Manang's Chicken has gained its popularity among Filipino's. It started out as a food concessionarie at Mercato Centrale. But, its success has paved way for it to have more branches.
Double fried chicken is not something new to us. We've tried the internationally franchised Bonchon Chicken and Chicken Charlie before so we're eager to compare them with Manang's Chicken.
Manang's Chicken Wings
Manang's Chicken Wings
 |
| Manang's 6 pcs. Chicken Solo (original) (149 php) |
 |
| ♥Manang's 6 pcs. Chicken Solo (spicy) (149 php) |
I personally, prefer the wings more because you get to enjoy more of the crunchy goodness. The skin is not as crunchy as I expected though. The chicken meat is a bit dry and not tender juicy. You also get more pieces for a lower price. Manang's 6 pcs. Chicken Solo is priced at 149 php. They offer three sauce options: the original, mild spicy or hot and spicy soy garlic sauce. I personally like the spicy more because I find their original too sweet for my taste even with rice. The spiciness is a perfect contrast to the extra sweetness. I like that their idea in adding some sesame seeds because it adds fragrance to their chicken.
 |
| Crispy Chicken Sandwich (49 php) |
The same crispy chicken except that its between the buns. It has a coleslaw sauce. I wish this was bigger. The buns are like pandesal in terms of texture, size and taste. You can also select the sauce. I had this with spicy sauce.
Sides
 |
| Macaroni Salad (30 php) |
I've tried Macaroni Salads in various restaurants and fast food chains. Manang's Chicken Macaroni Salad is so bare it only had a few pineapple bits. As expected, it tasted plainly mayonnaise and if you're lucky you get to taste a bit of the sweet tangy pineapple bits. Since no one in our family wanted to finish this, I had to finish this on my own and I didn't like this not one bit.
 |
| Coleslaw (30 php) |
As a veggie lover, the sidedish I always looked forward to was the coleslaw. But, I was very disappointed with Manang's Chicken coleslaw. Not that I don't like onions, but I didn't like the way the onions overpowered the mayonaise. The vegetable bits were a bit crunchy but because of the taste I didn't enjoy eating this. How about you? Did you like this?
Manang's Chicken is not exactly a unique concept. It's just double fried chicken with its own sweetened recipe sauce that appeals to the Filipino taste. The price is affordable but their serving size could be more generous. The Crispy Chicken Sandwich is quite small like a sampler lasting only a few bites. But, we still recommend Manang's Chicken as a must-try because it's good to compare with our double fried chicken brands. If you love sweet foods, you might find this to your liking. Personally, I did not find it as addicting as other claimed this to be. Plus, the side dishes were disappointing.
| Tsinoy Foodies Review Rating | |
Ambiance
|
★★★
|
Taste
|
★★★
|
Service
|
★★★
|
Price
|
★★★
|
| ♥=Favorites or Recommended | |
| Manang's Chicken | |
| Business Address |
AIC Gold Tower, Garnet Road
Ortigas Center, Pasig City (near Emerald/former NU107)
|
| Business Hours | Monday-Saturday: 9:00 am-10:00pm Sunday: 9:00 am-6:00 pm |
| Payment Options | Cash |
| Service Charge | |
| Budget/Person | 50-150 |
| Contact | |
| Other | |
Resorts World Manila Newport Mall is a haven for a world class casino, cinema theaters, botiques, bars and dining places. Because the place was quite distant from our place, we don't usually dine here. I recall my first time we've visited Newport Mall, we dined at Mr. Kurosawa and visited play around at the casino just for fun.
I'm sure you've all heard of Republiq Club. Well, just below it is the Cafe Republiq. From its outside, it looks intimidating isn't it?
I've always passed by Cafe Republiq and viewed it from the outside but its actually my first time to dine here. Perhaps, if it weren't for my uncle's birthday treat, I wouldn't have tried this place out. There is a bar with a showcase of bottle of wines at the end. The place was dimly lit with tall lampshades between black elegant couches and candle lights in each marbled table top. The interiors gave a cozy impression with European influence.
The Republiq Salad was delicious with thin slices of apples, chunks of gorgonola cheese, dried cranberries, bits of smoked bacon and almond dressed with apple vinaigrette. These was served with generous amount of fresh green romaine lettuces.
Main Dishes
The Beer Battered fish & chips, lemon tartar sauce & malt vinegar are large dory fillets. It was tender and juicy. It was pretty good especially with the tartar sauce and malt vinegar. We were served fries instead of chips because the chips was not available. Too bad we didn't get to try their chips.
