My Trip to the Capital

The last week has been busy for me. I had my very first trip to Manila, though not to Luzon as I was in Palawan a few years back for a vacation.

We stayed over with some friends who work in the business capital, Makati.

SM Mall of Asia

Makati and its neighboring cities did not turn out to be what I expected. Yes, the traffic is ever a pain in the neck as projected and commuting is hard. The population is overflowing which leads to the main problem people are facing which is the traffic.

But, it was not as expensive as I expected nor was it as polluted as I dared not hope it to be.

Expense-wise, if you spend your time eating in the malls and restos, then check it will consume half your paycheck. Though, if you spare some time to do marketing and cooking, I think you will save a lot more. The prices for meat products and vegetables and fruits are almost the same in Iloilo, some are even cheaper. True, the beef and fish products are a bit on the pricey side but the pork and chicken products are priced exactly the same in Iloilo. Ours are just fresher :D

Dining at Chili's

The fare is cheap. I think me and the hubby spent a total of 100 pesos in fare excluding the taxi to the airport and my Grab ride to Diliman.

Pollution-wise, the Pasig River stinks and there was trash everywhere on the streams leading to it and basically everywhere. But only a few cars smoke-belch so that's a plus. And the vehicles are not as noisy individually, though there are just a lot of them so it's still too hot to be walking anywhere with cars around you.

Though, I like the effort put in by developers to add green things like trees and shrubs to their buildings. It adds are refreshing vibe to the whole scenario of tall buildings, no sky dilemma.

The greenest place I've seen was the UP Diliman Campus and I hope it stayed that way.

Bringing Tibiao to Diliman

All in all, the experience was not so bad. There are just too many people for my taste. I hope our City of Love does not turn out as bad as Manila when all the developments are done.

A BIG thanks to all of our friends who accommodated us and spared some time in their busy schedules to chit-chat with us.

Daghang salamat sa pagbasa!!!
I post an article once a week... :D

Resto Review: Into the Rabbit Hole

If you want to avoid the hustle and bustle of the new tambayan of yuppies and teens in Iloilo which is Smallville. I recommend you go visit a quaint little place near Atrium that will remind you of a childhood classic.

Let’s get lost together down the Rabbit Hole with the White Rabbit and your friends to attend the tea party.

Me and my friends are always on the lookout for new places to eat here in Iloilo. We heard a bit of a place called Rabbit Hole near St. Paul University but did not really know exactly where it was until I stumbled upon it by accident when I took the wrong turn when walking to Tibiao Bakeshop.

There was the small sign that said Rabbit Hole.

So me and the friends decided to try it out one Friday night.

On the door, it said Café + Bar. We hesitated for a bit before entering because none of us is much of a drinker, but decided to try the menu, if nothing else.

The café is small and one of the company said that it used to be an internet shop when he was in college. So that might explain the setup.

It has a high rise table (portion of the wall) that looks like it holds something and the cashier desk is somewhat further in with displays on shelves which now shows the menu but once upon a time displays available food.

Anyway, the place was small, about 10-11 small tables with 2 chairs per table. But it was comfy and dim lighting really creates a relaxing mood plus the music playing are the usual un-irritating top hits.

The neon lights and the art works displayed on the side does not cause loss of appetite at least. 

When we were handed the menu, I resisted a giggle because at the top it read Eat Me! for the Food Menu and Drink Me! for the Cocktails and other drink selections.

At the side, the menu is also displayed.

(That's the door to the kitchen)

So for the Food we ordered their Rice Meals: Honey Chicken, Mongolian Beef and Pork Schinitzel.

We also have 3 orders of Hot Box Burger, 1 Buffalo Wings and 1 Mozzarella Sticks.

For the Drinks, we only tried their Blue Turnate that turns the drink from Blue to Purple when Calamansi or Lemon Juice was added.

The food though was mouth-watering. Its presentation will really whet your appetite. And the taste, the taste of the food is heavenly. The honey chicken tasted sweet but you can really feel the tenderness of the chicken. 

 

Honey Chicken and Mongolian Beef

The Mongolian beef was easy to chew and the sauce in the Pork was creamy but not bland. 

Pork Shinitzel and an Exra Egg

The mozzarella was melted just right and crunchy even though it was chewy. 

