Halo Halo at Razon's

I finally had a chance to try Razon's famous Halo-Halo. Lots of people are talking about this thing, and when a branch opened at SM San Pablo recently, I saw this was the thing most people were ordering. So I thought hmmm... this has got to be good, right? (Image of Halo-Halo from Razon's website.)

Last night me and Ilyn had a chance to go to SM and try this out. And I have to say it lives up to all the hype, It is really one good halo-halo. Probably one of the best I had. I think it's got to do with the simplicity of the ingredients. It's got finely shaved ice, which is something I never had with other versions and it gave a different feel to the tongue. It has leche flan, banana, macapuno and milk. And I think that's it. The combination of those ingredients made for a really nice whole. I really liked it.

That said, halo-halo is kind of idiot proof. I also like Chowking's halo-halo. I also like a lot of other halo-halos that I've tried. I don't remember not liking it anywhere I got it. But I have to admit Razon's does it better than most.

Unfortunately, I've tried other things from their menu from this branch in the past and I've come away underwhelmed.

I tried another one of their famous items, "Pancit Luglug". It tastes just like the local palabok that I can get at our palengke. Probably even better! Their "Lutong Toyo" tastes just like regular adobo. Why even call it Lutong Toyo? I have Kapampangan cookbooks written by Kapampangans and they all call their adobo, adobo.  Ilyn had the Arrozcaldo and didn't like it. She said the hardboiled egg was just overdone. She also didn't like their Bistik. Oh sorry, BISTIG. She says there's something lacking in the taste. I don't know, perhaps things taste better in the original branch.

I'm still willing to give them one more try though. I haven't tried their dinuguan yet, so that's what I'll get next time I'm there.

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???

Samuel's Plate Gastropub, San Pablo City

There's a new restaurant being constructed here in San Pablo near Teacher's Village in San Roque called "Samuel's Plate Gastropub". They're actually constructing a stand alone building for it, and from the way it's looking now, it looks kind of classy.

I can imagine the owners of the place trying to Google the name of their resto and finding themselves here wondering why I'm writing something about something that's not open yet. Your building is giving me high... REALLY high hopes! I hope your food and service are awesome! I hope there's something unique and not just a rehash of the same old pastas and burgers on chopping boards and drinks in hipster mason jars!

I probably won't go there opening day. You know these San Pablo folk... practically the entire population will be there on opening day so it can get kind of crazy. Remember when Pizza Hut first opened at the plaza? They literally ran out of pizza by the afternoon of their opening day. I'll probably go a week or so after opening. Don't disappoint me, Samuel's Plate!

They already have a Facebook page!
https://www.facebook.com/samuelsgastropub.official/

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.

Recipe: Simple Grilled Tuna

It's been a while since I posted a recipe of something I cooked. This time around it's nothing so complicated. I saw a bag of frozen cubed tuna at our local grocery and I thought I'd just grill it. You will just need:

Tuna steak or cubed tuna.
1/2 cup Kikkoman soy sauce
juice from 4 pcs. kalamansi
1 teaspoon sugar
I just had some fresh thyme lying around so I used some.

Thaw the tuna completely. Combine the soy sauce, kalamansi juice, sugar and thyme and let the tuna marinate in it for an hour or so.

Fire up your grill. I used a stove top grill. Make sure your grill is smoking hot. Reduce temp slightly. Grill your tuna, turning often until there are no more pink tuna flesh showing (you might need to break one cube up or slice your steak to see). Cooking time depends on how thick your tuna is. Slicing up the steak slightly would be actually OK so you can baste it with the remaining marinade as you grill. Since the marinade has sugar in it, be careful not to burn the outside too much.

Once done, place on a serving plate. Heat up the remaining marinade and pour over the tuna. You can top that with some fresh thyme for you know.... effect. And taking pictures.

Lucky Finds: Ox & Palm Corned Beef, Landana Cheese

I love going to the grocery. I always say it's kind of therapeutic, but it's more than that. I really enjoy going and seeing all the colorful and interesting things in it. There's something bountifully optimistic about them. That said, if I don't have money it's deeply depressing stepping into one. But when me and Ilyn have a bit of extra cash, we indulge in one of our very few guilty pleasures, and that is food.

A couple of weeks ago we went to Rustan's in Makati to see what new and interesting things we can take home. I love going to Rustan's because it has so much more than what your regular grocery usually offers.

For one, they have an absolutely awesome deli with incredible selections of cheeses and meat. In the old days we would buy things like Roquefort and Brie because they're the famous ones. Roquefort is notorious, being a blue cheese, for it's dark greenish mold all over it. Sounds disgusting? It smells weird and tastes weird, but strangely awesome. Check out this video of me eating Roquefort. To me Brie smells even weirder. Ilyn likes it. I like it too but not often. Because these cheeses are so er... unique and well, rather intense to eat, we don't get to eat it often so it just sits in the ref until it expires. And it's just too bad.

So anyway, when we went to Rustan's we decided to check out other cheeses. There were so many to choose from. Randomly I chose two: Gruyere and Landana Gouda Olives and Tomatoes. I don't know why I chose them, I just did.

That's not the actual cheese package I bought (that's just some random photo I saw online). The one in the deli was a big block and I asked to get just 200 grams, sliced thinly. The gruyere we got as a block because it's a hard cheese and it's usually grated.

Wow, did we luck into these cheeses! We love them both! First the gruyere. It's actually a melting cheese that's put in pasta and soups and can be eaten as a snack. I love eating it as is because it tastes really mild and not overwhelmingly salty. It also works really really well with pasta. It melted right on the pasta without any additional heating and added a really nice taste.  But the Gouda. Oh my God. It smells very slightly weird, but you forget about it as soon as you put it in your mouth. It's mild, and the olives and tomato are just in the perfect proportion to give a slight herby taste. We couldn't get enough of it. We finished all 200 grams in just a few days.

