Mitsuyado Sei-Men: Different, but not to my Liking

In an effort to keep up with my "try a new restaurant every month" goal, I'm always on the lookout for different and new places to try. Granted, I am on a diet, but I pretty much feel that if I don't cheat, I might give up altogether.

So, my sister (and cheating buddy) Tere recommended we try Mitsuyado Sei-Men along Jupiter. I was intrigued because it supposedly served really good tsukemen, which wasn't something I've tried before.

First, the good: I liked the ambiance, it's simple and different from the typical modern Japanese restos, with a "street food" feel to it and service was prompt and courteous.

Unfortunately, that's all I liked.



Again, it's not a ramen house, their specialty is tsukemen or dipping noodles. Basically, you dip noodles in a broth of your choice. I already read the reviews that their ramen was bad, so my sister and I opted to go for the specialties, the double cheese tsukemen and karash tsukemeni as well as their gyoza, which were all highly recommended. The double cheese, for me, tasted odd, and not Japanese at all. You can see in the picture that it was served with a topping of parmesan as well as two dips, a cheese sauce, not unlike the ones you eat with nachos, and a broth that was described as a tonkotsu broth with yuzu (citrus). The noodles, for their part were quite good and tasted fresh and of good quality, but I felt that the cheese sauce actually cheapened that flavor. The broth was a mix of sweet and sour which I really did not enjoy.

My sister's spicy Karashi was marginally better, but not by much, there was an overpowering flavor of (sesame?) oil, and it was a bit too spicy for me . Their gyoza was standard fare and nothing to rave about, I neither liked it nor hated it.

I'm not a fan and won't be coming back.

 

Cheat Score: Totally not worth it.

Where: 22 Jupiter St. Jupiter, Makati, Matro Manila.

Ikkoryu Fukuoka Ramen - Rainy Day Comfort at SM Aura Premier

One rainy evening, I convinced my sister to try this newly opened ramen joint in SM Aura.

I ordered the Ajitama tonkotsu ramen and Tere ordered the black garlic tonkotsu. Both arrived promptly which was good because by that time (almost 9pm) I was ravenous.



The noodles were thinner than the normal noodles in other ramen joints. You also have a choice of normal or hard noodles, personally I prefer the hard (al dente) noodles. The ajitama was very flavorful, i loved it, but if you're not fond of eating eggs, stay away from this dish.

Tere's black garlic tonkotsu was a bit too oily for me, and the flavor tasty, but not to my liking. Tere preferred this over my Ajitama though, so I guess it's a matter of preference.

We also got gyoza and it was also very good, probably one of the best I've tried.

We ended the meal with a scoop of sea salt caramel and green tea ice cream, which were both so good and would be reason enough for me to come back.

And since I mentioned I'm on a diet in my last post, I'll be rating the cheat meals I post if they were worth it or not.

Cheat Score: Worth it!

Where: Level 2, SM Aura Premier, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City

Gourmet food tripping at Apartment 1B

My ate, Maitz will be going back to Singapore in 2 weeks and we have always wanted to try Apartment 1B, mostly because of glowing recommendations we read on the Net. We finally found time to check it out today. We decided to try out the most recommended dishes (which were mostly starters) and just split everything.

For starters, we had the French Onion Soup. I love onion soup and this is one of the best I've tried. It was served in a (very) hot cup, with a layer of Gruyere cheese on top. The broth was very tasty but never overpowering. I absolutely enjoyed this. Pardon the image quality, it's taken on my SEK770i in less than ideal lighting conditions.

Next, we had some baked Samosas. It's mushrooms, spinach and cheese stuffed inside a flaky pastry (not unlike croissant). I also liked the creaminess of the cheese and the taste of the mushrooms, and best of all, it's not oily! Delicious.

Then, we had crabcakes, which is my favorite among those we've tried. It's served with a raspberry vinaigrette salad. Being a seafood lover, I enjoyed this immensely. The crab tasted fresh, without even a hint of 'fishiness'. The breading was very crunchy, and the salad worked perfectly when I ate it between bites. It's listed as a starter, but I wouldn't mind having this as my main dish. There are two crabcakes to an order, very filling.

