Alain's Exploits: The Tea Republic

Waiting is a tedious task. It's unproductive and mind-numbingly boring. I've never been a fan of waiting (just ask Anne) so when I  went to an interview, I went very early. I was presented with the problem of how to ease my mind while waiting for the set schedule. Then just like a lightbulb lighting up in old cartoons, I was presented with a counter-action plan of my own: Eat!

I was quite lucky since I was waiting at the Enterprise Bldg Tower 2 in Makati, which is home to several  cafes and restos. I spotted The Tea Republic, a place I rarely go to.

*Looks at lower right* Perfect!

The place itself is cozy. The lighting and the decor matches the furnitures, the wall and the floor. The chairs are comfortable and the place is airconditioned. There is WiFi if you have a WiFi capable device (smartphones, tablets, netbooks, notebooks, etc). If you're waiting for your date, this place will be your Nirvana.

Classy Almost.. foreign.

This was early in the morning (around 8AM) so I opted for their breakfast sets. Being in Makati, which is probably the biggest business center in the Philippines and where a lot of foreigners are, I tried some of the American Breakfast meal. It is made up of waffles, bacon and egg. I partnered that with iced tea (not American but still foreign).

If you weren't hungry before, you're hungry now.

It's no wonder this combo is very popular in the US and in many restaurants pretending to be from the US. The combination itself is excellent. The sweet sweet fat from the bacon compliments the egg's taste and coupled with the oil absorbing properties of the waffles, you enjoy the trio with no problem.

This is probably also because the bacon and waffles they used were of top quality. I'm a fan of bacon and I'm not afraid to admit it. Anne doesn't like me liking it but I do and I know when a bacon is very good or very cheap. The waffles had a slightly sweet taste which you can enhance with the honey, although, overdosing it with honey is not recommended because it will taste weird (I tried it).

A close up: Are you hungry now?

I have to say this is the best American breakfast I've tasted EVER.

Ratings:

Place: 4.5/5

Food: 5/5

Drink: 4/5

Anne's Laboratory: Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookie

my first batch of chocolate chip oatmeal cookies!

I love chocolate chips in cookies but not really a fan of chocolate chip cookies due to their very floury feel on the mouth. I also love oatmeal cookies but I don't like raisins in them, thus I had this idea of making my very own version of chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. Also, oatmeal cookies makes me feel less guilty because of the rich fiber content oatmeal is known to have. Also, the chocolate chips in oatmeal makes it less grainy and more yummy!

Here's what you'll need:

1. 1 cup butter or margarine (it is said that margarine has lesser fat content than butter so I chose the latter)
2. 11/3 cup sugar
3. 2 large eggs
4. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5. 3 cups oatmeal
6. 11/2 cup all-purpose flour
7. 1 teaspoon baking soda
8. 1 teaspoon salt
9. 1 cup chocolate chips

Tools:

1. Mixer
2. Mixing bowls
3. Measuring cups and spoons
4. Rubber spatula
5. Cookie sheet is preferred but a baking pan will do
6. Wax paper
7. Oven
8. Oven thermometer

Here's how to do it...

all-set and ready for the pan

Make sure your butter or margarine is soft enough for your mixer to handle. Don't melt the butter, it'll give your cookies the horrible and sloppy consistency. What I usually do is take the butter or margarine out of the fridge an hour before  I start baking.

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit, that is, 204.4 degrees Celsius.

Place the softened butter or margarine in a mixing bowl, add in the sugar. Using the mixer, beat the sugar and butter or margarine  until creamy. That'll take you about 2 to 3 minutes.

Add in the eggs, one at a time, beating after each addition. Then beat in the vanilla extract. Vanilla extract is really potent. Just a small amount and it'll make your mixture very aromatic.

Anyway, set aside this mixture and get another bowl. In the second bowl, combine the oats, flour, salt, and baking soda. Make sure you stir them evenly. Add this mixture to the earlier creamed mixture and beat until the mixture has been well mixed. Add in the chocolate chips and mix to distribute them evenly.

they need enough room to grow and flatten out

Line the cookie sheet with wax paper if you're using aluminium pans/ cookie sheets. Then drop a spoonful of the mixture into the pan. Make sure you give them enough room for it to spread or else you'll end up with a pan-sized cookie instead of having bite-sized pieces. When you're done placing the the mixture, spoonful each, into the pan, you're now ready to bake them.

If you prefer chewy cookies, bake them for 8-9 minutes. For  crispy cookies, bake them for 10-11 minutes.

