Shoot First Eat Later

Lunch at C’ Italian Dining

Last May our group of friends were treated by Janet in celebration of her birthday. She chose C’ Italian Dining all the way in Angeles City in Pampanga, a province 1 1/2 hours from Manila (that’s without traffic). We were all excited since none of us have been there although we’ve heard lots of good things about the place. Deb was even able to borrow a huge van to fit all 9 of us. Let the good times roll. Go, go, go!

The restaurant was on a side street across SM Clark mall.

C’ chef Chris Locher

Our meal started off with a simple yet delicious dip made from olive oil, pesto and cheese.

C’ is famous for their panizza which was created by chef Chris Locher. Panizza is a rectangular thin crust pizza which is sliced into triangles and served with arugula and alfalfa sprouts.

panizza angelico – chorizo, bacon, salami & mushroom P655

You take some arugula and alfalfa sprouts and place some on the pizza and roll it up.

And you have pizza and salad all in one roll. It was wonderful. The pizza was just the way I liked it – thin, crisp, flavorful and not greasy. The arugula and sprouts added another dimension to the pizza. Great invention!

panizza rolls

panizza kristina – bacon, ham, caramelized onion, sun dried tomatoes & mushroom P655

All the panizza variants were good but next time I want to order the Millionario (famous chees sauce infused w/ tomato paste & white truffle oil & topped w/ shrimp & herbs) and Don Carmelo (spicy chorizo, anchovies, thyme & pecorino cheese).

panizza st. jacques – scallop flakes, shrimp, sun dried tomatoes & chili flakes P690

Insalata catherina was made with artichoke hearts, roasted peppers, capers, caramelized onions, sun dried tomatoes, kalamata olives, arugula & romaine lettuce w/ a red wine vinaigrette. It was just ok for me.

insalata catherina P420

The penne had a ragu sauce made from US angus oxtail meat and braised with red wine and tomatoes. The ragu was rich and delicious but this wasn’t my favorite dish.

penne calabrese P580

The spaghetti with olive oil and garlic wasn’t spectacular. It was decent enough but still not my favorite.

spaghetti aglio olio e gambero P590

Janet ordered their specialty US prime angus flank steak which was marinated with black pepper, garlic and herbs and served with red wine reduction sauce. I’m not much of a steak eater but this was tender and juicy. We share 1 kilo of steak which was too much for us to finish since we had so much panizza and pasta too. I would skip this when I go back. But that’s just me – the non-steak lover.

bistecca di C’ 1 kilo or 36 oz. P3,100

I saved my favorite for last. To think this was just an after thought. It wasn ordered at the very last minute. The waiter suggested this and I want to thank the waiter for his excellent suggestion. I’ve eaten in Italian restaurants in Hong Kong with stars next to their name and I’ve tried risottos in Manila and in the USA and nothing comes close to the wonder and complexity of this beautiful dish. Chunks of salmon, prawns mixed with crunchy asparagus and broccoli and finished with tender mushrooms and white truffle oil. I loved the contrast in textures from the al dente risotto, soft seafood and crunchy veggies all blanketed with a creamy, savory, mushroom scented sauce. I would drive to Angeles every week just to eat this dish.

risotto kristina

All the desserts were excellent too and each one of us had their own favorites. I just wish the chocolate panna cotta was in a big bowl instead of a tiny glass.

chocolate panna cotta P80

lemon cheesecake P190

tiramisu P180

For the panizza and risotto alone I declare this my favorite Italian restaurant! See you at C’! I hope they open a branch in Manila someday.

C’ Italian Dining

1210 Don Juico Ave,

Clarkview Malabanas,

Angeles City

Tel:(045)892-4059

Cell: 0918-944-0929

Australian products at Landmark supermarket

Kez’s Indulgence cookies

I’ve featured Dinelli deli, a place where you can get Australian food products but they were quite costly. I was delighted to see a whole aisle in the newly renovated Landmark supermarket in Makati. These are just some of the products they had. Note: I took these pictures more than 2 months ago so I’m not sure of their stocks.