Grill Specials
All the guys in the family obviously ordered the U.S. Angus Minute Steak (10 oz.). There was a mistake in our order though. The waiter delivered an extra U.S. Angus Minute Steak (10 oz.). Taking into consideration that the waiter might be ask to shoulder the mistaken order, my cousin told the waiter we'll just have it instead. So, we shared the extra order over all of us. The U.S. Angus Minute Steak was served hot of the grill. It was tender and juicy as the usual U.S. Angus beef steak should be.
I was the only one who preferred fish over meat. The Salmon Fillet was nothing special in taste. It was lightly seasoned and the texture was just right. I was unimpressed with the quality of the rice. As you can see, it was dry. I'm sure with their pricing, they could have afforded to provide for a better grade of rice.
Desserts
The Warm chocolate souffle cake with vanilla ice cream & chocolate ganache was delicious! The bitter sweet chocolate soufle cake goes well with the vanilla ice cream and chocolate ganache. I loved this the most!
![]()
Drinks
Like all restaurants in Newport Mall, don't forget to show your Resort World membership card to avail a discount.
Tsinoy Foodies Verdict
Cafe Republiq Menu
Menu
Cafe Republiq Map
 |
| Republiq Salad |
Main Dishes
 |
| Master Chang's deep fried chicken secret spicy sauce & white sauce (385 php) |
We all agreed that this the Master Chang's deep fried chicken secret spicy sauce & white sauce was served in generous proportions. Thus, this is good for sharing. The chicken was crispy and the sauce was not very spicy. I think the sauce is black vinegar based. It was my first time to try fried chicken with that kind of sauce. It was worth the try.
 |
| Beer Battered fish & chips, lemon tartar sauce & malt vinegar (310 php) |
 |
| U.S. beef Pot roast in mushroom sauce & soft mashed potatoes (380 php) |
The U.S. beef Pot roast in mushroom sauce & soft mashed potatoes was delicious. The soft, tender and juicy beef complemented with mushroom sauce was delightful to eat.
This is our first time to try a pot roast. Here in Manila, a roast beef is more common than a pot roast. While roast beef is cooked dry with sauce on the side, the pot roast is cooked in liquid.
This is our first time to try a pot roast. Here in Manila, a roast beef is more common than a pot roast. While roast beef is cooked dry with sauce on the side, the pot roast is cooked in liquid.
Grill Specials
With their grill specials, you choose get to choose your preferred sauce and side dishes that will go along your side dish.
 |
 |
| U.S. Angus Minute Steak (10 oz.) (460php) |
 |
| U.S. Angus Minute Steak (10 oz.) (460php) |
 |
| Salmon Fillet (380 php) |
 |
| Warm chocolate souffle cake with vanilla ice cream & chocolate ganache (170 php) |
 |
| New York style cheesecake & homemade blueberry sauce (160 php) |
The New York style cheesecake & homemade blueberry sauce was pretty good. The taste and texture of the cheesecake was just right. The homemade blueberry sauce was nothing special though. I couldn't even tell what's different about it from the rest I've tried.
 |
| Apple crisp, caramel sauce, toasted almonds & ice cream (180 php) |
The Apple crisp, caramel sauce, toasted almonds & ice cream was okay. It was my first time to try this type of dessert and I didn't like it. It was too sweet for my taste because of the caramel sauce. I would have liked it more if it tasted more of cinnamon than being too sweet.
Drinks
 |
| Lemonade |
For drinks, I ordered Lemonade. It was pretty good. It had the natural sweetness and tanginess of fresh lemons. Not too bland nor was it too sweetened.
 |
| Cappuccino |
After dinner, we each had a cup of their Cappuccino while chatting with each other. I was disappointed with their Cappuccino. I'm not even sure if its brewed.
Since its my uncle's birthday, we were all entertained by the enthusiastic and cheerful birthday song of the waiter while presenting a slice of birthday cake lighted up with birthday candle sparklers. The complimentary cake was Newyork Cheesecake same as the once we previously ate but without the blueberry syrup. Their effort was pretty noteworthy don't you think?
Like all restaurants in Newport Mall, don't forget to show your Resort World membership card to avail a discount.
