Pan Seared Fish Wrapped in Bacon at Faustina's

After the results of the medical boards came out last night, our family had a small celebratory dinner at Faustina's, a cozy but really nice restaurant just outside the UPLB campus.

I was thinking of getting their Silindro Ribs again, or maybe a lamb steak, but I wasn't in the mood for a big hunk of meat so I chose their Pan Seared Fish Wrapped in Bacon. It was served with ranch dip,  rice and a small side of salad.



Before I say  anything about how the food was, can we just agree first that this salad looks very pretty? :]

Let's Drown in Chocolate at Maitre Chocolatier Boutique Cafe

Had dinner at Ayala Triangle two weeks ago (tried the 288php dinner buffet at Bfast by Chef Laudico but I forgot my camera in the car mwehehe), and because we really didn't feel like having dessert at Banapple, we cruised along Jupiter St. looking for someplace to satisfy our craving for sweets.

Maitre Chocolatier caught our eyes, and although I didn't want to go in at first because I was turned off by the cartolina cut-outs of hearts and cupids (I judge books by their covers, remember?  Hahaha.), we decided to go in. Needless to say, I ate my words, and downed it with lots of chocolate!

Johnny Steams Yankee Burger

Last Friday, my friend D drove us to Mercato because my friends are awesome and have made it their mission to keep me distracted from the boards and to keep my tummy food-filled and butterfly-free.

I think I just found my favorite burger.

Johnny Steams Yankee Burger

I found Johnny Steams a few months ago, and I was hooked when I tried their Chili Cheese Burger. Super yummy!!!

Around three weeks back I was so depressed when I thought they were no longer at Midnight Mercato. Turns out I just didn't see them because they didn't have their huge tarp. Hehehe.

Tried the highly recommended Yankee Burger this time, and my first impression was: Maaaan, this burger is weird. It smelled like a peanut butter sandwich. It had bacon. And there was cheese and peanut butter dripping down the sides, making the burger look like a breakfast experiment gone horribly wrong. I was scared to take a bite, but wow, when I did, I was amazed at how well everything went together. Nyamnyamnyam. CHOMP!

I'm calling it the Ironic Burger. Beef patty cooked right + everything else that can give you a heart attack! :P

Lipbalm Love: EOS Lip Balm Smooth Sphere

I've been reading a lot about EOS lipbalms since Ed Westwick was seen using one. Hahaha. Although I couldn't understand how buying one would take a girl closer to her dream of becoming Mrs. Bass, I found them awfully cute. They looked like easter eggs!

They weren't available locally though and most online stores sold them for 250php (or sometimes as high as 300php) which with shipping would come to 320-400 bucks for lipbalm. :\ That's two venti green tea lattes! With soy milk! So, nothankyou, I have my priorities. Heh.

But while window shopping online for possible gifts I came across this online seller selling them for only 220php each, and then found out Multiply was offering shipping through Xend for FREE! I bought two. One for myself and another also for myself as an emergency gift. :D

Sweet Mint and Strawberry Sorbet
Guess which one is mine. :P

My package arrived today, one day earlier than expected! Yay. :) I already opened the Sweet Mint flavored one, it smells like mint gum and tingles a bit on my lips. The strawberry one? I don't feel like giving it away anymore hahaha but I've kept my impulses at bay and haven't torn the plastic packaging yet. So far, my thoughts are:

The good:

It's cute

It's easy to find in my really messy bag.

I love the tingly feeling on my lips!

Feels light, not oily or sticky
It's cute

Easy to put on, even though holding it was awkward at first

It can stand on my dresser
It's paraben-free, phthalate-free and petrolatum-free
It's really cute

The bad:

It's big. Haha. No chances of slipping it into your jeans pocket or into a skinny clutch. But my bags are huge anyway so that's fine.

Still expensive compared to Chapstick and Nivea lipbalms.

The ugly: NONE. Only cuteness. 