Cafe Adore cookies

Borlands cookies

Bamboleo sauces

Goldyna mayonnaise

I bought a bottle of the smooth dill mayonnaise. It was wonderful with either poached or baked salmon.

Masterfoods spices

I’m not sure if they carry roast lamb seasoning but if they do you have to buy it. I used it to coat a rack of lamb and just popped it in the oven when we were in Perth. It was one of the best lamb dishes I’ve ever eaten.

roast lamb seasoning

Sandhurst Fine Foods

All About the Fruit jams

vegemite anyone?

Blue Hills honey

Bellata Gold pasta

Aussie pasta sauces

I first discovered Cocoa Farm chocolates in Hong Kong. Their orange dark chocolate is the best! Strange but it wasn’t as widely available in Perth. Well, the whole line is now in Landmark and the prices are much, much cheaper than Hong Kong. Even their wine chocolates are delish.

Cocoa Farm chocolates

I took the following pictures in a supermarket in Perth on my last trip there. These were the products that we bought to try and we loved them. I’m so happy that these products are now in Manila and in several supermarkets, not only Landmark.

Bundaberg sarsaparilla

Red Rock Deli potato chips are one of the best I’ve ever tried. These two flavors along with sea salt & honey soy chicken are available in Manila.

lime and black pepper potato chips

Warning: these are SO addictive!

sweet chili and sour cream potato chips

Too bad my favorite Red Rock Deli chips variant, potato chips cooked in olive oil in sea salt & rosemary flavor isn’t available in Manila. I hope Benby brings it in too! (Benby is the local distributor in Manila)

Red Rock Deli potato chips in sea salt & rosemary flavor

Landmark Supermarket

Ayala Center Makati, Makati City
Tel: 810-9990

Golden Bay Fresh Seafood Restaurant Revisited

The last time I went to Golden Bay was almost a year ago on it’s opening day. I commented that the service was horribly slow due to first day glitches which was to be expected. The food wasn’t that great either. I was surprised by the number of comments that post garnered. Funny but a lot of comments were from the restaurant’s cooks and waiters. Well, I don’t know how true that was.

We went back to Golden Bay because my dad’s long time friend lived nearby and he couldn’t travel far.We treated another friend, Ernie who came all the way from Las Vegas.

One thing that made me happy was the service. There was a very big party on the main floor of the restaurant with hundreds of people. Despite that our food came out very fast. Now about the food. Did it improve? Yes it did! But sad to say it was mediocre at best. Everything was edible but nothing was fantastic. Sorry to say but the food couldn’t hold a candle to Choi Garden or Peking Garden.

cold cuts

hot shrimp & chicken salad

double boiled chicken soup

steamed lapu lapu

sea cucumber

The fried rice was the worst dish for the night. It didn’t have any taste or flavor. I had to douse it liberally with soy sauce.

fried rice

seafood noodles

taho

The waiter gave us 2 kinds of menus. One was this huge hard bound menu with gorgeous pictures.

These are some of the sample pages of the menu. One would have a hard time ordering from this menu because everything looked mouthwatering. The other menu was a cheap paper menu printed and stuffed in a plastic folder. I asked the waiter why they had two menus when the pretty picture book would suffice. The waiter said the nice menu was printed in China and was full of errors. After he told me that I saw the errors. It wasn’t simple wrong spelling but actually wrong information! What a waste for the owners of the restaurant.

So here’s the correct and updated menu for your perusal.

Golden Bay Restaurant menu
abalone & sea cucumber, shark’s fin, chef’s recommendation,
HK bbq, soup, poultry & meat, vegetables, rice & noodles, dimsum, drinks
dinner 3 treasures, shark’s fin/abalone set, super value sets, set lunch, alcoholic beverages

Golden Bay Fresh Seafood Restaurant

Lots 3 & 4 Super Block A

Pres. Diosdado Macapagal Blvd.

