HALF SAINTS - TOMAS MORATO

The Yub and I had an overdue meeting with good friends Albert and Suet, aka THE POGI CEO couple (he he he he), as part of the Yub's birthday celebrations. However, just when we already agreed on a date, something came up (the life nga naman of a pogi CEO ha ha ha ha ha) so it's a mad scramble na naman to think of when and where.

Finally, we agreed to do it the Friday before my anniversary with the Chinese Panget. We also decided that since we were also supposed to treat this ever generous couple for the Yub's birthday, it's only fitting that we do the same in "sharing the love" (ick?) for our Anniversary.

The venue that night for us was HALF SAINTS because I saw the many recommendations it garnered online. It received a lot of raves from reviewers (either that or he's just my stalker... he he he he) that it has also gotten the curiosity of The Pogi CEO.

So HALF SAINTS it is!!! I told THE POGI CEO couple that I made reservations for 8:00pm when really it was for 7:30pm. I got confirmation from work that I could leave early and since these two were SOOOOOOOOOOO notorious for being so on time always, I wanted to go ahead of them and say GOTCHA!!!!!

And when we arrived, as usual, THEY'RE ALREADY THERE!!!

GRRRRR!!!

He he he he he! My mission is foiled again!

CAFE SANSO - SAN JUAN

THE YAPPY BUNCH met up recently with our BAWAL PANGET family to celebrate my 44th....este... 34th birthday, and our venue for tonight was this curious little restaurant I often pass by in San Juan.

CAFE SANSO!!!!

I've always wanted to try out CAFE SANSO because the restaurant seemed so stylish and artsy-fartsy.

NINYO FUSION CUISINE AND WINE LOUNGE

TAPE INC has been operating close to 40 years and would you believe that I have officemates who have been working here since it started????

YUP!!!

For others naman they're here for more than 30 years. As for  me, it's already been a decade.

If you're wondering why, it's because we have THE BEST PRESIDENT ever and we all love our jobs. Everyone here believes in EAT BULAGA that we are all so loyal to the show.

ANYWAY....

The TITAS of TAPE (as we have fondly called ourselves)  went out for lunch one time because a former officemate, Ms. Oying, is visiting from the US. Mam Leslie said it'll be her treat and invited us all to join them.

The place they chose for that lunch was a restaurant called NINYO. I thought at first that it's like Gerry's or Gilligan's type of restaurant where diners could down beer along with their sisig. "Okay" I thought. At least I'll have some of my favorite sisig with garlic rice......

OH WAS I WRONG!!!

Ha ha ha ha ha ha!

If you've been to NINYO FUSION CUISINE AND WINE LOUNGE you'll know what I mean.

NINYO FUSION CUISINE!!!!!!!!!!

NINYO FUSION CUISINE was so near our office but far from the lines of popular fast food restaurants. You might even miss it because the lot looked like a residence filled with trees.

Even the entrance seems like a private home too!

LA TIENDA

My eldest brother invited us out for lunch one Sunday to celebrate Father's Day last June!

And the choice for that special lunch was LA TIENDA!!!

The family has eaten in LA TIENDA many times before but THE YAPPY BUNCH was not able to join because we would always be in Quezon Province with Yub's family.

ABA! Sinasadya na ata! He he he he he he! Kidding!

Seriously though, it was just painful coincidence. He he he he he! Good thing that for this Sunday, we were finally at home so that we could taste their specialty that my Kuya Jay just loved...

Refer to picture above.

He he he he he he!

LE PETIT SOUFFLE FOR MY 42ND BIRTHDAY (2017)

Many times I've seen LE PETIT SOUFFLE invade my Facebook and Instagram feed with its mouth-watering pictures of their dishes. And many times, I would mentally schedule dinner there with the Chinese Dimpol. Good thing that for my birthday season, my mareng Gail asked me where I wanted to go for her dinner treat. Without batting an eyelash (but with pa-cute efforts), I immediately chose LE PETIT SOUFFLE because well, the timing was JUUUUUST right.

YAY! I was able to discover what those picture-perfect Facebook and IG posts were all about. And yep, it was SO perfect for my birthday dinner date with Team Campo!

LE PETIT SOUFFLE!!!

