ZARK'S BURGERS JAWBREAKER DAY!

       Ever since I found their fan page on facebook, I've been a huge fan of Zark's Burgers. In a world where every restaurant tries to become more "organic" and low-fat, etc.. Zark's Burgers takes pride in serving the greasiest burgers in the country.. and makes no apologies for it. These are perhaps the most sinful, decadent menu I have ever seen in my entire life.. and trust me.. I've studied a lot of menus for burger restaurants in my time. 

     Since they're located at Taft Avenue right in front of De La Salle University, Zark's Burgers decided to allocate a day at the start of every semester, which was meant to be their way of welcoming the new students to college life, by slashing the cost of one of their best selling burgers, The Jawbreaker, from P250 to P150. 

    Seven semesters later, "Jawbreaker Day" has become much more than that. It has become a La Sallite's rite of passage. A bonding event between friends and family. 


      The lines were insane, causing traffic jams and even catching the attention of ABS-CBN. Unfortunately because of that, I had never attended any of the Jawbreaker Days. 


       Then I got a text from the Man himself, Zark, asking if I was interested in witnessing the event for myself. 


      You can imagine what my reaction was. 

THE PICKIEST EATER'S AMBASSADOREO ENTRY

OREO 072612 with brand bug from richiez168 on Vimeo.

Just giving ya'll something to read while you're waiting for the video to load.. 

    It's been quite an amazing week for Rina and I.. Never in our wildest dreams did we think that a company as prestigious as Oreo Philippines would select me as one of the three contestants for their "Blogger AmbassadOREO" contest! Nevertheless, we are eternally grateful to have our humble website recognized alongside two other amazing blogs.. Our Awesome Planet and The Tummy Traveler.  


    The outpouring of love and support from family, friends, and readers from all across the world has been overwhelming, and I cannot thank you all enough. It's incredible how something as simple as a cookie that has been in existence for the past 100 years, can bring the world closer together, spreading the word of pure love with every creamy, chocolatey bite. 

       Something I noticed was true, was the effect an Oreo had on adults. It's a given that kids adore the cookies, but it was wonderful to see a grown man unafraid to get back in touch with his inner child, when holding a pack of Oreos in his hand! All of a sudden, adults had the license to be silly and outrageous, without a care in the world!

    Case in point.. When Rina was taking my photos in the swimming pool, and I was jumping up and down like a madman, my mom walks up to Rina and asks, "Ano nanaman ginagawa niya? (What's he doing this time?)". (With all my insanity she's witnessed me display over the years, you'd think she be used to it by now.)  Rina just laughed and said, "He's got an Oreo." She looked at me, and instead of the usual exasperated comment I was expecting to get, she just said, "Oh.", The walked away. 


    Apparently, having an Oreo in my hand was all the excuse I needed for my rambunctious behavior. (If only I knew this in High school! Oh the things I could have gotten away with!)


    There are so many people that I need to thank, and fear not, I plan to do a separate post of every single picture, thanking every single contributor. As you can imagine, there are too many to mention, but I need to take time to thank a few people that made this possible..


   Starting with Mr. Edu Manzano. Who would have thought tweeting a celebrity would take me this far? My wife Rina for her amazing photography, My giant Joel, for his work with a video camera, and my buddy Ronald, for his amazing editing skills, and my daughter, Baby Rain, for being my little Oreo Angel :)


  I have so many friends, family and readers that contributed, and I don't want to start naming them for fear of missing out one.. But please make no mistake about it.. I am eternally grateful to each and everyone of you for helping me submit my entry. I actually feel kinda silly about worrying I wouldn't have enough pictures to make an entire video. (In case you don't see your picture in the video, it probably means it didn't make the cut off time, but I'll add it to my blog entry)


 I intend to post every single picture sent to me with the name of the sender in a different blog post! But for now...

I hope you enjoy my entry to the

 "Official Blogger AmbassadOREO" Contest!  

EPIC FIRSTS AT VILLAGE TAVERN

      Have you ever been to a restaurant, and the moment you open the menu, everywhere you look.. no matter what corner of the page you glance at, you see a dish that you just HAVE to order? 

     Well, that's exactly what happened to me when I went to Village Tavern last week. I swear, I was just staring at the menu, with my tummy growling at me and I just drew a blank. The dishes just sounded so amazing, I was completely overwhelmed. I honestly wanted to order practically EVERYTHING.

     Which is why I turned over the ordering reins to my friend Mitzi of The Bistro group, figuring since she has declared The Village Tavern one of her favorite restaurants to eat at, she wouldn't lead us astray. 

    Funnily enough, I was right. Everything Mitzi recommended knocked it out of the park. 

HELP ME BECOME THE OFFICIAL BLOGGER AMBASSADOREO!

Hi friends! I really need your help with something.. 

I've had the honor of being one of the three bloggers selected by Oreo Philippines to vie for a chance to become their 

"Official Blogger Ambassadoreo"!

If I win, they're sending me to... 

NEW YORK!!!! 

But I can't win this without your help... 

 

I need to collect "100 Oreo moments"..  

Each moment may depict any Happy, warm, 

or memorable slice of life with Oreo.