Pasay City

telephone: 556-7525; 994-2959

goldenbay.marketing@gmail.com

to the readers: I do not work for Golden Bay restaurant so please don’t ask me for reservations or jobs. 🙂

My last meals in Taipei

My last meals in Taipei were in the fast food sections of malls. I didn’t mind since the offerings in Taipei’s malls are awesome and so different from any mall in the world. I don’t even remember what mall we went to but here are some pictures of the things that caught my eye and my appetite.
The first thing that caught my attention was this stall selling shaved ice desserts. Choices for the toppings ranged from fresh fruits to different beans and many things I couldn’t identify. I wanted to try one after lunch but was too full to do so.

The people of Taipei are so nice. Not one person said no when I asked if I could take pictures of their food. They were probably still in a state of shock or amusement to say anything else. In all the fast food we went to in Taipei the most popular dish I saw people order was this giant sizzling squid with beef. I wanted to try it several times but I always saw something I like more. Could this be their national fast food dish?

sizzling squid & beef plate

This small store fulfilled the last of my food wish list.

I love, love radish cake. They also call this turnip cake in Hong Kong or carrot cake in Singapore. The most common place to find radish cake is in dim sum restaurants and it’s usually served in squares and fried. Some offer it steamed in a small bowl too. This was the first time I’ve seen a giant radish cake. I had to order it.

radish cake

They sliced thin pieces and poured a light soy mixture and topped it with toasted garlic flakes. This dish was cold. It was interesting. I felt it lacked flavor and had to load up on the garlic and soy sauce.

After lunch I passed by the stall and they had a new huge block of radish cake. Business was brisk!

In the same stall they also sold pork cua pao. My mom told me to eat cua pao in Taipei because it was so good. The problem was I never saw it until this mall. When I saw it I immediately ordered 1. The bun was steamed for a few minutes then preserved vegetables and sweet ground peanuts were placed in it.

Pork Cua Pao

Next a slice of super soft, flavorful pork belly was added.

stewed pork belly in a crockpot for the cua pao

My mom was right! It was soooo good. It wasn’t as sweet as the cua pao in Manila. An order of cua pao and radish cake cost NT$110.

The kids enjoying their lunch.

At night we went to another mall and had dinner at the fast food again. See another squid and beef dish? This time with soup on the side.

sizzling squid & beef plate

After seeing that mouthwatering sizzling plate I decided to order from the same stall. There were so many choices and everything was in Chinese. I hope they understand my pointing skills.

Look at all the serving trays piled up waiting for the sizzling plates and soup bowls.

Alas, I ended up with my favorite Korean dish – bibimbap or stone pot rice. I didn’t regret my order one bit.

beef bibimbap

That’s the end of my posts on Taipei. It was a fun trip although we had too many fast food meals. I wish we had more time to explore the other night markets since I loved our experience at Raohe Night Market. I hope my posts on Taipei will help anyone planning to travel to Taipei.

Raohe Night Market – What We Ate

It was our last night in Taipei and I still haven’t fulfilled my food wish list. My cousin Angie took us to Raohe Night Market and I was pretty sure I was going to achieve my list. After seeing stall after stall of tempting food and holding out until I saw this -Tsui Jian Bao or fried pork buns or fried siopao. These little treasures were the first on my list. They actually made the buns in front of you. They had two varieties – pork or vegetarian.

Tsui Jian Bao

OMG! These were sooooo delicious. The pork was so juicy that when I first took a bite the sauce actually dripped. The dough was soft with a crisp bottom. It reminded me of a heartier xiao long bao. Our group bought 10 pieces of each kind to share. Then we went back to buy another 10 pieces of pork. It was that good.

Tsui Jian Bao – 10 pcs. for NT$100 or P142 or US$3.15

Angie and her son had dessert of shaved ice with an assortment of toppings to choose from. This was similar to our own halo-halo or Malaysia’s ice kacang.

