The PolyHobbyist: food

If I would be making a list of those restaurants that I would always go back to, Cafe Mary Grace will always be on that list. Chad and I have dined here thrice already, all during special occasions, and there was never a time that we got disappointed with their food and service. Their cakes are one of the biggest reasons why we always come back. But it was never a bad idea to order their pasta and pizza because they also taste delicious.

The ambiance and interiors of the restaurant looked quite intimidating at first you'll think that the food served here will burn holes in your pockets. But to me, the prices are quite reasonable for the kind of food they fill in our tummies.

I always felt like dining at home every time we visit. Although the Gateway Cubao branch is quite small and the space is quite narrow, we always had a good time. The budget for two, based on experience, is around 1000 - 1200 pesos - the reason why we eat here only in special occasions. It's quite pricey, but I promise you, you won't get disappointed.

Our third visit was to celebrate Chad's 25th birthday. Here's what we ate:

Spanish Sardines & Olives(P320)

I've always been a fan of red sauce pastas when I was a kid. When I got older, oil-based pastas became my instant favorite! I find them healthier and more delicious. I had Cafe Mary Grace's Spanish Sardines and Olives Pasta. Chad recommended I have this because he knows how much I'm craving for it. It did not disappoint! My cravings for this pasta are fully satisfied! The taste is not that salty, and there's a right amount of kick in the dish. It tastes like homemade pasta. Felt like home.

Smoked Salmon & Cream(P330)

The birthday boy had Smoked Salmon & Cream. I tasted it and as much as I love the pasta dish that I ate, this dish doesn't taste bad at all. I'm not a fan of Salmon but it tastes good. The cream blends with the Salmon quite well. The cream eliminates the fishy taste of the Salmon in a good way. I wasn't able to taste the caviar though.

And now, for some dessert! The reason why I suggested such a budget if you would dine here is because I don't want you guys to miss their super yummy cakes!

Mango Bene(P198 per slice)

If you haven't heard of Cafe Mary Grace's Mango Bene before, then now's the time you should know about it. It's the best Mango Cake I have ever tasted! The mangoes are in every layer of the cake and they are always sweet! I also love the meringue which adds a different texture in the cake. You shouldn't miss this slice of heaven if you'll dine here. It's quite pricey, but you won't feel any guilt about it.

Chocolate Truffle(P170 per Slice)

If Mango Bene's my favorite cake, this one is Chad's. The cake is creamy chocolate-y but never too sweet. The chocolate cream in between those chocolate layers tasted like Cadbury chocolate for me. It just melts in your mouth! According to Cafe Mary Grace's website, it is Callebaut Truffle in between those chocolate cake layers. The cake is soft and I think it is best eaten when chilled.

I've always wanted to order a different flavor of cake every time we dine here but we always end up with our favorites LOL.

We always had a satisfied dining experience at Cafe Mary Grace that's why we always choose to dine here to celebrate life milestones. Belated Happy birthday, Love!

Have you ever dined here? If not, go na!:D

2 comments

Shawarma is one of the popular Middle Eastern dishes to hit the Philippines. I'm not quite surprised why since judging on its appearance, it has resemblances to our favorite staple foods like burgers. It is meat in between bread. But unlike burgers and sandwiches, the dish uses Pita bread and the sauce has a stronger middle eastern flavor. Most of the shawarma that I've tasted uses beef as their meat. I like it that way because I assume that it's tastier and stronger in flavor. But never did I expect I'd love Chicken Shawarma more. And it's only in Meshwe that I found love with Chicken Shawarma. <3

Meshwe has two branches that I know of. One in Fairview and one in Malingap. We had our Meshwe Experience in Z Compound, which is the very first food park in existence, according to an Uber driver and a person I shared a ride with. This is an al fresco food park so I suggest you bring something to keep you away from sweating in case the weather tends to be uncomfortable.

Meshwe is just located on the front left of the food park and is difficult to miss. When we went there, there are lots of customers waiting to be served their favorite Shawarma. Serving time depends on the number of customers and most of the time, there are many so be patient. The Shawarma is worth the wait, I promise.

