Happy Birthday to Me!

For my milestone birthday, I spent a whole week celebrating with people I love, stuffing myself silly with food that I love. Amid all the cooking and entertaining and eating at my regular haunts, I wanted to do something a little special, so we headed out to a place I've been wanting to visit for months now.

This is Laya, a Balinese-style house-turned-cozy restaurant in the hills of Antipolo. Owner Irene, who was so accommodating and who very pleasantly responded to all my texts in the days leading to our visit, revealed: "It used to be my family's rest house. But it didn't make sense because we live just five minutes away!"

It's a weekend dining place which is by reservation only, and which serves a multi-course meal for a reasonable price. For P650, we got a five-course meal plus bottomless pandan iced tea and coffee or basil tea to cap our dinner. They don't serve wine, but there's no corkage so feel free to bring a bottle!

Last weekend's dinner was made up of classic dishes with a playful, modern, Asian twist. We started off with Spiced Tuna Tartare on Crispy Wontons.

Irene told us that there were two ways of eating it: 1) Mix it all up, crushing the wontons, or 2) eat them like nachos. I attempted method number 2 at first, but after I bit into a wonton, the rest of it fell under the weight of the tartare (which kind of tasted like chopped-up sashimi). I loved how that bit of wasabi dressing on the side added a little kick.

Next up: Thai Tomato Basil Soup with Shrimp Dumpling and Cilantro Foam.

The dumpling was just a tad dry, but the soup was quite nice--the perfect way to warm us as we were chilled by the January air.

We then moved onto the Asian Caesar Salad Sticks with Ginger Aioli.

Again, Irene said that this deconstructed salad could be eaten in two ways: 1) Mixing it up like a regular salad, with the dressing poured over, or 2) Dipping each salad component into the ginger aioli--a method that Irene described as "funner." Ahh, a place that encourages you to play with your food! And since I'm all about the fun, guess which method I opted for?

After getting through three courses, I was already reaching "comfortably full" levels. We were then served our main course. You could choose between two courses. H picked the Red Curry Glazed Pork Loin Roast with Roasted Onions and Saffron Cashew Rice Pilaf.

Sounds like a mouthful. I can't really describe it since I just got all of two bites. Just think of it as yummy ham with yummy sauce on yummy rice.

I got the Hoisin Baked Norwegian Salmon with Soba Noodles and Shiitake Mushrooms and Sesame Scallion Salad.

I'm a salmon fan, so I did like this dish. The noodles were good, but I did wish that there was less sauce.

For dessert ("Ahh, the last course!" sighed my expanded belly): Bananas in Thai Coconut Pancake with Mantecado Ice Cream and Latik Sauce.

The crepe-like pancake deviates from the usual fried lumpia wrapper. The ice cream offsets the strong flavor of the latik. And since ice cream is possibly the Greatest Invention Known to Man, I happily gobbled up H's share (bless him and his minor lactose intolerance!).

But what I thought was the last course in fact...wasn't. Irene, having heard that it was my birthday, gave me a sweet surprise:

Awwww. Fruit skewers with a side of spicy chocolate sauce for dipping. (It tasted like it had some chili powder in there.)

After all that food, I needed to take a bit of a walk, so I took a look around. Laya has a pool, a wooden swing, and a cozy little cabana.

Imagine lounging with a cup of hot tea or tsokolate-eh! Divine.

Such a lovely, relaxing place! (Must thank Miguel for telling me about it a few months back!) Irene says that the plan is to turn it into a bed and breakfast. For now, it's a really cool chill spot for a romantic date or an intimate dinner. They accept weekday reservations for at least 15 people, and can close the place for private functions on weekends for a group of at least 20. For me, it was the perfect end to a week that celebrated my big 3-0, summing up some of the things that make me happy: good food, good vibes, wonderful company. I would be incredibly fortunate if the rest of my years were filled with all these.

Laya is located at Sierra Madre St., Grand Heights Subdivision, Antipolo. Check out their website at layapersonaldining.multiply.com. For inquiries and reservations, email layapersonaldining@gmail.com, or call or text 0917-8464322.

Mambobola

Miss Zsa-Zsa might be "sawang-sawa na" of pambobola, but I just can't seem to get enough!

When I was still working in Makati (miss the neighborhood, not the everyday traffic!), our default lunch place was Margarita Fores's Cafe Bola in Greenbelt. Whether it was someone's last day, a day when we got sick of baon/caf food/fast food junk, or a day when we had a few extra bucks, we would almost always head on over to this resto. Well, OK, it was either Bola or everybody's favorite, Pancake House!

