True Confections

One of my favorite bakeshops in the Metro. The Bakeshop at the Edsa Shangri-La Manila.

Each time I go to "Shang", it's my routine to pass by The Bakeshop and just look at their baked goods. The place is small and cute – cozy but sosyal. The cakes, cookies, breads, pralines and pastries are all delectable and beautifully arranged. The staff is very accommodating (a very important requirement for me to love a certain establishment). And, for a bakeshop in a five-star hotel, the price is incredibly reasonable, so I always end up buying some items.

Top & bottom: The Bakeshop can pride itself on its wide array of baked goods, displayed pleasingly in a small space at the main lobby of the hotel. My favorite so far is their doughnuts. No fancy toppings, just a dash of sugar and spice. I bought three pieces for Mom, but I ended up eating all of them.

 

Top: Some stuff are adorably hanging on the wall. They are for sale, by the way, not just for decoration. Bottom: The center-stage display is this jaw-dropping collection of bread. At the far left is squid ink baguette. When I first saw it, I thought it was so named because of its black color, but apparently squid ink was actually used as a main ingredient. And it's really amoy pusit, theoretically a perfect match to aligue pasta or pasta negra, or plainly with cream cheese and cold soda.

 Yours Truly had the chance to have this photo taken by the shop's staff. How I wish I could indulge myself in all these variety of mouth-watering cakes and confections.

The Legend of the Sunflower

Today, Mom craved for sinigang na tanigue sa miso. I knew she was referring to one of her favorite dishes at Buddy's. I left the house and I was at Buddy's in an instant. Kidding. Buddy's (Kakarong branch) was a short five-minute walk from my place in Makati City.

While waiting for my order, I looked at my favorite image in this restaurant -- the sunflower. The sunflower was their signature design. It was everywhere -- chairs, ceiling, railing, order number, tip box, food images, take-out stools... It's cute, really. I had asked the staff several times from the very first instance that I ate there in 2001, "Bakit sunflower?" Ten years later, I was still asking the same question. Not one of the staff satisfied my curiosity. Perhaps it's the owner's favorite flower. Who knew? Intriguing, indeed, for a restaurant which had its roots from Lucban, Quezon.

The Sunflower, carved on the chair and my order number.

The ceiling light in the form of a Sunflower. The kiping, an integral part of Lucban's Pahiyas festival, only played a supporting role.

The main counter with Sunflower railing. Cool.

A Cheek Of Her Own

I call Mom the "lechon authority". Indeed, she is. She loves lechon. When she says the lechon served is good, then it is really good. When she says otherwise, then that lechon gets a failing mark.

To satisfy her craving for her long-time favorite, I brought her today to the country's lechon capital for lunch. Where else? La Loma, Quezon City. This was our first time to see this lechon studded neighborhood. We chose to dine in Ping Ping's because it was the most accessible. Ping Ping was right along A. Bonifacio Ave.; no need to enter La Loma's lechon street proper.

Ping Ping, one of the more popular names in the lechon industry. The strategic location made it very accessible to customers, either for dine in or for take out (that's "for here" and "to go", respectively, when using contemporary colegiala English). The restaurant was filled with customers, with a birthday party going on in one corner and a beer binge-drinking spree (in broad daylight!) happening at the other end. 

Left: This was a delightful eye catcher to welcome the customers right in front of the restaurant -- the parade of lechon still pinned to their bamboo skewer.

Right: Mom and I got seated in one corner. We could not choose a more comfortable spot because the place was really crowded. Seen in the photo -- Mom holding a plate of her special request, an ulo ng lechon of her own. She had always dreamed of getting the crispy skin off the pig's cheek all for herself. So much for a 78-year-old lady with a konsintidor doctor-son. Interestingly, ping-ping is also the Ilocano term for cheek.

Top: There, our order. Plain lechon with pork liver sauce, no more, no less. Plain rice to complement the lechon and complete the set. Coke Zero for lesser guilt. Konti lang, 'no?

Bottom: Lechon-filled table. The third plate in the middle of the table was a quarter-kilogram serving of my favorite part of the lechon -- the tyan ng baboy. For me, the abdominal portion was the most flavorful part of the lechon because of its thinness and the alternating layers of taba and laman. The skin in this portion was also very crunchy, with the mantika spurting in the mouth with every bite.

Warehouse Dining

Mom and I love to frequent S&R (Global City branch). The reason is obvious. Shopping galore. But sometimes, she asks me to bring her there simply to eat. And to rub elbows with celebrities and the famous. To her, S&R is the place to be star-struck while pigging out.

S&R's selection of food, dessert and beverage is really cool. Good taste, reasonable price, and big serving. Where else can you find a slice of pizza the size of a 9-inch pie plate for only 99 pesos? Moreover, the taste is definitely a delicious deviation from the conventional pizza styles that we encounter in more popular pizza parlors.

 

S&R's supposedly single-serving snacks. Top: The more popular garlic-shrimp pizza. Taste so... yup, garlicky and shrimpy. The cheese content can supply my whole day's caloric requirement. Bottom: Big-sized beef baked roll; it can be used as a baseball bat substitute. And look at that oil staining the paper plate. Guilty pleasure.

Our ultimate weakness, desserts. Top: Chocolate lava cake. Your pancreas feels like erupting with lava of insulin after ingesting just a piece. But who cares. It's volcanically yummy. Bottom: S&R can boast of its unique choices of ice cream flavors. This one is cotton candy ice cream. I ordered it just to satisfy my curiosity -- the good combination of pastel pink and blue caught my attention. It tastes good, although bunny tracks is still my favorite.

 Mother-and-Son takaw tandem enjoying the gastronomic moment. Shopped items not included in the photo (and she has a big jar of imported cashew nuts just beside her).

