Shoot First Eat Later

Rome: Fior di Luna Gelato

No meal in Rome is complete without gelato for dessert.

This was the only gelato store we saw in Travestere.

I was initially hesitant since this was the first gelato we were going to eat that wasn’t held inside stainless covered cylinders.

The sign for their ingredients gave me hope for good gelato.

This was the first and only gelato that put whipped cream on top. I never put whipped cream on anything I eat or drink but since I was sharing the gelato with Rochelle and she’s a whipped cream freak, it stayed.

We had the dark chocolate and almond flavors. I’ve never had almond gelato before and it was super duper calafragilistic awesome!! It was perfect with the chocolate.

Strange but the store also had some grocery items for sale.

Fior Di Luna Gelato
via della Lungaretta 96, Roma
tel. (0039) 06 64561314
website
Facebook

Rome: Ristorante la Canonica

Since we’ve eaten mostly at restaurants near our B&B in Rome we wanted a change of scenery so we went to Travestere, an area popular with tourists and filled with lots of bars and restaurants.

We walked and walked looking for a restaurant that didn’t scream ‘tourists eat here!”

We also didn’t want a new dining mate.

We finally decided to eat at Ristorante la Canonica.

Ristorante La Canonica menu

It was full so that was a good sign. We were lucky to get a table outside.

I didn’t try the pasta but I heard it wasn’t as good as Al Moro’s carbonara.

pasta carbonara €8

spaghetti vongole €9

Sha ordered the pork chop for us to share and it was good. Juicy and very flavorful.

braciole di maiale (drunken porkchop) €9

Rochelle had the grilled lamb which turned out to be tough and tasteless.

Abbacchio alla scottadito (grilled lamb) €12

The waiter asked us what side we wanted with the grilled meats. We thought it came with the meat but it cost extra. This is what two orders of bad roasted potatoes looked like. If it were as good as Al Moro’s potatoes then we wouldn’t have minded paying for it.

Patate Arrosto (roasted potatoes) €4

I ordered the ox tail stew and I was very, very happy. The meat was fall off the bone tender and the sauce was magnificent.

Coda alla vaccinara (ox tail stew) €10

Everyone dipped their bread in my sauce.

Our first and only tiramisu in Italy and it was good! Just look how moist it was.

tiramisu €4

This was the only restaurant that charged us for the bread. The food wasn’t bad but after eating at Trattoria Al Moro nothing can’t compare anymore.

I wish we rode the Segway in Rome too.

Ristorante la Canonica
Vicolo del piede 13a – 00153 Roma
telephone: 06.5803845
website

Vatican City: The Scavi Tour & St. Peter’s Basilica

Everybody who goes to Rome makes it a point to visit the Vatican City. The Vatican museum and St. Peter’s Basilica are the top most visited sites in Italy. What many may not know is another special tour to the Vatican Necropolis (Scavi) underneath the Basilica where Tomb of St. Peter is located.

Luckily I read about it while doing research for our trip. Sharon quickly emailed them for reservations and tickets. Only 250 people go through the Scavi tour a day in small guided groups of 12. Normally reservations must be made 90 days in advance. We were lucky to get slots even though we reserved about 30 days before our tour.

This is the entrance to the Scavi and no photography is allowed inside. This tour was really fascinating. We got to hear how they found St. Peter’s tomb and all the stories around it. We even saw the tombs of other people. For more information about the tour click here.

Entrance costs €12. Click here for a virtual tour of the Vatican Necropolis. I highly suggest you take this tour.

This is what the lines to enter St. Peter’s Basilica look like everyday. But since we took the Scavi tour we were already inside and exited through the Vatican grottoes where the popes were buried and then on to the main floor of the Basilica.

Of all the churches we’ve been to in Europe this was really the most jaw dropping. Everywhere you look there were exquisite works of art.

This [Pietà] is probably the world’s most famous sculpture of a religious subject. Michelangelo carved it when he was 24 years old, and it is the only one he ever signed. The beauty of its lines and expression leaves a lasting impression on everyone.

With this magnificent statue Michelangelo has given us a highly spiritual and Christian view of human suffering. Artists before and after Michelangelo always depicted the Virgin with the dead Christ in her arms as grief stricken, almost on the verge of desperation. Michelangelo, on the other hand, created a highly supernatural feeling.

