Best Meal of The Week

If you’re like me and you just LOVE Chinese food, I highly recommend the following restaurants in no particular order:

• Mongkok (you can read my review of the resto here)
• HapChan
• Gloria Maris
• Super Bowl of China

Best meal of the week came from Super Bowl of China. :)

My family and I first ate together at Super Bowl of China just last week before seeing the “It’s Complicated: A Valentine Concert in July” by Jose Mari Chan and The Company (wonderful concert by the way) at the SMX Convention Center. I’d always gone to this resto with other friends but never with my parents.

My dad brought home some food from Super Bowl of China last night. Imagine my delight. He got us the following:

(pictures taken from Super Bowl of China website)

Yang Chow Fried Rice

Eggplant with Minced Pork Hot and Spicy

Steamed Fish Fillet with Garlic

Deep Fried Cuttlefish with Spicy Salt

You guys reading this, I’m telling you. The combination of these dishes, it was like an orgasm in my mouth. And you know what? We ate these unheated. And it’s been sitting in our kitchen table for at least 2 hours before we ate it. Add to that maybe an hour for traveling from the SM Mall of Asia to our home. It was THAT good.

By the way, if you order food for dining in or to go, you get a pair of coupons that you can use on your next visit. I don’t know how long this promo goes on but we’ve gotten it twice and the it’s the same pair. You get a coupon for free Yang Chow fried rice for a minimum order of P750 on your next visit. You also get another coupon for P200 off your next delivery bill for a minimum order of P1000. Fabulous marketing strategy, I must say. :)

Turning Mexican…

Entitled as such only because I’ve been craving burritos and quesadillas for the last few days.

I finally found my new favorite Mexican food place. It’s Army/Navy Burgers & Burritos over at Glorietta 5.

Well, obviously, they serve burgers and burritos. Oh and onion rings. And fries. And quesadillas. Yum-my!

Last night, I had dinner with my cousin and Kris, my best friend’s brother-in-law, to talk about, guess what, life insurance. I really am growing up if conversations over dinner include life insurance.

Anyway, I was planning to get on some life insurance only because I really need to be forced to save money instead of splurging it on, say, an iPhone or a Blackberry (leaning towards an iPhone, by the way, because I realized I wouldn’t be forced to go into an unlimited surfing plan – unlike the Berry. Or so I think). And I thought it would be a great idea for my cousin, who’s a single mom, to get something just in order for her to be forced to save.

While she and Kris talked, I wolfed down my Steak Burrito and onion rings. Man, those were great. I tried my cousin’s chicken quesadillas and they tasted great too. The Libertea iced tea was as good as they said.

I have to say I really enjoyed the food there…now, how to convince the parents that it’s a good enough place for Sunday lunch? 

 

 

Bo’s Coffee: My New Favorite Coffee Shop

I like my coffee. I like my tea. I’m such a regular at Starbucks Jupiter that most of them know what coffee I like and I don’t even need to say what I want. I just go “Just the usual, please” and they know how to make my perfect cup of coffee.

But this post isn’t about Starbucks.

Bo’s Coffee at Glorietta 5 offers a wide selection of coffee AND tea. Yes, of course, as they should since it IS a coffee house. Like all other coffee shops, they offer desserts and free wi-fi and some branches are open 24 hours a day.

While I can’t make a comment about their coffee (I’ve been drinking tea during the two times I’ve been there), I’ll just comment on everything else.

What I like about Bo’s is that they are environment friendly. My experience with Starbucks is even if I say that I’ll be taking my coffee in the coffee shop, they still serve my coffee in a paper cup. Bo’s serve it in a giant mug, which I think, enriches the coffee experience. After all, who really wants to drink from a paper cup instead of a mug?

They also offer an All Day Breakfast with choices of ham and eggs and bacon and sausages. Choices of meals come with a mug of coffee, of course.

And since I haven’t seen it from other coffee houses, I thought that putting ground coffee beans in ashtrays were brilliant. It does help in reducing the smell of the cigarette butts.

I like that Bo’s isn’t as crowded as Starbucks or Figaro’s. I like that they’re low-key and quiet.

I’d love to bring my laptop there and just work.

 

Mongkok: Our New Fave Chinese Resto

My parents and I recently discovered Mongkok, this Chinese restaurant located in Glorietta 5.

My dad has been eyeing this place ever since he spotted it from across Starbucks in Glorietta 4. He said it kind of made him think about food from Hongkong. Take note, this was probably about 3 – 6 months ago.

Fast forward to last Sunday, July 25. Our first time to eat in this place. And just yesterday, August 1, we ate here again. And I surmise that if we were to watch another movie at Glorietta 4, this is where we will be eating next Sunday. Yes, we’re boring that way.

I’ve no yummy looking pictures to show not because I’m too lazy but because I’m a little stupid when it comes to transferring pictures from my Nokia 6120c to my Compaq laptop (I’m not endorsing anything, but yes, I like these brands and that’s why I have things from these brands).

But allow me to tell you that I enjoy their food while my parents both enjoy the food and the affordability it has.

Let’s see…On our first visit, we had:

• Yangchow fried rice
• Pork spare ribs
• Seafood something (no, it’s not named “seafood something”, I just forgot the name).
• Bottomless sjora for my dad
• bottomless iced tea for me
• jasmine tea
• a bunch of steamed asparagus

All for the low price of less than P900 pesos. My dad was probably too happy and too surprised about the price that he gave the waiter a P100 tip (on a side note, this is one of the things I love about my dad. He’s a relatively great tipper). And this specific waiter was also probably happy to see us yesterday too as he was constantly checking up on us.

So on our second visit, we had:

• jasmine tea
• bottomless iced tea
• steamed ampalaya (bitter melons) with garlic (surprisingly, being a hater of ampalaya, i really liked it)
• beef something (had a really sweet sauce…went great with Yangchow)
• Yangchow fried rice
• broccoli flowers and shrimp (generous helping of shrimps, by the way)
• 4 pieces of big fried dumplings

And our bill? P810, including VAT. No, nothing was missing on the bill. Mom gave our waiter another generous tip.

My parents commented on the freshness and quality of the food. I would have to agree that it really tasted good. In time, this will probably give North Park a run for their money. We’ll probably get some pancit next time.

So, if anyone out there would be interested to try out Mongkok, please do. Please make sure to bring family or friends, or eat alone, I don’t really care. If you’re in the mood for some good Chinese food, it’s the place you have to be.