Power Lunch is often defined as a somewhat high-level business networking / meeting / congregation over an extended lunch period. This lunch period can last somewhere to the tune of three hours, as you build your case or continue your networking engagements in the hopes of achieving results. Some even go all the way until Happy Hour starts (which is really a GREAT excuse for that power lunch session). The…

Back in the lunch at Mesclun branch in Linden Suites, a couple of friends got to talking that there doesn’t really seem to be a great Japanese restaurant in the Ortigas Business District area here in the Philippines. If Japanese food was to be talked about, it would always be one of the favorites coming from the Little Tokyo Area in Makati. There is, however, one great find that a…

Finally! After so long…. Aubergine. Aubergine (French for eggplant) has been in Fort Bonifacio for quite a few years already, quietly hidden on the second floor of the 32nd and Fifth commercial complex. While everything around it has been constructed at a staggering pace, it’s been here all this time, quietly serving great haute cuisine. Sometimes it feels like a guilt trip to have tried younger places in the area like…

  This is a post that is over 10 years in the making. Funny how in all those 10 years, never brought a decent camera to the place, so all the pics are from phone cam takes over the past few years. It doesn’t do justice to how pretty some of the dishes are in Terry’s Bistro. Been going to this place for close to a decade now, and it’s…

If you haven’t been to Fort Bonifacio over the past year, you will find that the old Pier One bar has now been replaced by a more permanent looking structure that houses some new goodies that is reviving that side of The Fort Strip. On the higher floors, URBN Bar and Kitchen has been attracting the partygoers looking for the trendiest place. You will see it’s named URBN Bar and…

Lynne: It’s pretty clear that Rome wasn’t built in a day. But we sure tried to tour the main attractions in one day! Our feet and legs don’t particularly love us right now but our eyes have done nothing but take in all the impressive architecture, new and old, ruins, basilicas and statues alike. Rome was packed with tourists, especially the Vatican. From the nice and bearable cold of Barcelona,…

After some reflection over a previous post, it does come out a little too “Negative” for what is normally placed in this blog. And so, with a change of heart, the whole thing will be changed to highlight the food that makes our lives all the better, even for that one second when it meets our taste buds. This actually might be a regular thing here, probably updated on a…

Metro Manila seems to be experiencing a ramen craze over the past few months. Restaurant concepts are difficult to come by, and sudden opening of home-made and franchised ramen joints with at least one per week may even look like a conspiracy by restaurateurs. Ironically, something so original in ramen concept has been in the scene since 2011 and the approach feels more refreshing compared to the newer installed establishments….

Ah yes. The American open road. Songs and movies have been made, drawing inspiration from the dream of just riding it out from the West Coast down to the East, in search of new adventures. But depending on the place in America, most of the open road looks like this: There was this quote by someone who said that thanks to the Interstate Highway System, it is possible to get…

Several raves and write-ups on the quirky, secretive, and fun loving vibe of Umami Hambaagu House have sprung up ever since its opening. This Japanese adaptation of the conventional burger patty has drawn a lot of fans. Some chefs and restaurateurs have even been seen eating here!   Is it the dish and menu selection? Is it the casual and kiddie appeal of the decorations? It probably is both, and…

AS OF DECEMBER 31, 2013, THIS PLACE HAS ALREADY CLOSED. It seems only fitting that for our first Valentine’s as a married couple, we bring you something that is a milestone in itself when you finally get to try it.  Ladies and gentlemen, we bring you Lolo Dad’s. Before the two of us even got together, we had already heard much about the place.  To be honest, it was all…

This is a tribute to a Vietnamese restaurant whose value was overlooked until it has closed, and has morphed into something new somewhere else. Dear Aquaknox: Your grand looking restaurant with high ceilings to match your tasty Vietnamese cuisine will be missed from the streets of Pasay Road in Makati, where you have been replaced by a sushi bar / steak house combo whose goods are yet to be tried…

When an intense craving for the Japanese kind begins to envelop your whole brain, and for all valid reasons you are situated in the Philippines and not in Japan, the best bet to get quality Japanese grub would automatically lead you to Little Tokyo in Makati. Then when you get there, you still have to decide which restaurant you think is best in cooking a particular dimension of the Japanese…

There was this French / European bistro named Savoy that popped up in some of the searches a few months ago, and strangely is that it was somewhere in Kalayaan Avenue in Makati City. Not everyone would believe it, though. After all, Kalayaan Avenue has the notorious reputation as a place for escorts, drunk expats, and this:   Not sure if they were trying to not sound discriminatory, by moving…

In the Philippines, the word “Wagyu” gives the first impression of a somewhat high-end steak great for grilling. And the term “corned beef” can mean pretty much a clump of shreded beef stuffed in a can, readily available in the neighborhood grocery. Then you combine the two: Wagyu Corned Beef? Specifically, Philippine Wagyu Corned Beef? There can be murmurs about how good meat might have been better used for steak…

      Traditional family love. When all is gone in the world, only family is what is left deeply engraved in our hearts and minds. They are the first people we know, and probably the last that we ever think of. And every action that we do is a result of how we have been with our family. So even relatively avant-garde ideas of cooking is the passion, the…

  Lucky to have tried this a few days after it opened, because by now, it will take some time to get a seat. Such is the demand for the goodness that comes out of the kitchen of  ‘Cue Modern Barbecue. ‘Cue Modern Barbecue is just one of the many specialty restaurants that have emerged in the new Bonifacio High Street Central. And what is their specialty? Just good ol’…

People in the Western Coast of the United States rave about the burgers of a famous fast-food chain that seems to defy the retail strategy of what excessive consumerism chains are all about. They are not as ubiquotous, which actually makes it all the more desirable, especially since they have not even branched out in the Eastern Coast of the USA. It’s all about In-N-Out Burger. Something about it makes…

After that little stint in Tajimaya’s Yakiniku, a certain fire seemed to have ignited deep down in the bowels: a craving for sampling some grilled Japanese goodies, simply called Yakitori. There is an appeal to meat cooked right before your eyes, served with its flesh still sizzling from its encounter with a hot pan or fired up grill.     Apparently Nanbantei of Tokyo situated in Greenebelt 3 has been…

This has been a summer -long project in finding the right combination of spices, glaze, and cooking time. Some have even called it some sort of obsession (Like the obsession for both finding the mojito mint and grilling steak. But in the end, people have found out that such obsession benefitted them when dinner was served at home). Check out that mojito recipe here.   While it’s a bit late…

So En Route is holding a promo to draw five winners who will receive PHP1,000.00 each worth of Lunch Gift Certificates in Relik Tapas Bar and Lounge. And while we did sample some of their wares before, people do wonder: “What does Relik have for lunch?” The only way to know was to go back again and try their lunch specials 😀 Relik Tapas Bar and Lounge had a lunch…

“There is no sincerer love than the love of food.” Says George Bernard Shaw. Now, beer is sometimes considered food in some regions and by beer fanatics all around the world. And what better way to merge both loves than by creating a gastropub, like Draft Gastropub in Fort Bonifacio. Now there are already a few respectable pubs and gastrolounges around the Metro Manila, but so far none seem to celebrate…