Lumpiang Togue From Via Mare

Commander, general, chief, batas.. also known as “the wife” gave me the first paglilihi challenge of this pregnancy last night.  The winning food craving was… drum roll please… lumpiang togue! Hahaha.  It shouldn’t be too difficult coz I can just buy from one of the jolly jeeps.  But noooo… i can’t just buy off the streets – too risky for mrs preggy of course. Hehehe.  Here’s how it started… (harps and clouds please – flashback time)

I was driving along dela rosa when I got the sms so my first option was to check out the establishments below the carpark.  First stop was tapa king – wala!  Next was manong pepe’s (a subsidiary of Jollibee – naks!) – walang lumpiang togue!  Back to mr. bonkers and drove to greenbelt 1 which was closer to home.  Checked out Binalot – EEEENGK! Wala! Andoks – naddah. Then I remembered, Razon’s! Woohooo! Sure shot… but it was 8 pm already.. CLOSED! Booo!  Ha ha ha.  Anyway, I remembered Via Mare – all filipino favorites.. Yahoo!  I took a look at the menu, no lumpiang togue and just lumpiang hubad. Booo! I asked the waiter, he said yes they have lumpiang togue but he also couldn’t find it in the menu.  I told him it was for my wifey – “naglilihi kasi” and he swore that they served lumpiang togue.  Finally, he saw a picture of one of their dishes with lumpiang togue as a side dish.  There you go.  Whew! Ordered 4 pieces and went home a hero.  K, Thanks, Bye! Bow.

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Max's Spicy Laing Tilapia

A few weeks ago we saw a billboard of the new Max’s Spicy Laing Tilapia.  Mmmm… Laing on Tilapia – sounds good to me.   We tried it out at the greenbelt 1 branch – yep, meron pa dun, sa gilid.  It was actually good.  The gata was a bit too rich but it was good.  Thing is, for Php195 I don’t think that it’s worth it.  It’s essentially one decent sized tilapia cut in half with some laing in between and on top – not even a generous serving of laing.

So there… it’s good but not worth Php195 bucks in my book.

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Anyway, a few weeks ago I struck gold and we found a branch at the newly renovated Cash and Carry mall – top floor food court.  Yum yum.

I gues it’s one of those things that reminds me of childhood.  Sweet!

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tapsilog

For those who don’t know what tapsilog, longsilog, all silogs mean – silog is short for sinangag at itlog. You can pretty much add any of the first 1 or 2 syllables of the dish that you want to pair it with and that’s it. For example: Tapa, sinangag and itlog – TapSiLog. Interesting huh?

Oh and they have a facebook page – Let’s rally to get them to deliver!!!

If you haven’t tried it – here’s where you can spot the stores.
Note: Sinangang express located outside of Makati Cinema Square is different. No harm intended.

Contact information:

President’s avenue or was it Aguirre – BF: 541-4962

Better Living

DLSU – I used to eat there every Wed. 877 Dagohoy St., Malate

Here’s my own version of Tapsilog.

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Anyway, one day I was walking along VA Rufino st and I took the underpass… all of sudden, there it was – a ray of light was shining on the sign and it said… Bun on the run.  Right beside this shoe store for women.  It was amazing because this truly reminded me of childhood.  Without further delay.. ladies and gentlemen.. I bring you.. the Chori Burger!!!!  Double Chori Burger only at Php 105.  NOT BAD!

Its a bit more pricey now but if it brings you back a decade or so.. why not.

After some research, I found out that they have a few branches now open.  Here you go.. a tribute to my generation:

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So here’s a quick review of one of the first restaurants to start getting heavy traffic in Greenbelt 5 – Fely J’s Kitchen.

It was raining and like everyone else, we were craving for a soup based dish like sinigang or nilaga.  While walking along Greenbelt 2, we started talking about the dilis rice of Fely J’s which was a huge hit for us when we first tried it – we figured that it was a perfect match for nilagang baka…mmmm.

When we got there, it was already 1230 so the place was… I’d say about 70% full already.  Much to our surprise, they did not have Nilagang Baka on their menu but they had a wide selection of Sinigang mixes so we started to lean towards the idea of ordering that dish instead plus everyone else ordered it so the place was filled with its aroma.  While flipping through the 4 page menu, we noticed this intriguing dish – Lengua Rendang.  I figured that it makes sense to use lengua (ox tongue)  as a replacement for beef because it absorbs flavor well and it has an excellent tender texture when cooked properly.  Having said all that, we decided to break out of the expected and ordered the Lengua Rendang instead – an interesting twist of the famous malaysian dish.  The rest is history… this is one of the best Rendang versions that I have ever tasted.  I can say with conviction that this is a must try dish at Fely J’s.  We still ordered the dilis rice of course and tortang talong as a side dish.

Some pictures (note that these shots don’t do much justice for their excellent taste)

MUST TRY LENGUA RENDANG

Dilis Rice – yummy!

Tortang Talong – from childhood

 Fely J’s Restaurant, Greenbelt 5

2/F Greebelt 5, Legaspi St., Legaspi Village, Ayala Center

Makati City, Metro Manila

(02) 728-8858

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I remembered the first time we went to Gerry’s way back when it still had a big place along Jupiter.  We went there as an army of alcoholics to check out this new place that everyone was talking about.  We were there for the feel of the place and for the ice cold beer.  We ordered the sizzling squid for the sole purpose of pulutan (beer match).  We ended up ordering rice and having a hefty meal sharing one order.  Those were the days.

