Ho Chai Lai - Best Chinese Restaurant this side of Muntinlupa

Our family has this favorite eating place outside of San Pedro but still manageable in distance. It is actually in the next town already which is Muntinlupa.

We have always frequented this place mainly because there's no decent eating places in San Pedro apart from the usual fast food. So whenever there's a special occasion or we're too lazy to cook (which was the case this time), we'd just go here and treat ourselves to great Chinese food.

This time around we ordered the Ho Chai Lai Siomai which is their specialty siomai. Instead of being wrapped in Siomai wrapper, the siomai is wrapped in nori and inside the siomai is the ground pork but it also has crab sticks. The siomai is served in a soup like substance (probably some version of a birds nest soup). We never fail to order this siomai whenever we eat here and I'd actually recommend this to anyone. The flavors are quite unique especially since nori has this fishy smell and taste to it that one gets accustomed to. Even my brother who isn't into Nori likes this. And if my picky-eater brother likes this, am sure everyone else will.

Since it was just me and mom eating together tonight, we decided to just have one hotpot and a small serving of yang chow rice. One of the things that has impressed us about this Chinese restaurant is that they don't scrimp on the ingredients. Even if we just ordered a small portion of the yang chow rice, we still got the proportionate amount of spring onions, chorizo, egg and green peas in the rice.

For our viand, we paired the rice with a seafood hotpot with mushrooms. Of course, since it was a hot pot, it was served to us piping hot which made it really delectable. The seafood in the dish were properly cooked. The shrimp is still juicy, the squid is not rubbery at all. The filets of fish were not overly breaded but just enough to keep it flavorful and flaky. We even found bits of sea cucumber in there which was quite a surprise.

The mushrooms that were in the dish were of two kinds. The wood ear mushrooms (tenga ng daga) and the button mushrooms. Again, there's no scrimping in mushrooms here. We had our fill of properly cooked and delicious mushrooms which we ate with the vegetables accompanying the seafood like carrots, sitsaro and onions.

Eating slowly and talking about lots of things, Mom and I were surprised that we actually finished everything. Yes! We were so full when we were about to leave Ho Chai Lai but we didn't worry. Their complementary house tea did wonders to our tummy.

Yakimix - All you can eat for the decisive!

Had lunch with my closest friends as their despedida for me. We ate at YakiMix because I've heard so many stories (not only good ones but horror stories too) about this place. One of the things I've heard is how hordes of people would wait in line for their chance to eat in the restaurant.

So part of the strategy to be able to eat without the pressure and the hassle of having so many people in the venue, we decided to eat during a weekday lunch hour.





I am actually pleased with the food in the buffet. They have soup and sukiyaki. They have different kinds of meats and seafood that you can grill in the middle of the table. Of course, we grabbed a lot of the bacon, shrimps, pork slices, asparagus wrapped in bacon, bananas wrapped in bacon, duck meat, mushrooms, corn, yakitoris and even hot dog. I actually liked the experience of grilling the meats and vegetables.

If you're not into grilling meats and veggies, you may sink your teeth in those makis and sushis. There are actually two sections of maki where you can find the most common california maki to the not so common like crunchy crab maki or a really spicy one that I can't even remember.

And because these sushis and makis are bite size, you actually don't feel you're eating a lot. It's just like popping them in your mouth like savory M&M's. In fact, I've had about two and a half plates of these. I would have wanted to try all the variants but I don't think I'd have room for the other selections if I did.

If you're looking for something more filling than bite-size sushis, there are still other dishes in yakimix that you can try. To be honest though, I was so overwhelmed with the sushi and maki selection I was only able to give a limited time in trying the dishes that you can pair with the rice.

And of course, they have a lot of kinds of pastries, fruits and ice cream for dessert.

The ice cream can be sprinkled (or in this case, covered) with different kinds of toppings: from rice crispies, rainbow sprinkles, marshmallows, chocolate chips and so on. I think our ice cream ended up as toppings with ice cream rather than the other way around.

