Wonderful Dinner at Yabu ATC

I have been to the Yabu branch at SM Southmall, before and I always know that I will have a great time. The food is delicious and the service good.  So when I learned that they were opening at Alabang Town Center I was excited, and had to join the FB contest for an invitational dinner.  Luckily I won and was happy to learn that I could take a guest, so The Little Girl became my date for the night. 

Since it was an invitational dinner, and the ATC branch has not officially opened, I was not expecting much. However I was pleasantly surprised, the service was excellent.  The staff was friendly, attentive, and just like the other branches service was exceptional.  It is given that people go to a restaurant for the good food, however people go back because of the service, and this is what is commendable in Yabu they give importance to both the food and the service because they know that delivering on both will ensure customer loyalty, I should know because I am one of their loyal customers. 

The Little Girl trying to decide what to order

Photo op while waiting for the food

First set of appetizers - seaweed and egg salad

I love that she is willing to try new dishes
that's how you discover new ones to love 

She liked the seaweed dish a lot 

Second set of appetizers -spinach salad and
octopus which was The Little Girl's favorite.
She liked that the octopus was spciy sweet

Another serving of the the octopus for her 

She was actually the one who finished the octopus
I was left with the cucumber slices, which
were still quite good

See the smile on her face, very excited to start 

Careful the miso soup is hot

 

A big yummy bite,
she truly enjoyed not just this bite but the whole meal

My thanks again to Yabu and Alabang Town Center for this great dinner.  Looking forward to the official opening we will definitely be back.  See you all soon :) 

Wee Nam Kee

I have been planning to try out Wee Nam Kee for such a long time, but never got the chance.  So happy that they opened a branch in the South.  So I finally had the chance to take the Little Ones out for lunch last month. 

The Little Boy absolutely loves soup, he is always the first one to take a spoonful of any soup.  This one was complimentary, but it was still very flavorful, he loved it a lot.

I had the barley drink which was very refreshing

Chili, thick soy sauce and ginger
condiments to use with the Hainesese chicken

I enjoyed this garlic kangkong dish very much 

This fried rice was so good that you can just have this
and you would be very happy

The house specialty, Hainanese chicken,
we decided to get the roast kind
so that the kids would eat it.  

The Little Girl is into eating pasta and noodles these days.
This was her order, she picked it from the menu, it was just okay,
 I found it kind of bland.  But it was easily fixed with some calmansi and toyo

Another request from the Little Girl was this yummy squid dish

I will definitely be taking the Little Ones back to Wee Nam Kee soon, in fact the Little Girl is planning our next meal, she took note of other dishes she would like to try on our next visit. 

Kimpura: I So Missed You

Let me start by apologizing for the quality of the pictures, I did not have my camera so I used my low tech cellphone to take pictures.  I was not really prepared that day since I was accompanying my Dad to a doctor's appointment.  It was a nice surprise that he wanted to treat us to lunch at an old family favorite.  Kimpura was our go to restaurant in Makati the whole family has missed them since they closed a couple of years ago.  So I was very thankful and super excited that Dad wanted to have lunch here. 

Love the interiors, we were the first customer for lunch, but soon after
the lunch crowd came

They still serve the free appetizer of sweet-chili dilis
with vegetables.  But the serving have become so small
but gladly still good 

I don't eat sushi nor any maki except for California. 

I always used to order ebi tempura in the old Kimpura,
was expecting them to be huge like before, was a little disappointed that they are smaller now

My parents ordered the bento set meals.  I should have followed my Dad' urging and ordered one of those.  They shared with me pieces of their katsu and it was really delicious and tender just like how I remember them.  Overall I guess my expectations were really too high for this Kimpura reunion, but I am willing to go back and I am sure next time I will enjoy the food more. 

Pho 24

At the end of the lights and sounds show at the Ayala Triangle Gardens the Little Ones were quite hungry.  All the other restaurants at the area were full so we ended up at Pho 24.  I've never tried nor heard about this restaurant before but since the Little Ones were super hungry and were becoming cranky I had no choice.  

