Andale andale, arriba arriba!

It's amazing how Mexican restaurants have cropped up in Manila. But back in the day, when I was high school, there was only Tia Maria's.

Aside from Thai and Japanese food, Mexican is tops on my list of favorites.

My friends and I loved Tia's because well, frankly, they had good food - especially the taquitos - and really, really good zombies you can take out by the bottle.

Now that's service!

Recently, I noticed a Tia Maria's near my office at the ground floor of the Enterprise Center along De la Rosa Street in Legazpi Village. At first, I didn't think it was Tia's, because the logo was different. But lo and behold, it was the same Tia's that I remembered from my teen years.

I ate there last week with some new friends, old friends and old friends I haven't seen in a long, long time and the food was really delish.

I didn't have any expectations, because it had been a long time since I had eaten at Tia's.

When Shauna and I arrived, there was a huge platter of appetizers on the table as well as a pitcher of margarita! Perfect after a long day of being on our feet at a shoot.

This is Kai's (hi Kai!) favorite dish of appetizers because it's literally got everything on it and its best to share with friends. There are (from left to right) barbecued liempo, Mexican pizza, nachos, mini tacos, buffalo wings and cheese sticks. Plus, I love the sauces that it comes with: cheese sauce, sour cream, salsa verde and ranchero sauce.

I loooove nachos, so I ordered one with the meat on the side and extra jalapenos.

This monster order of nachos has everything yummy as well. I love how the cheese sauce is that gooey nacho cheese sauce and not the thick kind. It's got olives, tomatoes, jalapenos, sour cream and a bit of salsa. Yum.

This was my main course! I could hardly fit anything else in my tummy, but Shauna ordered chicken wings.

Ok, ok, chicken wings are not very Mexican, but the spicy, crunchy wings went with everything else we were eating. This was nice and not oily or greasy at all, like some other chicken wing places.

 If you're craving for an enchilada, it might be best to share with someone, as portions are huge here. It also comes with cheese sticks. Me love me some cheese!

 Michelle, Cat and Annie

 Glenn and Shauna

The whole gang is here!

I'm happy to know that not only had Tia's maintained its consistency, it has expanded its menu to include more things for pica-pica to go with yummy drinks like margaritas, chi-chis or zombies. Plus, it's so close to my office, it will definitely be a place to have a quick lunch or celebrate five-thirsty (or more seven thirty thirsty in my case) with officemates and friends who live in Makati.

Tia Maria's
G/F Enterprise Center
De la Rosa Street corner Paseo de Roxas
Legazpi Village, Makati City

Valentine's Date

I was waiting for the flowers I ordered for my mother yesterday for Valentine's Day, and when the delivery man came he had two sets of the exact same type of flowers!

Now, I've said this before. My sister Margie and I are not twins, although many people think so. We are more like accessory twins and menu twins. When we eat out, it is so natural for us to split food because we want the same thing anyway.

Apparently now, we are flower twins hee-hee.

flowers by Fiori di M

My mom said that she and my dad were to do some errands in Makati yesterday, and asked if I would like to eat lunch with them at People's Palace?

Oh, would I!

I made a reservation right away. It would be folly not to- People's Palace is always, always full, weekday, weekend, whatever.

My mom loves mango salad with crispy catfish. She was so disappointed when she went to Bangkok and couldn't find it on any of the menus there. We used to eat it at this Thai restaurant called My Thai which was owned by Nora Daza or Sukhothai in Megamall. Are there any Nora Daza restaurants still around? 

Notice how the peanuts are on the side. I am highly allergic to peanuts, I always have been, ever since I was little. My dad loves nuts. He can't get enough. 

 Mom's favorite

 tom yum gung

Without fail, I always have to order pad Thai whenever I am in a Thai restaurant. It's as if my meal is not complete without it.

Once, on a press trip to Thailand, we did this tour of One Tambon, One Product (OTOP) which are livelihood programs in the countrysides. We went to a bag-making tambon (this is like barangay) where the ladies sit together, work together and eat together. One woman made this awesome-looking pad Thai for everyone to eat. It looked so delicious and authentic, of course instead of watching them make bags  I was closely watching her cook it. Unfortunately, the base she used was freshly ground up peanuts. Oh the horror of horrors. I felt so bad having to turn it down.

 pad Thai

I ordered a dish that I tried at Amanda's birthday dinner, turned out to be something called Morning Glory that had crispy pork and kangkong. I loved the kangkong! I forgot to take a photo but for some reason, it tasted better at Amanda's dinner than today. Well, you win some, you lose some. Sometimes when you go out on a limb and try something new, it could be great or it could be meh. Hopefully you get more great experiences than meh ones!

People's Palace

Ground Floor Greenbelt 3

Legaspi Street, Legaspi Village, Makati 

tel +632.729.2888

Hanging Out In Chelsea

It's not every year you celebrate a big party for your little one. When Enzo turned six, I decided to just eat out then take him on a trip to Universal Studios Singapore during the summer. Chelsea, whose original location is in Serendra, opened a new branch at The Podium. This is perfect because it is right near the house and the food is always good. 

