WE FINALLY MEET, PAPA JOHN'S

This was the picture that made me realize how badly I needed a haircut

            Pizza is my own personal Kryptonite. When I get even a small dose of it, I'm out of commission within minutes. Sadly, that's how my body works. I'm hyper-acidic, so it's something I've had to deal with for quite some time now. The Pizza that hits me the hardest is Yellow Cab, which unfortunately for me, is my favorite pizza chain in the Philippines. 

         Despite my troubles with Italy's gift to mankind, I was psyched when I found out Papa John's Pizza was opening in the Philippines earlier this year. Whenever Rina and I would talk about going there, she would just say something like, "I don't want you getting sick. Let's go somewhere else for now". Months passed and Rina and I never got around to visiting their restaurant in Galleria. 


        And then, a month or so ago, my dear friend Rain tells me that they opened a branch just down the street from my office. So all bets were off. One Friday evening, a few of my workmates and I got done with our work early and decided to make take that jeepney ride down the road to the newly opened Papa John's. Rina said it was fine, because she was busy with our baby Rain, and my dear friend Rain had her Digicam.. so we were set!  


       But knowing that it could spell doom for my fragile stomach, I realized this what Frodo must have felt when he brought the ring into Mordor.  

BANG FOR THE BUCK: HAINANESE DELIGHTS

          Rina and I have a tradition, where we go on what she calls a "Parlor Date" (but naturally I call it a "Barber Date"), where I get a P100 haircut and she gets a P100 pedicure. Unfortunately for my wife, fate threw a monkey wrench in her plans, because the resident Pedicurist, hadn't arrived yet. So instead, she decided to do a little window shopping (You never know when you'll need an extra window *rim shot*). 
   
       Word of advice, never fiddle with an electronic device or anything that will distract you when getting a haircut. Otherwise you just mind look up at the mirror suddenly and not recognize the person looking back at you. I know the barber asked me if I wanted to trim my bangs a bit, but don't recall ever giving him the go-signal to lop a big chunk off (Darn you Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter!).

        Anyways, not happy with my hair, Rina went with me to go shopping for a new bonnet and a few other things we would need for Christmas. As we were about to leave, I asked Rina to call up our helper to let her know that we would be on our way home so she could prepare our lunch. Since the holidays was coming, I wanted to tighten our belts for the mean time and not eat out so much. However, as we made our way to the escalator I got distracted by a sign of a store a few feet in front of us.

       Hainanese Delights.

      I stopped in my tracks and said, "Rina.. Put down the phone."

DISTRITO NIGHTS

                  I've mentioned in the past that I'm a big fan of Mercato Centrale, but the Midnight version, not so much. However, when I found out that Anton Diaz and RJ Ledesma, the same people behind were coming up with a night market in the heart of Makati, I was ecstatic! Considering I'm in Makati five times a week, how awesome would it be to have a mini "Mercato Centrale", literally just a five minute drive away from my office? 


           Since it opened I've been there twice already, so I can confirm that the answer to that question is, "Pretty Frickin' Awesome!!"

JAPANESE-WESTERN FUSION AT MA MAISON

            Just so you guys know, I don't live in Greenbelt. I know I have a lot of posts from Greenbelt, but that's due to three reasons: The first being I lived two blocks away from it for two years, the second is because I've worked in that area for the past five years, and lastly, Greenbelt 3 Cinemas is our default movie theater of choice when Rina and I watch a movie, so it's more convenient to eat there before a movie (The fourth reason is I'm actually lazy to go looking for anywhere else). That being said, during a stroll along the area with some officemates, I noticed a new restaurant had opened up, named "Ma Maison". 

          From the name alone, I couldn't figure out what cuisine they were serving. I knew "Maison" was French (isn't it?) but the word "Ma" before it, threw in a for a loop. And there were some Asian characters that confused me even more. Further inquiries helped me discover that Ma Maison is actually a Japanese-Western Fusion restaurant. 

        One fine working day, when My Giant Joel and my friend, the lovely Donna got sick of the usual suspects for lunch, we decided to go to Greenbelt for something different for lunch. And it helped that we had just gotten our 13 month bonus (May it Rest In Peace.. Sniff).  

