Online Ordering

One lazy Sunday morning I was feeling too lazy to go out or even cook breakfast. A McDonald's breakfast ad flashed on my Twitter with a link to order online and I thought, why the hell not? I haven't been too trusting of the online side of commercial businesses after I got no replies from a few email inquiries I made at company websites. If they can't answer, what more actually fulfilling an online order?

But that Sunday morning I was feeling adventurous so I decided to try it out. I registered with the local McDonald's website and ordered breakfast. I thought well, if it doesn't work out, I'll just eat bread or something in the kitchen. It wasn't a big deal. Not 5 minutes later our phone rang and it was McDonald's confirming our order. I thought wow, that was fast. And roughly 15-20 minutes later our order arrived. It was great! It was such easy, hassle free experience that we ordered from McDo two more times in the next couple of weeks.

Next we tried ordering pizza from Greenwich. Unlike McDo, Greenwich Pizza is a local business so I was a bit wary, not sure what to expect. On their online form, they made it mandatory to ask for a mobile number rather than a landline, which is a bit inconvenient. I hate using a mobile and when they did call some 10 minutes later, I had a hard time talking to them because of the crappy mobile connection. What is weird is that about 10 minutes later they called AGAIN, this time another person confirming our order again. I mean... why? But the pizza did arrive soon enough, so it's all good!

Next we tried ordering pizza from Shakey's. No hassle. This is becoming too easy! By the way, delivery orders from Shakey's come with a free extra pizza and softdrinks. Just too awesome, Shakey's! Thank you.

Now we come to KFC. It's Easter and I thought I'd order a bucket of chicken online. Sent the order at a quarter to 11. Nobody calls. I mean, it's already almost an hour later and nobody's calling. I did get a con (KFC arrives just as I was typing this.)

Let me continue. I did get a confirmation via email that they got the order and are now processing it and I'm asked to wait 30-45 minutes for our order to be delivered. Some 20 or so minutes later, I get a 2nd email saying that their San Pablo branch now has our order and is now processing it and that I'm asked to wait 30-45 minutes for our order to be delivered. The exasperation at this drove me to write this blog entry and as I was writing it, our KFC delivery arrived, an hour after I sent in my online order. It's no big deal. It arrived here. We ate, we had a good time.

So far, no fails in our online ordering adventures! Where to order online next???

Domino's San Pablo City

We were having breakfast today at McDonald's San Pablo, Plaza branch when we saw a big sign for Domino's Pizza opening soon, situated just across McDo, where the old Brownie's Burger used to be. I gotta give it to Domino's for their sheer determination to make it in San Pablo. I remember them opening a branch (and even constructing a building for it) here in town a decade or so ago near Farmacia Linda near the public market. I remember going there and marveling at a huge hand painted map of San Pablo showing their delivery coverage area.

The weird thing about that old branch is that if you wanted to dine in, you had to go out of the building, and bring your pizza up to the second floor via a stairway outside. I remember the pizza not being very nice. I remember it being very limp and a bit soggy. And I didn't like the taste of it. Actually, I hated it. Add to that their prices were in the rather expensive range, it's no wonder they didn't last long. Which is pretty unusual because pizzas are a big thing here in San Pablo. I guess the location is also to blame. Locating their branch near the palengke wasn't probably a good idea because the the people that populate the area wouldn't really be the clientele for their kind of pizza. They also practically had no parking space. This is a lesson Shakey's learned the hard way. Shakey's Pizza also opened a branch near the palengke around the same time. It wasn't as successful as they wanted so they eventually closed shop and moved next to the National Highway where they have ample parking. Now more often than not, they can't handle the amount of people that want to eat there.

So now Dominos' is opening a new branch at the location of one of the first fast food joints in San Pablo. There's parking for maybe 4-5 vehicles and it is along our main road. They could be more successful in this location. Hopefully, their pizza is better. LET US SEE.

Si Christina and their Green Bell Pepper Problem

Let me preface this by saying Si Christina is one of my favorite restaurants here in San Pablo. Here's a nice review of their breakfast. I just find it hysterical that they seem to have a real serious problem with green bell pepper. For the life of me, I just can't understand it.

One of my favorite things to eat there is their pizza. Specially their Pepperoni Pizza. You see, I like my pizza like I like my burgers. No frills, simple and pretty much straight to the point. None of that overloaded crap from some popular pizza places. But I also like green bell peppers in my pizza so I usually ask for it as an additional topping. If that would entail additional cost then that would be OK. I mean, pizza places usually charge something for additional toppings, right? So that's just fine with me. Si Christina's Pepperoni Pizza is really simple and that's the way I like it. Of course, it tastes really really nice too.

The first time I ordered it, it turned out really well. But they seem to have problems with it ever since. When I ordered it again some time later, again asking for green bell pepper as an additional topping, they gave me jalapeño instead. Which isn't too bad because I like jalapeño too. In fairness, jalapeño is a green pepper too so I guess they just didn't hear me right.

