Shoot First Eat Later

Lunch at Modern China

It’s only natural for most bloggers and diners to flock to new restaurants in Manila. Most food bloggers want to be first to review a new restaurant. I like to let a few months pass for a restaurant to normalize before I try the food. What I like best is discovering a restaurant that has been around for years and sharing them with my readers.

Modern China in Glorietta 4 has been open since 2005 and this was my first time to try it. I had dinner in my friend Deb’s house and she served the noodles pictured above. I was instantly enamored and I kept thinking about it so Deb organized a lunch at Modern China just so I can eat the noodles again and try other dishes.

I don’t really know why I’ve never eaten at Modern China before. Now that I have they’ll be seeing me there more often.

Most Chinese restaurants serve salted peanuts or fried wonton skin. These peanuts were lightly glazed with syrup for a sweet crunch. It’s highly addicting.

sesame glazed peanuts

The cold cuts were ok. Pretty standard fare. I didn’t eat much since I was preparing my tummy for the noodles.

✔ cold cuts P560

Henry, the Chinese order taker recommend the uni fried rice. It was good but I didn’t really taste the uni (sea urchin). Just like foie gras I like to eat uni by itself to savor the goodness without any distraction. And with all the good dishes we had plain white rice would have been a better match.

✔ ✔ uni fried rice P380

The XO sauce was very tasty but the clams were malnourished so there wasn’t much meat to enjoy.

✔ clams with XO sauce P380

I don’t eat intestines but Deb who loves this told me to try it. It was super crispy just like chicharon but I still didn’t like the taste of intestines. If you like this then do try their version.

✔ Southern fried intestines P280

The stuffed tofu lacked ooomph but it wasn’t bad at all. I topped it with the spicy pork mixture from the eggplant casserole and it was delish!!

✔ pan fried stuffed tofu P340

Of all the varieties of Chinese noodles my favorite has to be Ho Fan, wide rice noodles used in soup or dry dishes. It’s also the same noodle used in the popular dim sum dish, cheong fan. I like it because there is more surface for the sauce to stick to. The most common Ho Fan dish in Chinese restaurants is Beef Ho Fan. I love that dish but stopped eating it because it’s always too oily.

This was the first time I’ve encountered Ho Fan with pumpkin sauce. There was no oily taste and the uber flavorful pumpkin sauce thickly coated the Ho Fan noodles. This dish was even good when it cooled down and the noodles have absorbed more sauce. Love, love, love this.

Important note: This dish isn’t on the menu so you have to remember the name when you order it.

✔ ✔ ✔ seafood Ho Fan with pumpkin sauce P720 (M)

Whether you like eggplant or not you will enjoy this mildly spicy casserole. It’s best eaten with a bowl of rice. It’s truly comfort food.

✔ ✔ ✔ spicy eggplant with minced pork P340

All of the dishes were ordered by Deb based on what her family’s favorites were since they’ve been loyal clients of Modern China for years. I ordered this dish since it looked good on the menu. Oh wow! Good choice. Pat in the back, Leslie.

The cut of the beef is the same as the ones used in Korean restaurants. The short rib is cut flanken style and simply sautéed in their special sauce. The beef was super tender and very, very, very flavorful.

✔ ✔ ✔ pan fried short ribs steak P770 (M)

These ribs were hands down everybody’s favorite. Meaty pork spareribs coated with a honey sauce and topped with lots of fried garlic. It wasn’t too sweet and the garlic balanced the flavors. Kids will surely love this too.

✔ ✔ ✔ honey garlic spareribs P320

Even the almond jelly was very good. It was milky and had more almond flavor than other restaurants where the almond jelly tastes watery.

almond jelly with lychee

You will know how much I really love a restaurant when not two weeks later I was back this time with my college friends to treat them for my birthday. I wrote down all the food I wanted to order and just handed it to Henry. Note: I just found out that Henry is executive Chef Henry Sy!! Such fab personal service too :D.

I ordered all my favorites from my first time and added a couple of new dishes.

✔ ✔ ✔ must order in Modern China

These simply fried bean curd were a better option than the stuffed bean curd.

✔ ✔ salt & pepper bean curd P220

I don’t eat much green beans but after trying this dish I am now obsessed in trying to replicate this wonderful dish. The green beans were dry sautéed and topped with spicy ground pork. The special ingredient that made this crazy good was the addition of a little Chinese shrimp sauce or bagoong. It really made the dish pop.

