Manila Bay Sunset

The Filipinos are proud of the Manila Bay sunset. And for good reason. Check out these photos:

La Cocina de Tita Moning

http://www.lacocinadetitamoning.com/
315 San Rafael St., San Miguel
Telephone: (63 2) 734-2141, (63 2) 734-2146, 0917-5383490

This is a truly spectacular dining experience. And really, I usually try to keep the superlatives away, but this is one of the finest Manila dining experience. Okay, so you cough up at least 1.5k per pop, but you get quite a lot out of it: an al fresco start of baked queso de bola, a tour of the house that brings out the illustrado-wannabe in you (gawk enviously at the Lunas and Hidalgos), and dining on turn-of-the-century, homemade cooking served on the plates the Montinolas and Legardas ate on. It feels so authentic you start looking for Dona Victorina and craving for tinola. No tinola, though. But I will not complain about the paella and the bread pudding. Memorable. Delectable. At kung ano ano pang ble.

I loved the washroom and the adjoining bedroom. Of course, your friend with the third eye will tell you that you weren't alone there. Which is part of the charm, isnt' it?

Reserevations required. Check out the website for menu and photos.

Healthy Shabu Shabu

Mall of Asia
The Podium

Healthy Shabu Shabu is God's gift to low-carb eaters. If you steer clear of the noodles, the corn, the fish and squid balls, and the taro, then you can get stuffed with some healthy protein options.

Healthy Shabu Shabu distinguishes itself from first generation shabu shabu restaurants with the first word of its name. The first health factor is that this is not a glutton's all-you-can-eat dream/nightmare. The servings are generous enough for family style sharing, but you get to control yourself by ordering ala carte. The price per order is a great control factor. It also does not offer a butter saute option like other shabu shabu restos do.

The best thing is that you start off with the raw materials sans marinades and sauces so you know you are not getting hidden sugars and starches. Of course, everything looks and tastes fresh and that's part of what makes it healthy. Make sure you load up on the healthy carbs from veggies. The second best thing is the individual hot pots which make it possible for you to flavor your broth as hot or as bland as you want it to be.

The drawback to most shabu shabu restaurants is the free take home smell of the kitchen that you take with you to your next mall stop. The resto at MOA has good enough ventilation that you are spared from that. Or maybe we were just too happy with our meal to care.

Oh, dining here may be healthy for your body, but not for your budget. This will set you back at least 600 pesos per person. The free dessert might make you feel better though.

Solomon's Guest House

1025 C. Ayala St. corner Arellano St., Malate, Manila (near De La Salle - CSB Angelo King Building)

My friend Alvin told me about this resto, where College of St. Benilde Hotel and Restaurant students take their practicum. When I googled it, I was led to Awesome Planet's site where I found not just a review of the place but a heatedexchange of comments. Some students did not understand the concept of constructive criticism.

A few weeks back, I was at DLSU-Manila and so I decided to give this controversial place a try. I took a semi-long, mega-sunny, ultra-hot walk to the place. 3 pedestrian directions, a nice glowing tan, and 8.25 gallons of sweat later, I, Mc-steaming, got there. I was never that happy for the invention of air-conditioning.

Big tables are squeezed into a cozy room and the place seemed to be packed. I was afraid that since I was dining alone, they'd ask me to move to the outdoor tables. The al fresco option had zero appeal to me. I was so glad they let me have one of the big round tables inside.

I heard that the resto theme changes every year, and this year's batch 14 was offering international cuisine, which is a fancy and quite misleading way of saying that they don't really have a theme.

The Mushroom and Asparagus Soup (P40) was delicious in a Campbellesque kind of way. But I had no issues with that. Campbell soup is comfort food for me. The asparagus flavor was too subtle though for my tastebuds to capture it, if it's there at all. I was sipping my soup leisurely because I really wanted to stay in that airconditioned oasis for a long time before I stepped out into the Sahara again. But the server (a student doing practicum) seemed to be in a rush to serve the food and she served the entree even before I was halfway through my soup. That was a bummer because that meant my main dish was cooling down before I was ready to eat it.

