Street food has also been significant in my food journey last year as I was able to gobble up a lot of kwek-kwek, sausages, squid balls, BBQs, waffles, kikiam, milk teas, etc.
Aside from food discoveries, I was also happy to make new foodie friends from around the globe and also had the chance to meet my Thai food blogger friends- Monlada Nanawan of nanareview.com and Benz Bordin of benz47@review whom I've met in in 2013 in Hong Kong during an event hosted by OpenRice HK, and met in person a Japanese Instagrammer who is based in Bangkok. There's really a lot of food stories to tell and I'm hoping that I can really sit down uninterrupted and write all about it.
So here's my top twelve restaurant picks for 2017 which I'll just list down alphabetically since all of them are quite memorable.
1. I've been crazy about Vietnamese food for about two years now and visiting Ho Chi Minh City was really a culinary treat. I've had a list of restos to visit in HCMC but Bobby Chin's My Banh Mi was not on my list (what?????!!!!). My friend and I discovered it by accident since the pho resto where we've been meaning to eat has a longish line. And it was an amazing discovery, the flavors are sublime that it made me think of that I'm in a fine dining restaurant.
Bun Thit Nuong at My Banh Mi
2. Brotzeit is a family favorite and I'd also like to share that my Dutch uncle gave his thumbs up for the great tasting dishes served at the restaurant. My all-time favorite there though is the goulash- a spicy soup of meat and vegetables.
3. Chef Jessie Rockwell Club is another family favorite. Aside from serving fine dining cuisine such as steaks, king prawns, truffle pasta, the restaurant also serve the most delicious kutsina and turon which is perfectly paired with a hot lemongrass tea. My daughter also celebrated her 16th birthday at Chef Jessie Rockwell Club and food tasted perfect (according to our guests) and the service provided was impeccable.
Cavie Pie at Chef Jessie Rockwell Club
4. Whenever we visit Baguio City, we always end up eating at Hill Station almost every day. No kidding. One of my favorite there is the chocolate lemon tart which greatly reminds me of the chocolate tart that I have eaten in Siem Reap.
Chocolate Lemon Tart at Hill Station
5. Huma Mediterranean was a restaurant find last year and my family is quite happy that the food has a lot of exotic spices that I can't name and the food really, really taste good. It is also managed by the group that owns Huma Resort in Palawan.
6. Early last year, I got invited to join a food tour in Binondo which was organized by a blogger friend and one of the restaurants that we went to was Ilang-Ilang Restaurant. Truth be told, I've never heard of Ilang-Ilang until that time and I'm really glad to have dined there. Food served at the restaurant are traditional Hokkien dishes.
7. It took us a year before we were able to eat at Lemon and Olives Greek Taverna in Baguio City but when we did, I think we dined at the restaurant for three consecutive days. Good food plus nice ambiance. Better schedule a visit so that you'll know what I'm talking about.
8. Mario's has never fail to make a simple meal or get-together memorable. Food also tastes consistently great thru the years and the serving portions are good for sharing. Another plus is their Sunday brunch buffet wherein I can have my fill of cochinillo and baked oysters. Yum!
10. I think Peking Dumpling Wong is one of my most memorable restaurant discovery last 2017. My daughter and I were wandering in Wan Chai and accidentally ended up having lunch at this "no English" dumpling resto. And I'm really glad to have stumbled upon it because "ang sarap sarap" the freshly made dumplings and noodles!
11. We only got to dine at Tuan Tuan when it opened in Power Plant Mall because of the longish lines at the SM Mega branch. And after dining there the first time, we finally understood the long lines. I also love how good the Oyster Congee tasted. Yum.
12. Wild West Road House Grill is one of our restaurant discoveries before the year ended. My daughter super love the Potato Hay and I am still having sweet dreams about the Crispy Bacon which you dipped in spicy vinegar.
To sum it up, 2017 was a great year full of great noms. Looking forward to new food and restaurant discoveries this 2018 and creating lots of happy food memories.
Here's my list the previous years:
The Kitchen Goddess' Top Twelve Restaurant Picks for 2016
2014 Best Restaurant and Food Discoveries