So all in all, how was my yakimix experience? I'd say it's such a good buffet. There's food for everyone. There's actually a wide range of selections which may in a way be too overwhelming for someone who is not decisive. If you're not sure of what you want to eat, you better be careful eating at Yakimix. You might gain 20 lbs if you don't control yourself here.

Italianni's -never fails to satisfy me but service needs to step up

Yesterday's lunch was at Italianni's (Greenbelt). Upon entering the restaurant, I was a bit disappointed because there was no front of the house. It took a while before someone asked us if we wanted a table and for how many.

And since I am picking on the service of Italianni's, I might as keep on going. I actually had to ask three servers for parmesan cheese but to no avail. We've nibbled on the bread and it is no longer warm but still parmesan has not arrived. Our salad has even arrived and yet the parmesan was still not served. Finally when the parmesan arrived, we've actually nibbled on all of the bread making me ask for more.

Still, I've got to remain calm and not spoil the mood of the lunch.



For our salad, we had the Mediterranean salad which has salad greens, tomatoes, onions, olives, shrimp, and topped with cubes of feta cheese. The dressing is a light mix of olive oil and lemon. I like the combination of the feta cheese and olives that has a salty flavor and the salad greens and tomatoes which are quite refreshing. The tomatoes are not sour (unlike cherry tomatoes which are popular in salads). While a lot of people would actually avoid onions in salads, I welcome them because of the texture and heat that they give whenever you bite into them. The onions in our salad are perfect complements to the flavors of the dish. And the shrimp, don't get me started on the shrimp... perfectly cooked shrimp which has a sweetness goes well with the feta cheese which as I mentioned has a tinge of saltiness. The salad is so perfect. I now have a different favorite salad in Italianni's.



Our salad was accompanied by these large wedges of potatoes which was Italianni's version of fries. And who wouldn't like fries? These gourmet fries are served with a mustard sauce that's quite light. What makes these fries so special is that it is not greasy at all. I think it was baked which explains the lack of grease.


We tried the new pizza which has anchovies, ham and arugula leaves. The arugula adds the perfect crunch and nutty and earthy flavor.


Accompanying our pizza was the sausage served with peppers and onions. The sausage was soft and tender but still quite juicy. The peppers were not really spicy.

We actually dipped some of the bread that were served earlier to the oils of the sausage to try out the flavor and wow! The grease of the sausages give a whole new meaning to the phrase "fat is flavor!" I actually had to control myself from keep on dipping.

We washed it all down with different types of juices and drinks. One of us ordered dalandan juice, I ordered grape shake and another one ordered a type of milk shake that was blueberry cheese cake flavored (YUM!) I didn't know if it was a dessert or a drink.



It was a great lunch with great friends. The conversation during lunch was also as great proving that Italian food is really such a great comfort food.

Bfast - Everything is so good, so go for the buffet!

Last night's dinner was at Bfast at Ayala Triangle. We were fortunate enough to arrive early (they were still setting up the buffet) so it just gave us time to decide what to eat.

But there were so many good things like the angus tocino, the seafood paella, the selection of sausages, the omelets and the pasta and so many others that I think the buffet (for only 288) would be the best option.

When we got to the buffet, one thing I noticed was the plastic plates. It's actually quite a departure from the fine china we find in hotel buffets or in other restaurants. Looking around, we saw this sign explaining the plastic plates. The restaurant believes in being "green" so they use materials that are safe but also made from 100% recycled material. I actually found it so nice to eat in a place that espouses the same beliefs.

I haven't even tasted the food and Bfast is already ranking high in my books. Now, I guess it is time to let the food do the talking.

We started the night's dinner with soup and salad. The salad they had at the buffet was the vegetarian dream  which is made up of salad greens, kesong puti, tomatoes, nuts, fruits, garden vegetables, garlic mushrooms, potato crisp with a guava dressing. 

The soup was like a cross between tinola and arroz caldo. It has rice and bits of chicken like an arroz caldo but it also has a distinct malunggay and slight gingery flavor like tinola. It's also good that the soup was served piping hot.












