Entries Tagged 'Appetizer' ↓

It was my first time at Rai Rai Ken weeks ago. And one doesn’t go there without trying their ramen. 🙂

Rai Rai Ken

It was dinner time and I ordered Rai Rai’s Ramen Chasyu (Roast Pork). it was neatly served (photo above) in a big bowl.

It is a soy sauce based soup with slices of well, roast pork, a hard-boiled egg, and some vegetables. It was a good one. You’d know in the taste that it was an authentically prepared Japanese ramen. I came to know that authentic ramen is not easy to create as the soup alone takes hours to prepare. At P180, it is a filling and satisfactory meal.

Mixed Seafood Ramen

On the other hand, my friends had the Gomoku or the ‘mixed seafood‘ ramen which is composed of mixed seafood and also topped with egg and mixed vegetables.

My friend said it was also good and had generous servings of seafoods like shrimp, kani, and squid. Perhaps I will try that next time.

Rai Rai Ken Gyoza

To complement our meals, we had some sumptuous Gyoza and Jurassic Maki. The Jurassic Maki (P195) is like an inside-out roll with Ebi Tempura, salmon skin, kani stick, and ebikko, molded with mayonaisee and topped with an eel slice.

It tasted as good as it looked. 🙂

Jurassic Maki

Mango Shake

Rai Rai Ken Makati

I also had a cold mango shake to contrast my hot soup at the latter part. It’s highly recommended as well for its smooth-creamy texture.

We dined at their two-floor branch in Makati near our place (SM Hypermarket near  South Super Highway-Buendia corner). Rai Rai Ken is definitely worth going to for authentic Japanese ramen.

Buon Giorno is the brainchild of Mark Floro and his wife, Linda Floro, both of them are food enthusiasts. The couple decided to share their passion with their friends through a quaint Italian restaurant, Buon Giorno.

It was first established at Cliffhouse, Tagaytay City where it has been hailed as one of the most romantic destinations in Tagaytay. The Cliffhouse Buon Giorno branch is very famous for its Opium bed because of the countless marriage proposals that has happened there (the Opium bed is the most reserved spot at the Cliffhouse branch- so better call them early if you’re planning special for your lovey dovey).

With the success of the first branch at Tagaytay, the Floros decided it’s  high time to bring Buon Giorno back to the Metro once again (they opened at Shaw Blvd a few years back but it was closed down).  Buon Giorno is currently located at Rockwell Business District in Ortigas.

I had the privilege to join fellow food bloggers as Buon Giorno introduced their palatial menu.

Antipasti/Antipasto (Appetizer) *this is not a complete menu list

Trio of Crostini P218

A thin of lightly-toasted bread served with pesto, chicken liver pate and  mushroom dip

Bruschetta P180

Tomatoes, mozzarella and basil on olive-toasted toast

Antipasto Platter P335

Marinates olives, pearl onions, roasted peppers, cheese cubes and Italian meats

Insalata (Salad)

B’uon Giorno’s Special

B’uon Giorno’s Special P218

Crema de Brocolli

A mixed of Buon Giorno’s best salad greenies and fruits drizzled with their delectable house dressing

Zuppe (Soup)

Crema de Brocolli P140
An awesome blend of cream and broccoli

Pizza

Mare Pesto P265

Mixed seafood brought together with lots of basil, pesto and cheese. The pizza is super thin crust which gives a crunchy feel with each bite.

Buon-Giorno-Pizza

New York Pizza

New York Pizza P295

It’s composed of assorted meat, bell peppers, and cheese topping on crisp, crusty dough.

This is truly a great break from the pizza that we usually order. Though it’s still far from the original Italian pizza, it’s as good. The chef needed to tailor the pizza according to the Filipino taste 

Other pizza flavours are: Vegetarian, Peperroni, Hawaiian, Salsiccia, Prosciutto A Funghi, and Al Margherita.

Pasta

Canneloni Spinaci P294

Tender bits of chicken & mortadella ham rolled in sheets of spinach pasta smothered with tomato sauce and cheese

Pescattore Alla Puttanesca P308 (Top Photo)
Assortment of seafood in spicy and peppery tomato sauce

Canneloni Spinaci

Risotto (Italian Rice Dishes)

Pollo E Funghi P302

It’s basically chicken in rice dish. It’s by itself a complete meal and will immediately fill your hungry tummy.