WE WERE A FINALIST AT THE 2011 PHILIPPINE BLOG AWARDS

         Last July 4, I got an email from "The Philippine Blog Awards", telling me that my blog was nominated for one of the "Major Categories" (I went out on a limb and suspected it had something to do with food). I was a little taken aback because, The Pickiest Eater In The World had only been barely a year in existence and to get recognized by a body as prestigious sounding as "The Philippine Blog Awards" was a big deal. Imagine, one or maybe more of my readers liked my blog so much that he/she took time off from their day to point the panel of judges to my blog, because they deemed it among the best in the country today. Of course the feeling was exhilarating.  


      Then I find out that it was my wife that nominated me.


     Apparently a friend of hers told her about the awards, and suggested that she place my name into the hat, seeing what would happen.


      After confirming the nomination via email, that was pretty much it. Months went by, and I didn't hear a peep from them. Then recently I saw a list of blogs that made it to the best blogs of Nuffnang or something like that. For some reason I assumed that it was the same thing as the Philippine Blog Awards. When I double checked the Philippine Blog Awards site, it said that the awards night was December 3, and since it was mid-November, I thought my humble blog didn't live up to the standards of the Blog awards. I thought to myself, maybe I'll just try again next year.


     Then on December 2, the day before the Philippine Blog Awards Night, I get an email congratulating me for being a finalist in the Food & Beverage category on the National level.     


    So I called up Rina to tell her the good news, and that we needed to go to the awards night the next day. 


     And all she could say was..


     "What am I gonna wear!?"


     *Sigh*... Women. 


    

AN ODE TO MY YAYA

Parts lifted from an old facebook album

This is me and my Yaya Kit when I was four years old. 

        I wanted to take a moment to pay tribute to someone who has a very special place in my heart. This is the woman that changed my diaper when I was a baby. She took me to school when I was a child and waited for me until the bell rang. She would cook me my favorite meal upon request. Plain and simply, she took care of me. I wouldn't be the man I am today without her unconditional love and selfless nurturing. Who is she, you ask?

          She's my Yaya.

RINA'S GREENBELT DATE WITH EDWARD, JACOB &.. FELIX!?

         Convincing Rina to leave the house without Baby Rain is next to impossible. But I can't blame her either. Rain is still just one month and five days old, and we're both first time parents, so even a trip to the bathroom that takes longer than it should can induce the feeling of panic. But even when Rain was still a little speck in her mommy's tummy, Rina was already making plans on who would take care of our daughter on the weekend of November 20. 

     Why? Because Breaking Dawn Part 1 would be showing that weekend. 

      I'm not ashamed to admit that I've read all the Twilight Books, and save for the first one, I actually enjoyed them. The movies, on the other hand, are another story. But Rina and her sister Chaikka are crazy over both, and both were asking me to reserve tickets for "Breaking Dawn" as early as the closing credits of the midnight screen of "Eclipse" in 2010.

        I bought a voucher from CashCashPinoy to the restaurant, "Felix" in Greenbelt 5 a couple of months back, hoping to use it during one of our movie trips. (After a few experiences in different cinemas, we resolved that, with its online reservation and forgive me for a lack of a better term but its "Classier" crowd, Greenbelt 3 Cinemas would always be our default choice when wanting to watch a movie). 

     So since everything just seemed to be timed so perfectly, Rina finally got to go on her date with Edward, Jacob, and Felix. 

    (Oh and yeah, I was there too.)

WELCOME TO THE PHILIPPINES, JAMBA JUICE!

Warning: Long intro up ahead

           So it's been almost a month since Rina gave birth to our beautiful daughter, Rain, who with the grace of God was delivered in good health for both Mother and baby. With no disrespect to all the other babies out there, but she is the most beautiful baby I have ever seen in my entire life (I'm biased, I know). I'll be writing about that experience soon, but this time, I wanted to share with you another story. 


      Before Baby Rain was born, the baby of our family was our little Shi Tzhu, "Schatzi". He has accompanied us in a number of our food adventures, most notably during our trip to Uncle Cheffy and most notably, during Mercato Centrale's "Doggie Love" days. Schatzi would sleep in our room with us (not in our bed though), and before we would turn the lights out, I would give him his "Denta" treat, which he anxiously waits for every night 


      The night Rain was born was only Schatzi's second time to sleep without us in the same room with him (The first time was when we were in Singapore). According to our helper, he cried the entire night.


