When Uan Met Sally

Yes, that's the name of the store/coffee shop that Derek and tried out last Saturday night. Sorry it took so long to upload the pictures and the experience, have been pretty busy. Had it not been for the typhoon and the holiday, I might have waited a few more days before I uploaded them.

Last Saturday, Derek and I met up to have dinner in Don Day in UP Village. The food was good, but the place was something else. It's a Korean restaurant where you can grill meat, and have a field day with the Kimchi and other Korean delicacy buffet in the restaurant. When we arrived, there were quite a lot of patrons, and the staff found it hard to keep out. We ended up eating on a table next to an area that had recently been vacated, and with piled used dishes.

Too bad, since I enjoyed the food in Don Day. After dinner, Derek and I drove around UP Village to look for a nice quaint coffee shop, and we chanced upon this store.

I was initially drawn to the colorful clothes on display in the store, and when we were inside, ended up discovering that they had food and coffee as well.

The clothes were quite unique, and the attendant informed us that the owner of the shop purchase the clothes from Bangkok.

I love the theme and the adherence of the store and coffee shop to it. It had a shabby chic vibe going about the store, and obviously, the owner seemed to love birds as a theme. Here's the detail on the wooden placemat used on the coffee tables.

The store's menu was placed on a blue-washed clipboard with a pretty bird medallion detail.

I ordered the Artisan's Coffee, which came with a free cookie. The cup was painted with a bird-detail, and even the cookie was not spared. 

I love the sugar that they used. I should have taken a video of how it melted when I put the lump in the brewed coffee. 

If ever you're in the area, visit the shop and have a lovely cup of coffee or two. I would love to just sit at the store's patio during a rainy day and enjoy their coffee. 

When Uan Met Sally

154-A Maginhawa Street, UP Village, Quezon City

IHOP in Bonifacio Global City

I've been happy ever since I made the big move to manage a property in Bonifacio Global City. I used to be so afraid of the Fort, because I thought it was so magulo, but it turns out, Makati CBD was the one magulo.

I drive going home to Quezon City everyday, and I discovered it would be better to wait out rush hour in the office - get additional work done, and you spend less for gas because you're not stuck for an hour and a half in traffic.

There are times when i would have dinner, thus, in BGC before I leave work for home. Last week, I had dinner with a good friend of mine, Ayi Castillo. I was finishing some stuff in the office, when he texted me asking if I was still in One Serendra. Ayi, by the way, is one of the property managers of Two Serendra, the complex on the other side of Serendra's retail area, developed by Alveo.

We work for the same company and have become really good friends ever since the company's sportsfest last year.

We decided to grab a bite to eat before going home.

We found ourselves heading towards IHOP in BGC. We got a nice round table at the corner of the 2nd floor of the restaurant, which afforded us a good view of the cars stopping in the intersection below. Unfortunately, my very unreliable iPhone wasn't with us because it had to stay in the office in the charging dock - hence my pictures for this post were taken using my Blackberry Torch.

I ordered the Big Steak Omelette as the server convinced me it was the bestselling omelette on the menu.

The omelette's come with a side of pancakes. I opted not to order a different flavored pancake, as I wanted to try their collection of syrups.

Here's a picture of the pancake on the side that was given to me.

They had a selection of syrups that you can put on your pancake.

I sampled all of the flavors, so that I can opine on which had to be my favorite among them. I hated the Blueberry syrup - it tasted like cough syrup, Tempra to be exact. It really is a close fight between Butter Pecan and Strawberry for me.

Ayi ordered the Quick-Two Egg Breakfast, but chose Chocolate Chocolate Chip Pancake as his side. Over-excited Ayi quickly put a dollop of Heinz ketchup on his hash brown.

If you've eaten at the IHOPs in the US, you'd notice that they use the same plates, and syrup cruets. Even the refillable iced tea that they serve is the same mix as the one being sold in the diners there. And yes, IHOP is International House of Pancakes.

Curious to get in on the IHOP craze, 'coz you know us Filipinos - we queue up for the oddest things, then feel free to visit them in BGC.

