Xocolat

Ruy and I are fans of the rich choco concoctions from Xocolat. We know of their branches in Eastwood and in Megamall and we were thrilled when they opened a new branch in Serendra.

This branch has an expanded menu with selections not offered in other branches.

Ruy is obsessed with this caviar mixture, the name of which escapes us right now. It's basically a mixture of cream cheese and caviar. You basically spread it on this toasted pita slices. Those who want to lessen the fishy taste of the caviar can squeeze the lemon on top of the caviar.

This is of course not your top of the line caviar, but it does satisfy for those cravings that you just can't shake off (like the one Ruy had). We usually end up finishing the bread before finishing the spread so we have to get an extra order of bread with this dish.

One cannot and must not go to Xocolat without having some of their chocolate offerings. I cannot tell you about these wonderful chocolate concoctions without the disclaimer that these are not for the weak of heart.

A personal favorite of mine would be the Taza de Xocolat. A sinfully rich and thick hot chocolate drink which some people find overwhelming but I am in love with.

For this trip however we tried something which is just as sinful but more for sharing. This is called the Frozen Hot Chocolate. An irony in name and a surprise in your mouth. This is eaten by popping a piece into your mouth, then feel the cold chocolate slowly melting and coating your tongue and throat with the richest, smoothest chocolate.

I've never gotten drunk on chocolate...not until I've had this.

We Apologize

We're so sorry for not blogging more often. We're putting the finishing touches to our home and it's been CRAAAZY! We'll try better promise!

Quattro

Sometimes you crave for decadence in your dining experience, but there are times when you just want food. Honest-to-goodness, no frills food. This was exactly the kind of food that I was craving for and this craving led me straight to Quattro.

Quattro has always been known to my group as a drinking place and not necessarily a food place. It was not until I joined my current company (which is run by the son of Quattro's owner) that I began seeing this place in a new light. Slowly, Quattro has become a place to go for simple and good food.

Our menu for that night consisted of the following: Fried Cheese Puffs, Sizzling Tofu, Chicken Teriyake, Baked Fish, Garlic Rice and Quattro Carousel.

The fried cheese puffs were simple yet addictive. It's not overwhelmingly salty like you would expect as the batter has enough flour to compensate for the saltiness of the cheese. The garlic mayo dip also made it yummier. It was quite a steal at 85 pesos...we weren't able to finish it!!

Next we had the tofu with garlic, mushrooms and oystersauce. It was a great dish which was lighter than most of the things we had. Once again, this dish was very inexpensive

The chicken teriyaki was another okay dish but it was a bit salty for my taste. I'm not sure if it seemed salty because I've had other dishes with salt in them and I was already saturated with salt when I ate this, or it was just salty. The salt content wasn't offensive at all, you would just need a whole lot of rice to eat with it. =)

Wooohooo, now here's the dish which made me drag Ruy up to here. The baked fish. This is one of their bestsellers and it's my personal favorite (thanks to Ruy who introduced this to me in the past). It's just soooo good!! 188 pesos will get you a white fish wrapped in foil with a garlicky sauce on top of it. I have never had it overcooked and I could eat one whole order myself. During this meal however I was kind enough to share it with Ruy...hehehe

Normally, we don't even mention rice in this post their garlic rice deserves some mention though. It's WONDERFUL. I have been trying to figure out what they do differently but I can't. My boss (whose family owns this resto, and who came up with the recipe for the rice) also refuses to tell me...sigh


They have a signature drink which is perfect for the summer time called Quattro Carousel. It's a concoction with Singkamas (turnip), Carrots and Cucumber plus a medley of fruits. It's refreshing and it helps you deal with the guilt of eating all the other dishes...after all it has veggies so it's healthy right?

(Our entire meal together with the drinks and 2 orders of Large Bibingka for take out cost us 800++...not bad eh?)

Marikina Delights -- Macky's

Anyone who knows me would tell you how in love I am with Marikina. I have witnessed how this town has transformed from the rape capital of the Philippines to the thriving and bustling little town that it is now.

I love the cleanliness, the order and the friendliness of the people in this town. I would be a liar if I would not admit that the main thing which draws me to this town would be my food finds. One such food find would be Macky's.

To be honest, I have a bit of a complex when it comes to eating places. I am a bit afraid of eating in Carenderia's or Turo Turos...which I know is a loss of mine but I'm just generally uncomfortable in them. Luckily, I got to taste Macky's before seeing the place otherwise I wouldn't have dared go inside.

Macky's offers a variety of merienda fares but it's most famous for it's goto and tokwa't baboy. I have yet to taste it's goto but it's tokwa't baboy is to die for! The tofu used is always fresh, this could be due to the fact that this dish is always sold out before the day ends. The pork is replaced with Lechon Kawali which adds another dimension of texture and flavor to the dish. The sauce is addictive with it's wonderful mix of sour and slightly sweet. Those who, like Ruy and myself, fall in love with the crisp yet tender Lechon Kawali can order a separate order of it for 45 pesos, meanwhile an order of Tokwa't Baboy costs 25 pesos.

