Tom Sawyer's Chicken!!!

This is actually a very late post.

Late 2014, we went to Tiendesitas to try the rumored comeback of the famous, Tom Sawyer's Chicken.

All I can say is that, the trip was definitely worth it! The food is really affordable.

We actually ordered 3 meals, namely, 1 Chicken and Spaghetti (Php 138), 1 2-pcs Chicken (Php 138), and 1 Hickory Ribs with rice (Php 198).

    

You can clearly see that their spaghetti sauce is loaded with meat, and they don't skimp on pouring sauce. I liked their spaghetti cause it had the right balance of Italian and Filipino style cooking.

Their chickens were definitely crunchy on the outside and very juicy on the inside! It was seasoned just right and the flavor is not left only on the skin. They also serve unlimited gravy, which perfectly compliments their chicken.

I have mixed emotions on the Hickory Ribs. It tasted amazing! The sauce was just wonderful (very similar to Racks), the flavor of the meat was just wow and the size was enough for two people. Unfortunately, it was tough, really tough. I had a hard time cutting through it using their knife, and a harder time chewing it. :( The ribs is served with a serving of their Hickory Rice, which I found to be nothing special.

Overall, our meal was nice, and challenging. Would definitely come back here, but I do hope that their Hickory Ribs improve.

Tom Sawyer's Old Fashioned Krispy Chicken

Ground Floor, Building A, Tiendesitas, Ortigas Avenue Corner E. Rodriguez, Ugong, Pasig City ; 02-966-22-91

Shakey's Monday Madness

As part of Shakey's 40th Anniversary Celebration, they are currently having a promo for their Chicken 'N' Mojos!



This promo is exclusive to Shakey's SuperCard holders and is available for dine-in only. It will be available every Monday, until August 24, 2015.

Last August 3, we obliged ourselves to some of our favorite Chicken 'N' Mojos, a family sized one!

       

So visit the Shakey's branch nearest you and satisfy your cravings!

Tip: You can get the Shakey's SuperCard the same day you dine to avail of the promo :)

Myth Busted

For quite some time now, I've been hearing and reading a lot of good feedback about the food at Grams Diner. I must admit that I was a bit skeptic to try their food since I found their offerings a bit pricey. But my curiosity to try the famed "World Famous Tapa" was enough for me to choose to dine here over Mercato.

The place wasn't packed, and we were able to get good seats. So we browsed through their menu and got the World Famous Tapa (dinner size - Php 460), Smothered Chicken (Php 350) and an order of their Bottomless Iced Tea (Php 105).

        

Their iced tea was served in a mason jar, and it had a very light and refreshing lemony flavor. We were pleasantly surprised when the tapa was served, because of the generous serving size. An order comes with a serving of rice and 2 eggs done your way.

Their tapa is more into the crunchy style than your usual juicy and "saucy" tapa. Unfortunately, the taste was no where near to being "world famous" in my book. The meat tasted similar to the skin of Jollibee's Chicken Joy (so sad). For the price, it was utterly disappointing and definitely not worth it. In a heartbeat, I would go for Mr. Jone's or Banapple's yummy tapa!

So the Smothered Chicken was served, and I was not impressed with the presentation. I was expecting a dish that was "smothered" with cheese, but what I got was just a slice of cheese (American Cheddar, I think), melted on top of the grilled chicken. On the up side, it was served with a side of home-made mashed potatoes and buttered vegetables.

As to the taste of the chicken, it was also not impressive. The chicken skin had a lot of charred parts, which became the dominant flavor of the dish. Nothing special about it.

The only thing that we both loved about dining here was just the Bottomless Iced Tea. With the amount that we spent, we should have just filled our tummies at Mercato.

GRAMS DINER

Ground Floor, Crossroads Building, 32nd Street, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City

A Quick Lunch Out

My former colleagues were just around Ortigas, so we decided to meet up for a quick lunch.

We dined at Kyochon, in SM Megamall. KyoChon is relatively new in the Philippines, but its specialty is something that is already familiar and loved by many, the Korean fried chicken. This place is being endorsed by the famous K-Pop Star, Lee Min Ho. KyoChon takes pride in the fact that their chicken has no glacial acetic acid, sodium saccharine, and MSG, making it the healthier option.



We ordered the Large Drumsticks (Php 540 - 8 pcs) from the original series. We were supposed to get Combo B (which consists of 20 pcs of wings, salad, 4 drinks and 4 cups of rice), but the server told us that we might not appreciate it because the wing parts are small. Hence, she suggested to get the drumsticks, which we gladly obliged to. Two of my friends ordered plain rice, and one ordered the Kimchi Fried Rice (Pph 99)

The chicken took quite a while to be served. The rice was served along with the chicken (sorry for the blurred picture).

 

 

Looks like Bonchon, but tastes better!

The chicken is much juicier and the flavor seeps through the actual meat. All four of us agreed on this.

The Kimchi fried rice is not for the faint of heart (and taste buds). Strong kimchi flavor was well incorporated with the rice and had a nice kick  to it. It's actually a perfect pair for their chicken.

I would say it surpasses Bonchon, and would be the better choice for Korean fried chicken, that is if you're near the area.

KYOCHON

Upper Ground Floor, SM Megamall, Building B

All for Php999!

Chili's is one of our long time favorites, and the return of the Php 999 Food For Three promo, made it even more irresistible!

The promo comes with an appetizer and two full entrees that you can choose from a featured selection. We availed their promo and got the Wings Over Buffalo (you can choose either carrots or celery for the side), Chicken Crispers and Country-Style Pork Belly.

Service was very prompt. The Wings Over Buffalo was served after five minutes.



About 12 pieces of cute drumettes tossed in spicy buffalo wing sauce. I love the amount of heat. The bleu cheese dressing was the perfect companion for this.

Served next was the Chicken Crispers.



Five big pieces of golden fried chicken fingers. Crunchy on the outside, yet very moist and tender on the inside. It's accompanied by a side of corn, french fries and honey-mustard dressing. The honey-mustard dressing was divine! The mustard flavor wasn't overpowering and it had the right amount of sweetness.

Last to arrive was the Country-Style Pork Belly.

     

Three big and meaty slices of grilled pork belly served with a side of mixed vegetables and cilantro rice. Truth be told, the pork tasted like ordinary grilled pork, but when you dip it in their sour-spicy vinegar, it adds on a whole new dimension of flavor. The vinegar is able to remove that charred taste and significantly improve on the "pork" flavor. I'm not really a fan of cilantro, but the pork belly demanded to be eaten with rice!

Meal for three, devoured by two. :)

CHILI'S

Tomas Morato Branch - Tomas Morato Avenue, Laging Handa, Quezon City (02-3725017, 02-3725007)

Ortigas Branch - Second Floor, Building A, SM Mega Mall, Ortigas Centre, Ortigas, Mandaluyong City ( 02-6310380)

Greenhills Branch - 26 Missouri Street, Greenhills, San Juan City (02-7272959)

Greenbelt Branch - Level 2, Greenbelt 5, Ayala Center, Makati City (02-7293022)

Rockwell Branch - Ground Floor, Power Plant Mall, Rockwell, Makati City (02-6596527)

Alabang Branch - Ground Floor, Alabang Town Center, Alabang, Muntinlupa City (02-8462647)