Obviously she looks super tired and hungry

The Little Boy though hungry still had the energy to goof around

Scanning the menu I learned that they did not too many dishes to offer.  Most of the items were pho, which would have probably been good but since it was quite humid I was not in the mood for any hot soup.  We ended up ordering mostly appetizers since their other offerings were mostly set rice meals which the Little Ones were not interested in.

We first had the fried spring rolls, which were just so so.  The filling was bland even if you dipped it nuoc nam.  We definitely have had better rolls in other places.

Next came the pomelo salad.  I have had and made lots of pomelo salads before but never like this one.  Their version has coconut cream, so I was very excited to taste this dish.  Unfortunately the pomelo they used was still unripe so you did not get any sweetness, it was very bland.  But at least I got a new idea for a twist on my pomelo salad. I'll be adding coconut cream next time I made this dish at home. 

The fried rice was the only dish I enjoyed, but it was nothing special about it that is worth mentioning.

The Little Boy liked these crispy chicken wings a lot, but for me again there was nothing special about the dish. 

Though I did not really enjoy the food at Pho 24, our visit there served its purpose which was to satisfy the hunger pangs of the Little Ones.  After dinner they were energized as shown in the pictures below.

Dancing under the stars and lights

She had her lovely smile back : ) 

Will I return to Pho 24? Probably not, but then on second thought maybe if the other restos in the area were full and again I had no other choice but to. 

Red Crab Alimango House

What is inside the Red Crab palayok?

I'll answer the question a little later in the post.  It was Dad's 65th birthday, we decided to take Dad and Mom out for lunch to celebrate.  Red Crab in Alabang Town Center (ATC) was a family favorite, several special celebrations were held there including a wedding reception, a baptism and several birthdays.  The food was always delicious and the service always great. Sadly Red Crab's mother company decided to replace it with another one of their concept restaurant a couple of years ago.  Our Red Crab turned into Crustasia which was more of an Asian Fusion resto, dishes that our family did not fully grasp nor could appreciate.  

We have been missing Red Crab, Teody our favorite waiter in ATC informed us that it was only the Clark branch that retained the original Red Crab menu. We love our Red Crab but we did not have the will to travel all the way to Pampanga.

So when 1st Brother informed me that there was a Red Crab Alimango House in Newport Mall, I asked him to check the menu to see if they had our old favorites from the original Red Crab.  He said that menu was different but some of our favorites were back.    We were supposed to go on Father's Day but decided to just celebrate at home because of the rain and the traffic that day.  We then talked about  going last Monday, somewhat of a late Father's Day celebration, but finally decided to go on Dad's birthday.

Newport Mall

We arrived at Newport super early, as in 10:30 AM.  It was Dad, Mom and my first time in this mall.  With time to kill 1st Brother decided to show me around.  He took me to the casino, I've never been to one before. I expected it to be empty since it was early morning.  I was surprised to see that there were plenty of people playing at the different tables and machines.  Some players looked like they have been there all evening long.  They had that zombie gaze, had dark circles under their eyes, plus huge eye bags.  I just walked around for a couple of minutes, could not stay long because I could not stand the cigarette smoke.   With about 30 more minutes to kill, Mom and I decided to check out all 4 floors of the mall to window shop. And that's all we could really do because all the shops were still closed.  I would consider Newport Mall to be a boutique mall.  Seems to me that it will cater to a certain group of people. Mostly like the gamblers in the casino and the balibayans and tourists from the international airport across the road. It is not too kid friendly either, did not find any shops for kids nor an activity area a kid can enjoy. 

Sorry I digressed from the topic of food, bringing it back to Red Crab. There was about 15 minutes before the restaurant doors were to be officially opened, but we asked the staff if we could already wait inside.  Thankfully they agreed to let us in.  I looked over the menu to check if Dad's favorite chicharon bulalak was on it, yippee it was.  I am kind of worrisome of our favorite restaurants being reinvented, because of our recent Casa Marcos experience (which you can read about here Casa Marcos the Rebirth).  I did not want Dad disappointed on his birthday. So I did some research on the internet on Red Crab Newport, from what I gathered the blog reviews were quite good, a promising sign.