Again, I must say that eating together as a group and trying a lot of different things is just love for me. Everyone sharing little bits of this and that is the reason why people go out to eat together.

We started with some appetizers. Jack thinks these crabcakes are even better than Ruby Tuesdays in Hawaii. 

We also ordered the rocket salad, I love all those bitter greens such as arugula, alfalfa or watercress

The burgers here are simply huge! The potato wedges are awesome with its thick cut and breading, like potato wedge twister fries!

The meatball with Italian sausage pasta is tasty and its portion great for sharing. Don't you just love opening up that meatball and twirling pasta on your fork, and eating it all in one big messy bite? Meatballs always remind me of that scene in Lady and the Tramp.

This was my burger with a fried onion ring and barbecue sauce. Really, these are so huge I halved it and ate the other half for dinner.

That was in January. Last Saturday, my friends and I wanted to go somewhere to have lunch that would also be "kid-friendly." We opted to go to the original Chelsea.

Not only did we bring the kids but the dog as well! Unfortunately he had to stay outside while we ate inside. The kids checked on him from time to time. As Kate said to her daughter, "You brought the dog, it's your responsibility."

complimentary foccaccia

You know how you eat at a restaurant, and you see a fantastic dish come out of the kitchen? Well, I had this moment when I saw the Greek salad. "Whose is that?" I wistfully inquired. Marga said, "I think it's ours V." Bang!

 the best Greek salad ever!

It may look funny, and the thing on top look like agedashi tofu, but when you realize it is breaded deep fried feta, you will also go "ooooh" just as I did. The yogurt dressing was the right bit of tangy, and the vegetables were crunchy and colorful. Who knew we had tomatoes that big and red??

Now this next dish came first. I think Sarah ordered it for Chloe, but she ended up eating more of it than Chloe did (cue "This mac and cheese is really good!") I am so happy to have a good dining experience with Sarah. Seems like the past ones she had were sh*t on service, and sometimes she thinks if it's pick on the white girl!

 mac and cheese: for mommy or for baby?

I ordered for the kiddos before everyone else. I specifically said cheese pizza. I never asked for a garden.

 if you were a kid, would you eat this?

Kate, who is preggers, had a hankering for Caesar salad with chicken. It was damnnnn good! I am so loving the salads here at Chelsea!

 Caesar salad

This is my choice. I tried it for the first time on Enzo's birthday celebration and I absolutely love their aioli. It's got capers, lemon, artichoke, calamari and asparagus.

 fritto misto: I love!

And in honor of our dear friend Estelle who is in the UK, where it is cold, we ordered this pizza, which she says she loves. This is for you Stella!!! We'll eat here again when you come back!!! Treat pa! Come home na!

in honor of Estelle

We got to catch up on several things during lunch, such as plans for Kate's wedding, Sarah and Reggie's move to Boracay in April, as they say its cheaper to live there than here. (Can you believe that???) All in all, a lovely way to spend a day with friends who want to take a break from socializing over alcohol hahahaha!

 Blondy and busty

 B and B and more busty

Enzo cracking up T

I'm happy to tell you everyone enjoyed and the service and both establishments were consistently good. Again, different groups, different set of dishes. Why not come here with a new set of friends next time?

Chelsea The Podium

G/F The Podium 

ADB Avenue, Ortigas Center

Tel +632.914.0005

Chelsea Serendra

G/F Serendra Piazza, McKinley Parkway

Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City

Tel +632.909.7011

Some Things Never Last: La Regalade Food Fest

Have you ever missed a film festival or a local run of your favorite play or didn't buy that specially-colored Balenciaga bag in Greenbelt 5 because you decided to wait it out? Many times we put off doing things, saying that, "I'll do it next week" or "I can't get a group together."

For those of you who got to partake of La Regalade's French Moroccan food festival that ended last month, consider yourselves very lucky.

LU's Luis de Terry guest cheffed for this special food festival and added his usual flair to freshen up the La Regalade menu for the months of December and January. All the dishes were brimming with flavors both subtle and strong.

Shrimp and squid rghayef

 Though the name is a mouthful, this rghayef was an interesting play of cumin, coriander and paprika combined with crispy filo pastry. Lots and lots of coriander were sprinkled on the dishes, a little too much for my liking, even though I do love it so.

escargot a'la harissa

 For me, this escargot trumps the escargot currently on LR's regular menu, as I do not enjoy it with tomato sauce very much. These hot buttery morsels get an added zing with the Moroccan spices, and I could eat a zillion of these little suckers (literally, haha).

 pumpkin soup with fennel seeds

This soup was interesting, a little bit on the sweet side, but what I didn't enjoy was the rice found in the middle of it, which thickened the already thick consistency. The the final dish of the evening, which takes hours and hours to cook, is the lamb mechoul. Here it is in its whole form:

 Then here it is in its serveable form:

Love love love the cous cous that came with it, so flavorful and delicately cooked. The lamb was, as predicted, tender and succulent, falling off the bone. Had I not been so full of the other apps that came before it, I would've had a bit more. This lamb is good for 6, so it's best eaten with fun company.

