Shoot First Eat Later

Indian Finger Exercises for Good Health

I used to do Bikram Yoga. I lasted all of 3 months. It was very challenging but once I got the hang of it I actually enjoyed it. Until summer arrived and I couldn’t stand the heat. I haven’t been back since. That was 2 years ago. Judie emailed me these finger exercises which are called Mudras. They are fundamental form of yoga practice (wikipedia). I’ll try to do these exercises since you can do them anywhere and anytime. I can say I’m doing yoga again!

Mudras are very powerful. If you practice these mudras regularly you can see the wonderful health benefits.

Garlic Parmesan Pita Chips

I’m a junkie. I love potato chips, lime doritos or any salty crunchy snacks. But since I was on another perpetual diet I decided to make a healthier alternative to those store bought junk food. I did some research on the net and came up with my own recipe for garlic parmesan pita chips. I can’t believe how delicious they turned out. The only problem was I couldn’t stop eating them and that sure didn’t help my diet at all!

1. There aren’t many choices for pita in Manila but I’m quite satisfied with the pita pockets of Village Gourmet. These are available in most supermarkets. I’m still looking for whole wheat pita. Does anyone know where I can buy those in Manila?

2. Slice the pita in half then separate the top and bottom layers.

3. Slice it into thirds. I found this to be the ideal munching size.

4. You will need the best evoo, salt, freshly ground pepper and parmesan cheese. Bring out your best ingredients for this because you will really taste it on the pita chips. If you have special sea salt or fleur de sel that you’ve been keeping for a special recipe, this is the time to use it.

5. Mash a couple cloves of garlic and let it sit in the olive oil for at least 30 minutes to infuse the oil with the flavor of the garlic. Add salt and pepper to the oil.

6. Brush the olive oil mixture on the pita chips. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake it at 350 F or 180 C for 5 to 7 minutes. Monitor these in the oven because they burn easily. You have the option of flipping the triangles and returning them to the oven to brown the other side. I did this with the first few batches but for the rest I just baked one side and they still turned out good.

7. All ovens have different hot spots. My oven browned the middle pita chips faster than the ones on the sides. If this happens to you simply remove the brown ones first and return the baking sheet to the oven until the rest are the same color.

8. Serve the pita chips with store bought or homemade hummus.

The garlic parmesan pita chips are also great eaten by itself sans dip. Don’t blame me if you get addicted to these pita chips!

Garlic Parmesan Pita Chips
6 pcs. pita pockets
1/4 c extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, mashed
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper, freshly ground
3 tbsp. Parmesan cheese, coarsely grated

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).

Split the pita into two then cut it into 6 triangles. Place triangles on an ungreased cookie sheet.

Put the the mashed garlic into a bowl and add the olive oil. Let it infuse for at least 30 minutes. Add the salt and pepper to the oil in the bowl.

Brush each triangle with oil mixture. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Bake in the preheated oven for about 5 to 7 minutes, or until lightly browned and crispy. Watch carefully, as they tend to burn easily! Let cool before eating.

Other flavor combinations:
– just salt & pepper
– cumin & garlic
– dried basil, dried chevril
– Italian seasoning & paprika

Peking Garden at Greenbelt 5

We finally ate at Peking Garden’s branch at Greenbelt 5. They opened their new location last December 2009.

The place was packed that Sunday.

function rooms

Check out the detailed decorative woodwork surrounding the lights.

Even the aircon vents were decorated.

This was our set menu. Several items I’ve already featured before but I was glad that there were new dishes that I was going to try for the first time.

four kinds of appetizers

I ate only one of the 4 appetizers, the honeyed fish butterfly shape. Strange name but it’s the best appetizer in Peking Garden. It’s sweet, thin and crispy fish. I’ve never eaten this anywhere else.

fried spring onion cake

The soup was extremely tasty and flavorful. I just didn’t eat the papaya or the whelk.

double boiled chicken soup w/ papaya & whelk

The Peking duck was a staple in most tables in the restaurant. This is what they are famous for. I heard they sell several hundred ducks in a day. No one can cut up a duck as fast and as prettily as they do in Peking Garden. They even manage to scrape of the fat from the crisp skin.