The Red Crab Alimango House's menu is predominantly Filipino, unlike before where it was a mixture of several different cuisines.  Mom was disappointed that here favorite Seafood Chowder was not on the menu.  After much discussions, for our soup we ordered the Sinigang na Ulang which came in a palayok (clay pot).

Sinigang na Ulang sa Burong Mangga at Tanglad

The soup was delicious, and this coming from someone who does not like broths.  I believe the combination of all the ingredients gave this soup a balanced taste.  It was not too sour, as I find most Filipino broth soups to be.  I loved the ulang, it was fresh, huge and very flavorful. 

Kinilaw Sampler

Dad loves kinilaw, and knows what good kinilaw should be.  He and 1st Brother found this sampler to be too high brow, I guess these three were striving to be "ceviche" instead of "kinilaw".  Dad found all three to be bland.  Dad says kinilaw should have that  vinegary taste, and needs to be spicy with a major kick.  He said that this sampler is no match to the kinilaw of Vibang's, our favorite neighborhood turo-turo restaurant.

Dad's all-time favorite chicharon bulaklak

Dad was very happy to be reunited with his favorite chicharon bulaklak.  For us Red Crab's version is the best.  Consistently the chicharon is crispy without being oily, flavorful without being too salty, and most importantly it never has that "panghe" taste that other bulaklaks have.  Sorry for the "panghe" term but that's the only way I could describe it.   

Adobong Hito sa Dilaw

This is something we have not had before.  1st Brother loved this dish, I am not much of a fish eater so I really can't comment much.  I've always been afraid to eat fish, I am scared that matitinik ako.  I took a small portion, it tasted ok, had kind of an adobo taste with a tumeric undertone. 

Seafood Bicol Express

This dish was yummy. I loved the rich coconut cream flavor it rendered to the seafood, though it could have used a little more heat.  There were plenty of chopped chilies in the dish but it lacked heat.  I call these "defective chilies".  I've defined them as siling labuyo that for some reason are not spicy, they did not live up to their name.

Deep-Fried Crab

Deep-Fried Crab, another one of Dad's favorite dish.  Our waiter was trying to convince us to order Crabs Maritess, which I love.  But since it was Dad's special day we had to give him his wish.  He likes his crab to be cooked simply, he then picks the meat and dips it in vinegar, that's foodie bliss for him. 

Kapeng Barako Cheesecake

I don't have much of a sweet tooth, but 1st Brother has a HUGE sweet tooth.  So we decided to order a cheesecake with a twist, the crust is made with kapeng barako.  I liked this dessert, it was not too sweet, just the right amount of sweetness, tartness and bitterness.

Overall, we were all very happy with the lunch we had.  The dishes were good and the wait staff remains to be very attentive without being intrusive. 

Love this mural

Had to take a picture of the mural inside the restaurant.  It had the lyrics of  an old Filipino children's song "Tong, Tong, Tong Pakitong Kitong" which Mom claims she has never heard of.  To which Dad, 1st  Brother and I  collectively reacted to and said  "Whaaatttt????"  How can my Mom not know this song?  I don't know, neither does she. 

I love fountains, had to take a snapshot of it

Whew this has to be my longest post ever.  But I am not quite done, so please stay with me a little bit more. 

I want to dedicate this post to my Dad.  Happy Birthday Daddy, I know we have our differences, I guess it's that way because, as Mom claims, our "ugalis" are the same, especially when we are mad.  But know this I love you very much.  I may not say it or show it often, but I do, with all of my heart and being.   Thank you for all the things that you have done to make the family happy and have a comfortable life. You have made so many sacrifices for us, that most of the time you don't think about yourself, it's always about what you can do for the family.   

We love you dearly Daddy. 