Cafe Republiq's ambiance makes it a great hang out with family and friends in between shopping or partying. Although the grilled selection at Cafe Republiq is good and reasonably priced. But, there is nothing special in them either. Although, their serving size is generous for the non-grilled selections, their prices are still expensive. Overall, Cafe Republiq is worth the try when you're in the area and you're willing to shell out some cash just to try their food.
| Tsinoy Foodies Review Rating | |
Ambiance
|
★★★★
|
Taste
|
★★★
|
Service
|
★★★
|
Price
|
★★★
|
| ♥=Favorites or Recommended | |
Cafe Republiq Menu
Menu
| Cafe Republiq | |
| Business Address |
2/F Newport Mall, Resorts World Manila
Pasay City, Metro Manila
Philippines
|
| Business Hours | 11:30am-9pm |
| Payment Options |  Cash |
| Service Charge | 10% |
| Budget/Person | 380-550 |
| Contact | (0917) 550-8888 |
| Other | |
Cafe Republiq Map
Our family has always loved popcorn. We always munch on popcorn whenever we watch movies. Popcorn is also my choice of snack whenever I'm studying. One of our favorites is Chef Tony's Gourmet Popcorn.
Chef Tony's Gourmet Popcorn was first introduced to me by Kurt because the Original Receipe (caramel) was his mom's favorite. You can easily purchase Chef Tony's Gourmet Popcorn in various malls and mini outlets.
 |
| Chef Tony's Gourmet Popcorn |
Chef Tony's Gourmet Popcorn is the first Chicago style popcorn I've tried. It is locally made. I like that Chef Tony's Gourmet Popcorn are packed in resealable containers so that you can eat at small amount anytime you wish and place it in the fridge. You can expect that its still crunchy, the next time you open the lid.
♥Original Recipe (125 php)
Chef Tony's Gourmet Popcorn Original Recipe is simply caramel. What I like about the Original recipe is that it is not too sweet. The large round popcorn bits are thinly coated by caramel making it perfectly crispy and tasty at the same time.
 |
| ♥White Chocolate Parmesan (125 php) |
Chef Tony's Gourmet Popcorn White Chocolate Parmesan is also one of my personal favorites. I like the way the salty parmesan cheese flavor is contrasted by the smooth sweet white chocolate. I am impressed at how the white chocolate coats the popcorn and yet still maintains its crunchiness. Since this is not as sweet as the Original Recipe, this can be quite addictive to munch on.
♥White Country Cheddar (125 php)
Chef Tony's Gourmet Popcorn White Country Cheddar is popcorn powdered with rich tasty light white cheddar. This is similar to the White Chocolate Parmesan but lighter because it doesn't have a milky coating. Thus, it is more addictive because you'd want to savor more of that mild cheesy tangy taste. I ain't kidding when I tell you that once I get a hold of this, no one can stop me from infinitely chomping every bit of this!
Chocolate Mallows (125 php)
Chef Tony's Gourmet Popcorn Chocolate Mallows is a special seasonal flavor. Ironically, despite being the most expensive Chef Tony's Gourmet Popcorn variant because of its small cup size, it is the worst flavor I have ever encountered. The sugary sweet chocolate coating with the melted mallows makes it too sweet and less crunchy to eat. No one wanted to eat this so I had a difficult time to finish this all by myself. I definitely don't recommend this even for kids!
How about you? What are your Chef Tony's Gourmet Popcorn favorites? Perhaps, you can recommend our next flavor to try! =)
Chef Tony's Gourmet Popcorn has consistently produced quality popcorn. They make popcorn a unique and fun experience. There are a lot of good variants but there are also those which are not recommendable. Despite being gourmet, their price is very reasonable. In fact, I've noticed that their price range is almost the same as the price for ordinary popcorn sold at special events like when we watched Uncle Sam's Flying Circus.
| Tsinoy Foodies Review Rating | |
Taste
|
★★★★★
|
Price
|
★★★★
|
| ♥=Favorites or Recommended | |
| Chef's Tony's Gourmet Popcorn | |
| Business Address |
mall branches
|
| Business Hours | 10pm-9pm (mall hours) |
| Payment Options | Cash |
| Service Charge | |
| Budget/Person | 125 |
| Contact | |
| Other | |
The first time we tried Pepper Lunch was around 3 years ago at Rockwell Powerplant. Back then, people had to go to Rockwell just to try it out. There is always a long line at the sole Pepper Lunch branch. Soon, more Pepper Lunch branches emerged like the one in Greenbelt 5. A few months ago, Pepper Lunch opened at Robinson's Place which was one of the nearest malls here so my sisters and I decided to dine there for a quick sisterly bonding time.
As expected, the set up and interiors are the same as any Pepper Lunch branch. Their system is pay as you order. A few minutes and your order will be served in hot round sizzling plates.
