Love food, love art @ The Vinci Gallery Cafe in Katipunan

My camera isn't a part of my body so I don't always have it with me every time I go out. Sometimes, when we do spontaneously visit a new and interesting restaurant, I have to settle with my camera phone. Once upon a date night, me and J spontaneously headed out to one of our favorite hangout spots- Katipunan. A lot has changed since our first few years in Ateneo and in a span of just a year or two, there were a couple of restaurants that popped up right under our noses. 

One of which is The Vinci Gallery Cafe. This art inspired restaurant is located right below  Katipunan's famous drinking place, Drews Bar. The walls were covered with beautiful paintings that I wouldn't mind buying if I had the money. Everything about the restaurant was interesting and fitting with the theme, from the chairs to the color, giving it a fun yet sophisticated ambiance. I also loved the fact that one of the sides of the restaurant were windows.

I particularly love how they made their tables using old love poem books and varnish. So while waiting for your orders, you can do a quick reading. Great idea and concept actually! I think I'll try this out in the near future.

The food was good, especially considering how affordable they are. The steak we ordered needed a little bit more flavor but the pasta was yummy.

Beef Tenderloin (P185)

Fettuccine Al Fungi (P140)

Overall, the restaurant is a good choice for a chill date night- especially for the younger couples because of the affordable food. It is also great for barkada food trips considering that they have a big space to accommodate any of you.  Check out their menu:

The Vinci Gallery Cafe
2nd floor J&R Concon Center 91 Alvero St. Loyola Heights Quezon City
For reservations, bdays and functions call or text:
0916.774.9303
0922.882.0390

A Craptastic dining experience at Modern Toilet Restaurant, Taipei

Here's an interesting place that would surely grab your attention. You might have seen this on Tumblr, or other internet posts or perhaps heard about it from someone: a restaurant with a humorous spin that, oddly enough, takes its inspiration from bathrooms. What started out as an ice cream joint selling poop shaped ice cream is now a full-scale restaurant with branches around Taiwan.

Modern Toilet is a restaurant in Taiwan that serves food and drinks in tiny toilets and urinals. The restaurant itself looks like a bathroom, with toilets functioning as chairs, and big bath tubs as tables. 

They supposedly have a branch in Hong Kong but I've heard from a cousin that the place has been closed when they visited a year ago. Anyway, they serve their rice meals,  appetizers and desserts in dishes like the ones below.

A HUGE serving of shaved ice with ice cream and chocolate whatnots (NT100)

Mozzarella sticks (on trad. Chinese Urinal aka. squat toilet plates) w/ dip in butt-shaped plates

Their drinks, on the other hand, are served in these cute cups. Urinals for cold drinks and a mini toilet mug for hot beverages. With an additional charge of NT30, you can opt to have your cold drinks served in urinal jars which you can take home with you.Pretty cool idea, if you ask me. Honestly, I enjoyed my iced ASSAM BLACK MILK TEA (R; NT120) more than the food. Better than the ones I buy in Manila. 

Poop looking bread 

I dunno about you, but I immediately wondered what their bathroom would look like- given that the whole restaurant already looks like a bathroom. So I went there to check as soon as we ordered. They had made their own sink using a toilet bowl infront of colorful and fun tiles. However, what excitement immediately turned into disappointment when I went inside the bathroom itself. It was just a small foul smelling room with squat toilet and a small urinal for the boys. 

You can bring your Modern Toilet experience at home by being able to buy their urinal and toilet shaped plates, mugs and glasses. Though it was a bit expensive, with food that was more visually stimulating than it is to the palate, it was nonetheless a fun experience anyone should try at least once in their lives. I wouldn't really make it a priority to come back but I'd still recommend first time Taiwan visitors to go check out this place. 

 The branch in Ximen (the one we visited) isn't found on the main road but in a small side street. Modern Toilet is advertised in Tourist pamphlets distributed via MTR stations so make sure to grab one of those for their map. Have a  pee-rific time!


Modern Toilet Restaurant
Addresses:
*Taipei Ximen- 2F, No7, Ln50, Xining S.Rd., Taipei City (02-23118822)
*Taipei Shilin- 2F, No184, Wenlin Rd., Taipei City (02-88614384)
*Taichung Yizhong- 2F, No101, Yizhong St., Taichung City (04-22232870)
*more branches, check out their website


Opening Hours:
WEEKDAYS 11:30AM-10PM
HOLIDAYS 11AM- 10PM

Back from Taiwan!