      As soon as we got out of the hospital we stayed a couple of weeks in my parents place in Antipolo. We brought Schatzi along with us so he could play with his brother, Spike (owned by MY brother, Ryan). Our plan was to keep him busy so he doesn't feel like we're neglecting him. With Spike there, it was easy to keep Schatzi pre-occupied (The two of them would rumble around to the point where they look like just one big ball of fur). But as soon as we got back home, it was clear that Schatzi was looking for the attention that we would shower on him in the past. 


     With Baby Rain in still such a delicate stage, we don't allow Schatzi in the room anymore. In fact, we don't allow him upstairs anymore. I love Schatzi deeply but it's obvious that he's not the most hygenic creature in the world. You can tell he's feeling a little bit sad, yet he lights up the minute one of us calls out his name. 


      Last Sunday morning, Rina and I decided to take Schatzi for a change. It wasn't easy leaving Baby Rain and home, but she was sleeping so soundly, and we knew we would only be gone for an hour or so, so we headed off to one of our favorite places to take him, Bonifacio High Street.


     I realized it would be the best time to try the recently opened juice bar in the new section of High Street, the world famous "Jamba Juice".  

(warned ya it was a long intro)

THE CHIC-BOY MADNESS

           The weeks before Rina gave birth to our beautiful daughter, Renee' Amelie aka Rain, we would have to go for her check ups with her doctor in QC. Naturally, we would eat out immediately after, which is how we ended up going to "Kanzhu Hand Pulled Noodles" (I'm still craving for their Lamb Dumplings) and "Size Matters" (I still need to try their "Breakfast In Bed" with an English Muffin). We usually head out to QC by 8am so we can be at the Doc's office by around 9am. It gets really packed, so we try to make it a point to get there as early as possible, just to make sure our lunch plans don't get hassled. Unfortunately during this trip, the doctor texted Rina after we had left already, saying that it would be best for us to get to her office by 12noon instead of 9am, throwing a monkey wrench in our lunch plans. 


      Instead, to pass the time, we decided to visit my grandfather who happens to live in QC as well. We then decided to head off to the doctor's office by 11:30, to get there, "Early". Unfortunately, all her other patients were thinking the same thing, so technically we were already late. The receptionist told us we would be waiting for roughly around an hour and a half or so, and advised us to get some lunch nearby and wait for her text. 


     With my growling stomach starting to alarm the other patients in the room, we headed downstairs where we saw the huge sign directly in front of our doctor's building.. "Chic-Boy". 

BFAST & BFURIOUS: THE MYSTERIES OF THE AYALA TRIANGLE III

This is what we did the day before Rina gave birth.. Coincidence? 

Well, there's a good chance Rina stuffed herself so much, 

that there just wasn't any room for the food and a 6lb baby anymore

           Just last week I found myself alone in the office early in the morning, starving, and dreaming of a breakfast buffet. I asked some of the members of the Pickiest Eater facebook page for suggestions of places with breakfast buffets, and a few came up with some very good recommendations. It was Genevieve Emeroso's suggestion that really stuck with me. Gen simply said "Chef Laudico", and just like that, bells went ringing in my head, and I remembered been wanting to go to Chef Laudico's "BFast" at Ayala Triangle for the longest time (Thanks Gen!)!


        After seeing my post, Rina too was attacked by breakfast buffet cravings, and naturally blamed me. She said since I was the one who put the thoughts in her head, it was my responsibility to get them out. So being the dutiful husband I am, right after hearing mass in preparation for the birth of our daughter Rain, we set off on a beautiful Sunday morning to Ayala Triangle  for our long awaited assault on Chef Laudico's breakfast BFast Buffet...


 For what might be our last Pickiest Eater adventure in a long time..

AIDA'S CHICKEN: BACOLOD'S BEST AT MAKATI CINEMA SQUARE!

        As I mentioned in some of my previous posts, moving our office to Arnaiz Avenue brought along the challenge of finding decent and affordable spots to eat, after leaving the comfort of Palanca street.. Our home for Four years. Good thing there were a few of the old reliables nearby, such as Max's, Pancake House, and The Old Spaghetti House, but apart from that, I found some fantastic places out of the ordinary, such as Kitch Cafe and Ukkokei Ramen Ron. 