LE PETIT SOUFFLE is located at the second floor of SM Megamall's Fashion Hall. You'd never miss the sign with the bright canary yellow colors!

ALQUERIA (TAPAS, PAELLAS Y BISTECAS)

One supposed to be busy Tuesday, ERICJAZ FOODIES were invited to try out the hottest Spanish dishes in the metro in ALQUERIA (TAPAS, PAELLAS Y BISTECAS). I was psyched because I've been seeing the mouth-watering dishes of ALQUERIA in the net and I was so raring to sink my teeth on all those rich food.

Never mind that I was dieting....
Never mind that I MIGHT be coming out late from work...
Never mind that traffic was horrendous...
Never mind that it was the little lords' exam week...

(What the...????)

But yes, we are going to have dinner at ALQUERIA that night! There's no looking back.

And yes, I even wore my latest slimming corset to get ready for it!

HA!

 

ALQUERIA (TAPAS, PAELLAS Y BISTECAS)!

 

ALQUERIA is located at the SM  Mega Fashion Hall where some of the hottest restaurants are settling in.

 

Come in and get ready to indulge in scrumptious Spanish cuisine here in Metro Manila!

NEIL'S KITCHEN

In the recent 3-day weekend celebrating the holiday of Eid'l Fitr, I was particularly excited because ERICJAZ FOODIES had a lot of activities planned with family and friends. One schedule in our busy agenda (tee hee) is to taste the new dishes of the much raved about NEIL'S KITCHEN in Westgate, Alabang. I was really psyched to go here because not only have I been hearing about all the delicious and creative food from that unique structure in Westgate, but I'll be seeing again my blogger friends, aka, The Kain Tulog Gang.

However, fate was planning something else for me as my boss called and asked me to report for work at Quezon City that very same day.  As much as I wanted to catch up after the task was done, it was impossible because JAZ and NEIL's KITCHEN will be geographically at polar opposites. So I guess it was not meant to be. Good thing that I loved my job so much that I didn't really mind and just let my pogi half enjoy the hot off the menu goodness that NEIL'S KITCHEN has to offer.

At least, now we will have a reason to come back. ASAP. 

NEIL'S KITCHEN!!!

NEIL'S KITCHEN is that commanding structure that greets you upon entrance in Westgate. It's so hard not to be tempted by its awesomeness.

Entering NEIL'S KITCHEN is just like getting free admission at your hip local art museum. There are just too many sights to ogle at and take pictures with!

KANIN CLUB

KANIN CLUB is one of those restaurants that I would love to eat more of but can't. As much as I would like to include their sumptuous Sinigang Rice, Crispy Dinuguan, etc. etc. to my daily date regimen, their restaurant locations are not within our usual go-to areas that we often find ourselves just promising to go there but never do.

Lo and behold! When my nephew Chuckie was visiting the Philippines for a major food trip, he mentioned he was craving for some Crispy Pata, Kare Kare, and Dinuguan, that KANIN CLUB immediately came to mind! We were all tired and hungry from our hot day in ENCHANTED KINGDOM and there would be nothing more comforting than jamming up all these Filipino favorites down our throats. Great thing that there was a branch of KANIN CLUB on our way home that it was indeed a unanimous decision to have our dinner there.

KANIN CLUB again. FINALLY.

And all is great again in my hungry world.

He he he he he!

KANIN CLUB!

It was our first time in KANIN CLUB at Filinvest City and like its other branches, the place was packed!

We were about 10th in line but the little lords didn't mind. They were comfortably (and lazily) going on at the rocking chairs.

Of course, only until a Senior person comes by and need to sit down. 

F CAFE AGAIN (F1 ALL DAY DINING)

Christmas may be all fun and "Fa la la la la la la la la la" but seriously, it could be one of the cruel holidays there is. Oooh yes! Diet all you want and have several hours running at the treadmill... when the holiday spread presents itself at you, you'll lose all  elements of reason and just surrender to the forces of food.

Yehesss... So cruel. 

That is exactly what happened after weeks and weeks of controlling my wild appetite. I thought I was already doing a great job and promised that I will really eat like a bird during our recent staycation at F1 HOTEL MANILA, when  HELLO! F CAFE was serving the Fiery and Frosty Christmas buffet!!!!

