Shoot First Eat Later

Goodburgers Chicken Burger

I love burgers and I’m always on the lookout for good burgers. When I saw Goodburgers in a more convenient location in Greenhills I decided to give it a try again. The last time I ate their chicken burger was years ago.

What makes Goodburgers different is they sell only chicken and veggie burgers.

Goodburgers menu

Their packaging was a simple and thick brown paper bag.

Individual burgers were wrapped in foil instead of the usual paper wrappers that other burger joints use.

I appreciated their option of using a whole wheat bun for an additional P5. Not bad and much healthier. It was nice and hearty too.

I ordered the herb delite chicken burger ‘good’ size. It had cottage cheese and basil. It seemed the healthiest option in their menu. I loved the chicken patty’s grilled flavor. It tasted like I was eating a beef burger without the fat. I didn’t miss the beef at all. I just didn’t like the toppings since I couldn’t taste the basil nor the cottage cheese. Next time I’ll simply order the ‘Just Burger’ with mayo and ketchup.

herb delite chicken burger on whole wheat bun P85

I’m glad I tried Goodburgers again. Now I know where to get my quick, cheap and healthy burger fix. I wish they had nutritional information on their burgers. But I’m pretty sure the chicken burgers have a lot less calories and fat than beef burgers.

Goodburgers

One Kennedy Place
Annapolis St. cor. Ortigas Avenue,
Greenhills, San Juan
telephone: 723-4663 (delivery)

106 E. Rodriguez Jr. Ave., C5 Pasig
telephone: 671-4242

10 East Capitol Drive, Kapitolyo, Pasig
telephone: 636-4663

162 Maginhawa St., Sikatuna Village, QC
telephone: 435-4663

Dinner at La Nuova Pasteleria

La Nuova has been open since 1978 but it was my first time to eat there a few weeks ago. I don’t know how this restaurant escaped my radar all these years. Maybe all my friends assumed I’ve already eaten there. In Manila, it’s always the new restaurants that people frequent. For a restaurant in Manila to exist for 10 years or more is nothing short of a miracle. With that in mind I had high expectations.

I went to La Nuova w/ my HS eating buddies. Deb did all the ordering since she’s the expert on La Nuova.

The dining area was really small.

Inspite of the small space they have a wide array of Italian cold cuts and cheeses for sale.

They also had several cakes to choose from.

flatbread bread w/ pate and tomato dip

I love olive oil based pasta the best and Deb did a good job of ordering for all of us. I’m very hard to please when it comes to pasta since I cook it a lot. Often restaurants serve soft, soggy pasta or bland and ordinary sauces. La Nuova’s pastas were all al dente and well seasoned. My only comment was the servings were quite small for the price they were charging.

The Italian sausages in this pasta were the best I’ve ever eaten anywhere. They were firm and had just the right amount of fennel. I wonder if they sell Italian sausages in the deli display?

Agli Olio Con Salsicce P459
Capellini with garlic, sundried tomato, Italian sausage, chili flakes in olive oil

The tartufo pasta was my favorite. The truffle cream just barely coated the pasta, not drowning it. The scent of truffles was very evident in this dish. I’ll definitely order this when I go back to La Nuova.

The first time I tried pasta with truffle sauce I didn’t like it. I thought it smelled and tasted like dirt. It seems my palate has matured since I now love anything truffle scented. I’m pretty sure all the truffle pasta I’ve eaten around Manila simply use a little truffle oil. I hope I will be able to try real truffle shavings soon.

Tagliatelle with white truffle cream, porcini mushroom top with Parma ham P575

I didn’t get to try the next two pasta dishes since I was already happy eating my share of the Salsicce and Tartufo pasta.

Vongole Al Vino Bianco P459.00
Spaghetti with baby clams, olive oil and white wine sauce

Agli Olio Con Gamberi P459.00
Capellini with garlic, sun dried tomato, shrimps, chili flakes in olive oil

I liked the thin and crunchy crusts of their pizzas. The Italian sausage did it’s magic again on this pizza. I didn’t even miss my favorite pepperoni or mushroom.

maremmana rustica – onions, Italian sausage P407

I’m not much of a veggie eater but I loved, loved this pizza. The flavors were mild but when you bite into a piece of chorizo the flavor explodes and is tamed by the soft spinach and mozarella cheese. It was truly a wonderful combination.

pizza due gusti – chorizo, spinach and mushroom P444

We wanted to eat a light meal so 10 of us shared 4 pasta dishes and 2 pizzas. Add a couple of sodas to that and the average check per person came to P450. The food was excellent but very pricey. I guess it’s because they can only serve very few people in their restaurant and they had to make up for their overhead. I would go back in a heartbeat though.

