Restos in Angeles City: VFW, C’ Italian Dining & 19 Copung Copung
Most recently, a foreign friend bent on staying for a time in the Philippines asked me for recommendations about places to go and the cost of living in the country. “Anywhere I should avoid? Like Angels City? I mean those places where sex tourist and ’sexpats’ gather. Don’t want to end up somewhere like Thailand’s Pattaya. ”
I presume Angeles City has such a rep among the males by virtue of word of mouth and what they read in the forums. I was here this week and the trusty pedicab I rode in drove through the city’s (in)famous bar strip in Fields Avenue where some joints were indeed open 24/7.
However, it’s an unfair accusation to just associate Angeles City with ‘ affordable girls’ and sleazy entertainment. I really like the food here…and I don’t mean the carnal kind 
The place was after all one of the sites of our forget-your-diet, ultimate food trip way back in ‘06.
This time around, I made sure to try the much-acclaimed C’ Italian Dining along Don Juico Avenue (also known as the Friendship Highway.) My first attempt to visit this resto during Christmas ‘07 was a failure because the place was closed. And my first impression now was that it looked like an enoteca due to the bar with all those bottles of wine that greeted guests upon entering. And of course those plates on the wall signed by satisfied guests.
Korean cooking chronicles: it’s not only kimchi
Can’t remember when Korean food overtook Japanese as my favorite Asian cuisine, but I do crave for it now more than the other. There are a lot of Korean restaurants in Manila, but the problem is I always find it hard to tag along my friends there. You see, everybody likes dimsum but not everyone acquires the taste for kimchi. Moreover, the average you can spend for a meal by your lonesome in a Korean resto is P300 – quite expensive for an office worker, tee hee. So I guessed the next best thing was to figure out how to cook their cuisine.
The first sensible thing to do is to visit the Korean grocery. Most of the ingredients just can’t be found anywhere. Am lucky that I work in the tourist district of Ermita because there are a lot of stores here. I found out too that there are a lot of quality shops in Paranaque, but that’s for another post:D
Easily, the most common perception is that Korean food is uber-spicy – which is true in some aspects. But the popular bulgogi certainly is not. And so is this luscious piece of steak which is my own version of beef kalbi (or galbi). The beef ribs that was supposed to be used for this dish was at an astronomical P800 per kilo, so I substituted with T-bone steak instead. The meat was marinated overnight in cooking wine and other ingredients, then topped with crushed Korean pear for greater tenderness and flavor. The result was a T-bone Kalbi that was bordering on deliciously salty and sweet. It definitely made our Sunday lunch a mouth-watering one!
Kimchi chigae is another popular Korean dish. I even like the one where they put slices of Spam in it. This one I made uses canned tuna, and the oil or brine is even added to the soup to give it even more flavor. For this dish, you need kimchi (of course), slices of soft tofu, the broth from the kimchi, red pepper powder and several more slices of pepper. When you want an alternative to healthy eating, this is it. Caution: uber-hot!!!!
Brothers Burgers flashback rollback promo
How carnivorous are we? Today’s the day when Brothers Burgers lowers the prices of some of its prime beef patties on a bun, and we’re in! This is part of their 10th year anniversary celebration. Under their Flashback Rollback promo, the Brothers Pounder and the Big Brothers Burger revert to their 1999 prices. This means the Pounder will be sold at P135 (from the present P250) and the BBB at P85 (from P175). This yummy deal happens today, June 23, only, so we’re making sure we’re having them burgers for lunch 
Brothers has become a byword because its charbroiled juicy, beefy meat is what we’d expect a burger should taste like, not unlike some deflated, soggy varieties in the market.
This kinda reminds me of a new burger joint I hang out over the weekend.
Stackers: a new 24-hour burger place in Eastwood City Walk
No matter how Pinoys say they love adobo and tapsilog, this is still a burger-eating country (okay, bur-jer, if you must.) How else do you think Jollibee made its billions? Hamburger places have mushroomed all over, ranging from the buy one, take one 20 pesos variety to the upscale ones made of Wagyu. Like the Americans, we simply love our beef – the more tender and juicy, the better.
Manila-based carnivores never fail to notice the arrival of new burger destinations in town. And this is the buzz about Stackers Burger Cafe on the Eastwood City Walk, just across Il Pirata. One said their burjers are better than Brothers. Being a first-timer to the place, am not ready to make any judgments. But the overall ambiance and interiors surely looked inviting. The weather was perfectly sunny on the day of our visit, and I swear I felt like I was in California or some other place the day we hang out in Stackers – sipping our soda, fries and sandwiches al fresco while the afternoon sun and breeze set in.
As I wasn’t too hungry yet, I settled for a late lunch of Coke and the Asian Burger Bowl (P138). This was a quarter pound beef patty on a bed of greens, carrots, chopped nuts and what they call their crispy strips. The Oriental dressing went perfectly well with the dish, and I did like this one – thank you.
The Bread Bag Pandesal Bar
What could be more Filipino than pandesal? One good part of living in the Philippines is being able to partake of piping hot pandesal during breakfast, or merienda. There is nothing like the taste of this rounded bread full of crumbs, about the size of a fist, which is versatile enough to be eaten with a lot of fillings, with coffee or with native hot chocolate.
Pandesal has social relevance too. Observers are fond of equating the size and price of the pandesal with the state of the economy. Indeed, it has upped its value from one peso each to about two pesos now, depending on the bakery or store. Signs of the times.
There are also gourmet purveyors of this national bread. Take for example, The Breadbag Pandesal Bar which we tried, upon a friend’s recommendation. Their neat hole-in-the-wall at the Ortigas Home Depot in Pasig is set to expand soon to Megamall and the Fort. One of the owners happens to belong to the family of the defunct Casa Marcos. Even though the once-popular restaurant is closed, they’ve kept the wood-fired brick oven used for baking their pan de sal and it’s now at The Bread Bag. You will know it differs from the others because of the texture and superior quality.