At Bola, I first fell in love with a dish my best friend introduced me to: pasta with dulong in cream sauce. The curious mix of those tiny, salty fish and cream always got me thinking about a possible rebellion in my stomach, but it never got in the way of my enjoyment of the dish. There was that one day when I veered away from the usual and got a sandwich, possibly the only time I was less than satisfied at the resto. (It was just too small for my too-big appetite.)

And then, a discovery. Wanting to try what the resto was named after, I decided to order their carambola--a mix of three different kinds of meatballs: beef, chicken, and seafood (you could order three of a kind, if you please). You pair these babies with either rice or pasta, then choose your sauce. There's tomato sauce, parmesan and ham, a spicy curry sauce, mushroom and gravy (I think, but it's only for rice), and, most intriguing of all, sour cream and paprika.

Hmph, bolero! My carambola pasta in sour cream and paprika. I like both the chicken and the beef meatballs; the seafood one is on the dry side, but the sauce more than makes up for that!

I got me my sour cream and paprika carambola on pasta and my, oh my, I haven't looked back since then! As my hips would tell you, I am a big fan of the cream sauce. The first thing that greets your tongue is the milky sauce, just bursting with surprises--when it reaches the back of your mouth, you get a wonderful, tangy explosion which keeps you from getting umay. I thought my taste buds would get tired of the dish after a few bites, but after polishing off a bowl, I always seem to want more.

It turned out, the creamy dulong was just puppy love. This was the real thing. Like any good bolero, it teases you mercilessly--and you can't help but come back for more. Luckily, QC-based me has easy access to the branch in Araneta. But even if I had to fight my way through Makati traffic just for this, I would.

H wanted to have what I was having but I got him to try something else (because after finding The Dish, I had stopped trying other stuff on the menu!). The parmesan and ham sauce was OK, pretty much what you'd expect. But we're convinced that we've already found the best thing on the menu.

Of Pirates and Pasta

Avast ye mateys! Arrrrr...gotta brush up on me pirate lingo before I's even attempts to write this entry!

For our bi-anniv (has it been a year since we ate at Fig and Olive?), H decided to take me to Il Pirata, an Italian place in Eastwood, Libis. I was skeptical at first, asking, "Who would name a restaurant Il Pirata? If you were in Italy, would you eat at a place called 'Ang Pirata'?" But he said that a few people had recommended it, and since it was Italian anyway, I gave in.

On bi-anniv day, I asked some friends about it, and they volunteered, "Maybe he meant L'operata?"I was thinking H might have gotten the name wrong. Then, as we walked across the Eastwood courtyard, I spied a great, grand ship in the distance. Aye, it was our destination. He wasn't kidding. "If they say, 'Ahoy, mateys!' I'm getting out of here," I joked, as we approached the entrance.

We were greeted with a polite "Good evening" and escorted to our table. The place was decked out to look like the interior of a pirate ship, and I began to realize what this place was about: It was simply supposed to be great fun! It tickled me pink (how very un-pirate-like), when what I supposed was the chef, a biggish Italian man, stepped out of the kitchen wearing, not a toque, but a pirate's bandana!

We assumed that the dude at left was the owner, and the one on the right was the chef.

H had eaten a late snack which spoiled his appetite, so no steaks for us that night. We decided to try their pastas. The tomato-based tagliatelle with lobster came highly recommended, but neither of us were in the mood for it. Our waitress suggested the Tagliatelle al Funghi e Tartufo (P340). "Parang Fetuccine Alfredo po," she offered. I didn't feel like having a typical Fetuccine Alfredo, but she prodded me in that direction, so I took her word for it and gave in. H, in an adventurous mood, decided to order something neither of us had ever had: hare! Penne al Sugo di Lepre (P495) to be precise.

As we waited for our orders, we were served bread with a saucer of some tomato spread. Yum. We took in the surroundings--gilded chairs with a skull on the backrest, yellow lighting (save for the white lights illuminating the selection of desserts), that kind of thing.

After a short wait, we were served the Tagliatelle al Funghi e Tartufo. It was homemade tagliatelle with porcini mushrooms, truffle oil (created by soaking truffles in olive oil. Ooooh!), and mascarpone cheese (a yummy triple-cream cheese. Drooool!). Neither of us could stop raving about it. It didn't even come close to any Fetuccine Alfredo I've ever tried! My tastebuds are tingling just thinking about it.

