Pinoy Food & Other Cuisine :: Food PhotoBlog and Events |

I love having a juicy steak for dinner as much as any omnivore, but if there’s another kind of red meat I enjoy eating on a less regular basis – lamb. When I was a kid, I refused to eat lamb because I didn’t like the idea of slaughtering a cute, fuzzy creature for food. Then I tried a lamb curry at a friend’s house and never looked back. Well, I still resist ordering lamb at restaurants from time to time, but it’s definitely not something I’d refuse if it were offered to me in a tempting platter.

Last Sunday, my boyfriend and I had dinner with Meryll of Meat and Livestock Australia at Mr. Rockefeller, Greenbelt 3. I honestly don’t know why I’ve never been to this restaurant before – it’s got an extensive oyster menu, a delicious lamb kebab, and the best steak I have ever had in my life. While I will still always have a soft spot for the steak at Katre (the Navarin of Lamb is heavenly too!), the Australian tenderloin steak at Mr. Rockefeller is the king of all steaks.

But I’m getting way ahead of myself! Mr. Rockefeller is called such because they specialize in oysters. In fact, their oyster dishes took up two pages of the menu, which gave us a hard time choosing which ones to try. Fortunately, they allow you to get an oyster sampler plate (P360) – a dozen oysters where you get four pieces of three oyster dishes. We eventually decided on the Buddha’s Heaven, Oysters Rockefeller, and Oysters Pesto.

Read the rest of this entry »

Even though we’d already devoured our herbal soups and main course, the Chinese feast we had at Cantonese Soup Kitchen was far from over. We got curious about the restaurant’s interesting array of gelatin desserts and had a hard time choosing just one. The solution: we ordered every single dessert on the menu to share! That edible-looking koi fish above is the Almond Fish Gelatin (P80) resting on a shallow pool of cream and sago. Of all the desserts we had, this was the least sweet-tasting, which I didn’t mind. I found its subtle almond flavor rather welcoming after such a tasty meal.

Read the rest of this entry »

The restaurant where I had the beautiful glass of floral tea was Cantonese Soup Kitchen in Banawe St. It’s quite out of the way from where I live, and I think people who don’t live in the Quezon City area will have a hard time getting there. But if Banawe St. is within reasonable driving distance, I highly recommend that you stop and check it out, especially if you’re tired of these hacks that call themselves “Chinese restaurants.” Cantonese Soup Kitchen is one of those few Chinese restaurants that made me feel like I was eating authentic Chinese food.

I think it helped that I had a rather difficult time maneuvering through the tiny restaurant’s crowded first floor. Later that evening, I learned that the Chinese community at Banawe St. don’t just patronize any restaurant. They’re difficult to please, and any restaurant whose food does not meet their high standards will wither and die. On the other hand, a restaurant with their stamp of approval will always be packed, even on a week day. Additionally, Cantonese Soup Kitchen serves a host of foods that you don’t normally find in the average Chinese restaurant. Their specialties are herbal soups, carefully crafted to make sure that every bowl has potent healing properties. The restaurant also has an extensive herbal tea menu with specific healing capabilities. Unlike most restaurants, the tea isn’t served in tea bag form, but as loose leaves brewing in a pot of boiling water.

Read the rest of this entry »

My boyfriend and I usually stick to the city for our dates, but we did something different last night and went to Antipolo for a juicy steak dinner at Hollywood Steakhouse. There’s an old joke that goes, “If he takes you to Tagaytay, it means he loves you. But if he takes you to Antipolo, kabit ka lang niya (you’re only his mistress).” I don’t know about being the mistress because I was the one who decided to go there. More importantly, a classy place like Hollywood Steakhouse will easily dispel any myths about Antipolo being a seedy place for trysts.

Hollywood Steakhouse is a cozy little open-air restaurant that overlooks the hills of Antipolo. It’s owned by the same group of companies that runs Center of Culinary Arts (CCA) in Katipunan, which means that the recipes were developed by CCA graduates. The gorgeous view makes it a lovely place for dates, whether you’re taking your girlfriend, wife, or mistress. The Hollywood theme of the restaurant is not particularly strong, and I found out later that the restaurant’s name is based on its location, which is the Hollywood Hills Subdivision.

Read the rest of this entry »

After our family photoshoot with Mimi and Karl, my sister and I got so hungry that we insisted on having dinner out. We ended up at My Thai Kitchen at Eastwood because of its proximity to the parking lot, and because I’m really excited about my upcoming trip to Bangkok this summer. I know I’ll probably be sick of Thai food by then, but I just wanted to have a little taste of it while the trip is still far away.

My mom ordered the Shrimp and Pomelo Salad (P155), but all of us ended up splitting it because of our hunger. I love the vinagrette dressing that came with it.

Read the rest of this entry »