Lunch box love
With the word “recession” dominating the news, it seems criminal spending $40 on a hotel buffet or $20 on a lunch out with friends. I still have those days when I’d happily swipe the husband’s debit card, but I’d rather be Little Miss Self-Control.:P
Something happened in the past few months, and it’s the fact that I’ve joined the legions who bring their lunch boxes to work. I found out that this is the greatest money-saver ever, plus you’re spared the trouble of lining up in the crowded cafeteria. It’s an added bonus if you have a microwave oven in the office pantry to have piping-hot “baon” but in case you don’t, those insulated lunch boxes will do the trick.
Just a note: making bento with all those cute characters is painstaking and simply won’t work with me most days, as I always wake up late and only have time to shower. Here are some pics of my baon when it was me who prepared, and not our dear househelp (who also cooks well) :
Spaghetti, ham pinwheel sandwiches, Babybel cheese and crackers. A snack you’d love to keep, and great for kids!
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Pretty kiddie meals
As a mother of three kids, am no stranger to the culinary staple that is the Kiddie Meal. In fact, one of my criteria in eating out with the young ‘uns is that it should be a kid-friendly restaurant. Good ol’ McDonald’s and Jollibee come to mind. Fine dining slash family restos have their offerings as well, complete with crayons, drawing paper, toys and the like. Let us list a few of them that offer tempting treats. Credits to those who makethe effort to present the food well:
Do you agree with me when I say McDonald’s beats Jollibee in the kiddie meal game? I remember when my children were toddlers and I felt numb already bringing home the McDo toys as pasalubong. Even an adult like me was specially fond of their old Hello Kitty & Daniel giveaways. They were real dolls mind you. Photo shows their present promotion featuring Tamagotchi toyz. Chicken McNuggets Happy Meal at P109.
Singaporean chain Sakae Sushi , known for their sushi conveyor belts, has the most fab presentation for their food, at least from what I’ve seen. Their kids’ meals, at P159, come in reusable ship and airplane designs. This is a good way to introduce your angels to the pleasures of Japanese food. Photo shows Japanese fried rice with beni shoga on top, chicken teriyaki BBQ and kani tempura. This mom tasted it and it was yummy!
Chi’s Brick Oven Kitchen …. pizza goodness!
We’ve settled in the South (Paranaque area) for barely a year, and it’s only now that am discovering culinary destinations in the neighborhood, and beyond. So far, it looks exciting.
Southern joints are not as written about as their counterparts in the North and center of Manila but I tell you, they’re equally good. Because of the distance, the scene here is not as crowded with people and there’s always the ‘homey’ feel of the places involved.
One such joint is Chi’s Brick Oven Kitchen, a nondescript resto along the length of Aguirre Avenue, inside BF Homes Paranaque. The only hassle going to BF is leaving your driver’s license with the guard if you are not a resident of the village, but I am told there are other entrances where you don’t have to. I immediately liked Chi’s welcoming interiors……..
My daughters like pizza and the house has 20 varieties of them, including the balut pizza (two whole balut or duck eggs for the topping) and the binagoongan (adobo bits with bagoong) pizza. Since it was our first visit, we stayed on the safe side and ordered their bestselling Chi’s Steak Pizza (P350) which is thin slices of beef on their special tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese and special pizza crust. This was good!
Even more interesting is the one we had for dessert,the Chocoholic’s Pizza (P125 for six slices) with black and white chocolate topping, plus bits of chocolate chips to complete the line-up. A must-taste!
Flapjacks One Peso Pancakes
Here’s a tummy-filler we can’t possibly resist. All-day breakfast place Flapjacks is offering these divine stack of pancakes at one peso each from April 13 to 17, to celebrate their first year anniversary.
Conditions apply:
A maximum of three pancakes per table
Available only from 1 to 5 p.m.
Still, it’s good enough. Considering that Flapjacks is known for their filling but pricey offerings, one peso for a pancake….. is better than street food!!!
I just bumped into this promotion actually. The server (who was on OJT) didn’t even mention it to me 
So much for letting OJT trainees on the frontline. I went to Flapjacks Robinsons Midtown because I wanted to snack and was craving for their Endless Coffee (P75) to keep me awake, while in the office
Besides, I really like the phrase Endless Coffee. I think it’s better than the much abused word “Bottomless.”
Manila’s dine-in seafood markets
With a mainly no-meat diet being imposed by Filipino Roman Catholics among themselves this past Holy Week, allow me to talk about seafood markets that have mushroomed in the city. When you’re craving for cooked seafood in these parts, you can think of three major sources: the Filipino restos where you can feast on local specialties like guinataang kuhol (snail), the Chinese restos which have offerings like crispy shrimps or crab with sotanghon (vermicelli), and the open-air markets where you can pick your seafood fresh and have it cooked in the adjoining restaurant of your choice.
I dined in two of these seafood markets recently and the experience hasn’t been disappointing. A bit on the pricey side, yes, but then again, seafood doesn’t really come cheap, unless you’re in a coastal town or something.
Dampa sa Libis was quite a revelation. I liked it because it was clean and didn’t suffocate me with the crowds. For someone like me who’s based in the center of Manila, its location in Libis, along C5, was definitely out of my way. It would pay to be here at least once a year, he he, and what’s good is that after eating here, you can take a short five minute drive to Eastwood City and have coffee there. The malls in Eastwood also close late, around midnight or so.
Blogging since 2004 and recently married to Mr Z. I can't live without coffee....and brown sugar.
