Ba Noi's

There are only a few Vietnamese restaurants in Manila, one addition is Banoi's ...

Banoi's is a hole-in-the-wall type of restaurant in Perea, Makati. It serves authentic Vietnamese cuisine.

Pho Bo/ Beef Pho(P225) - The broth was flavorful,  meat was tender and the noodles were cooked just right, it didn't  get soft after few minutes. The portion was a little smaller than what I expected, but it was respectable. Here's half of my portion:

 

Bokchoy

Well so far their Pho is one of the best I've tasted in Metro Manila.  I just hope that they'll keep the consistency...

That's All!

Ba Noi's

G/F Greenbelt Mansions
106 Perea St., Legaspi Village, 
Makati City. Manila, Philippines.
Opens: Mon-Sat from  11am-9pm

Sekitori

Sekitori means "sumo wrestler who is ranked in one of the top two professional divisions: makuuchi and juryo".... Ok, that explains why our order which was suppose to be good for 4-5, fed the 8 of us and with some little left over.

Aside from my starter(salmon sashimi) and sake,  we  just ordered for  Kimuchi cyanko broth shabu-shabu.

We were amazed when our order arrived...a mountain of different ingredients such as  raw  meat, seafood and veggies. It included squid and fishballs which were freshly made...

 

Here, you won't need to DIY the shabu-shabu; the waitress will  cook it in front of  you... 

Kimuchi cyanko broth/Shabu-shabu was a real winner,  the broth itself was flavorful with a pinch of spiciness  that lingers pleasantly inside your mouth and has the warmth of the soup which gives you a nice comfy feel....

Budget: P500 and up per head

That's All!

Sekitori Japanese Restaurant

Little Tokyo, Chino Roces Avenue,
Makati City. Manila, Philippines.

Phone number: (632)894 3876

8065 Bagnet

Bagnet is the Ilocano version of lechon kawali or deep fried pork meat.  And somewhere near our place, there's a house turned into restaurant named 8065 Bagnet  which reinvent  plain bagnet into something ... special. 


I've been here several times already... order different viands of bagnet such as

Spicy ginataan

Kare-kare

Dinuguan

Since I'm a fan of spicy food my favorite was the spicy ginataan but  others were also good...

They also have dory fish...

and vegetables such as ...

 Enseladang talong

 

and  Okra

Budget: 150-200 per head.

... this place serves  beer too.

That's All!

8065 Bagnet

#8065  Estrella St. 

San Antonio Village. Makati City

Phone number: (632)5081807

Mañana Mexican Cuisine Restaurants

If you are in Boracay and wants some Mexican twist go to Mañana, a hole in the wall restaurant in Station 1 fronting the superb white powdery sand/beach.

There is plenty of good food to choose from Taco

to quesadilla

and enchilada

... Their dish taste buttery but it's good mexican food.

Caffe Caruso

Can't believed I haven't  blogged about Caffe Caruso...

Caffe Caruso have the best pizza and the best mushroom risotto in Metro Manila.

Best pizza means chewy-crispy crust and the cheese well melted on pizza.

 

Oooohhh the cheese... ♥♥♥

Their wild mushroom risotto  is rich, creamy and flavorful. 

PS:  Appropriate(smart casual) dress code is needed here.

Ambiance: Romantic/ fine dining feel.

Budget: A little expensive  P500-1000/head  estimate.

Caffe Caruso

210 Nicanor Garcia St.
Makati City, Metro Manila
Philippines
(02) 895-8790

Ramen Bar

We went all the way to Eastwood mall to meet up with Don (Phil's chef friend from LA) – I suggested Ramen since I've been hearing buzz about the place.


Ramen bar's chasyu ramen (P380) reminded me of daikokuya ramen in LA's little Tokyo.

It has a thick/creamy pork broth, slices of chasyu (braised pork belly) and tamago (soft boiled egg) – Taste wise, the chasyu was cooked to perfection, soft and tasty, the broth was a little salty but was creamy and good.

Phil ordered for yakiniku beef rice Toppings (P165), the beef was tender and tasty which comes in a bowl.

Don ordered for Sappori miso Ramen (P320), but he actually didn’t like it.

The menu is limited.

Service is  just ok.  At around 2-3PM on a Saturday, some servers we're outside the restaurant comfortably seated (Indian seat while holding  their compact)  in the bench right in front of the restaurant.  ;-)


PS: Their big plates and big bowl is not really big.

Not really the best ramen in town but their chasyu ramen is good.

Ramen Bar

G/F Eastwood Mall
Libis, Quezon City,
Manila, Philippines

That's All!

Hana - Little Tokyo

Hana is a hole in the wall restaurant inside Little Tokyo

It offers the best and authentic takoyaki in Metro Manila. 

