Lifestyle: SM Angono Food Crawl

Long overdue post. Sorry. We've been really busy. "Secrets" concert, Rogue One week and of course the big baby surprise! You know in hindsight I think I was already pregnant when we had this food crawl in SM Angono. So I wouldn't be surprised if I start craving for some of these awesome dishes! 

Here goes! 

Whenever you go to the mall, you already have a ready set of places to go to eat. Whenever you want chicken  you can either go to these places, places which have stores in all malls, all across the Metro. I guess we can't help it, we just got used to having these choices that we fail to become a little adventurous and try something new. Which is why I am grateful for this food crawl because we got to discover new and exciting restaurants and of course got to try delicious new dishes as well! 

Another great plus is that you also get to support the small local businesses and I'm always more than happy to do that. 

First Stop: Mojo Frites 

Reinventing fries as we know it, Mojo Frites Authentic Belgian Fries will rock your world. 

As its owner Carlo has said, in the Philippines we are used to having soggy thin fries seasoned with salt or powdered flavors but that is not how 'French fries' were originally meant to be enjoyed as thick pieces of fried potatoes dipped in savory sauces. :) 

Speaking of original, contrary to popular belief, 'french fries' did not originally come from France but from Belgium, where in the 1960's villagers have been known to fry fries. Soldiers simply called it "french fries" because of the language that was used in the region. 

The fries are made to order, which means no risk of eating soggy fries! 

I really loved the Poutine, I think its my favorite! (I feel a craving coming in) it's fries covered in a special gravy, cheese, bacon bits and chives. (Mmmmmm!) Definitely coming back for that. We didn't get to try the Shiznel burger - will definitely order that, the next time.

There are over 11 different sauces to try! Now, while I may not be a big fan of sauces (Paul is) it was still fun to experiment and try out each one! 

Aside from the awesome booth, the ambiance was nice and cozy at Belgian Frites with beautiful photos and personal messages from customers as to how awesome Mojo Frites (pronounced as mo-jo freet) was. 

Next stop was Cusina - which had a nice canteen feel to it and served authentic Filipino dishes at affordable prices! 

Because you know sometimes you get tired of the usual fast good menus and just crave for some good old Pinoy home cooking and if ever you have any of those you can just head over to "Cusina". 

For someone who grew up with my relatives sending over/fighting over authentic "laing" from Bicol, its refreshing to get to taste something full of memories and I got that with Cusina. 

Paul really liked their 'kilawin" too! Now you don't have to pester relatives to cook for you when you are looking for that special Pinoy flavor-since there is Cusina now for that! 

For the past few years, "ramen" has become very popular, especially during the cold and rainy seasons. Now most of the popular Ramen houses are in the Metro but its good to know that there is an a ramen house nearby which can give you that authentic Japanese feel and food that you are looking for! 

Welcome to Kasumi's Cocoro (Heart of Katsumi) whose impressive and authentic interior will give you that unique Japanese feel once you step inside the restaurant and you haven't even tried the food yet! From the warm Japanese tea served in cups to the delicious ramen and huge tempura! :D 

Everything is worth trying and taking photos of and posting on Instagram for your #foodporn posts. 

The perfect way to end the food crawl was of course 'Mystical Cakes' which served delicious premium cakes! Like chocolate to die for! I kid you not! I simply cannot wait for a family member to have a birthday so we can have them try the premium chocolate cake-which is just heavenly. :) 

So needless to say, it was a truly satisfying food crawl experience, maybe next time we should fast first. We were definitely in a food coma after. 

Thank you to SM City Angono for having us and to all the resturants! It was definitely a delightful experience. 

More photos here!

"Tara Kain Tayo" - Made Easier with OpenSnap

Bobby Box in Eastwood Libis (where I work) is a great place to eat for us who work the night shift. They open early (7AM) which is perfect since we get off work at 8AM. The interior is really pretty with brick walls, colorful Bobby Box art on the wall, wood paneled ceilings and even K-Pop music videos playing on a white screen for that contemporary Korean feel. 

Their meals (rice box meals) range from P109.00-P159.00 add about P20.00+ for drinks. Paul is happy that they have beer available. San Mig Light for P55.00 is a great deal! Sometimes we get funny looks when we're ordering beer at 8:00AM but remember since we work the night shift this is our 8:00PM so to speak. 

Bulgogi Box (Spicy) at P159.00 

You can't imagine how much trouble we have when we try to look for a place to eat with our nocturnal schedule. Sometimes my office mates and I would go through hours of arguments of where to eat but thanks to OpenSnap "Tara Kain Tayo" would be so much easier. 

Through OpenSnap you can search for restaurants to try out, you can search through key words like what kind of food you are looking for (pasta, burger, Japanese) or by location. You can also just search for the restaurant you are looking for.

OpenSnap is a perfect app for Foodies aside from discovering great new food finds it also serves as a platform for you to post and share your #foodporn photos! You can also review establishments you've visited to help friends decide whether this place is their next food trip. You can also search for newly opened restaurants in your area as well as what the Editor's picks and recommendations are. For us night owls there is a whole section for which establishments are open 24 Hours! 

It's an easy app to use and navigate through - no more arguing where to eat with OpenSnap  Tara! Kain tayo! 

For more restaurants and food finds, download OpenSnap app from App Store or Google Play.