Peking duck

I loved these crispy prawns flavored with salted egg. They were simply sublime.

golden prawns w/ salted egg

This seemed like a healthy dish, using only egg whites and a lone egg yolk on top. I was told that this type of dish needed a lot of oil to cook it. No wonder it was so good.

scrambled egg whites w/ minced fish & dried scallops

The crabs and rice were very good. Perfect for crab lovers!

lotus seafood rice w/ garlic crab

I loved the marinated flanked steak that was seared and sliced thinly. It lay on a bed of shredded lettuce thus the name beef fillet salad.

seared US beef fillet salad

I didn’t like the dessert at all. I wish it were just plain almond soup but it had egg whites in it. It tasted strange. Good thing since I was already so full from lunch.

Peking Garden

4th level Greenbelt 5,

Ayala Center, Makati City

telephone: 729-0567

Jenny’s birthday at Restaurant CiÇou

We celebrated our dear friend Jenny’s birthday at Restaurant Cicou. Before going I checked out some blogs that have featured this restaurant. I read mostly negative reviews so I was kind of hesitant to try it. I even wanted to suggest Aubergine instead. But I’m always eager to try a new restaurant so I went with an open mind and a hungry stomach.

Restaurant CiÇou is located at the ground floor of Hotel Celeste in Makati. There’s no parking space so come with a driver.

The interiors were nice and modern.

Jenny’s beautiful family

I forgot what this was but it was very good.

amuse bouche

The soups were all superb. The onion soup (not pictured here) was one of the best in town according to Jenny. Deb loved her squash soup. I said my prawn bisque was better but she disagreed. So we declared both delicious.

squash soup w/ duck liver flan P230

Aida and I shared an order of the prawn bisque. It’s the best, best, best seafood soup I’ve ever tasted! It was very rich and full flavored. It tasted even better than lobster bisque. I was glad I shared an order since it was very filling.

1/2 serving of prawn bisque w/ sea urchin flan P300 (full serving)

The risotto was the only disappointment in our entire meal. It was bland and tasteless. Pass on this.

risotto w/ herbs P260

Coquillettes are a type of pasta that’s similar to elbow macaroni but much smaller. According the description in the menu it’s cooked in chicken broth, lardons of foie gras, ham, parmesan, mushroom and truffle cream sauce. I couldn’t distinguish each one of those ingredients. All I know this was the best pasta dish EVER! It wasn’t too rich nor did it have a thick sauce, it was just plain lip smackin’ yummy. 8 of us shared two orders asides from our individual main courses.

coquillettes P700

I wasn’t able to try the next few dishes since they were too far from me and my dear friends weren’t willing to pass the plate to our end of the table. Since all the plates were sparkling clean I assume they enjoyed the food.

tenderloin beef P1,200

halibut stuffed w/ king crab mousse P750

prawn, scallop, squid, clams fricassee P750

I ordered the ox tongue. It was a pleasant change from the usual Spanish way of serving ox tongue slathered with either a mushroom or tomato sauce. The ox tongue was simply cooked in a ravigote sauce. The classic French sauce was slightly acidic and showcased the ox tongue wonderfully.

wagyu ox tongue P580

braised oxtail parmentier P550

They gave Jenny a mini croquembouche or profiterole tower. It was yummy!

birthday profiteroles

Even all the petit fours were good.

petit fours

Unbelievable but I ordered this light and refreshing dessert. I enjoyed the grapefruit sorbet but I wasn’t fond of the soft egg white meringue or floating island so I passed it to Debbie who loved it. Thank goodness somebody ordered 2 chocolate desserts which I enjoyed much, much more.

floating island w/ grapefruit sherbet P180

They used maracaibo 65% Venezuelan chocolate in their desserts. It was bittersweet, rich and fragrant. This was the second best dessert. Both chocolate desserts were simple yet sinful.

chocolate creme brulee P300

This was the best dessert. Sure most restaurants have their own version of the chocolate lava cake but this was something else.

chocolate fondant P300

The melted chocolate was magnificent!You can really taste the quality of the chocolate used. You must order this.

Thanks for the fabulous dinner Jenny!