Next up came the hare. I was so worried that they would place a whole hare in front of me, ears and all, and I wouldn't be able to eat it! (Chicken, beef, pork, fish--I'm used to seeing and eating these things, but a bunny rabbit's close cousin? Yikes.) Thankfully, it was shredded into little bits and inconspicuously mixed into the penne. It was mixed with onions, wine, funghi (mushrooms), and parmesan cheese. We got a kick out of seeing the server sprinkle parmesan cheese using an electric grater!

So how was the hare? "It kind of tastes like corned beef," commented H. Although both dishes were cream-based, each one had a distinct flavor. The Tagliatelle was richer, and the Penne dish, thanks to the hare I suppose, had a saltier taste. The great thing about both dishes was that they seemed to be made using good-quality ingredients.

For dessert, I had the After Eight gelato cake (P160)--mint gelato sandwiched between chocolate gelato, and drizzled with chocolate syrup. I didn't think I could finish a whole slice all by myself.

...I was wrong. (Who was I kidding?) In my excitement, I forgot to have a pic taken til after I had nearly polished the whole plate off.

All in all, it was a very relaxed, fun, and delicious dining experience! So all ye land lubbers, get thee to this resto for some high-sea fun. It'll, uh, shiver yer timbers!

Il Pirata is located within Eastwood City in Libis.

Goin' Bananas (and Apples)

Ahh, finally! A new post! Been incredibly busy, so I have a backlog of about three or four resto writeups, but hey, this is a start!

There's a new food/coffee joint along Katipunan, right where City Jam used to be. It's called Banapple and I've been there about four times in the last three weeks. Haha. It's owned by a friend of mine (Maricel Jimenez, together with husband GJ), but even without the connection, I'd still keep going back.

(Top) Banapple is now open! (Above) The interior. These photos courtesy of GJ Jimenez.

The name is a play on the cafe's two bestsellers: the Banoffee Pie and the Apple Caramel Crumble. The Banoffee Pie (P480/whole, P65/slice) has been a favorite for a while now. Even before the cafe opened, my family would order it from Maricel, who supplied (and still supplies) cakes, pies, and pastries to places as far as Baguio! (The Baguio peeps actually pick up the goodies from Manila--an indication of how yummy her stuff is!) It's got a graham-cracker base, a banana and caramel filling, and a topping of whipped cream and chocolate shavings. If you've got a major sweet tooth, this is definitely the pie for you!

The Apple Caramel Crumble (P560/whole, P75/slice) is Maricel's crusty take on apple pie. Other Banapple goodies to try: Snicker Fudge Cheesecake, Cadbury Gold Oreo Cheesecake, Strawberry Cheesecake (unlike other cheesecakes, this one has no umay factor!)...the list goes on and on! Add P30 and you can get any of the pies or cakes a la mode! Mmmm. I couldn't get enough of the huge chocolate chip cookie, served warm and topped with vanilla ice cream. I'm drooling just thinking about it.

Aside from cakes, pies, and pastries, Banapple also offers meals. Try the dory with rice (P145--I've had it three times, I think--and each time I polished off the generous serving of rice). The tapa (P120) is on the sweet side, and it comes with these creamy scrambled eggs. "People don't order extra rice," Maricel tells me, "but they order extra eggs. Each serving has two eggs, so they end up eating four eggs!" There are also pasta dishes, sandwiches, and savory pies. All entrees are just P85 to P150. Plus they've got coffee, specially blended for Banapple. All in all, a great, inexpensive place to hang out with friends!

(Top to bottom) The tapa served with lots of rice and delicious eggs; one of my favorites: the dory, also with a hefty serving of rice and some carrots; banoffee pie!

Banapple is located along Katipunan (across Kopi Roti). It's open every day from 7:30 a.m. 'til about 11:00 p.m.

Peri-peri Reasonable

Had dinner at Peri-Peri Chicken at Promenade in Greenhills. Was surprised at how reasonably priced their chicken was, considering the place was a casual-dining resto (there are waiters and servers so you don't have to fall in line to order). A 1/4 piece of chicken with two side dishes was only P145! That's even cheaper than Kenny Rogers, where you have to queue.

The resto's claim to fame is the peri-peri, which is actually African bird's eye chili, so this place is definitely for lovers of spicy food. It's the kind of spicy that you feel in your throat instead of in your mouth. You get to choose between "mild" and "hot" (H and I tried both), and you're given two bottles of the house sauce to adjust the taste as you please. The chicken is roasted over a spit fire, so you can bet it's healthier than your run-of-the-mill fast-food fried chicken.