Now the salad was a perfect mix of veggies, nuts and fruits. To me, the salad greens, preserved fruits, cashew nuts and kesong puti was good enough by itself. I actually thought I could finish the salad even without the guava glaze. The guava glaze is just the perfect cherry on top. It's subtly sweet but the guava flavor is still quite distinct even if it is a teeny bit pungent.
Now the selections for the entrees were a lot giving you really good value for your money. The first set of entrees (see picture on left) that I tried include the turmeric rice (yellow), special beef stew (going clockwise), chili garlic fish fillet, bagoong rice, sisig and angus tocino. At the center of the plate are two sausages as part of the of the sausages selection.

I actually found each dish very very good. The flavors in the rice were actually very subtle. I didn't taste the turmeric or the bagoong in the bagoong rice but it is still ok for me because it just allowed me to focus on the flavors of the viand that I am tasting. The sausages were very good, not greasy and have a distinct peppery flavors. The sisig is very creamy. It is quite different from the sisig that I learned to eat while I was in the ateneo (the meaty, crispy sisig of ken afford). I think the sisig of Bfast is the close to the spirit of the original true blue sisig. The angus tocino has the good balance of sweetness and saltiness. The angus meat was very soft and melts in the mouth.

Now, I don't really eat beef because to me, it has such a distinct and strong smell. Sometimes, I can even tell if the ground meat has beef in it because I detect the smell. So I was really apprehensive about the beef stew but I still gave it a shot.

It's a good thing I did because to me, it was one of the best dishes in that buffet selection.The meat is perfectly soft and tender, the flavors are so spot on. It's such a delight to eat with the bagoong rice or even the turmeric rice.

Finally, the chili garlic fish fillet is such a delight to eat. I have been looking for a well-balanced spicy dish; one that would not burn your tongue and ruin your taste buds but still have the blast of spice and heat. Bfast's dish would belong in my list of best spicy dishes ever. I like how the fish is perfectly cooked remaining firm but not rubbery. I like how the first bite brings in heat and spice but cools down as you continue to savor the dish.

My second set of dishes from the buffet include the (going clockwise) bangus lumpia, karnevorous omelet, bagoong rice, turmeric rice, daing na bangus and a different sausage from the sausage selections. I think there's nothing spectacular about the daing na bangus (just perfectly cooked, not dry or burnt) but the bangus lumpia is so gooood even without accompanying dips like ketchup or sweet chili sauces. The omelet is not runny. The components are still crunchy and good. The other selection of sausage is just as good as the first one I tried, flavorful and not greasy.

The pasta dishes were just as good as the entrees. The tuyonesca was the classic putanesca with a twist with spicy tuyo. The dish has just the right amount of spiciness. The seafood pesto was so good with the mussels and clams being properly cooked.

We capped off the meal with two really good desserts: Belgian chocolate ensaymada and suman panacota. The ensaymada was a bit dry but the Belgian chocolate makes up for all the shortcomings of the bread. Who cares if its a bit dry. It's still such a good sweet dish.

The suman panacota is also good. The mangoes are refreshing complements to the creamy panacota.

The buffet selection kept changing while we were eating and one of the really nice waiters even called my attention to the addition of the seafood paella to the buffet. I actually said pass but when I saw the dish while getting dessert, I couldn't help myself. As expected, it's actually really good. There's the creamy rice and the requisite crunch from the crusty rice at the bottom of the paella is also there giving excellent texture to the dish.

So all in all, the dinner at Bfast is such a pleasant experience. It doesn't have to be breakfast to have a really good meal there. Visit Bfast anytime of the day and treat yourself to a wonderfully good meal. You'd expect nothing less from a restaurant with Chef Laudico's name on it.

Damaso- the desserts

The desserts that we tried in Restaurante Pia 'y Damaso performed better than the entrees which is I think a better strategy because the dessert would be the last thing you'd remember when you eat.

