Vikings Buffet !

I love birthdays ! For this year, my family enjoyed Vikings Buffet.  We went all the way to SM Marikina because this branch offers celebrant's to eat free at 3 days before and after birth dates.  The SM Mall of Asia branch offers promo on the exact birthday only. My kids were really looking forward to the buffet.  They have heard about it from their friends.

My friends mentioned it has a wider spread than the standard hotel.  It delivered!  Of course, it' not like the other buffet restaurants available where you grill your food at your table (which was actually very challenging).  Here, I enjoyed walking.. and walking... and walking around looking at the wide array and the various presentations of each dish (japanese, filipino, chinese, american, pastas, etc etc).  You would not know which one to pick first.  So I suggest, you take small amounts that you most want to try and work from there.  My favorite has always been Japanese food, so I always start with that.  The oysters though did not fail me.  The Angus steak was really tender and filled with flavor.
Lastly,  I enjoyed the brewed coffee at the end of my meal (I had 2 cups!)

Buffet rates at SM Marikina :
   Adult at P688 lunch / P888 dinner for weekdays and P888 on weekends
   Kids 4ft - 4ft 6in at P388 lunch/ P588  for weekdays and P588 for weekends
   Kids 3ft - 4 ft  at P188 lunch/ P288 for weekdays and P288 for weekends
   Kids below 3ft are FREE
   75 yrs old and above get 50% discount
 

Fresh oysters with lots of cheese !

My son could not get enough of the squid.  But you have to wait some minutes for it to cook. Hurry ! because they run out fast.  But they do replenish.

The Salad spread 

The shushi and maki spread were very enticing

The cold cuts

I love Japanese food so for today , this is my choice : Pumpkin soup, Maki and Ebi Tempura

Birthday cakes for the celebs!

Enjoy!

Abe Restaurant !

A Korean friend visited and we wanted to let him taste the best of Filipino cuisine.  I have heard about Abe restaurant by the LJC group but have not tried it yet.  My friends have though and they said the food is really good.  So we went and they did not disappoint!  Pronounced ah-beh , the restaurant is a tribute to Larry Cruz's father, Abe.

We tried the one at Alabang Town Center.  Ambience is nice.  On the walls you will see sketches inspired by our Filipino tradition.

First on the list is the rice cooked in bamboo.  Unfortunately,  it was served already and the bamboo discarded before I could take a photo.  It was good.

Next is the Crispy Pata.  Oh dear, I forget the I am on a diet ! Very crunchy pork skin, moist meat. Cooked to perfection.

Love the Baby squid rice. It's bagoong rice topped with baby squid and one whole salted egg.
The Binagoongan is all also good/

For dessert. we tried all kinds :  the Leche Flan , thee Halo-Halo , Sansrival and the Sikreto ni Maria.  The Sikreto is made of suman with  ice cream and caramel - Yum!

I was surprised that on a weekday , the place gets full packed during dinner !

The Leche flan is too sweet for my taste

The Halo -Halo that our Korean friend enjoyed!

The Sansrival.  Big serving !

And this is the Sikreto ni Maria!

Enjoy!

Amici !

The name Amici itself suggests an Italian restaurant and it's one of the best I have tried.  The branches I've tried are the Don Bosco branch in Makati and the one at Ayala Triangle.

The Ayala Triangle branch was full packed as expected on a Friday and not to mention that it is the Christmas season after all.

Here's what I think of the place :

Service - good but of course serving time is 15 to 20 mins.  I must say they were happy to send a small birthday cake for my cousin

Food - great ! I especially love the Spaghetti Ai Tesori Del Mare (spaghetti pasta topped with seafood : mussels, clams, scallops with tomatoes).  You should try this !

Ambience - It's tight  and there is a waiting line (especially on a Friday).  But it's worth the wait.  You could go watch the light and sound show at Ayala Triangle while you wait

Price - reasonable. The Spaghetti Ai Tesori Del Mare is about Php344 and it's a big serving.

Spaghetti Ai Tesori Del Mare - try it !

I just had to try their Mozarella sticks

Bacon Wrapped Chicken

Mediterranean Blue Cheese and Walnut Salad

My cousin's birthday cake

The blue lemonade is actually good

If you would like some Italian food - do try Amici this Christmas !

Union Jack Tavern !

The family was looking for a new restaurant this Christmas season.  I have heard of Union Jack Tavern and had always wanted to try it. So today we did and we were not disappointed.