Whether this blog has an audience or not, new posts coming up tomorrow! :)

Breakfast joys @ BAG OF BEANS, Tagaytay

PHOTOBLOG: Bag of Beans, Tagaytay

 

115 Aguinaldo Highway, Mendez Crossing West, Tagaytay City, Philippines  

63922 873 9686 or +63920 954 6370 

Arabela (Liliw, Laguna): Great things come in small packages

Liliw, a town in Laguna- know as the town of slippers, also happens to house this tiny place called Arabela that gets people to travel there just to have a taste. Or perhaps get to experience what everyone's been raving about in this small town. Liliw hasn't really been keeping this their little secret. In fact, this quaint restaurant has actually been making big (huge, even) splashes that have attracted magazines and food bloggers alike ever since. It's all over the net, just search for it. 

The most fascinating thing, or unique, rather, is their low roof. It's honestly a challenge for my 5'8" height to go around looking at the food on display and such. And don't even get me started on how much smaller their bathroom is. But with its size, it's still definitely a cute place, popular to both locals and foreigners. 

 Arabela is best known for their Pasta, Pizza and Salads. Though I hate making comparisons, Arabela may be likened to Banapple: same small restaurant, similar delicious dishes and menu selection; the only difference perhaps is they haven't branched out yet. oh and minus Banapples award winning cakes. 

Grilled Chicken on Alfredo Sauce (P200)

Parmesan Crusted Chicken (P190)

Baby Back Pork

Cream Dory

I don't know what other people say but I think that no matter what you order, you're bound to have a treat.Liliw is a quick 45-min drive from the famous Lucban. Enjoy you road trip!

ARABELA

503 Rizal Street, Liliw, Laguna
Mobile Number: +63 917 204 1447, +63 927 386 0639.
Telephone: +63 49 5632495

Relaxing Swiss fine dine experience @ VIEUX CHALET, Antipolo

I'm blogging about this based purely on my retained memory of our visit three months ago. We were desperate for something new..and, also something special for our third year. I have this habit of listing down restaurants I come across from the interwebs, which has proven useful for a couple of times. Actually, a lot. This was on the top of my "must go to on special occasions" list. 

Vieux Chalet is a fine Swiss cuisine restaurant beautifully situated in the mountains, in Antipolo. It belongs to the Hassig Family and has been running for decades. Vieux Chalet is part of (or beside) St. Moritz Swiss Inn- Bretsch and Barrie Bed and Breakfast. The B&B actually looks very relaxing, a perfect place for any city resident to get away from the hustle and bustle. Their spa also seems very inviting. A sort of place I'd trust to rid the stress that could ever get to me.

As for the food.. Let's just say, our long drive to the mountains (including getting lost) from the city was worth it. We really hit a gold mine with the dishes we ordered, I think.

 

Complementary bread sticks

We asked the very friendly waitress on what their best sellers are, as always, and we ended up ordering the following. For our appetizer, we had their homemade ravioli stuffed with homemade ricotta cheese and spinach; topped with a white sauce and truffle oil. Just by the sound of it, I could't help not to order it. It turns out that it was actually surprisingly filling. Their Homemade Smoked Pork Chop was equally good. It is served with the choice of 3 sauces: Mushroom sauce, mustard sauce and Sauce Cafe de Paris. The flavors are infused well in the meat and is complemented well with the hashbrown served with it. 

Ricotta-Spinach Ravioli in Al Panna Sauce with Truffle Oil (P295)

Homemade Smoked Pork Chop in Mushroom Sauce (P535)

As for the pizza we ordered.. I don;t even know where to start. I'm not sure if it was the intense hunger I was feeling or it was really THAT good. But from my very first bite up to the last, I couldn't think of anything else but "damn this must be the best pizza I've ever had". The whole time, I couldn't figure out what exactly gave this pizza the edge; what sets it apart from the others. For every bite, i had this in mind and the closest answer I could get was probably its crust. It was different, in a good way. and probably the cheese...and the freshness of the tomatoes (considering I never eat them; i even take them out from my burgers). 