As she holds Jesus’ lifeless body on her lap, the Virgin’s face emanates sweetness, serenity and a majestic acceptance of this immense sorrow, combined with her faith in the Redeemer. It seems almost as if Jesus is about to reawaken from a tranquil sleep and that after so much suffering and thorns, the rose of resurrection is about to bloom. As we contemplate the Pieta which conveys peace and tranquility, we can feel that the great sufferings of life and its pain can be mitigated.

Here, many Christians recall the price of their redemption and pray in silence. The words may be those of the “Salve Regina” or “Sub tuum presidium” or another prayer. After Peter’s Tomb, the Pieta Chapel is the most frequently visited and silent place in the entire basilica.

It is said that Michelangelo had been criticized for having portrayed the Virgin Mary as too young since she actually must have been around 45-50 years old when Jesus died. He answered that he did so deliberately because the effects of time could not mar the virginal features of this, the most blessed of women. He also said that he was thinking of his own mother’s face, he was only five when she died: the mother’s face is a symbol of eternal youth. source

Michaelangelo’s Pietà

There were several small chapels within the Basilica where people can pray.

Chapel of St. Sebastian

The tomb of Pope John Paul II was moved inside the Basilica after he was beatified.

Tomb of John Paul II in The Chapel of St. Sebastian

“Only those who wish to pray may enter”. This sign in front of the Blessed Sacrament Chapel lets visitors know that this is a place for reflection, and not just part of a tour of the basilica. source

Blessed Sacrament Chapel

The word ‘Confessio’ refers to the Confession of faith by St. Peter which lead to his martyrdom. St. Peter’s tomb is behind the Niche of the Pallium.

In this niche is a silver coffer with fabrics (each known as a “pallium”) woven from the wool of lambs blessed on the feast of St. Agnes (Jan 21) and bestowed upon patriarchs and metropolitans as a reminder of the Church’s unity. source

The Confessio

The Basilica centers around the Papal Altar where only the Pope celebrates Mass. It was consecrated by Clement VIII, June 5, 1594, on top of several other older altars.

Rising above the altar is the baldacchino (95ft. canopy), Bernini’s masterpiece and first work in St. Peter’s. The ancient tomb of St. Peter lies directly below the altar. source

The Papal Altar & Baldacchino

The Tribune Altar of the Chair of St. Peter

St. Veronica Statue

Our Lady of the Column Chapel

Confessional

Sacristy

List of Popes Buried at St Peter’s

First in the list is St. Peter.

Treasury Museum

Altar of the Lie

Saint Peter’s Square

Vatican post office

My cousin Sharon requested free tickets to attend the Papal mass on June 29th. Only Sharon and Rochele went to the mass. They didn’t know that the mass celebrated the Feasts of Saints Peter and Paul and the mass lasted 3 hours. The following pictures were taken by Rochelle.

Papal mass at the Vatican

Pope Benedict XVI

The mass was attended by archbishops from around the world.

A big surprise was that our own Archbishop Tagle was there too!

Archbishop Luis Antonio Tagle

Rochelle was able to get some good shots.

There’s Sharon with Archbishop Tagle.

Sharon and Rochelle pose with Archbishop Tagle.

It takes some advanced planning to maximize your visit to the Vatican City. Hopefully these resources will help you.

Scavi Tour
Excavations Office
00120 Vatican City State Europe
Tel.: + 39 06 69 885 318 Fax: + 39 06 69 873 017
E-mail: scavi@fsp.va
website

Papal Mass Tickets here

Rome: The Best Coffee in Rome

I admit that I didn’t love the food I ate in Italy but I loved the coffee. When I searched for the best coffee in Rome two coffee shops were in the top of the lists. We went to both to try them out for ourselves.

Both coffee shops were near the Pantheon. Our first stop was Sant’Eustachio Il Caffé, located in the Piazza Sant’Eustachio, a few hundred meters from the Pantheon. This coffee shop was founded in 1938 and has been taken over by the Ricci brothers in 1999.

They sold their own coffee as well as other sweets.

Those yellow moka pots were cute.

I bought a bag of coffee beans which I loved. Everyday I would drink the coffee and it reminded me of Rome. I just wish I bought a 1 kilo bag instead of 500g.

The menu on the left lists the price of the coffee based on where you will take it. For example the Grancaffé costs €2.40 at the bar and €4.90 at the table. You can guess where we had our coffee.

