It was one of those days when you’re craving for a perfect breakfast meal to boost your day and yet you’re too lazy to wake up early in the morning to dust off the frying pan and cook up some ham and sunny-side up eggs. And so, there was no other option other than to hit the car and ride down the streets to a place where breakfast is served the way it’s supposed to be – as the most important meal of the day!
 
          Along the streets of the recently trending Maginhawa St. (Thanks to the facebook shares of the possible foodtastic adventures in the area) is a building that houses a small yet home-like restaurant that serves breakfast at its best all day long, The Breakfast Table.

 

         While The Breakfast Table may offer your typical breakfast meals like omelettes, pancakes, and some Filipino favorites, which you can probably cook up in your own home if given the time and inspired with the much needed effort, it tries to give a different experience to its customers by adding a little twist to these traditional breakfasts.

Food

Rice Meals

Sardine Omurice (165 php)

               One of which is the Sardine Omurice (165 php), a Japanese omelette preparation which is normally just rice wrapped in scrambled eggs but in this case, the rice is mixed with bits of spicy Spanish sardines. Unfortunately, while other food items in the menu are even more tempting, being a strict follower of the no-meat Fridays during Lenten season left me with a limited variety to choose from, but after tasting it, I wasn’t disappointed.  The sardines was blended nicely with the omurice, giving just enough spiciness to color up the normally dull Japanese breakfast meal.  And for someone who’s not fond of spicy foods, it was actually pretty good, and definitely filling.

Ala Carte Eggs on Toasts

Eggs TBT (195 php)

         Another no-meat meal that I was able to chance upon is the Eggs TBT (195 php), the restaurant’s version of eggs benedict. For this version, the poached eggs are served with tinapa flakes and a drizzle of the restaurant’s special hollandaise sauce.  The outcome is a delicious egg dish that’s a mixture of sweet and salty.

Stuffed French Toast

Sweet French Toast (150 php)

           And because I believe breakfast is the perfect time to enjoy sweets, I went ahead and tried the ever-tempting Sweet French Toast (150 php).  While the thought of having peanut butter, chocolate, marshmallows and strawberry jam in one dish might normally scare sugar-conscious people away, it’s not as bad as it sounds when you get to taste it.  Although it is sweet (as it claims), it actually serves as a good dessert that goes pretty well with a perfect blend of coffee.

Drinks

Coffee from the Press

Kalinga-brew (60 php)

                Speaking of coffee, one of the reasons why The Breakfast Table is a good breakfast place is because of the variety of coffee that they serve.  Their coffee menu include coffee coming from Kalinga, Sagada and Benguet.  And all of them comes in an individual coffee press, filling up more than one average-sized cup for a reasonable price! And being a coffee-lover, I was greatly pleased with my Kalinga-brew (60 php).

Taho Shake (99 php)

         And then there was the Taho Shake (99 php) that I’ve heard about even before I got to the place.  And true enough, the drink is one of the most refreshing drinks I’ve ever tried, embodying the coolness of an ice-blended drink while having the sweet soya taste of a regular taho.  Though it’s a little price-y compared to my perfect cup of coffee, it’s definitely worth a try.

Tsinoy Foodies Verdict
        Overall, The Breakfast Table is a great place to crash when you’re up for a good breakfast meal and too lazy to cook one up yourself.  The price and the ambience are reasonable, and there’s a lot of variety to try.

MARINA Oyster Seafood Grill in Rockwell has recently launched a promo: Halo-Halo and Sorbetes All You Can for 149 php!


 It will soon be launched in other stores too.  But, the pilot store in Kalayaan Ave near Rockwell.



The promo is available everyday from 2 pm to 6 pm until July 24, 2014.  Of course, I took the bait!


They have huge jars filled with sweetened toppings such as: Langka, Gulaman, Banana (minatamis na saging), Sweet potato, Nata De Coco, Ube, Sago, Cream Corn, Beans, Whole Corn, Red Sago and Buko Strips. 
 
They also have smooth and creamy leche flan.

 And, crispy pinipig. 

 For sobetero, they have ube, avodabo and cheese.  All of them have real chunks on them. 

Here's my first halo-halo creation!

And, this is the second one!  I've always look for two things in a halo-halo: 1. It should have finely crushed ice 2. I love the toppings.  Since they have both, I'm very pleased with my 149 php!

My family will be back to try this soon!

Bullchef has been featured several times in TV shows and popular publications.  It is also praised by my trusted foodie friends.  With that being said, we had high expectations and were very eager to try it.

Bullchef is a typical house-turned-restaurant in Kapitolyo, Pasig.


It had a few small square wooden tables with matching wooden chairs.  It also had a second floor which was off-limits during our visit.

