Gastronomy: Sbarro SM City Davao

Chicken Parmigiana

Meat Delight

Meat Lasagna

Spaghetti Meatballs

Stuffed Sausage & Pepperoni

Chicago Deep Dish White

Sbarro finally catered the Italian gastronomical needs of  Davaoeños  last month March 16, 2012 in line with the 75th Araw ng Dabaw celebration. Their store located at SM City Davao is actually a first in Mindanao. Soon enough, I'm pretty sure Sbarro will branch out in the city faster than we can imagine. So what are you waiting for fellows? Experience Italian cuisine that won't tear your pockets open at Sbarro SM Davao beside Classic Savory and Roadhouse Cafe, fronting 360 Degrees Hand Shaked Tea.

Gastronomy: A Treat at Pancake House

Peach Waffle

Hot Roast Chicken Set

Ham Steak Special Set

Junior Master Chef inspired Pork Silog

Pan Chicken Special Set

March 29 2012 was a special day for my sister Mikaela, because she just graduated from elementary. As a treat for her, my parents gave her a new phone and lunch at her restaurant of choice. She wanted to eat at Pancake House because they serve meals inspired by the dishes created by the kiddie cooks of Pinoy Junior Master Chef.

We had Peach Waffle, Hot Roast Chicken Set (Mine), Ham Steak Special Set (Janine’s), JMC inspired Pork Silog (Mikee’s) and Pan Chicken Special Set (Mom’s). We didn’t expect that the Peach Waffle was crispy, because it didn’t look like it in the menu. I enjoyed my meal a lot because I have a thing for roasted chicken, and taco filled with white onions, cheese and lettuce.

I love Pancake House because of their laid-back setting and of course, great grub. I like that they use movie posters as displays for their interiors. The price, place and customer service don’t necessarily put me off, unlike other food spots that offer Western dining menu. For me, it’s not gratifying eating at a joint that’s too intimidating.

Too bad Papa and Miko weren’t able to be with us during this small celebration. Papa went straight to his office right after the graduation ceremony, and Miko was busy with her thesis. Nevertheless, it was still a delightful gastronomical experience. I’m hoping next time no one gets left behind again. Much love, connoisseurs!

Gastronomy: Lunch at Bigby's

Potato Soup

Fisherman's Catch Platter

Wild West Steak Rice Bowl

Raging Hungarian Pasta

Midnight Dream Cake

Photo courtesy of HIMATI. This is not intended for copyright infringement.

We had lunch at Bigby's Cafe & Restaurant (SM City Davao Branch) last Monday (February 20, 2012) after my mother and I attended our school University of the Philippines Mindanao's 17th Foundation Day and Recognition Ceremonies. We were there to support my sister Miko who was one of the students who got recognized for being a part of the Dean's List.

Don't you just love having an intelligent sibling when you're otherwise? Mediocrity is what I get for being a complacent student who breaks her parents' rules more often than not. Kidding aside. I don't want to sell myself short just because I'm not even an honor student. LOL. Did I sound like I'm sour graping?

Anyway, we ordered two Potato Soup (P50 each - $1.2 each), one Fisherman's Catch Food Trip Platter (P575 - $13.4), one Wild West Steak Rice Bowl (P219 - $5.1), one Raging Hungarian Pasta (P225 - $5.25) and two Midnight Dream Cake (P95 each - $2.22 each). Obviously, we got really full so we just brought the pasta and ate it at home instead.

My favorite among all these would have to be the Fisherman's Catch Platter, because I'm a big seafood fan. I love the crispy fried Dory Fish, the grilled shrimp and of course the calamares. The burst of colors in this dish made me so hooked with it. I also like the tall slice of cake because of the rich chocolaty frosting.

My least favorite is the Raging Hungarian Pasta. It was too sour because of the generous amount of tomato sauce. As a Filipino, I'be been used to sweet & sour, and creamy pastas. I could say we made a mistake of choosing it, because I was the only one who ate the majority of this meal. I did it so nothing would go to waste.

That's it for today's Gastronomy episode. 'Til my next food trip moments, my fellow connoisseurs.