When I ordered it again the other day, I made sure I articulated "GREEN.BELL.PEPPER." clearly and slowly and several times so they won't mistake my request for anything else. When the pizza arrived, no green bell pepper but they put some hair like reddish things which made me scratch my head. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be RED bell pepper.

I mean, look at it. Two problems: One, I don't understand why they simply can't give me green bell peppers. This is TWICE now. How hard is it to source it? The market nearby and the grocery at the malls in town are stocked with it. Two, how expensive is bell pepper that they have to slice it so thinly that I can hardly see it? I mean how much is ONE bell pepper? Why can't they have thicker slices?

Lest I may seem to be talking behind their back, let me just tell you that I ALREADY sent feedback to them earlier after the jalapeño incident. I suggested that their servers listen carefully to what their customers ask for to prevent confusion. They responded positively to it so I thought that was that. And then THIS. I don't think GREEN sounds anything like RED, does it? Oh well....

You know, I still like their pizza so from now on, I guess I'll just order it out, buy my own green bell pepper and add it at home.

I still love you, Si Christina!

Breakfast at Si Christina, San Pablo City

Si Christina, located near the plaza in the center of San Pablo City, is one of our favorite breakfast places. They normally open at 7 in the morning, but for the Christmas season, they open at 8am so they can close at a later time in the evening. We like it there because of their numerous breakfast options that are both good and remarkably inexpensive.

The breakfast option I chose was their "Chicken Longganisa" (P89), which includes 2 pieces of chicken longganisa (the long light colored sausage in the photo above), 1 egg, fried rice and a choice between brewed coffee and iced tea. At 89 pesos that's crazy cheap.

You have the option to order other sausages as extras. I ordered 2 pieces of "Spiced Sausage" (P16 per piece), 1 pc "Sweet Longganisa" (P20 per piece) and an order of "Breakfast Sausage" (2 pieces for P45).

My total for everything was P189. I really liked the taste of all the sausages. The first time I tried the breakfast sausage (round patty shaped) I didn't like it too much because it seemed too dry, but this time around it was rather juicy. I really liked it because it comes close to the taste of a Lucban Longganisa. Ilyn didn't like it too much, but I did.

As a restaurant, Si Christina is one of our go to places here in San Pablo. When we have out of town guests, this is one of the places we choose to bring them. However, I do have to say that although their menu selection is quite numerous (menu not available online), most of them are just OK for me. Their burgers are just OK, their burritos are just OK, their pasta dishes are just OK. But they do have a few items that are pretty good including their bbq ribs (just incredibly good). I also really like their Pepperoni Pizza, which goes well with a bottle of Stella Artois (not on their menu but they have it if you ask). A recent favorite is their trio of American, UK and Japanese sliders.

Their true specialty are their cakes and sans rival, which are simply some of the best I've ever tasted. Try any of their cheesecakes (my favorite is the Speculoos Cheescake) and I guarantee you won't be disappointed. Their Chocolate Truffle cake is also quite amazing. I also love their brownies which they serve warm, which makes the chocolate bits in them slightly melted.

The wait staff is friendly and attentive and the place itself is quite cozy because of the decor and lighting. It's just a really nice place to hang out.

Recommended! Try them out if you're in town.

Pizza from Scratch!

I love pizza! Since meatless pizza alternatives here in San Pablo just don't do it for me* (Greenwich's Garden Fresh Pizza comes close), I oftentimes just make my own.

Previously, I would just buy ready made frozen crust and ready made packaged pizza sauce from the grocery to make them, but this time I thought I'd do one from scratch.

Since I'm not smart enough to invent something like this, I did what any sensible person would do, look for recipes on the Internet!

I found these two recipes from Foodwishes.blogspot.com. The first recipe is for the pizza sauce:

Pizza Sauce Recipe
http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2012/02/pizza-sauce-lets-play-hide-little-fish.html

I gotta say, this sauce turned out fantastic! In fact, it's amazing. I wasn't able to find any of the specified canned tomato (San Marzano), but I was able to find another brand, also imported from Italy that surprisingly wasn't so expensive.

I'm NEVER buying ready made pizza sauce (or even spaghetti sauce) again!

For the dough:

California Pizza Dough
http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2009/07/wolfgang-pucks-famous-california-pizza.html

Making the dough was pretty tricky so I had to follow the instructions very carefully.

The dough I made wasn't as good looking as what was in the recipe, but it worked fine anyway.

It is here I started to add my own thing. I added my own favorite toppings (chopped red and green bell peppers and mushrooms) and my favorite cheeses.

I also cooked the pizza longer than what's in the recipe because the bottom wasn't toasting as much as the one in the recipe in the time that was specified. Perhaps it's just my oven. I ended up cooking it twice as long.

It turned out pretty good! I can now make real pizza!

*I am not a vegetarian, but for health reasons I decided to cut down on my meat by 90%.