Then our 'actual' main dish arrived. We ordered the 3-cheese, vegetable lasagna. We were thinking something healthy, but with all the cheese that was in it (ricotta, cheddar and parmesan), I'm not sure it's a very healthy dish. I also liked it, but I think I was already full from the other dishes we had that I didn't enjoy it as much. It's very tasty for something that didn't have meat in it, so I would recommend it to vegetarians, or those just cutting back on their meat intake.

Last, but not the least, dessert. I've been reading so much about the White Toblerone Cheesecake that I've set such high expectations of it, which is always a bad thing. I was not blown away by this dessert. For me, it's just another cheesecake, but the white toblerone bits was a nice touch, and I have to give props for that. So far, the best dessert I've had is the Marqueza from Terry's, but more on that in a different post. :)

All in all, lunch at Apartment 1B was a nice experience. The waiters were attentive, service was prompt, food was great and the ambiance is relaxed and cozy. But of course, it comes with a price, ours was 2K for 2 people. My bottom line, it's a great place to try if you're looking for gourmet comfort food, or for the great ambiance, but I'm not hooked. I'd rather spend the same amount on other restaurants like Duo or Terry's. There are still some items I want to try, and I want to come back for more crabcakes, so I'll probably go back, just not in the near future.

For those who want to try Apartment 1B, it's located at One Lafayette Square, 132 L.P. Leviste cor. Sedeno St., Salcedo Village Makati City, at the G/F Unit 1-B. :)

I've never been a doughnut person...which is why I was apathetic to the news that Krispy Kremes would be opening in Manila. I thought to myself, it would be like another GoNuts craze and sooner or later, the lines would thin out and the people would realize that it's just another sugar-loaded, empty carb fix.

I first had a taste of Krispy Kremes during our last US trip last 2004. We stayed with Tito Emmy and his family for a while, and they brought us 2 dozen assorted Krispy Kremes for breakfast. Granted, they were delicious, but like I said, I wasn't a doughnut person, so I didn't crave for it, not even once.

Then, two years later, Krispy Kremes opens at the Fort, and I bought a box of six Original glazed from my friend just so I can relate when people talk about it at work. They were yummier than I remembered, or maybe it's the Original flavor that I liked, I told myself I'd come back once the lines got shorter.

A couple of weeks later, (thanks to the SAS new hires), I had another Krispy Kreme, this time with a chocolate topping and custard filling. Sweet... maybe even a little too sweet, I told myself I can live without the empty calories.

Fast forward to the first week of January. Tere, mom and I were at the Fort and on a whim, we decided to drop by. Apparently, whenever you're in line, they would treat you to a free Original Glazed Krispy Kreme hot off the conveyor. And all I could say was... 'Mmmmmmm.....'

Diets be damned! This sugar-coated morsel of soft dough was delicious! So soft it almost melts in your mouth, with a slight crunch because of the glaze. I'm not sure how long my craving for this sweet, sweet treat will last, but until then...

Food, food and more food...

May is such a fattening month!

1st, mother's day. We had two celebrations, for Lunch, we went to Seaside. First, in Diosdado Macapagal which was jam-packed with cars, so we tried to go to my favorite Jap resto, Red Kimono at the Fort, which was also packed. So, we decided to try another Seaside, this time in Ortigas. There were still a lot of people there, and we had to wait for a table at Aling Tonya's (great food!). Finally, we had a hearty lunch at 3PM, with some of my favorites, salt & pepper squid and butter & garlic shrimps. :)

Then, there's dinner with the Espiritus to celebrate Mother's Day for Nanay. :) We had dinner at Emperor's Court in New World...There was so much food! And since we couldn't eat much since we were still full from lunch, there were a lot of leftovers, which we divided so we can all have "baon" for Monday. We had a blast, as we usually do when we put all of us in the same room.

