Burgers & Brewskies – Estancia Mall, Capitol Commons

Burgers & Brewskies hosted the Comedy Manila show last Saturday. We arrived early to concentrate on B&B’s food and drinks before we giving our undivided attention to the comedians. :)

Miko had the Walk of Shame (340php) that has 1/3lb beef pattie with spiced mustard aioli, cheese sauce, egg in a whole wheat bun, crispy bacon, crispy potato hay, and lemonnaise.

I had another bestseller- Call The Nurse (280php). Also made with 1/3lb beef pattie, and has spiced mustar aioli, cheese sauce, seared mac n cheese, and honey sriracha bacon. I was hesitant to order this because I didn’t think the mac n cheese would work with the rest of the burger, but it had me with honey sriracha bacon. Just for that ingredient, my burger was better than Miko’s. :p Lamang lang siya kasi may crispy patatas siya on the side. Hehe.

If you don’t wanna eat beef, you can opt for their other patties made with chicken, fish, or red lentils. For sides, the choices are potato wedges, onion rings, sweet potato fries, grilled corn, nachos, fries, fish poppers, and salad.

We skipped the sides and got a plate of Buffalo Wings with Bleu Cheese Sauce (220php) instead. Wings also come in other flavors like Honey Garlic, Sesame Sriracha, and Angry Korean (I’m guessing this is ultra spicy kimchi).

They have dozens of brewskies to choose from. We had Stella Artois, Cucumber Mojito,

Jack Coke, and Blue Moon that night. The cost of beer ranges from 120-440php per mug/bottle, cocktails from 140-240php per glass. They have the usual hard stuff like vodka, tequila, and gin, but what’s notable is that they have Japanese Whisky. Pero next time na ‘yan. :p

The Comedy Manila show was hosted by GB Labrador (also had a set… di ko akalaing komedyante rin pala siya. Magaling, magaling!), and the performers were Micah Andres, Nonong Ballilan, and Alex Calleja.

Sumakit toyan naming sa busog at sa kakatawa. You should experience it too! watch out for Comedy Manila in B&B. I heard they will be taking the stage every Thursday of this month. :)

Burgers and Brewskies
Ground Floor, Estancia Mall,
Capitol Commons, Oranbo, Pasig City
02 5315632

// listening to some shitty song from the Fifty Shades of Grey OST

Lazy Bastard – Bel-Air, Makati

Saw that neon wall décor online (Instagram or Facebook feed, I don’t remember…)and I told myself, I just gotta eat at Lazy Bastard. Bacon pala ha!

We looked for it in Jupiter St. one Sunday afternoon and saw that it’s just near the Japanese bakeshop Yamato and the ramen place Mitsuyado Seimen.

Pretty straightforward sign, huh? It’s kindly hard not to be awesome if the star of your dishes is bacon.

Their menu is written on the chalkboard, but I don’t know what bad thing I did to my camera’s settings so I don’t have a good picture of it. Booooo. Anyway, they have burgers and hotdogs and breakfast food and sides like fries, potato tots, and onion rings.

They also have a speakeasy called ABV or alcohol by volume which opens at 8pm. Too bad we got in 3 hours early. :\

While waiting for our food to arrive, we were given some kimchi to taste. I usually turn green at the sight of kimchi, but when we were told that it has bacon (or was it cooked in bacon grease?), I immediately forgot my hatred for it and chowed. Sarap! Oh bacon, you can do me no wrong.

We got a Bacon Cheeseburger (220php) with egg (30php) and jalapenos (30php) and a Chili Dog.

The burger’s nothing fancy, just a huge great-tasting patty (made from 100% ground chuck) with nicely melted cheddar cheese, thick damn delicious bacon, and veggies. The only thing that we think needs to improve is the bun. Too soft for all the scrumptious goodies it holds.

The dog was very good- salty and meaty. The chili had an inviting smell, taste and texture. It’s not as spicy as I would have wanted, but next time I will just add jalapenos.