There were toppings like grass jelly, lemon jelly, mochi balls, boba, fruit, peanuts, red and green bean, pudding, taro, passion fruit sauce and other sauces. I tried a little and it was quite refreshing.

Rochelle’s son bought these sticky, cold sweets with different fillings like red bean paste, yellow bean paste and some I couldn’t identify. The outer layer was clear and had a bite to it. It was unique and yummy.

Chris was daring to order stinky tofu. It was my first time to try it since I couldn’t stand the smell. It was truly out of this world stinky.

It looked pretty normal right? Just like fried tofu.

I took a bite and it wasn’t that bad at all. I didn’t care for all the sauces and stuff they piled on top. But a bite was my limit. I had to distance myself from Chris or risk losing my appetite.

stinky tofu

We were fascinated by a vendor making oyster cakes. It was totally different from the process we thought we knew.

1. First saute the oysters and shrimp. I guess they also sold shrimp cakes.

2. Add the rice flour and water mixture. Let it cook for a while.

3. Then add beaten eggs on top.

4. Fold the oyster cake.

5. And that’s how oyster cake is made. Yum!

After all that walking and eating I was parched. I saw this huge container of fresh orange juice. I love orange juice but I haven’t had any for a couple of years due to my acid reflux. But I remembered Taiwan’s oranges are the sweetest so against better judgment I bought a glass.

It was the sweetest and best fresh orange juice I’ve ever had in my life. I let my friends try it and they all immediately bought their own glass. It was worth my suffering after.

Right beside the orange juice were these sweet potato fries. At this point I was already very, very full but I couldn’t resist since sweet potatoes from Taipei were on my food wish list.

I took a bite and closed my eyes and groaned. It was soooooo sweet! It was a far, far cry from the sweet potatoes in Manila. I only ate 2 pieces and took the rest home. I ate it for breakfast the next morning. Thank goodness for the toaster over in the dining room.

After almost 2 hours of walking and eating we were finally at the end of Raohe street. Cousin Angie immediately joined the queue for this small stall. I wondered what they were selling to have a long line like this.This was definitely the most popular food in the entire Raohe Night Market. Angie told me the lines were even longer during winter.

I watched in amazement on how fast they were stuffing these buns with chunks of pork then dipped them in chives before closing it up.

There were several people making these pork buns non stop.

I thought they were just ordinary siopao until I saw how they were cooked. They had this tandoor oven with hot flaming charcoal in the bottom. The buns were places on narrow ledges on the sides of the oven.

The buns weren’t soft like siopao instead were like Indian crusty bread. These buns were called Hu Jiao Bing or Charcoal baked black pepper pork buns.

Hu Jiao Bing

I was too full but I had to try it while it was hot and fresh from the oven. The pork was chunky and juicy and very, very peppery. It was different and very good. I realized the the Taiwanese liked black pepper very much. It was evident in most of the food I ate in this trip. Now I liberally put black pepper on my food.

This black pepper pork bun must be eaten while hot. I ate my left over bun a few hours later and bread hard and chewy. The filling was still good and spicy though.

Hu Jiao Bing 胡椒餅 NT$45 or P64 or US$1.40

It was the perfect ending to a day of non-stop eating that started with snacks at World Soybean Magnate, a late lunch at Din Tai Fung, and more snacking at Raohe Night Market. Yes, Taipei is indeed a foodie’s dream come true. And yes I was able to fulfill 80% of my food wish list at Raohe.

Raohe Night Market – What We Saw

Hi everyone! I’m back in Manila. After battling jet lag for several days I’m ready to start posting again. I can’t wait to show you all the places I ate at from California to New York and places in between. Before that I’ll finish my entries on Taipei and some other restaurants in Manila. So keep coming back to see what I’ve been up to.

