Loca Over Locavore

My 2 favorite K's (Kimi and Kai) were in Pasig so what did we do? We tried the newest restaurant to pop up in our hood: Locavore.

I arrived in Brixton 3 minutes earlier than their opening time. I was silently panicking why the whole establishment looked closed but a few minutes later the bamboo gate opened and as I heaved a sigh of relief.

I was the first there and although I asked the waiter if I could place my order in advance (in case our orders took time to be prepared) he assured me that it should be easy and quick. Okay then!

We ordered  Lechon & Oyster Sisig (yum!!!).

Lechon & Sisig Oyster. PhP 400.

As well as their Sizzling Sinigang. It works! Yes, it's kinda weird to find your staple sinigang dry but this one is good. Lemony and salty aftertaste that complements nicely.

Sizzling Sinigang. PhP 530.

Very pang-instagram lang ang setup. 

Another angle because why not.

Their turon dessert, however, was a scene stealer. Locavore gave a whole new meaning (and look) to the classic merienda that we Filipinos love. The flaky crust, albeit a bit on the oily side, was delightful to the mouth. Pouring that dulce de leche on the turon makes everything even more sinful so make sure to share it with someone.

Turon con Leche PhP 220

If you're in the Kapitolyo area, give it a shot. I hear this place gets packed so best to come in early.

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Locavore

10 Brixton St, Bo Kapitolyo

Pasig, 1603 Metro Manila

(02) 632 9600

Ba Noi's: The Fresh Flavors of Vietnam

Ahoy, a new restaurant just popped out in our really, really cool neighborhood! The original one located in Perea Street in Legazpi Village, Makati closed down I think a month ago hence, the great move. Hey, their loss our gain. :)

Romy, Ten and I tried Ba Noi's last Friday to find out what's it like which coincidentally, also happens to be the eve before my birthday. pre-birthday lunch na kumbaga (maisingit lang).

Here's a photo of the restaurant's interior. I like the touch of bamboo blinds on their window that effectively blocks the heat from the sun.

Ba Noi's table setting. Love the chopsticks!

This Goi Cuon order came first. It was a pretty simple combination of lettuce, shrimp and rice vermicelli rolled in (glutinous) rice paper.

Dip 'em in peanut sauce and it becomes even better. I'm glad it doesn't include that odd herb(?!) in fresh spring rolls we've eaten in Ho Chi Minh. It was also included in their pho noodles kaya medyo naumay ako ng slight because of that. But I still love their pho, hands down. Walang katulad.

The  Bún Chả Giò Thịt Nướng came next. Funny thing is, I was slightly - slight lang naman haha - disappointed when we saw that it did not include soup in it. Dried noodles pala kasi ang naorder ko haha. But it's alright, the chef recommends it and I don't say no to their recommendations.

Indeed, this turns out to be a really good dish! The noodles are already tasty on their own and the spring rolls, oh the spring rolls! I can eat those everyday of my life.

This is what it looked like when mixed. We took out all the meat and set them aside on one plate haha.

The Bo Luc Lac was a a lovely surprise for us. More often than not our expectation of meat's tenderness are not met unless it is beautifully presented on  a hot plate for an unfortunately, fancy price. However, when these cube of beefs touched our mouths, the collective expression was "uy, ang lambot"! And it really was. No chewy beef to munch on for minutes.

We also ordered Ca Kho To, a braised catfish cooked in caramel sauce. This is one dish that isn't usually served in other restaurants nor in our own homes so it was a good thing we got to try it at Ba Noi's.

All in all our Ba Noi's experience was great. Each dish we ordered was really good and something we can recommend to our friends and families.

A plus factor: I'm not sure if it's because Ba Noi's is a fairly new-opened restaurant that the owner, Dodjie Violago, also happened to be in the house but for whatever reason we appreciated his gesture of coming to our table and asking how the food was.

PS: We're also avid fans of Borough Comfort Food :)

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Bs Noi's
12 East Capitol Drive,
Barangay Kapitolyo, Pasig City

Payday Lunch Series: Poco Deli

End-of-the-month payday lunch was spent in Poco Deli located in my beloved Kapitolyo neighborhood (I just had to squeeze that, sorry!). They specializes in artisan sausages and deli products that are worthy of your hard-earned money. 