✔ ✔ ✔ minced pork with green beans P320

The first time we ate we were a group of 7 women and had some left overs. This time we had help from 3 guys and there was NO LEFTOVERS. Good job guys!!!

Check out Modern China’s 47 page picture menu. There are so many other dishes I want to try and yet order my favorites. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this restaurant. Do try this restaurant as soon as you can. I guarantee you will love the food as much as we all did.

✖ skip it
✔ not bad
✔ ✔ do order
✔ ✔ ✔ MUST order

Modern China Restaurant (right beside Ascott Hotel)
G/F Glorietta 4, East Drive
Ayala Center, Makati
telephone: 752-8728 to 29
website
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Mr Bean – It’s All Soy!!!

Move over coffee, milk tea, fruit drinks there’s a new drink in town Manila and it’s all soy!

A friend of mine brought in popular Singaporean franchise, Mr Bean that specialized in all things soy. From soy milk, taho, frozen drinks, ice cream and even pancakes.

They had classic hot or cold soy milk for the purist. To be honest I have a love-hate affair with soy. I can’t stand regular soy milk but I do love Silk chocolate soy milk. I don’t like soft tofu but I love fried tofu and beancurd skin. I do love taho.

I was happy to see a wide variety of soy products that I wanted to try and hopefully overcome my distaste of soy milk.

Mr Bean menu

Just like in most milk tea stores you can specify your drink’s level of sweetness. I chose 75% for all the drinks I bought.

Although I went to Mr Bean by myself I bought 2 drinks and 2 pancakes that I was going to share with my employees. I was told that I qualified for a free icy mocha soy milk. Yahoo!!

They also had wasabi soy beans for sale. That’s a healthy snack that I will try next time.

wasabi soy bean P150

Their pancakes are actually just like a popular Japanese dessert called Imagawayaki.

They made my kaya pancake to order.

I ordered all frozen drinks – chocolate, watermelon and my free icy mocha. The watermelon tasted really good and refreshing just like a regular fruit shake but with protein from soy. There was only a slight soy taste that disappeared after a few sips. You get the nutrition from fruit and soy all in one drink.

I thought I would like the chocolate best but it turned out to have the strongest soy taste so after a sip I stopped. My favorite was the icy mocha with the least soy after taste and I just loved the strong coffee kick. After a while I stopped thinking about the soy and thoroughly enjoyed my drink/dessert.

chocolate P100, watermelon P85, icy mocha P100

At first bite I was taken aback by a different flavor. I later learned that the pancake was made from soy flour. When my tongue hit the cream cheese filling I began to enjoy the yummy and quite satisfying pancake. A small glass of icy mocha and a cheese pancake was my lunch and it kept me full for quite a long time.

cheese pancake P75

I didn’t like the kaya filling as much. I found it too sweet and not enough coconut flavor. Others love it though. It’s their most popular pancake. I can’t wait to try their peanut butter and chocolate fillings next time.

For all those who love frozen sweet drinks give Mr Bean a try. You will get a nutritious high protein drink while enjoying yourself. I heard their lychee pop add on is delicious and I will try that on my next visit.

Mr Bean
ES-1 Ground Floor Eastwood Mall,
E Rodriguez Ave. Bagumbayan, Quezon City
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Other branches:
Alabang Town Center
1015 Lower Ground Floor, The Garden New Wing, Alabang, Muntinlupa City

Lucky China Town Mall (2 branches)
Fifth Floor Unit LCTM FS-508 and 509,
Reina Regente, Corner Dela Reina St.,
Brgy 293,Zone 28,District 3,Binondo,Manila

Kiosk (opening soon) Ground floor, Unit CT-1

JP Morgan, The Fort

Matcha Love

Next to chocolate my favorite flavor is matcha or green tea. Anytime I see any food or drink with matcha flavor I buy it hoping to find a new favorite. I will break down my discoveries by the country where I bought them.

Manila
I’m happy that Starbucks has a good iced green tea latte that I order with non fat milk and no syrup making it a lower calorie drink with tons of matcha flavor.

During my recent birthday celebrations I got to try two fantastic green tea cakes. The first one was from Sinfully by Makati Shangri-La.