Had some Onion Rings (100php) and Tater Tots (100php) which were okay. I liked both with kimchi. Hehehe. :D

Lazy Bastard did not disappoint. May they serve milkshakes soon to add to their awesomeness. :D

Lazy Bastard
Basement Floor, 22 Jupiter Corner Galaxy Street,
Bel-Air, Makati City
+63 9178127020, 02 8325330

// listening to Neil Diamond – Sweet Caroline

Balinsasayaw Bed and Brunch – Tagaytay

Almost all of the good hotels were booked on the weekend we went to Tagaytay. The available ones were toooooo pricey. Yung tipong, kesa ipambayad ng hotel, ipangbili na lang naming ng plane tickets. :p

We tried to look for accomodations that google didn’t show on the search results. We went to the side that’s on the way to Nasugbu, because we also had plans to go to Caleruega. We chanced upon the newly opened Balinsasayaw Bed and Brunch.

Ain’t it pretty? I love the glass walls!

One of the staff, Georgia, showed us the available rooms. The first room she showed us (I didn’t take photos) was located on the ground floor. It’s pretty spacious and nicely decorated, but no view of the Taal Lake. the room is priced at 3,500php.

The room that we liked and got (4,400php) is located at the 2nd floor with an awesome view of the lake.

Hello there, Taal!

Bagay pa ‘yung outfit ko sa furniture.

O di’ba? Terno kami! Hahaha!

The bathroom’s not so big. They use Watson products.

There’s no tub, but there’s a hot and cold shower.

This is the living room.

Here’s the kitchen.

The pool.

Ang gandaaaa! Parang nakakalula lang mag-swimming dito! And with the super chilly weather two Saturdays ago, even if we brought swimwear, I don’t think we would have braved the waters. :p

After paying, we left our home for the weekend and went to Bag of Beans for snacks, then to Spa On The Go to get some massage. Sports for him, Swedish for me. Mer-Ben Tapsilogan for their extra special bulalo. But of course, we didn’t leave Balinsasayaw Bed and Brunch without getting a photo with the famed volcano in our background. :)

We got back around midnight and we had problems opening the door. Nag-loose thread daw. The caretaker was able to fix it naman in a matter of minutes. :) We woke up early the following day, excited for our brunch!

They serve breakfast as early as 8am. There was no telephone in the room and I think I got the wrong number of the staff, so I went down to the reception area at their pavilion to order.

Their dining area at the pavilion looks terrific, but I wanted to eat at the humongous table at the dining area on our floor.

The brunch comes free with the cost of the room. If you want extra, just pay around 200php per breakfast plate. That comes with coffee or hot chocolate.

I haven’t been in Balinsasayaw Restaurant yet. It’s been around for quite a few years. I heard the food there is great, so I expected our brekky to be great as well. :D Well, the hot chocolate or batirol was thick and fantastic.

The kapeng barako was quite strong. Stronger than the one I had in Bag of Beans.

Miko had the Hungarian sausage plate with scrambled eggs. Sarap nung sausage! Spicy!

I had the bacon plate. Sarap rin nung bacon! Thick slices and well-salted.

Shempre bitin sa bacon, so we got more bacon with pancakes. The pancakes tasted good, but they’re not fluffy.

There’s something about putting lemon slices in cold water that I really, really like. :)

After breakfast, we lounged around the house and took more photos. Here’s Miko na umaala kate Winslet sa Titanic. Hehe.

And here’s me with my favorite art piece in the house as my background.

We were set to leave at 12noon.

Oh wait! Did you know that a balinsasayaw is a bird? It’s edible-nest swiftlet in English! You know, yung gumagawa ng nest na ginagawa sa Nido soup! :D

And did you know that Balinsasayaw is owned by the Binays daw? I wonder how true that is.

Anyway… Before we left, we went down to the garden to check the view of Taal from that area. Hopefully, in a couple of months, they will have more flowers by the time we come back.

Hope to see you again, Balinsasayaw Bed and Brunch!

Balinsasayaw Bed and Brunch
Aguinaldo Highway, Alfonso, Tagaytay City
0999-4965683

// listening to Scandal – S04E15

Little Asia – Venice Piazza, Taguig

Little Asia is Miko’s family’s favorite restaurant. Miko was brokenhearted when the Quezon City branch closed. As in lagi niya kinukwento at binibida sa akin ‘yung mga pagkain, lalo na ýung may mga bacon. We only found out recently that there’s still one in Taguig!

We went there as soon as we can to eat all the dishes that he’s been craving for almost two years and for me to understand why the Alfonsos love Little Asia so much.

