          Out of curiosity, does anyone know the difference between Big Buddha and Super Bowl?

          Right now, i'm on the fence about whether i enjoy eating there or not. I've had two extremely uneven experiences at the Big Buddha Greenbelt 3 Branch. Good food for a reasonable price, right? But is the price really all that "reasonable"? And you know what? The service was crap - or it was at least the last time Rina and I went there. During our most recent visit, we waited 10 minutes at our table and no one bothered to even give us a menu, despite all our hand waving. The kicker was, the place wasn't really all that full either! Ok, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt - we were at the corner and we weren't exactly at the most visible area.. but why put a table there if they have no intention of pay attention it? Bottom line, they should have been more alert. We promptly walked out, and let's just say the hostess outside got a piece of my mind before we left..

You dont' wanna mess with a hungry RichieZ..