The EOS lip balm tagline is: "The lipbalm that makes you smile." And it does! It even makes my 21- year old brother smile he keeps pretending to throw it while shouting "Pikachu, I choose you!" Hahaha. 

I was surprised at how easy shopping at Multiply was! There are so many things I want to buy ehem, makeup, because I cannot resist all things pretty. But I just got these two amazing sets from Sephora and BareMinerals for my birthday, and I really have no excuse to buy any more makeup. For the meantime. Hehehe.

That's 96 shades of eyeshadow and 84 shades of gloss.

I love everything about this set. Everything.

PS: Another thing I liked about it? It came wrapped in two layers of bubble wrap. Bubble wrap = free happiness. :)

Not Just a Place for Happy Tummies: Another Soderno Weekend

I am inlove with Soderno. Primarily because it is so near and I have issues with long distance relationships. Okay, that last line was a lie, because my motto is "will travel for food." (You can make me COMMUTE all the way from Laguna to Taguig just for dinner!) But proximity is a definite plus which brings me back to: I'm in love with Soderno!

Dropped by Soderno Friday night just to see how it looked:

Welcome to Soderno. Night time edition. :P

Theo & Philo Artisan Chocolates

I've been antsing to buy these for a few weeks now. Finally got to grab some at Soderno last Saturday!

Another Place for Happy Tummies: Soderno at Molito

I am a huge fan of both Midnight Mercato and Mercato Centrale. Recently though, as I have been living in Laguna again since August, my trips to Mercato have been huge pains in the bum and in the wallet. (My pamasahe alone costs at least 300php and cumulative travel time is around 5 to 6 hours back and forth!)

I was thrilled when they launched Soderno. It's still not next-door, but at least it's closer to home! Miki, Maits and I chose to go Saturday morning, because we didn't feel like body bumping and competing with everyone for seats.

Welcome to Soderno. 

Elbi Eats: Faustina's

Mom took me out for lunch at Faustina's today and fell in love the moment I laid eyes on the menu.

Photoblog/ Review: MARU

Last Weekend Mostly in Food Photos II: Cyma, Oarhouse and Mercato Centrale

Friday Dinner: Cyma
A number of my friends started surgery pre-residency at the Philippine General Hospital last Saturday. Because that, in a nutshell, is a month of exhaustion and sleeplessness and stress and hunger, we decided to have a "Last Supper" on their last free night. :D

While waiting for the others, the first of us to arrive had the Lamb and Watermelon Salad. Watermelon and grilled lamb with olives, feta cheese, lettuce and sunflower seeds in vinaigrette. It was my favorite food of the night and we finished it super quick. Haha I swear med school really trains you to eat fast! Some of the lamb was a bit difficult to chew, but the rest of the salad was yummy and refreshing.

Lamb and Watermelon Salad - 570php (To Share)
Attacked by the time I fished out my camera. :D

Rom and Mac also brought us a treat: Mochi from Dezato! Some had milk chocolate filling, others had dark chocolate inside. After I had a milk chocolate mochi I took another one in the hopes of getting dark chocolate but no such luck. Boo. Haha.

Dezato's Mochi.
Chocolate center, some tikoy-thing around it then chocolate powder on the outside.

My half-eaten second mochi. Still milk chocolate. :(

The Roka Pasta was essentially spaghetti sauteed in extra virgin olive oil with tomatoes, arugula and parmesan cheese. It was colorless with a pile of leaves on top which didn't exactly inspire confidence, but it tasted the way all Greek food should taste: simple but packed with flavor. The pasta was peppery and a bit spicy. I loved it! We were curious about where the flavor was coming from so I did a little research haha. Apparently it's from the arugula which really has a rich peppery taste. According to gourmetsleuth.com, arugula is also purported to have aphrodisiac properties, so this dish (or alternatively, the roka salad) is a good dish to order on a date. Hahaha.