Pizza Napoli 10" (P385)

Our annoyance from our trip (and getting lost) was erased after dinner. The over-all satisfaction of it couldn't be ignored. The very friendly and perky head waiter couldn't have been more helpful to contribute to it too. Everyone was so friendly, I wanted to hug them. 

The tricky part is getting there. Here's a map that they provide through their website http://www.vieuxchaletswissrestaurant.com/maps-and-directions.html  but I suggest it's better if you consult google maps or any other road maps your hands can get a hold off also so as not to get lost. You'll probably end up asking for directions so know how to pronounce the Vieux chalet right, since the locals might not understand you if you pronounce it wrong. <Vi-yew Cha-ley> Yes they know how to say it properly.

-B

VIEUX CHALET

Antipolo City: 

09282888584/(02) 6970396

Watch out for my birthday weekend posts! So much nomzzz, I'm  already expanding. 

Roasted Baby Potatoes wrapped in a Bacon blanket

Today as I was staring at the contents of our fridge, I suddenly saw the baby potatoes I bought. I've been making baked potatoes with bacon bits for awhile so I thought "why not just wrap them with bacon?".  It isn't a new thing, actually, I've heard of people wrapping bacon with a variety of things from hotdog and spam to fruits and veggies. Bacon wrapped in anything seems to always work. 

It's very easy to make. Anyone with an oven can definitely pull it off.
Here's my recipe:

• Baby potatoes, washed and patted dry

• Oil, enough to coat the potatoes

• Rosemary leaves

• Thyme

• Salt and pepper

• Bacon

 1. Preheat the oven to 160 deg C. 
 2. Coat potatoes with oil and season with rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper.
3. Cut and wrap the bacon around the potatoes and place them on a greased baking pan with the bacon ends facing down. You can also use a toothpick (soaked in water to prevent burning) to keep the bacon in place.
4. Bake in the oven for around 30-40 minutes, or until the bacon is cooked to your liking.
5. Drain on paper towels and serve hot.

Addt'l: You can also serve them with a cheese dip: Mix cheez wiz with a cream cheese dip/ sour cream; OR add grated cheese while they're hot.

A great addition to any meal. NOMNOMZ!

-B

BLACKSOUP CAFE + Artspace

Oct 2010

With my favorite restaurant just next door (Van Gogh is Bipolar), you could imagine how I felt when I found out they were closed this particular day- this actually happens a lot especially with a travel junkie-bipolar owner. To make things worse, I was really really hungry already. And so, close to tears, we ended up checking out this restaurant next door that we haven't really noticed before (because we were so fixated with VGIB). Once I noticed how inviting the  sign that said "cafe + artspace blacksoup" in  black bold embossed letters in such an beautifully contemporary way was, my frustration immediately turned into excitement in trying out something new. 

I wasn't disappointed once we entered, as I saw how the place was designed. Different photographs surrounded the walls- it sort of had a hipster vibe actually. The place was definitely a treat to look at. 

I named these fishies Ping and Pong. :P

 I want to kick myself for not taking enough pictures of the place. 

Blacksoup Cafe + Art serves interesting fusion pinoy dishes. Thus, I thank the heavens that VGIB was closed that night, because if not, I wouldn't have tasted Black Soup Cafe's TAPA PASTA. I don't know what urged me to order it. It was probably a "best seller logo" beside it or maybe because it sounded so interesting.  But nonetheless, the tapa gods gave me something unique that I couldn't stop eating. I even ended up not sharing it because I finished it that quickly. They have other pasta fusions like their Spicy Tuyo Pasta.

Tapa Pasta (P150)- 2011 updated price

Their Lamb inasal was also good but the dalandan salad that was served with it tasted a bit off. Maybe the acidity of the dalandan was just not to my liking. 

Lamb Inasal with Dalandan salad (P250)

Other best sellers you'd like to try for a unique pinoy cuisine experience are their appetizer of spicy balut or an Adobo Flakes sandwich among many others. 
And of course, don't miss out on ordering their MANGO TURON for dessert! Served with ice cream, you'll definitely end your meal perfectly.

Mango Turon (P85)

Blacksoup cafe + Artspace also hosts movie nights, open mic nights and other similar activities which I hope I'd get the chance to take part of in the future. 