   What I haven't told you about, was the very first place I had lunch at during my first day at my new office, which was a restaurant at the lower floor of Makati Cinema Square, called "Aida's Chicken".

  I never told you guys about it because of two reasons: The first being I hated what I ordered, and the second is because I forgot to take pictures, mainly because my camera phone was crappy back then (Thank you Samsung for bringing to the world the Galaxy S2!).

   For my first meal there with my giant Joel and his CG team, I ordered the Adobong Pata rice meal (P145), and I didn't like it at all. In fact, I hated it so much, I ended up stepping out and ordering from one of those 25 Peso Siomai stall in front of them, and eating it with my rice instead. 

   So after that experience, everytime someone from the office would rave about Aida's Chicken, I would continue to be baffled. One time my office mate Naomi asked if I wanted to go with them to Aida's Chicken for lunch, and I politely declined, saying I didn't like the food. She said it was easily among the best Chicken Inasal she had ever tried. I told her I didn't try their inasal, I tried their Adobong Pata. 

   So she said, "Eh sira ka pala eh. Pupunta ka sa Aida's Chicken, di mo titikman yung chicken nila? Kaya nga CHICKEN nakalagay sa pangalan ng restaurant nila, di ba? Kala ko pa naman, "Blogger" ka?". (I'm sure the people who personally know Naomi can actually hear her in their heads saying this to me as they read it.)

  For those who don't speak tagalog, she basically called me an idiot for not trying their chicken inasal dish, which is why the place has the word "CHICKEN" in their name in the first place. She ended her statement with, "I thought you were supposed to be a "Blogger". 

  So there I was, standing there, humbled by my office mate who questioned my capacity as a food blogger.. but the funny part about it was, she was totally right. 

  So the next time Naomi and the rest of the gang asked if I wanted to go with them to Aida's she was pretty surprised when I simply replied, "Game". 

HELL YEAH, SIZE MATTERS!

           One day, I was at home with Rina minding my own business when my Cousin Paolo tweeted me a picture of a Sausage burger that looked pretty bad ass. He said he wasn't sure what the name of the place was, but wanted to schedule a lunch there with Rina and I. Kuya Paolo has been with me in numerous food trips, including John & Yoko, Ukkokei and most recently, Kanzhu, and we always have a blast when we go on food trips so I was really Gung Ho about going to try this place with him. 

     That following week, my friend Rain showed me an article on the net about a place that featured Pork Sausage Burgers instead of your usual 100% beef patties called "Size Matters". I looked back at all my clues, put two and two together and realized that this was the place Paolo was talking about (Watching all those episodes of "Murder She Wrote" finally paid off). Since Rina's doctor is in Quezon City, a place that I've mentioned I don't frequent anymore, I decided that every time we go, we'd try a restaurant there. The first one was Kanzhu, then next on our list would be Size Matters. Our next visit to the doctor was the following Saturday, so I accepted the fact that I wouldn't be trying the sausage patty burger until another week.

      But as it turned out, the food gods had a plan for me. 

       

     Just like it was ripped from a food version of the movie, "Serendipity", The popular group buying site "Groupon Philippines decided to unleash a "Size Matters: Flame Grilled Sausage Burgers" Promo in their site (Some things are just truly meant to be)! As you can imagine, I snapped it up immediately without a second thought. Unfortunately, the voucher for my order arrived sometime within the next day, and I wasn't able to check it right away. So by the time Rina made reservations (You need to give the voucher number to make reservations), their Saturday was already fully booked. 

     Not willing to wait another week, I told Rina to make the reservation for Sunday. By hook or by crook, I was going to try those sausage burgers (All great love stories have obstacles.. It's like "Size Matters" was the "Princess" and I was the "Stable Boy").  

THE ART OF KANZHU HAND PULLED NOODLES

        It was a rainy Saturday morning when Rina and I drove to Quezon City for her doctor's appointment. I don't go to QC very much anymore.. which is sad because I spent four years living in my grandfather's house before moving to our place in Antipolo. We lived near the Timog-Tomas Morato area, and even back then, it was lined with a number of restaurants, with the more popular ones being Mario's, Dulcinea, and Anabel's. 