Once they're done, take them out from the oven and leave them to cool for 1-2 minutes then take them out and place them in a wire rack to further cool them down.  Store in a tightly sealed container or serve them out to your family and friends an enjoy this really nice afternoon treat.

chewy cookie variant

Have a great day!

Ante-dinner Pancit Lucban Affair

a take-out food from Buddy's

Dieting is really tough when people around you tempts you with food you surely can't refuse. Yesterday, his mom brought home a box of Buddy's Pancit Lucban! Yes, indeed! It was in a box, like all other take-out food. No longer fo they serve them in bulky bilaos thus sparing them from too much foil and banana leaves!

We used to eat at Buddy's located in the open-air food plaza in Market!Market! when we visit the condo in BGC but I think it was only last year when they had opened a branch along Timog. We'd usually eat the pancit with a dozen on longganisa. Anyway, last night, we just had the pancit.

a hearty serving of pancit Lucban

Location: @home, take-out food from Buddy's

Food Ordered: Pancit Lucban

Cost: not sure

She says...

chomping on another spoonful of pancit!

This pancit from Buddy's is quite yummy. It really carries a different taste as compared to the usual pancit Canton or bihon that's traditionally served every birthday "for long life. Indeed Filipinos have such a number of beliefs and pamahiin. Going back to Buddy's pancit Lucban, it was tasty. The meat in it had bigger slices compared to the usual bits and pieces noted in commonly served pancit. It also had plenty of vegetables in it. It was really flavorful but quite oily at the same time. The pack came with vinegar and adding the vinegar into the pancit lessens the oily, greasy feeling on the palate. I really like this noodle treat. It's really something worth considering when planning the menu for my next birthday.

She rates:4/5

He says...

Buddy's restaurant has really great food and one of their specialty is the Pancit Lucban -- a noodle-type food with lots of toppings. This pancit has a lot of toppings and also varied in types. There are different vegetables and meat in it.

The oil and other seasoning give this food a very strong flavor. It's so strong that even old person can probably taste them.  If you're on a diet. This is not for you. The oil in this thing is so thick that the box it came with is soaked in it.

However, as delicious as this is, this is still not the best pancit out there.

He rates: 4.5/5

Arabian Night Food Fest (Part3)

is that a Jordanian flag?

Eating at Shawarma Snack house perhaps wouldn't be complete without getting to taste their shawarma. Thus, as finale to this 3 part series, we shall be scrutinizing the food where this resto has been named after... shawarma.They serve 2 variants, the chicken and the beef... but we tried out the beef.     

beef-filled pita wrap

Location: Shawarma Snack House

Food Ordered: Beef Shawarma

Cost: about P100

She says...

beef pita wrap

This was truly a beef shawarma! I could taste the beef, although it was not well roasted. More of like boiled beef. It was soft in consistency. Quite flavorful but not really intense. There weren't much other filling, just a few onion slices but I couldn't really discern if there were cabbage added into it. Had it not been for the garlic and chili sauces,  this would have been a plain-tasting dish. Although, it did taste better than your regular food stall shawarma.

She rates: 4/5

He says...

I hate unground beef because they're usually very hard to chew. This shawarma has this and plenty of it (more than most shawarma makers care to give). Surprisingly it wasn't that difficult to eat.  After eating this food item, I finally accepted the fact that this restaurant prepares its food way better than the other restaurants. Now if it only had some salted fries in it and it would be perfect. Yes, there is such a food item as Shawarma with Fries. I've tasted it before.

He rates: 4.5/5

Arabian Nights Food Fest (Part2)

Falafel @Shawarma Snack Center

Another food on the menu that we tried at Shawarma Snack Center was their Humus with Pita Bread and their falafel. It was a year ago when, after that trip to Kuala Lumpur, we had been hooked into trying out food of middle eastern cuisine and the search for the best tasting humus.

plateful of humus variants and falafel balls

Location: Shawarma Snack House

Food Ordered: Humus and Falafel with Pita Bread

Cost: around P200 each

She says....

This perhaps was the best tasting humus. We got to try out 3 humus variations in this restaurant and I was overwhelmed at how tasty they were. It just had the right amount of spice and olive oil that blended perfectly right to the slightly rough texture of grounded chickpeas. Eating it with the pita bread and adding in their special garlic and chili sauces made this dish something to go crazy for. It was just so so yummy!

