Cool Treat at Honey Creme, SM Aura Premier, Taguig City, Philippines

Sometimes having your dessert first is a good idea. 

Case in point; we were walking around SM Aura at 7 in the evening and saw this.

Yes, we haven't had dinner yet but I was so excited to try this out that I couldn't wait 'til after. 

It was a toss up between the Organic Cotton Candy or the Caramel Popcorn topping. Can you guess which one won??

While they were getting the soft serve in my cup, it gave me time to look around.

Brunch Getaway at Breakfast at Antonio's, Tagaytay City, Philippines

Sometimes you just need to get away from the hustle & bustle of life. A short road trip to Tagaytay seemed the most fitting for this particular drive out the city.

Left at 9:45am and we made good time; arrived at Breakfast at Antonio's at around 11:45.

Was surprised to see that there were still a lot of empty parking spaces.

What's even more surprising was the sight that greeted us once we got inside... We were the only ones there. 

We asked to be seated at the table with the best view.

After several attempts, I still couldn't find an angle that showed Taal Volcano at its finest. *Sigh*

Here's a snapshot of their menu. 

To start us off, we ordered their Bread Basket (Php 175). This was freshly baked bread that you enjoy with their homemade jams. For this particular morning, the bread basket consisted of Raisin Bread, Wheat Bread, Banana Bread & White Toast.

You get unlimited refills of their Homemade jams. This is Pineapple, Berries & Blackberries. We managed to polish off half of the bread basket while waiting for our entrees. ;p

Shobe's Birthday Treat 2015 at Hong Kong Master Cook, Dampa Macapagal Boulevard, Pasay City Philippines

Ever heard of the term "Dampa Eating"? Well, it's a style of eating wherein you have the option of personally buying your meats/seafood/veggies from the numerous available stalls (aka palengke). A stone's throw away are your choice of restaurants who will cook them for you (aka paluto). 

For tonight, Shobe was treating everyone for her birthday and her chosen restaurant was Hong Kong Master Cook in Dampa Macapagal Boulevard.

This wasn't our first Dampa experience but this was our first time to try this particular "Paluto" restaurant.

Arrived at around 7:30pm and the place was packed! Good thing they made reservations.

After the palengke & the paluto (which took around an hour), here's what we had for dinner....

To start us off, we had Clam Soup (Halaan). Fresh clams in ginger & onion stock mixed with spinach. Sounds so simple yet oh so yum. This got wiped out in no time :p

Japa-Eats at Ooma Japanese Rice Bar, Mega Fashion Hall, Ortigas Mandaluyong City, Philippines

I've always said that good food is best enjoyed with good company. 

For this evening, it was early dinner with Krystle at Ooma Japanese Rice Bar.

Arrived at SM Megamall Fashion Hall with 15mins to spare. They accept reservations until 6:30pm only; beyond that & they'll only place you in the priority list.  With that strict of a policy, I was surprised to see a lot of empty seats when we arrived.

 Hunger pangs started to show at around 7:15 so we ordered while waiting for Krystle to arrive.

Scallop and Tuna Aburi Maki (Php 295) 

Torched scallop + Tuna + Cucumber + Sesame Seeds + Nori Crumbs + Scallion + Teriyaki Sauce + Spicy Mayo + Kimchi Aioli

Okay before we get into this dish, I need to show you how best to enjoy it.

Yup, you get to play with your food before eating! ;) Instead of dipping your maki, you paint it with soy sauce. Cute right? Now let's get into the taste. Presentation-wise, you can see for yourself that it's Instagram worthy. As for the taste, well that's another thing. Wasn't able to taste the scallop & the nori crumbs and scallions didn't really do much to help.

By this time, Krystle arrived.

Ebi Tempura Maki (Php 225)

Crispy Prawn Tempura + Avocado + Tobiko + Aligue Mayo

First time to try sushi that's partly cooked and liked it. The crispiness of the tempura worked really well with the cool avocado and yummy aligue mayo. Food-Stars Verdict? Liked this better than our other maki selection. No need to paint it with the soy sauce.

Snack Bites at Potato Corner, Maginhawa Street, Quezon City Philippines

Sometimes, it's good to come back to something old & familiar. 

Giga Fries in BBQ & Cheese flavor (Php 169)

Shoti requested for one before the ride home from The Nook Cafe. 

And a Potato Corner stop is always a good idea! ;)

'Til our next Good Eat!

Follow us on Twitter!

Like us on Facebook!

Follow us on Instagram!

♥ Food-Stars

"make us your daily habit!"

SERVICE:

TASTE:

VALUE FOR YOUR MONEY:

Potato Corner

104 Maginhawa St., UP Village,

Quezon City

Facebook: PotatoCornerPH

Instagram: @PotatoCornerPH

Twitter: @PotatoCornerPH

Potter Heads at The Nook Cafe, Maginhawa Street, Quezon City, Philippines

When I read about this Harry Potter Cafe in Quezon City, I knew I just had to visit. More than anything, I was in it for the Butterbeer. Yup, still a foodie through and through.