La Nuova Pasteleria Menu (I missed a couple of pages)
appetizers, side dishes & soup, main course, pasta, rice,
Italian sandwiches, dessert and beverages

Pasteleria La Nuova
San Antonio Plaza,
Forbes Park, Makati
telephone: 817-8568 / 867-2370

Ganito ka rin ba mag-English?

This letter was reportedly found in a bar and was published in the newspaper in its original form. This has been spreading through email and facebook. I found it amusing not only for the grammatical and spelling errors but for the efforts of the writer in insulting her competition for Dennis.

Enjoy reading!

(click to view larger image)

Sunday Lunch at Peking Garden Restaurant

The food featured here are from 2 consecutive Sundays when we ate at Peking Garden in Trinoma. It’s been a while since I’ve eaten there and I’ve missed the fabulous appetizers that they’re known for.

spicy wanton wrapper crisps

sea blubber P280

deep fried beancurd cubes w/ minced meat P320

shredded chicken in chili sauce P280

These thinly sliced super crunchy fish are my favorite. The fish was coated with sweet and sour sauce. It’s unlike any fried fish I’ve ever eaten.

honeyed fish butterfly shape P320

eggplant w/ sesame sauce P250

fried mini sliver thread bun P70/2 pcs.

fried spring onion cake P80/pc.

Now on to the main course dishes. Simply steamed fresh shrimps are the best way to savor seafood.

steamed sua-he (small shrimp)

assorted meat & seafood soup in casserole P525 (medium)

In Manila, Peking Garden serves the best xiao long bau or soupy dumplings. The skin is relatively thin, the meat is well seasoned and the soup generous.

steamed supreme soup & pork dumplings P150/5 pcs.

hand-made noodles w/ beef and spring onion P170

deep fried crispy chicken w/ dried garlic P390/half P780/whole

barbecued Peking duck P2,100

No other restaurant beats Peking Garden in the speed of cutting and presenting the sliced duck. They also take time to scrape the skin clean of any fat. This lessens our guilt in eating this decadent dish.

fried duck bones P300

We had a special treat for lunch. Beggar’s chicken is a popular dish from Beijing that is made from chicken and preserved mustard greens and then it’s wrapped in lotus leaves and clay or in this case bread. Cooking the chicken this way ensures a very tender and tasty dish. Beggar’s chicken requires advanced ordering.

beggar’s chicken P1,000

Andrew had the honor of breaking the bread layer with a heavy brass mallet.

chicken wrapped in lotus leaves

the unwrapped chicken

I don’t know what these veggies were but I loved them. They’re light and crispy a good contrast to the bamboo shoots and sweet candied walnuts.

crispy vegetable, conpoy w/ bamboo shoot & walnuts P570 (M)

poached mustard greens in supreme soup P375 (M)

Peking Garden Menu
appetizers, shark’s fin & bird’s nest, soup, abalone, sea cucumber & crispy rice, seafood,
more seafood, poultry, pork, beef & lamb, beancurd, vegetable, noodle, rice, dim sum,

Peking Garden
3rd level of TriNoma Mall
EDSA cor. North Ave.,
Quezon City

telephone: 901-0502 or 901-0507

Potluck Series Part 4

The potluck series is nearing it’s conclusion and I can’t help but feel sad. All the dance practices are over and I won’t get to see my classmates every Saturday. We were always tired after dance practice (except me since I didn’t dance) but we got our energy back once we moved to the dining room.

Today, November 21, 2009 is the big day. It’s the day of our homecoming entitled, sICAt tayo! It’s the culmination of all our hard work from brain storming, planning, practicing and the last few days’ frantic set-up at school.

In behalf of the core group and all the committees, I would like to thank Firewire Marketing Consultancy for helping us plan, organize and execute the whole event, our esteemed director Mike Lim for his brilliant and creative ideas, Direk Raymond for guiding us, Exile for the fabulous lights and sounds and Martin Esteva for the lighting design. And to all the staff of ICA, my wonderful classmates and everyone who had a hand in the homecoming, a big thank you!

Janet brought this challah bread she bought at the Salcedo market.

challah bread

Cef brought this chicken pastel she ordered from Verleo Catering. It was filled with big chunks of chicken and veggies in a creamy, delicious white sauce.

chicken pastel

Dorothy bought the garlic sotanghon from Conti’s Pastry Shop and Restaurant. It was my first time to try it and I loved it. The garlic flavor was very prominent and it was very peppery too.

garlic sotanghon

It was a night of doubles. We had 2 kinds of paella and lengua. Aren’t we so spoiled?