Macky's is found in San Roque and Concepcion Uno in Marikina City.

Isabela's Ramos Cafe

Finally I get to post my favorite restaurant in Isabela!

A little place in a residential neighborhood in quaint little Echague Isabela. A town which is small even by country/province standards. Surrounded by ricefields all over and serviced by (my observation) a gasoline station (that regularly has rice drying in its service bays), a school, a cemetery, a number of carabaos, a rice mill, one church that I know of and the best pizza place in Isabela.

Ramos Cafe aka Cafe By The Park

Introduced to me when I first started going to Isabela for work, it has been a favorite ever since.

Imagine being in the middle of a burning desert at high noon and suddenly bumping into a Fruitas stall or maybe finding a spa on top of Mt. Everest with a hot spring bath.
That is sort of the feeling.

At that time I was a stranger to the province and the only food options I had then were McDonald's, Jollibee, Chowking, Felicita's Pancit Cabagan and lechon manok in the evenings.


Situated in a residential neighborhood, this sign marks the spot.


Cozy interiors really make you feel that you're someplace unique to everything else in the immediate vicinity.

A menu of homemade stuffed crust pizzas, pastas and dishes like surf and turf, roastbeef, seafood thermidore and a lot of other stuff you'd never expect to find in well... Echague.

Fresh flowers on the tables.

Salad and iced tea. I love their waldorf for less than a hundred. Although tweaked to fit local taste, I love the nuts and apples which cleanse my palate and refresh my mind.

The Italian favorite has beef, italian sausage, mushrooms, basil, pomodoro sauce, soft cheese and mozarella I believe.

Chef's Choice (my favorite) has ham, onions, bell peppers, young corn, pineapples which I was able to take a picture of as it baked in their oven with the fire burning on top of the pizza.

Oh, and I always request for a special twist to my cheese stuffed crust pizza which isn't on the menu. Bacon.=)

Price would be around the Greewich Pizza range.

Other favorites of mine would be their canneloni and shawarma with super yummy garlic sauce.

The chef/owner I heard worked in Mandarin hotel and Paris before retiring to establish this wonderful manna from heaven.

If you're ever in the area, Cafe By The Park/Ramos' Cafe now has a branch along Villasis Highway in Santiago Isabela which is smaller and not as secluded but definitely more accessible. But, if you want to experience the real deal, the Echague branch (which is also the owner's house) is just around 20 mins away. Take the Cauayan Isabela bound highway until you reach a fork in the road. Take the right prong which veers off the main highway and leads into a small town. Go straight (around a kilometer) till you reach a small intersection with an equally small Shell gas station. Turn left and go straight a few meters till you see the sign.

Seafood Challenge

Recently, we got a nice haul of prawns brought over from Leyte courtesy of my vacationing parents. They came in various sizes which included some that were so huge they were bordering on "mutant-ish"! They were so big in fact, that I got restless, hesitant and doubtful if they were edible to me at all... Do I dare eat these huge creatures hauled fresh from the sea?
Kidding.
Guided of course by my trusty tummy's sagely wisdom, I was instantly filled by the presence of these huge sea beasts not with hesitation nor doubt, but rather, with great joy.
An opportunity for a feast of fresh sea treasures.

Appreciating the wonderful bounty we had, I was left with the daunting task of figuring out what to do in order to capture the sweet experience of the gastronomic moment.

Pressure.

The usual course prawns took in our household on the way to our bellies was either via the steamed route or via the curry route. This time however, I figured that the opportunity would be wasted on cooking what was to us, a common dish already. It was time to explore other options. A quest that led me from website to website to a Yummy Magazine Liv bought a couple of months prior, where I found a recipe for what seemed to be the perfect dish for the occassion. Prawn Thermidor (the mag is currently missing right now so till I find it, let me just recount the experience and skim over the details).

The Prawn Thermidore Experience:

I cleaned the prawns and cut half of the bunch vertically in the middle so that they opened up like butterflies. The other half was chopped into bits.

Then I sauteed the chopped prawns with mushrooms, veggies etc.

After adding some cream and seasoning to finish the filling, I proceeded to stuff it into the butterfly-cut prawns' open middle.

And topped everything with grated cheese as the final touch before putting them in the oven to cook..

The result:

Man was it good! The sweet flesh of fresh prawns stuffed with the creamy mixture of prawn bits, fresh vegetables and mushrooms meshed perfectly with the rich melted cheese. I followed the recipe faithfully and got rewarded in the end.

The result was a big wipe out of every last morsel of the mighty prawns, leaving only hollowed husks and carapaces as evidence of the feast.