Piato Principale

San Prieto Con Basilico John Dory P470

Perfectly cooked cream dory fillet with creamy sauce and spinach

Beef Wagyu in Mushroom Gravy Sauce was also served that night and it’s available by request (in case you are dining in the future).

Chocolate-Pistachio Sans Rival

Dolci (dessert)

Chocolate- Pistachio Sans Rival P207

Layers of wafers covered in chocolate icing and drizzled with pistachio.

This may not be my favourite version of sans rival but if you’re a chocolate lover, you’ll dig it.

Buon Giorno Cheesecake

Cheesecake P170

It’s creamy and fairly yummy but I tasted better cheesecakes (but then I’m biased because I am not a cake person, I’d rather have cold desserts than sweets and pastries).

Bevande (beverages)

Fresh Fruit Shakes P120-P144

Watermelon shake, Grape shake, and Mango shake

Buon Giorno Watermelon, Grape, Mango Shake

Few facts on Italian dining:

Olive oil is a staple in any Italian pantry. There are many varieties of Olive oil and usually, different kinds are used for salads, entrees and cooking.

Italian Dining

For those wondering how to use olive oil with food and cooking, these could help you:

•    Use quality olive oil. Never use an olive oil if you can’t eat it as it is.

•    The most widely used olive oil on restaurants are the extra virgin oil and cold pressed olive oil. It’s also the highest in quality though it’s pricey as compared to the other varieties. Extra virgin olive oil is the best variety used over salads or for dipping bread.

•    If you do not want too much aroma from the olive oil, you may opt for virgin olive oil. It contains fairly less flavour and aroma that’s why it’s best used for frying, grilling and oven roasting. But ordinary or pure virgin olive oil contains even less flavour and aroma than virgin olive oil and is best used in recipes that flavour from olive oil is not desired.

•    Italians can easily determine the variety of olive oil. I was told that they can also tell if the olive oil was from Italy or from other parts of the world.

This has been your resident NomNomClub writer, Renz of Pinay Mommy Adreamer, saying Hanno un Grande Giorno!

Buon Giorno
Grnd Flr, Tower 1 Rockwell Business Center
Ortigas Avenue
Pasig City
Tel number- 5719092

Steak Buffet

I got the chance to dine with some of the best food bloggers in Metro Manila a few weeks ago. It was a steak night dinner buffet at Diamond Hotel‘s Corniche.

Diamond Hotel Philippines offers choice cut steaks for its customers every Thursday night. Labeled as Corniche’s Savoring Steak Nights, the dinner buffet offers a variety of steaks such as the US Striploin Steak, US Rib Eye Steak, US Hanger Steak, Beef Tenderloin Steak and  Roasted US Prime Rib.

Add to that other entrees with free flowing red wine for only Php 2,285 nett per person from 5:30pm to 10:30pm. This is inclusive of 10% service charge and local government tax.

5 Plates - 5 Rounds @ Corniche Buffet

I was only able to try the striploin, tenderloin, and prime rib. As expected, the meats were fork-tender and juicy, coming from Diamond Hotel.  However, I have observed that steak grill was only about a meter wide and can handle a limited number of steaks at a time. As per experience, there were only three us by the counter and the grill was already full (partially because we had multiple orders each 🙂 ). Maybe Corniche can improve on that, specially when customers flock in.

Seafood Buffet

More Entrees

I also enjoyed the other dishes at Corniche such as the seafood choices, salad selections, and Asian, Western, Japanese, and Indian cuisines prepared by culinary experts headed by Executive Chef Nickolai Stoyanov with general manager Vanessa Ledesma Suatengco.

Other International Cuisine Buffet @ Diamond Hotel

Diamond Hotel Philippines - Corniche Buffet

Barbequed Shrimp w/ Kumpati

A New Discovery – the Kumpati

I discovered an interesting stove as well. As per the cook at the Indian counter, it’s called a ‘kumpati.’

A kumpati is a traditional earthen cooking stove like a palayok, but much larger almost like a ‘banga‘. The traditional ones use charcoal and firewood to cook food but the one in Diamond Hotel is of course, electric.

