Celebrating Christmas and New Year

We have this yearly family get-together with hubby's bff and his family and this year we all ended up in Trinoma. Arriving there an hour past lunchtime, our tummies begin to complain noisily. Fish and Co looked so inviting that we all decided to eat there. 

I haven't eaten in this restaurant for a very, very long time because of some personal matters but what I do remember how good the food tasted. And I was not mistaken. The restaurant still serve great tasting food. We ordered a lot and here are some of the photos ...

Baked Salmon


Hawaiian Pizza


Fish and Fries (used to be Fish and Chips)


Seafood Platter

Except for the pizza (duh! how can you expect to eat great tasting pizza in a seafood resto?), everything on our table was wiped out in no time. The pizza's a bit weird though because its made from pastry puff and not dough. We did find it a bit messy to eat and the taste is not that remarkable. Two thumbs up for the Fish and Fries!

Kimchi





Atchara is to Philippines : Kimchi is to Korea

This is a fermented dish made from cabbage (in the Philippines). It is usually served along with the numerous ban-chans when dining in a Korean restaurant. It is also readily available in local groceries here in the Philippines.

The one on the photo was from a cousin who happened to partonize a Korean resto somewhere in Cavite. Tastes very, very good- and spicy! Perfect for the cold weather.

Wasa Crackers







This was a gift. I've been hearing a lot of nice things (specially for those on a diet) about the "healthy" low-cal crackers so I was quite happy when it literall landed on my lap. Wasa crackers, made from rye.

I can't say it was love at first bite; it took more than several bites to get used to its quaint taste and with a lot of cheese spread on top. Lol. Kidding aside, a few bites of wasa can make one full almost at once (psychological feeling on my part, maybe) so I guess if I eat this every day I'll lose some unwanted pounds- haha!

C2 Restaurant


Had an early Christmas dinner date with my mommy group at C2 Restaurant in Shangri-La Plaza. We really haven't seen each other that much for the whole year but when our scheds permit, we party. I mean, we eat and eat and eat and still have room for coffee and dessert. Hahaha.

We ordered tons of dishes since there's five of us present plus two not-so-little girls and a kuya. This is only my third time to eat here. The first time was around 2006 with FM and family. Then around 2010 with C, my HS classmate. And 2011, with my mommy group.

Food here tastes great, though. Filipino food with a twist.

Cocoa With Rock Salt and Cheese

A very weird name for a drink. Some may even raise their eyebrows ...





This is a very yummy drink from Happy Lemon. It took us more than a year to try this tea place because of the longish line but after our first sip, we're hooked- line and sinker ;)

The creaminess of the milk tea complements the cocoa, rock salt and cheese. It's like drinking something not too sweet when you know it is- something like that. Must-try for everyone.

Now, I need inspiration to try the other drinks from Happy Lemon, tee hee!

Burgoo

Calamari with fries


Carbonara

Dined at Burgoo with some of my girlfriends. Food's not bad although the servings got smaller compared to when the resto first opened its doors years ago.

O' Mai Khan

This restaurant is located at the Upper Session Road in Baguio City. It's one of the famous dining places there because of its affordable meals and the mongolian buffet. I would've love to sample the mongolian spread but since the place was packed when we dined there, we just opted to order the set meals.

Thanks to M for the dinner treat at O' Mai Khan.

Tempura Meal. This was ordered by my daughter who loves shrimp, shrimp, and shrimp. Very good and huge serving also. She already ate some of the shrimp that's why there's only three left on the photo. It was paired with veggie tempura also.

Tanique Steak. This is what I ate. Yumminess! Can't finish this all by myself. Huge!!! 

Note to self: Eat at O'Mai Khan again when in Baguio and try the Mongolian buffet.

Sinfully Circles

I've always love this restaurant (yes, I'm a bit biased when it comes to Circles vs Heat) and maybe because I always have good memories whenever we dine here since daughter was still a wee one. We've already celebrated more than several milestones in this restaurant. I still remember the first time that I dined here, it was sometime in the mid-90's. My friend Benj Garcia invited me for dinner. Alas, I can't remember what I wore but I do remember that we ate really, really huge crabs. Then there's wine. And cherries. But the cherries came from my friend's aunt who just arrived from HK. I miss Benj!

He was my first foodie friend. There was a time when he said he wanted to try RJ's Bulalo near Boni Circle in Mandaluyong. So we scheduled a dinner there and funny lang coz he brought along a bottle of wine to pair with our bulalo. How sosy, di ba? I guess the servers were too awed to collect corkage fee from us. Haha

The Nordic Dining Experience


Vikings. I love the name of this buffet restaurant because it reminds me of Odin, Thor and Loki. I also remember falling in love with the movie- The 13th Warrior.

But this Viking(s) is different. It is actually a buffet restaurant located near the vicinity of Mall of Asia. A Viking's helmet greets the diners upon entering the door.

Lots of food choices- from pasta, seafood, japanese, chinese, continental, there's also a carving station, dessert bar among others. The last photo was two scoops of yogurt ice-cream. Chocolate and avocado. Truly memorable! You'll crave for it once you've tasted it. Wish they have a desserts only buffet :D

Foie Gras

These are fattened duck livers. Think 1M calories. Hahaha.

But its so yummy. Last time I had this, I had three servings. Oh no! I must've felt dizzy afterwards that I drank gallons and gallons of tea. :P

Highlands Cafe

I love foodtrips especially out-of-town. Its so nice to enjoy one's meal while admiring the lush greenery.

This is what I ate today. The rice was wrapped in banana leaf and I just opened it on my plate. Then I had a serving of bangus and gising-gising. So, so good!




Sizzling (Giant) Bangus. Yes, its a giant bangus. One of the popular dish at Tagaytay Highlands.




 N.B. This is for sharing. Maybe up to 6 pax if you are still ordering other dishes.




Gising-gising. This dish is basically baguio beans sauteed in coconut oil with tons of chili and hint of bagoong. Yummy!




Pizza Margherita. Goodness in very bite. And its really cheap, too.

Bag of Beans Revisited

It was really part of our Tagaytay itinerary to go to Bag of Beans, but we prefer the new branch which is just nearby. Alas, we seem to have missed it completely so we ended up in the main branch which was really far from Tagaytay proper. But luck is with us since we got to try new food that we didn't order before.


Chicken pie. I'm not really crazy when it comes to chicken and pies but this is delish! Although I admit I wouldn't order this if not for my friend. But then, I would recommended this to those who are crazy about chicken and pies. note: I prefer the Sheperd's Pie but its not available when we dined there. :(

Christmas Village Cake




The Christmas Village Cake was made by Chef Raffy of the Shangri-La Hotel Makati. He and his team of three others finished the cake in 3 hours. Wow!

Under the blanket of snow was white fondant, dark chocolate, and moist rich chocolate cake. The yule log in front was made of vanilla chiffon (not that memorable), then Gingerbread house and Santa cookies. The trees are made of colored-chocolates with french macaroons - yum yum.