Hopped into IHOP

I've heard of IHOP (International House Of Pancakes) from some of my relatives and friends abroad and all of its pancakes goodness. So when I heard that it's already here in the Philippines, I decided that I may as well try it. But with my hectic sched at work, I don't have that much of my free time to go. Luckily, one of my closest friends decided to celebrate her birthday in  IHOP! Yay! Finally, I will get to try it.... for free. :)

It was my day off from work and my friends and I hopped along Bonifacio Global City, The Fort and looked for the restaurant. I was kind of expecting long lines of people waiting outside. Upon our arrival, we were 7th on the list. Lucky! I guess it's because we went there in the middle of the week (Wednesday). We waited for a little less than 30 minutes but we were able to get a table after about an hour because I requested for a table near a socket for Wifi purposes! Haha By the way, the restaurant does not have wifi.

As soon as we're seated, we didn't took much time thinking on what to order because we were given a menu list on the waiting area so we could decide on what to order while waiting for our table. :) So here's what we've ordered. Food descriptions were from munchpunch.

Bacon Temptation Omelette (P285)

Loaded with strips of crispy bacon, diced tomatoes, rich cheese sauce, Jack and cheddar cheeses

I forgot what's this one but it tastes so good!

Chicken Fajita Quesadilla (P365)

Grilled seasoned chicken breast with onions, fresh green peppers and tomatoes in a grilled flour tortilla with cheddar and Jack cheeses. Served with sour cream and salsa.

Cinn-A-Stack Pancakes (P235)

Two buttermilk pancakes layered with cream cheese icing and whipped topping 

We were supposed to order the New York Cheesecake Pancakes which is their best seller but unfortunately, it's unavailable :(

Variety of syrups to choose from :) We actually tried them all. Haha :)

Simple and Fit Seasonal Mixed Fruit Crepes (P225)

Two crepes topped with seasonal mixed fruit, low-fat strawberry yogurt and granola.

Overall, the food was good. Too bad we were not able to eat while everything's newly served because we have to wait for our friend who came to the place more than an hour late! Haha The staff were also very accommodating and friendly. They even prepared a little surprise for my friend who's celebrating her birthday :) They suddenly came to our table and sang her a happy birthday plus gave her a pancake! Sweet! :)

The birthday celebrant looking pretty and happy with the pancake made by the IHOP staff :)

Also on that day, the four of us were celebrating our 6th anniversary of being the best buds since college! Time flies so fast. I love these three girls to bits :)

IHOP Philippines

W Global Center, 30th St. corner 9th Avenue Bonifacio Global City, The Fort Taguig City

Facebook: IHOP PhilippinesTwitter:  @IHOP_PH

The Peppery Asian Cuisine

Last Saturday, I was fortunate enough to be invited by Ms. Joy Felizardo of GASTRONOMY by Joy to the opening of THE PEPPERY. My first thought was that maybe it would somewhat be similar to Pepper Lunch because... uhhh.. no particular reason actually. It's just that they sound alike! Hehe
But actually, The Peppery Asian Cuisine is a one-stop Asian restaurant located along Panay Ave. in Quezon City.

Upon entering, the restaurant has a relaxing ambiance and gives you that oriental vibe because of its interiors.

They also have this mini bar just beside the entrance.

Out of curiosity, I asked one of the co-owners the reason behind why they decided to call it "The Peppery". Her answer was simple. She told me that it's because "pepper" as we all know, is a basic ingredient to all Asian cuisines.It is also used as heat-adding spice in many dishes. 


Let me show you some of the dishes that they cater.

Com Chien: Vietnamese garlic and egg rice. I'm contented having just this without any viand.

 

 

Sarada Nippon: Japanese- inspired seafood and cucumber salad. 

Seafood balls and shrimp pancakes!

Yam Mamuang: Thai green mango salad with shrimps and red chili.

Kare- kareng Dagat: Philippine seafood and vegetable stew in peanut- anatto sauce

Sambal Ikan: whole deep-fried sambal tilapia, the Indonesian way.

Sarawaka: Malaysian Pork Spareribs

Pu Tong Hua Bian Chao Niu Rou: beef with mandarin oranges from China. Oh dear, that was a long name!

Daging Puteri Manis: Sweet Princess Beef from Malaysia

Chanh Va Toi Muc: Cambodian lemon and garlic squid

 

 But wait, there's more! Let's not forget the desserts.

A plate full of fruits creatively arranged that it made my mouth water just by looking at it.

Coconut Jello

Halo- halo Turon with caramel syrup!

Oh myyyyyyyyyyy... Just by looking at all these pictures makes me hungry again. I guarantee, they all taste good! I swear that that night, my taste buds were dancing with glee from all the different flavourful flavors! Haha

As I have mentioned earlier, The Peppery is your one stop- Asian restaurant because they cater almost every Asian dish! You need not go far. From Filipino, Korean, Chinese, Cambodian, Indian,Vietnamese, Thai, Singaporean, Indonesian, Japanese, and Malaysian. It's like if you and your barkada decided to dine-out and you wanted to go Korean while your friend wanted Chinese and the other wanted Indian... this is just your perfect place to go and they offer a whole lot more! Another great thing about this restaurant is the reasonable price of their foods. Almost every entree is less than Php400. :)

The Peppery Asian Cuisine is located at Ground Floor, Victoria Towers, Timog Ave. corner Panay Ave., Quezon City.

Dine-out with Alea at Maru

Upon hearing that Alea (a friend and much like a younger sister to me) came here for a month of vacation after 5 years of residing in the US, I immediately contacted her through Facebook and text message that we should meet up! We agreed to meet in Robinsons Place Manila after I got off from work.