     Nowadays, the area is loaded with an eclectic selection of restaurants to choose from. It's a little bit annoying knowing that there are hundreds of these wonderful restaurants for me to try, but most of them weren't there when I was living just a few blocks away from them. 

      One such restaurant, is Kanzhu Hand Pulled Noodles. I hadn't been to that area since my visit to Penpen, so I was fortunate to find out about this restaurant from the Group Buying site, CashCashPinoy. 

    Forgive me for sharing yet another adventure from a Chinese restaurant, but I wanted to use my voucher before it expired.

 Besides, I couldn't resist the allure of authentic "Hand pulled noodles".

THE PICKIEST EATER ANNOUNCEMENT

No offense to all the other babies in the world, 

but this is the most beautiful one I've ever seen in my entire life.

Meet Renee' Amelie Zamora. My Baby, "Rain". 

Good Day Picky (and not so) Picky Eaters!

   Rina is on her 39th week of pregnancy, so we're expecting the Pickiest Little Eater any day soon. The birth of my daughter Rain will undoubtedly open a brand new chapter in my life that my wife and I are looking forward to. This is more exciting than the first time I went to Spiral Buffet, or when I returned to Harbor City in Cebu. This level of excitement is in a league of its own.


   With that being said, Please do not be surprised if I would abruptly need to go on hiatus for an undetermined amount of time. I will still most probably be posting on The Pickiest Eater In The World Facebook Page from time to time, so please "Like" that page or Follow me on Twitter for Updates. 

   I honestly have no clue when or how long I'll be gone, but I wouldn't be surprised if I find ways to keep posting reviews even from the hospital (I heard there are some great restaurants within the vicinity of Medical City hehe) or something. 


   After doing this for more than a year, I can't imagine NOT blogging about food. True there are times that I get lazy to write, but the moment I get going, and when I get comments on a post or in my Facebook fan page, it just really reaffirms my love for food blogging.  


      I have great plans for this blog, which are slowly being set into motion to make it even bigger and better, with the capabilities to reach an even wider audience. I can't really divulge anything because nothing is final yet, but I honestly do hope everything me and my friends are working on pushes through. Hopefully by early next year, my little "project" shall be revealed. Please stay tuned for that :)


      Please don't get this post wrong. I know it may sound like it, but I'm not saying goodbye. In fact, I'm going to be posting a new restaurant adventure with in the next couple of days. I'm just saying that Rina is giving birth soon, and I'll be gone for awhile.. Try not to miss me so much hehe.. 


    Thanks for everything guys! Please do pray for the safe delivery of our Baby Rain, as well as the health of Rina.. and as for being first time parents.. Wish us both luck! 


    I've got a lot of eating left to do, so ya'll can't get rid of me just yet!

See ya soon! 

      

THE PICKIEST EATER VS. THE BRAZIL BRAZIL! CHURRASCO PLATTER

       Good Day. It is with much pride to annouce that this post marks a first for The Pickiest Eater In The World. This is the first time (to my recollection) that I went to a restaurant and ordered ONE dish. 

      Do NOT adjust your screens, my friends, you read that right. That's ONE DISH to SHARE with Rina, ladies and gentlemen. 

         And guess what? 

       We couldn't even finish it!  

  That's the kind of madness that happens when you enter the wonderful world of Brazil: Brazilian Churrasco! 

THE SUNDAY STROLL TO EAT WELL

Now that Rakenrol is finally in the theaters,

 it's back to regular programming for The Pickiest Eater In The World!

Thanks for bearing with me for the past week as I skipped the usual food entries in order to write up about the movie

 (which I hope you all watched by the way).

        I have always considered myself a "Chinese Food Junkie". Having Chinese food as the cuisine that I have posted most about it all the proof you'll need to know that it's true. And even though I had just come from an amazing dining experience known as "Zong", I still chose yet another Chinese restaurant to go to for our next adventure.

   To be honest, it wasn't our first choice. It wasn't even our second. We were in the Bonifacio Global City area on a fine Sunday morning, and our first choice was to use a voucher from a restaurant I had purchased (You'll see that post soon.. It's awesome). So we moved to another restaurant in the area, but apparently it doesn't open until 3pm, which I found to be ridiculous, but oh well. 