Beyond Green Tea

Eureka. Just like most remarkable scientific breakthroughs, C2 Classic Cuisine was an accidental discovery -- for me.

Mom and I breathe the Powerplant Mall every Sunday but we seldom go to the "side wing" of the second level. The "side wing", as I call it, is the tiangge area plus other dining establishments such as Sumosam, right across National Bookstore. One Sunday evening, after hearing Mass in the fourth floor, we decided to have our dinner in the mall. Since we had dined in all the restaurants in the ground level, we first took a tour of the mall until we could finally choose where to eat. And then, there it was, in orange and blue, the C2 restaurant.

Mom wasn't into Filipino food, but at that time, we had no choice because it was already 9:00 PM. I knew we made the right decision when, after finishing all our food, Mom said, "Naimas. Nabsug ak." (Delicious. I'm satisfied.)

Pinoy food with twist and style. C2 Classic Cuisine exceeded my expectations the moment I saw the menu. And don't believe the waiter when he says the food is good for two. It actually serves four!

Top: We ordered "light" food such as merienda for dinner. Pancit molo, bibingka souffle, buko pandan shake and puto bumbong shake.

Bottom: We literally closed the restaurant. Seen in the photo is Mom; the restaurant staff cleaning the place just in time for closing.

 Left: Mom in a semi-candid shot. She was posing for the camera when she got distracted by the waiter serving the rest of our order. Oh, that's the bibingka souffle -- sosyal na bibingka. C'est si bon.

Right: A death sentence. Puto bumbong shake. That's the classic carbohydrate-and-triglyceride-filled Filipino classic turned into a shake, topped with ube ice cream. I estimated the energy content to be 800 Calories.

To Sin Is Divine

Sinful cake. It's not my way of describing a slice of dessert. Sinful cake is actually and literally the name of the cake. Ala Creme of Angeles City finally found it's way to the heart of Makati City in A-Venue, the German cafe and deli Gasthof. For reasons unknown to me, however, the cafe is already closed and is replaced by another establishment. Luckily, I was able to take a picture of my favorite and the most sinful dessert ever during my last visit there.

Kung ito at ganito ang kasalanan, gusto nang magkasala araw-araw!

 

A slice (I mean, a slab) of Ala Creme's sinful chocolate cake. Alternating layers of sweet chocolate mousse and nuts with chocolate icing and a chocolate bar border. This is too much for a single person. And after eating it, you feel like going to Confession. Pero naubos ko, at hindi ako nangumpisal. And I quote the words of Claudia in Interview with the Vampire, "I want some more!"

(Gasthof Cafe and Deli, A-Venue)

Ice Ice Mommy

And you thought ice cream was a no-no for diabetics.

 Clockwise from upper left: (1) Ice cream break after a long and uphill walk along Session Road, Baguio City. (2) A little girl let loose in a candy store. Halo-halo with two scoops of ice cream. Iceberg's, Robinson's Ermita. (3) Sweet tooth a la rich and famous. Ice cream buffet. Haagen-Dazs, Megamall. (4) Sugar-loading across the sea with durian and coconut ice cream. Beryl's, Kuala Lumpur.

Crab Mentality

My Mom is hypertensive. Controlled.

I am a kunsintidor son.

My mom loves crabs.

A hypertensive Mom who loves crabs plus a kunsintidor son.

There you have it... Crab Mentality.

Taken during Mothers' Day celebration in 2008. It was an impromptu dinner treat with my cousin Alex. Our favorite luto: garlic-butter. And there's also my favorite... oyster!

(Crustasia, Powerplant Mall)

 A fun-filled kwela dinner during the 21st birthday of my cousin Marjo. All of us took turns in having a picture taken with the clawdaddy cap. An all-smile Ate Del is also in the photo.

(Clawdaddy, Bonifacio High Street)

 And here it is... garlic-butter crab a la Clawdaddy. It's like bawang na sinahugan ng talangka. Yum!

For her 76th birthday, I brought Mom to Bohol together with my cousin Alex. This one's taken at The Prawn Farm, a seafood grill and resto in Tagbilaran City. Mom craved for seafood so I asked our tour guide Edna (also in the photo) to bring us to a good seafood restaurant. The food and price -- I give a 5-star rating.

 Here's the crab dish that we ordered. I can't remember exactly how it's cooked, but we consumed all the meat and fat even in the shell's kasuluk-sulukan.

(The Prawn Farm, Tagbilaran City)

 This is supposed to be a seafood soup, but I can't recall how and what it's called. All I know is that it's super masarap, comparable to the soups served in 5-star receptions.

(The Prawn Farm, Tagbilaran City)

Mom's 77th birthday was in Singapore. Here's a birthday dinner treat from my friend Millie. Her two kids, Bogs and Daniella, are in the photo.
(The Esplanade)

 Chili crab. The dish on the left is pagi (stingray). My friend insisted that it's a must-try. Although sort of extreme cuisine to me, I must say it tasted good.
(The Esplanade)

It's a Merry Thai Christmas. For our first night in Bangkok, Mom and I decided to go into an adventure by trying the food establishments near our hotel. We came across The Silom Village -- a dampa-type restaurant in the heart of Silom St.

We ordered chili-curry crab, as per recommendation by the waiter. Mom was disappointed, though, because she was after the taba ng talangka. The crab was chopped and the taba was apparently mixed (and lost) with the sauce. Nevertheless, the curry sauce was uber sarap.

(The Silom Village, Bangkok)

As of this writing (9 August 2011), this is Mom's latest crab feast. Garlic-butter crab at the Harbor View Restaurant facing the Manila Bay and it's magnificent sunset. A nice treat after watching the spectacular Varekai by Cirque Du Soleil.