(From top) My "peri mild" chicken served with corn and carrots as well as mashed potatoes; H's "peri hot" chicken (but it's bearable)--another side dish we ordered was the tortilla wrappers (or what looked like 'em--a hint of the basket they were served in can be seen) with salsa; bottles of the hot and mild sauces--the mild one actually seems more flavorful.

They've also got this prawn pasta that I didn't get to try, but which is supposedly one of their bestsellers. There were other tempting things on the menu, but I wanted to taste the stuff the resto was named after.

It's a good place to hang with friends when you wanna meet up without having to spend a bundle. And as you exit, the servers will see you off with a "Thank you peri-peri much!"

A New Fave Resto

I lost a stupid bet with H, so I had to treat him to dinner. We'd been planning to hang out at Serendra, so I decided to treat him to Conti's, which is probably the cheapest resto you could find in the area.

We had never eaten there before; all I knew about Conti's was that 1) they made a mean mango tart, which I attacked when Tita Grace brought it to one party, 2) they seemed to have a great selection of desserts (cakes and pastries are their specialty), and 3) my mom would order stuff from there when she'd have some pot-luck party. It's actually been around in Parañaque for about a decade, but it's only in recent years that us QC folks gained access to it via its Greenhills branch.

We decided to have an early dinner on Sunday, but at 6:00 pm there was already a queue! So we had our names listed and headed to A Different Bookstore to kill time. It didn't take long before we had our own table (though there were probably five or six other groups on the list), so yay!

Mental lapse: I wasn't able to take pics, forgetting that H actually had a high-tech phone. (Since my phone got stolen, I'd forgotten that cameras actually came with phones. Haha.) But anyway...

H ordered the roast beef over mashed potatoes, while I opted for the chicken marsala with potato salad. Both were less than P200. And I'm totally ravin' about the chicken marsala! It's pieces of chicken breast and mushrooms cooked in this white sauce with marsala wine. Divine! I actually looked forward to every bite, and each one was still as surprising as the last. It's rare that I would get that excited over eating something--I wanted to just gobble everything up, but at the same time, I had to restrain myself because I wanted the experience to last forever! I just didn't expect it to be that good, and was kind of sad when we polished the last bits off my plate. (H loved it as well. Give him anything cooked with wine and he'll sing praises.)

The roast beef was quite tender, but the serving was too little for my carnivore. (I learned that he's actually gained about 20lbs since we got together. I wonder if I had anything to do with it.) Our mouths watered upon seeing the baked salmon served to a table nearby, so he made up his mind to order it after finishing his roast beef. The baked salmon, about P250 more or less, is one of the bestsellers. On top, it had melted cheese and hints of garlic--sort of like what you'd put on baked tahong. And the best part was H paid for it. Hehe.

There are loads of other stuff on the menu--paella, lengua, Pinoy favorites, I think even pasta. He was too full for dessert and, sadly, I was still off the pastries, so all I could do was look longingly as the bestselling mango bravo was served to others. It's this HUGE slab of frozen cake for only P85! We were actually surprised at how reasonably priced the desserts (and everything else) were. I'm guessing this is one of the main reasons that the resto had a queue! It's found a place in my list of favorite restos, so I am definitely going back! In fact, I can't wait til my next birthday (a good nine months away) just so I'd have a reason to take my family there!

Note: The Serendra branch has gotten a lot of smack, supposedly because of bad service. But the servers were attentive and we got our meals promptly. It took a while for us to get our bill though, but after that good meal, it was no big deal. I dunno if they've improved or if we were lucky.

Conti's has branches at Shops at Serendra, the Fort Global City, Taguig; 61 President Quirino Ave., BF Homes Commercial Center, Parañaque (tel. 850-5852); and 53 Connecticut St., Greenhills, San Juan (tel. 744-4184).

I Know It Was a Steak Place...

...but I can't help raving about Steak MD's banana split pie! Yum!

It's got a crushed-Oreo crust, a layer of frozen bananas, a mound of strawberry ice cream, a dollop of whipped cream, and a cherry for good measure. I don't eat cherries (haha. Behave!), but I sure enjoyed everything else! Plus, it's only P75! (Hmmm, this is actually pretty easy to make at home...) The dude at the next table committed two of the seven deadly sins in one go--gluttony and envy! After polishing off two (yes, two) orders of steak, he asked the waitress for what I was having. Haha.

