Coron, Palawan Food Trip

April 22-25, 2011 - Coron, Palawan

This Holy week, LJ and I spent it in Coron. We wanted to have an adventure and go to a place we both haven't been to. People who have been to Coron always give excellent reviews about the place, people and food. And from our experience, they were right!

Here are our favorite pictures from the trip:

Went up 700+ steps up Mt. Tapyas and saw this wonderful view!

Relax time at Maquinit Hot Springs

Snorkling at Kayangan Lake. Wonderful limestone rock formations under the water.

Fish feeding

Amazing views!

Bulog Dos beach's clear blue waters

Besides having a great time hanging out at the beach and exploring the different islands and sights, LJ and I had wonderful dishes to eat in Coron.

Breakfast:

We had free breakfast every morning that comes with our room at HOTEL MICHELANGELO. We could choose from a Continental, American or Filipino Breakfast.

Beef Tapa with eggs and bread. (why bread? I wanted to have jam and butter. haha)

LJ had this for breakfast during our whole stay. The man loves his bacon, what can I do? :)

Their longganisa tasted like chicken but it was very good!

The local danggit. It's different from Cebu's danggit. It's more meaty, and is not dried. It is usually frozen when you want to bring it home for pasalubong. Really good with rice and suka (vinegar)! yum!

PICNIC LUNCH BY THE BEACH:

These were all prepared by our tour guide. Our lunch and snacks during the tour was part of our tour package. Our tour guide Jeff really did a great job cooking our food and making us feel at home in Coron.

Our lunch during our first day of touring the islands. I love the colorful plastic dishes that were used :)

Alimasag that only LJ ate because I'm allergic! (yes, it's sad)

Grilled liempo that they grilled on the boat. Yummm!

Grilled fish that was super fresh and not at all "malansa"

Our lunch at Banana Island.

Grilled Chicken that was super flavorful! It was marinated very well.

Shrimps (again, I'm allergic to this)! Lj ate most of this and left the small ones. haha

This fish has meaty whity flesh and tough skin. Really good!

Mango, Tomato, Eggplant, Onion and Bagoong salad! Perfect parter to all our grilled food!

Star Apple! :)

FOOD AT NUVO HOTEL MICHELANGELO

Our hotel is owned by an Italian who moved to Coron and married a Filipina. Their Italian food are really good because quality ingredients are used. You can see a lot of foreigners and Filipinos eat here during dinner time.

Fried Fish Fillet with Tartar sauce and Fries - is this even Italian? Well, who cares. The fish is crispy and tender on the inside. It was a nice Good Friday meal. :)

Aglio E Olio pasta (Garlic and Oil) - Simple yet it was cooked perfectly. Perfect eaten with the fish sticks too!

Butter Fried Chicken Fillet with Fries - This went well with our pasta order which was...

Meatball Pasta - We loved the red sauce because it didn't taste like it came from a can. Fresh marinara sauce is always the best!

DINNER AT CENTRO CORON

Sizzling Squid - Big chunks of squid with a gravy like sauce. Lj liked it and almost finished this whole plate. :)

Grilled Salmon Head - Salmon is my favorite fish! I learned how to eat salmon head becuase my mom loves this part of the fish especially the eyeballs! :)

We had dinner at another place called MACARIO'S GRILL but we didn't have our camera! Their best seller is the chicken inasal that comes with a bowl of nilagang baka soup. Filipino comfort food!

Our Coron trip was such an amazing experience. We were really at awe with each place we went to. I hope we can all promote tourism in our own country because we have so much more to offer! :)

For information on places to stay in in Coron and also the best tour package, I'll give you a contact number. :)

Til' next time!

Momo Cafe

April 15, 2011 - Momo Cafe - Eastwood Mall

It's Friday again, the day that I really look forward to. It's a time for me and LJ to cap off our weekdays and relax with food! This week, we still had to keep in mind that we couldn't eat meat so we had to research before hand on what restaurants had fish on their menu. We saw on an online food blog that Momo Cafe had great tasting fish and chips (the blogger even said that it was the best in Manila). We wanted to find out for ourselves if it was as good as that blogger said.

We love the interior of Momo. It's homey and our seat in the couch was very comfy. It reminded me of Chelsea though(it's owned by the same company!).

Herb Pumkin Cream Soup (Php 120) - This was supposed to have bacon but we asked the waitress to take it out. It was smooth , creamy and on the sweet side. LJ said it would have been better with the bacon to have a bit of saltiness. I super enjoyed it! :)

Momo's Own Frozen Iced Tea (Dalandan) (Php 85) - I love this slushy drink. The ice didn't clump up because it was blended very well. Refreshing!

Old Fashioned Beer Battered Fish and Chips (Php 325) - This dish is really made for sharing. The piece of fish fillet was really big enough for two people to share. Underneath the fish was the seasoned fries that wasn't so crispy anymore. It was a bad idea putting it there. We loved the crispy batter that stayed crispy even if it's at room temperature already. As far as we can remember, Chelsea's fish and chips also tasted like this.