Two days in a row that I had tears while writing a post. Tissue please :) 

Casa Marcos the Rebirth

My parents, especially my father loved the old Casa Marcos in Roxas Boulevard.  When it closed down in 2000 they were really sad.  They have very fond memories of this restaurant.  Apart from the great food, they loved the exceptional service of the wait staff, especially Mang George the waiter.  I remember that whenever I was fortunate enough to tag along with my parents, Mang George always had a friendly smile and greeted us at the entrance.  He would then lead us to our table, and immediately serve us their famous hot pandesal and butter.  Then he would inform my Dad if his favorites were available, take our order, then come back with the Casa Marcos' special iced tea.

So when I learned that Casa Marcos has re-opened in Taguig we had to check it out. Dad was looking forward to because it has been over a decade since he had  his favorites - almejas, prawns thermidore, adobong baboy damo, usa, callos and of course the pandesal. I thought that the new Casa was located in McKinley hill when we did not find it there.  I searched for the correct address in ClickTheCity.com. The new Casa is located in Burgos Circle, Taguig. 

We arrived lunch time, and since it was still early there was no crowd yet.  We were happy to see that Dad's favorites were still on the menu.  For appetizers we ordered almejas, Dad and 1st Brother ordered sopa de mariscos.  For their main courses they ordered adobong baboy, usa, and tenderlion tips. Dad was trying to convince me to order my old favorite prawns thermidore but since I had a heavy breakfast all I ordered was Caesar Salad. And I was hoping to load up on the free hot pandesal, just like when I was a little girl. 

While waiting for the food to be served we were exchanging stories about the old Casa Marcos, the table across us was doing the same.  I guess everyone was nostalgic about the old Casa Marcos, and was anticipating that the new one would live up to it's name. 

I have to apologize for the quality of the following photos.  I could not do any styling because my parents don't fully grasp the concept of blogging and why I need to take pictures of the food.  So I had to take these shots in haste. 

Almejas and hot pandesal

When the almejas and the hot pandesal arrived our first reaction was that of surprise because both have shrunk in size.  1st Brother was the first one to say "Di ba mas malaki itong mga ito noon?"  In the old Casa Marcos the clams used for the almejas were huge and succulent.  The clams in the new Casa are very small, we were quite disappointed.  And the pandesal too were tiny bite-sized pieces.  We were used to large hot toasted pandesal in the old Casa. 

Still delicious but wish the clams were bigger.  Since the clams are now tiny they tend to dry up, while in the old Casa since they used huge clams it remained succulent and juicy to the bite. 

Sopa de Mariscos (Creamy Seafood Bouillabaisse in Light Tomato Soup)

Only Dad and 1st Brother ordered this soup.  1st Brother liked it however Dad was not able to finish his, so he passed it over to me.  I don't remember having this soup in the old Casa.  I found the soup to be just ok.  It tasted like tomato sauce used for pasta dishes, but if you like to tomato soup this should satisfy you.

Caesar Salad

The Caesar Salad had too much cheese and the dressing was too thick for my preference.

Add caption

Mom ordered this usa dish, which I can't recall what it was called, I refer to it as Bambi's Mom.  My Mom liked the dish very much.  But when we got home she told me that she just said that so as not to upset Dad further. She found the dish to be too sour.

Adobong Baboy Damo

Dad was excited to eat this dish, however he was very disappointed.  He told us that it tasted very different from that of the old Casa's recipe.  He said that the dish had too much pepper, it was overpowering.  He only took two bites.  1st Brother offered to share with Dad his order of tenderloin tips, this Dad found ok and was able to finish the tips. 

Overall I have to say that our experience with the new Casa was quite disappointing.  The food was okay  however it could not compare to the Old Casa Marcos.  The food then was rich in flavor and the quality was exceptional.  I guess our lunch can be compared to the build-up one feels when meeting up with an old flame whom you imagine to still look the same as the last time you saw them many years ago.  Only to finally see them and discover that they have changed so much over the years, and you just don't feel the same way about them anymore.

One thing in common that the new Casa has with the old one is the good service.  The wait staff, especially Jose, I believe is his name, was very attentive and friendly.  Mang George would have been very proud of that.