Mozzarella Stick and the Hot Box Burger

I even nibbled on the Buffalo Wings even if I have a no-no rule for spicy foods. I think they added cheese in the Buffalo Wings and that added to the taste. 

Buffalo Wings

I only had problems with the Hot Box Burger because the patty was too salty for my taste but the other 3 people who ate the burger does not agree with me, they are highly recommending that you try the burger.

Hot Box Burger from the drinks

Purple Turnate

Don’t ask us about the drinks because we did not order any except for the Blue Turnate.

But I am recommending you try the place out and discover for yourself the wonders of their available cocktails.

You will get your money’s worth in terms of food quantity and quality.

That goes for drinks too, because even if we are no longer actively drinking socially, I am still aware of the price range.

So visit the Rabbit Hole, at Gen. Luna St., in an alley in-between Tibiao Bakeshop and St. Paul University, in front of Atrium.

Bring your own Alice or invite the Mad Hatter.

Youcan find them on Facebook:

Daghang salamat sa pagbasa!!!
I post an article once a week... :D

Restaurant Review: Kusina NaNam

After the Siomai incident, we are now off to a restaurant to try out their menu. A friend is trying to regain weight and we are invited for the pig-out :D.

So we are off to a classy restaurant named Kusina Nanam, located at 180 Jalandoni DeLeon St., Iloilo City. It is actually a hotel restaurant for the Chito Hotel.

Our friends arrived ahead of us almost 2 PM and were told that the kitchen is closing and they are allowed to order before 2 and that's that. They called us up, and without perusing the menu we just ordered something up. So the hubby said any meal made of beef and I said pasta and that the barkada can decide on whatever is available.

When we arrived at the resto, the food is already waiting for us. Our friends ordered medium-well Americano Roast Beef for the hubby and instead of pasta, they ordered Barbecue Ribs for me.

The Barbecue Ribs was excellent, the meat separates from the bone without any effort on my part. The taste was perfect including the sauce. The hubby agrees, his Roast Beef tasted great, though he thought that it was Pork Roast instead of Beef at the start of his meal. But it turned out OK in the end. (Sorry for the lack of pictures, we were too busy eating :() Our friends had some leftover NaNam Pasta, so we also ate those as well but for me, the pasta tasted bland, it lacked cheese or some other ingredients. The cream overpowers everything. But our friends said it tasted OK. So I think it's just me and the hubby because we are choosy in our pasta. After all, there is no great tasting pasta in Iloilo. Just OK Pasta but not something that you would go back to all the time.

NaNam Pasta

Anyway, the place is comfortable, the ambiance is great, the lighting excellent. The service was fast and the staff friendly. If you want the full experience, the place is open from 10 AM to 2 PM for the lunch hours and 6 PM to 10 PM for the dinner hours. They also accept reservations. Please click on the links above to visit their page and get more details.

Daghang salamat sa pagbasa!!!

I post a new article every two days!!! Just because!!!

Food Review: Siomai

Last weekend turned out to be Food Weekend. Haha, Not sure what to make of it but stuff just happened, so here's a food or two consumed by yours truly just because.

First off, Siomai. 

I don't really eat siomai. I don't really have a reason to. My friends can attest to the fact that I really avoid eating it if I can help it. Saturday proved to be an exception to the rule. A friend brought siomai for taste-test and I enjoyed eating it, even the chili sauce.

There were two types of Siomai for the taking,

First is the Japanese Siomai which my friends always eat. It tasted great, much better when we squeezed calamansi over it and dip it in the accompanying chili sauce. I always thought that siomai tasted like the wonton people put in pancit molo, but nah they don't quite taste the same. The siomai tasted finer, haha.

The second one is Shark's Fin Siomai. This one tasted like the steamed shark's fin you eat in Chinese Restos or the fried ones you eat from the Fishball Stalls at the mall. It was chewy and tasted like meat. I wouldn't mind eating this one again.

So I liked the second one better. Not that the first one was bad, it was just something you see everyday everywhere.

Anyhow, my friend is selling Siomai and Siopao and 45-day free range chicken. So if you are in the vicinity of Iloilo City, you can order some.  Let me know in the comments and I'll put in a word for you.

Daghang salamat sa pagbasa!!!