The food at CiÇou definitely beats Je Suis Gourmand by a mile. It’s a close call with Aubergine. Cicou has better soups, pasta and desserts while Aubergine has better main course. Be prepared to spend at least P1,000 per head without wine. When I go back I’m definitely ordering the prawn bisque, coquillettes and chocolate fondant and call it my happy meal.

top half of the menu

bottom half of the menu

specials

dessert

wine list

Restaurant CiÇou

Hotel Céleste
2 San Lorenzo Drive corner A. Arnaiz Avenue
San Lorenzo Village, Makati City
telephone: 889-6728 or 889-6733

Dessert at UCC Park Cafe

Our lunch at Lili Cantonese restaurant didn’t include coffee or dessert and we must have that to complete our meal. From Malate we headed to The Fort to UCC Park Cafe to satisfy our need for caffeine and sugar.

They had all sorts of Japanese coffee for sale at the entrance.

I love the cakes of UCC. They had a lot of choices but I had my favorites so it wasn’t hard to choose 3 from all of these mouthwatering desserts.

UCC is popular for making and serving their coffee using a siphon coffee maker. Each cup of coffee is made only upon order guaranteeing its freshness.

siphon coffee

The first cake I chose was this ginormous banana carrot cake. This had to be the moistest cake I’ve ever eaten. Layers of banana and carrot cake alternate to produce this 4 layer cake frosted with yummy cream cheese frosting.

banana carrot cake P225

UCC’s macadamia sans rival is definitely going into my list of Manila’s best sans rival. Their sans rival was super crunchy and just had the perfect amount of buttercream. The macadamia nuts were just a perfect addition to this scrumptious dessert.

macadamia sans rival P220

For me the best chocolate dessert in UCC is the chocolate xanadu. It looks deceptively simple in this picture.

chocolate xanadu P220

When you split it open you can see the complex layers of chocolate ganache, chocolate mousse, whipped cream, chocolate cake, chocolate chips, and cashew meringue. I guarantee you will moan when you take your first bite. The cake was the perfect combination of creamy, soft, crunchy and 100% sinful.

9 friends, 3 cakes, 7 coffees, big smiles and a perfect end to a day of eating.

UCC Park Cafe menu
coffee, salads & sandwiches, Japanese pizza toast & spaghetti,
gratin & omurice, Japanese curry rice, casserole & risotto,
waffles & French toast, ice blended coffee, ice cream floats, desserts

UCC Park Cafe
26th St. Forbes Town Center,
Bonifacio Global City Taguig
telephone: 845-1365 / 884-2477

Dog days of summer

It’s officially summer in Manila and the dogs know it. They’re ecstatic that I finally brought out their ‘spa tub’. These pictures were taken with my iPhone so pardon the quality.

Coby and Chocnut

Dim sum lunch at Lili, Hyatt Hotel

It all started with Janet’s email – “Girls do you want to try the dim sum at Lili? They have a promo that’s ending soon.” Naturally the replies were fast and furious. And within a few days of the email we went to Lili for lunch. The promotion was “All you can eat dim sum” at Lili Cantonese Restaurant at the Hyatt Hotel and Casino Manila for Php 555++.

It was my first time to eat at Lili. I was amazed at the beautiful restaurant. It felt like I was entering a richly appointed house rather than a Chinese restaurant.

private function rooms

We each had different patterned plates by Raynaud limoges “villandry” collection. Definitely not typical for a Chinese restaurant.

This was the menu to choose from. I checked all of them!

Lili dim sum menu

We had to finish everything. As in no left-overs, no take out. It’s hard to find good dim sum in Manila. I really hoped it would be good. The roast pork was good but not as good as Choi’s.

honey roasted barbecued pork

pork & shrimp dumpling w/ flying fish roe “siu mai”

The “xiao long bao” or soupy meat dumplings were just mediocre. It was a far cry from the ones at Peking Garden.

Shanghai pork dumplings “xiao long bao”

The spareribs were good if not for the huge chunks of fat. There was actually more fat than meat.

spareribs w/ plums

I ordered only 1 basket of squid and still no one ate it. It was quite tough and rubbery.

squid w/ garlic

All the dumplings and buns were good but nothing spectacular.

shrimp dumpling “har gaw”

shrimp stuffed spinach dumpling

chicken & mushroom bun

barbecued pork bun

dim sum galore

The baked barbecued puff pastry were the BEST! The crust was very flaky and the pork filling had just the right sweet & salty flavor. This was even better than the ones I’ve eaten in Hong Kong. We re-ordered this over and over again. We must have eaten 3-4 pieces each. If you ordered this a la carte, 3 pieces cost P180.

baked barbecued puff pastry

The ham sui kok at H.K. Choi is much better.

glutinous dumpling w/ meat “ham sui kok”

shredded taro & vegetable spring roll

steamed beef rice roll

Where’s the sausage in this supposedly Chinese sausage in glutinous roll?

