I didn't give my cousins Jill and Monica much choice. It was Thursday and all I wanted to eat for lunch was carbs, carbs, and carbs.
I asked them: Japanese or Italian?
Which really meant: Ramen or Pasta?
He he he.
They chose Italian, so we ended up in Bistro Ravioli. The place smelled of fresh basil and parmesan. I loved it. (Monica did not. She was feeling sick.)
Diablo Wings - crispy, sweet, tangy, spicy. This was addicting. If it came with a blue cheese dip, I would have eaten a bucket more. (Thank God it didn't!!!)
Seafood Spaghetti in Marinara Sauce - fresh pasta with clams, squid, shrimps, olives, and bits of bacon. It was tasty and became even tastier with a sprinkling of chili flakes.
Salmon Ravioli in Saffron Cream Sauce - eeep! Salmon was dry and fishy. It made Monica feel even sicker.
Italian Sausage and Bacon Pizza - FINALLY, a mall restaurant that knows its pizza! It was all about the crust and I ate every soft and pillowy, crisp and crunchy part of it. All @shootfirsteatlater's fault.
The Tiramisu was 50% cream, 40% dry cake, and 10% chocolate shavings. I have nothing nice to say except it looked really pretty.
The Choco Lava Cake tasted like Milo. I love Milo. So the ratio for this was 20% Jill's and 80% Jin's.
I love it when Monica is feeling sick and when Jill is feeling generous. I get to eat two people's share and pay for nothing. Ha ha ha! :D Thank you, Jill! :)
Bistro Ravioli: Ground Floor, North Arcade, SM Mall of Asia, Pasay City. Tel: +632 8040577
I've been to Thai Bistro in Robinsons Magnolia and thought the food was just okay (see post here), so I wasn't expecting much when we had dinner at Cecille Chang's new restaurant at the Fort. I love the lanterns at Silk Road.
It was a week night and I was pleasantly surprised to arrive to a fully packed dining room
Good thing we had upstairs all to ourselves because I was with two of Manila's craziest peoples! :P
The Thai Iced Tea was how it should be - rich and bittersweet... like true love is.
Soft Shell Crab Roll - honestly, my taste buds did not detect any crab. Nonetheless, these were nice rolls filled with fresh ingredients that acted as fillers. Sometimes, my stomach needs fillers.
Prawn Cakes - nicely fried and shrimpy
Thai Ravioli - so delicious we had two servings of this. Actually, I ordered a second plate because Tina and Marco didn't leave any for me!
That was some really tasty and tender sesame beef and shiitake mushrooms wrapped inside the freshest, most delicate rice paper. A must order at Silk Road (especially if your "friends" did not leave any for you! Lol!) :D
Madame Green Chicken Curry - we requested for mild spicy, but it came out still significantly hot.
Marco to the waiter: MILD NA ITO?!?! SINO CHEF NYO DITO? SI LUCIFER????? (LOL!!!) I, on the other hand, thought it had the perfect level of heat. I scooped spoonfuls of the curry onto my pad thai. It was my secret to eating Thai food without raping jasmine rice.
I must always eat Pad Thai at a Thai restaurant, and it doesn't hurt if the noodles came bagged in a pretty Bott-EGG-ga Veneta! ;)
Marco was telling us about his encounter with this super gorgeous and sexy man during one of his travels.
"He whispered into my ear and I could feel the warmth of his breath. His breath smelled like pinipig."
O.M.G.
The pinipig breath caressing my ear... That was exactly how I felt while eating this homemade coconut ice cream.
NEVER a dull moment with these two! :)
Silk Road: Net Quad Corporate Center, 4th Avenue corner 31st Street, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig. Tel: +632 8241678, +639234218294
Department of Coffee is the perfect place to spend the late afternoon with Leslie. Leslie and I both love coffee. She even named her dog Coffee. Unfortunately, I have no pets. But I saved the name for my future kids.
And just when I thought the last of the ramen shops and tonkatsu shops had already opened, a Singaporean concept with BOTH ramen and tonkatsu arrives in Manila.
TAMPOPO!
Takaagi Takagi is the father of Tampopo. I learned that he is also the founder of Tonkichi, my favorite tonkatsu restaurant in Hong Kong.
It was really cool to see someone from the menu come alive, so of course I had to take a photo of the human version. Lol.
