145 Farenheit - Il Terazzo T. Morato

Location: toward the end of Tomas Morato, after the rotunda
Cuisine: hard to tell - just like many other steak-houses
Price: PPPP
Attire: Inside, semi-formal but walking there from the parking lot, wear pj's
What we had: Pumpkin soup, rib-eye steak, sea bass
Rating: 2-stars


This restaurant is actually not bad, but there's nothing spectacular about it either. The meat is too reminiscent of home-cooked steak bought from Santi's Deli, except that they capture the essence of medium (unlike when the maid cooks it). The sea-bass, on the other hand, was ok except when it touched the tomato-soup like concoction - I guess clear tomato sauce is not my thing, especially when the sea-bass was done almost as well as the one at Summer Palace. Service was ok, the location was ok, the waiting time was ok, everything was ok... but then we're not just looking of an ok place, now, are we?

Jozu - Tomas Morato

Location: toward the end of Tomas Morato, after Alex III and Burgoo but on the other side of the road
Cuisine: fake Japanese, a.k.a. Japanese fusion
Price: PP
Attire: Whatever you do, don't dress up

Straight to the long story because it's been so long since we ate there we can't remember what we had exactly -

The place looks incredibly retro especially for a Japanese restaurant. The sushi menu is different though not exactly break-through. We had the one described to have egg, unagi, cheese and we immediately associated it with Ichiban Boshi's unagi sandwich (yum) but it turned out to be a lumpia sushi, with minimal traces of unagi. The uni sashimi was ok, obviously bought from nearby fuji-mart @ 300php per tub. There was this tofu something that was not agedashi tofu, but also fried except with sweet stuff - that was pretty good but when we went back the tofu tasted a little off. There was a bunch of fried stuff and the normal teriyaki, which were what you would expect from dime a dozen fake japanese restos. The high-light was kamameshi, though in the end it's just rice, but then they did it well. The service was pretty ok, of course, they had more folks than customers. Perhaps the drink list was more the high-light, though we never really made it there, having to dine with the family and all.

In the end, it's a so-so restaurant, where we'd eat when there's no parking at Katre, UCC, Chili's (then again there's valet in Chili's), or Omakase. Two stars for now, since we haven't really dug down to the root cause of why we always get bloated after we eat there.

Dian Xiao Er - Singapore

Location: Marina Square, 2nd floor in front of JollyBean; Vivo City (somewhere in the maze, just look it up in the directory)
Cuisine: chinese
Price: PPP (though this is because we ate a lot)
Attire: Casual
What we had: Roast Duck in 10 Wonder Herb, Roast Duck in Ginseng, Buddha Jump Over the Fence Soup, Fried Man Tou, Iced Tea
Rating: Om nom nom nom

Food: roast duck managed to stay crispy despite being soaked in the herb concoction, which amazingly did not taste like chinese medicine one is made to take during puberty. The authenticity of the raw material claims are supported by actually seeing whole ginseng pieces, apart from the obvious ginseng taste. Buddha jump over the fence soup was excellent, especially as you can only get it in manila if you pre-order it and you have 8 other people with you. Again, this is not a corn-starch faker - a quick scan will show you abalone, shark's fin, and black chicken, among others which we could not define. Overall, it's something that will make you want to visit Singapore for.

Price: definitely worth every penny

Service: Waiters are fast and efficient. They don't speak a lot of english, but they're not the typical harsh Chinese waiters you'll find in china.
Ambiance: old-chinese courtyard made indoors. makes you want to play mahjong afterwards
Bathroom: there is not inside bathroom, you need to go out into the mall

Choi's Garden - Annapolis

I know it's been a while since the last review. I've decided to write this review freestyle. You guys just let me know if you prefer I continue writing my reviews based on the template or like this.

To the matter at hand. We had lunch at Choi's Garden in Annapolis a month or so back. Parking in this resto was hell. The place severely lacks decent parking. For a restaurant that caters to parties and gatherings where one can expect more than three cars per table, this was definitely a turn off for me (I suppose management didn't think this through). Upon entering the restaurant, the decor just blew me away. Impressive archway upon entering. The only thing that ruined this was that the place was extremely small. The tables are crowded together so there's little room for you to navigate yourself to your table.

From this point on, things have REALLY turned sour. As soon as we settled down, we were joined by several other buzzing guests. The dining experience was reminicent of a scene in William Golding's Lord of the Flies. The staff made the experience even worse. I noticed that several utensils fell on the floor. A waiter came along, picked them up and dumped them right back on the tray holding the clean utensils. I think contaminating the whole silverware with everything that's been on the floor counts as a MASSIVE no-no, doesn't it? Good thing we already have ours on the table.

And what's with the waiter of the place? Seeing that every other table has ordered the pigeon, we decided to have the same, and for some strange reason, the waiter keeps discouraging us. Service was extremely slow. Probably because it was lunch time and the place was full, but that still counts as a minus on their part. Plus several items in the menu were out of stock.