Chinese sausage in glutinous roll

wok fried turnip cake

wintermelon soup

salted chicken wings

vegetables w/ oyster sauce

fried rice w/ diced chicken & salted fish

After all the ++ after the base price of P555 we ended up paying P700 per person. It was definitely not worth the food we ate. If we ordered the same amount of dim sum in another restaurant we would probably pay half the price. Anyway we enjoyed the baked barbecued pork pastry and the company and that’s important thing.

Lili

5th level

Hyatt Hotel and Casino Manila

1588 Pedro Gil cor M.H. Del Pilar,

Malate, Manila, Philippines
telephone: 245-1234

Sugarhouse cakes

I believe the best cakes are found in Manila. The choices from numerous cake shops and home bakers are endless and the majority are very good and affordable. I’m not impressed with the cakes sold in Hong Kong and the USA. I’m sure there are very good cakes there but they cost double or triple than the ones in Manila. And that means it’s unlikely that I’ve tried it. What, I’m cheap? Yeh!

I haven’t eaten in Sugarhouse in ages. I forgot who suggested it but I never say no to dessert. Sugarhouse is one of the best and most reliable cake shops in Manila. My all time favorites are the French apple pie which for me is still the best apple pie in town and the almond sans rival which I had for my birthday.

We tried out their new and not so new cakes. First up is the strawberry shortcake. It’s not bad but it’s not in the league of Bizu or Mrs. Yulo’s.

strawberry shortcake – 8″ P800

The chocolate truffle cake is Sugarhouse’s bestselling cake. It’s super moist and the chocolate frosting in dark and rich.

chocolate truffle cake – baby P150, 9″ P860

The triple x is made of layers of chocolate mousse, chocolate ganache and cream cheese filling. This cake should be illegal!

triple x – 7″ P900

happy amigas

I thought dessert was the end of our night little did I know we would end up in Deb’s house for caviar pie and crackers. We demolished this pie that night. It was my first time to try caviar pie. It wasn’t as amazing as I thought it would be. I tasted mostly the thick cream cheese base and the onions. It overpowered the caviar. It tasted better with just the upper layer of cream cheese with caviar on top.

All 3 cakes we ate that night were good but I’ll stick to my beloved French apple pie.

Sugarhouse menu
salads & soups, pasta & sandwiches, real meals,
cakes & pies, cheeecake, coffee, beverages

branches

Lunch at Mesa, Filipino Moderne

Rochelle and I took our balikbayan friend, Ariel to lunch at Mesa Filipino Moderne in Greenbelt 5. I suggested this restaurant because I read a lot of good and raving reviews from other bloggers. I’m always on the look out for good Filipino restaurants to bring friends from abroad.

Mesa was quite full on a weekday lunch.

I’m sorry to say that there were more disappointments than good food during lunch. Let me count them for you.

1. The gin pomelo was a disaster. Why? I’m pretty sure it was made with instant Tang pomelo flavor with a little gin. It was very disappointing.

✖ gin pomelo P290

2. The sisig pouches were very oily but Ariel liked it. He ate it all after removing the greasy wanton wrapper.

✔ sisig in a pouch P180

3. The scallops were thankfully good. It was the 1 of 2 dishes I actually enjoyed.

✔ baked scallops w/ garlic butter P190

4. The crispy tilapia was not crispy at all. The four sauces were bagoong which was sweet, honey patis which was sweet, soy & vinegar sauce and sweet chili which was sweet of course. So 3 out of the 4 sauces were sweet. That didn’t make me happy at all. The crispy tilapia at Recipes in Greenbelt 3 is so much better.

✖ crispy boneless tilapia w/ 4 sauces P290

5. The ostrich was tender and tasted like beef but it was SWEET! Why o why did they ruin the poor ostrich? It took a liberal douse of soy sauce to save this dish and make it palatable.

✖ drunken ostrich P290

6. The chicken wasn’t sweet despite the name chicken bbq in honey patis. It was just plain blah, boring, bland and ordinary. Any chicken from your neighborhood inasal stand would taste 10x better.