Gastronomy: Classic Savory

Image courtesy of Classic Savory Fan Page

My mantra for 2012 is that I am going to be an ULTIMATE FOODIE. Bold and all caps for emphasis. Food never failed to make me happy these days. I love experimenting on new snack ideas and stuff like that. I guess what I'll try to do next is learn how to bake a cake. Hopefully I can make it taste as great as my Mom's. 

To add to my growing passion for food is my boyfriend who just enrolled in a culinary course at The Institute of International Culinary and Hospitality Entrepreneurship (I-CHEF). I'm so happy for him, because he's now beginning to materialize one of his dreams, plus I now have a chef of my own. Aww yeah!

Now in Gastronomy, I'm going to review the home of the original tenderest and juiciest chicken in the Philippines since 1950 -- the Classic Savory (SM Davao branch). My family and I went there last Sunday to celebrate my sister's 19th birthday. This is a blogworthy experience because it's our first try there.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JANINE CASTRO!

Some old photos of the original branch posted on the wall.

I love that they have a partially open kitchen. I hope they make it full someday.

We ordered their famous Savory Whole Chicken, Sate Miki, Beef Stir Fry with Broccoli, Special Turon, Coffee & Cream Delight and some beverage. I really can't get over the taste of their chicken. It tasted so good, I wanna try having the whole serving for myself alone. Here are the food photos I got.

Savory Whole Chicken

Sate Miki

Beef Stir Fry with Broccoli

Special Turon

Coffee & Cream Delight 

Beef Stir Fry and Broccoli is one of their latest additions to their menu. I like it since I'm a big fan of broccoli. The Special Turon is also a winner. To my readers abroad, "turon" is a Pinoy snack dish made of thinly sliced bananas dusted with brown sugar and rolled in spring roll wrapper and fried (Wikipedia, 2012).

Coffee & Cream Delight is made of coffee gelatin cubes and cream. It tasted like a melted mocha ice cream for me. My sister Mikee enjoyed it, but I didn't. Maybe I just expected something better because of the name. It sounded so delicious and sophisticated, at least for me. But all in all, the food was great there!

I also give two thumbs up to their customer service. We were a bit demanding to the waiters because it was already high noon that time, and we were starving when we arrived from church; but still they attended to us courteously with their mega watt smiles. They were so gracious in considering our every favor.

I hope I get to dine there again as soon as possible. I wasn't too satisfied with the amount of savory chicken I ate. I want more, and with more I mean I want a whole of it all for myself. I'm such a greedy food whore, eh? 'Til the next episode of Gastronomy, buddies. I hope you enjoyed reading this entry. Much love!

Sunday Affair

Before I begin, let me just get off the subject a bit. I'm not supposed to blog yet, because my mind and my heart are still not in order. I'm confused, and I feel ill. To tell you the truth, I'm seething since last week. I'm stewing over something, or should I say someone. It was like my reptilian brain kicked in and wanted him to grovel and admit defeat. I'm so peeved through his thick skull.

I already cried it all out, and I felt better after that. Now I can smile and goof around as usual, but I still can't stop thinking about it. Thanks for lending me your ears Janine. You're such a loving sister! I just wish though that we ("opponent" and I) could talk about it productively soon. I am determined to hash out our disagreement and give him a second shot, but he has to EARN it.

I felt giddy with joy because my family did something that made me consign what happened to oblivion even for a day. We celebrated my sister Mikee's 12th birthday last Sunday by going to church together, dining out and shopping. We ate at Roadhouse Cafe at SM City. I've always wanted to bond with my stomach and palate there. Thanks to my mother for granting my unspoken wish.

What I like about Roadhouse Cafe is the eye-popping interior design. It looks very sophisticated because of the finely arranged table settings. I love the paintings and frames of vintage vehicles they have all over the place. This restaurant is elegant enough to make diners think that the menu will cost them a lot. 

Roadhouse Cafe serves scrumptious Filipino and Western cuisine. The items on their menu usually starts at 200php approximately. Another thing that I love about this resto is their accommodating staff. They attend to our every queries and needs without a trace of indifference from their pleasant-looking faces.