     On any other weekend, we would have ended up in Mercato Centrale again, but SNR was having their member's sale, so parking around the area was insane. Besides, as much as I love the place, I needed new material for my blog. 

      As I was driving around the area, I remembered my cousin Paolo telling me about "Eat Well", and that I would love their Sweet and Sour Pork.

Words cannot express how much I love Sweet and Sour pork. I hear the words "Sweet and Sour" and I turn around on instinct, thinking that someone is speaking to me. The best one I've had, is actually a home made one made by the Yaya of my cousin Raf.. a phenomenal cook. Up there would easily be the version of Harbor City in Cebu. I could go on and on if I wanted to hehe..

    Since I wanted to try the Caramelized Porkloin of Zong, I deliberately refrained from ordering the Sweet and Sour Pork (Although I definitely plan on going back to try it).. Which was probably one of the most heart wrenching decisions of my life.

   A week later, there I was, STILL dreaming of Sweet and Sour pork, and since we were in the neighborhood, I thought it would be a good time to give Eat Well a go. 

THE LIST OF RAKENROL CINEMAS!

Watch Rakenrol 

at a theater nearest you!!

SHUTTLING SCHEDULE

SEPT.21-27,'11

RAKENROL SHOWING ON SEPTEMBER 21!

      With its long awaited September 21 play date just around the corner, the excitement surrounding the nationwide release of Quark Henares’ “Rakenrol” is reaching an all time high. Even before the movie landed its final release date, the fan buzz for the film had been amazing. Already having garnered acclaim overseas, Rakenrol blew the jam packed audience away with its humor, wit, and heart, during its highly anticipated premiere night as the closing film during the 2011 Cinemalaya Film Festival. 

THE REDEMPTION ZONG

                I've said it before and I'll say it again.. "The Pickiest Eater" is actually a collaboration of two people: Me and my wife Rina. We both love eating, but she handles all the photography, while I take care of the words. She loves going to these adventures together, and leaves the selection of where and what to eat all to me. During our last trip together at Nature Trails, I ordered her the Baked Fried Chicken, which she wasn't a fan of. I promised I would make it up to her on our next adventure.


          You have to understand that I take these food trips with Rina very seriously. I take pride in being able to study a  restaurant's menu, and figuring out which dish sounds the best for me (I often get calls in the middle of the day from friends saying "I'm here at *Name of Restaurant* what should I order?"). I really wanted to redeem myself for ordering that dish that she didn't like, so I decided to break out the big guns.


       On our way home from Nature Trails, I told Rina, "Next time we go out, I'm taking you to Zong". 

ANSWERING THE CALL OF NATURE TRAILS CAFE

        For the long weekend last August, I planned a trip to a resort in Cavite for Rina and I. However, due to the unpredictable weather, my mom thought it wouldn't be the best idea for Rina to go on a long road trip (She's on her 8th month of pregnancy!). Given her expertise in the use of a rubber slipper in lieu of a shuriken, I have accepted the fact that I should never EVER argue with my mother, so we decided not to risk it. I still did want to take Rina somewhere a bit further than our usual Greenbelt-Eastwood routine, so we headed off to Solenad, Nuvali in Sta. Rosa, Laguna. 

     I had heard about about a restaurant there that Bikers would frequent during their rides, called "Nature Trails". After making sure that it wasn't a Vegan place that exclusively sold Granola Bars and Tofu for lunch, Rina and I decided it give it a go. 

SANGO THE BURGER MASTER

         Practically every weekday lunch, Me and my Giant Joel usually have the same routine. One of us calls the other up by around 12 noon, and say, "Game?" and if the other isn't busy, we head on out of the office for lunch. We usually get into a conversation about work or something during our noontime stroll, and without even thinking or talking about it, we find ourselves in "Walter Mart" Pasong Tamo. When we're in Walter Mart, the default (and most reliable) restaurant to eat at is definitely Pancake House, but we try to change things us sometimes by going to Max's and The Old Spaghetti House as well (Of course this was before we discovered Kitch' Cafe was just nearby). 

      Joel has always been mentioning that he'd like to go to try passing by Sango, the Japanese Burger joint one time. With two of the past three weeks being crazy busy in the office, I thought we would have enough time to walk to Mile Long to give "The Burger Master" a shot (It's not actually that far, I'm just lazy).