BLACKSOUP CAFE + ART SPACE

Unit G, Maginhawa Bldg., 154 Maginhawa St., Sikatuna Village, Quezon City, Philippines

435.2549 / 0915.3055480 

Payment                    Cash only 

Hours	Mon - Sat: 12:00 pm - 3:00 pm 6:00 pm - 11:00 pm

CHEF'S BISTRO (Tomas Morato) under New Management

This is probably old news to some of you, nonetheless I'd like to reiterate this to the cyber foodie community. Chef's Bistro (Tomas Morato) has been under new management for a couple of months -if not a year- now. Improvements are actually quite noticeable, from the menu selection and quality of food to the interiors of the restaurant itself. The food is better now and cheap compared to other restaurants within its level. Though probably expensive to others, the prices are actually okay considering the quality of food and service. The ambiance is also perfect whether for a romantic date or a dinner out with the family. Attentive and friendly waiters are also a plus. And just like that, this has become one of my top restaurants among the multiplying number of restaurants in Tomas Morato.

There's this BDO promo (see photo below) so we ended up having a couple of appetizers.

Chef's Bistro BDO promo until March 31, 2012 only

Their chef's platter consists of onion rings, calamares and potato fries. The breading on their onion rings and calamares was good (my little sister agrees) as they were perfectly and evenly fried. Their Country Fries was also good; nothing beats real potato fries on my book! 

Cajun Calamari (P 280)

An appetizer, one of their star starters, that you shouldn't miss in Chef's Bistro is their special PISA (I call it tower of Pisa; they even have the same tilt going on! :P ). PISA consists of 7 layers of shrimps, mushrooms and gateu sauce drizzled with melted mozzarella cheese. It's a tower of the freshest ingredients stacked with this thin smooth dough. It's worth the money! It's unique and yummy. I haven't come across with a similar dish yet, probably a testament to me being a novice. I could ramble about this one for a few more sentences, from how the shrimps texture and taste was etc, but that would just spoil everything. Just try it out for yourselves.

Pisa - 7 layers of Of Shrimp, Mushroom & Mozarella cheese (P290)

They also serve excellent salads, accompanied by enough dressing that doesn't drown the greens.  I like the fact that their "Chef's special dressing" was flavorful and not liquid-y. The grilled chicken breast on this one was a bit dry, though the addition of mango strips was an nice touch. 

Grilled Chicken Salad (P290)

 Moving on to the main course. I've visited Chef's bistro in the past and I've tried other dishes like their US Rib-eye steak (P695), Lamb Chop (P495) and some Pastas. All of which were equally good. Oh just thinking about them makes my mouth water!
 I believe I've also tried their Pork Baby Back Ribs, marinated and baked to perfection. I shall "steal" a photo from their website just to prove a point. Plus, I also want you to drool with me.

Pork Baby Back Ribs (P590)

But for this particular visit, we only ordered their salmon fillet since we ended up stuffing ourselves too much with their starters. Now, we've ordered this before and it's still as good as we remembered it to be from our first try. The dish consists of a grilled salmon fillet with their special pistachio sauce. If you think it's sounds weird to combine salmon with an ingredient which I thought would only fit in desserts like pistachio, then this dish might end up proving you wrong. It actually fits kinda nicely, and you'd be surprised at how filling it is. 
 I've been hearing wild reviews about their Pizza's so don't make the same mistake as I did of missing it. 

Salmon Fillet (P420)

Here's a menu list to guide you in advanced ordering. 

They serve desserts that sound heavenly but if you've had enough of the spending spree, you could visit Cobo Bubble Tea & Snow Ice next door. Their milk tea tastes like any other and their snow ice wasn't all that special but I guess it was good enough to wash away the different ulam flavors from dinner. What's unique, though, is that you get to choose from a variety of around 10-20 toppings. I particularly like the wintermelon jelly (the one on the left)- I couldn't stop munching on them.
I still miss the Charmy Snow Ice I remember from my childhood though. I wonder if there are any branches left?

Cobo's Original Snow ice with Wintermelon and black jelly

CHEF'S BISTRO 
#94 Scout Gandia St., near Tomas Morato, Quezon City.
Full Menu link.
Contact Number              09177989811

Hours	Mon - Thu: 8:00 am - 11:00 pm Fri - Sat: 8:00 am - 2:00 am Sun: 8:00 am - 11:00 pm

COBO BUBBLE TEA & SNOW ICE
#96 Scout Gandia Street, Tomas Morato, Quezon City, Philippines
(02) 736-5621