Kumpati Indian Stove

Corniche uses it to “charcoal barbeque” some of the food like the tandoori chicken and  the grilled shrimp in the photo. They also use it to heat and toast the tasty Naan bread. Yum yum!

On Cheeses

I also saw a table of varied cheeses in different color and textures like Sage Derby, Iberico, Fontina, and Brie. I did not try any of them though as I am illiterate when it comes to cheese appreciation. 😛

Table of Cheeses (lower right side)

Desserts

I love their dessert choices though. There was much to choose from and I was able to try only less than half. Maybe I’ll try the other half in my next visit.

Lastly, it was glad to finally meet Lori Baltazar of DesertComsFirst.com. Also with us were prominent food bloggers Spanky, Ivan Man Dy, and Jane Chua, among others.

Corniche Desserts

Lori Baltazar & NomNom (right); Jane Chua & Ivan Man Dy (left)

Corniche Buffet Restaurant, Diamon Hotel

Corniche is located at Diamond Hotel’s lobby level with a 650 square meter space that can accommodate up to 200+ persons within a chic environment and contemporary overtones. However, I believe they can have more lights on the food. But I think the elegant interior necessitates the ambiance to be dim. With that in mind, they could have mini spotlights efficiently installed on focus entrees, at the least (or maybe I’m just used to other hotel buffet restaurants which are well-lighted). 🙂

I like the pocket-seating layout throughout Corniche providing spatial privacy for intimate groups. They also have a grand bird chandelier at the center and full height windows which offers a view of the garden and water features on one side.

Corniche Buffet @ Diamond Hotel PH

For reservations:
Corniche
Diamond Hotel Philippines
Roxas Boulevard, cor. Dr. J Quintos St., Manila.
Tel. 528-3000 / 305-3000
E-mail bizcenter@diamondhotel.com
Website: www.diamondhotel.com.

It’s a Thursday! Steak night tonight, Anyone?

Italian inspired table design

Hello there, I’m Renz of Pinay Mommy ADreamer, and I was given a huge, huge, huge privilege to be Nomnom’s guest writer. Let me share with you an Italian inspired tasting experience that I had a few days ago. So, prepare your appetite to be stirred and read on…

Would you agree that the best thing to start your weekend is to spend Friday nights with a great crowd, sharing good food and wine?  Of course, I do. It might be my first and last conversation with the people I met on that night but I’m sure glad I met and shared a lot of fun experience with them.

Perfect Italiano Chef

Food bloggers were escorted to a place where tables and chairs were decorated with masks and Italian inspired plates.

To start the night and to whet our appetite, we were given Bruschetta topped with Romano cheese, Mozzarella cheese (both from Perfect Italiano), honey and olive oil.  Also served was wine that went perfectly great with the appetizer. After a few pleasantries, the hosts asked us to be seated and be comfortable as the tasting experience began. It was an 8-course Italian-inspired fine dining prepared by Chefs JJ Yulo and Namee Jorolan of Pinoy Eats World.

Salad with Perfect Italiano

All dishes served were made a notched yummier by Perfect Italiano cheese. And boy was I a happier gal after that hearty meal.

First on the menu was a simple salad made unique with strawberries, Romano cheese, arugula, romaine lettuce drizzled with delicate vinaigrette.

The saltiness of the Romano cheese went well with the tanginess of the vinaigrette and the strawberries.

Pizza plus with Perfect Italiano

The “Pizza Plus” was topped with mozzarella cheese, red bell pepper wrapped in a crust topped with freshly picked vegetables with melted cheese on top. It’s so perfect for a meatless treat for everyone!

Chiz Soup

Creamy Soup made even creamier with cheese (by Perfect Italiano). A new comfort food if only I’ve asked Chef JJ Yulo the recipe. But I tell you, it was so pleasant it made me think of the days when we stayed home and kept warm during stormy weathers.

Red Bell Pepper with Cheeses of Perfect Italiano

I didn’t know that a simple red bell pepper baked with all kinds of cheeses in it tastes so good. Or maybe it’s because of Perfect Italiano? It was sweet and salty at the same time creamy. I usually don’t like red bell pepper but I enjoyed the dish so much I finished all of it in a wink of an eye.