It could be something as simple as taking a break with an Oreo amidst a hectic day, or something as grand as an Oreo saving someone's life. 

I only have a week to do this, so as you can imagine, 

it's not going to be easy completing 100 "Oreo Moments" 

In that short amout of time.

That's where YOU come in. 

Please send me your favorite "Oreo Moment"! 

It can be a photo or a video.. 

or anything that helps depict your "Oreo Moment"

Remember, Oreo helps bring out your inner child, so play around with that.. Creativity will play a huge role in their decision, so feel free to think outside of the box!

Also, you can win a chance to go to Become an "Ambassadoreo"yourself and go to New York as well

 by joining Oreo's GET DUNKED contest!

FYI, If you send the exact same picture to another blogger in the running, your photo won't be counted.. (Duplicate entries cancel each other out)

I REALLY hope you guys could support me on this.. 

If you could send in your entry by no later than July 25, that would be great!

I Appreciate all the help I can get!

Please email your photos to me at pickiesteater@gmail.com,

so I can include it in my entry!

And yes, you need to have an oreo in your photo, and in can be the cookie or the foil :)

Thank you so much!

THE PICKIEST EATER'S ANNIVERSARY GIVEAWAY #5: MANANG'S CHICKEN !

             

     Being a man that would call Mercato Centrale his second home, I'm no stranger to Manang's Chicken. Not only am I a fan of their food, but I'm also an admirer of their success story. 

      In case you don't know what that story is, it's really quite amazing. From a small stall in Mercato Centrale, Manang's Chicken has quickly transformed itself into a legitimate fast food force to be reckoned with. 

      What makes their story even more amazing, is that the whole craze of Manang's Chicken began from a simple recipe that the Gerodias family matriarch created, and their beloved cooked that everyone loving called, "Manang" perfected. 

     The children of the Gerodias family grew up with the dish, as it instantly became popular among their friends. Whenever they had friends over, and asked what they wanted for dinner, the response became nearly automatic.. "Manang's Chicken". 


    And that, my friends, is how a legend is born. 

I'VE LANDED ON PANCIT PLANET!

          Once again, I'm writing this with a disclaimer of forgiveness for my pictures that are not up to par with my other posts. I didn't have Rina's camera with me, so I had to rely on my trusty Galaxy S2, which I believe did an admirable job, nonetheless. 

     Camera or no camera, I couldn't resist writing about my latest delivery discovery for the people around the Makati area (for now).. I place that took the concept of everyone's favorite merienda, and took it to new heights.

     Ladies and gentlemen, this is Pancit Planet. 

DINNER AT CASA ARMAS

     Casa Armas is one of those restaurants that I've passed by over and over again, yet for some reason I had never tried it yet. When I lived in Makati, I'd walk past it all the time in Greenbelt. When I was staying in Ortigas, I'd see it whenever I'd go to Podium. 


    However, when I was invited to dinner at Casa Armas by my buddy Spanky Enriquez to give their dishes a try, I didnt think twice. Not just because I'm a fan of free food, but because of Casa Armas reputation as one of the top restaurants of choice when it comes to Spanish Cuisine.    
     

QUICK PICK: HOTDOG ON STICKS & JOHNSONVILLE BEDDAR CHEDDAR

     I know what you must be thinking. "This so-called 'Food blogger' must be running out of things to write, because he's posting about a hotdog stand seen in nearly every grocery store across the nation". 


      Well, you're wrong. I actually have a few posts backed up. I'm actually writing about this, because if you're like me, you've seen this stall hundreds of times during your trip to the mall. And like me, you just scoffed at it as your average-ordinary-run-of-the-mill Hotdog stand. 


     Little do you know, every time you passed it by without as much as a second glance, you're missing out on getting a taste of - in my humble opinion - the best hotdog you'll ever try here in the Philippines.   

THE PICKIEST EATER'S ANNIVERSARY GIVEAWAY #4: YABU: THE HOUSE OF KATSU!!!

          Ok so I finally caved. I seriously debated with myself whether I should give these Gift Certificates away or not, simply because Rina wasn't able to attend Yabu's "Katsu for 25" Event, and she made me promise her I'd take her to try the new Seafood Katsu 2. But in the end, the clamor of the public was just too strong to ignore. 

      And because you asked for it.. you got it! 

      Ladies and gentlemen, I bring to you The Pickiest Eater In The World's Anniversary #4: 

      P2,000 worth of Gift Certificates from Yabu: The House Of Katsu!!!

THE WINNER OF THE PICKIEST EATER'S ANNIVERSARY GIVEAWAY #2 IS...

        First of all, I wanted to thank everyone that joined The Pickiest Eater in The World's Giveaway #2! We had over 100 entries.. which I think is impressive considering its a small restaurant with only one location.. in the South of all places! I think it's a testament to great word of mouth that the restaurant has been getting.. The quality of its food speaks for itself!


      Thank you to Crystal Tremblay and her family for providing us with the GC's to make this Giveaway possible! I'll definitely be seeing you soon, whether it's at Mercato Centrale, Soderno, or at the Mama Lou's Italian Kitchen restaurant itself!   


     So without further ado.. The winner of the P2,000 Gift Certificate is...