Just like the entrees, we decided to select 4 desserts and just share it among the 7 of us. We selected the following desserts: 1. Sisa's Dementia, 2. Guni-guni, 3. Ibarra's kiss and 4. Salvi's Canonigo. If after the last dessert, you still haven't notice the references to Noli and Fili, then you should look for the nearest bookstore, go to the Filipiniana section and then buy yourself a copy. Hehehe.
I apologize for the bad picture. Sisa's dementia is a truffle cake with white chocolate almond pastille with dark choco mousse and ganache.

Janet warned us that this dessert might be too sweet but I didn't find it too sweet. It was just moderately sweet. The consistency of the mousse was perfect too.






Ibarra's kiss (right) is a hazelnut chocolate torten with dark chocolate mousse, caramel, cheese and candied confit. How it is called Ibarra's kiss, i do not know...

I actually prefer this dish over Sisa's dementia because of the cheese. It is actually very distinct and adds a different flavor to the sweet and bitter dark chocolate. I also like the hazelnut flavor of the torten.

Now for me, the best dessert of the night was Guni-guni which is actually just a sugar-free Sisa's dementia's truffle cake with white chocolate almond pastille, dark chocolate and ganache. It reminded me of a chocolate bar placed in the fridge. But with more texture and flavors.

Finally, the lightest dessert of the night was Salvi's Canonigo. It was a really airy meringue served with vanilla cream and mangoes. The light and fluffy meringue is best eaten with the mangoes. It's really soft and melts in the mouth. Some of the people around the table actually complained about the dessert being too light but I think it was just right. It's a good complement to the creamy mousse or sweet chocolate ganaches.

As I said, the best dishes (at least the ones that I've tried) in Damaso are their desserts, so keep this in mind when you eat at the restaurant. Make sure you leave some room for dessert.

Tsoko.nut

Whenever I want to just have a light snack, Tsoko.nut is usually one of the places I consider. It's because they serve really good coffee shop staples like sandwiches, pastas and pastries.

So my recent visit to Tsoko.nut became my first opportunity to review their food officially here in my blog. I would have wanted to order the tablea cake because past visits have proved the excellence of that cake but since I am still a bit full, we decided to just have the napoleones for dessert.

One of the dishes that we tried was their malunggay pesto pasta. This is one of the staple dishes that we order whenever we eat here at tsoko.nut. I know it is a well prepared pasta dish mainly because the noodles were firm and al dente. One thing you'd notice about the malunggay pesto is how fragrant it is. It really entices one to dig in the dish and try it out. The accompanying herbed bread is also a perfect accompaniment to the dish.

We also had the chicken fantasia sandwich which, in my opinion, is a relatively good sandwich because of three things: 1) it is served on a hot and toasted ciabatta 2) the chicken was flavorful and not rubbery 3) the vegetables provide a really good crunch to the sandwich giving it a different texture.

One of the reasons for the really good texture and crunch in the sandwich is the large slices of onions in the middle of the sandwich. I don't mind the onions and actually like the heat they give but for some, this might be a turn off.

For dessert, we had the napoleones. Having just come from Bacolod and tried the real  and original napoleones (try Virgie's Napoleones), the Tsoko.nut napoleones is totally far far away from the standard. For one thing, the pastry is not flaky and crumbly. The cream in the middle is actually too thick almost to the consistency of a yema.

It was actually quite a disappointing end to a really good snack time. Next time, I will have the tablea cake and maybe I will have the perfect snack time.

Damaso - the entrees

Dinner last night was at Restaurante pia 'y Damaso (in Greenbelt 5). Of course, because it is in Greenbelt 5, you'd expect a little bit of swankiness in the food and the ambiance. I was not disappointed. The lighting was fit for a romantic dinner and the food sounded superb (though slightly on the expensive side,still they do have some affordable selections).

Opting to just share whatever we order, we just decided to get 2 appetizers and around 4 entrees. The two appetizers ended up as just one appetizer but two servings. For our appetizer we ordered the crisp cones with crab, corn and tomato relish.