I timed it with my Sunday visit to my mom's house; I planned on bringing her here for some drinks & snacks. Unfortunately, she wasn't home & failed to let me know beforehand (attended a Tagaytay wedding). Brought my shoti along who was left home alone.

Phoned ahead & asked if we can make a reservation; but they only follow a "first-come-first-served" policy and even informed us that there's no guarantee that we would be able to get inside. :x 

Decided to still go ahead. 

Arrived just in time before the rain started pouring. Here's the first Potter art you'll see; Hedwig chillin' in the tree. 

After signing in at the counter, be prepared to wait for about 30-40 minutes for an available table downstairs. A request to be seated upstairs takes about another 20 minutes.

Here's a shot of their counter which was constantly buzzing with activity due to nonstop people lining up to order or to ask whether their table's ready.

A Night of Color at Sip and Gogh, Paint and Sip Studio Quezon City, Philippines

For this particular Saturday, we took a break from our usual Mystery Night & decided to try something new. A night of painting while enjoying a glass of wine sounds like just the thing. 

Welcome to Sip & Gogh. 

We wanted to put our artistic skills to the test & Starry Starry Night by Van Gogh promises to do just that. 

1 Snack Platter per couple

Sip & Gogh offers sessions that caters for both newbies (like us) & those who already dabbled in art. Different (brush)strokes for different folks! ;)

Cookie Heaven at Scout's Honor, Hole in the Wall Century City Mall Makati, Philippines

Hole in the Wall Century City Mall houses lots of tempting & enticing food stalls. After our horrendous dinner, we just had to have something sweet to cleanse our palates. Ohhh... cookies! ;9

Scout's Honor Craft Cookie Shop, Hole in the Wall

With a clever name like that, you know you're in for a yummy cookie adventure. I was hoping to see the servers wearing the familiar girl scout uniforms or at least the berets but there was no green in sight! :(

Miko & Kristine (owners of Scout's Honor) gamely posed for a photo & gave recommendations on which cookies to try for newbies like us.

Scout's Honor offers two kinds of cookies; prebaked & the to-be-baked ones. Let's start with the prebaked ones. Here's some of the cookies on display.

Cookie Inception

Thin Mints

Samoas Dreams

S'Mores Tag-Alongs

And now for the to-be-baked or simply named Craft Cookie.

Here you get to choose your own dough & toppings. How fun! ;)

Foul Night at Bad Bird, Hole in the Wall Century City Mall Philippines

Remember our first Century City Mall's Hole in the Wall visit? Well, this time around we got to try the much raved about umami fried chicken by Bad Bird with Myka & Joseph. ;)

 After waiting in line for about 25-30 minutes, you choose from their menu, pay for it & they give you this huge black button that vibrates once your order's ready for pick up. Bad Bird cooks as you order so at least you get your chicken fresh from the pan.

Here's when the night turned interesting; the button vibrated & Hubby went to get our order. Lo and behold, the cashier then tells us that the side we ordered was out of stock. This was after 20 minutes of waiting. Bad communication between the kitchen & the cashier should not be our problem. The fact that you ask us to pay even before we get our order guarantees that the item being sold IS in stock right? Hay grabe. 

After that entire hullabaloo, we still tried to enjoy the night. Believe me, we all hoped that the Umami Fried Chicken would be the saving grace.... it wasn't.

Dirty Rice Plate with Spicy Hotness Level (Php 300)

Dirty Rice Plate with Safe Hotness Level (Php 300)

Dirty Rice Plate comes with 2 pieces of chicken with Dirty Rice & Kimchi.  First impression? I felt puzzled. Was this the chicken that were getting raves from the social media sites? Really? I took another bite just to make sure & knew right there that Bad Bird is nothing special. True, the chicken is crunchy on the outside & juicy on the inside but the flavor was not that good. The dirty rice & kimchi fared better.

Local Flavors with a Twist at Locavore, Kapitolyo Pasig City, Philippines

Impromptu food plans with friends are the best ones! 

For this particular lunch, Ceej & Francia were game for a new place to try out. We decided on Locavore, which coincidentally was right in their neighborhood. ;)

We suggest you come early since parking slots nearest to the restaurant are quite limited. With a name like this plus a huge rooster as their logo, it comes as no surprise that this was going to be a Filipino feast afternoon.

To get it out of the way, I'm disclosing the fact that yes; we had rice with our meal.

And here's our photo of it......

Steamed Garlic White Rice (Php 70./cup)

No judgments please... hahaha. This was actually 4 cups of rice served in one big platter. 

Pusit Ala Pobre (Php 220)

We've started to love squid in olive oil and this was the closest thing to that. Locavore's version had their squid swimming in squid ink and topped off with garlic bits & spring onions. Food-Stars Verdict? Quite tasty & a nice start to our meal.