The food was not worth the price, and mind you, the place is not that cheap. I'd probably rate the price at about 'PPP'. You can probably have the same quality at Gloria Maris, but then again, it's their sister company. All in all, I'd give the resto a rating of '˜'.

Still alive!

Hello ya'll,

Just letting you guys know that we're still alive and kicking! Things just have been a helluva busy lately. We've got some reviews already lined up and will be posting them soon as soon as we get our materials together. HUZZAH!

Katre - off Tomas Morato

Restaurant Details
Location: Scout Something, turn toward Alfredo’s side from Tomas Morato, right beside D’ Mark
Cuisine: Mediterranean Fusion
Price: PPP
Attire: Smart Casual

Our Details

What we had: Foie Gras on Pasta, Angus Rib Eye in au jus, Pandan Juice
Rating: ˜˜˜
Comments:
Food Steak was done just right, it was cut just right, cooked just right, tender, juicy, excellent. Foie Gras serving was generous, delicately pan fried, served on top of spaghettini with capers, cranberry, etc. Pasta done al dente – it’s a bit on the oily side but just pop a Xenical and you should be ok. Pandan juice had aloe in it, bottomless, and goes perfectly with the food (and the weather).
Price Definitely worth it
Service Waiters know what they’re doing and what they’re recommending. There’s the occasional new waiter learning the ropes but the rest are veterans who even remember what your usual.
Ambiance The place is like a renovated house – it looks fresh and clean inside. Just don’t sit outside, as there are a number of plants and occasionally sitting beside the window, you will see a lizard. It’s a good place to bring someone on a 2nd or 3rd date.
Bathroom Bathroom was not exactly clean but not dirty either, though it could be better.

The Long Story

This was a recommendation from my mom – I was skeptical at first because of the strange name, which sounds like a cafeteria. But after trying nearly half of the menu – lamb rack (very good), sea bass (very good), lamb navarine (good), pacific cod (good), calamari (good), wild mushroom soup (very good), chocolate cake (good), and a bunch of other stuff, which we can’t remember anymore. With the redundancy of restaurants and proliferation of fake food in Tomas Morato, this is a very welcome break. Except that it’s closed on Mondays, but hey, everyone needs a day off. After trying different things, we now stick to ordering the same thing (yes, both of us) – Foie Gras on Pasta with lots of freshly grated Parmesan cheese, Pandan Juice, and the occasional chocolate cake (if we had starved ourselves of dessert during lunch). This is a place we’d definitely recommend.

Mano’s Greek Taverna - Tagaytay

Restaurant Details
Location: Calamba Road, Barangay San Jose, Tagaytay City
Cuisine: Greek
Price: PP
Attire: Shorts and slippers – there’s no air conditioning

Our Details
What we had: Tzatziki, Moussaka, Lamb Gyros, Grilled Porkchop
Rating: ˜˜

Comments:
Food: Rendition of Greek cuisine is better than Greek restaurants in Manila (Cyma, Mati, Café Mediterranean) but still with improvement areas. Tzatziki lacked the punch of garlic and the yogurt was a bit on the watery side. Moussaka was actually ok, there was no overload of béchamel sauce – they could cut down on the potatoes, but that’s how the Greeks would have it. Lamb Gyros and Grilled Porkchop were really nothing special, the latter had parts which are dry.
Price Price is commensurate to the food quality
Service Normal service that you would expect from household maid – because of the lack of adequate training, you need to constantly remind them of what needs to be done.
Ambiance Imagine a house in Santorini on the outside and one of the cafés at Plaka on the inside. Then throw in the dust from passing cars, the heat from the sun, flies everywhere, and (ugh, I hope this was a one-time thing) lots of kids
Bathroom Unsurprisingly unacceptable

The Long Story
We’ve passed by this place when we went to Tagaytay before, and then did some research on what other people think about it. Finally, we happened to have a trip with friends and got to try it. When we were ordering, the waitress said they ran out of pita and Greek bread, so we, I mean, I freaked out because this means nearly half of the stuff on the menu was not available. She said the bread would be ready in an hour – it takes 15 minutes at the most to make pita bread!! I actually considered leaving, and was quite vocal about it. In the end, they were able to serve the bread in time…. I wonder now what they did. Unfortunately I was not able to try the yogurt with honey, which was one of my all-time favorites during our Greece trip. (If you do try it, please let me know if it’s really good)

I love Greek food and I have been searching for the perfect Tzatziki in Manila, or in Asia for that matter. The closest I got is the Olive Garden at the Emporium Mall’s Gourmet Market… this is in Bangkok, which means I need to consume tubs of Tzatziki 3 days after I get back home. If you get the chance to grab this, try ditching the pita bread and eating it with Chubi Corn (looks like cornets but better, it comes in a green box and has Japanese stuff written all over it). I wouldn’t really say it was over-rated, because the food was not bad, though friends were really not too impressed by it either. We wouldn’t drive 2 hours to eat at an average restaurant.