Japanese Classics
I ordered my Pepper Lunch favorite, the Beef Teriyaki. I love it because its a complete healthy meal with egg, crunchy string beans and corn as side dish. The bowl of rice and the teriyaki sauce is served separately. I like it that way too so I can control the amount of sauce I want. As a standard procedure in Pepper Lunch, the plate cooks the beef so you have to flip it over to cook both sides. After a few minutes, you can now enjoy your sizzling hot meal.
As expected, the set up and interiors are the same as any Pepper Lunch branch. Their system is pay as you order. A few minutes and your order will be served in hot round sizzling plates.
 |
| Beef Teriyaki with Egg (325 php) |
Pepper Rice
My siblings ordered the Beef Pepper Rice. This meal is also very delicious. Sometimes, you just want to savor their Pepper Rice because its simple fragrant pungent taste is awesome. As for the beef, you can use the condiments such as the garlic sauce to add flavor.
In case your wondering, why we ordered beef. We find their beef more delicious than their chicken variants. We have yet to try out their salmon ones. Perhaps I'll try it on my next visit.
Tsinoy Foodies Verdict
Pepper Lunch |
| Beef Pepper Rice (215 php) |
In case your wondering, why we ordered beef. We find their beef more delicious than their chicken variants. We have yet to try out their salmon ones. Perhaps I'll try it on my next visit.
Pepper Lunch has consistent food quality all throughout its branches. If you're in the mood for some sizzling hot meal, then Pepper Lunch is a good option. However, I consider Pepper Lunch as a premium fast food because of its price and quality. Although pricey, they offer a generous amount of quality beef and they serve with Japanese rice in every meal.
| Tsinoy Foodies Review Rating | |
Ambiance
|
★★★
|
Taste
|
★★★★
|
Service
|
★★★
|
Price
|
★★★
|
| ♥=Favorites or Recommended | |
| Pepper Lunch Robinsons Ermita | |
| Business Address |
G/F Padre Faura Wing
Robinsons Place Manila
M. Adriatico Street, Manila
|
| Business Hours | 10am - 9pm (mall hours) |
| Payment Options | Cash |
| Service Charge | |
| Budget/Person | 100-550 |
| Contact | (02) 521-2396 |
| Other | Facebook Fan Page | Website |
Since its new year, I might as well share this treats that are perfect for Noche Buena. Whenever we see Ferino's Bibingka at various malls or booths like last Christmas Noel bazaar, we simpy can't resist their Bibingka and Puto Bumbong.
Everyone in our family loves Bibingka and Puto Bumbong so we've tried out so many Bibingka's and Puto Bumbong. Ferino's is the most frequent one we buy because it has the most booths and branches. But, we only buy from Ferino's if its cooked by charcoal because the ones cooked by electric cookers are not as delicious.
Tsinoy Foodies Verdict
Ferino's Bibingka is a bit expensive for its price. But, the quality as long as its charcoal cooked is consistent so you can satisfy your Bibingka or Puto Bumbong craving without having to risk being disappointed. Other than the price, I'd say Ferino's Bibingka is certainly worth the try.
Everyone in our family loves Bibingka and Puto Bumbong so we've tried out so many Bibingka's and Puto Bumbong. Ferino's is the most frequent one we buy because it has the most booths and branches. But, we only buy from Ferino's if its cooked by charcoal because the ones cooked by electric cookers are not as delicious.
 |
| Bibingka (100 php) |
 |
| Bibingka (100 php) |
Ferino's Bibingka is wrapped in wax paper and served hot as it is always freshly cooked when ordered. It has bits of white cheese ("quesong puti" in Filipino) and salted egg ("itlog maalat" in Filipino). The serving size is just right. It is best eaten with the coconut shreds that comes with it. Ferino's version of Bibingka is good. It enough to satisfy our Bibingka craving any time. But, it is not the best we've had.
 |
| Puto Bumbong (60 php) |
If its one thing I love more than Puto Bumbong. You can also add grated coconut and enjoy. This only has a light butter and sugary taste but its stickiness makes it so much fun to it.
Ferino's Bibingka is a bit expensive for its price. But, the quality as long as its charcoal cooked is consistent so you can satisfy your Bibingka or Puto Bumbong craving without having to risk being disappointed. Other than the price, I'd say Ferino's Bibingka is certainly worth the try.
| Tsinoy Foodies Review Rating | |
Taste
|
★★★★
|
Price
|
★★★
|
| ♥=Favorites or Recommended | |
| Ferino's Bibingka | |
| Business Address | |
| Business Hours | |
| Payment Options | Cash |
| Service Charge | |
| Budget/Person | 60-100 |
| Contact | |
| Other | |
/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
.jpg)