Beef Shawarma Rice

During our first visit(we went there twice), we tried their Beef Shawarma Rice(P135). It is Beef Shawarma served with Parsley and Tomato on top of the Bukkhari Rice with Harissa(chilli pepper paste) and yogurt on the side. It's the first time that I had shawarma rice that was not overpoured with mayonnaise and hot sauce and at the same time not so oily. I love their Shawarma because it looks healthier but it does not taste bland. The meat has its middle eastern taste unlike most of the Shawarma stalls out there that is sweet. Also, the meat is lean unlike others that were fatty. Definitely choosing this over others. The Harissa is a bit spicy for me so if you're not a fan of spicy, better not put too much. The yogurt is fine but I did not put too much also. Even their rice is cooked perfectly with Middle Eastern spices. I'm not familiar of the spices though. The aroma just smells like it.

Join the Meshwe Squad!

It was during our second visit(just weeks after because Chad really love this place), that I got to taste the Shawarma that changed my life LOL. Chad ordered Farouj Meshwe with Rice(P175) which is Roasted Chicken Leg along with same rice and sides as the Shawarma rice. The only addition is the coleslaw. We also bought Arabic Fries and softdrinks to remove the "umay" feeling just in case.

Farouj Meshwe with Rice

Everything that Chad ordered in Meshwe had one verdict: MALINAMNAM(delicious!). He loves the place so much, he returns here with or without me LOL. He said there's always that different taste that only Meshwe can offer. The roasted chicken leg has a distinct taste maybe out of the spices again. It is not dry and is well cooked.

Chicken Shawarma is love.

And nooow, for the holy grail of Meshwe for me, their Chicken Shawarma(P95). <3 I didn't have a hard time eating the dish because it is intact. The chicken inside is delicious it is even accompanied with fries inside! Despite the meat being chicken, it is not bland. I think there's also yogurt in there. It is very far from the commercially available oily and fatty Shawarma that was served in mall stalls. I just only wish they would add a little bit more of veggies to a have a more diverse taste and to take the "umay" feeling out of the picture.

Meshwe is the best Shawarma place for me as of the moment! The prices are very affordable and the servings are enough to satisfy us. Everytime I'd crave for Shawarma, Meshwe will be the place I'll visit. Don't be left out! Try their best selling Shawarma too!

Meshwe: Z Compound, 33A Malingap Street, Teachers Village, Quezon City

3 comments

When I travel, I make it a point to taste the local food a place offers. I would never leave without trying something new to my taste buds. While some of them kind of disappointed my palate(Hello Tamilok!), the others really tasted delicious(Hello Crocodile Sisig)! But then, Singapore is a different matter. It's an expensive city and I just can't go eat everything without taking the price to account. Eating at a decent restaurant there would burn holes on pockets for small time tourists like me. Thank God, they have things called HAWKER CENTERS.

This food stall has around 20 people lining up!

If you haven't heard of them, hawker centers are food court-type of spots that offer authentic Singaporean food for a way cheaper price. They are like eateries. The ambiance might not be that good as compared to restaurants with the aircondition and all. But hawker centers will take you to the deepest and most delicious Singaporean dishes. Some of them are awarded Michelin stars! Even the locals eat there. They are a thing in Singapore and you should never miss trying them out.

One of the best hawker centers in all of Singapore is said to be, Makansutra Gluttons Bay.

HOW TO GET THERE:

Via Train: You need to alight at the City Hall MRT Station so you need to take either the North South Line(Red) or the East West Line(Green)
Via Bus: There is a bus stop quite near Makansutra Gluttons Bay so if you don't want to walk, then you can take the bus. Refer to the image below to check which bus numbers you could take to reach Makansutra.

Makansutra Gluttons Bay sits close to Marina Bay Sands. Unlike other hawker centers, Makansutra Gluttons Bay is fancier and a bit more expensive. The ambiance is more comfortable and fresher as compared to the first hawker center we've been to. Not to mention, you get to see the iconic Marina Bay Sands since it is an outdoor dining kind of hawker center. You can also dine in there while waiting for the light show that Marina Bay Sands has every night.