It was a rainy Friday evening and as planned, we decided to have dinner while catching up in this Korean restaurant called MARU, just beside Arya.

Upon entering, the restaurant looks spacious (though it's not too big), clean and well-lit. There were tables with chairs and cushioned seats on the right side of the restaurant. On the left side is an elevated platform wherein you have to take off your shoes before taking a seat. Of course, we chose that area. On the tables were built-in burners where you could grill.

The waiters approached us to take our orders. I must say that they are very accommodating and friendly too, explaining to us every dish to help us easily pick our orders and especially because I have quite a number of questions since it was my first time to eat in a Korean resto. Considering that there's only the two of us, we opted for just two dishes. We ordered the non- marinated Beef strips (which I forgot the name) and the Japchae. For drinks I ordered a mango smoothie while Alea ordered soda.

Japchae

While waiting for our orders, they served us with cold water and soup. The soup tastes sort of bland and spicy at the same time, but surprisingly, I liked it. Then they served about 8 appetizers or starters (which is for free). There were Kimchi, tofu, veggies, green chili and others I'm not familiar with. They taste both spicy and sour though I did not try everything because some doesn't look too appealing for me! Haha When our orders came, the waiter started to  pre-heat the built-in burner and placed the beef strips to grill while Alea and I started with our almost endless chatter! Haha We only paused for a while when the waiter told us that the beef strips were ready. He cut it and separated the bones. I felt excited to eat! We first tried the Japchae. Japchae is a Korean dish made from transparent noodles, stir-fried in sesame oil with a variety of vegetables such as carrots, radish, onion, spinach and mushrooms. Mmmmm.... it tastes so good! My taste buds were dancing with glee! :) The noodles were very tasty and the stir-fried veggies adds to the flavor of the dish making it more delicious. As for the non-marinated beef strips, it tastes heavenly as well. The meat is very tender and oh-so delicioso! Sooo flavourful! Two thumbs up pati paa for this! You see, even though I don't know how to use chopsticks (and because I have no choice but to use it), I still ate a lot. :) They gave us a cup of rice too pero hindi na namin nagalaw. HahaDine

I was so glad that I had a good dining experience with my first try in a Korean restaurant thanks to Maru! With their great food plus very accommodating and friendly staff, I definitely recommend for you to try this restaurant. :)

**********
MARU Korean Restaurant 
L1 Alfresco Midtown Wing, Robinsons Place Manila

Mango Tree Bistro, Trinoma

I’ve never been to a Thai restaurant before, and to tell you honestly, I have no idea about Thai food. So when I was invited by a friend to an event last Thursday (January 19) that will be held in a restaurant called Mango Tree Bistro in Trinoma Mall, I didn’t know what to expect.

As soon as we entered the restaurant, I noticed that it was a bit dark. The interior design was very chic and stylish. For me, it actually looks elegant and sophisticated. It has heavy use of black colors with a combination of purple and yellow because of the lights. There are also cushioned seats lining in one corner with pillow seats of different colors, such as orange and blue which makes it more lively.

The design is mostly black, with touches of purple seats and lamps.

Before the food is served, the waiter came and asked us for a choice of drink between lemon iced tea and lemon grass iced tea. Since I’ve already tasted lemon iced tea, I decided to choose the latter out of curiosity.

Then the much awaited food is served. I’m quite excited to taste almost every dish. :D

Yum Som O Goong (Php320)

Fresh prawns with pomelo salad and roasted grated coconut

*I’m not a fan of prawns but the combination of coconut and pomelo is actually good. 

Pla Meuk Gratiem (Php250)

Stir fried squid with garlic pepper sauce

I actually loved the garlic pepper sauce! It tastes really good. Plus I love squids, period.

Tom Yun Goong (Php280)

Spicy Thai prawn soup with lemongrass, mushrooms, lime and chilies

It is okay for me. It has a bit of a sour taste and spicy as well.

Gaeng Kiew Wan Nova (Php380)
Beef fillet with eggplant in green curry

                                      

Gai Thai Krai Yang (Php280)

Grilled Thai herb chicken with lemon grass served with Northeastern Thai dipping sauce

I love this! The chicken is really soft and tender and juicy as well. 

Pad Thai Goong (Php350)

Stir fried noodles with prawns in Phad Thai sauce

My favorite from all the dishes served. This is just so yummeehh! At first I thought it was cheese on top but it was actually an egg omelette. I actually planned on saving this one for last, but I couldn’t resist that I ate it all up too fast. He he Two thumbs up for this! 

Tod Mun Goong (Php350)

Deep fried shrimp cakes served with sweet chili dipping sauce

Okay, this is my number 2 favorite! The shrimp filling inside is very juicy while outside it’s crispy. A dip into the sweet chili sauce gives it a different layer of taste. I actually saved this one for last. 

And for the dessert..

Tub Tim grub (Php150)

Coconut milk with red ruby chest nuts and ice cubes

Red ruby chestnut is like jelly but when bitten, it actually has a crunch to it.

Mango Tree Bistro has a great ambiance and decent Thai food. This restaurant is actually a good try for me since I’m a first-timer to Thai food. Phad Thai, I definitely want to try you again…. SOON! 

Mango Tree Bistro has branches in Bangkok, Tokyo, Dubai, Macau, London and here in Manila.

It is located in 3rd floor of Trinoma Mall, beside Power Books. Restaurant operating hours are 11AM to 10PM Sundays to Thursdays, and 11AM to 11Pm Fridays & Saturdays.

Contact details:

Mango Tree Bistro 
3rd Level, Trinoma Mall
EDSA cor. North Ave.
Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines
Phone Number:  (+632) 585-5460