Anyway, they have a new item on the menu.  The Chili Cheese Sticks – an interesting concept and that’s why I’m posting it here.  Its a true Filipino twist on your typical cheese sticks.  I sort of enjoyed it – it was new to my taste.  And I love the green chilies.  But I have to warn you, its not for everyone.  Don’t be afraid, its not that hot / spicy – it won’t numb your tongue and mess up the night for you.  Its actually (in my opinion) an exciting new thing to try but only as a side dish.  You still have to order the sisig and in my world a must have and try is the tinomok.

Medyo blurred – gutom (hungry) na eh.

This is the tinomok – its the best!

They cater and deliver: 421-1111

Website:  http://www.gerrysgrill.com/ph/index.php

And they now opened doors in the U.S. – http://www.gerrysgrill.com/us/main.php?go=location  GO GO PINOY!

.

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Last Saturday after waking up at 2 in the afternoon with a nasty hang over, I started to crave for some good old beef mami noodle soup. And I was really hungry so it had to be some place with huge servings or a buffet! All you can eat! Or Eat all you can! Whatever! Haha

Good thing I remembered the merienda buffet of Dads that starts at 3pm and ends at 5pm. Yahooo! Just in time. So I hopped in the shower, and before you know it, I’m on my way to a great buffet. I must say that not all dishes served in their merienda buffet are good but at Php139 pesos I think it won’t hurt to try it out – look at me, I fell in love with their beef mami. Simple and tasty.

If you do decide to go and check it out, the beef mami noodle soup is right beside the gyoza and dimsums. You’ll see small bowls filled with noodles and beef – I like the beef because they are using Pares (Filipino Beef Stew) which is really good. All you have to do is add the hot soup. And don’t worry about the small serving, its a buffet, no one’s gonna stop you from getting more. Yumyum.

I apologize for not putting up some photos – I forgot. Ha ha ha. Maybe next time – I’ll just update this post.

Anyway, other items included in the buffet (note: only food served on the right side wall are included in the buffet)

• kakanin
• pandesal with ground beef
• spaketchup (kiddie spaghetti)
• carbonara (eks, tastes like cream and sugar)
• siomai
• siopao
• gyoza
• BEEF MAMI
• bananaque (fried bananas with brown sugar)
• arrozcaldo
• Lumpiang Togue
• Tofu
• Many more

Php 139 only at Dads. I tried the one at Glorietta (Kamayan, Saisaki, Dads)

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Its a simple dish to do, and you can find all the ingredients in your average grocery store.

• Ground Beef
• Carrots
• Raisins (add a few, even if you don’t like raisins – it adds to the authentic flavor)
• Garlic
• Tomato Sauce
• Onions?  I think I didn’t bother adding onions – but maybe it can add to the flavor
• Eggs
• Bananas

Here’s how you do it.  Now strap on your seatbelts because this will be really quick!

1. Finely chop garlic and carrots
2. Heat pan, put some oil and start with the garlic then add all the ingredients (ground beef, carrots, raisins, tomato sauce)
3. Stir occasionally and add salt to taste.  I used carrots because its also naturally sweet so chances are you don’t need to put in sugar but that’s up to you.
4. Fry your eggs
5. Fry your bananas – not deep fried, but again that’s up to you.  You just need to brown it and you are done.
6. Plate it!

I’ve received some comments about the banana leaf – Ha ha ha, I buy my rice at binalot – its only 12 bucks and bigger serving compared to ministop. (*wink)

The atchara is a good addition – only 50 bucks.  I also bought a bottle of garlic bits – only 100 bucks and goes a long way.

As a bonus, I added a simple and healthy soup dish.  I call it Instant Crab and eggs soup with Cabbage.

Remember the instant Knorr crab and egg soup – just add one egg?  That’s it. Just follow instructions in cooking and cut up your cabbage and add it there.  Its a quick and healthy way to make your meal more interesting.

Sarap at simple lang.

This weekend if I have time, I’ll be cooking some Beef Bulgogi – just like the one back in High School cafeteria of CSA.

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If you’re planning to order the caesar salad and just salad for your meal – you should order the “to share” one because the single order, well, its not much if you ask me.   But the dressing was good and tasty.

Here are some shots of my Arroz ala Cubana.  It tasted real good and I wish I had more.  I remember when I first fell in love with this dish in the canteen of CSA when I was still in grade school.  It was served with fried eggs and fried bananas.  The bacon was a bonus – I think.  For those of you who have no idea what Arroz ala cubana is – its groud beef or pork cooked with raisins and some tomato sauce and spices.  I tried cooking one yesterday and I’ll post that later.

Most of the items on their menu range from 150 to 300 bucks.  For dessert, New York Cheesecake! Yummy! Just right.

Salad: Php 80 (not much)

Arroz ala Cubana : Php 150

New York Cheesecake : Php 100 plus (I forgot)

Conti’s first opened their doors in BF homes Paranaque, its sad that I lived for more than 20 years in BF Homes but was not able to try it out.  Ha ha ha.  But that’s ok.

I heard that their pasta is really good so I’m planning to try that out next.  Looking at their menu, I think its cheaper if you order the family size and just share.  For example, Angel Hair Puttanesca is 160 bucks a la carte, but if you order the family size good for 6-8 persons, its only around Php 340.  Amazing right?

Anyway, they have tons more of dishes that you can choose from.  You can order family size, take outs, frozen foods, baked goodes, and set menus.

BF Homes Parañaque
(02) 842-5265

Serendra
(02) 856-2352

Greenhills
(02) 774-4184

Trinoma Mall
(02) 900-5013

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