✔ ✔ ✔ Sinfully by Makati Shangri-La – green tea opera cake

Karen’s green tea layer cake tasted great too! I honestly can’t decide which of these two green tea cakes I liked better. They were both delicious.

✔ ✔ ✔ Karen’s Kitchen green tea layer cake

Hong Kong
My friend has been telling me about Sweet House Cha Cha a dessert place in Harbour City’s city’super fast food area that specialized in matcha ice cream and smoothies.

Sweet House Cha Cha

Sweet House Cha Cha menu

Usually soft serve ice cream uses lower fat milk. I was surprised the they used Hokkaido soft cream. No wonder it was deadly.

This is THE BEST matcha ice cream I’ve ever eaten. Rich, creamy with a strong matcha flavor but not bitter and not too sweet. I wanted to eat this every single day. I would gladly skip a meal just to eat this. Even though it wasn’t cheap at HK$40 it was worth every dollar and calorie.

✔ ✔ ✔ softcream cup HK$40

My friend usually gets the smoothie so I had to try it even though I wanted the ice cream. Usually when you hear the word smoothie you can be sure there’s milk, cream or even ice cream in it.

I was surprised their matcha smoothie was just made with water, ice, matcha powder and sugar. It had a good and strong matcha flavor and it was refreshing. It was lighter and definitely had less calories. I’m sticking with the softcream or soft serve ice cream.

✔ ✔ matcha smoothie HK$38

Kee Wah Bakery is a popular Chinese bakery with several branches in Hong Kong. I usually buy their pineapple bun with BBQ Pork and eggrolls but this time I tried their green tea cookies and red bean green tea roll. Both were totally lacking in any green tea flavor. I’d stick with the BBQ pork buns next time.

✖ Kee Wah Bakery – green tea cookies & red bean green tea roll

Uggghh one bite and I threw it away. Super yuck.

✖ green tea cake

I love mochi and was excited to see this in Hong Kong. It was horrible. No green tea taste at all.

✖ green tea mochi

There are so many good snacks at Muji (Japanese) that usually I try not to go near the food section otherwise I’d have a basketful of goodies. I love their gorgonzola cheese and walnut cookies and the earl grey cookies were not bad. But when I saw the lone green tea cake I had to buy one and try it.

Baumkuchen is a popular European layer cake which the Japanese love and made their own. The picture looks nice right? Too bad it was very dry and not much green tea flavor.

✖ Muji’s Baumkuchen green tea

Taipei
I bought two pieces of these Kyosai green tea pastries in a store in Tamsui Old Street Night Market and didn’t expect it to be so good.

✔ ✔ ✔ Kyosai green tea pastry

The crust was flaky but not buttery and it’s a mess to eat. All the crumbs fall all over the place. What I loved was the intense green tea sticky paste filling. My cousin Angie went to their store and it was all sold out. She had to order it for me and she was able to send some through my aunt. So now I have a stash of these yummy pastries.

food products from Taiwan - Kyosai green tea pastry-003

Like the mochi above this was made in Taiwan too. Somebody gave me a box of Yuki & Love Handmade Mochi before and I asked my cousin Angie who lives in Taipei to look for it.

✔ ✔ ✔ Yuki & Love Homemade Mochi green tea flavor

This is how good green tea mochi should taste like. The mochi layer was soft and sticky. The filling was smooth and had a substantial green tea kick. It’s a million times better than the mochi I bought in Hong Kong.

USA
One of my favorite green teas is The Republic of Tea’s Double Green Matcha Tea. Each tea bag contains green tea leaves AND match tea powder. It’s extra strong and perfect to drink hot with or without milk. This would make a good cold green tea latte too. This is also available at Healthy Options.

✔ ✔ ✔ The Republic of Tea Double Green Matcha Tea

Any other matcha lovers out there? Do you know of any matcha or green tea products in Manila or abroad that I should try? I would love it if I could find matcha sable cookies, scones or biscotti. Let me know in the comments section.

✖ skip it
✔ not bad
✔ ✔ do try
✔ ✔ ✔ MUST try

Sinfully by Makati Shangri-La
2nd Level, Greenbelt 5, Greenbelt
Paseo de Roxas cor. Legaspi St., Ayala Center
Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines
telephone: (+63 2) 729-6626
Facebook

Karen’s Kitchen
107B, #210 Zodiac Street, Palm Village,
Makati, Metro Manila 1211 Philippines
telephone: (632) 898-2280
website

Sweet House Cha Cha
city’super food court
Harbour City Level 3

Lunch at CHOW FUN Modern Chinese Bistro

This time I had to treat my co-workers for my birthday and I chose a restaurant that I’ve been wanting to try right in my neighborhood. J. Abad Santos in San Juan is our little restaurant row with it’s ever changing tenants.