IHOP (formerly known as The International House of Pancakes)
Ground Level, W Global Center
30th Street, corner 9th Avenue, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig
tel. no. 02.687.5611

Penpen's in Cubao Expo

All the milling around, jumping parking fences, and shopping eventually tired out the A-List Manila team. Derek and I decided to have dinner at this place in Cubao Expo that I've eaten at several times already. 

It was a first for Derek, so I was quite excited at how he was going to react to the Filipino-fusion cuisine that Penpen's served. 

Right at the exit of Cubao Expo, facing General Romulo, you can see the restaurant already. I discovered it because they served their own version of cocktails at PhP 99.00 per pitcher. If you're really depressed and suicidal, you can do drink-all-you can for PhP 220.00 per person here. 

Now the food is not at all that bad. In fact, they serve rather interesting fare, and is best taken after soaking in the vintage shopping experience that Cubao Expo offers. 

Their placemats act as their menus and is printed on newspaper print, to give more of a local-homey feel to it. The columns are plastered with vintage Filipino movie-posters from decades ago, and it is such a treat already to see how many of the old movies you've seen. 

It was pretty quiet also. The restaurant is located at the exit, far from Bellini's and the hipster crowd that frequent the restaurants and bar inside the compound, so you can really be able to dine and wine in peace. 

For starters, Derek and I ordered Gabi Chips, which was freshly fried, and became even more crispy after waiting for it to dry. 

It was very reasonably priced at PhP 70.00, which I suppose is what you will end up having as pulutan for their various cocktails. 

I ordered their very sinful Pinggoy's Pasta Aligue. It was delicious! And very affordable at PhP 170.00!

Derek ordered the Malunggay-Quesong Puti in Pili Oil Pesto, which was only PhP 148.00. It really got me thinking how easily this can be made at home, but I would make it using olive oil. 

It was such a filling dinner, with their own Pandan Iced Tea. Will definitely go back to try their other pasta dishes. They also offer rice meals, all Filipino-fusion. 

Should you wish to visit them, their details are below:

Penpen's 

Unit # 15A, Cubao Expo, General Romulo Avenue, Araneta Center, Cubao, QC

tel. no. 02.330.1933

Rediscovering Cubao, Cubao Expo

On this boring Saturday afternoon, Derek sent me a BBM message wanting us to meet up. Knowing that the horrid EDSA Saturday traffic should be non-existent, I asked him to meet with me in Gateway, as I wanted an alternative place to visit and go to for window-shopping. Bored with the same old mall experience, I was thinking, maybe we can visit Cubao Expo.

Derek picked me up from Gateway, and we made a beeline for HMR Surplus in Araneta first. There were so many cheap finds there. I ended up buying a documentary DVD on Obama for PhP 15.00, an Ashlee Simpson CD for PhP 50.00, and a soul music CD for PhP 9.00. Derek bought the same stuff, and two belts.

Afterwards, we headed for Cubao Expo. Now, this isn't really the first time I've been to Cubao Expo, as growing up, we would visit this place, then called Marikina Shoe Expo, whenever my mother would need custom-made boots for her trips abroad.

The old shoe shops were still there: Janylin, Valentino, Russ. However, there were a number of vintage and curio shops that have opened as well. They sell LP records for PhP 50.00 each, CDS, cassette tapes, Coke memorabilia (heaven!), figurines, vintage clothes... well, basically everything!

Here are some of the shops that had interesting displays:

 This shop had a lot of books, LP records, military memorabilia.

The shop above had categorized their items according to niche. There was a section for Coca-Cola memorabilia, a section for Beatles items, a section for cat figurines, and imported mugs.

I've read up on some of the shops in Cubao Expo online, and I visited the Reading Room.

I wanted to check out some of their vintage clothes, in their Sandy's closet corner - because online you can see that they sell some Uniqlo and Cacharel items, all at PhP 100.00 each. I ended up buying my sister 3 dresses. Of course, my mom stole the 3rd dress and claimed it as her own.

Another reason I wanted to visit their shop was to get a Ninja Plushie. I'm sure this isn't a craze, but I just fell in love with the Ninja Plushies from when I was reading about them online. I think I saw them in The Reading Room's Facebook account. I noticed that no two ninjas are made of the same design. I suppose the makers engage in recycling and make the ninja plushies out of left over cloths, so definitely, no two ninjas will have the same design. Really, I so wanted to adopt one, and promised myself that when I find myself in the area, would look up the shops.

