May 2012 – Anne Goes to Places

Foodgasm episode 6: Ninang Bokk’s birthday @ Jay-J’s Inasal (Ortigas)

I just noticed that I know a lot of people who celebrate their birthdays on May, including my mom (see Foodgasm episode 5). This week, one of my mom’s closest friends celebrated her birthday. Hello ninang Bokk! 🙂 Tita Dudut planned a surprise for her, which is our presence during her birthday celebration. And yes, tita Dudut was successful in surprising her after six years. Congrats tita Dudut! 😀

Moving on to the dinner, we had the celebration at Jay-J’s Inasal located at Ortigas Home Depot. All of their dishes were really delicious. I was expecting it to be expensive but when I looked up the menu in their website, it turns out that the price was just right. All dishes were affordable, including the crispy pata which was soooooo delicioso! Time to make you, readers, crave for their food. 😉

The most memorable dishes for the night were pork sisig and crispy pata! Their pork sisig was really good. Everything was well done and you won’t be able to tell that you’re eating pig head and liver. :> As for the crispy pata, I do not eat pork skin but my sister insisted that it was really crispy so I gave it a try. Thank you Chippy for convincing me because the dish really stayed true to its name, especially the crispy part. Both are Filipino dishes and for those who haven’t tried these, I suggest that you do so and the best place to start it is at Jay-J’s Inasal. 😉

Besides ninang Bokk’s high school friends, her college friends were also there so there were quite a number of people in the venue. 🙂

Happy birthday ninang Bokk! Cheers to a longer, healthier, and more prosperous life. 😀

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Jay-J’s Inasal (Ortigas Home Depot): 106 Dona Julia Vargas Ave., Brgy. Ugong, Pasig City

Foodgasm episode 5: Mama’s birthday @ Robbie’s Seaside Restaurant

coverpeg — Candles: a failed attempt on bokeh

Finally! I have some free time now to post this entry. My mom celebrated her birthday last Wednesday and we planned a surprise for her. She thought that our family and some of her closest friends would be having dinner. What she did not know was that her elementary friends and some of our relatives would be there as well… including her favorite apo (T/N: grandchild), Cassie. She already had a feeling that we were planning something “fishy” but she did not expect that kind of surprise. Yay for us!

I have no idea how much were the dishes served since my ninang (T/N: godmother) let the manager of the restaurant decide on the food after giving how many people would be present and how much the budget was. The food was great and my sister and I were able to achieve our goal, which was to make our mom cry. Sadistic kids. Nah. We just felt that we really made her happy and proud when we saw her cry. 😉

Let me end this post by starting the photo dumping of the food and people present during that event.

Happy birthday mom! I’m proud to say that you’re already 46 but you look soooo young. I love you so much and you know that a lot of people love you so much as well. 😀

_MG_8305 — With my best friends who are bloggers as well 🙂

_MG_8380 — My mom with her closest friends

_MG_8319 — My mom’s birthday cake courtesy of ate Sandy 🙂

_MG_8441 — My portion from the birthday cake

_MG_8369 — Caught in the act of chismisan

There you go! Thank you to all the people who made the surprise party possible as well as to the people who sent their birthday greeting videos. That was such a big help since my sister and I were able to create a good video presentation/compilation. 🙂

PS. The restaurant is located near SM Mall of Asia. Good luck in finding this restaurant among other seaside restaurants. Hah. The food is reaaaally great here, though. 😉

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Robbie’s Seaside Restaurant: Diosdado Macapagal Blvd., Manila Bay Reclamation Area, Pasay City

Foodgasm episode 4: Carla’s Birthday & Congratulatory Party @ Jade Palace

One of my closest friends recently graduated from the university. With flying colors pa which makes everyone so proud of her. She celebrated at Jade Palace Restaurant, which is located in Shaw Blvd. Kapitolyo (Pasig City). I kind of guessed that it was a Chinese restaurant and I was right. Yay!

There was a mini program held for Carla and our emcee was one of her college blockmates. Some of her high school and college friends gave messages for her, as well as her relatives. The celebration was just intimate and I actually had a lot of fun. I was very happy to see my high school friends since it was ages since I last saw them. Well, a bit of exaggeration on that part. Haha! I can’t help but post this picture of my best friend. I just looove her connector ring and her headband!

Let’s move on to the food we ate there! I do not know the name of the dishes and their price so let’s just indulge with the pictures I have.

Oh, and please allow me to post a few pictures with the awesome people I’m with. 😀

_MG_8099 — See how happy we are? 😀 (and that’s me in the pink sheer top!)