Chow Fun is located right next to Tong Ren Tang and across Serenitea and Ristras on both sides.

The place was empty since we were there at 3:30 in the afternoon. Quite an eclectic set-up.

If you are vertically challenged do sit on the banquette seating since it’s higher. It’s a bit awkward since the person sitting across you seemed to have shrunk.

Chow Fun menu (click to enlarge)

Some blogs I’ve read had positive opinions about these next three dishes so I ordered them. I absolutely hated them. A big reason was the old oil used for frying. All these fried dishes had slight rancid taste.

The Chinese fondue should have been a good concept. Take your favorite snacks like squid, vegetable cakes & seafood balls and use them as dippers for a cheese and curry dip. The presentation looked nice too. If the oil was fresh I would have enjoyed the fried dippers more. I didn’t like the artificial taste of the cheese and curry sauce. I could taste the not fully melted cheese powder in the sauce.

✖ Chinese fondue P155

The spring rolls could have been filled with anything since I didn’t taste the little amount inside as duck. It was greasy and not crispy. The three dips were fantastic though. We all loved the Mandarin orange, chili and vinaigrette. We even used them as dips for the fried balls above and they tasted better.

✖ Oriental duck rolls P165

They chose the wrong group to serve over cooked fried chicken to. I was with a group who were experts in cooking fried chicken and this was a big fail. The chicken meat was too rubbery and tough to eat. The vinaigrette was again excellent.

✖ house fried chicken P520 (whole)

The duck fried wasn’t bad at all but nothing special.

✔ duck rice P240

In my opinion they didn’t need to deep fry the pata tim. What was the point since it wasn’t ever going to be crispy. Pata tim was meant to be soft and fatty. By frying it some parts became rubbery. Too bad the flavor was quite good although it was a tad salty.

✔ crispy pata tim P495

Everyone loved the Shanghai ribs and the portion was quite generous too. The meat was fall off the bone tender and I loved the black vinegar glaze which added a contrast to the sweet marinade.

✔ ✔ Shanghai ribs P325

My favorite dish of all was the super tender beef short ribs. Think Korean beef stew but made with Chinese spices and coffee. When I ate the beef stuck at the bottom of the pot I could taste an intense coffee flavor which made me swoon. An order of this and a bowl of rice and you’re set.

✔ ✔ ✔ coffee beef hotpot P275

Their version of mapo tofu was sheer genius. Usually mapo tofu is made only with soft tofu. Theirs was a mix of fried and soft tofu which I loved to death. It added a great texture to the dish. The spice level was just right, milld heat and not too overwhelming.

✔ ✔ ✔ mapo tofu P185

They gave us all samples of their homemade sweet plum ice cream to try. I was surprised that I liked the flavor of sweet plum in ice cream but the texture of the ice cream tasted like wet bread. No kidding! I’ve never tasted such strange texture in ice cream before. Too bad since the flavor had promise.

✖ sweet plum ice cream

The fillings for both butchis (sesame balls) were quite good but I felt that the chewy dough still overwhelmed the filling. If you like butchi then do try these unique balls.

✔ dark chocolat butchi P115 Reese’s chocolate butchi P120

I only ordered 1 haw flakes pastry since I didn’t know what to expect. It’s been a long time since I’ve eaten haw flakes and I wasn’t sure how it would translate as a filling to a pastry.

✔✔ ✔ haw flakes pastry P85

The server told us that the haw flakes took 15 minutes to prepare so I suggest you order it when you’re about to finish your meal. This pastry is what happens when French and Chinese flavors collide and it’s a collision that makes perfect sense. The first bite was hot, crisp, flaky, buttery puff pastry then your tongue hits the sweet, tangy haw flakes puree. OMGGGGGG!!! It was freakin’ fantabulous!!!! I’m literally drooling while I write this.

I just wish they had some good Chinese tea that would go great with this instead of only the designer apple or apricot tea that they have.