                     The dish was served on a bowl of salt which quite fascinated one member of our group (I won't mention names, hehe... all i can say is that, that's her hand in the picture). I first thought that eating the appetizer would be messy but if you don't mind using your fingers, it's quite an easy dish to eat. The relish of tomatoes and corn was quite refreshing. Unfortunately, the refreshing break came too early since the relish was at the top of the cone. It would have been nicer if one gets to have some more relish towards the end of the cone after one has eaten some of the crab meat to give the taste buds a bit of a break. As it is, I was craving for some more of the tangy tomatoes after three bites of the crab meat section of the cone but I have already consumed all of the salsa. Not a bad appetizer and certainly prepares one for what is to come.

For our entree's we ordered:

1. Chicken pastel - This is a must try. The chicken and vegetables underneath the layer of puff pastry (?) is very flavorful. I would have wanted the dish to be creamier though.

2. Rellenong bangus - Not truly spectacular probably because I compare it to mom's rellenong bangus (which she seldom cooks nowadays) and nobody beats mom's cooking. You can be a close second but you can never beat mom's cooking. Oh! But kudos to the chef for making the bangus skin palatable. Often times, one discards the skin of the bangus but for in this case, you should try it because it tastes great.

3. Adobo pork and chicken - which is again, not spectacular. What I found troubling about the dish is that the pork is still a bit tough while the chicken has become a little bit rubbery. I can tell that the chicken was cooked for quite a long time because when I accidentally bit on a chicken bone, I was able to bite it and chew it just like any other piece of meat.

I also complained of a bitter aftertaste in one of the dishes and realized that it came from the liver in the adobo. I am not sure why or how the liver resulted to such a powerful bitter aftertaste but it surely affected my appreciation of the dish.



4. Unfortunately, I was not able to take a picture of our fourth entree which is the Binagoongan with okra which for me was the best dish of the night. The meat was so infused with the flavor of the bagoong that you'd actually taste the bagoong from the meat alone. Add to that the deliciously creamy and salty bagoong sauce making the dish a deadly combination for those going on a diet. I actually threw my weight-watching out of the window after getting a first bite.

All in all, the entrees didn't wow me that much but Damaso made up for the unimpressive entrees with a delicious combination of desserts that I will review in my next entry.

Buddy's

For today's lunch at Buddy's we had sinigang sa miso, sisig, pansit habhab and washed it all down with sago and gulaman.

I think Buddy's has been really known for it's pansit habhab (which is a type of pansit that is served wrapped in banana leaves, so you can eat it without utensils, which the locals in Quezon Province would say "i-habhab"). The good thing about the pansit is that it was served piping hot (which I think is the secret of good pansit). The noodles are firm but cooked. Likewise for the vegetables. I didn't care too much for the meat but that's all right, the noodles, vegetables and the sauce were good enough for me.

The sisig was quite flavorful even without adding soy sauce. Our mistake of letting the food sit on the hot plate and not mixing it together resulted in a crusty bottom for the egg and some of the meats resulting to quite a tastier dish. Talk about serendipity in food. Next time I eat sisig, I will do that again. One complaint about the sisig though is that some parts of the meat still has hair on it which is a big NO NO. Of course, the finicky eater that I am, I had to pick those out and leave them on the side of my plate.

The soup of the sinigang is the best way to start a Filipino-themed lunch. The miso is quite flavorful. The vegetables are still crunchy but cooked but unfortunately the fish still has a strong fishy smell which is a bit of a turn-off. I am not sure how to kill the fishy smell of the fish (can you blame it? It's fish, of course it's fishy!) but a good sinigang would be able to showcase the flavor of the fish while masking the fishiness with some other flavors or spices. Probably more onions? Or even ginger? I don't know.

The cool sago and gulaman is the perfect partner to this lunch. It served both as drink and as dessert. The sago and gulaman chunks were just the right size to fit in the straw so one is able to have bits of both as one sips the drink.

Overall, Buddy's is a good lunch place because it gives you the flavors of a home-cooked meal in dishes that are meant for sharing. So while you're sharing the food, why not share stories, experiences and a lot of fun times?