The night we ate here it was an unpredictably torrential rainy night. Some of us almost didn't make it, but did. Other who planned to come had to turn back because of the awful traffic. Hopefully LR will continue to do more food festivals as to bring new blood to the restaurant, and hopefully add some dishes to its usual roster so we can enjoy these seasonal dishes all year round.

La Regalade
820 Arnaiz Avenue, Makati City
+632.750.2104

Hoppy Chinese New Year!

I am so full. 

It's Shauna's and Mrs B's birthday tomorrow, so they treated us to merienda. This has been our office tradition, ever since I started working at this company 3 years ago. Arroz caldo; tokwa't baboy; puto, and the new cake from Red Ribbon were on the menu-- and I ate it all! These celebrations are always a highlight to look forward to whenever someone celebrates their birthday. I can blog now because i'm so full. After blogging yesterday I totally pigged out. Talk about shooting yourself in the stomach! From now on my mantra will be to blog on a full tummy.

I celebrated Chinese New Year with my friends last week the way everyone else does it: with lots and lots of good Chinese food! How can a billion people be wrong? We headed to our favorite lunchtime haunt, Shang Palace for dim sum

hakaw

pork buns

my favorite beancurd roll

And most importantly, the Peking duck. The last time I had Peking duck was with Gevi Shah, and between the two of us, we couldn't finish everything, though God knows we tried to. Many do not recognize the duck in this half-state.

They recognize it in this sanitized form, with extra hoisin please!

Amy felt guilty about just eating duck so she ordered this. It was good as well, you can never go wrong with luscious scallops.

She ordered this pepper beef for our surprise guest that day:

and I had an intense craving for vegetarian hot and sour soup, which I split with my B.

For dessert, they ordered this lotus pie, which is much like butchi minus the roundness and the sesame seeds

but we also got the original one as well. I love butchi warm from the oven or deep fryer, or wherever it is cooked!

This is the Year of the Rabbit, it's my year actually. I've heard contradicting predictions for Rabbits, but I will choose to believe the ones that are auspicious! hahaha. Hope everyone enjoyed their New Year celebration, and remember: you never need a reason to eat Peking duck :)

Shang Palace

2nd Floor, Makati Shangri-La

tel no +632.813.8888

The Horse Whisperer

Current craving:

The elite few in the know (read: Polo Club kids) have a little secret they are willing to share with only their nearest and dearest. Unfortunately, even if you did find out this foodie secret, you could only eat here if you were:

A) A Polo Club member
B) A Polo Club dependent
C) Someone who depends on a Polo Club dependent
D Friends with the chef

Do you remember back in the day, of a dessert called Chocolate Decadent cake?

That's right, it came from that well-loved resto called Seasons. When I was in high school, my friends and I would have "fancy" dinner at Intermezzo, Season's spin-off restaurant that was located at the corner of Legazpi St and where the Greenbelt 5 underpass now stands.

Those were heady days of tagliatelle squid ink pasta and the melt-in-your-mouth chocolate cake swimming in a sea of melted caramel sauce.

Well, "those in the know" know that wonderful pasta (in addition to many other wonderful dishes) still exists, and it can be found at the Last Chukker.

My first encounter with this food was at a Christmas dinner at Marga's house. Amy brought takeout chicken, pasta and lamb and we pigged out around Marga's table.

My second encounter was last week with my cousins, the Morenos. Talk about the Dream Team of food cravings: Jose had kept the menu on his iPhone and as we made our culinary choices, salivation was in progress.

Chukker has a brick oven which makes the best pizzas and desserts as well. When the food arrived, unwrapping and opening went on until this was revealed (brace yourselves!):

 Ari's choice: margherita pizza

Tanya's choice:  lasagna

 Jose's choice: roast chicken and potatoes

 My choice: salpicao and garlic rice

Tin's choice: deep-fried calamares

 Tin's choice: Mrs O Salad with watercress and potato hay in raspberry vinaigarette

 Raj's choice: roast lamb with mint jelly

 Tanya's choice: Nicoise salad

 Kai's choice: the black ink pasta 

bread and butter banana pudding

OMG. Everything was to die for. I especially love the presentation, apparently Chef Vanna knows that a lot of people take out food and so everything is complete!

You know that movie, Gone in 60 Seconds?

It almost like that! For me, this meal was awesome because of not just the new food experience but because I was with some of the best eaters around town (some even belong to an eating club, how's that for professional?). When i'm with this lot, as they say, "sarap kumain". And not just that, oh the kuwento...