We got the Hot and Sour Soup (155php). Well, this one’s my favorite, not his. :p It has shiitake mushrooms, shredded pork, black fungus, and tofu. All these noms in a nice smooth blend of black vinegar and chili broth.

And in this picture, there are two of my favorites I can see. Nyahahaha. :x Anyway, moving on… :p

I was torn between getting the Mandarin Orange Chicken and this Chinese food staple. No regrets getting the Salt and Pepper Fried Squid (275php). Its tempura-like batter was light. The squid wasn’t rubbery, and had the right levels of salt and pepper, may kick pa ng chilis. I barely touched the vinegar that was served with it, kasi sakto na ýung timpla talaga.

I also liked the Vietnamese Milk Drink (115php) with gulaman and sago. Drink and dessert in one! :D

And here are Miko’s favorites, starting with Prawns Wrapped in Bacon (355php). Ahhhh… glorious! Even the home-made potato chips was good! If you don’t like prawns, you can choose fish fillet or chicken wrapped in bacon.

The Lengua in Mushroom White Sauce (345php) was superb– tender and savory. You can also opt to have the braised ox tongue in white sauce and white wine. They call it the Drunken Lengua in Brown Sauce.

This is my favorite among the dishes from our very light (haha) dinner– the Beef Tenderloin Rolls with Cheese in Teriyaki Sauce (345php). Liked the sauce so much that I used it as the dip for the bacon-wrapped prawns. Sinabaw ko pa sa rice. :D

The Yang Chow Fried Rice (265php) has a lot of pork asado bits, green peas, lettuce, chicken, leeks, carrots, and eggs. Truly a good match to all the other dishes.

The Mango Sago (125php) was a light, refreshing meal-ender. Swabe yung coconut milk na kasama. I also want to try the Crepe Samurai! May mangga rin ‘yun!

Other dishes I would like to order next time are Martin Yan’s Velvet Prawns With Caramelized Nuts, Spicy Hunan Chicken, Lamb Tenderloin Butteryaki, and Pineapple Chicken. I will also have wine or cocktails next time. Ang daming choices sa menu!

Little Asia lets its guests have a sumptuous feast without the outrageous cost. We loved the service. The staff was very attentive and friendly. One of them told us that the resto will be relaunched and renamed to Bistro Charlemagne (named after the owner), but and we should be back because they will retain the favorites and there will be new items on the menu.

I now understand why this is my lovey and his family’s favorite. No surprise if it will be on my list of favorites too. :)

Little Asia
Unit 109-110 The Venice Piazza,
McKinley Hill, Taguig
(02) 798-0354
Mon – Sun: 11:00AM – 11:00PM

// listening to Sheppard – Geronimo

Kanto and Kid in Kapitolyo

After the almost two-hour drive from Pansol to Manila, we went to Kapitolyo for some comfort food. And to us, breakfast food = comfort food.

It’s Miko’s first time to eat at Kanto Freestyle Breakfast. It’s my first time to eat at their Kapitolyo branch. The branch I frequent is the one in Mandaluyong. :)

Miko had New Zealand Beef Tapa (110php, sarap ng timpla… kinda sweet) and I had Spanish Sardines Tempura (95php, my favorite… sardinas sossified). Both come with garlic rice, eggs, and tomato with pesto.

Add a side of perfectly crispy bacon. Uhhhm ummmm ummmmm! Just 25php per strip. :)

Tried two (relatively) new dishes– the Ube White Chocolate Ganache Pancake (95php) and Toasted Ensaymada, Spanish Bread, and Pan de Regla with Creme Anglaise (75php). I’m not an ube lover, but I liked it. And the crème anglaise of the 3 panaderia picks was yummy.

After our heavy breakfast merienda, we went to our other Kapitolyo favorite– Kitchen Diaries, which is just next door.

We had coffee and tea. And took home a bagful of freshly-baked goodies!

My favorites! Cupcakes with perfect frosting, Red Velvet Cream Cheese Crinkles (best crinkles in Manila, I tell you), chocolate chip cookies, and oatmeal crisps. Not really sure about the names of the last two, but I’m sure that parehong masarap. :P

Make it a point to visit Kitchen Diaries and Kanto Freestyle Breakfast when you are in Kapitolyo! ;)

// listening to Dean Martin – That’s Amore