The biggest hit for the night was the Clam Soup. It was clam with Tuguegarao longganisa bits in cheesy soup mixture. It was a surprise for everyone how well the cheese blended with the taste of the longganisa and the clam.  Hold on to your seats because we’re just half way through this delectable experience. Of course at this point I was high in energy and happiness with my glass of sparkling wine.

Clam Soup with cheese

Italian-inspired dinner is not complete without pasta, so pasta was also served. It’s not your regular pesto or alfredo pasta because the sauce was creamier and tastier by combinations of melted cheese mixed with olive oil and some herb.

The pasta was lethal because it could easily make you feel full and heavy. No wonder serving was small.

Cheesy Pasta

The main course was Lamb with Potatoes (Top Photo).

The lamb was so tender that it kind of melted in your mouth and I didn’t taste the usual after taste of lamb meat either. There was also no excessive nasty smell from the lamb which I am very particular of.

For dessert we were served Bananas with Nutella sprinkled with mozzarella cheese.

Okay, you must wonder where’s Italy on that….I wondered the same thing but I was so happy with it that it didn’t matter anymore 

Banana in Nutella and Cheese

That ends my Italian-inspired food experience with Perfect Italiano and Pinoy Eats World! I must say that each individual dish was a crowd pleaser and everyone went home with a happy stomach and a smile on their faces. I know because I sure did.

I haven’t visited Mercato Centrale (the day market) since it started, but I was able to check out Midnight Mercato first with other blogger friends last weekend. This is defiintely for night people like me who can’t wake up early on weekend mornings. 🙂

Chilled/Hot Taho by Tahooo!

It was also the launching night of Midnight Mercato at the Bonifacio Global City last Friday so there was a simple opening ceremony, ribbon-cutting, guests, and the likes.

Briefly to the unaware, Midnight Mercato is a weekend late night food bazaar where foodies and barkadas can hanging out and enjoy great food you can’t easily find otherwise. You can feast on a wide array of food choices from gourmet selections to ‘lutong bahay‘ (home cooked) dishes; even sosyal street food and balut included. Add to that acoustic musical performances by Rock Ed – all in an air-conditioned ‘kubol.’ Yes, that is Tagalog for ‘tent’ (as fellow blogger Alex shared).

Here are some food trip photos I’m sharing from:

Buy 1 take 1 Sausages @ P150 and Chips To Go Booth (similar to Potato Loops)

Monster Burger & the Monster Burger Challenge (finish it in 4 minutes and it's FREE!)

Nutsylicious have different kinds of nuts including walnuts and pistachios!

After all the photos, it’s my tummy’s turn. So I got an authentic shawarma (P75) from a Mediterranean-looking guy whose booth I forgot, three Mochiko mochi ice cream, and  some Takoyaki balls.

Mochiko Mochi Ice Cream @ P70

Mochiko had a very long line and was out of stock before 12midnight. That speaks for itself. 🙂

I also had a set of Armenian Lavosh Chips with Pesto Mozarella Cheese dip (P145) from the stall with a witty name of ‘5 loaves and 2 Fishes.’

Armenian Lavosh Chips (right); Claypot Chicken Rice (left)

Big Bob's Quarter Pounder Burgers

I also got a bottle of Raw Honey and Organic Gourmet Rice from ‘Fresh Start‘. They’re quite pricey actually but I know mom would love the brown rice while I use the honey as sugar substitute in my morning milk (there goes the revelation). 🙂

Fresh Start Organic Gourmet Rice (Brown Rice P200) & Raw Honey (P300)

There were a number of media outfits and got to spot some celebrities including Mara’s Mom in ‘Mara Clara‘ , Ashlee Gosengfiao, Sarah Meier (I think), Mercato Centrale guy RJ Ledesma, and others. I also spotted Anton Diaz and wife Rachel at the Human Nature booth.

Rachel @ Human Nature booth (right); Mexican Kitchen (left)

Balut (Duck Embryo)

I wanted to try so much more but I can only take in so much having come from a full dinner at Rai-Rai Ken a few minutes before going to Mercato Centrale.

There were also other food finds which caught NomNom’s fancy and instantly became a favorite.