Affordable - 6pieces for P120.

 

Note that they start cooking takoyaki after 5:00pm  only. 

the inside of takoyaki ball

and served the  uni sashimi(P180) that I've been craving ...

There are actually lot of scrumptious dishes to try at Hana. They have variety of sushi, shashimi, yakitori and etc., but one shouldn't miss their Takoyaki.

Hana in little Tokyo

2277 Bet. Pasong Tamo and Amorsolo St.
Makati City, Metro Manila
Philippines


That's All!

Mexican Riviera - Chef Loreto Bembo's Master piece and a man eating a balloon

There are only two formal nights in our 7 days cruise but our cruise dinner was almost always formal and should I say amazing.  Let me feature one Chef, simply because he's a Filipino ;-)

Our second to the last dinner was  prepared by Chef - Loreto Bembo, he is one of the head chef in princess cruise.

Here's the sample menu given to us:

For your viewing pleasure here are two of his his scrumptious masterpiece

We were entertained by a man eating a balloon. I swear I saw him ate everything... he even drank water after.... Kids , don't do this at home :p

Amazing, isn't it?

That's All!

Cabo San Lucas - Mexican Riviera 3rd stop

Last stop was the jewel of Baja peninsula, Cabo San Lucas. From wiki, Cabo San Lucas is known for its white sandy beaches, several world-class Scuba diving locations, and the distinctive sea arch El Arco de Cabo San Lucas. As a result, Cabo San Lucas has become a high-end holiday destination with a number of resorts and timeshares along the coast between San Lucas and San José del Cabo. The word cabo means cape in English and San Lucas is the Spanish name for Saint Luke.
 
Our cruise ship stopped in the middle of the sea where princess cruises life boats took us to San Lucas  Marina Port.

We took a tour and saw  the breathtaking landmark, El Arco de Cabo San Lucas...

It was not in our itinerary, but, we got  whale watching for free, good thing they were  hyper and performing continuously.

A good samaritan took a picture of the group before my camera's battery died.  I truly enjoyed every moment with them.

Cabo San Lucas was very nice, the view , the food, the shopping. Too bad I left my extra battery inside the ship...

That's All!

Mazatlan - Mexican Riviera 2nd stop

Second cruise stop was Mazatlan. Mazatlan is one of Mexico's most alluring and inviting beach destination , it is know as 'Pearl of the pacific'.

We went to their public market in Old town and bought some Mexican items. In my case, bought  sombrero and a leather belt.

A few blocks  from the market, was Mazatlan Cathedral...

Near the cathedral  I saw a corn store... ate Mexican mixed corn -Chili + Margarine  + Mayonnaise + Corn...  A little bit gross and a little bit weird... smelly but  good.

We passed by this street...

and reached a nice place called playas alos altos

where we watch a man jump off the cliff, I think it's called Acapulco jump.

Back to the port I saw Senor frog statue and had a picture moment...

That's All!

Puerto Vallarta - Mexican Riviera 1st stop

After 3 days of sailing, we finally arrived at our first port stop - Puerto Vallarta. Puerto Vallarta  is a Mexican resort city situated on the Pacific Ocean's Bahía de Banderas.

We  walked along the Malecon  (sea walk), where we saw and enjoyed the sculptures, sea breeze along with other locals and tourist.

Here's a picture of me climbing the sculpture "In Search of Reason" by Guadalajara artist Sergio Bustamante, 

The famous Boy on a Seahorse sculpture (El Caballito)  is Puerto vallarta's symbol which was by Rafael Zamarripa and was in Malecon for more than 25 years.

Few more walks and we saw  Parish Church of Our Lady of Guadalupe

There were numbers of restaurant in the area but we can't decide where to grab some munch and then  we found  this.... A real Mexican Taco truck.

ordered these soft shell tacos, plus mexican coke..  Yummm!

A view of Puerto from the tail end of sapphire princess..

That's All!

Princess cruise : Mexican Riviera

One thing that kept me busy was a 7-day cruise to the Mexican Riviera via Sapphire Princess of Princess Cruise.

A huge ship that can accommodate up to 2,670 passengers, with an array of swimming pools, lounges and  dining areas in addition to a couple of  clubs, a library, a theater and a casino.

basically it is a hotel resort in the water but... much much nicer.

With professional photographers on board...

And abundant food... some dishes that were served

PRIME RIB

  ASIAN NOODLES

ESCARGOT

LOBSTER AND PRAWNS

Overall the experience was great.  We got food overload!!!  The crew were friendly (staff was majority Pinoys), service was great, activities were fantastic. 

Kudos Princess Cruises... we had a fabulous time... until the next cruise :)

PS: Will blog Mexican stops next time.

That's All!

Princess cruise