Roka Pasta 420php (To Share)
Simple fare, but flavor packed. :)

We also had the Paidakia (grilled lamb ribs) with Greek roasted potatoes and the Chicken Souvlaki (skewered chicken and vegetables). The paidakia tasted like grilled meat hehe, yummy, but really nothing special. I would have liked some mint sauce with it. The chicken souvlaki was the same, but the yogurt garlic sauce was good and complimented it well. It was also cheap compared to everything else at only 340php. :D

Paidakia + Potatoes 630php

Chicken Souvlaki 340php

For dessert we ordered Flaming Mangoes just because we had low EQs and wanted to hear them shout OPA! again. Haha. It was a whole mango (complete with the seed), flambeed with caramelized sugar and added dash of cinnamon, served with vanilla ice cream! Tasted good enough, although I'm not really a fan of the burnt sugar taste. I liked the ice cream, at least. And I enjoyed seeing my dessert up in flames. Haha.

OPA! No this guy wasn't the one who served us dessert, but he was the
one with the smiling picture. :)))

I was really wondering about what KALI OREXI meant because I keep seeing it in Greek restaurants. I learned today it has a similar meaning to "Bon Appetit!" :)

We did enjoy our meal. :)

Let's do this again to celebrate after your pre-residency is done!

Friday After-Dinner: Oarhouse

Last Friday, my favorite pub Oarhouse celebrated its first birthday on its new location, so we dropped by to celebrate with them. :)

After ordering a beer each, we got a delivery of food on our table, on the house! I really love this place.

Potato chips, onion rings, and blue cheese with crackers.
Oarhouse's birthday blowout. :)

I love the onion rings at Oarhouse. I find it annoying when onion rings taste like batter and oil instead of onion. These rings had a very light batter so the taste of onion was more appreciable. The potato chips were potato chips so of course they were yummy. And the cheese! Delicious! My problem with blue cheeses is that they're sometimes too gritty or grainy. The cheese they served was mixed gorgonzola and cream cheese, so it was creamier, smoother and not as salty. Perfect with crackers. And when they ran out of crackers, they gave us french bread instead. We couldn't stop eating the cheese!!! By the end of the night they had given us three small plates of cheese. Hehehe.

Ben Razon, the owner of Oarhouse, and Sol Vanzi, journalist and the
maker of our cheese! Thank you for filling us with food, drink and stories. :)

Saturday Brunch: Mercato Centrale

It was my first time to go to Mercato in the morning! Weekends are mostly nonexistent in medical school. And the rare free weekend mornings are mostly spent lazing in bed, because there's a satisfaction that comes from turning off the alarm and diving back under the covers. Hehe. Now that every day is a weekend for me, Cha and Ada, we decided to have brunch at Mercato Centrale. We all had our agendas: Cha wanted Manang's, Ada wanted some Angus beef tapa, and I was after the bagnet sandwich.

When I got there at 10am, the first thing that entered my mind was: why is it so empty!!! Few people, and few stalls actually. Thankfully everything we wanted to eat was there and it was actually nice not to wrestle with people and hover around until we got seats. It just looked a bit sad compared to the Midnight Mercatos I was used to seeing. I don't know if it's the usual set-up or just because we were late or because of the threat of Typhoon Ramon. :(

Well, Ada had her tapa from this stall:

I think it was The Angus Beef Lady, but I'm not sure. :D I was really distracted because I haven't seen Ada and Cha since June! No pictures because once we started talking we just got very preoccupied. Zarrryyy.

I got my Pan de Bagnet from Bale Dutung. Strips of bagnet and a huge pile of greens, diced tomatoes and onions on ciabatta bread. It was good, tasted like salad on bread really because of all the veggies and the vinaigrette. The bagnet was easy to chew. It was hefty though both on the tummy and on the wallet, haha I was very reluctant to hand in my 200 pesos! :D

I wish they offered it in half-sandwiches because even half was filling already. I ate the other half later during the afternoon and I remembered to take a picture yay.

Pan de Bagnet.
This was taken on a moving bus, it was so difficult to focus :))

5 hours later, the bread still wasn't soggy, the meat wasn't makunat and the veggies no longer had crunch but were still passable. Hehe.

