BEST FRIENDS

I am not really a picky eater. I'll eat anything as long it's not a) man's best friend, b) endangered species, AND c) will cost P10,000... unless I was treated by some galante person. 

And that is the reason why I love BEST FRIENDS! The restaurant is just your friendly neightbourhood pares house but with more color AND great food! There is NO danger of eating a dog or a cat (perhaps a horse but that's just a rumor), no exotic animals here, AND most definitely if you have P10,000 it will feed you here for a whole year!

I especially love that it is open 24 hours! So when I am very late from work, this is a very convenient place to eat in, that's delicious, CHEAP, and fast!!!

BEST FRIENDS!!! Hmmm... I think there's something wrong with the 3 characters in their logo. Why are they "entertwined" with each other? Interesting...

Enough of your dirty mind, let's check out the grub!

This branch won some award! Wow! Take it take it!

When you sit down, they will immediately give you a small bowl of hot soup! It tastes of course like your usual cheap soup but this hits the spot!

My husband immediately took a big slurp out of it!!!

For drinks, my hubskers ordered some Sago Gulaman! 

Truly refreshing!!!

Yub then ordered their sizzling chicken!!

Chicken was crunchy and that gravy was just good on EVERYTHING!!! I forgot to take down the prices but trust me this is below P150 or even P100! 

Eric : "Below P100??? WEEEEEEH???!"

You also have a choice if you want fried rice or garlic rice. Their plain rice is unlimited though. Yub decided to be innovative and made himself an EGG rice. Yup! Meal comes with egg too!

He can't believe it! 

While waiting for my order, I made my usual favorite sawsawan...

Here comes my order!!

I ordered my favorite Breaded Porkchop with Garlic Rice and Chopsuey!! This is good enough for 2!!

Pork Chop is unbelievably tender and scrumptious! Breading has a lot of "fast food" type of flavor! 

Sorry forgot to take the price but this is definitely less than P150!!

Veggies are still crunchy with a sauce that is flavorful enough to be an ulam on its own. I love pairing this with my crunchy pork chop!

Now I wonder why I took this pic? Perhaps to convey that Best Friend caters to hungry couples like us and yuppies alike? Maybe! The place is very cheap with delicious food that it will DEFINITELY draw in all types of people!!!

Parang BEST FRIEND MO NA DIN! ha ha ha!

LET'S EAT!

BEST FRIENDS

Boni Avenue, Mandaluyong City, Mandaluyong, 1550 

NATHANIEL'S (BUKO PANDAN)

Who was NOT enchanted and addicted with the best buko pandan of ALL time? 

Okay... maybe a few... but I bet you could count that using your left hand. Ha ha ha!

In 2009, Nathaniel's BUKO PANDAN was all the rage especially that before, you could ONLY get it at Pampanga, then later on in Panay Avenue.

Their Panay Avenue Branch...

When you go to Nathaniels, there are actually lots and lots of yummy goodies for you to choose from. But stubborn little me just wants their buko pandan!!!!

For that day it was family day Sunday so we decided to buy some half gallons of this creamy goodness for our lunch.

See my butt? That became bigger because of NATHANIELS... but it's ALL WORTH IT!

My little boy Mati (4), was skeptical first and wanted something else...

But later on he found himself curious upon seeing the other goodies. My baby Andrei was also fascinated with the bright colors of the restaurant :)

.. and wouldn't you be? Look at all of this!! So far, I have also tried the siomai and it was SOOO good! But for now, we will focus on the BUCO PANDAN.

This is 1 gallon and it cost P450. You may think it's kinda steep with the simple ingredients of coconut cream, pandan, gelatin flavor, and sugar... but believe cutie little me when I say that, like my big butt, IT'S SO WORTH IT!

The Buco Pandan should be kept in the freezer at all times to preserve it longer (YEAH RIGHT... like it'll live for 1 hour in our house...)... When you're ready to eat it, let it melt a bit... (oh yes it'll be the worst 5 to 10 minutes of your life)... 