The Roast Beef in Mushroom Sauce at P95 was well-priced. And the price was the only thing going for it. Because it was tough and chewy, and I couldn't believe that was sirloin. Sure, the price was on the low side, but I've tried good, tender local sirloin before.

The other sour note to my Solomon dining experience was the kitchen noise. The kitchen was partially open, and over the usual cooking and chopping noises, the students were also very noisy carousing and joking around. Not pleasant.

The only saving grace is the Tiramisu (P65). Though this was not the best I've had and I had to follow up before it was served, I found it was pretty good.

I understand that this is ran by chefs in training so maybe we have to give them a little latitude. But I'll wait for batch 15 before I come back.

Summary: Long hot walk, cozy place, a menu with no personality, amateurish service, low prices, tough meat, and a dessert to save the day.

Hooters

Building D, San Miguel by the Bay, Mall of Asia

I've been egging hubbalicious to take me to Hooters. I have fond memories of their chicken wings that I had in the US. Finally, one night after picking me up from DLSU, he took me there.

A lot of good things going for the place. Ample parking space on a weeknight. Spacious restaurant; and we got a booth. Pretty fast service. And the addictively delicious Fried Pickles (P200). The onion dip that goes with it was also good.

Of course, we had to have the wings. (P800 for 20 pcs.) My husband has tried the flavor categorized as hot, and he said it wasn't hot at all, so we ordered the hottest, the 911. Good tasting wings. Hot and spicy, but not too hot to handle. In fact, the first bite wasn't hot at all, but as you have more and more wings, the insides of your mouth just start feeling the bite. I can't remember if they matched the US version, but I thought they were pretty good. The only turn off was that the blue cheese dip and celery sticks (P95) were not part of the price, had to be ordered separately, and were not extraordinarily good.

The resto's major weakness is the presentation of food; very poor. The wings were served in ugly brown plastic plates that did nothing to make the wings look good. The oysters (P295 for 6 sorry pieces) looked sad and lost in a huge platter of ice, and tasted even sadder.

I wish I could say that the feminist in me was upset about the objectification of women by having scantily clad servers. But I have students who go to school with much less cloth on them. So, I just shut up and enjoyed my wings.

Shawarma Snack Center

Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Location: Salas St., Ermita, Manila

This is a default stop when we're in Manila and we're too lazy to think of a restaurant. The food is good, and that's really the bottom line criteria. Because all other aspects, except for the reasonable price, might not make the grade.

To get there, you have to bring my friend Tisha with you, because I can never figure out the one-way streets. There is chancy street parking, and there is a walled parking area close by, neither of them make you feel 100% secure. The street, even when it's summer is always awash with puddles; let's not even imagine what's in the water. Just lift your jeans a little to keep the hems dry.

They have 2 restaurants, the original one is shabby, not quite chic, carinderiaesque, which I prefer for the authentic feel. The newer version across the street is resplendent in fluorescent lighting, has clean white tiles as floors, offers hooka pipes, and has a TV that shows middle-eastern entertainment - gorgeous women with kilometer long eyelashes and undulating bodies.

But I really should talk about the food. I cannot claim that this is the best shawarma in town, but it's surely in the top 5. And it's value for your money too. The regular goes for 55 pesos, and the special for 75. Sometimes, though, I find the pita bread too thick.

In the carinderia line-up are kalderos of interesting, scrumptious dishes. My favorite, which goes out of stock often, is ox brain. I feel fearless and adventure eating it, but the taste is not exotic at all - a softer, more lemony bopis. They serve good chicken tikka, kebobs, hummus (75 pesos), moutabal (75 p), and taboule as well. There's all you can eat yogurt garlic for free. Plus delicious tea. There are some vegetarian options as well, but who cares? ;)

I will never get tired of this restaurant.