#FoodStarsBreakfastPlaces: Cafe Mabini, A. Mabini, San Juan, Philippines

 When your everyday routine includes bringing kids to school; you know that you’ll be needing quite a few of good breakfast places in your belt.

Priority goes to places that opens at 8 in the mornig; offers coffee; has ample parking and is within the vicinity of San Juan. 

Let’s start the list off with Cafe Mabini. 

This is a 22-seater space with ample parking and internet access.

The best spots are the booths at the back, where the indoor garden adds to the view. Call buttons are also made available on the tables.

Table shot of our first visit. 

Hubby went with their Grilled US Beef Tapa (Php 425) while I got their Beef and Tendon Mami (Php 395). 

This sticky jelly-like beef broth truly hits the spot. All the meat pieces were cooked ‘til tender, making every mouthful a delight. Squeezing in some calamansi & mixing in the chili garlic bring in the sour & spicy notes into the dish. Serving the wanton chips on the side rather than on top of the soup made for a very nice added crunch to the dish. 

Mother’s Day 2023 at Antonio’s PGA Cars, Metro Manila, Philippines

 This is a post about Mother’s Day so please, expect a bit of cheesiness.

 I remember the times when my siblings & I planned how to best show our mom, at least once every year, that we appreciate her. Fast forward to today wherein I am a mom myself and I see the need for the fuss. I see why “being seen” is important. It’s a welcomed high when days starts to feel endless. This realization coming from being a mom for just 6 years; I can’t imagine the feeling when it begins hitting the 2-digit mark.

For my mom’s Mother’s Day, my husband & I decided to bring her to Antonio’s PGA Cars. 

Up the stairs we go!

 

  

For our party of 5 (yes, we brought the kids with us), we were seated in a booth nearest to the bar. The kids were becoming a bit restless and the bread came out just in time. 

We wanted my mom to experience the tableside serving of Roast Ribeye so it was unanimously decided that all 3 of us would be getting the Trolley Lunch Set Menu (Php 3,100/pax). 

14th Wedding Anniversary at Ruth’s Chris Steak House, BGC, Philippines

 Celebrating being married for an X number of years is always special. 

It’s an opportunity to look back on the days that you’ve been a part of each other’s lives and how you’re looking forward to more. 

Last May of 2022, we celebrated our 14th year of being married. Hubby planned a special dinner with 2 important details; enjoying a damn good steak at a quiet & intimate place; terms that I happily agreed with.

Ruth’s Chris Steak House is at the 2nd floor of the ORE Central, 31st Street BGC. Ride up the escalators and turn left, you can’t miss it. 

The receptionist will usher you into a dimly-lit hallway leading to a more spacious dining area. We chose a booth for more privacy. 

Birthday Surprise at Icho Japanese Restaurant, Greenhills San Juan, Philippines

This is a throwback post (pre-pandemic days) wherein Hubby surprised me with a birthday lunch at Icho Japanese Restaurant.

Back then, eating out was fairly easy; all we had to take note of was whether the restaurant had available high chairs and if there was space for our stroller. Al fresco dining was way low on our list of seating preferences and “the more people in the restaurant the better” mentality was still very much alive.

Hubby was in charge of the ordering that day.

To start off my birthday feast, he got 3 kinds of sushi (makis & aburi ones);

Hotpot Session at Gloria Maris Shark’s Fin Restaurant, San Juan, Metro Manila, Philippines

    For our family, hot pot is always a good idea; bring us good broth with tons of balls and we’re good to go. Another thing that excites us would be the quality of their dipping sauces; peanut sauce for the kids (who are real sticklers on the taste) & sate sauce for the husband. Anyone would agree that these are the trifecta of any good hotpot experience.

Gloria Maris Hotpot has been in our to-go list ever since, even before the pandemic. Experiencing the traffic along EDSA made us all famished by the time we arrived. Hubby was all business and without any qualms, ordered one of the pre-sorted sets for 4 people (Php 2,800). 

Yes, you read it right. We got a set for 4 and all of the servers were going, 

“Sir, madami yan. Kaya for kahit 6 people. Baka hindi ninyo maubos kasi 2 bata po kasama ninyo, technically 2 lang po kaya in Ma’am”. 

Pork bone on the left; Sate on the right

Veggies, tofu, corn, Gabri, noodles

Shrimps, balls, meat, kani, and maybe a few of Ariel’s friends

And they were right!! Hahaha

Yum Cha Unlimited at Shanghai Saloon, The Podium, Philippines

     We have always been game with trying out anything unlimited, but we also find ourselves less than satisfied with the experience more often than not (low quality of the meat, slow service, etc). Another thing that you should know about us is that Makati City is our comfort zone meaning, each drive out of the city limits ups the ante for our expectations for the restaurant. Simply put, it had better be worth the drive.

    Enter Shanghai Saloon at The Podium. 

This particular restaurant ticks both of our boxes above, placing it in a much higher standard than usual. 

We made reservations for their 2nd seating of the day (1:30-3:30pm). We arrived at exactly 1:30 just to be told that our tables were not available due to several differing reasons (the previous seating was not yet done; the table was given to another party). 

To remedy the situation, the manager had us order from the Yum Cha list so that they could start preparing our dishes while waiting.

We were soon led to our seats at around 1:45pm. I had only a few minutes to look around when our orders started pouring in, clearly they were making up for the earlier mishap.