Bullset Meals (Second Serving of Rice is FREE)

BULLCHEF Special (249 php)

The BULLCHEF Special is the claasic bulalo with corn, string beans and lettuce.  We all failed to recognize what made this special.  But admittedly, I've heard people claim this as the best bulalo in Metro Manila.

AsimBULL (275 php)

The AsimBULL is a thick sinigang soup with bulalo. This is just okay...

BULLusok (175 php)

The BULLusok is a sizzling bulalalo covered in gravy and served with buttered corn, beans and carrots.  With just one bite into it's tough meat, I could already sense from its flavor that they made use of frozen local beef which I'm not a fan of.

Tenderloin BULLsteak (210 php)

I expected the Tenderloin BULLsteak to be a better rendition but other than the difference was hardly distinguishable.

Sizzling Pork-a-BULL (125 php)

The Sizzling Pork-a-BULL is the same as the other sizzling with gravy dishes but this time it's pork.

Free soup in all meals

Each meal comes with two cups of rice and a bowlful of bulalo soup broth which is the same as the BULLCHEF special.

Solo

Kangkong ni Kingkong (45 php)

The Kangkong ni Kingkong in a sweet blend of sauce with garlic.

Other Reviews at Kapitolyo Pasig 
Lia's Cakes in Season
Mad Mark's Creamery & Good Eats
Nav Modern Thai Cuisine
Silantro Fil-Mex Cantina

Tsinoy Foodies Verdict
I wouldn't recommend BULLCHEF to anyone.  Despite all its publicity, I'm saddened to say that this is the worst and most disappointing restaurant that we have tried in Kapitolyo.  The food quality is poor.  It's one of the rare moments were we didn't feel guilty leaving leftovers.  The price is unjustifiable.  I'd settle for food court options over this anytime.

My friends often tease me of being a serious and uptight person.  So once in awhile, I give in and let them take me to the fun places.  One night I ended up at Grilla Bar and Grill with good old friends and met a new ones too.  My friends enjoyed their drinks but as usual, I was there for food and company.
I'm really liked the spacious and upscale feel of Grilla Bar and Grill Makati.  They even have an Al Fresco balcony area.

Food

Appetizers

Chicharong Cebu (160 php)

As they say, You Only Live Once (YOLO) so we started with the deliciously crispy Chicharong Cebu.

♥ Pork BBQ and Salted Egg Triangles (185 php)

My friends were drinking so they really enjoy crunchy finger snacks like the Pork BBQ and Salted Egg Triangles while we chatted the night away.  This is an interesting dish to try.

Sisig

Tofu and Sigarilyas Sisig (145 php)

 The Tofu and Sigarilyas Sisig is a healthiest sisig option in htier menu.  It's still as salty as the regular sisig though.


Veggies

Ilocos Dinuydoy (135 php)

The Ilocos Dinuydoy has three primary ingredients: mashed squash, ampalaya and bagnet presented in a deconstructed way. 

Eggplant Torta - Poqui Poqui (145 php)

The Eggplant Torta - Poqui Poquiis the Ilocano way of eggplant torta.  I find their Ilocano dishes too salty.  Ilocano cuisine being our second native cuisine at home, I was surprised by this.  Ilocano dish is known for simplicity and bringing out the natural flavors.  Ilocanos like my mom are very frugal and appreciative of the lightest flavors. 


Entree

Family Feast

♥ Grill-A-Palayok (695 php)

The Grill-A-Palayok is a fun dish to try with a group!  You can choose your favorite type of meat and you can choose from 3 types of dips: Pork-lemongrass broth, Grilled Eggplant and Nilasing na Mangga.  I liked the latter the most.


Beef

Beef Kansi (345 php)

I took one sip of the Beef Kansi and found it too peppery and salty to be enjoyed as a soup.


Chicken

Sinampalukang  Inihaw na Manok (225 php)

The Sinampalukang  Inihaw na Manok has a nice smokey flavor alogn with the strong tangy taste.  I liked the smokey and tender inihaw na manok bits in it.

Inadobong Tilapia sa Gata at Sili (225 php)

The Inadobong Tilapia sa Gata at Sili is among the dishes I liked as well.  It was fun to eat and has a fun twist of flavors.

♥ Halo Halo Spring Rolls (135 php)

Last but definitely not the least is the Halo Halo Spring Rolls.  I liked this the most!


Tsinoy Foodies Verdict
My friends enjoyed our dining experience at Grilla Bar and Grill.  I recommend it for those who enjoy strong taste and pair their food with lots of rice and drinks to tone down the flavors and probably guilt. 