Watch out for that post coming out next week including my predictable Mochiko review. 🙂

It was a haven of grilled food, hamburgers, and suasages outside the Midnight Mercato Tent.

Moreover, I got some tips from foodie friends and is looking forward to try the following in my next visits:

Off Beat Burger‘s Krispy Kreme Burger,  Ravioli’s of Natalia,  and the Angus Beef Tapa Rice Toppings, among others.

Krispy Kreme Burger

I also got news from Antin Diaz’s blog that Bale Dutung will start tonight @ Midnight Mercato! I’ll have to wait a little longer though as I will be going to Thunderbird’s Resort in Rizal tonight and I’ll be at the Pyromusical competition in SM Mall of Asia tomorrow.

Check out more about Midnight Mercato and Mercato Centrale here.

Midnight Mercato Tent, Tables, and Interiors

Midnight Mercato happens every Fridays and Saturdays at Bonifacio Global City from 11pm to 3am the next day. They are located at the corner of 31st and 9th streets (vacant lots between Serendra and STI Fort). Mercato Centrale day market continues Saturday and Sunday 7am to 2pm.

Marriott Café comes up with another deliciously themed buffet – the Ocean’s Surf! It’s a seafood buffet with a wide spread of ocean treasures that’s sure to fill your Friday and Saturday nights at Marriott Hotel Manila.

Drunken Shrimp

At a conservative estimate, I think I had about 8 different shrimp dishes in that single night last weekend.

This seafood buffet included the classic drunken shrimp, fried drunken shrimp, grilled shrimp, shrimp skewers, Thai-style Shrimp kebab, shrimp salad, ‘Suahe‘, Shrimp & Oyster, and Seafood Risotto – whew! (I think I missed one) 🙂

They also had a drink called ‘Ocean Deep‘ which is a combination of blue lemonade with soda.

Crabs

Ocean's Surf Shrimp

Salmon & Shrimp Salad

The Drunken Shrimp was courtesy of Chef Brammer who hand-picked the live shrimps direct from the aquarium into the cooking pan, added the liquor, shook the mongkok, and added the spices.

Chef Brammer of Marriott Cafe

Of course there were other seafood dishes including a gigantic Fried Lapu-lapu, Rock Lobsters, Tempura, Salmon, and other fish dishes.

Sinigang na Salmon

Recommendations

Aside from the fresh and delectable shrimps, the Sinigang na Salmon caught my palate’s fancy.

I suggest you grill the lobster against eating it as it is. This could remove possible unlikely aftertaste.

The Shrimp & Seafood Risotto is also highly recommended that night. The sticky risotto mixes well with the creatures of the sea. 🙂

Rock Lobsters

Thai-style Shrimp Skewers

Salmon & Crabs

Seafood Risotto

You could also have a seafood-break once in a while with other preparations such as Roast Beef, pasta, pizza (which had seafood flavors as well), fruits, and desserts among others.

Roast Beef & Fruits Buffet

My 4-servings of plates excluding dessert

More Seafood...Giant Fried Lapu-Lapu & Tempura

finally... desserts 🙂

Lastly, buffet dining is always better as a group activity. 🙂 It’s always better to indulge with your relatives, friends, or loved ones. It’s something you don’t do alone or just in a pair.

Enjoying Marriott's Seafood Buffet - Ocean's Surf!

Marriott Cafe in Marriott Hotel Manila is open everyday from 6:30am to 11:00 pm. The Ocean’s Surf Seafood Buffet is available Fridays and Saturdays at P1,750 nett (adults) and Php875 (children). Children 12 years and below get in half the price, 6 years old and below get in for free.

For inquiries and reservations on Marriott‘s Ocean’s Surf Seafood Buffet, check out their website at http://mariott.com/mnlap or call (632) 988-999.

The Ayala Triangle Gardens was then just a garden behind the business-heavy Makati Stock Exchange within the Makati Central Business District. But in the recent months, Ayala Land developed it further and now morphed into a leisure park complemented with a line of restaurants and dining places to enjoy – chat with a friend, nourish oneself after a healthy jog, or simply binge to your heart’s content. 🙂

Ayala Triangle Gardens

And indeed, I got the chance to somewhat ‘binge‘ a few weeks ago with friends. This was actually my second time at the Ayala Triangle Gardens. My first was a dinner of authentic Hainanese Chicken Rice at the famous Wee Nam Kee from Singapore. And after that night, I swore to be back and try the other restaurants.