My favorite part was dessert. I've been reading about Merry Moo in food blogs but I keep forgetting to try it! They were offering free samples of their ice cream too so I tried their Sea Salt Caramel, Earl Grey Tea, Candied Bacon and Dark Chocolate. All yummy!

Free tasting before choosing. :D

Ada and Cha got the sea salt caramel, I was torn between candied bacon and earl grey tea but finally decided on the latter. I wanted second helpings, really delishuz!

Cha happy with her Sea Salt Caramel 

If you look closely, my ice cream has flecks of tea leaves in it. :)

I was planning to buy Baked by Anita cupcakes for my Intarmed barkada's girls-night-in, but we got so engrossed catching up, we didn't realize it was closing time and all the cupcakes were sold out na! Boo. Reason to go back. Hehe.

Next week it's another Oar night and another Midnight Mercato trip. The food never stops! I think I should quit eating on weekdays. :D

 ---

Cyma (Robinson's Place Manila Midtown Wing)

Yummy greek food, great service and a nice ambiance. After several weekends of going to humid food markets I appreciated the airconditioning. :D Make sure to reserve a table, unless you're willing to fall in line until one becomes available. (The line is quite long too.)

Food: 4.5/5

Price range: 500php - 750php per person

The Oarhouse Pub of Manila (Bocobo Street, Malate)

Homey. Good place to have dinner with friends or to meet interesting people (journalists, photographers, musicians). Good food, ranging from chili, to pasta to steak. Beers are very cold and the cocktails are good (their margarita is awesome) and are also available by the pitcher for groups of friends.  Lighting is great for taking pictures haha

Food: 4/5

Price range: 250php to 500php per person for a yummy dinner and a few beers

Mercato Centrale 

Not as packed as Midnight Mercato but also not as many choices. Still, you and your friends are bound to find something you like. There's also an organic market if you dig that stuff. 

Food: 3.5 to 4/5 depending on where you get your food

Price range: 200php to 400php for a full meal and dessert

See also: Last weekend's food finds and other food posts. :)

A Place for Happy Tummies Part III: Return to Midnight Mercato

Last Friday Maits and I went back to Midnight Mercato for a friday food-date. It was a fail on so many levels: rain, people we didn't want to see, people we didn't see hahaha, but you can't feel bad for too long when surrounded by so much food!

The plan was to finally get that spam musubi and try out other stuff we hadn't before, which left out a lot of choices (you can read about my other Mercato picks here). As I was looking longingly at the Guactruck truck (hey that's really fun to say), the words "steamed burgers" caught the periphery of my eye. Say what?

A Place for Happy Tummies Part II: Midnight Mercato

We forgot to buy MedChef cakes to take home during our Banchetto trip, which led to cries of "We have to go back!" (We're dramatic when we're hungry.) But instead of going back to Banchetto in Forum (which we found had rather limited choices for a food fair), we decided to go to Midnight Mercato instead. 

I wasn't sure they had granada (our favorite Banchetto food find) at Mercato so before leaving, I dropped by Chicken Charlie to have these

Cheesestick Not So Dynamite, but good enough. :)

When we got to Mercato, the first things we checked out were the desserts. Hehe.

Cupcaaaakes.

The name was tempting. But the cake didn't look very yummy so we skipped it.
JUDGY! Haha. I'll try it next time.

The reason for our visit! They didn't have the Pandan-White Chocolate cake
that Chef Hasset Go recommended though. :(

After deciding that yes, we're sticking with MedChef for desserts and after Danlen told the girl at Empire (the stall selling macarons) na their merchandise was not "sulit" hahaha, we went around all the food stalls looking for food that struck our fancy.

A Place for Happy Tummies: Banchetto Forum

Last Thursday I was supposed to have a quiet dinner with two girl friends. We ended up going all the way from Manila to Banchetto in Pioneer with a few other friends and having a very rowdy dinner. Good choice! :D

Friends who eat together stay friends forever.

BOOK REVIEW: The Boy with the Cuckoo Clock Heart

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