Buttered grilled corn was good! :)

Pancakes with Bananas, Peaches and Candied Walnuts (Php 195) - Their servings are huge!! 3 pcs of pancakes that I don't think one person can finish. I wasn't super impressed with the pancake since I was expecting a fluffy one. The pancakes here are really full and cakey which makes it really heavy to eat. No problem with the taste here, just the texture of the pancakes were a bit off. LJ liked it though, he had no complaints about it. :)

Brinner! Breakfast for dinner! :)

Another week to be thankful about! Food is really better shared with someone you love!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Food Finds at Coachella Bazaar

April 8-10, 2011 - Coachella Bazaar - Rockwell Tent

Finally, I have taken a chance and did something to upgrade my cookie business, Cookie Bar. This love for cookies and sweets has been a life long love affair but my 2009 trip to New York inspired me to make cookies of my own. I tried to recreate my favorite cookie EVER from this small cookie shop in New York City called Levain. I have no words to explain how good their cookies are and there was nothing that I can do to replicate it here in the Philippines (believe me, I tried). So, what I did was to create my own cookies and Cookie Bar was born! :)

Coachella was the first bazaar I ever joined. A lot of people have been telling me to join and sell my cookies but I didn't have the guts to do something about it. With a bit of encouragement from the people I love, I took a chance and joined without knowing what to expect. It was nerve wrecking but the experience was worth it!

Here is what the Cookie Bar booth looked like:

The booth was located at the outside dining area. It was located near a bridge where people pass from Powerplant mall to the tent where the bazaar is.

I was so excited when I got the tarps printed. It just made my business seem so REAL. haha

The main highlight of my Cookie Bar menu, the COOKIE CUPS.

Free taste cookies! :)

My two wonderful sellers (my close friend Ciara and my sister China) during the first day of the bazaar. (Thanks LOVES!)

With my accountant/cashier/number 1 supporter of Cookie Bar! :)

My sister China and her boyfriend Ryan selling when I left them for a few hours on the third day. :)

Being behind the booth all day makes me really hungry and since LJ and I couldn't go out and have our usual FRIDATE, we just had the food that was in the bazaar too!

MR. KIOCHON CHICKEN

This fried chicken is sooooo good! It's another version of the popular Bonchon chicken. It's very crispy outside with tender meat inside. It's hand painted with sauce that gives it that nice yummy glaze. They even give you a plastic gloves so you can eat the chicken with your hands and not be messy! (Photo taken from their FB site)

Didn't get to take a picture of the actual chicken we ate but this is from their fan page on facebook. Click here to check it out.

HUNGRY JOE'S

I love the logo of Hungry Joe's.

I tried their MAN MEAT-BALL. It's herb meatballs with peanut sauce on top. I liked how the meatball was cooked perfectly, keeping the meatball intact. I hate it when meatballs become mushy but this one is still very moist and is not overcooked.

Photos are from their FB fan page: Click HERE

EAT MY GF

GF meaning GARLIC FRIES. If you're laughing about the name then you have a dirty mind (hahaha). This is one of our favorite food stalls in the bazaar. This is not your ordinary fries. It's french fries with fresh garlic with seasoning and herbs sprinkled on top. It makes you want to eat it with a cold bottle of beer. LJ enjoyed this so much because we ordered the GF with bacon on top! (Photo from their FB fan page)

EAT MY GF's Menu. Like them on facebook.

UNIVERSITEA of HAPPY FANSHU

This tea kept us alive and hyper during the whole bazaar. It was the most refreshing drink ever. Our favorite was the green tea with strawberry (strawberry bits too!) and also green tea with lychee (i like to add nata on this one). Their green tea milk tea was not bad too! (Photo from their FB page: Click here)

My sister China and her berry green tea with nata. yum!! :)

It was really such a fun experience to sell at a bazaar. We were so tired but had so much fun doing it! :) I'm glad I got through this because now I know what to expect when I join another one. Thank you to all those who visited and bought cookies! :) 'Til next time!

Milk Tea at Chatime

April 5, 2011 - Chatime - Pioneer Center Supermarket, Pioneer St. Corner United, Pasig

I love milk tea! I'm really addicted to Serenitea, Happy Lemon and Bubble Tea. Milk tea is taking over Manila by storm just like the time when coffee shops were the in thing before. Now, it's Milk Tea shops! :)

The past two restaurants LJ and I have eaten in was just in my village (Kapitolyo, Pasig) and now there's a new milk tea place that makes me LOVE our village even more! Chatime is a famous Taiwanese milk tea chain that serves an assortment of tea based drinks. If you're tired of the same old milk tea, here at Chatime they have smoothies, mousses and coffee!

We went on their soft opening to try if it's any good (thanks to my village-mate Dani for letting me know it's open already).

Chatime is inside the compound of Pioneer Center Supermarket. There's lots of parking here, so no problem when you're just here to buy a drink!

Their sugar and ice options.

Left: Brown Rice Green Milk Tea with Pearl (Php 100) , Middle: Red Bean Milk Tea with Pearl (Php 100), Right: ChaTime Roasted Milk Tea with Pearl (Php 85)

Brown Rice Green Milk Tea - Made with green tea and roasted brown rice with milk. Light and refreshing with a nutty taste. Definitely not something I would get if I want a dessert kind of drink.

Red Bean Milk Tea - Milk tea with sweetened red beans. Milk tea sweetness should be less because the red beans will make the tea too sweet to taste. It's my favorite one so far.

ChaTime Roasted Milk Tea - One of their basic milk teas on the menu. Just the right amount of tea taste but I suggest putting more than 50% of sugar on this one or else it will be bland.

Yummy red beans at the bottom of the cup!

What's the "sweetness of dawn"?

Super refreshed after being out under the summer sun doing errands and work!

My sister China, another tea lover was with us! :)

Milk tea section of the menu. There's a lot more so go to Chatime to check out thier other drinks! :)

Toppings galore!

So much more flavors to try, can't wait! What a perfect summer drink! :)

It's almost Wednesday! Happy hump day! :)