It wasn't difficult to choose which Ninja Plushie I was going to take home. In fact, he was practically jumping off the shelf when he saw me enter. It was love at first sight really. I guess people know already what to expect for Christmas from me.

So everyone, I'd like you to meet Chanel Ninja. Here he is proofreading this article before I post it.

I love The Reading Room's products. Most of them are found items that they recycled. Some are old pieces of clothing that they converted to be useful items again. There was a bag being sold there for only PhP 75.00 and was made of old neckties.

Please feel free to visit Cubao Expo, it still has an old world charm to the place, amidst the redevelopment of Araneta Center. I certainly do hope that they maintain the place, because anybody who grew up in the 80s and 90s would definitely have fond memories of the complex.

Visit The Reading Room. I spoke to the person in the shop, and they're open until 11:00PM. Would love to adopt more Ninja Plushies, they're priced at PhP 125.00 each.

The Reading Room
Shop # 39, Cubao Expo, Gen. Romulo Street, Araneta Center, Cubao, QC

Cab Cafe in Bo. Kapitolyo

Went out of the house this holiday Friday because I needed to have my car washed. I ended up getting my car washed in Bo. Kapitolyo, in the carwash next to Charlie's. Of course, I didn't end up eating in Charlie's because it was too close to dinner time. It was perfect for afternoon tea though.

So leaving the keys with the carwash boy, I ventured to the coffee shop on the other side. Cab Cafe, like most of the establishments along East Capitol Drive, was a house. Now, it's a coffee shop, serves interesting looking pizza. I will definitely go back to try their pizza.

But since I was just waiting for the car to finish with its bath, I just ordered a cake, and a smoothie. They have quite a collection of cakes, I so want to order a whole cake from here for my birthday this November, granted I don't find a better alternative.

I ended up getting a Chocolate Carrot Cake, which is quite a different and unique take on a carrot cake - which is one of my favorite cake variants. I also ordered a Mango Caramel Drink. Surprisingly enough, the drink was good as well.

If you want to visit Cab Cafe, because I know I will have to go back to try their appetizers and main courses, below are their details:

Cab Cafe
18 East Capitol Drive, Kapitolyo, Pasig
tel. no. 02.477.5382

Saboten at Serendra

Finally, after having craved for this for so long, I finally tried Saboten with Derek. In preparation for the long weekend, I had texted Derek to meet me for dinner, and insisted that we eat at Saboten so that I could finally get the craving out of my system.

Since I now work in One Serendra, I have waited for the restaurant that replaced Silk at Thai to open since the start of the year. And upon discovering that it was going to be another Japanese cutlet restaurant, I was ecstatic and impatient to be able to finally sink my teeth into its offerings. 

So I've eaten at Yabu in Megamall, and have raved about the experience. I also tried the affordable yet delectable Katsu Cafe opened by Ateneo high school classmated (GO D2000 BOYS!) in the Katipunan area... and now, I get the chance to try the original Japanese cutlet, Saboten!

Derek picked me up from my office and we made a rather short walk to Saboten. Can you imagine my willpower? This restaurant has been staring me in the face for 2 months, and it was only now that I ate there.

Saboten is franchised by Raintree Restaurants, the group that brought you Stella, Chelsea, Momo, and Rocket Room. I actually met a couple of weeks back with some of their managers because we were applying for a send-bill arrangement for our complex.

 I love what they did to their ceiling. Note the Sakura detail peeking out of the the trellis-type beams.

Cute details for the walls also. And if you're just two in your dinner party, don't worry, they have rather large tables for two people. We were quite luck to get a booth good for two. Bear in mind that this restaurant does not accept reservations, so better try to come early.

The sets come with unlimited cabbage-salad, miso soup, Japanese rice, and pickled vegetables. So you might think that they're rather expensive than normal, or compared to the local Katsudon restaurants, but you really get value for your money. And, as I always say, it's like eating in a buffet where you don't have to stand up.

The sets also come with bottomless green tea.

