C celebrated her birthday lunch at Mitre because we love, love the food there. The crispy pata was our number one priority and laing. We've already tasted the laing and it blends well with the crispy pata. Alas, the kitchen ran out of laing (lots of customers when we arrived at the restaurant). But that's okay since there's still lots on the menu that we haven't tasted ... yet. Fried Chicken and Fries. Didn't get to taste this because its chicken. But I know its good because I didn't see any leftovers. J was the one who suggested this dish since she saw the same dish come out of the kitchen. Yes, she watches the food that comes out of the kitchen. ;) Seafood Kare-Kare. We ordered ox tail kare-kare during our last visit but found the sauce was too thick and not enough for 4 pax so we tried the seafood version since we were told that it has more sauce than the ox tail. I like it especially with the bagoong. Crispy Pata. We had it chopped alr

It took me decades to visit Cartimar in Pasay, but Darumaya made my first visit there memorable.

Herr's Cheese Curls Serendipity strikes today. Found myself looking at a mountainous stack of Herr's Cheese Curls at S and R Aseana. And it called me- eat me, eat me, eat me! Hahaha So hard to refuse :P What I love about Herr's Cheese Curls (I call it cheese puffs) is that it's not that salty. The taste is even similar to the cheese puffs sold at Healthy Options.

Ghirardelli Chocolate Cake From S&R. It was love at first bite. A 6-inch cake costs only P250.00. Not bad! And it's so chocolatey :)

Not A Royalty! After watching a movie at Lucky Chinatown Mall, my friend had a craving for some dimsum and spotted King Chef's 3-5pm dimsum promo. And since she already ate at the resto's Banawe branch, I agreed. We ordered hakaw, quail egg siomai, sharksfin dumpling and kua pao. Bad service! It took forever to call the waiter's attention and place our order. Then it took them forever to deliver the food on our table. And after 30 minutes of waiting, I bid farewell to my friends since I still have to fetch daughter from school. Tsk tsk tsk. Then my friend texted me that another friend left after eating the unappetizing dimsums. And it also took then forever to call the waiter's attention when settling the bill. I'm not sure if I want to set foot in this resto again.

This is C's unplanned birthday treat. Actually, we're not really supposed to eat since we just plan to check the sale items at F21 in MOA but since her daughter (our foodie-mate) got hungry, they ended up in Lugang first. It's my first time to eat in this restaurant since the first branch which is in Greenhills, and we don't usually venture beyond Promenade. I love the black and metal interiors. Lovely.

It doesn't always happen that one can enjoy unlimited dimsum at the Summer Palace unless there's a special promotion. Lucky us!

A Different Kind Of Torta Sorry for the crappy photo and for the almost non-existent torta. Because it was so good, everyone just had to dig in. This came from Aristocrat Bakeshop and one of the bestsellers. I wonder why! ;)

Happiness In A Lemon *claimed our first happy lemon keychain. yey! The keychain's cute but it would've been nicer if the quality is thicker. But daughter is happy and I'm happy so no harm done. p.s. thanks to C and J for giving me a stamp each ;)

Robinsons Magnolia This mall opened recently but since there's not much to see, we opted to visit only today. It is a very nice mall and very different from the other Robinsons malls (Manila and Ortigas). This is more upscale and can compete well with Greenbelt and Powerplant in terms of shops. The foodcourt's also nice! I love how they managed to turn the foodcourt into a not-so-typical foodcourt-like foodcourt. Something like that. You have to see and dine there to experience what I'm talking about. A bit of history. Robinsons Magnolia was also the location of the old Magnolia Ice Cream Plant. It used to have an Ice Cream Bar (restaurant) called, Magnolia Ice Cream House. And the most famous item on the menu was --- Banana Split :) And  maybe because the location brings back the glory days of the Magnolia Ice Cream House, Robinsons Magnolia opened up a small version of the Ice Cream House on its premises. We haven't tried it yet but I'm sure we'll b

I've been craving for some "real" hopia of long gone era for quite some time now and luckily remembered Hidalgo Bakery in Quiapo on my way home today. Mounds of Hopiang Baboy (pork) and Munggo (beans) greeted me. The Baboy version was still hot- lucky me! A piece of flaky goodness costs only P5 so I ended up buying a bagful. Yum! Great paired with green tea. The orange-y hopia is hopiang baboy. This has a more thicker and crunchier flaky crust. I love its sweet/salty taste. I heard from my elders that its not really pork but kundol or wintermelon filling BUT is cooked in lard. Hence, the pork taste/flavor. The munggo or bean hopia. This is soft and easy to chew. And I think I know why this hopia is popular with my elders ... hehehe. But I find it too sweet and wasn't able to finish one. Will place them in the fridge and I'll try to eat it cold and maybe I'll have a change of heart.

If Its Figaro, It Must Be Good Cappuccino. I love the design and froth. Dunno if it tastes good though because this is hubby's order. But then again, he's been ordering this for ages now so it must be GOOD. ;) Chorizo Pasta. Heavenly! I just wish that they give complimentary bread so that I can wipe the sauce off. Sad to waste good sauce when the pasta runs out. Been ordering this since early 2000. One of Figaro's best selling pasta! Five Cheese Pizza. Tastes good except that they left it too long in the oven. I don't want my pizza edges brown and burnt. All-in-all, this is a very happy meal. And yes, we're definitely coming back for more. Burp!

Strawberry Shortcake by Conti's I am not fond of strawberries but there are a few exceptions. The cake tastes pretty good- light and airy. Icing was super super delish. And the strawberries on top is not overpowering, otherwise I wouldn't be eating this cake at all. Best paired with tea.

One fine Saturday, an aunt celebrated her birthday at Gloria Maris, Greenhills. This is the first time again that I've eaten in Gloria Maris since May 2012 because the restaurant moved to its new location. Will blog about it soon! Fried Chicken. I know its yummy but I've been avoiding chicken like crazy for the past months now because of allergy. :(  Luckily, I can still eat the kropek while watching my family savor the chicken. Cold Cuts Platter. I love love the jellyfish and century egg. The meat are also good. Mixed Veggies and Mushrooms. Big slices of mushrooms that sends off juicy yummy goodness with each bite. Chew carefully though or you might choke. Hehehe. Sweet and Sour Fish. Its okay. I just don't heart any sweet and sour dishes. But I love the carrot bird decor. So cool! Birthday Noodles. I guess eating this year after year on one's birthday will really give you long life. The noodles are really really long! Dish is flavorful and the m