I went to Taipei with one thing in mind -the food! So far we’ve eaten at several fast food eateries at the mall and they were good too. We had buffet at a Japanese restaurant and that was awesome. But what we were looking for was authentic Chinese comfort food. Our last trip to Shilin Night Market was a disappointment because we went to the wrong place and didn’t have enough time. This time we had a tour guide, cousin Angie who brought us to Raohe Night Market.

The weather cooperated and kept the rain away from the open market. It was hot and humid and the narrow street was filled with lots of people.

Even before going through the sign above there were already several stalls selling food, veggies, fruits and many more.

These pastries looked really tempting and it was just the beginning of the street so we passed on it.

Chinese pastries

I really, really, really wanted to buy this corn.

grilled corn

Yes, they sold undies too. Raohe Night Market was a one stop tourist destination. There’s shopping, gaming and lots and lots of food.

guava

Mouthwatering grilled crab, giant prawns and snails.

grilled shellfish NT$200

They sure like their fried chicken. This was just one of several stalls selling boneless fried chicken. They came in all forms: strips, nuggets and chunks.

fried chicken NT$55 small, NT$100 big

whelk cooked in wine

whelk cooked in wine with chili

cakes filled with red bean paste and other fillings

okonomiyaki

you tiao or crispy crullers with soy milk

shaved peanut brittle

Some eateries in the middle of the street provided tiny tables and chairs for you to eat their food. All spaces were taken.

noodle soup

oyster cake

ba kut teh or pork rib soup

stinky tofu

grilled sausages

my cute nephew Daniel

These were the just some of the food we saw and resisted. Imagine our strong will! Next I will show you what we ate.

More restaurants coming soon!

Sorry for the lack of entries. I’ve been in the USA the past 6 weeks. Check back next week when I’ll be wrapping up my trip to Taiwan and starting my restaurant adventures from the west to the east coast and places in between.

Lunch at the original Din Tai Fung branch in Taipei

Can you believe we ate at Din Tai Fung only a few hours after eating at World Soybean Magnate? We were trying to cram as many things we could try in a day. My cousin Angie brought us to the original branch of Din Tai Fung located on XinYi road at the corner of Yong Kang St. I’ve already written about their Singapore branch and I’ve eaten at their Hong Kong branch. They were both good but the xiao long bao I ate at both branches were not the best I’ve tried. There were other restaurants in Hong Kong with better offerings like Wu Kong among others.

The restaurant occupied a small space on a busy street. The ground floor was divided into the cashier area and the kitchen.

The kitchen had a large glass window where you can see all the ‘busy bees’ making dumplings non-stop.

The restaurant was full even at 2:00 pm. Miraculously we were able to get a table right away.

That’s our long table by the window.

By the window was this curious device.

It turned out to be an escape sling. I guess they didn’t have room for a fire escape. In case of fire, get into the sling and lower yourself to safety. Gosh I wonder if anyone will have the presence of mind to read the directions and use this thing. I hope no one will have to use it.

cousin Angie, Rochelle and me

chicken xiao long bau NT$200 or US$6.30 for 10 pcs

fresh ginger strip and vinegar dip for the xiao long bao

cold appetizers we didn’t order

What we ordered were these pickled cucumbers and cabbage which I didn’t try. I was saving stomach space for the xiao long bao.

pickled cucumber

pickled cabbage

Nope I didn’t try the soup either. The others said it was good and spicy.

hot and sour soup

Not even the noodles tempted me.

noodles mixed in broad-bean sauce

I did try some pork chop. I LOVED the fried pork chop we had at Din Tai Fung in Singapore so I was looking forward to this. But this was a disappointment and a far cry from what we had in Singapore. This was bland and oily.

fried pork chop w/ fried rice

Ok here comes the main event. A parade of baskets arrive all at once. I became confused and disoriented. I didn’t know where to start.