And so it was. This time, I made sure I came earlier, which was in the afternoon.

Banapple

Similar to a famous food blog, dessert comes first. We took it the other way around and first indulged in Banapple. Aside from the usual Banapple Pie, we also had their in-season cake – Banana Starry-berry Custard Cheesecake.

Banapple

BonChon Original Chicken

Next stop was Bon Chon. We got a small order each of the Korean chicken wings in soy garlic (non-spicy) and of course, the ‘Hot & Spicy one. They took care of the latter while I feasted on the former.

BonChon Chicken

A small order of 6pcs. cost P185 while a medium order (12pcs) is P365. They also have drumsticks, chicken combo and chicken chops. In any variant, you’ll love the different crunch of the interestingly-breaded chicken skin.

Pho 24

It’s Vietnamese food, and I am most delighted with the traditional Vietnamese Pho Noodle Soup served to us. Complete with condiments served on the side, it included beansprout (taw-ge) and lemon slices, among others. The soup was both filling and internally refreshing as common in most oriental soup.

PHO 24

If you want to make it more exciting to taste, you can also add some Sriracha Hot Chili sauce by the table side.

* Expect a dedicated blog post on what else we had on each of my Banapple, BonChon, and Pho24 experiences. 🙂

Almost all the restaurants offered an open al fresco dining experience facing the greens of Ayala Triangle Gardens.

MOMO Cafe & CBTL Soon!

Chef Laudico's BFast

Other restaurants include Amici, Cara Mia, Omakase, and Chef Laudico’s Bfast for an all-day breakfast menu. There were some shops which are stilll under construction though. But it won’t be long before we can try Momo Café, my darling Kanin Club, C.B.D., and Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (CBTL).

Golden Spoon

Next on my restaurant list when I come back at the Ayala Triangle Gardens is Golden Spoon for their frozen yogurt delights. I’ll be bringing a ‘golden fork‘ to complete the pair. 🙂

HalfMoon Asian Cafe is known for their, well, half-moon BibingCrepes. BibingCrepes on the other hand is a combination of Filipino delicacy ‘bibingka‘ and western crepes.

Giant BibingCrepe

A few weeks ago, HalfMoon Asian Cafe invited us over to witness their record-breaking gigantic bibingcrepe cooked right at their branch in Timog, Quezon City.

Survivor Bibingcrepe? 🙂

The giant bibingcrepe spanned a huge table a little bigger than a clan’s dining table. It would take at least 6 people with arms wide-stretched to ‘hug‘ the bibincrepe‘s circumference.

The live cooking of the bibingcrepe was broadcast live that same day over GMA’s Unang Hirit morning show.

Yes, we missed the cooking and mixing of their bibingka recipe but we were the consumers that night. The halfmoon giant bibingcrepe had two kinds of spread – chocolate and cheese. I liked the chocolate more  (And here we are again on the Dove chocolate and Toblerone chocolate series). 🙂

Hot Bibingcrepe

Full Moon Bibibngcrepe 🙂

Just like bibingka, you should always have your bibingcrepe served hot and fresh, jst like what I had in HalfMoon Asian Cafe that night. Needless to say, it is matched perfectly with a serving of their hot chocolate for a very chocolaty experience. 🙂 A cup of low-sugar brewed coffee would also do to avoid a sugar-rush.

Bibingcrepe Designs

If you can’t get attention with size, try the cuteness factor. We, the guests, gamely joined a mini-contest later on which is ‘Dressing-Up-Your-Bibingcrepe.’

Aside from the Halfmoon bibingcrepe, we are to squeeze out our creative juices accessorizing it with marshmallows, chocnuts, chocolates sprinkles, cupcakes, cheese cubes, and M&M’s.

HalfMoon Asian Cafe Bloggers

Half Moon Asian Cafe

Of course, ourteam won. 🙂 We didn’t eat it though ‘coz our hands were all over it while decorating ’em. ‘Til the next BibingCrepe experience at HalfMoon Asian Cafe! 🙂