Congratulations, huggy! I just want to say that I’m sooooo proud of you. Even though we don’t see each other that often, I know na hindi nababawasan ang strength ng friendship natin. I love you so much and I hope that you’ll like our (Mico, Rosie, Tin, and Kim) collective gift. Stay pretty! :>

_MG_8063 — The very beautiful newly graduate. 😀

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Jade Palace: 106 Shaw Boulevard Kapitolyo, Pasig City

Foodgasm episode 3 2/2: Krazy Garlik

I actually decided to split my storytelling of my cousin’s birthday treat into two parts so that one entry focuses on one restaurant only.

Continuing the story… After watching Avengers 3D, we waited for my other cousins who will join us for dinner. We already had a reservation at Krazy Garlik and as the name suggests, most of their dishes have (lots of) garlic. Yay for me! I was not able to take note of the dishes my uncle ordered since he was at the other end of the table; thus, no chance of learning what was what and how much was each dish. But, being the resourceful person that I am, I searched for their menu online. I was quite surprised that they have a website and they posted their menu online. Lucky!

The texture of the squid was just right. It was easy to chew so I can safely say that the calamari was not overcooked. However, it was quite bitter for me and my mom. Good thing there was the aioli dressing which covered up the bitterness.

Good thing they ordered this pizza since I am a huuuuuge fan of garlic and shrimp. At first glance, I thought that the garlic flakes would be as chewy as a peanut. I was wrong. They had the right amount of crispiness which was good since I was worried it would get stuck in between my teeth. All in all, this pizza was excellent! Adding a few more shrimps would make this pizza better, though.

_MG_7887 — Korean Style Garlic Sesame Beef (PhP275)

I was quite afraid to take a bite out of this dish since it might be hard to chew because of the litid. To my surprise, it actually felt like the beef was melting in my mouth. Whew. Delicious dish but not that garlik-y.

_MG_7899 — Garlicky Crispy Pata (PhP695)

Yay for crispy pata with lots of garlic! This is deep fried pork leg which is very popular among Filipinos. Usually, when we say crispy pata, we associate it with beer since it is one of the best foods that goes best with it.

This was my first time in Krazy Garlik and I must say, my tummy was very happy. The waiter who took our orders was basically the one who assisted us if ever we need more water or refills for the iced tea and lemonade. His smile looked genuine so that is a plus for me. It’s a bit pricey compared to Recipes by Metro Cafe but every money spent here is worth it. 😉

_MG_7902 — The birthday girl with her *barkada* 🙂

_MG_7904 — The birthday girl with our relatives 🙂

Okay. So I just realized I was not able to get my cousin to pose for my camera. Boo. Oh well. There’s still next year. 😉

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Krazy Garlik: Newport Mall, Resorts World Manila, Pasay City

Foodgasm episode 3 1/2: Recipes by Cafe Metro

So, it was my cousin’s birthday yesterday. We headed first to Maxim’s since she booked a room there. Dumped my stuff there except for my camera. Then, off to Newport Mall to have our (late) lunch at Recipes by Cafe Metro. That was my first time to eat in this resto so I was really looking forward to their dishes. My cousin and her dad agreed to place two orders for each of their bestseller, except for Kare-kare since we eat it at home anyway.

_MG_7766 — Chicken Sotanghon (chicken, mushrooms, sotanghon, baby corn, cabbage)

I did not eat much of the tilapia since I always get to eat it at home. General’s Chicken was so good, though! It’s sweet and salty at the same time. I’m not a fan of eggplant so I did not bother eating one.

Gising Gising (translation: gising is “to wake up”) is made up of baguio beans, ground meat, and coconut milk. The taste is actually quite similar to Bicol Express. It was a good thing that it was not very spicy.

_MG_7790 — Lechon Kawali with Kangkong (PhP215)

I noticed a brochure on our table and I really found the dish endorsed in it very tempting. The dish is actually recommended by the Asian Food Channel (AFC), which makes it all the more tempting to order. Good thing that my uncle noticed the brochure as well so he placed two orders of Bangus Teriyaki (translation: Milkfish Teriyaki). Hooray!

What I loved with all of their dishes was the fact that they taste like lutong bahay (translation: food cooked at home). I think that was the main reason why we were able to eat everything, leaving no trace of meat or vegetable on the plates. It gives you the feeling that you are just having family lunch at home so you just feel comfortable while eating. With that said, I highly recommend this place especially if you’re having lunch/dinner with a group. I noticed that most of their dishes are good for 3-4 people. 🙂

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Recipes by Cafe Metro: Newport Mall, Resorts World Manila, Pasay City