Look at the upper right portion, there's Marina Bay Sands!

It is known to serve heritage dishes of Singapore(which is why we opted to dine here). Singaporean food is very diverse hailing from Chinese, Indian, and Malaysian roots. So in Makansutra Gluttons Bay, or in any other hawker center in Singapore for that matter, you'll see noodles, curry, satay, and others related to those three races posted on their menu. If you wanted to try it out but don't want to leave the Philippines, don't worry, they're already here in Manila. But if you want to take a glance of the food you should try in Makansutra, then just keep reading. ;)

1) Prawn Hokkien Mee from Soon Lee

Rating: 3.5/5

Price: 5/7/9 SGD

Hokkien Mee is one of the national dishes of Singapore. The dish hailed from Chinese and Malay roots. It is stir-fried yellow noodles mixed with prawns, squid, egg, and herbs.The taste of Hokkien Mee is far from our local version of "Pansit" but I love that I get to explore a different taste of noodles. This is less salty and I guess healthier since the meat is seafood. You can even customize the acidity and spiciness of the dish because it is served with lime and chili paste on the side.

2) BBQ Chicken Wings from Huat Huat

Rating: 4/5

Price: 1.30 SGD/piece

Out of all the dishes we tried, this one is the closest to home. While in the Philippines, most wings are served fried, in Singapore, they are mostly served grilled. Me and my sister love these to bits! I think it's even better to get a bottle of beer when munching these. Huat Huat Chicken BBQ Wings are grilled to perfection. There are not much burnt skin so we are able to enjoy them without worrying too much on Carcinogens. Also, the wings are somehow meaty and very juicy!

3) Satay Platter from Alhambra Padang Satay

Rating: 4/5

Price: I forgot LOL

It's my first time to try a Satay. Satay is like our local version of street barbecue. But unlike ours that has dips made of vinegar, soy sauce, onion, and chili, their satay platter has a sauce that tastes like curry. In addition, their marinade is different with stronger Indian flavors. This satay platter consists of pork, chicken and beef satay with sticky rice as the side. I love the beef satay more than the two. It is more flavorful and I love that I can just bite on the sticky rice like eating bread.

4) Sambal Prawns from Redhill Rong Guang B.B.Q Seafood

Rating: 3/5

Price: 20 SGD

Sambal, in case you don't know, is a chili sauce, so Sambal Prawns is expected to have that kick when you try them. Aside from that, there's nothing special about it. Just marinated grilled prawns served with Sambal on top and lime on the side.

5) Cereal Prawns

Rating: 4.5/5

Price: Less than 20 SGD

This is my favorite among all of the dishes we ate. It is prawns mixed with cereals that I don't know of. The prawns are sweet on the outside and juicy on the inside. I just wish they could have a version of this without the skin of the prawns so the sweetness can penetrate the meat. But overall, I love this more than the others.

6) Chili Crab from Redhill Rong Guang B.B.Q Seafood

Rating: 2.5/5

Price: 30 SGD(Not worth it)

Chili Crab is a popular dish of Singapore. I even saw a poster of a show in Singapore with the face off of Chili Crab and a Korean dish as the topic. So I saved this for last. Unfortunately, I can't say "Save the best for last" because the Chili Crab we ate isn't. The sauce is overpowering but you could really taste the chili without begging for water. The spiciness is bearable.

We also bought bread from the same stall to dip them on the Chili Crab's sauce. As for the crab, both me and my sister cringed as we disected the crab bit by bit. We can't see any meat! I'd like to assume that those are the white ones smothered with the sauce but we're very disappointed of how the dish turned out. I'm not sure if that's how the Chili Crab should be served but I really didn't like it. But I would still want to try it out next time but never again from this stall.

BBQ Wings! Yum!

