Box Park Manila

Weekends call for food trips with your loves. And last Saturday was made more special because I got the spend it with one of my closest friends since high school!

Since she's staying in Novaliches, Box Park sounded like a good and accessible place to hang and eat. I've read a lot of hype about the place and my tastebuds had me curious to try their offerings. I particularly craved for the Churros.

We got there quite early (3:30 PM), as most of the stores are still closed or have just opened and not yet catering to orders. >.<

     

 

We went around the stalls and ordered what we fancied. Me and the hubby tried the Bacon Cheese Burger (Php 160) from Boxyard 101 and the Beans and Bullets (Php 155) from Colonel Franks. I was so eager to order from Cajita, unfortunately, they had just opened shop, so the oil still needed to reach the proper temperature needed to fry the churros. I was told that they would accept orders by 4:30 PM. I got 2 orders of the 4-pc churros (Php 99 ea) with chocolate dip.

Kate, Jay and Kurt ordered the T-Bone Steak (Php 170) from Boxyard 101, The Cheesy Bacon Fries (Php 150) and Chili Cheese Fries (Php 150) from The Fry Guys, Quesodilla (Php 95) from Plaza de Taqueria and Nacho Supreme (Php 140) from Porkfolio.

The Bacon Cheese Burger was nice, and hubby liked it because the meat was flavorful. I also agreed with his sentiment on this. My only dislike was that there was just too many sesame seeds on the bun.

 

The Cheesy Bacon Fries was packed with flavor and also you get a bit of entertainment when this is served. The mozzarella cheese topping will be melted in front of you, using a handheld torch.

As amusing as it is, you might need to eat your fries fast, since it becomes soggy a few minutes after the cheese is melted.

The Beans and Bullets was a very sad item... Hubby said the hotdog/sausage tasted like longganisa. I strongly disagreed since it was really flavorless for me. To add to the disappointment, the chili con carne also lacked in flavor...

The Nachos and Steak were just average in taste. The Quesodilla is another sad story. The filling was just too thin and tasted like The Sandwich Guys' Grilled Cheese Sandwich...

Last but not least, the Churros from Cajita. Me and hubby have already tried a bunch of churros places, and we probably know a good from a bad one. Our current favorites are the ones from Churreria La Lola and Don Churros. Reading about Cajita made me look forward to trying it, the result, disappointment...

To start of, the churros was quite heavy as opposed to the light batter from La Lola. It was also not generously rolled into sugar. To add to it, the chocolate dip was bland, it was too diluted and close to losing any trace of chocolate. In all honesty, we would rather have Don's Original Churros from Fisher Mall than this. I also computed the cost of having La Lola vs Cajita, and La Lola would actually come out to be cheaper, given the size and quality of what you'll get. Our verdict, not going back here again.

 

It's just a shame that we weren't able to try The Pie Guys, Ozawa, Kazam, and Mr. Diggins since we were already done when they started to open shop.

I couldn't really figure out all the hype and praises about the place since we all found nothing special in it. Oh well, to each his own.

BOX PARK MANILA

73 Block 2 Lot 28 Congressional Ave., Tandang Sora, Quezon City

PANTENE, BDJ and ME :)

Blessed by another beauty package from BDJ Box, I was able to miraculously transform my severely damaged hair to a significantly healthier one.

I got full-sized Pantene Hair Fall Control Shampoo, Conditioner and the holy grail of hair, the 3-Minute Miracle! It felt like I had the Power Puff Girls, soon to be battling against the dreaded damaged hair. :p

I've had a love-hate relationship with Pantene. Our family started using this when I was in my early elementary years. We loved how it made our hair soft and how it took care of our scalp. Unfortunately, when I had my hair dyed after college, it started to have a harsh reaction against my scalp, prompting me to change brands... :(

It has been a while since I've had my hair colored 'cause I've been growing it to have my natural hair back. And this arrived just in time to give me the chance to rekindle the lovely relationship I had with Pantene. :)

Moving on, this is how my hair looks like now, before using the Pantene Hair Fall Control product line:

You can clearly see how damaged and dry my hair is due to the series of hair coloring sessions... It does not only look rough, it also feels rough and tangled...I also experience a lot of hairfall due to breakage.

I've regularly used the Pantene trio for over a week now, and I am astonished with the results!
It really changed the condition of my hair!

   

My hair now definitely looks a lot better than before and it also feels so much softer and smoother to the touch! It's also easier to manage and my hairfall has also lessened significantly. 

Another thing I love is the long lasting scent it gives my hair and that it does not irritate my scalp, which is a huge plus! I just have to mention that the 3 Minute Miracle is indeed a miracle worker! True to its word, it can make your hair softer and healthier just by leaving it on for 3 minutes and rinsing thoroughly after. I was in awe when I used it for the first time and felt how soft and smooth my hair got after drying it.