Whenever I eat in Poco Deli I usually end up ordering Aglio Olio and Pizza so this time I was really excited to try their other good stuff.

Wine bodega

Happily waiting for their food.

For the meantime, we busied ourselves in taste-testing 5 varieties of cheese before we made our final decision of 3 choice cheeses that would go along with our sausages.

Goat cheese, Gorgonzola, Emmental, Pecorino and Manchego (?!?)

But in the end, we were served two kinds of cheese, instead of the original 3. Yung hindi pa namin pinili hahaha. Labo!

German Sausage and Cheese Platter

Their Truffle Oil Pasta with Mushroom awakened our Mamou memories of their incomparable Lorenzo's Truffle Cream. This comes in second place until I find another better one hee.

It's my first time to try the Irish Beef Stew. It was a fusion of flavors  which I can't quite put my finger to what those are exactly. Basta, okay naman!

This however, I believe is one of the deli's bestsellers: Bacon Slabs with Eggs and Bacon Rice. You'll never have that "it's not enough" moment because IT IS more than enough! That's actually 2 huge slabs of homemade bacon goodness.

Bacon rice. There is nothing more to say.

For dessert, what else but The Blackout Chocolate Cake. Dig in to creamy and intense chocolate layers that are too sinful, not to mention bad for your curves. Chos!

When the bill came, everyone on the table was surprised at how it didn't cost us too much for such good food. Bimby, this is what sulit means!

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Poco Deli

21 East Capitol Drive

Kapitolyo, Pasig

(02) 477-4332

Charlie's Grill on a Tuesday Night

Dahil flop ang supposedly 120-peso Chili's burger night sa Greenhills (daming taong naghihintay sa labas exagg!), umuwi na lang kami ni JC at kumain sa kapitbahay na Charlie's Grill.

I finally got to try the newest addition to Charlie's Grill's ever expanding menu: corn dogs! I got a little story to insert here. When I saw the corndog photo on their fb page, I immediately tweeted about it. Guess what? Charlie's Grill's twitter account retweeted it. Squee kahit waley lang.

These are the mini corn dogs which smelled really good. I ordered it sans the fries which costs 135 pesos.

While JC had the Charlie's Chicago snap dawg. When the orders came natawa ko, ang haba ng snap dawg including the pickles haha!

Pina-pose ko muna kahit gutom na

This. This choco milkshake was the highlight of the night though. Before, whenever I try to order milkshake in Charlie's they always say it's not available so I was disheartened every time.

But tonight, my milkshake opportunity finally came and it was sooooo worth it. OMG after one sip I can't wipe the smile off my face. Lumiwanag bigla ang buhay haha. It was that good, swear.

Next time I'll try the other flavors naman.

cherry on the top

When I got home, I immediately tweeted about the experience along with photo of the corn dogs to which Charlie's Grill twitter account replied:

Anytime kapitbahay, anytime.

Sweets Overload at Classic Confections

Thank goodness for a friend who told us that there's actually a Classic Confections branch in my beloved Kapitolyo neighborhood! At least I don't have to go all the way to Greenbelt to have a taste of their famous cake: Nono's Chocolate Oblivion =p~

We trooped in here after office hours and had an all time sugar high night.

Nono's Chocolate Oblivion

Cheesecake. Two thumbs up!

Banana Cream Pie

Colorful and interesting designs of cookies

Interior

Girlies

I like their menu!

Pastel sweets

Again, I will never have a future when it comes to writing about food. I'm terrible at finding the right words to describe the texture, the taste, everything! Haha. Basta this is masarap, that one is not. End of story!

As promised, Nono's Chocolate Oblivion is something that is totally foreign for my palate. No other chocolate cake tastes like this. But the Cheesecake stole my heart. I love how fine its texture was and how it melts easily in your tongue. Cafe Juanita's New York Cheesecake and Classic Confections' Cheesecake now holds a special chamber in my cheesecake heart. Nuks, gumaganon.