Jennie ordered this super yummy paella from Dulcelin. The paella was filled to the brim with seafood, chorizo and veggies. The prawns in the paella were huge.

paella by Dulcelin P 1,500/ 10-12 persons

Deb’s talented cook whipped up this very impressive paella.

paella

She also made this scrumptious lengua (ox tongue) in mushroom sauce.

lengua in mushroom sauce

My cook made this lengua in tomato, red wine and mushroom sauce. Everyone had their own favorite paella or lengua. The important thing was we went home with plenty of left-overs.

lengua in tomato sauce

Iron chef Florence made this restaurant quality Korean beef bulgogi. She brought the marinated beef to Deb’s house and in a few minutes transformed it into this magnificent dish. Everybody agreed this classmate CAN cook!

Korean beef bulgogi

Kathy brought her secret recipe chicken barbecue with a special sauce. There were definitely no left-overs for this dish.

chicken barbeque

The glass lazy susan was groaning under the weight of so much food it refused to budge. We had to walk around it to get the food.

Naturally, we had to have dessert. It’s was good of Rowena to bring Ms. Polly’s chocolate cake. It’s one of the best chocolate cakes in Manila.

Ms. Polly’s chocolate cake

I hope our homecoming is a big success! There’s still 2 more installments to the potluck series. More food finds coming soon.

Ginangg Bukid’s Challah
Salcedo Village Makati on Saturdays/Centris (EDSA cor. Quezon Ave., QC) on Sundays
815-4552 (PLDT)
474-2600 (BayanTel)
0916-286-0900; 0929-1414-333 (Cel)

Mondays to Saturdays, pick up at the bakery/cafe:
Unit 12 La Fuerza Plaza 2, Sabio St. @ Pasong Tamo, San Lorenzo Village, Makati City

Verleo Catering
telephone: 365-3315; 367-5082

Conti’s Pastry Shop & Restaurant
#53 Connecticut St. Greenhills, San Juan
telephone: 744-4184, 744-4208

Ms. Polly’s Chocolate Cake
Polly Garilao
telephone: 824-7612

FLAGSHIP STORE
4th Floor Robinson’s Galleria, Ortigas.
telephone: 703-5058

COMMISSARY
Milan Street, Merville Park
Paranaque
telephone: 824 7612, 401-4588

Dinner at Korea Garden Restaurant

I’m still on a Korean food roll so I suggested we eat at Korea Garden restaurant, one of the oldest and most well loved Korean restaurants in Manila. I haven’t eaten there in years so I hoped it was still as good as before.

The simple interiors haven’t changed at all. The one thing missing from this restaurant is the option to cook your food on the table. They don’t have table top grills like most Korean restaurants.

These are my ‘on call’ at anytime to eat friends. Just one text and they’re ready to run to the restaurant. Planning dinners with this bunch is a breeze.

Korean appetizers

beansprouts

tofu

potatoes

kimchi

radish

dried anchovies (dilis)

sweet peanuts

The seafood pajon was crispy and yummy.

pajon P290

chap chae P280

bibimbop P280

I forgot to tell the waiter not to add the hot sauce when he mixed up the rice mixture. As a result it was too spicy for me to eat. It looked good though.

My favorite dish was the squid bulgogi. It was incredibly soft and very, very flavorful.

squid bulgogi P290

Even if the meat wasn’t grilled at our table it was all delicious. The servings were a bit small though.

combination of chicken P280 and beef bulgogi 295

so kalbi kui (beef ribs) P330

kalbi chim (beef stew) P310

Since we weren’t satisfied with the free pineapple for dessert we trooped to Deb’s house for Mrs. Yulo’s turtle pie. This is one of our favorite desserts.

The super decadent turtle pie was made with a thick chocolate cookie crust topped with a layer of luscious caramel and walnuts and finished with a thick chocolate filling. It wasn’t cloyingly sweet as you would expect but the smooth caramel was just the right complement to the dark rich chocolate flavor from the filling and cookie crust.

Korea Garden Restaurant Menu
peculiar dishes, rice, specialties, bulgogi, soup, noodles, vegetarian

Korea Garden Restaurant
128 Jupiter St., Bel-Air 2
Makati City
telephone: 895-5443, 896-4361

Mrs. Yulo’s Turtle Pie
19 Kawayan St. North Forbes, Makati City
telephone: 810-80-78 or 812-49-61

How to eat a chicken wing

I never knew there’s another way to eat chicken wings. This way is really more efficient but it takes the fun out of nibbling the bones clean.

via money, cash, ho’s

Shakey’s Angus Steakhouse Pizza

It was a lazy Sunday afternoon and the most exciting part of the day was waiting for news on the Pacquaio-Cotto fight in Las Vegas. After checking live blogs online for blow by blow accounts of the fight, I learnt that Manny Pacquiao won by a technical knock-out on round 12. Yehey! Congratulations to the best boxer in the world!!

To celebrate the big win, I ordered the Angus Steakhouse pizza from Shakey’s. I wanted to try it after seeing their ad all over tv, newspapers and billboards. I’ve always liked Shakey’s pizza for it’s thin and crispy crust. I usually just order the garlic and cheese which is my favorite from Shakey’s.