The pot contains the Katsudon sauce which you pour over the sesame seeds that they will let you grind. The cruets contain the dressing for the salad.

Here's a snapshot of their cute mortar.

I ordered the Saboten Special Set, which gave me a taste of their deep-fried shrimp, the loin and tenderloin cutlet, and the crab croquette. The crab croquette's filling was so rich!

Derek ordered the Clay Pot Chicken Set. It looked so amazing!

If you want to try the special katsu of Saboten, please feel free to drop by their Serendra branch:

Saboten
G/F Serendra Retail, Mckinley Parkway
Bonifacio Global City, Taguig (or Makati)
tel no. 02.625.2000

Mama Lou's, Adventures Down South

Okay, so its too much to be referring to BF Homes as "down south", but it was the first time that I drove to that area alone. Was feeling rather down because of some person I slummed it out with (yes, Kat Pauso, I can hear you saying, "I told you so."). Decided I wanted to go out. Now, most of my friends weren't available, even Derek, the ex-best friend of my ex, had a thing that he had to attend to - so I made my way down south to meet up with a good friend of mine, the Engineer.

So he's a new character for A-List Manila. Of course, the Engineer isn't really an engineer - guess this is left to be a private joke between the two of us. But, the Engineer was there to the rescue to help me in my time of need, I was invited to a nice dinner.

I was actually quite surprised when I saw how many restaurants were in the area. Take out the need to travel along the expressway (people from my generation still call it that, and not SLEX), and the having to pretend to have a BF Homes sticker, the area was actually rather nice.

The Engineer was telling me that a couple of years back, prior to the water system being properly fixed, the area's real estate value was really low. But after water was brought to their faucets 24/7, property value started to appreciate.

And with a wonderful smorgasbord of restaurants that started to mushroom, really, if you lived in the area, who needs to traverse to BGC or Makati for good eats, right?

There were so many options, but I settled to try Mama Lou's that Friday evening.

I left my car parked in Shopwise, and we decided to take The Engineer's SUV. He was going in and out of the streets, until we found ourselves cruising along some dark residential street, having left the establishments behind already. Who would've thought, nestled in the darkness of this village, if it still is - it was too dark to tell, there was a gem of an Italian restaurant waiting to be discovered.

The Engineer is a regular in Mama Lou's, so much so that when the owner saw him, he offered his table to him.

Mama Lou's is actually located in a house in BF Homes. The smoking area is the porch area of the house, and for diner's who want to dine inside, the sala and dining room of the house is converted to accommodate non-smoking diners. The Engineer's favorite table is situated right at the main door of the house.

While waiting for the wine and food that was ordered, I strolled around the porch area and took a snapshot of the decor that they had. I was especially amused by the cabinet with the painted stuff on it.

Taking the lead, and being quite the gentleman, The Engineer took the liberty of ordering for us. He ordered a bottle of merlot and his favorite items on the menu.

I am unsure what pizza he ordered. I tried checking the menu of Mama Lou's online, but couldn't figure out, based on the list of ingredients, what the name of this dish is. It had mushrooms, bell pepper, olives, and either pepperoni or Italian sausage. The vegetables you order separately for PhP 40.00, which gave the pizza extra flavor. I was told by the Engineer that Yellow Cab's Dear Darla may have been patterned after Mama Lou's pizzas. He sometimes orders this with anchovies.

I'll be updating the blog with the names of the items he ordered. Hehehe, sent him a text message just now. Hope he doesn't find it trivial.

The pasta dish was divine. According to the Engineer, Mama Lou's used to make their own pasta, but now they just purchase the packaged ones. Nonetheless, the way the pasta was cooked was still perfect.
I love this Spaghetti Seafood Olio. It definitely will have me coming back for more! I love the way they  opted not to toast the garlic. It was so fresh to the bite.

The Italian Meatballs in Pomodoro Sauce were filled with cheese. It was great paired with the red wine that we ordered.

Now, if you want to pay Mama Lou's a visit, below are their details:

Mama Lou's Italian Kitchen
B1 L36 Tropical Avenue cor. Tropical Palace
BF International, Las Pinas
tel. no. 02.519.1977
mobile 0917.834.MAMA (6262)