I’m definitely going back for the coffee beef hotpot, mapo tofu and the haw flakes pastry.

Not bad for 14 people. Everyone was so full most of us skipped dinner since we finished our lunch at 4:00 pm. Knowing now what to order I can cut the bill by 1-1.5k without a difference in happiness and fullness.

✖ skip it
✔ not bad
✔ ✔ do order
✔ ✔ ✔ MUST order

CHOW FUN Modern Chinese Bistro (closed)
Ground Floor 103 J Abad Santos St.,
Little Baguio San Juan, 1550
Mandaluyong, Philippines
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My Birthday Lunch

My birthday was last September but the celebration lasts for months since I have to treat different groups of friends and co-workers. That’s how it is in the Philippines. The celebrant does all the treating. But on the day of my actual birthday I was treated to a scrumptious lunch at a very good family friend’s house since their dad had the same birthday as me. Lucky, lucky me!!

Since we were a big group they had lunch catered at their home by Century Seafood Restaurant.

menu

Misua or any kind of noodles is always present in a Chinese birthday meal. It’s supposed to represent long life. That’s a colored quail egg on top.

birthday misua

The highlight of our meal was this chicken soup filled with all sorts of goodies like dried scallops, black mushroom, s. fin and the tender meat of the coconut which added a sweetness to the soup. Thank goodness I shared the soup with my friend otherwise I couldn’t eat anything else.

double boiled chicken soup in coconut

Each culture has it’s own way of making roasted baby pig. In Spain it’s called cochinillo, in the Philippines we have our own lechon de leche and for the Chinese they have the suckling pig. Each has it’s own way of cooking but the end desired result is a crispy skin and succulent meat.

Chinese suckling pig

It was served like this. You’re supposed to put the thin piece of crispy skin in between the bread (siopao bun) and dab a little hoisin sauce. I skipped the bread and just munched on the skin and got seconds. Yummmmm!

I have a new favorite Riesling. So sweet!

2010 Fritz Haag Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese

dried whole abalone with black mushroom & broccoli

roast duck, fried shrimp with salted egg & stir fried boneless eel

At this point I was so full already. Everything was excellent including this delicious lobster.

stir fried baby lobster with ginger & onion

fried crab with tausi & garlic

The shell with all the sinful fat is my favorite part.

oil simmered lapu lapu

A revelation to me were these sweet and crisp French green beans. It was my first time to try these beans and I love them! Pairing them with fat succulent scallops were just perfect.

fresh scallops with French green beans

sea cucumber with fish maw & vegetables

Did I say I was full? I couldn’t help but try the sukiyaki beef. I planned to try a small piece only but the thin, buttery slice of beef was too good to resist. One more please? Next to the soup and green beans this was my favorite dish.

sukiyaki beef with x.o. sauce

birthday bun

Five cakes and 1 was mine.

birthday cakes

When Elizabeth called me to ask what kind of birthday cake I wanted I wasn’t ashamed to request Karen’s Green Tea Layer cake since I was obsessed with anything matcha and I wanted to try Karen’s version.

Karen’s Kitchen Green Tea Layer Cake

Oh boy!! I was in matcha heaven. Dense layers of green tea sponge cake topped with green tea buttercream and a layer of chocolate ganache. If you love green tea then you must try this cake. Thanks to Elizabeth and her family for my cake and the fabulous birthday lunch.

The Century Seafood Restaurant
Ground Floor Century Park Hotel
Pablo Ocampo St. corner M. Adriatico St.
Malate, Manila
telephone: 524-1821 to 27

Karen’s Kitchen
107B, #210 Zodiac Street, Palm Village,
Makati, Metro Manila 1211 Philippines
telephone: (632) 898-2280
website
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Rome: Pizzeria Dal Paino, Piazza Navona

I wasn’t giving up. I still wanted to find great pizza in Italy. My search took us to Pizzeria Baffeto which was in several lists of ‘must eats’ in Rome.

What I neglected to read on my research was the opening hours of Baffeto. No wonder there were no lines, the pizzeria was open for dinner only.

It’s a good thing they had a suggestion for an alternative. They even included business cards inside.

So we went to look for Hosatria Pizzeria Dal Paino which was just around the corner.

The wood burning oven looked promising.