NO WORK & ALL PLAY AT KITCH' CAFE!

"It was a million tiny things, that when you added it all up,

 meant we were meant to be together..."

          Since we've moved our office to Arnaiz Ave, I've been talking about how much I miss the food choices near the area of Palanca Street. Sure, I've got perhaps the country's best Ramen restaurant a few steps away, but as much as I love a steaming bowl of Miso Char Siu, the REAL me still looks for some of the regular food that I've come to know and love. 

      Sometimes I look for a good old fashioned greasy burger loaded with bacon and melted cheese. Maybe some beef tapa with a generous lining of fat, and a scoop of rice. Or if I don't want my meal too heavy, perhaps I could go for a unique type of pasta that isn't tomato based for a change. And then i'd end it all off with a rich, yet not too sweet slice of cheesecake, drizzled with nutella sauce.. and I want all of this, walking distance from my office.

   Now tell me, Is that too much too ask for?  

    Enter: Kitch Cafe. 

UKOKKEI RAMEN RON & THE RAMEN NAZI

Time to get their Tantanmen on

            Again, I will repeat, that I'm not really that big on Japanese Food. Which would explain why, in the one year and one month of it's existence, The Pickiest Eater In The World has only featured two Japanese restaurants, which technically don't really count because : 

              A) John & Yoko is more of a "Japanese Fusion" Restaurant

              B) Yakimix is a smokeless grill place where you pretty much just 

                  cook bacon..

              C) And Yakimix's buffet food is a mix of Chinese and Japanese cusines

      A TV Commercial director and fellow foodie (Also the only person I know who has actually tried "Butter Beer") I work with, Direk Paolo Dy, visited our new office one day. As I showed him around, I grumbled that I'm going to miss having the restaurants in C. Palanca to choose from. Then he said, "Well at least you're just down the street from " Ukokkei"!". I stared at him blankly, and then he looked at me, all baffled and replied, "You DO know what  Ukokkei  is, right?". I told him, that I wasn't really into Japanese food, but he would have none of it. As a client, Direk Pao is a joy to work with, because he's one of those laid back directors that is easy to talk to and always seems to be in a good mood. So when he gave me an intense look, and told me in a firm tone, "One of these days we are going.", I knew I was in the presence of a man who takes his Ramen seriously. 

       A few months later, lo and behold, Direk Pao treated me and some of the PostManila peeps  for a job well done on one of his projects. Take one good guess. 

FIRST STOP AT THE CHEESE STEAK SHOP!

        Earlier this year, the company I work for moved offices.. From the relatively quiet C. Palanca Street in in Legaspi Village, Makati. We are now located along the bustling Arnaiz Avenue. I enjoyed working (and for a time, living) in C. Palanca street, because everything you needed was walking distance. Need to go the grocery? Go to Rustan's want to catch a movie? Go to Greenbelt. Need a place to eat? Well, apart from the obvious restaurants at Greenbelt, there were a few gems scattered around the area, such as Bob's, Plantation, and even Gustavus. 

     Arnaiz Avenue has an eclectic choice of restaurants to choose from, but they are just a bit more expensive than C. Palanca's offerings (Palanca has a Mang Inasal). I've been to a few, but I realized I haven't featured any just yet. On a day that I was ticked off at my cellular network provider for screwing me over (They have since rectified the situation), my friend, Rain offered to go with me grab a bite to eat so I could cool my head (Ahh, the healing powers of food). As we strolled along down Arnaiz Avenue, I continued to bitch about my situation with my cellular network. All of a sudden Rain stopped in her tracks to say that  she remembered that she had just seen a place called "The Cheese Steak Shop" newly opened just down the road from my office. 

     And just like that, everything was right again in the world. 

I'M ON A WOODEN HORSE.. STEAK HOUSE!

My audition for the role of the next Old Spice Guy didn't go so well

            I'm a very lazy guy, that struggles to get himself out of bed or away from the computer when at home. I'm a homebody that prefers a large order of pizza and a good movie or series marathon, as opposed to a partying at bars and clubs all night. I've noticed most of my posts have been either Eastwood or Makati (I live in Pasig and I work in Makati), so I decided to expand my horizons just a little bit, and explore what lurks in Alabang (I told ya just a little bit). 