Sant’Eustachio Il Caffé menu (click to enlarge)

Pay for your coffee at the cashier and bring the receipt to the bar where they will promptly make your drink.

I didn’t know that they automatically put sugar in the coffee and I added my sweetener without trying it first. Don’t forget to tell them beforehand if you want sugar or not. Anyway I still enjoyed my super sweet super creamy espresso. Just take a look at how thick the crema was. It’s without doubt one of the best coffees I’ve ever had. It was so fragrant and aromatic.

Grancaffé €2.40
Sant’Eustachio Coffee, larger and creamier

Rochelle had the whipped cream with a touch of espresso. You should have seen her lick the cream and the huge smile on her face.

cafe con panna €2.10
sin of gluttony with cream

Another day we went back for another round of Grandcaffé this time with sfogliatelle. I remembered to order without sugar. I also asked for some hot milk which they gave me.

Sant’Eustachio Il Caffé- Grancaffé & sfogliatelle

We walked around the area and saw an umbrella store manned by a Pinay. Isn’t the dog umbrella a cutie?

dog umbrella

The Pantheon

Tazza D’Oro, founded in 1946, was nearer to the Pantheon. Their website said they opened at 7:00 am but when we went on a Sunday morning they were still closed at 10:00 am. They finally opened at 10:30 am.

The display of Tazza D’Oro was more organized.

I bought a bag of Deseo orange peel and chocolate biscotti and they were delicious!!!

It’s the same system here. Pay for your drink and bring it to the bar. The cashier who spoke English fluently told me that Sant’Eustachio wasn’t their competitor since they roasted their own blend of special coffee unlike the former who merely bought their coffee from a source. I was doubly intrigued after his impassioned declaration.

Tazza D’Oro menu

Their menu only had a single price. There were some benches in the store where you can sit and have coffee without any additional charge.

The cashier also told me that their granita di caffe was very popular.

I chose marocchino which was a shot of espresso, milk froth and cocoa powder. It was good too but not as heavenly as Sant’Eustachio’s Grancaffé. To be fair I ordered a second regular espresso to have a fairer comparison and I was right. It didn’t taste as bold and as rich.

marocchino €1.20

I did buy a small bag of their house blend, Regina dei Caffé, which I will be opening tomorrow.

Even though the price of coffee at Sant’Eustachio Il Caffé was double that of Tazza D’ Oro’s I still prefer it. I only wish I knew somebody who was going to Rome and willing to buy me a bag of their coffee. If you love coffee then be sure to visit these two coffee shops and judge for yourself which is better.

Sant’Eustachio Il Caffé
Piazza Sant’Eustachio 82 00186, Rome, Italy
telephone: 00 39 06 68802048
website

Opening hours
Sunday to Thursday 8.30 – 01.00
Friday 8.30 – 01.30
Saturday 8.30 – 02.00

Tazza D’ Oro
Via degli Orfani, 84 (Pantheon) – 00186 Roma
telephone: +39.06.67.89.792
website

Opening hours
non-stop from 07:00 to 20:00

Chips Delight Triple Overload Chocolate Cookies

You know how much I love cookies and how happy I am to receive any kind of cookies. My friend sent me their newest variety from their Chips Delight line of cookies.

She must have read my inner most thoughts when they made this triple chocolate overload cookies!

I’ve always been a fan of Chips Delight cookies since they only use good quality imported chocolate and I really feel the taste is better to the imported brand, Chips Ahoy.

Take a fudgy chocolate cookie and dip the bottom in melted chocolate and drizzle more chocolate on top. That’s what these cookies are. The texture of the cookie is more cakey than chewy because of all the chocolate coating. I like my cookies chewy but these still brought much joy to my inner chocolate monster.

They have many varieties of cookies but my favorite is still there regular chocolate chip cookies pictured on the left.

I like to buy the mini chocolate chip cookies in a zip top bag which I open, close, open, close and finally just leave open until I finish the whole pack of mini cookies. They also have small packs perfect for the kids’ baon.

I swear their Smileys cream sandwich cookies taste just like Oreo’s at a fraction of the price.

For a more indulgent cookie try them dipped in chocolate too. All these cookies are available in the supermarkets in Manila.

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
Facebook

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
Facebook

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
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