We ordered 2 pieces of fried zucchini flowers since Sharon didn’t want any but the kind waiter gave us 3 pieces. I’m glad he did since it was fantastic. It was freshly cooked so the cheese inside was melted and gooey while the thin batter gave the zucchini flowers a nice crunch.

fiori di zucca (zucchini flowers) €2.50

Our pizza alla capricciosa had tomatoes, mozzarella, mushrooms, artichokes, sausage, peppers, onions, and a fried egg on top. It was the best pizza we had in Italy but it’s not as good as some pizzas I”ve eaten in Manila or the US. I guess I’m just used to ‘Americanized’ pizza.

pizza alla capricciosa €9

The crust was really thin and crisp the way I liked it but the toppings were a little dry and there wasn’t very much cheese. I guess this is as good as pizza gets in Rome.

The pizza Margherita was simple and good too.

pizza Margherita €6

Pizzeria Dal Paino’s menu (click to enlarge)

This store’s signs caught my attention.

Too much?!

Too Much store

After lunch we walked to Piazza Navona.

Fountain of the Four Rivers

There were many tourists in Piazza Navona but only two umbrella toting Asians.

Our next stop was the 400 year old Officina Profumo – Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella, one of the world’s oldest pharmacies.

Their perfumes are the most popular products.

Officina Profumo - Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella-002

Officina Profumo - Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella-006

I didn’t know they made jams too.

Officina Profumo - Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella-007

Officina Profumo - Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella-008

Pizzeria Dal Paino
Via Di Parione 34/35, 00186 Rome, Italy
telephone: 06-68-135-140

Officina Profumo – Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella
Corso Rinascimento, 47 Rome, Italy
telephone: +39 06 6879608
website

Rome: Trattoria al Moro, Caffe Greco, Baccano Gelato

So far most of the meals we’ve had in Italy were disappointing with some mediocre dishes that served to merely fill our tummies. That changed when we had dinner at Trattoria al Moro.

We were quite famished having skipped lunch and spent the day at the Vatican museum and we arrived a little too early and al Moro was still closed. We walked to the nearby Trevi fountain and Spanish steps for the requisite sightseeing.

This is the fountain made famous by the movie “Three Coins in the Fountain.” I did throw in coins ensuring that I will return to Rome as the legend dictates.

Rochelle asked me, “this is it?” Yes these are the famous in the Piazza di Spagna. I still don’t know why so many tourists find the need to sit on those steps. Maybe it’s the only place where they can take a rest.

I’m pretty sure you’ve never seen where chestnuts come from before you buy them already roasted and ready to eat. They remind me of the rambutan with it’s spiky exterior.

marroni or chestnuts

Unfortunately the shops along Via Condotti were already closed so we went in to Caffe Greco instead. This is the oldest and most well known bar in Rome having been established in 1760!

Caffe Greco

We bought a slice of the chocolate chip ricotta cheese cake and the strawberry tart for our dessert back at the B&B where we can enjoy it with some espresso.

Both were delicious!!!

Finally dinner at al Moro.

Doesn’t our waiter look like an actor? He could be in the cast of The Sopranos or Godfather.

The bread was warm (rare) and crusty. It was the best bread in a restaurant in Italy.

This was Rochelle’s first taste of Rome’s sweet tomatoes and she quickly fell in love with the simple combination of tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, basil and olive oil.

Caprese salad

artichokes

Sha ordered the spaghetti alla Moro which turned out to be carbonara with a touch of red pepper flakes. It was incredibly good with the al dente pasta and rich creamy sauce from the eggs. It had a nice subtle heat which cut the richness of the pasta.

Spaghetti alla Moro €22

Our waiter brought a freshly roasted baby lamb to our table and one whiff at the glorious aroma Rochelle and I immediately pointed and said, “we want that!”

The baby lamb was simply spiced and roasted yet it was the best lamb I’ve ever eaten. The meat was milky and super tender and the flavor was just beyond words. Even the simple baked potatoes with rosemary was so good.

abbacchio romanesco al forno e patate (roast lamb with potatoes) €24

I got a meatier part while Rochelle was given the bonier part. Hmm just like our physiques huh? The baby lamb reminded me of the delicate meat of the cochinillo (baby pig).

You should have seen Rochelle strip all the meat from the bones. That’s the good part.