    When Rina told me that her friends were planning a get together down South, I jumped at the chance to go on a food trip with them. At first we were planning somewhere in BF Homes Paranaque, but when I realized that the get together was scheduled on a Harry Potter weekend, I thought it would be best to have lunch somewhere in Alabang Town Center, so that Rina and I could go straight to their cinemas right after. I was able to get some great seats via SureSeats.com for the 4:30pm showing (And it's a good thing I did, because the line was ridiculous and by 1pm, they were only selling tickets for the last full show!), leaving me with only one problem.. where to eat at ATC. 

     It's a nice mall and all.. More like a tidied up Glorietta in Makati, but the choices of restaurants aren't anything out of the ordinary. I didn't want to make that rare trip to Alabang, and just eat at Pepper Lunch, Yellow Cab or Italianni's again (Their concession stands are more interesting then their actual restaurants). I resolved that since we went all this way, our meal had to be something different. 

    Rina's friend Lia, who is a resident of the South and has joined us in many adventures in the past, always boasted that once we visited Alabang or any of her "Territories", she would be the one who would play hostess. It was funny because once we got there, she herself found herself a little lost in the labyrinth that is Alabang Town Center. 

  Then came Rina's friend Aiko, who herself is a citizen of the South. She suggested a restaurant that I haven't reviewed yet, and we decided on that. However, I was a little bit uneasy because I knew there were other branches of that said restaurant in Makati and MOA as well, so I really wouldn't be maximizing my trip. But at that point I was just so exhausted from walking I was thisclose to picking the nearest BBQ stand and just going with it. 

   The place she took us to was actually across from the Alabang Town Center, and as we got closer, Aiko pointed out a Steak House, which was right beside the diner she initially suggested. 

 Since I had never heard of this place before, I knew I had found the restaurant I went down to the South for. 

      The Wooden Horse Steak House.

A LONG AWAITED TRIP TO CHELSEA MARKET

If I could turn back time.. 

         One of my favorite restaurants here in the metro is Mr. Jones, and that's primarily on  the strength of their amazing "Bacon and Eggs" dish. I know Mr. Jones' sister restaurant, "Momo Cafe", also has a bacon dish that I'm interested in trying. So basically what I'm trying to say is that Chef Sau Del Rosario and his Raintree restaurants know what to do with bacon. And because of that, they win a special place in my heart. 

       Because of that, it became my civic duty to purchase the Chelsea Market deal that Cash Cash Pinoy offered. It was pretty hard to resist.. Less than P500 for P1000 bucks worth of food? Considering Chelsea's prices and the amount of dishes I wanted to try,  It would be a crime against humanity for me to let a day go by without making the most of this promo.     

       So one fine Sunday morning, my beautiful wife and I visited yet another restaurant in Serendra (I plan to try 'em all) to see if Chelsea Market could live up to the awesomeness of Mr. Jones.

STEAK AND FRITES AT L'ENTRECOTE!

I have raised the flag and surrendered my appetite to L' Entrecote

             Some time last year, My boy Eric, one of my readers whose been following my site since it's early days (much appreciated, buddy!) sent me a message on Facebook suggesting me to try "L' Entrecote". I did a little research on it, and I could see exactly why he would think I would be interested in trying it out. 

      Just like its international namesakes, L' Entrecote is famous for its "Steak and Frites" (for you not familiar with the language, Frites is French for "French Fries".. wait.. so tecnically, shouldn't they call it just "fries" over there? Aaaanyway..). Since I have professed my love for meat and potatoes in the past, this was right up my alley.. except it came with a rather stiff price tag. Because I didn't want to have to sell a kidney just to eat some steak and fries,  "L' Entrecote" fell lower down my list of restaurants to try.. however the important thing was it was always on my list (I actually do have a list). 

      Then along came the group buying site Pakyaw.com.ph with an offer that I could not refuse. I actually had refrained from buying from Pakyaw in the past (I missed out on the Lolo Dad's and Momo Deals.. and now I'm sad.) because they didnt have Paypal yet, but when I saw the L' Entrecote deal, I whipped out my credit card said "Screw it". 

   One fine Saturday morning, armed with our Pakyaw Vouchers, Rina & I sped over to Burgos Circle for an early celebration of my very first Father's Day at  L' Entrecote.