I GOT STUNNED BY THE BURGER KING STUNNER MEAL!!

A few days ago, I visited Emerald Avenue for the first time in a very long while. Emerald Avenue has a special place in my heart because the office of my very first job was located there. Its actually quite humbling when I look back and remember that from a cramped office of my boss’ business wherein I was the very first employee, the company has grown, and branched out to different companies, giving jobs to around one hundred employees. Although I do have many fond memories of Emerald Avenue, an annoying little factoid is that there weren’t too many places to eat at when I worked there. Now, it’s the home of practically every single fast food restaurant you can imagine.

               One particularly painful discovery for me, was the sudden presence of Burger King at the ground floor of the building beside where I used to work. I cannot express how many times I felt that an exhausting working day could have been made even a lot better by one of their flame grilled burgers and an ice cold glass of Hi-C Apple.   

               During my stroll along Emerald, the lure of Burger King was too strong, I couldn’t help but drop by (I really didn’t put up too much of a fight). Since I was on the go, I wanted something quick but filling and not too expensive. So what could Burger King possibly have in store for me?

               A meal that would leave me completely stunned.

MANANG'S CHICKEN NEW GARLIC PORK! - RINAZ

        I have this friend who, wherever we go some place we haven’t tried yet, she would always always always order Pork Chop as her default meal. If Richie equals bacon, Lia would equal pork chop. (Hehehe Hi Lia!) And it was Lia who I immediately thought alerting on a fine afternoon when I saw that Manang’s Chicken has a new dish called Garlic Pork Meal! Sounds good, yes? 

       Intrigued, I went ahead and tried it. It’s always good to try something new.

FOODGASM II ON MARCH 9, 2013 AT MERCATO CENTRALE!

       Last August, I had a blast at "Foodgasm", the food tasting event organized by the UP Economics Society. So when I was invited to be a Blogger Judge once again, the only answer I could give them was HELL YEAH!! 

MY SINGAPORE FOOD STREET OPENS IN MEGAMALL - RINAZ

Sorry I can't do silly poses like Richie does thus this is my cover photo hehe

        As far as my poor memory can remember, the first time I had Singaporean cuisine was when we were in Singapore last 2010. I have been hearing about the wonder that is Hainanese Chicken Rice and how much of a “must-try” Singaporean dish it was. So during our trip there we made sure that we get to try it. And I’m glad we did!

        Thankfully, Singaporean restaurants are slowly emerging here in the Metro, and a recent that just launched was My Singapore Food Street (Formerly Orchard Road) in Megamall. Thankfully, Richie again had work so it was me again who ended up trying their scrumptious Singaporean meals! (I’m kidding hun! Of course it’s more fun when we’re together. But you have to control yourself from eating the food first before I take a picture!)

THROUGH THE TUNNEL TO APPLEBEE'S!

            Back in September, during our Oreo Trip to New York, Rina and I ventured across the river to New Jersey, all on our own during a free night, just to visit Rina's Aunt Eva and Uncle Tony. Tita Eva is like a second mother to Rina, so she was determined to meet up with her, no matter what. Of course that meant that my mission was to figure out how to get there via the subway. 

       Thankfully, it was actually quite easy, since all we had to do was get down on the very last stop (I forgot what train though hehe), where Tita Eva and Uncle Tony was waiting to take us shopping at the Jersey Gardens. 

       All that shopping caused me us to work up an appetite, so before we headed back to New York, Tita Eva asked us where we wanted to go for Dinner. She rattled off names of restaurants, and something I immediately recognized was "Applebees".

MORE FROM MOMO CAFE - BY RINAZ

This marks the first time someone apart from me (Richie)

 shall be writing for one of our food posts!

I wouldn't exactly call her a "Guest Blogger" because this is technically her blog too, but this is the very first time my wife, Rina is taking the reins not just as photograher, but as writer as well! 

I hope you enjoy her first food adventure!

            We have been to Momo two times last year. I remember I was still pregnant at that time. I vividly remembered that night because Richie was late, because he had just came straight from work. This was in Eastwood branch and I was with my cousins. I ordered for him the Roasted Beef Fingers, which I was sure he would enjoy. Unfortunately, it only was only when he arrived that we saw that they had bacon slabs in the menu. 

       It would be safe to say that he was not pleased. 