My Personality

Got tagged by Oggi to take this personality test. Here it is.:








ISTJ - The "Examiner"

ISTJs are responsible, loyal and hard working. They have an acute sense of right and wrong and work hard at preserving established norms and traditions. Because of their deep sense of duty they are dedicated to everything they do and are very dependable. ISTJs care deeply for those closest to them.

"ISTJs are very loyal, faithful, and dependable. They place great importance on honesty and integrity. They are "good citizens" who can be depended on to do the right thing for their families and communities. While they generally take things very seriously, they also usually have an offbeat sense of humor and can be a lot of fun - especially at family or work-related gatherings."
- Portrait of an ISTJ

Famous ISTJsReal ISTJ People
Andrew Johnson - American President
Benjamin Harrison - American President
Elizabeth II - Queen of England
Evander Holyfield - boxer
George H. W. Bush - American President
George Washington - American President
Harry Truman - American President
Herbert Hoover - American President
Jack Webb - actor, producer
Jackie Joyner-Kersee - athlete (heptathlon)
Thomas - Christ's Apostle
Warren Buffet - investor, businessman

Fictional ISTJs (Characters)
Angel Eyes - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Bruce Wayne - Batman Begins
Cliff Clavin - Cheers
Dallas - Alien
Darth Vader - Star Wars
Eeyore - Winnie the Pooh
Evelyn Cross Mulwray - Chinatown
Frankie Dunn - Eastwood in Million Dollar Baby
Fred Mertz - I Love Lucy
Gen. Yevgraf Zhivago - Doctor Zhivago
Jet Black - Cowboy Bebop
Joe Friday - Dragnet
Julia - Cowboy Bebop
Lornette 'Mace' Mason - Strange Days
Mama Montana - Scarface
Mr. Martin - Sitting in the Catbird Seat
Puddleglum - Chronicles of Narnia

I'm boring and I have the same personality type as Darth Vader. Waaaa... Good thing there's Warren Buffet to keep me optimistic.=)

Shameless Plug

Do you know anyone who might be qualified? Send an email to oreyes@oneb-mail.com with their resume. =) The working environment is wonderful and the compensation is very competitive.

Chickpeas Crazy

What should a man do to get his peace?

For a month I kept going back to this question as a murmur at the back of my head haunted me, constantly whispering two maddening syllables.

"Hummus, hummus, hummussss...."

It was like a rythmic chant that would send forth an accompanying gurgle from my treacherous acidic stomach.

"Pita, pita, pita...."

It was driving me crazy...

Thats me craving.

For a month I schemed, I dropped hints, I enticed and did practically everything I could to coax my sweet dearie Liv into singing the same mediterranean melody. Alas, it was not to be. Weekend after weekend of eating out everywhere (good places) passed but unfortunately, they just weren't the solution to my dilemma.

"hummus, Hummus, HUMMUSSS...."

The chant was getting louder and realizing that I was about to go more insane than I already am, I took the only option available.

I made it of course.;p

I never thought I'd ever make my own hummus (one of the things I just got used to eating out of restos), I never thought it was possible for mere mortals... As it turns out, it's quite easy.=)

Hummus was sesame seeds, olive oil, lime, salt and water blended together (which makes the tahini) that's then blended with garbanzos, garlic, lemon juice, garlic more water and more olive oil (the more the merrier!), salt, pepper and sugar to taste.

Pita was more difficult and scary as doughs intimidate me but using some flour (I wanted to use wheat flour but I had none available), yeast, warm water, olive oil, sugar and curry powder which I kneaded, rolled, flattened and baked, I came out ok.

The result was homemade hummus partnered with homemade pita (tweaked a bit to add a mild curry flavor).

I loved how it turned out. It was a medley of the wonderful flavors of tangy lime and lemon, garlic, rich chickpeas and olive oil slathered over bites of hot, chewy curry pita.

Aaahhh... Contentment.

No more noises, no more voices. Just peace.

New Junk Food Favorites

These things are Liv's newest succcessful finds in Robinson's Supermarket.
Friday's junk food!
The four flavors we've tried (lranked from 1st to last accdg to my taste) are:


1)Cheddar and Sour Cream Potato Skins - My favorite! Each bite is flavor packed. Oh and aren't potato skins healthy?
2)Cheese Pizza Chips -Yum yum! Coming from a dismal bag of pizza flavored Combos with suspiciously small holes in the middle which resulted in worm sized filling (I seriously think the bag must have been part of a production batch error), this was definitely appreciated. Almost as flavorful as the Cheddar and Sour Cream Potato Skins.



3) Cheddar & Bacon Potato Skins - So far this would be my least favorite simply because it takes me around 5 bites to appreciate the flavor. What can I say, I'm impatient. Hehe...

The Quesadilla is still awaiting its verdict. Maybe later?=)