Tita Racel's Treat.

The best thing about relatives coming home is family get-togethers.  And family get-togethers mean sumptuous food!


It has been Tita Racel's tradition to treat everyone to a Dampa lunch before going back to the States.  Her recent visit brought us to Shylin Restaurant and Seafood Palutuan at the Seaside Market in Macapagal Blvd.


Cousin Me-an, being our ever reliable photographer, made sure she got the best shots of the food served.  One word... YUM!


Pork Sinigang...
My favorite PUSIT (squid).
Buttered shrimps... fresh and delish.
Pinakbet... as expected, not as famous as the others.  I had my eyes on the Okra.
Green Mango salad complete with tomato, onion and bagoog.
Shrimp Tempura.
Divine Chili Crab!!
Grilled Fish.
I would have to protest a bit because our cousin-photographer was not able to capture the best of them all... Inihaw na Liempo (Grilled Fatty Pork).  Yes, that was the best part of the lunch... 'bestest' because of Pepsi Max but could've been better with Coke light.


Thanks, Tita Racel!  It was a great lunch... hoping for another round that next time you visit.

Fish Can Be Yummy, Too!

The Lenten season has just started so it's time to bring in fish into the Friday diet.  For a lot of us, this is indeed a sacrifice because let's face it... fish is not as yummy as lechon, bulalo or fried chicken.

One not-so-busy Friday, my officemates decided to have a relaxing lunch in Cookbook Kitchen in Eastwood and I tagged along.

Being new to the restaurant, I depended on the suggestion of Ms. Amie.  She highly recommended the Parmesan Crusted White Fish.

It was YUMMY... perhaps, the yummiest fish recipe ever!

They put the fish (I think it's Dory Fish) in between layers of parmesan cheese (and cream).  Sprinkle herbs on top, perhaps rosemary.  Bake it, then serve with lemon/lime.

Because of the richness, you may reach "umay" during your last 5 chomps so I would suggest that this be shared by two.  I did finish mine without help, however.  One serving costs Php380.

That fish dish was divine, I did not know if that was a valid Friday sacrifice.  Definitely, a take two is going to happen soon... I will bring hubby along.

Menu for Tita Lei.

Tita Lei, my mom's sister, recently came home to the Philippines for her annual motherland visit.  Everytime she goes home, she makes sure to have a blast.  This visit was no exception -- she went to Singapore with Tita Amy and my cousins... and wore her smashing swimsuit at the top of the Marina Bay Sands!

As usual, hubby and I were so busy with work and a lot more stuff... we never really got to spend time with her.  So, when Mom asked us to host a lunch / dinner party for Tita and Tito Joseph, we said yes right away.

It was a good thing that the Mom and the Titas (and Dad) are always the best when it comes to potluck events.  We were able to come up with sumptuous, very Filipino and somewhat healthy (?) menu.

Pansit from Tita Baby.  Inihaw na Samaral from Daddy.

Hipon from Daddy.  He is really into seafood...

...and greens.  His Talbos ng Kamote dipped in bagoong.

There was also Ensaladang Mangga and Steamed Okra (also dipped in bagoong).

My Mom's specialty - Dinakdakan.  It's Inihaw na Baboy with ginger, onion, kichay (?), with calamansi or suka.

For dessert, there is the classic saging...

...and the good ol' Mango Float made by moi.

Not caught in pictures but equally yummy are Tita Amy's lumpia, puto, and kakanin.

We had a great time that day.  Everything ended late that night.  I hope Tita Lei and Tito Joseph had loads of fun, too.  The next time they come for a visit, perhaps, a dip in the clubhouse pool would be part of the menu, too.

*pictures grabbed from Thea Esteban.

Yakimix Birthday Treat!

Several times I had planned to eat at Yakimix with different sets of friends but none pushed through.

Thanks to girlfriend, Len... FINALLY, I got to dine at the famous eat-all-you-can Japanese Grill Restaurant (Trinoma branch).

It was a double birthday celebration -- Len and Alvin are both July 16 babies. Len recently went to the US for her honeymoon and got guilty because she did not have any pasalubong for us.  The birthday treat was in lieu of the pasalubong... yipee!

So I learned that the Yakimix gimmick is not your usual buffet setup.  To make the experience more fun, customers cook before they munch.  The buffet choices include a great deal of raw food.
In the middle of the table, there is a grill/skillet where diners cook the food.

Price per head is at Php590.  Refillable drinks at Php75.  If you want no fuss waiting, you need to reserve a table.  They do entertain walk-ins on a first-come, first served basis but during the weekends, you may have to cross your fingers.

Now, here are the eaters of the night.. Che, birthday girl, Len, and Faye.

The cookers (and eaters) of the night... Joy and birthday boy, Alvin.

Our busog look.  See all the plates and guess how much fun we had.

Happy birthday, Len and Alvin!  Until the next Yakimix date.

Mercato By Night.

We live less than 5km away but we have never tried going to Midnight Mercato ever since it opened.

Three Fridays ago was the perfect time.  My work was on monthend close mode so that meant overtime.  Overtime meant synchronization with my hubby's office hours.

Welcome to Midnight Mercato!

From Digicam Shots

We went around first and saw all types of food.  There were pastries, burgers, sausages, tempura and street food!  Of course, street food in sushyal version.

There were squid balls, chicken balls, kwek-kwek.

From Digicam Shots

We also saw barbecue, isaw, betamax, etc.

From Digicam Shots

Just like street food, you order then they cook.

From Digicam Shots

They also have samalamig (which is also called Sago't Gulaman).

From Digicam Shots

Here's what we had.

From Digicam Shots

From Digicam Shots

From Digicam Shots

From Digicam Shots

All these plus hubby's bagnet and rice for more than Php300.  Not bad.  But if you grew up in UP... expensive.

While I appreciated the experience, I definitely think this is not the hangout place for hubby and me.  It was a bit crowded.  Eating place was al fresco so it has a good number of smokers nearby.  Indeed... I am getting old.

From Digicam Shots

From Digicam Shots

We ended the night with a chocnut Mochiko ball which was delicious.

I would not mind stopping by again but if I would be made to choose between the two Mercatos, I would pick the morning version.

Birthdays Finally Celebrated.

It took a Checheboobear to finally gather everyone.

The date was to, first and foremost, celebrate Che's birthday on May 22 (today!).  Past birthdays -- Joy's in January, mine in February and Faye in April -- went by without us seeing each other so we had to include those in our agenda.

No one really picked the Spiral in Sofitel as the venue but somehow we ended up having our small dinner party there.



As usual, food was great and PLENTY.  But my main target was the dessert buffet.






Catching up chikas... we will never run out of them.




In the middle of everything, we learned of another reason to celebrate.  I am keeping it a secret for now but here is the bearer of the good news (wink).


We enjoyed the dinner so much, we were there until almost closing time.


And we just had to take a peek of the nice pool area of the hotel.  Here were are just before going home... (birthday girl took the picture).


Happy birthday, Checheboobear!



Digicam Photos courtesy of Faye.