Union Jack Tavern is an English pub serving authentic British food including Haggis among others. Unfortunately, I was not able to try it but I will next time.  Instead, we had the lamb shank and I had the buffet spread of roast turkey, roast beef, pudding, apple pie among others.

Next time, we will try the Fish and Chips and the Haggis and Tatties.
By the way, they also have Indian Curry Buffet which  I think is worth trying.  But I'd have to go back again to find out for myself :)

Location - Festival Mall in Alabang
Price       - Ok.  Lamb Shank was about Php465 and it was a big serving
                 The buffet was Php 545 +
Ambience  - Great for dining with family (If you are with kids, I suggest to go for the non-smoking area)
                    Great for  dining and drinking with friends while watching sports
Food      - love the lamb shank !

What is Haggis ?  It is a Scottish dish made from heart, lungs and liver of a sheep cooked in a casing traditionally made of the animal's stomach.  Hence , it is some kind of a sausage.

I like the crew's uniform.  Shown here are British delicacies from sausages to pies

Here is the buffet spread that I tried.  Yum !

Slow cooked Lamb Shank.  Believe me you won't forget it

My buffet  - with roast turkey and roast beef.  I love the gravy !

The apple pie and English trifle

First time to try Carling beer.  It's light and flavorful.  

In case you want to try the Indian Curry , here's the list.

Want to try something new ?  Come on over to Union Jack Tavern.

Enjoy !

Won Restaurant !

I was asked what I wanted to eat for lunch and my answer was simple - korean food ! 

Won restaurant is located at Paseo de Sta Rosa at the 2nd floor and is a favorite go to place of those craving for korean food down south.

Everytime I go to a specialty restaurant, I try to eat something new/  So this time I tried the Galbitang - it's  beef short ribs soup served with rice and red spicy paste which I did not use because I prefer the Ssamjang (a thick red paste).  It tastes a lot like our bulalo (boiled beef).  The great thing about this is that the beef is fall off the bones.

My friends had the Dwelgi Galbi which is grilled pork ribs.  It is served with lettuce, garlic and ssamjang.  The way to eat this is to get the lettuce leaf - put in a piece of pork - add garlic and ssamjang , fold and eat !

My korean friends had the Bibimbap which is mixed rice , normally with vegetables.

All korean restaurants serve side dishes like below - kimchi, dilis or anchovies, cucumber salad among others.  The side dishes differ per restaurant. 

Some restaurants serve free iced tea or iced coffee at the end of every meal. Sadly, Won did not have that.  But they did have free dessert - free pineapple !

After my hearty meal, comes an ice cream ! I like korean ice creams because it's out of the ordinary.  Just like the fish ice cream which has some custard filling! Yum !

So when you're down south or passing through ,  do try Won restaurant !
Enjoy !

SM Aura !

All roads lead to SM Aura ! 

I just had to get a glimpse of the new premier shoppping. mall.  Located at The Fort in Taguig, it boasts of an Imax theatre , a Skypark and the most important of all is the green architecture. It had opened last May 17 and has been packed with curious shoppers.

It's SM shopping mall has a first class feel compared to other SM branches.  The Skypark is for al fresco dining.  However, it was raining hard that day so we were not able to enjoy this part of the mall. 

Not all shops are open yet and the parking is not finished yet either (we parked at the lowest basement parking - does that make sense ?, that still smelled paint).  The restaurants are not all open yet so the volume of all people created a lack of seats so we just ate at the food stalls of the supermarket. Do try the dimsum there - it tastes good ! 

I must admit, I like the feel of this new SM Store

A new cupcake place called The Royal Touch gourmet cupcakes.  Had tried the chocolate flavor and I like it (it doesn't crumble at all).  I learned that the creator Carolyn Robb was a peronal chef to the Royal family of  UK.  So much class here even inside their store.



This is the food court called Food on Four (on the 4th floor, of course).  Not a lot of food stalls opened yet and the line is very long (it loops!).

The Skypark is supposed to be for Al Fresco dining but I think the rain was just too much that day

Stores like Kultura , I think, should be in all malls to showcase Filipino products and ingenuity

The main celebrity who graced the opening of SM Aura - Ms. Sarah Jessica Parker!

Enjoy !

Yakimix buffet!

Our eyes were set to dining in a buffet restaurant and Yakimix was our choice for today.  Had always wanted to try this buffet resto - it's one of the popular buffets in town!



The price list.  Drinks are included in the price.  Isn't that nice ?



We love the pork, beef and seafoods!

Some of the choices



My kids choices !



An array of raw foods - meat, fish, shellfish !

Enjoy !