Hokkaido Santouka

Because reunions with good old friends over Ramen is always a good idea - especially when you both share the same love for the Japanese culture :)

Which is how we found ourselves at Hokkaido Santouka (at the Old Promenade in Greenhills) for lunch with my best friend from Grade School :)

She was the one who recommended Hokkaido Santouka so instant plus points right there.

Unlike other Ramen Houses where there are panels to separate the customers and offer a more private dining experience, Hokkaido Santouka had a more open ambiance to it (for their Greenhills branch at least). It was rather irregularly shaped for a restaurant, having a more alley way like entry but there was a bigger space at the back. There were even those vendos with the toys in what seem like Poke-balls in them - adding to the Japanese theme of the restaurant :)

We loved that the menus had Set Meals (like the ones in the photos - it's a set meal) complete with a Matcha flavored cupcake which Paul just shoved in his mouth in one gulp. 

We had one of their set meals (which range at around P470.00-P500.00+)

Our Set Meal included: 

Small Ramen and you get to choose what flavor - we had the Shio Ramen (Salt Flavored) It's just weird that there was a date in there, Fried Salmon and Prawn and Small Rice Bowl. There were also some vegetables, a small portion of salad, warm tea and the cute Matcha flavored cupcake. 

Mixed Fruits with Purin 

Dessert was Mixed Fruits with Purin (P170.00) which my best friend Greta and Paul shared  You will recall that I'm not really a big fan of fruits and that dessert to me is only chocolate or cake :P 

Cool and Chilled Iced Tea - Sailor Moon approves. 

The Iced Tea was in a really cool presentation with blended/ literally iced tea on top :P 

It was just disappointing that their local beer was priced at P150.00 a bottle - I mean seriously -  it's local beer - we know the suggested retail price. Their Shin-Aji Ramen (P320.00) looks interesting it's cold noodle with hot dipping sauce. Might try that next time :) 

Their ramen or at least the Shio Ramen we had was good :P Might try a whole ramen bowl the next time so we can fully explore the taste - like I said earlier the date in their was weird though :P 

Molcajete - Mexican Cantina Feature

Mexican Inspired Art up on the wall of Molcajete

In our continued efforts to feature local places of business, we're happy that a Mexican Cantina + Cerveceria has opened at the commercial area near our home. Drumroll for Molcajete please! 

This is actually a really late post already since we were super busy last December with the holiday rush and what not. Despite the late post, I have to say that we really loved our visit to Molcajete (we've been there twice- the second time with Paul's sisters and their husbands) and at both times we were satisfied by the food and service. 

With a price range similar to Army Navy I definitely have no qualms in shelling out for the Mexican food here at Molcajete- I for one really loved their Meat and Cheese Quesadilla and Paul gave a thumbs up for their Buritto. 

There's something in their garlic-cheese dressing that we just love! I'm not normally a fan of Mexican food but I'll make an exception for Molcajete ^_^ 

The Cantina itself has a nice and cozy feel with Mexican inspired art hanging in the walls. As the sign says it's also a Cerveceria and they serve different Tequillas - we might try it out sometime :p 

You can find Molcajete at the Village Corner right outside Beverly Hills, on your way up to Antipolo. Will definitely be swinging by - especially when that Mexican craving kicks in! 

You can visit Molcajete at The Village Corner at Beverly Hills, Taytay Rizal. They are closed on Mondays and open on Tuesday to Sunday from 12NN-10PM and on Friday - Saturdays from 12NN-12MN. You can check out their Facebook page here and follow them on Instagram @molcajeteph

Samsung NX Club: Food Photography Workshop

My wife tagged me on this event post in Facebook for a Food Photography Workshop sponsored by Samsung. 

Fortunately I was free for the event. I was curious what it was all about.

Everybody knows that Samsung creates smart phones and tablets that can stand against mobile mogul giants like Apple but other than creating excellent handy electronics, they also create other appliances and digital cameras.  They were very generous enough to have  a food photography workshop facilitated by Francis Rivera.

Sir Francis Rivera has been a commercial photographer in the country he has shot multiple renowned brands and companies like, Shakey's, Cravings, Kenny Rogers, Aristocrat, Kraft products and many many more.  The workshop was pretty straight forward as Sir Francis first breaks down things that we should keep in mind, like considering characteristics of food when shooting, light position has a certain effect on your subject.  Sir Francis also taught us some industry tricks like food stylists only prepare half-cooked food, and who would've thought that chemistry has some uses in food photography as well.  

"Chocolate Pa More!" New French Inspired Flavors from Cadbury!

"Chocolate Pa More!" 

The crowd screamed and cheered minutes before the #CadburySweetEnding screening of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 (Movie Review here by the way) I think it was from the sugar rush and I don't think anyone had any chocolate yet but the thought of bringing home boxes of Cadbury chocolate and getting to try out their new Limited Edition French inspired flavors got everyone in the room on a sugar high. 

Wait-What?? New French Inspired flavors from Cadbury?! 

Yes! You read that right! Cadbury is making something good-better by mixing up their signature Dairy Milk Creamy Chocolate with French inspired flavors - French Vanilla and Chocolate Mousse! 

These Limited addition flavors should already be available in your nearest grocery stores and I definitely recommend that you try them! (Only for P180.00! For a quick taste of French culture) My #CadburyBarkada and I are #TeamFrenchVanilla and you could definitely taste that sweet and unique Vanilla taste in your mouth as you discover the vanilla cream nestled within Cadbury's Dairy Milk Chocolate. ^_^ 

My #CadburyBarkada with our Cadbury goodies after the screening of Mockingjay Part 1. :)