The falafel on the other was weird looking. Dark brown in color with the shape of a flattened ball with a hard crust (maybe this was deep fried), but with a really soft and mushy center. I believe this is made of ground vegetables and potatoes and rolled into a ball. Together with the yogurt dip, this was truly a meal  worth the second helping.

"I will consume thee!!!! Nomnomnom" - Alain

She rates: humus 5/5, falafel 5/5

He says...

When I first heard about Humus (from the move You Don't Mess With The Zohan by Adam Sandler) it sounded like some pasty stuff middle easterners just like to put on their food. Kinda like rice for us Pinoys. Since it was portrayed comically, I never had an inkling to even try it but after actually trying it out, we actually liked it.

We've tasted humus across different Middle Eastern restaurants but this restaurant has the best one. They carry three flavors and all are excellent.

The falafel was different. It was my sister's suggestion. She said it was good but she was wrong. She totally under-rated it. It was very good. It's the first time I've eaten it yet I've already fallen in-love with it. Just so yummy!

He rates: 5/5

Arabian Nights Food Fest (Part1)

an evening outside the streets of Salas

After a fun-filled night watching the wonderful act of Cirque Du Soleil's Varekai which was really awesome and totally worth it for the price we paid for the entrance, we headed to Manila's hidden gastronomic gems. This time it was the Shawarma Snack House located in Salas Street, near Mabini Street, Ermita, Manila.

You see, there are two Shawarma Snack Houses located on both sides of the street. The one on the right side was the open, canteen-type shawarma station which offers basically beef and chicken shawarma variants, either served on plate or in a pita wrap. They offer a cheaper version of the menu which are served on the left side of the street, their Shawarma Snack House restaurant.

We headed to their restaurant which really offered an authentic middle eastern ambiance. In their menu, apart from food, they also offered sheesha on a hooka or water pipe with several different herbs you can smoke on. We didn't try them out though.

Anyway, we tried a few of their wide range menu of food  whose names we had difficulty pronouncing. Among those were the Felafel or the deep fried vegetable pastry with a yogurt dip, their beef shawarma,  humus with pita, and their beef keema.

beef keema @Shawarma Snack Center

Location: Shawarma Snack Center

Food Ordered: Beef Keema

Cost: approximately P250 per order, couldn't recall the exact price

She says...

thickest pita we've encountered!

The beef keema was very tasty. It was slightly oily and was quite spicy. We ate it along side with the pita bread and it was really perfect. For an appetizer, it was quite heavy on the tummy. Adding their special garlic sauce, on of the best I've ever tasted, and a drop of chili sauce, made the keema even yummier.

She rates: 5/5

He says...

I've liked Mediterranean food since the first time I've tasted it but this Keema is really a different class on its own. It still retains the aroma and texture present in other Mediterranean foods but it has a distinct flavor of its own.

The beef used here is grounded well. It is very soft and has a strong aroma and taste. Partnering it with pita bread and you got yourself a full meal.

He rates: 5/5

Beyond Manila: Bacolod's Napoleones

Sweet things... yumm...

Today, we'll take a breather from the many foods we get to eat here in Manila and we'll be checking out this special treat we received as pasalubong from  the city of smiles, Bacolod City, the napoleones. It is a type of puffed pastry with custard filling and glazed with sweet sugar on top. Truly a treat from our country's sugar capital!

She says...

I Liked how this little square shaped treat tastes. I'm an avid fan of sweets but this one truly gives you different levels of sweetness that just makes my mouth water each time I recall how this one tasted.he custard filling was really soft and creamy. The pastry itself was a bit rubbery from the perhaps supposedly crunchy  texture, perhaps because this treat had rode an airplane just to get into our palates. Anyhow, the different textures and tastes was truly in harmony with each other. I can't wait to dig in on the second batch lying around in the fridge.Yikes! Another diet day ruined....

She rates: 5/5

I'm not on a diet. not.

He says...

Almost everyone loves sweets. They can induce bliss in all of us (some more than others).

I also love sweets. I pretty much eat at least one sweet food every week. The sweeter the food, the better. The moment the food touches your tongue, you immediately know how sweet it gonna be.

Not so with this particular brand of Napoleones. Although it is covered in white frosty icing, you won't be able to tell how sweet it us when you bite it. Yes, it tastes sweet but not that sweet. It tastes more like just bread. You chew on and you realize that the food is getting sweeter in your mouth and then BOOM! You get to experience its full sweetness. It's a weird sensation since most sweets are only as good as the first bite.

You can actually hear the explosion in your head

He rates: 5/5