I wasn't able to take photos of us, because I got too shy to do so. I just did food photography instead. The following are the dishes that we dug in mercilessly...

CALAMARES

CHICKEN CORDON BLEU

KARE-KARE

SOTANGHON

CHOCO CREPE

THE BIRTHDAY CELEBRANT - MIKEE

We would have their famous steak dishes, except that each one costs 200+php/100 gram. At that time, the least gram they had was 400g. That would definitely cost us too much. We'd rather spend the money on something else. Leaving that aside, the food was delicious especially the Chicken Cordon Bleu and Choco Crepe, but they're not as sinfully delectable as I expected. Their plating is also a little boring. Sure I have high expectations on specialty food spots like this. I could say Mom's Kare-Kare is better than theirs. Gotta love my own, eh?

Roadhouse Cafe is located at G/F, SM City Davao Quimpo Blvd. Ecoland, Davao City, Philippines. 

PS: Speaking of food and restaurants, Bigby's Cafe & Restaurant is celebrating its birthday week this week. Avail of their buffet tickets now

Gastronomy: Food and Friends

My new girl buddies (Jael and Maicie) and I had our sort of "sem-ender activity" last week. I’ve got to know them just months ago, and it felt like our friendship has already existed for such a long time. I can be my bizarre self when I’m with them, and I’m glad that they always make me feel like I belong since I’m new to their group. If not for them, I would have become a loner in my last sem in UP Min. We have so many things in common, and as we mulled over our similarities, we found out that the three of us consider FOOD as our top de-stresser.

We went to Abreeza Ayala Mall, because Maicie insisted. It was her first time there so we gave her a chance to see the much-talked about mall in Davao. LOL! We searched for a nice place to feed our starving stomachs, and decided to dine at Pancake House instead. I ordered their Jumbo House Burger, Maicie had their Blueberry Pancake and Jael tried their Spaghetti Set with Mushroom Soup. There was nothing special with the ambience of the joint, but I honestly think that the Abreeza branch was better than their branches from other malls.

The Jumbo House Burger

It looks small in the photo, but it was really big. I needed help from my girls to gobble this all up. I could say this was one of the best-tasting burgers I’ve had. The cheese, beef patty and bacon were so delicious. I was also very delighted with the generous amount veggies and French fries. Two thumbs up for this dish!

Special Spaghetti Set with Cream of Mushroom Soup

This was Ate Jael’s order. I didn’t like the spaghetti, because it was not that saucy. I loved the sandwich and the mushroom soup though. That’s what friends are for. We have conjugal properties even on food! Haha.

Maicie’s Blueberry Pancake

After Pancake House, we had another food indulgence at my beloved spot… at Zabadani Café. We totally had carbo overload that day, but we didn’t mind it at all. We thought we needed that a lot. I wanted to spoil myself since I've been really beat the whole semester, though I’ve never really tucked myself away from my ultimate stress reliever despite my busy scholastic life. At Zab, we order Grilled Cheese Oreganao (for me), Bubble Milk Tea (for me and ate Jael), Beef Kabsa (for ate Jael), Beef Squares and Mochaccino (for Maicie). Here are our shots…

Ate Jael’s Beef Kabsa.

Maicie’s Beef Squares.

My Grilled Cheese Oregano. I wasn’t able to take another shot of this because the camera ran out of battery. We weren’t able to take photos of our beverages.

Because we love food big time, we came up with an idea of setting up a gastronomic meet every month. We kicked off our plan that day, and our next stop would be at TGIF! It’s time for me to save some moolah (Off topic and weird, but I can imagine myself singing this line like Jessy from New Girl). Before I let out my over excitement on that matter, let me show you the rest of the photos we took.

We couldn’t get enough of Sophia (the little girl from Zab) and Ramadeey’s (the uber adorable Persian cat from Zab) extreme cuteness! Pia was such a sweet kiddo because she loved hugging Ate Jael and brushing my hair. It was like she knew us quite well that she ran straight to us the moment we went in. One thing we noticed with her was that she tend to hit us, and one thing she doesn’t know is that I get so scared with tantrum kids. Maybe she just felt that comfortable with our presence. But nevertheless, she’s still very charming! I hope to see her again next time.