I highly recommend a meal at al Moro. It was worth every euro and it was the best meal I had in Italy.

al Moro’s menu (click to enlarge)

Naturally we needed gelato to end a most excellent meal. Baccano was actually a restaurant which had it’s own little artisanal gelateria.

I got my usual flavors of coffee and dark chocolate two my favorite things in the world. The coffee gelato was really strong and the chocolate was dark the way I like it but it wasn’t as creamy as Flor gelato but I still enjoyed it a lot.

dark chocolate and coffee

Caffe Greco
Via Condotti, 86, 00187 Rome, Italy
telephone: 06 679 1700
website

Trattoria al Moro
Vicolo delle Bollette, 13, 00187 Rome, Italy
telephone: 066 783495
website

Baccano
Via delle Muratte, 23 / 00187 Rome, Italy
telephone: +39 06.69.941.166
website

Rome: Vatican Museum

From the Colosseum and after lunch of gelato we rode the Metro to the Vatican Museum. I bought tickets for a guided tour from the Vatican’s website. I advise taking a guided tour so you will know more information about the things inside the big, big museum. The tour which included the Sistine chapel cost €31 for a duration of two hours.

We took the Metro to the Cipro station which was nearest to the Vatican Museum. The entrance to the museum is quite a distance from the Basilica. We bought a one day pass for €6 which can also be used when riding the bus. We rode the bus often and nobody checks if you have a ticket. If you have guts you can get away without paying but if they check and you don’t have a ticket you may get fined.

Cipro station

I found tips on this website invaluable when planning our visit to the Vatican and the museum. There are more pictures there on directions to get to the museum from the Cipro station. Anyway we had to climb these stairs to reach the museum.

Just follow the signs to the museum.

This entire walled area encompasses the Vatican.

Outside the entrance to the museum was a food truck with brisk business since it was the only one there selling food and ice cold water which we bought despite the high price. I spotted this Nutella & Go + Esta The. It contained cookie sticks which you dip in Nutella and tea. It’s really a complete snack on the go.

Nutella & Go + Esta The

I received an email that the Sistine Chapel will be closed at 3:00 pm that day so we went to the museum earlier hoping we can start our tour earlier. This is what it looked like at the entrance. It was so crowded.

We started our tour at the gardens.

This was the last time I wasn’t elbow to elbow with people. It was also the last time I had a breathe of fresh air.

Tigris or Arno Statue

Laocoön and his sons

This was our tour guide. He was friendly and very knowledgable. There were many, many tour groups inside and I often got left behind taking pictures. It was a good thing he had a flag and I could still hear him on the walkie talkie.

You can look up, down, left and right and it’s all fantastic artwork.

From beginning to end this was what the crowd looked like. There was no chance at all to look at the art work at leisure even though you are not part of a tour group.

Belvedere torso

I thought it was because it was summer time but our tour guide said it was this full of people all year round. It was really unbelievable! We went to several popular museums and none was as crowded as this and to think the museum was huge.

Walk, stop, walk a few steps, wait, pause, snap, snap, walk, pause.

Gallery of Tapestries

We reached the entrance to the Sistine chapel around 2:30 pm but the guards wouldn’t let us through anymore. Many people were so mad and some were even yelling at the guards to no avail. Our tour guide was so apologetic and he grabbed a book from a kiosk and showed us the picture of the ceiling of Michaelangelo’s Sistine Chapel and explained the sections to us.

Sharon and Rochelle went back the next day and they had to pay another entrance fee, go through the crowded museum just to get to the Sistine Chapel just to see it. I couldn’t stand going through that again so I didn’t go with them.

Since we weren’t able to go to the Sistine Chapel I got to see the Vatican post office where many send a postcard from since the Vatican is an independent state and issues it’s own stamps. Many consider a postcard with a Vatican stamp a nice souvenir.

We also got to leave via the famous spiral staircase.

Spiral Staircase

I refilled my bottle with water from this.

There are lines to enter the St. Peter’s Basilica all day long.

For those planning a trip to Vatican check out this link. It has helped me a lot.

Rome: Flor Gelato

I did my research beforehand for good places for gelato in Rome. A new brand of artisanal gelato called Flor has opened in Rome. Lucky for us a there was a branch near the Colosseum along Via Cavour near the entrance to the Roman Forum.

After our tour of the Colosseum we were so hot and tired that we decided to forego lunch for much needed gelato.