We had our fair share of highs and lows in Makansutra Gluttons Bay but I still recommend you guys to go there for a gastronomic experience of Singapore's authentic food. The service there is fast despite a lot of people coming in. If you're missing Filipino food, Gerry's Grill(Yes! Gerry's Grill!) has a stall there you could check. But of course, their food is more expensive there. We spent almost 100 SGD(there were 5 of us) including the bread(5 SGD) and rice(8 SGD). We're stuffed afterwards and we even took home some leftovers. Then, we headed to see light shows from Marina Bay Sands and SuperTree Grove.

Have you tried Makansutra Gluttons Bay's Gastronomic Experience too? Share it on the comments box. I'd love to hear about it! If you haven't, I hope you'll try it out. ;)

4 comments

For our #12Months12Cuisines for the month of July(Yes. July. It's late), I'm bringing you food from a country where A Crazy Little Thing Called Love and Coming Soon materialized, Thailand! Having tasted some Thai food myself, I realized that they have dishes that somehow resemble Filipino food. Their Tom Yum Soup tastes like a spicy version my favorite Sinigang. Of course the latter tastes better for me. I haven't seen much of Thai food spots in Manila. So for our Thai food hunt, Chad and I opted to visit this Thai place called Tamarind which is found in SM North EDSA.

Tamarind: Taste of Issan Thai is located at the Ground Floor of SM City North EDSA The Block along with other restaurants, S&R and King Chef. The place is teeming with tropical colors and a mix of classic and contemporary interiors. I liked how they incorporated Tamarind to the design of the place. The restaurant looks very Asian in terms of the decorations and ambiance.

They have a lot to offer on their menu. They have salad, noodles, soup, seafood, meat and even curry. The price of their dishes can range from affordable to expensive depending on your choices. But this restaurant seem to serve authentic Thai dishes so we still gave it a go.

We ordered Thailand's famous noodle dish, Pad Thai, which is pronounced as "phat thai". Also, we had a dish joining the Salted Egg craze which is Salted Egg Ribs.

Pad Thai Prawns(P250)

Pad Thai is a street dish offered in all parts of Thailand. It consists of stir-fried flat noodles topped with egg, bean sprouts, peanuts, and shrimp served with lime on the side for added acidity. I haven't tasted Pad Thai before but this looks so yummy! I mixed everything first then drizzled it with lime. I must say, I liked it! The dish is a combination of sweet and tangy. The peanuts added some crunch. The noodles are so chewy they reminded me of Korean Chap Chae. I just wish they have more shrimp on the dish because I really love meat with noodles. Just be careful not to put too much lime to balance the flavors of Pad Thai.

Salted Egg Spareribs(around P300)

I read the reviews of this restaurant before we visited and one of their recommended dishes is the Salted Egg Spareribs. It's quite unique isn't it? I've never heard of it before so I really wanted to try it out. One bite, and yes, it tasted like Salted Egg Ribs. I found nothing special about it. Just ribs covered in salted egg. It's good by the way. I'm just looking for a dip because I found the taste to be too plain. But I really enjoyed eating this because you know what, I love their Jasmine rice! I had the best plain rice in this restaurant. The aroma, texture, and taste of the rice completed the whole experience. If not for their rice, I wouldn't have enjoyed the Salted Egg Ribs. I am very particular with how rice was cooked because there are restaurants who serve half cooked or over cooked rice. But Tamarind served me the best cooked rice ever.

Tamarind gave me my first Pad Thai experience and it did not disappoint. I can't wait to visit Thailand to check if it tastes the same! I would love to come back and try their other dishes. The Jasmine rice costs 50 pesos per serving but I didn't care. It was worth it! We spent less than 700 pesos for 2 dishes. Quite expensive, but I really enjoyed it. Looking forward to more Thai dishes next time. I guess I should try their Tom Yum and curry next.

Have you tried Thai before? Did you like it?

