Going Loca @ Locavore

When I worked with 24/7, I had three girl friends (Mic, Kei and Teejay). We call ourselves Friday Girls. Because we normally go out every Fridays after a hard days at work. We would try different restaurants in the metro that is within our budget. And it is said that Great Bonds were formed during meal time. 

Anyways, since it has been a while when we were complete, as part of my send off dinner, they agreed to meet up and I get to pick the place. I chose Locavore in Pasig. I am fond of reading blogs, food reviews, and stalking celebrities instagram posts, and Locavore has always been on their list. It seemed that the place has some sort of Conyo vibe. 

For starters, we had Singkamas and Mangga (Php 180), its the regular slice of Mangoes and Turnip with three different dips, Patis Asukal (Sugared Fish Sauce), Chili Smoked Rock Salt, and Shrimp Paste. 

We also had Kinilaw Platter (Php380). It is similar to Kilawin, where it is a raw meat or seafood where its main ingredient is Vinegar or anything that has acidic solution. We were given three types of Kinilaw, one with tuna (left), tanigue (middle) and shrimp (right). Apparently not everyone in our group has a thing for raw meat, they said it is an acquired taste but I like how it was mixed with shallots and mangoes to remove the gamey of the meat. 

And then we had Lechon and Oyster Sisig (Top) Php400 and Sizzling Sinigang (Bottom) Php530, and both were great! The sisig were crunchy and very tasty. While the Sizzling Sinigang was something to look forward to, it is Beef Short Ribs and they sauteed the french beans, instead of the regular soupy sinigang, it was served as a gravy and even my friend who's not adventurous with food loved the dish.

Last on our viands list was the Kare Kare Wings (Php295), I think Chicken Wings is originally a starter meal but since it was coated with Kare Kare sauce, it passed as a viand for us! This is another dish I appreciate that it was crispy and tasty and saucy at the same time. 

For our dessert, this is a homemade Leche Flan with Dulce De Leche sauce (Php200) and its a good thing we ordered it. It was to die for! It wasn't too sweet but very tasty that for me, you don't even need the sauce. 

All in all, our group paid around Php2300 for the entire meal including a platter of rice which is good for 5-6 persons. 

I will give them a 4 out of 5 stars. The ambience was great, it was very laid back actually, the food is also great, it is indeed a filipino dish with a twist, but the parking isn't, though we came in early so we had no problem parking our car. 

And this was us! 

Love, 

AngelSmile02

The Yabu Experience

I am back! And hopefully, hindi na naman ako tamarin to post for new experiences. As for new learnings, since my last post, there was a lot that happened, and siguro it should be on another post, because this is intended for YABU experience only. (^_^)

Me and my food buddy and fellow kaladkarin, Glaiza, were thinking where to eat one Saturday afternoon. She hasn't eaten anything then, and I was a little hungry too, so after our little shopping splurge, we had to choose where to satisfy our thirst for good food/adventure. We were thinking between, Mad Mark's (I am not sure of the spelling), or somewhere else.

One thing I liked about Glorietta 5 in Makati is, even though it is a weekend, there were only few people strolling, eating and shopping in the area. Maybe because you really had to go there, unlike other parts of Glorietta that it is just beside the MRT, or just few distance from the bus station. Anyways, going back, Glaiza remembered that there is a branch of YABU in the area and we have been wanting to try it out since November of 2013.

Then Yabu it is. Upon arrival, the ambience was a little bit intimidating maybe because there was barely anyone there (location wise kasi, dadayuhin talaga siya so I guess not everyone is aware na may ganyang restaurant in the area)

We were ushered to our table, and in fairness, very prompt ang service! We were given the menu agad-agad, and though we were gutom, we still manage to go all thru the menu to check what we wanted.

After getting our orders, we were served this mini bowl of toasted sesame seeds, and a club shaped, pestle.  You have to do the old style of grinding the sesame seeds for the aroma and flavor to break in. It smelled like our version of Pinipig. I just love the smell of it!

Afterwards, the waiter gave instructions how to use their selection of condiments. Sabi ni kuya waiter, you can pour three spoonfuls of their special yabu sauce, (extreme left in the photo), then three smaller bottle written in Japanese Characters were chili sauce, flakes, and oil so it is up to you na timplahan siya. The three tall bottles were for the cabbage salad dressing, and the last one (extreme right in the photo) were salt for the fruits.

What I had : Menchi.
I loved it! It's a mix of minced meat of beef and pork with cheese! I love everything that has dairy product on it. Yabu was not kidding when they said they do take their katsu's seriously. It was insanely tasteful! It was not nakakaumay given the fact na may dairy siya. Plus the Panko breadcrumbs that were used were fresh, and hindi nakakasugat ng gums whenever you have a bite on it. And I think one reason why hindi siya nakakasawa kasi hindi makapal ang breadcrumbs as oppose to the meat itself. Another thing is the way it was cook, it was not greasy at all! The color is bright, and golden and crisp!

Their Cabbage Salad is okay lang, Glaiza told me one Japanese Restaurant (within the area too) that she liked their cabbage salad better than Yabu's, I think it has something to do with the quality of the cabbage or the dressing itself. But Yabu's isn't that bad, don't get me wrong, it was good, but as always, there's better, or it could have been better, or something like that.

I also had bowl of fruits as part of my katsu set, apparently there were only two choices, watermelon and pineapple. I love these fruits and it was a bit of a hassle to ask numerous times for refill, because they were only giving one slice per fruit. But again, Katsu is their main thing, so wala akong masabi dun kundi 4 out of 5 stars! (I hope my vote counts for something)

All in all, the experience was good, and the person I was with then was not afraid to try new stuff so it probably added to the experience na rin. Most probably than not, I will be back. (^_^)

WildFlour Cafe

I had always wanted to try their famous cronuts so with my food buddy glai, we indulged ourselves to this famous hybrid of pastry in the metro. 

I liked their cronus but I love the one I had in Le Coeur De France (that's another story). It was flaky, airy and tasty. Since the texture is flaky, it tends to be messy when you eat. What I had is their Chocolate Cronut and Glai had their premium cronut version of Tiramisu. Both were chocolatey in taste, not too sweet but it was really flaky. 

We also ordered their mac and cheese and it was a bliss! It was creamy, cheesy and the pasta is al dente which made it soo yummy for dairy lovers like me. (^_^)

I was craving for bread pudding that day, so i ordered for one when i saw it was available but it has a disclaimer wherein you have to allow 30 minutes for them to prepare. But it was worth the wait. The pudding has chocolate filling inside, it has powdered sugar on top to enhance the flavor of the bread and the pudding itself? Creamy and soft inside! 

I once spoke to a customer who recommends vietnamese coffee for coffee enthusiasts like me. And since this hot drink is available, i gave in. And boy i tell you, it was yummy! Just my kind of sweetness and it's not that strong. 

With the service we got? I'm a bit disappointed. We had to ask twice for my soda, had to repeat myself thrice for refilling my water. And it took quite a while for my take out order.