Just like Grom the gelato here are kept in steel vats and not displayed in huge artificial looking mounds filled with air. I really wanted to try the flavor citrus symphony (sinfonia di agrumi) made with lemons, mandarins and oranges but they didn’t have it that day.

fruit flavors

I chose the variegated cherry (variegato all’amarena) or cream with cherry syrup and extra bitter chocolate. You know those chocolate covered cherries? That’s what my combination tasted like only richer and more sinful. The extra bitter chocolate was the perfect partner to the creamy and sweet cherry gelato. Who needs food with gelato this good?

variegated cherry & extra bitter chocolate €3

Rochelle’s choice of grandma’s custard (creme dela nonna) was scented with Sicilian lemon zest went well with the extra bitter chocolate gelato too. We’re both fans of dark chocolate.

grandma’s custard & extra bitter chocolate

Sharon had the grandma’s nina tiramisu (tiramisu di nonna Nina) & gianduja (hazelnut & chocolate). All the flavors we chose were good!!! I don’t think there’s a bad flavor in Flor’s gelato.

grandma’s nina tiramisu & gianduja

Flor Gelato
Via Cavour n° 337 – 00184 Roma
telephone: 06 6796995

Other branches:
Corso Rinascimento n° 34 – 00186 Roma
telephone: 06 68891955

Corso d’Italia n° 104 – 00198 Roma
telephone: 06 44234041

Via Boccea n° 82 – 00167 Roma
telephone: 06 6634906

Flor Gelato’s website

Rome: The Colosseum

The Colosseum is one of the most popular sights to see in Rome and one that shouldn’t me missed. We bought our tickets for a guided tour which I highly recommend from Tickitaly.

From B&B San Pietro alle Fornaci we rode the public bus to a stop near the Colosseum. We had to walk a few minutes but the sights along the way were quite entertaining. Authentic looking costumes except for the cellphone.

walking along Via Cavour

If we only had time Rochelle and I wanted to see the Dali exhibit.

Museo Central Del Risorcimento

We got a close look at the Roman Forum with the ruins from ancient government buildings.

Roman Forum

Here’s my first look at the amazing Colosseum. There will be several people who will approach you offering guided tours. Avoid those. It’s best to book online from reputable sources.

This amphitheater was built 1920 years ago as a venue for entertainment for the Romans. All kinds of games were held there as well as chariot battles, hunting of wild animals and eventually gladiator battles. Read more about it here.

We just presented our printed tickets to this counter.

Our tour guide spoke into a small walkie talkie and everyone else had the same unit tuned in to the same channel. Low tech yet quite effective. The picture on the right was how Rochelle and Sharon wore their walkie talkies. Our tour lasted about 45 minutes and it was very educational and well worth it. We learned so much about the history of the Colosseum.

The Colosseum was used to host gladiatorial shows as well as a variety of other events. The shows, called munera, were always given by private individuals rather than the state. They had a strong religious element but were also demonstrations of power and family prestige, and were immensely popular with the population.

Another popular type of show was the animal hunt, or venatio. This utilized a great variety of wild beasts, mainly imported from Africa and the Middle East, and included creatures such as rhinoceros, hippopotamuses, elephants, giraffes, aurochs, wisents, Barbary lions, panthers, leopards, bears, Caspian tigers, crocodiles and ostriches. Battles and hunts were often staged amid elaborate sets with movable trees and buildings. Such events were occasionally on a huge scale; Trajan is said to have celebrated his victories in Dacia in 107 with contests involving 11,000 animals and 10,000 gladiators over the course of 123 days. source

When I look at this all I can think of is Russel Crowe and the lions from the movie Gladiator. This is the hypogeum where the gladiators and animals were kept before a game.

This is where the audience sat.

We even got to go to the lower level for a closer view.

This was a part of the original flooring of the Colosseum.

An advantage to a guided tour was we got access to some areas prohibited to others. Our tour guide had to unlock this gate.

From the upper level we had good views of nearby attractions like the Arch of Constantine, Palatine Hill and Roman Forum.

Arch of Constantine

Our entrance ticket actually included the Palatine Hill and Roman Forum but we decided not to go there anymore since it was too hot. We were in Rome in June which was summer time.

Palatine Hill

Even though we look dorky with these touristy hats they were invaluable. Don’t forget to bring hats when you travel in the summer. It’s a big help with the heat and the UV rays.