I've never been noticed as a foodie before so imagine my excitement when I was chosen as a "Blogger Judge" by the UP Economics Society for Foodgasm 4.  I knew I just had to free up my hectic schedule for it.


I'm glad I went there because I haven't tried all the food participants.  Plus, the bands was great too.

Having tried all the food participants... Let me share my feedback with you based on the order of the score sheet just to be fair.

Cuptain Cakes: Batak Sesame

I'm generally not a fan of cupcakes but I enjoyed the Batak Sesame cupcake from Cuptain Cakes because it was moist and not overly sugary.  I liked the bold taste of sesame in the icing but would've loved it better if the flavor on the cupcake itself was stronger.  

Check out:
Cuptain Cakes Facebook Fan Page

Niku Niku: Crabstick

Niku Nuki's Crabstick is fun to eat as a comfort Japanese snack.  The batter and nori was fresh and crisp so it was a good way to complement the crabstick concealed within.  This won as"People's Choice".


Check out:
Niku Niku Facebook Fan Page

Cooking Ina's: Chocolate Rhumballs

 Being a chocoholic, I loved Cooking Ina's Chocolate Rhumballs!  They were so generous too. =) I had all 7 assortments: Wasabi, Chili, Double Dutch, Peanut, Coconut and White Milk Chocolate.  Cooking Ina's Kitchen offers bento boxes for lunch, snacks and dinner too.

 
To inquire:
Contact: (02) 823-2107
Email: cookinginaskitchen@gmail.com
Facebook Fan Page

Buenavi Food & Beverage: Pescado Gourmet Turo in Olive Oil

The Pescado Gourmet Turo in Olive Oil is good but it just lacks the X factor as compared to the rest for me.

Check out:
Facebook Fan Page

Babci Kuchnia: Polish Periogi

You could tell the success of the food when there are long lines for it and everyone wants to buy some to take home.Babci Kuchnia's Polish Periogi was that much of a hit!  I wasn't expecting anything but I was really stunned by how good it was!  Although this didn't win, this is definitely the winner for me. 

Their Periogi variants includes:

• Potato, onions and cheese
• Beef, vegetables and cheese
• Beef and sauerkraut
• Cheese and rum raisin

To inquire:
Contact: (0917) 5276147
Email: babcikuchnia@gmail.com
Facebook Fan Page 

Chorizo de Cebu

 The Chorizo de Cebu is good but not much to rave for.

To inquire:
Facebook Fan Page 

Chili Chili Bang Bang: Bite the Bullet and Original

Chili Chili Bang Bang's Bite the Bullet and Original got me really interested since I loved spicy stuff.  But, I was really disappointed to find out it wasn't spicy enough for me.


To inquire:
Contact: (02) 818-4180
Email: chilichilibangbangph@gmail.com
Facebook Fan Page

The Happy Monster's Elvis Pie

I was swooned by The Happy Monster's Elvis Pie.  It's a nice blend of everything!
 
To inquire:
Contact: (0922) 536-1191
Facebook Fan Page

Country Fries: Okonomiyaki

 The Country Fries: Okonomiyaki won as "most innovative".

 
To inquire:
Facebook Fan Page

Hungry Buster: Dying Burger

The champion of Foodgasm 4 is Hungry Buster's Dying Burger.  I'll let the photo speak for itself!  Just look at that thick beef patty.

Team Johnny: CheeCups

My friends' top pick is Team Johnny's CheeCups which ironically is one of the least for me.

Baking Bad: Bacon Cookies

They say everything with bacon is good... Well, Baking Bad's Bacon Cookies failed to impress me.


 They gave out free chicharon weee!

Modern Desserts: Pastillas Flan

 Modern Desserts's Pastillas Flan got great texture!  It's just a bit too sweet for me.


To inquire:
Contact: (0933) 334-1780
Facebook Fan Page

Mau's Cupcak Cafe: Yema-filled Crinkle Sandiwch

The Yema-filled Crinkle Sandiwch by Mau's Cupcak Cafe are just okay...


To inquire:
Facebook Fan Page 

Ruby Red Kitchen: Original Cinammon Monkey Bread and Parmesan Herb Monkey Bread

Ruby Red Kitchen's Original Cinammon Monkey Bread and Parmesan Herb Monkey Bread won as "Expert's Choice" and I couldn't agree more!  You've got to try this!


To inquire:
Contact: (0917) 860-5915
Facebook Fan Page
P.S. I forgot to take a photo of the Oreo Filled Cupcakes by Chef Francesca's Cupcakes Couture 
Check it out here: Facebook Fan Page
  
Tsinoy Foodies Verdict 
We really enjoyed our visit at Foodgasm 4!  Keep it up and see you next time. =D

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