        The second time we went, was to finally try the bacon dish that had eluded him, which we both enjoyed.  

        Recently, we were fortunate enough to taste their other dishes this time at their branch in Ayala Triangle. Unfortunately, Richie had work so of course, Mrs. Not So Pickiest Eater (me) was the one to represent.

WHAT A WATAMI ADVENTURE! : PART I

It smells so good, I swear

         I noticed that, for a guy who says he doesn't like Japanese food so much, I sure do have a lot of Japanese food entries in my blog. Well, I hope you don't mind if I added two more. I found an amazing Japanese restaurant that caters to my heavily Western influenced palate. 

        One of my greatest regrets, was last November, I was unable to attend the opening of Watami Japanese Casual restaurant, then the newest baby of The Bistro Group. The following week, My blogger friends that were able to attend the event posted the most amazing photos of Japanese dishes that made my mouth water. 

       Although I was aware that there would be a Glorietta branch opening early 2013 that was more accessible to me, I refused to wait any longer, and made a trek to Mall of Asia with one mission in mind.. Dine at Watami.  

LUNCH AT POCO DELI WITH A NEW FRIEND!

           Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that this blog of ours would reach so many people, in such a short amount of time. Which is why every time someone tells me - whether through Facebook, Twitter, or in person - that they read my blog, I can't help but beam with pride. 

     Tiny is one particular reader that reached out to me through Instagram. It's a funny story how it happened, because nothing like this has ever happened to me before. Instagram alerted me that I got a mention from a user that I was not friends with. When I clicked on it, I wasn't allowed to view it because her profile was set to private. I was actually in the middle of doing something so I thought nothing of it. The next day, when i was fiddling around with Instagram again, I noticed the alert was still in my notifications. I took a good look at the little thumbnail and noticed something. 

      It was a picture of me!

     Of course it got me wondering if I knew this person or not, and what my picture was doing there, which I recognized from an old blog post. I added her as a friend, and I saw that she was a Pinay reader that was based in another country, and was just telling everyone that she enjoyed reading my blog. 

     I'll tell you this right now.. It was a truly wonderful feeling. 

       Since that day, Tiny and I have been corresponding through Instagram and Facebook, and have become friends. We made plans to finally meet when she came back to Manila for her Christmas vacation. 

    When she asked where we could meet up I couldn't but think to myself.. "Where else would you meet up with a girl named "Tiny", but at "Poco Deli"! 

LOVE IS IN THE AIR WITH LOLO DAD'S VALENTINE'S DAY MENU!

               I was still getting over the fact that I had finally gone to Lolo Dad's, a restaurant that had long been in my Bucket List, when I got an opportunity to once again go back. When you get a chance to a restaurant such as Lolo Dad's, you drop everything you're doing. Ironing, Scuba Diving, or on the phone with the president, it matters not. You leave it all behind and run if needs be to Manila. 

         I managed to convince Rina at first that I had booked us a dinner at Lolo Dad's, and since it was so hard to get a reservation there, the only available day to go was two weeks earlier. The moment she saw fellow blogger Yedylicious at the same restaurant, she was on to my ruse.

        Nonetheless, It was a dinner she would never forget. 

THE WINNER OF THE OVERNIGHT STAY AT TAAL VISTA HOTEL IS.....

The great Rafflecopter has spoken.. The Final Giveaway now has a winner.. 

Who won the overnight stay at Taal Vista Hotel?

Find out NOW! 

ROCK THE KASBAH.. FOR BRUNCH!

            When I told Rina that we'd be going to Kasbah to try their Moroccan Brunch menu, she replied with an excited "Great! What kind of dishes do they serve in Morocco? I opened my mouth, expecting to rattle off names of exotic dishes- then I realized something. I had no clue what Moroccan food was all about. Was it Curry based? No that would be leaning towards Indian food. Would they be serving Kebabs and Shawarmas? Wouldn't that be more of Persian fare? But Morocco is in Africa, not in Asia! 

          I didn't realize how deep in thought I was, until Rina said to me, after noticing my mouth had been agape for a bit longer than normal, "Para kang nag-hang!".

           

             So began my first step in the education on the flavors Moroccan food had to offer through their brunch dishes. But something I wasn't expecting to happen, was that my short trip to Kasbah would also give me, not only an authentic taste of their food, but of their country and culture as well.