How?
What?
Where?
When????

And just like that Christmas won once more and I was powerless over all the hot and glistening food served at us.

Truly... truly cruel!

But I LOVE it!!!!

BWA HA HA HA HA!

the place of the round and red arches!

F CAFE (F1 ALL DAY DINING)!

Have a FIERY and FROSTY Christmas time by having their buffets during the holidays!

Lunch or Dinner Buffet P1,999.00 net

(December 24, 25, 30, 2014 and January 1, 2015

Dinner Buffet plus New Year Countdown Party at P2,999.00

(December 31, 2014)  

RASTRO

In life, there would be days wherein you should just sit back, relax and sip on a hot mug of coffee. Sometimes though you would encounter some glitches either at work or with your personal life that it requires a long chug of beer. Then, there would be nights where in everything was so awesome that a beer won't just cut it and you yearn for something else.

And in comes RASTRO with their new specialty Cocktails and delicious food to go along with it.

Believe me, after one sip and maybe two bites, you would know that the night is just beginning.  And most definitely because of that distinct taste of RASTRO's latest cocktails and delicious food, you would know and feel that it is going to be an amazing one.

Presenting, your ultimate date for the night...

RASTRO! 

New logo by PATHRA CADNESS!

RASTRO!

This is THE tapas and restaurant bar to go to in Fort Bonifacio!

ALBA

You may accuse me for being a bit biased but hey, EVERYONE who has met her would agree that my MOM is one of the most beautiful ladies there is -- inside and out. I always maintained that she is the perfect epitome of a loving Mother who prioritized her children (especially the angelic bunsoy) over her career in medicine (she's a doctor). You know the type who gets principal sponsor/godmother requests left and right? Yup that's her. And every time I talk to somebody who has met my Mom, they would always remark on her beauty, elegance, and kindness.

Yup that's her. My complete opposite. Ha ha ha ha ha!

Anyway, it was her birthday last October and the family had one of the celebrations with a Spanish Sunday lunch in ALBA'S.

ALBA!!

I was about to write that this Spanish restaurant has been here from goodness knows then and my question was instantly answered when I saw that it has been with us since 1952.

OUR CHRISTMAS NIGHT 2013

One of the things which I'm sure you may be tired of reading about in this silly little foodie blog (besides us being fabulous and all... tee hee) is how I am a person who loves traditions. It's not like my parents imposed how they wanted to do these things on us but because what we did before as a family imprinted such happy memories on me that I also wanted my children to have the same experiences as well.

For Christmas 2013, amidst the challenges that our country faced and, on a totally trivial level, the warm weather we still have up to now, we celebrated our Lord's birthday ALMOST the same way we did as before.

No hotel getaways away from home....

No  revelations that Santa is not real...

and most important of all...

No one was "absent" on this special night.

HOWEVER... We were only human and change IS  somehow inevitable. So we just made a few tweaks in how we did our Christmas night.

Do read on! This may well be our Christmas card from ERICJAZ FOODIES to you!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

CHRISTMAS NIGHT!!!

Before, we would usually go to Santuario de San Jose in Greenhills. Now we wanted to go somewhere nearer where there are more available seats for us so we heard mass at Powerplant Mall tent. 

Our experience the last time was very solemn and comfortable so my Dad suggested we hear our CHRISTMAS NIGHT mass here again!

I really think there's something about the CHRISTMAS breeze that made hearing mass al fresco more special!

  

LAS PAELLAS

My paternal aunts from somewhere far, far, far, away were here last August and as a welcoming "gift" to them, me and my husband decided to treat them to one of their favorite restaurants, LAS PAELLAS. 

Oh yes, do realize that in our family, events and gifts always coincide with the word EAT: 

"Oh it's your birthday? Let's eat... " "Oh you just had your first day of school? Let's Eat" "Oh you just had hair implants in your forehead? Let's Eat."

By the way, the last line? Purely fictional and wishful thinking on MY part. Tee hee... 

LAS PAELLAS CAFE

LAS PAELLAS in Greenhills accepts reservations on weekends that's why I think it's a perfect restaurant for the family after church. 

Believe me, the last thing you want is to see my growing boy wailing and pulling his hair if he does not eat on time....

I'm talking about my husband by the way... Tee hee!