Last Saturday, I holed up with girlfriends at Bizu, Greenbelt for an evening of good food, fancy cakes, and drinks. I haven’t been to Bizu in ages, and I was surprised to see how pretty it was inside. I love the high ceiling and the lilac and white interior – this color scheme would look so lovely in a bedroom.
I hate going to Megamall. I hate the crowd, I hate how far all the stores are from each other, and I hate that there are never any taxis in the taxi queue. But it’s restaurants like Kebab Factory that keep me coming back to the second largest mall in the Philippines, even though I’d like to keep my visits as few and far in between as possible. I discovered Kebab Factory as I was entering the SM Department Store – they have this huge sign painted on the wall that had photos of their specialties. I thought I saw a dish that looked just like chicken tikka masala, and I figured it wouldn’t hurt try a different Indian/Middle Eastern place other than our default Indian restaurant New Bombay.
I was too tired and hungry to take photos of the restaurant, but at least I was mindful enough to take pictures of the food! My boyfriend and I are creatures of habit, and we ended up ordering the same dishes we would normally get at New Bombay. First, vegetarian samosas (P150) stuffed with potatoes and I’m not sure what else. I like this better than the ones in New Bombay; the flavor of the stuffing is more complex, and the stuffing itself is very dense. I wish it also came with the tamarind sauce, but Kebab Factory only serves it with the green mint sauce.
Sometimes I wish that eating were optional. It’s not that I want to get skinny (although that’s always a good thing); it’s because I find it so inconvenient to eat when I’m busy. Some people overeat when they’re stressed, but I’m the kind of person who loses her appetite when she’s too consumed by her work. When I eventually remember that it’s been hours since my last meal, I’m either too busy to stop working and eat, or it’s 2 in the morning and I’m battling insomnia.
Saturday was one of those days – I went out with an empty stomach and spent an entire afternoon doing all the things I planned to do. By dinner, my stomach reminded me that it’s been over 24 hours since it last had anything to digest. My boyfriend and I didn’t have trouble finding a place to have dinner because we had just run into one of his college friends, who recommended that we check out this ramen place at Pasay road. It’s called Ukokkei Ramen and they have the largest bowls of ramen he has ever had the pleasure of eating from.
When I was in high school and Market! Market! was still a new mall, I used to drag my parents to Oody’s for Thai food. Their affordable prices (around P150-200 per person), fast service, and excellent food made Oody’s one of my favorite restaurants of all time, and I was brokenhearted to learn that the one at Market! Market! closed down for some reason. It’s been years since I last ate at Oody’s and while I always passed by the one at Greenbelt 3, I never had the chance to go in and revisit it. Last Saturday, however, my boyfriend and I finally got around to dining at Oody’s, thanks to a movie screening time that gave us a couple of hours to kill at Greenbelt.
The Oody’s I used to know was very simple, low-key, almost fast food-like in its appearance. Although well decorated, you can tell by the quality of the seats and their proximity to each other that the place was meant for cheap and quick eating. The new Oody’s, on the other hand, has more upscale interiors and spacious tables that invite diners to stay and linger even after their meals have been consumed. I like how the new Oody’s looks, and I wonder if the taste and price of the food matched the restaurant’s classy, laid-back atmosphere.
I don’t know about you, but there are times when I can’t work anywhere else but a coffee shop. For some reason, the quiet hum of people talking in the background allows me to focus better. The only reason why I don’t go to coffee shops as often is because I don’t want to have to pay for Wifi on top of my coffee. But I’m going to be checking out Delifrance real soon. If you buy coffee or a pastry at Delifrance, you get free WiFi for the first 45 minutes! Available at Delifrance Podium, C5 Libis, Valero, Roosevelt, and Insular Life Building. Check out www.delifrance.com.ph for the cafe directory.
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