✖ chicken bbq in honey patis P150

7. The duck basil rice was the best dish of all. It was very fragrant and the flavor was just divine. This was the only dish worth going back for.

✔✔✔ duck basil fried rice P180

8. We were lured by the name- barako coffee jelly. What a way to end lunch with another disaster. It was lukewarm and tasted like intstant coffee gelatin from a box. No way did it even resemble the flavor of barako coffee.

✖ barako coffee jelly

I’m sorry but I really didn’t like the food at Mesa. It wasn’t because it was modern Filipino which wasn’t really too far off from traditional Filipino fare. They actually had several creative dishes in the menu. We actually ordered majority of their specialties. The bottom line was the taste just wasn’t up to par. For Filipino food I’d stick to C2 Classic Cuisine, Bangus and Fely J.

Mesa, Filipino Moderne
Ground Level, Greenbelt 5
telephone: 728-0886

C2 Classic Cuisine

I said I would return to C2 and I did! The last time I ate at C2 there were only 2 of us and we didn’t get to try much. This time I brought 2 balikbayans and a bunch of natives. My friend Ariel and cousin Sharon were the guests of honor for this scrumptious Filipino lunch.

Rochelle and Ariel in their matching uniform

Left: Rochelle, Ariel a.k.a. Nino, Chris
Right: Db, moi, Sharon

I didn’t eat this dish so I couldn’t comment on it but all since it was wiped out pretty quickly so it must have been good.

adobong sitaw w/ lechon kawali

The seafood stew was just average. It didn’t really leave an impact on anyone of us. We finished it though.

Malabon seafood stew

The tilapia was pretty to look at. Nothing special about it though. I couldn’t even taste the coconut emulsion. 2 pieces of fish for 6 hungry people and there was still left overs. That should tell you the whole story.

seared tilapia in coconut emulsion

The best dish in C2 is their boneless crispy pata either plain or with kare kare. They have the same foundation of crispy pata but with the addition of veggies and sauce for the kare kare. Any way you order it it’s heavenly. I’m not too happy with this picture. To see my ode to their crispy pata check out the pictures here. The skin was very, very crispy and it wasn’t oily. The sauce was quite good too. Everyone who eats at C2 MUST order this!

crispy kare kare P640

Ariel loves adobo and he said it was good. Although not as good as Kit’s adobo. That’s already high praise since Kit’s adobo is outrageously good according to Ariel. I have to try that sometime. Hello, Kit?

C2 adobo classic P295

This was the best dilis rice ever! Forget the dilis rice at Fely J. This one rocks! You can actually eat this all by itself and call it a meal. Next time I go back to C2 my order will consist of crispy kare kare, dilis rice and a lot of dessert. Those are the best dishes I’ve tried so far.

dilis rice P95

I loved the desserts at C2. They really give the classic Filipino desserts a nice twist. They don’t turn it into something weird or unrecognizable but they choose the right flavors and combinations to make the dessert even better. Like this biko make with glutinous rice and coconut milk. The addition of barako coffee gave the biko a deep, earthy flavor. Why didn’t anyone think of this before? It’s a perfect match.

biko barako P95

I forgot what this dessert was called. I couldn’t find it on the old menu but based on what it tasted like I would call it champorado mousse. The mousse was made from native tsokolate eh and there’s a layer of rice pudding or champorado in the middle. I love the flavor of tsokolate eh in a mousse! Even though some of the rice was hard I didn’t mind. The whole dessert was lick-to-the-last drop good.

champorado mousse? tsokolate eh mousse?

How do you make turon or banana spring rolls extraordinary? Stuff it with ube (purple yam), drizzle it with langka (jackfruit) sauce and serve it with ice cream. Heavenly!!! Note: The first turon they served us had a strong rancid taste. We complained and they replaced it with a fresh order. Great service!

turon ala mode P145

Even though not all the dishes were that impressive I would bring any balikbayan guests or foreigners or anybody at all to eat at C2 just to try the best crispy pata bar none. I’m sure there are other dishes that merit my tasting but for now I’m happy with the crispy pata and the desserts.

C2 Classic Cuisine Menu (old menu)
vegetables, meat & poultry, rice, seafood, all day merienda, dessert

C2 Classic Cuisine
18 Missouri St., Northeast Greenhills, San Juan
telephone: 726.271

other branches here