Edamame
Shui Gyoza - this was simple but good. The wrapper remained soft even after the boiled dumplings had turned cold. Not the gyoza's fault. My camera took forever.
Top Grade Black Pig Tonkatsu
Top Grade Black Pig Tonkatsu Innards The meat was tender and porky. Although a bit oily, the breading was fine and crisp. Tampopo uses special Hokkaido bread crumbs that taste like deep fried snow.
Cheese Layer Cutlet
Deluxe Hakodate Ramen - Hokkaido ramen with a very, very light pork and chicken bone broth
Tampopo Premium Tonkatsu Ramen - Kyushu ramen with spicy pork bone broth. The heat in the milky broth was inviting. The pork was very lean though. Next time I will order the Top Grade Black Pig option.
Look! There's Yakult on the menu!
Of course I had to order my favorite childhood drink. I used to baon this to school in my Coleman! Lol!
Pretty ladies who also love their Yakult :)
Congratulations, Tampopo Philippines franchise owners George Huang and Chris Tiu! (And Ty Tang who is camera-shy.)
Tampopo: Ground Floor, Promenade 3, Greenhills Shopping Center, San Juan. Tel: +639178547440
I love how elegantly The Peninsula dressed up its lobby for Chinese New Year. It really is my favorite hotel lobby in Manila!
Even the flowers match the red and gold lanterns
And if you look closely, you'll see there are Chinese lucky charms hanging on the arrangement
Because it is Chinese New Year, I decided to learn a new Chinese skill - Dimsum-Making! I joined The Peninsula's Dimsum Master Class with Dimsum Ambassador Chef Yip Wing Wah.
Before they let us in the kitchen, they made sure we washed our hands properly. Here's Pat washing her hands without water! Lol! :P
Each student was given an apron, a 2-layer dimsum basket, a tool for scooping up dimsum filling (I have no idea what it's called, sorry!), and paper and pencil for taking down notes.
The easiest part of the class was Step # 1: Put the dimsum paper into the bamboo basket. Lol.
Then Chef Yip showed us how to make the wrapper for har gau (or hakaw or shrimp dumpling)
Basically, it is mixing flour, cornstarch and boiling water in the right proportions and kneading it a bit to make a smooth dough
Keep the dough wrapped until ready to use to prevent it from drying up. Remember, hakaw wrappers are very sensitive things.
Chef Yip spoke in Cantonese, and Mr. Teddy Leung, Peninsula Hotels Chinese Food and Beverage Operations Manager, translated everything into perfect English
The Master made it seem like a breeze. Maybe after 30 years of practice, I will be as good and fast as he.
Each student was given the chance to show off his skills
That's me showing everyone I had none. Hahaha! :D
And then he showed us how to put in the filling
And seal the bundle
And then it was our turn
Of course I managed to put the wrong filling. This was the filling for chive dumpling. Lol!
Ta-Da!!!
My very first hakaw. Not too shabby for a beginner, methinks! :)
Chef Yip's
Mine. Obviously, I have a serious problem following instructions.
Next, we learned to do Chive Dumplings
First, the wrapper. It was a totally different procedure from the shrimp version. Fresh chives were used to create the pretty green color.
It involved pouring boiling water onto the mixture and then straining...
And mixing and kneading again with flour and cornstarch
Until you get this
Fresh chive dumpling wrapper
It was a totally different way of wrapping, too
This time I got the correct filling :P
Chef Yip's
Mine
And then our baskets were ready for steaming
While waiting, we had some snacks and refreshments at the next room
After 10 minutes...
Our baskets were ready!
My shrimp dumplings (including one with incorrect filling, lol)
My chive dumplings
We got to enjoy our own creations. Modesty aside, they were very delicious! :P With classmates Migs Yambao, Cheryl Tiu, and Grace Lim, The Photobomber! :P
We also had these sweet Chinese New Year pastries for dessert. Hi Audrey! :)
Some bubbly to celebrate everyone's success
Students got to bring home a mini dimsum basket and a bottle of Peninsula XO Chili Sauce
With Chef Yip and Grace
I am now a certified Dimsum Master… Master of Eating Dimsum!!!
The Peninsula Manila: Corners of Ayala and Makati Avenues, Makati City. Tel: +632 887 2888