I also did a grilled cheese sandwich combining both gruyere and gouda and Ilyn really enjoyed it!

We loved it so much that when we went to a different Rustan's the past weekend (Marketplace at BGC), we got another 300 grams! At around P170 per 100 grams, I think it's very worth it!

Earlier in this blog I wrote about my favorite Corned Beef. My favorites included brands like Delimondo and Purefoods, both local Philippine brands. I really, REALLY hate to say it, but I found a new favorite in Ox & Palm. I only heard about this brand from a few, well, older people on Facebook, asking if we of the younger generation even heard of this brand. I do vaguely remember it, but I haven't been seeing it on the shelves at all lately.

So when I saw it at Rustan's I knew I had to get one. It was actually kind of expensive at P145 for a 200g can. I think that's twice as expensive as Purefoods. Would it be worth it? You see I love to try different canned corned beef brands. And more often than not I come away disappointed. I don't like brands like Libby's or Target because the meat is shredded a little too fine. I like my corned beef to have some body and heft and still looks like it did come from beef.

When the first spoon of Ox & Palm entered my mouth it was like holy crap this is awesome. It has a slightly intense smoky beefy flavor that was seasoned perfectly right. The beef still had some body to it like the beef had just fallen apart (and not mechanically shredded).  It was amazing. At P145 it's absolutely worth it. Sorry Purefoods and Delimondo! I still love you guys (and will still hang out with you once in a while), but for now Ox & Palm is my beef buddy!

EXTRA!  I'm always on the lookout for new and interesting sodas, or different iterations of common brands. So when I saw this Coca-Cola Life, I just had to try it. They say Coke tastes better when cane sugar is used. I actually couldn't tell the difference taste wise, but drinking this, which is sweetened by both cane sugar and stevia (the new hipster sweetener), it felt softer in the mouth, a bit more subtle.

Anyway, that's it for now. If ever we visit the not so usual grocery again like Rustan's or Makati Supermarket (which is curiously in Alabang), or South Super Market (in Los Baños), I'll make sure to post some of the unique and interesting things we might find.

DISAPPOINTMENTS

Ilyn and I love to eat out, if we can afford it. We're not spendy on a lot of things. We don't have gadgets, we don't have a car and we spend very little on clothes (I think you can notice that if you know us). But we're prepared to spend quite a bit on food and travel.

We like to experiment and try out restaurants at places we've never been. Once in a while we'll try something a bit expensive just to see what the fuss is about.

And because we love to experiment there are times when we come away very disappointed. And sometimes patterns emerge. For instance, in the many times we tried eating at Serendra, we're almost always disappointed. YES. Serendra. First we tried DUO (It's closed now.). The food was just OK. Barely OK. No wonder they're closed. Next time we tried CENTRO and their famous Corned Beef Sinigang. I also tried their caldereta. We didn't like both. Both were fatty. Masebo. That slimy sticky feeling you get on your lips? UGH. They may have invented Corned Beef Sinigang, but Cafe Juanita does it far better. Next we tried MAMOU. I mean, hey, how can you go wrong with MAMOU? Well, I didn't like it. I had the rib eye and there was just something about it that didn't give me the OMG this is some awesome steak feeling as I chew on it and swallow it.  Their side dishes and sauces were just too tasty that it felt like they were competing which could overwhelm my taste buds more. A little subtlety please!!

The last time we ate at Serendra we ate at BALDUCCI and for once I can say we enjoyed ourselves. Good job, Balducci!

If you're in the area, I suggest you just cross the road to Market! Market! and eat at their huge open air food court. Make sure you go and try one of the places that offer "paluto". You'll enjoy yourself far FAR more and you'll spend a quarter of how much you spent just across the road.

Now, Glorietta. Glorietta is 50/50 for us. There are places were we enjoyed like Modern Shanghai, Tony Roma's, and Spaghetti Factory. In the old days we would go as a family to eat at Kenny Rogers and Superbowl of China.  BUT OMG there are places we tried that just disappointed us. MU Noodle at the newly furbished wing of Glorietta post explosion. We didn't even get to try the food. We went in. Sat for 5 minutes trying to get the attention of waiters. Feeling unwanted and ignored, we left. MU Noodle Glorietta YOU SUCK. So we went to SOI. OMG what an experience. Read more about that horror story here.

You know which mall we've yet to be disappointed? CENTRIS, at the corner of EDSA and Quezon Avenue. Now, I actually don't like this mall. I don't like how it looks, I don't like how I feel when I'm there. Parts of it look like a ghost town, specially that area with the bumper cars. But I do have reason to be there because KOMIKET is held at CENTRIS ELEMENTS, just a few steps away. But when it comes to the restaurants, we've never been disappointed yet!

First we tried ASYA. Now the food here was just OK. It wasn't mind blowing. But for some crazy reason, we ordered things like ginataang kuhol, caldereta, some fish and some vegetable dish. That's a lot for just Ilyn and me. AND WE FINISHED ALL OF IT. We were so stuffed. OMG. That's one of the most awesome meals we had. Like I said, the taste wasn't mind blowing, but we just can't stop eating it.

The other day we tried Uncle Cheffy. Wow. I love Uncle Cheffy. I like how they cook their chicken, how they cook their steak and I love their panizza. It's not a unique item to them, but it was at Uncle Cheffy where I first tried it and it was great.

I really REALLY hope we no longer get disappointed in the future because you know, we just want to eat nice food. But I have a feeling that I'm just wishful thinking.