Tamarind: Taste of Issan Thai

Address: Ground Floor, The Block, SM City North EDSA, Quezon City
Budget for Two: Php 700 to Php 900

Ratings
Food: 3.5/5
Ambiance: 5/5
Service: 5/5

Overall: 4.5/5

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I rarely encounter expensive food that tastes so good, especially when I travel. Most of the time the food comes out overpriced for how it tastes. Even worst is if it doesn't taste good at all. So everytime I plan to dine in a certain restaurant and find out that the place offers expensive food, I research first. I will admit. Yes, dining in Yabu is quite expensive but on the next few sections, you'll find out that it's worth more than the money we paid.

Rosu Katsu Set

Yabu is well-known for serving quality Katsus. Katsu is a Japanese dish which is breaded deep fried meat cutlet. In Yabu, Katsu is served in many different ways. It can be just fried, served in curry sauce(Katsu Curry) or simmered with eggs with Japanese rice(Katsudon). Aside from that, you can choose your own meat between chicken, pork, or even seafood! They also serve appetizers, desserts and other Japanese dishes like Gyudon, Tempura, and Donburi.

Dining Area

This is not our first time to try Yabu. But both experiences were in celebration of Chad's birthday. If you want to read our first experience, click HERE. Our first Yabu experience is in SM North EDSA. This time, we tried UP Town Center. Yabu is located at the Ground Floor of UTC. It is very easy to find. Just like the Yabu branch in SM North EDSA, this one is also not that spacious. The walk way for customers is quite narrow. But as soon as we're seated, I already didn't mind. Our dining space is adequate for the two of us. I can move freely.

I really hate dirty tables. That's why it's a plus for me that they take time to clean the tables first before taking us to our seats. Each table also has a set of condiments for your Katsu and dressings for your cabbages. I also like that the seats are soft, makes the dining experience more comfortable. Their service is also fast since we have our own dedicated server.

Katsu Section

The first time that we dined in Yabu, I had Rosu Katsu and Chad had Curry Katsudon. Their katsu tasted great. But I think I found my food to be dry, despite the katsu's juiciness, because I enjoyed Chad's dish more, with all the egg and curry sauce that surrounded the katsu.

Curry Katsudon

So this time, we both ordered Curry Katsu sets. A Curry Katsu set contains cabbages, watermelon and pineapple slices, and miso soup. All of which are refillable including the rice. You know what that means, UNLIMITED!!

Chicken Katsu Curry (P375)

I ordered Chicken Katsu with regular Curry sauce. Yes, you can adjust the spiciness of your curry sauce. It has 3 levels: Regular, Hot, and Very Hot. I like mine to be just a regular one but it already has its mild kick that tastes really savory and strong to my taste buds. The katsu is crispy and juicy as expected from Yabu. I think I love the Chicken katsu more than pork. But the katsu tasted even more delicious when dipped in the curry sauce. And this time, I was able to enjoy the katsu more because of the curry sauce.

Rosu Katsu Curry (P400)

Chad, on the otherhand, ordered Rosu(Pork) Katsu Curry. The presentation looked quite the same. The only distinguishing factor would be the small flags with either chicken or pork printed on it. Chad loved his Katsu Curry as well. It's the best Katsu Curry for him.

As for the sides, I'm not really a fan of how the Miso Soup tastes while Chad thinks it just tasted like a normal Miso Soup. For the fruits, I wonder where they get their fruits. They are sweet! It's the sweetest pineapple and watermelon I ever tasted. And the cabbages?? Crispy and the dressing is very delicious when mixed with the cabbages. You know what Lea says, "If you want to be happy, eat cabbages.".

Belated Happy Birthday Love!

We only paid less than 900 pesos but here's what we got:

Quality food with generous amount of servings
Fast service
Good ambiance and clean environment
unlimited sides and rice!
Satisfied tummies <3

The next time you're looking for a Katsu place, better bring your friends and dine in Yabu. :D

6 comments

HOW TO GET THERE:

1) Prawn Hokkien Mee from Soon Lee

2) BBQ Chicken Wings from Huat Huat

3) Satay Platter from Alhambra Padang Satay

4) Sambal Prawns from Redhill Rong Guang B.B.Q Seafood

5) Cereal Prawns

6) Chili Crab from Redhill Rong Guang B.B.Q Seafood

Dining Area

Katsu Section

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