My first impression when I opened the box was the pizza was very oily. After blotting out all the excess oil with a paper napkin, I took my first bite. The pizza was crisp and the sauce was slightly sour and very tomato-ey. I hate sweet tomato sauce on pizzas or pasta.

Shakey’s Angus Steakhouse Pizza, large, thin crust P410

The Angus beef was very, very tender and spiced just right. The mushrooms were a perfect complement to the steak. I loved the extra crunch from the fried shoestring potatoes liberally scattered on the pizza. The roast onions also gave the pizza a natural sweetness. I appreciated the sauce and cheese all the way to the edge of the crust. With other pizzas they leave half an inch or more for the border. I usually leave that part of the crust uneaten. With this pizza there was no left-over crust.

I also ordered a single size of mojo potatoes. It brought back childhood memories when I used to go to Shakey’s just to eat the mojo potatoes.

Mojo potatoes are simply sliced potatoes dipped in spiced flour and deep fried. They taste like fried chicken. They still taste as good as ever. I liked the thinner slices better though. The potatoes came with a choice of zesty caesar or spicy garlic dip. I chose the caesar dip which was good but I liked eating the potatoes by itself. It didn’t need any dip.

mojo potatoes w/ dip P87

Shakey’s delivery telephone no: 77-777

Birthday Dinner at Je Suis Gourmand

I was recently invited to celebrate the birthday of a good friend at Je Suis Gourmand in the Fort.

We started with our favorite salad which wasn’t on the menu. They have the best seared foie gras in Manila. Make sure to ask for the sauce on the side. They have a tendency of drowning the foie gras in sauce.

1/2 order pan seared foie gras w/ reduced honey balsamic sauce P880/order

warm Chavignol goat cheese & basil in filo pastry
served w/ green salad & raspberry vinaigrette P410

These were the main courses we ordered.

braised lamb shank Provencal w/ potato mushroom puree P590

grilled lamb chop, tenderloin, spicy merguez sausages
w/ thyme jus & steamed vegetable couscous P820

I had the sea bass. It was good but the whole dish came off as too ‘wet’ for my taste. The fish and risotto were both soft and it was covered with a lot of sauce. There was no contrast in texture.

roasted Chilean sea bass w/ saffron risotto served w/
bone marrow & red wine butter sauce P880

prawns & vegetable casserole in tarragon enhanced prawn sauce P720

The cannelloni was very, very good but too rich to finish by yourself. It’s a dish that needs to be shared.

fresh goat cheese & prawn cannelloni
w/ garlic cream P420

blue cheese carbonara linguini w/ roasted smoked bacon & grilled prawn P420

prawns and mushroom ravioli in watercress sauce P460

grilled prime black angus rib eye steak (350g)
served w/ pommes allumettes and salad P1,150

fresh mango mille-feuille w/ almond cream & sauce P180

strawberry and caramel ice cream

dark chocolate & ginger souffle P190

sun dried apricot bread & butter pudding w/ rum sauce P160

fresh strawberry & vanilla cheesecake w/ sauce P190

dark chocolate butter cream roulade w/ candied cherries P190

The food was generally good but not outstanding. It’s still a reliable place to get consistent food. Je Suis Gourmand used to be my favorite French restaurant but now it’s Aubergine.

Je Suis Gourmand menu

appetizer, salad, soup & pasta
main course & cold platter
dessert

Je Suis Gourmand (now closed)
g/f Net 1 Center Bldg.
Fort Bonifacio, Taguig
telephone: 815-8801-02

Best Traditional Chocolate Cake – Karen’s Chocolate Ganache Cake

I’ve previously declared Classic Confection’s Nono’s Oblivion as the best chocolate cake. That was a special kind of chocolate cake made with praline and mousse.

For the traditional 3 layer chocolate cake with filling and frosting, the best cake I’ve ever eaten is Karen’s Kitchen’s Chocolate Ganache Cake.

Thanks to Maribel who sent me this cake all the way from California through her dil,Rosh in Manila.

This cake has to be the moistest chocolate cake I’ve ever eaten. You can actually see the ganache filling ooze out from the middle of the cake. The cake nor the filling isn’t too sweet. I’d even describe it as semi-sweet. That’s perfect for me since I love dark chocolate.

A whole 8″ round cake costs P700. That’s really a good deal for such a scrumptious cake.

Karen’s chocolate ganache cake

There are so many kinds of cakes on Karen’s web site but their chocolate ganache cake is still the bestseller.

Karen’s Kitchen
428 Adalla Street,
Palm Village,
Makati, Metro Manila
telephone 898-2280 Cell 0917-5394968
email: mykarenskitchen@yahoo.com