Fast forward two days later, May 16, my dad's birthday. He's 50 now! Happy birthday pa! Mwah! :) Another heavy dinner, I haven't felt hungry in days!

Next day, May 17, tito JRs bday and the annual blessing of the Espiritu residence. Which meant, another party! This time, with my cousins, aunts and uncles from the Bibiesca clan. My favorites on that night was the turon and the cucumber-something fruit shake...basically, the only things I could eat coz I was still reeling from the aftershocks of so much food.


Then, May 21. I'm a ninang again! This time to Andee, my aunt's baby girl. :) She looks so much like Tere when she was a baby, only Andee cries at the sightest inconvenience...and when she does cry it will rattle you to your very core. I mean, you can't imagine how loud this 3-month old is. But, adorable nonetheless. :) This time, we ate at Cantonese Kitchen in Jupiter, Chinese again.

Lastly, Mich's bday! May 23, we had lunch at Tempura at Convergys building. Food is pretty much like Teriyaki Boy, which was great. I love Japanese food. Happy bday Mich! And thanks for the treat!

And now, I need to work off all these calories... :-p

Finally!!!
A weekend to myself. :)
Now I can catch up on my blogging...
First off, some food reviews... don't really know why I'm writing about food but it's a nice topic to write about.

One of the reasons why I'm always cash-strapped a few days (and sometimes even weeks) before payday is because I love eating out... My weekend typically consists of a visit to the mall and lunch afterwards with my sis/mom. Sometimes, my routine varies, scheduling a spa visit every now and then, and sometimes, we go out just to try a new resto that we've read or heard about. That, is how I found myself at the Red Kimono at the Fort with Maitz and Mon on the Saturday after the big anti-GMA rally the day before. We've read about their modern makis and crunchy rolls that for me was worth braving a possible coup just so I can say I've tried it. Yeah, that's just the way I am.

Being a fan of things raw and Japanese, I thoroughly enjoyed the Salmon and Cream cheese maki and the California crunch (Cali maki with tempura batter). Their other entrees were also good, but not "revolutionary" enough as the cream cheese and salmon combi worth mentioning. Yum, yum... Two weeks later, I went back with my mom so she could add the resto to her growing roster of favorite dining spots.

Fast forward to April 1, Maitz and I were at Shangri-La Edsa coz of their "big sale". Not really such a big sale if you ask me, but I did get three blouses from Faro. We met Mon and he took us to Metro Walk, and Maitz suggested we try this Brazilian BBQ place called Brazil Brazil... It's actually a sit-down buffet, I'll explain this in a minute, but dining here is an experience that's worth sharing. There's a buffet table for salads, rice, corn&veggies, pasta, but the real food is brought to you by the waitresses carrying big pieces of meat/sausages/seafood/grilled fruits on a large skewer.

They have this two-sided yoyo, color coded red and green on opposite sides. As long as the green-side is up, they will keep approaching your table offering the freshly grilled BBQs and will ask you how many slices/pieces you want. There's a set of tongs on the table which you use to hold the freshly carved pieces of meat and then transfer it on to your plate for a no holds barred beef binge.

Protein lovers and carb haters will love this place.

Not to mention, the service is great. :)

Price is a little steep though...so I guess I won't be coming back anytime soon.

All in all, 4 stars for both restos. Will add some more if I get to try some other new places. :)

Bon appetit!

"Tall Creme Brulee Latte Decaf for Vanessa!"

As I hurried to pick up my drink, I realized that over the past week, I have become increasingly addicted to Starbucks. Every day, for the past 7 days, I have treated myself to not just one, but sometimes even two drinks a day. It started innocently enough, a latte to treat myself for doing well in my systems walkthrough, an Iced White Chocolate Mocha for dessert, a Caramel Latte to wake me up during a particularly slow Wednesday...and the list goes on.

Now, about 1000 bucks poorer and definitely a couple of pounds heavier, I am putting a Starbucks ban on my diet for the rest of January. Well, at least until the next coupon becomes valid which is on January 29, 2006. :-)