I knew I didn’t want to start with the veggie dumplings. Give me meat!

vegetable dumplings

I love mushrooms but I’ll get to that soon. Still looking for the meat!

mushroom dumplings

There you are my babies. I carefully took a piece and laid it gently on my soup spoon. I took a small nibble and sipped the super flavorful meat juices that seep out. Mmmm…. I then took a bite of my dumpling. It was perfection! The skin was thin but still with enough bite. The pork wasn’t too fine and still have texture. This was the best xiao long bao I’ve ever eaten!

pork xiao long bao or soupy dumplings

At this point no one was talking anymore. Except for my shutter clicks the entire table was silent. All you could here was “slurp, slurp”. All the dumplings were good but my favorite was still the original pork xiao long bao.

This is what 6 adults and 2 kids consumed. 5 baskets or 50 assorted dumplings. Did we really eat it all? Amazing!

The restaurant had a hi-tech bathroom. I don’t know why they needed this water flow sound sensor. Do they get flooding in the bathroom?

This was the control for the bidet. The words which my cousin in law, Chee translated for me read “Stop, Buttock, Lower Body, Dry, and the phrase at the bottom: Automatic washer on / off switch”

We were lucky to get a table right away. This was the scene outside the restaurant when we came out at 3:00 pm.

On the way to the car we saw this store doing brisk business selling all sorts of cooked food.

If I weren’t so full I would have bought a roasted sweet potato from this vendor.

our entire group with Angie, Robert and Daniel from Taipei

We had to walk a distance through Daan Park where Robert parked the van. We didn’t mind the walk through the pretty park to walk off our full tummies.

fast friends

the happy family (I was the outsider in the group)

It’s always nice to have an oasis like this in the middle of a busy, bustling city.

The skate park was full of kids of all ages trying to skate. The beginners practiced their skills on the grass.

This was the entrance to the car park beneath the park. Great city planning!

Thanks again Angie for bringing us to Din Tai Fung. I will never forget that stupendous meal.

Din Tai Fung (original branch)

No. 194, Xinyi Road Sec. 2,

Da-an District, Taipei City 10651, Taiwan

Taipei Underground Market

My cousin Angie took us to an interesting underground shopping mall in Taipei. We accessed the through the Taipei Railway Station.

There were lots and lots of eateries, clothing and electronics stores.

Most of the stores catered to the young to teen crowd.

Angie’s cute son Daniel with his new toy cars.

We didn’t understand why these teens enjoyed sitting in the mall and playing their Nintendo DS games. Camaraderie? Free air-conditioning?

I went to the ladies room and saw this. I knew they were cosplayers. For more information on cosplay click here. All I know about cosplay is teens getting into their favorite anime costumes. For what reason I don’t understand.

Rochelle and the others didn’t know anything about cosplay so they were shocked and amused to see these cosplayers in action. I had to explain the concept to them and tell them that this was also present in Manila.

This looks kinda scary and too real!

cross dressing cosplayer?

The Maiden Diner fits perfectly in the mall. The cosplayers will feel at home in this maid cafe.

The servers were dressed like maids. In what universe do maids dress like this? In fantasy land I guess.

The ‘maid’ came out to tell me I can’t take pictures. Sorry too late!

Buying Fruits in a Market in Taipei

After picking up our box at Forex’ office we went around the corner to a fruit and veggie market to some fresh, sweet guava to take home to Manila. Angie, Rochelle and I walked around the super clean market which sold an assortment of prepared food, fruits, veggies and meat.

Right at the entrance were all kinds of pao or Chinese bread and rice products.

stewed meat

sticky rice?

fish roe cakes

braised tofu and eggs

super sweet guava at 5 for NT$100

spring onion cakes

fried goodies

This looked so interesting I bought a cup. It was actually taho or or tofu pudding or dòufǔhuā (豆腐花) with a choice of 3 toppings. I didn’t recognize most of the toppings so I just chose the ones that looked good.

The cup of taho with 3 toppings cost NT$30 and it was so, so, so good! I kept looking for something similar during the rest of my trip whenever we were in the mall or in the night market. Alas it was to be a one time experience that I will never forget.