Payday Lunch Series: Saboten

Aaaand we're back after a short hiatus. To kick off our reunion, we chose Japanese food - Saboten. I have to admit I discovered the Saboten hype from Chuvaness. She tweets and blogs often about it, never fails to eat in countries where there is one. It was so funny when I went to Hong Kong in 2011 I was kinda fixed into testing what Saboten is all about as there is one in HKIA departure lounge but I chickened out at the last minute, fazed by all the $$$ I was seeing hahaha.

When the news circulated that there'll be a Manila branch I was ecstatic! Would you believe it wasn't as fancy as I thought it would be? Probably because Yabu rate has already prepped me for it lol. Saboten has more expensive choice of set meals but all in all, the price range aren't too far off. Okay tama na baka magalit ang Saboten sabihin kinukumpara ko sila sa Yabu. 

More than the zen and interior design, I especially loved the fact that they hand out complimentary teas once customers have settled in on their seats. No need to beg for it. Plus points na agad!

So we ordered the following:

Mixed Set (1 Deep-Fried Shrimp, 1 30g enderloin Cutlet and 1 Crab Cream Croquette).

Grated Radish Tenderloin Set

Tenderloin and Loin Set (1 Tenderloin Cutlet 50g. and 1 Loin Cutlet 65g.)

Ten and Romy.

Gotta love the unlimited serving of cabbage in one huge bowl. So even if you didn't order a set meal (which automatically included the unlimited cabbage), you can be sure to have a go at it still. If there's one thing though that was a bit off about Saboten, it's that their meat cuts are too big (for our mouths haha). I think that could do an improving. Unless they don't want to. Okay.

For dessert we ordered the Vanilla with Black Honey and Green Tea Ice Cream Combination (75 pesos only!). Unfortunately, their green tea was not the green tea I had in mind. It was rather milky than tea-y. Buti na lang vanilla saved the day :)

All in all our Saboten experience was really good. The waiters were prompt and really attentive. They announce your food and how best to enjoy it by suggesting ways on what seasoning to use. But I gotta say, aside from that, there really isn't anything special about it. It's hard not to compare Saboten to Yabu when the latter has been here for a while now. Our taste buds has gotten accustomed to Yabu that Saboten is just like one of those katsu house. Maybe we should try the other specials just to be fair...

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Saboten
G/F Serendra, McKinley Parkway
Fort Bonifacio, Taguig
(02) 625-2000

Payday Lunch Series: 'Cue Modern Barbecue

It's another payday foodtrip post! This time, we trooped to Bonifacio High Street to come and see what the fuss is all about Cue, most especially the ever famous Bone Marrow and Steak Tacos.

From the outside

Interior

Menu (front)

Menu (back)

Ten ordered this Grapes N' Ginger Fruit Shake which has an interesting flavours. It looks and feels like a grape juice but the taste of ginger is stronger. I like it though. I wonder how the Green Mango N' Basil will fare :)

Here it is, the must-have-meal in Cue: Bone Marrow and Steak Tacos. If you want to have an instant heart attack, the portion is good for one person otherwise the four of us managed to share the cute portion between ourselves. I liked the salsa verde that went with it. But since the AC was on full mode inside the resto, the marrow naturally turned into sebo faster than you can spell supercalifragilisticexpialidocious (haha, labo). So we requested it to be reheated (it came back sizzling!)

This Smoked Bacon Carbonara was a disappointment :( The pasta was devoid of any exciting flavor, it was the bacon who saved it.

Just Mac N' Cheese. The name of the food said it all.

Chicken Chipotle Chorizo Pot Pie. The surprise hit for everyone, especially Xan.

The Baby Back Ribs (Slow-baked then BBQ'D, Wet, house-made BBQ sauce) and 'Cue's Chili Monggo. They weren't kidding when they said that the monggo was spicy!

Naturally we always have our group photo after the meal has been wiped out :))

Food in 'Cue was alright, there were some hits and misses and that's fairly fine (although for its price, NOT). I think I'm good with just one try. :)

As a parting shot, took a photo of these nice chairs outside the restaurant.

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'Cue Modern Barbecue

Bonifacio High Street Central

G/F Bonifacio High Street Central, East Superblock

 7th Ave cor 29th St., Fort Bonifacio, Taguig

(02) 621-4052

The Cake Club by Diamond Hotel

After a greasy lunch at Nolita, we then went across the street where The Cake Club is located. Once inside, you'll get a whiff of the place's sophistication, definitely not your ordinary pastry house. Where else can you find desserts encased in glass it seems like you're looking at an artifact instead of drool-worthy sweets?

I'm glad The Cake Club by Diamond Hotel opened another branch at Bonifacio High Street (the other one's in Rockwell Powerplant ) because I don't have to go all the way to Manila to indulge of their highly recommended desserts.

The menu outside the restaurant

We ordered this:

Vanessa: strawberries and cream in between pistachio macarons

Baked cheesecake goodness

I really suck when it comes to writing about the whole food experience. All I can say is that they were really delicious and worth every penny. Feeling ko para na rin akong nag-cake somewhere in the cobbled streets of Paris. Chos.

Sitting in the table next to us was none other than defense lawyer Karen Gimeno! Too bad we were all too shy to ask for a photo with her haha. 

They also sell Royce chocolates.

As we were about to leave, this guy which I think is the store manager, handed us this fancy envelope. Inside are coupons that we can use with our purchase on our next visit. Neat!

Wee Nam Kee in Serendra

Lunch out at Wee Nam Kee in Serendra with Ten and Reg. First time! :)

Barley Juice

Quirky lights in cages. Unique!

I opted for the roasted chicken rice instead of the usual original chicken rice (or whatever it was called. steamed? haha. not sure).

Roasted Chicken Rice

Chicken Rice

Claim. Drink. Eat.

JC and I went to Venice Piazza today to claim our Discovery Channel Vertical Run singlets for tomorrow. The whole process didn't take us more than 10 minutes so we lingered around the area...

and found this outside.

We also spotted Susie dining with humans in a restaurant! Geno seems to be missing and it doesn't look to me that Susie misses her. teehee.

So we walked our way out of McKinley Hills towards the general direction of BGC. We found ourselves here.

I originally ordered Strawberry Surf Rider but found it too sour for my taste buds (candy fruity but sour actually) so I exchanged it for a Banana Berry instead. I love that Jamba Juice has this kind of rule so at least you won't be stuck with what you get if it turns out you don't like what you first ordered.

While waiting for our order to be called, who did we find? The Fat Kid Inside himself, Erwan Heusaff.

Now these are happy faces of satisfied customers. I love that my juice isn't too sweet because I'm still recovering from a recent bout with colds and coughs.

We went back to the general direction of High Street and Serendra for our last stop: Sonja's Cupcakes.

I was about to buy my usual favorite - PB&J - but then the Cheese saw this and said to try it instead.

Pistachio Berries 'n Cream

An afternoon well-spent (and budgeted!), tomorrow we run.