Now that that's out of the way, let's get to the meat of the matter! Steak MD's this small, super casual place (as in no aircon, so I prefer going in the evening when the air's a bit cooler) along Tomas Morato. For steak lovers out there, you don't have to shell out a grand to get your meaty fix--Steak MD offers T-Bone and Porterhouse steaks from P150 to less than P300 a pop! After choosing a cut of meat, you get to dictate which rub you want--you can choose from:

• Rub Ko 'To - the "house blend," a secret mix of herbs and spices
• Build Me Up Butter Rub - need I say more?
• Ang Cha-Rub - a sweet and spicy blend
• Atomic Rub - a hot, hot, hot rub
• Heart Rub - a garlicky rub

And it comes with a small bowl of bulalo-ish soup to start you off. (And Queen of Clumsy that I am, I spilled it all over my jeans! Bah.) A note though: I got the Rub Ko 'To over the small T-Bone, and the gravy was already poured all over the steak. Would've preferred to have it on the side--best to mention this to your server if you prefer the same. Still, the steak was satisfactory, and H's Porterhouse was especially tender. It's what you'd call bang for your buck!

Aside from steaks, the place also offers chicken and sisig. But where's the fun in that?

Steak MD is located at Creekside Square, Tomas Morato, Quezon City; tel. 448-7114.

Viva Italia!

To celebrate my birthday, I had three (count 'em, three!) birthday dinners. Every morning, I'd wake up still feeling full from the night before, but still, I'd eat my way through the day. That's what the holidays are for, eh? Thankfully, my clothes still pretty much fit (a bit of a surprise actually), but I know that I can't keep this up. Starting today, I'm saying bye-bye to eating with reckless abandon, so I'm left to savor the memory of my holiday meals.

The first birthday dinner I had was the night before my actual birthday. My barkada decided to have our post-Christmas get-together on my birthday itself, so H and I had to celebrate beforehand. We finally visited Bellini's, a resto I've been dying to try for ages. Located within Marikina Shoe Expo in my 'hood, good ol' Cubao, the Italian resto is run by Roberto Bellini--a true-blue Italian who was once a paparazzo (for real!)--and his wife, Ma. Luisa. Roberto was present at the resto that evening, and I found it quite charming that 1) he made sure that our orders were already taken, and 2) he went up to the in-house musician, fondly patted his shoulder, and suddenly joined him in song (Put Your Head on My Shoulder).

There was something comforting about Bellini's. There were murals on the walls and on the ceiling, and faux vegetables hanging from the wooden pillars--it was cozy, kitschy, and unpretentious, and I loved it!

Since we were newbies, we asked the waiter what he would recommend, and I thank him no end for suggesting the Ravioli (spinach ham) truffle cream. It. Was. Divine. I'd go back to this place over and over again just for this, and for P250, I know that I can!

H ordered the Filetto al pepe, which was grilled tenderloin steak in pepper sauce (P350), served with a siding of potatoes. It was a bit raw, according to H, but he says this added to the flavor and made it more tender. (For the record, I liked it!) His final word: "Sarap!"

Gluttons that we are, we also split a pizza, opting for the Bellini's Special (P250 for the small one, which is about 12 inches in diameter). It had cucumbers, eggplants, and even hotdogs on a very thin, crisp crust. Instead of hot sauce, we were given some olive oil mixed with chili, and it did make the pizza more flavorful.

For dessert, I had wanted the Tartufo negro. According to the menu, it mimics the look of the truffle, made of chocolate gelato with crunchy chips and red cherry at the core. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately), it wasn't available, so I had me the panna cotta. (Not a big coffee fan, so tiramisu wasn't that enticing--although the best damn tiramisu I ever tried was a Sara Lee type from a supermarket in Milan!) Sitting innocently on a plate with no trimmings, it didn't look impressive, but once I took a bite, I was in heaven! I actually said, "Kinikilig ako sa sarap!" because really, I felt chills up and down my spine, something that rarely happens when I eat. There were no strawberries or mangoes or anything--just this rich, creamy concoction lying in a pool of sweet syrup. It's not often that I fall this hard for something that doesn't have any chocolate in it!

I really did enjoy that evening. The music was good (H tried to copy the singer since they had similar raspy voices), the conversation was great, and the food was delightful. It must be what the Italians mean when they sing "That's amore!"

Bellini's is located at the Marikina Shoe Expo (at the Araneta Center area), Cubao, Quezon City. It's open daily from 10 am to 10 pm. Call (02) 913-2550 for reservations.