With all these said, I believe that this experience is a successful rekindling of my love for Pantene! Welcome back Pantene!! 

Now I am a #DoItAllBella and I can #DoItAllHair, all thanks to Pantene and BDJ Box!

Eastwood Trip

It's been quite a while since we visited Eastwood, being that the parking in the area is not "lowered- friendly".

Incidentally, we were in the area last Tuesday, and since the car that we brought is not lowered, we decided to have lunch at Eastwood.

There are two places that I've been wanting to try here, Costa Coffee and Sisig Society. Talk about hitting two birds with one stone. :D

We first visited Costa Coffee to experience the famous UK coffee. Of course, I had to try their signature Flat White (Php 150), while hubby got the Belgian Chocolate Cream Frostino in Massimo (Php 185)

I took a sip of the Flat White and I was "wowed" on how smooth it was! I like my coffee strong and smooth, and the Flat White delivered the perfect cup. You can really taste the bitterness of the coffee, but it wasn't overpowering and was toned down a bit by the ratio of the milk added. 

The Belgian Chocolate Cream was not my thing. Hubby also said that it was just so-so. I found it odd-tasting as compared against our favorite Iced Belgian Milk Chocolate from Blenz.

I didn't get to try the pastries since we were going to lunch after our morning brew.

The interior of the place was simple and aired a homey feel.

Will be going back to give their other drinks and pastries a try.

COSTA COFFEE

Eastwood Citywalk 1, Libis, Quezon City

Ground Floor, Robinsons Place Manila, Ermita, Manila

32nd st, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City

Next Stop: LUNCH!

I first heard about Sisig Society from a friend of ours, and after researching, I found out that the thing that sets them apart from other sisig restaurants is that offer semi-customizeable sisig, other than their own unique signature mix.

I am a huge fan of sisig, and I 've already had a mix of good and not so good to disappointing versions. So here's what we had:

One Solo order (Php 159) each of Crispy Sisig and Bacon & Cheese, both with pork as the meat. You're given a choice of either rice or nachos. I got rice and he opted for nachos.

The Crispy Sisig (on top) was served first, and we were quite disappointed with the serving size... Next was the Bacon & Cheese sisig (on bottom), wherein you could see the bits of bacon mixed in the pork sisig.

   

There was nothing special with the Crunchy Sisig, it tasted like ordinary so-so sisigs. As for the Bacon & Cheese sisig, it had a smokey aroma brought about by the bacon. However, it had the taste of tinapa, which I found to be quite confusing as I am sure that the meat was pork. Oh, and I could not find a taste of cheese in my order. 

Truth be told, we prefer Sisig Hooray a lot more than their version...it was a sad day for sisig...

That's it for our short visit to Eastwood. Will probably be a while before we return to the area. :)

SISIG SOCIETY

Eastwood Citywalk 1, Libis, Quezon City

Casa Verde

We finally got the chance to dine at Casa Verde!!

Last November 1, the hubby's dad celebrated his birthday at UP Town Center and chose to dine at Casa Verde.

We were totally giddy since we've been wanting to try "The Mighty Ton". Unfortunately, we arrived a bit late (since we had to finish the November 1 tradition in our house) , and all other members of our party were done eating. Since we were the only ones who were going to eat, we settled on getting the Big Bang (Php 438) and an order of their Buffalo Wings (Php 168).

The Big Bang is a 9-inch burger topped with onions, lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise and American cheese. Served with a side of fries.

The wings were served first. Nothing really special about the presentation. It was served with a side of bleu cheese dressing. It was a tad spicy for my liking. I needed to smother the wings with the bleu cheese to enjoy it properly.

Next was the grand entrance of The Bing Bang.



It was massive!! We had it cut into 4 so we could get a good hold on the burger. The meat was tender, juicy and very flavorful. I only had half of a cut, and I was full! Hubby managed to finish a portion and my other half, so we ended up taking home half of it.

Next time we'll be trying their signature ribs and hopefully, the Mighty Ton! :D

Tip: When dining in Casa Verde, it's best to call for reservations or arrive early as it easily gets packed.

CASA VERDE

Second Floor, UP Town Center, Katipunan Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City

Lower ground, Building B, SM Megamall, Ortigas, Mandaluyong City (Opening Soon)

Domino's B1T1

Pizza anyone?

It's that time again when Domino's Pizza gives you a reason to pig out on your favorite pizzas.

Starting today (November 2, 2015) until November 8, 2015, Domino's is on a Buy 1 Take 1 promo on ALL of its flavors!

Participating branches are: Retiro, CK Square Mall and Silver City

Pizza party!!! :D