Then afterwards...

Smile cheesily and DIG IN!

                 

If you're as nice as my sister, Ate Jojit, you'll be scooping some of the buco pandan into small bowls and giving it to the people you love...

       

See? Isn't that just something glorious going into your mouth?

If you're like me, you'll grab the first cup she gives, then hide the whole gallon in the fridge. If anyone asks, you'll fake ignorance and try to help the others looking for it. If you're guilty, just be consoled that later on your tummy will be filled with all that Nathaniel Buco Pandan Power...

Trust me it's WORTH IT.

LET'S EAT!

NATHANIELS BAKESHOP

Timog Ave., Manila

02 921 1959

TASTE ASIA (SM HYPERMARKET FOOD COURT)

One of the reasons we love going to SM HYPERMARKET is that it closes late compared to other malls in the Metro. When most establishments are locking their doors at 9:00pm, SM HYPERMARKET is still welcoming shoppers up to 11:00pm! This is very convenient to those who have late working hours when you just HAVE to have something that cannot wait till the next day, like let's say.... toothpaste. 

Oh please. My example is not that trivial. Ha ha ha ha!

Anyway, SM HYPERMARKET is very much like Walmart because it has a grocery and department store all in one. And what better way to rest your chops after hours of walking around finding that PERFECT toothpaste, by resting and energizing with LOTS of food!

And that is where we bring you, TASTE ASIA.

Dan... dan... DAAAANN.....

TASTE ASIA is actually a huge section at SM HYPERMARKET with a food court set up. 

They have a vast array of dishes under its wing and you could could choose from different types of Asian cuisines be it Japanese, Filipino, Chinese, Italian (wait Asia nga pala so forget that), and Korean.

My husband, the Chinese stalker, was drooling at some ribs at the other side of the food court but we decided to try out the roast chicken.

At only P135 per whole chicken, it was quite a steal!

Next time ribs... Next time...

Because we are having this TASTE ASIA Chicken!

Oh yeah... this TASTE ASIA chicken looks good even from afar! 

For our meal that day we also decided to order some sisig in the Filipino section...

(Sorry this was before I did this silly little foodie blog so I just pointed and shot....

Come to think of it, I'm still guilty of that up to now. Ha ha ha ha ha!)

Mati got ready to devour his java rice!

We had 2 orders of Sisig since we were with my family!

TASTE ASIA sisig was not as crunchy as we are used to from Dencios but it was still very tasty nonetheless!!!

This TASTE ASIA sisig was PERFECT with the java rice from Reyes Barbecue! YUM!

We also got some TASTE ASIA Miki Bihon!

Believe me this is one of the best Miki Bihon Pansit I have ever had! The whole noodle dish was just perfectly delectable and saucy! I loved how they cooked the liver that I would pick it all out for me before it was passed onto another family member.  

My baby Andrei is a very picky eater but he loves the saucy Miki Bihon of TASTE ASIA!!! He also eats the vegetables if it came from this noodle dish!

LET'S EAT!!!

Yub's plate is still empty though... Ha ha ha ha!

But mine is already full from all the TASTE ASIA GOODIES!

And finally after feeding Andrei, I get to eat!!!

Yub takes a dirty bite at his fatty pork barbecue!

Awww... Since he was done eating, Andrei flashed his signature "cute cute" smile!

My plate! My wonderful plate!

I suddenly thought of giving my first born a tight hug but he wanted to get away from me asap....

So he could have his TASTE ASIA shaved ice with sweet sauce!

This is Andrei's favorite too!

The kids were already having dessert but I was still eating in TASTE ASIA!

It's okay. Andrei was so sweet and even offered me some of his dessert! Awwww!

LET'S EAT! AGAIN!

TASTE ASIA (SM HYPERMARKET)

Ground Floor, SM Hypermarket, 

Frontera Drive, Ugong, Pasig City