Burgers and Wings at Sweet Ecstasy, Uptown Parade, BGC, Philippines

I've had it with those patties piled high with "extenders" (tomatoes, mayo, cheese, cucumbers), leaving you feeling full with no memory of the beef. Sometimes, you just need to sink your teeth into a good-old-fashion burger with less the trimmings.  

Sweet Ecstasy, Uptown Parade Taguig

Order window

Here's how no frills this place is; once you step up inside you'll see this takeout window that acts as their order counter. But don't worry, they cook your food as you order so you get them hot off the grill.

After having our fill of their "unique" interiors, our orders arrived. 

Casual Filipino Eats at Isla Una, Pasig City, Philippines

Since we've always made it a point to choose places to try within the confines of Makati area (less travel = less traffic); whenever we do venture out, it's always with an excited air of anticipation. It was no different when Isla Una came into play.

We looked through their menu and chose one dish from different menu categories namely Baboy (Pork), Baka (Beef) and Manok (Chicken).

#FoodStarsAtUptownMall: Cowboy Grub at Texas Roadhouse, Uptown Mall, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City, Philippines

My feed has been filling up with alerts from the newly opened Texas Roadhouse in Uptown Mall. As luck would have it, we were invited to a birthday celebration on the week of its opening.

Due to its soft opening, phone lines were either down or no one was answering hence we were forced to go without a reservation.  Wisely used the time taking pictures while we waited to be seated.

To keep us from losing our cool ('coz they were really making us wait a long time), they began serving their complementary wares.

.... and I must say, they should've served this earlier. These freshly baked bread rolls with cinnamon butter is enough to cool off any hot heads in sight. I couldn't stop raving about this and our dinner was yet to start.  Food-Stars Tip: Ask for a butter knife for spreading the butter since they don't serve it with one. Here's a little incident that happened to us. One of the managers who apparently didn't want to go back to the kitchen & get one told us to use the ones on the table instead. When we unwrapped the napkins, the knife he was talking about was bigger than the rolls 'coz it was a steak knife. I would've understood if that was the same case for everyone but our other table got a butter knife. Tsk tsk. Tamad 101. I just asked for one from a server instead. 

#FoodStarsAtUptownMall: Getting the VIP Treatment at the VIP Cinema, Uptown Mall, Taguig, Philippines

When going out for a movie date, there are 2 things to remember: (1) Choosing the right kind of movie is the key to a fun time; and (2) Being with someone special or at least with someone you like is also a must. For this particular Friday, I was going out with Hubby & we were watching Captain America's Civil War so I was already good on both points.

Remember our Uptown Place Cinema Review? Well, for this time around we were in for a special treat, a VIP one to be exact. 

Food-Stars Tip: Going a day before to buy the tickets is a good idea to avoid getting bumped off by a block screening. They also offer online reservations just visit this website. 

They were still kinda strict about letting people in the cinema, their 5 minute rule before showtime still stands. With our 20 minute idle time, we decided to walk around the mall...

..which alas took only about 10 minutes. A lot of shops were still under construction and with the restaurants in the open-air part of the mall, it was too hot to explore. 

With nothing else to do, we went to the food counter to start on our popcorn binge because when you get tickets for their VIP cinemas.....

..... you get UNLIMITED popcorn & sodas!!! ;p