More SOS

More shameless self-promotion for my store, Small Office Solutions. More on SOS here and here. I’m posting this just in time for lunch :D.


pork adobo (2nd bestseller)



nilagang baka (boiled beef soup)


morning assembly


lumpia shanghai

pork teriyaki

fish fillet with veggies


chicken curry


ground beef menudo


pork chopsuey

Small Office Solutions


Ground Flr., Jollibee Plaza Bldg.

F. Ortigas Jr. Rd,(formerly Emerald Avenue)

Ortigas Center, Pasig City

telephone: 638-3650/51

North Park Noodle House

I accompanied my dad to see Dr. Peter Rivera (Hi Doc!) at the Medical City Hospital. After that we decided to have lunch at The Strip which was located just outside the hospital. There were several restaurants there but we chose to eat at North Park.


My dad ordered the tai pao and lapu lapu congee. He said it was good but Emerald‘s tai pao was better.


fried beancurd skin w/ shitake mushroom


salted garlic squid

I ate the beancurd sheet and squid without rice. How sad. They were both good but strangely a bit on the sweet side. The squid was so soft yet crunchy although I didn’t taste any garlic. North Park still serves good Chinese food at a very reasonable price.

North Park Noodle House
THE STRIP @ Medical City
Beside Medical City Hospital,
Ortigas Ave. Pasig City

In search for the best Cua Pao

Cua pao is an open faced siopao with pork belly, preserved green mustard vegtable and sweet ground peanuts as filling. I don’t know where cua pao came from because I haven’t seen it in Hong Kong, China or Singapore. Maybe it’s a Filipino invention?

Finding good cua pao is even harder than finding good siopao. Often the siopao dough is too thick and hard, the meat too fatty or dry. I got a tip that I can find the best cua pao in Mey-lin’s restaurant in SM Megamall. So off I go again.

I got to the restaurant and I thought, “this is it?” The interiors look dated and didn’t look like the home to the best kua pao since their specialty was hot pot and noodles. I ordered 4 cua pao w/ pata to go (if you order cua pao only you will get an empty siopao).

“What? This is what I get for P75? A thin roll of kua pao wrapped in plastic.”

I took one bite and got weak in the knees. OMG! The dough was thin, the meat was tender and juicy. The sauce was sweet and spicy. I hardly noticed the vegetables (that’s a good thing). What a perfect blend of all the ingredients! I actually polished off one while waiting for the elevator. All I can say go run to SM Megamall and get yourself a couple of cua pao. The search is over. (note: don’t trust the picture in this case – it’s tastes way better than it looks)

Mey-Lin’s Pot and Noodle House
SM Megamall
4/f Building A
telephone: 634-1261

Healthy Options Junk Food Haul

I am thankful for a store like Healthy Options who provide health conscious eaters like me more options (to the readers who know me, stop laughing!).

I went there today to get my healthy junk food. No that’s not an oxymoron. I happened to watch the Today show’s feature on healthy snacking and they showed Popchips which are air popped potato chips. They taste pretty good and have 0 fat. Kettle baked potato chips are also a favorite of mine.

SM Megamall
2/f Building B
 telephone: 636-1310

Eat and Go

This is a new restaurant in SM Megamall’s Atrium.

Their specialty is the London pies. Today they had 3 variants – Salmon & Spinach (bestseller), Juicy Steak and Chicken Ham. The pies are wrapped in a phyllo crust. I bought 4 pieces for the price of 3. I tried the chicken first. I see ham slices, chicken bits and potatoes but somehow all I taste are the potatoes. The crust was light and crisp but they should call it Potato Pie.


chicken and ham pie

Next I tried the bestseller, Salmon & Spinach. Don’t get me wrong I love potatoes but somehow the potatoes in these pies totally overwhelm the fillings. I can taste the salmon bits, there was barely any visible spinach and 1/2 layer of potatoes. After I gave the potatoes to my pomeranians and doused the salmon pie w/ Knorr seasoning was I able to enjoy the remains of the pie. I love savory pies and really wanted to like these pies but sorry I have to give the London pies two thumbs down. Hopefully the steak pie turns out better since steak goes well with potatoes.


Salmon and Spinach pie


side dishes


3/f SM Megamall Atrium
telephone: 635-9559

Odd Balls

My favorite food at SM Mega Mall supermarket is Odd Balls. They sell a variety of balls – squid, fish, shrimp and kikiam. I only eat their squid balls which are chewy and have a subtle squid taste.

What makes their squid balls stand out is the mix of hot and sweet sauce. The sign below translates to – what’s good with odd balls? hot sauce, sweet sauce or both good. Someone discovered combining both sauces and it works!

Back to Heat at Edsa Shangri-la pt. 1

I haven’t been to Heat in ages. I was surprised with the many, many, many new food additions and the kids entertainment. No wonder the place was full! So much for a recession. Because of the big amount of pictures I’m not showing the salads and healthy stuff. But they had a good selection of those too.

this is what greets you in the entrance


the juggler


the pool outside Heat


indian curries


noodle soup bar / laksa



Mongolian station


Filipino spread

sisig


bagoong and salted eggs


adobong pusit (squid)


nilagang baka (beef soup)


lamb simlamirch


seafood curry

mongolian fried rice


veggie tempura

Heat
Edsa Shangri-La Hotel
Lobby Level
1 Garden Way, Ortigas Center
Mandaluyong City, Metro Manila
telephone: 633-8888 loc 2740 or 2741