J. Abad Santos st. , San Juan

J. Abad Santos st. is becoming a vibrant food street in San Juan. It’s home to Alex III, Mann Hann, Little Store and Sandy’s Pizza. Add to that these two strip malls facing each other packed with different restaurants.

On one side is Ristras, which I will feature in a separate post, Tofu store, Mocha Blends and the Nail Loft.

On the other side is House of Lasagna, NY Pizza, BQ, Serenitea and Country Chicken.

I go to Nail Loft every fortnight to have my manicure and pedicure. They’re the cheapest in town and they use only the best brands from the USA like OPI and Essie. They also sterilize all theirs tools for each client. The place is very cozy and the music is so soothing that I always fall asleep. I wake up to clean and polished nails.

They also have the latest issues of local and imported magazines.

The Nail Loft

I went to House of Lasagna to buy an order of meat lasagna to take home for dinner. The waiter assured me it was very good and it was assembled as ordered and not pre-baked. I didn’t like it very much. The taste wasn’t bad at all but there was too much bechamel sauce. It was too rich for me. I’m sure other people will disagree but that’s just me.

House of Lasagna menu

The interiors were sparse and simple but cozy.

I’ve been wanting to try Serenitea for quite a while now. So after my nail session I went to buy an iced milk tea.

As suggested by the staff, I ordered the cold royal milk tea for P80. They ask you what sugar level you want. I chose the 50% level. It was still too sweet for me. I suggest starting at 25% then just add more sugar if you want. The tea wasn’t strong enough for me. The best milk tea is still in Hong Kong’s Cafe de Coral. The staff was nice enough to keep adding strong tea to my drink but it was still a far cry from Cafe de Coral.

Serenitea menu

On another day I went to Country Chicken to buy dinner.

They sell extra sauce for P15 a bag and packs of pork barbecue for P200.

On the counter are some food stuff they also sell.

Their chicken is Chinese style fried chicken just like Classic Savory Chicken. But that’s where the similarity ends. Country’s chicken is soft, juicy and flavorful from the skin to the bone. Even the sauce is very tasty. So if you have a hankering for this kind of fried chicken, skip Savory and head on to Country Chicken. You won’t be disappointed.