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

NATIONAL PIZZA DAY

California Pizza Kitchen (CPK) celebrates National Pizza Day by offering a buy 1 get 1 pizza promo!

 

Here are the terms and conditions of the promo:

"Order a REGULAR PIZZA & get ANOTHER ONE FOR FREE on August 13, 14 & 15, 2014. Promo is available for Dine-in, Takeout & Walk-in only, at all CPK locations in the Philippines. Advance ordering will not be accepted. Items for takeout are subject to 10% packaging charge. Not valid with Thin Crust, Personal and Kids Pizzas, Pick Your Match, existing promos, senior citizen/discounts, privileges, catering, CPK gift certificates and the EAT card."

Still two more days to get your pizza fix! 

A Touch of TORCH

Torch was introduced to us during a car-club meet. Ever since that event, we've been coming back here when we're within the Greenhills area.

It's located along Connecticut Street and can be a bit tricky to see because it's signage is covered by a tree branch.

The interior has a casual and comfortable feel.



Their menu is also quite interesting, it's like East meets West.

We were in the mood for a heavy lunch so we got quite a lot from their menu.

For starters, Volcano Roll (Php 369.95) and Buffalo Asian Wings (Php 324.95).

    

The Volcano Roll is a baked sushi with tempura, tamago, topped with spice-baked scallops and smothered with cheese and Japanese mayo. I love their presentation! Overflowing, lava-like cheese that makes this dish just delish!

For the Buffalo Asian Wings, we requested it to have less heat, they happily accommodated our request. :) The crispy wings were coated with a sweet glaze, followed by a subtle kick of spice that balances out the flavor. Perfect.

Next dish we tried was the Philly Cheesesteak Pizza (Php 369.95).



Simply put, it's your favorite philly cheesesteak sandwich turned into a pizza. You can never go wrong with this one.

For our main dishes, we got the Beef Short Plate (Php 249.95) and Salpicao Medallion (Php 449.95).



The Beef Short Plate (left) had hefty servings of tender beef belly with a generous amount of fat in it, served with garlic parsley rice with a side of beans and carrots. This was probably the best dish I had during our meal. The beef was just bursting with flavor and the fat, oh the fat, the words escape me.



The Salpicao Medallion is certified Angus Beef wrapped in bacon also served with garlic parsley rice with a side of sauteed French beans and carrots. We preferred it well-done. They serve this dish on a sizzling hot stone to prevent it from getting cold and greasy easily. The plating gives this dish a good first impression, but there was really nothing special with the steak.

Torch is a good place for simple, casual dates and budget friendly, feel-good food trips. We really enjoyed and were greatly satisfied with our lunch.

TORCH

Home Studio Building, 63 Connecticut Street, Greenhills, San Juan City (02-4773771, 02-5020000)

Celebrating Life at Octoboy

Last night we celebrated my dad's 63rd birthday at Octoboy, Tomas Morato. Octoboy is an establishment specializing in Japanese food.

My brother bought a couple of vouchers from Ensogo. The voucher was limited to the following food items: Okonomiyaki, Udon, Ramen and Sushi Rolls.

From that selection, we ordered the following:

Ramen - Roast Pork (Php 295) and Seafood (Php 285)

Udon - Beef Udon (Php 335)

Okonomiyaki - Octopus (Php 285) , Bacon (Php 290), Peppered Beef (Php 340) and Mushroom (Php 285)

Sushi Rolls - Unagi (Php 195), Philadelphia (Php 195) and California Crunch (Php 165)

The ramen were served first.

         

The Roast Pork Ramen had thin pork slices that had a decent amount of fat on it while the Seafood Ramen had kani, naruto maki and fish fillet. Both the Roast Pork Ramen (left) and Seafood Ramen (right) used miso as soup stock, and were garnished with spring onions and dried seaweed strips. The broth was really flavorful and it was a nice way to start our meal and warm our tummies.

The Beef Yakiudon came in next.



Stir fried noodles topped with beef strips, vegetables, Japanese mayonnaise and okonomiyaki sauce (I think). I couldn't really understand the overall flavor that it had, but it didn't taste bad. I guess it just had too many flavors in it.

Okonomiyaki (clockwise: Octopus, Bacon, Peppered Beef, and Mushroom) is basically like very soft and savory pancake wit toppings

            

The Octopus Okonomiyaki (octopus, mozzarella, okonomiyaki sauce, bonito shavings, Japanese mayonnaise and dried seaweed) had a very similar taste with their takoyaki.

The Bacon Okonomiyaki (bacon, mozzarella, okonomiyaki sauce, onion mayonnaise, lettuce and toasted cheddar) was very cheesy and was loaded with bacon in every bite.

The Peppered Beef Okonomiyaki (gyudon beef, mozzarella, black pepper sauce, miso mayonnaise, crispy onions and corn kernels) was the crowd favorite. It had a generous amount of beef with a peppery flavor that was balanced out by the mayonnaise.

Last was the Mushroom Okonomiyaki (sauteed mushroom, mozzarella, tonkatsu sauce, garlic mayonnaise, sauteed leeks and bacon bits). Unfortunately, this was the least liked and most forgettable among the four.

On to the next set, Sushi Rolls (left to right: California Crunch, Philadelphia Roll and Unagi Roll)



California Crunch is a variation of the traditional California Maki. This is basically california maki that's been fried and topped of with spicy mayonnaise. This one delivers a "kick", brought about by the spicy mayonnaise.

Philadelphia roll had salmon and cream cheese fillings and was also fried. I practically like almost anything with cream cheese in it, so this one's a keeper.

The Unagi Roll was the biggest disappointment of the night. The piece of eel that's used as the filling was tiny, and you could hardly taste the flavor of the eel. It was like eating a roll of rice with sweet sauce on it.

Over all, the food was just ok, nothing extraordinary.

 

Advisory: Certain portions of Tomas Morato's undergoing drainage improvements. Traffic is pretty heavy and parking is more limited than the usual.

OCTOBOY

Tomas Morato Branch - 186 Tomas Morato Corner Scout De Guia, Sacred Heart, Quezon City (02-9902357)

Banawe Branch - 670 Banawe Street, Santo Domingo, Quezon City (02-4092704, 02-5835496)

Libis Branch - Fourth Floor, Eastwood Mall, Libis, Quezon City

Ready to go MAD FOR PIZZA?

UPDATE: NOW CLOSED

A pizza place just recently opened along the lines of Tomas Morato. Their concept (like Project Pie) is that you can opt to design your own pizza, with unlimited toppings from their available ingredients, for a reasonable price.

After our errands to fix our "baby", we went to Mad For Pizza for a late lunch. The main selling point for us was the fact that they offer bottomless drinks. :D

I didn't opt to design my own pizza, since I wanted to try their own creation. We went for Justin's Favorite and the Amboy. Unfortunately, the Amboy was not available during our visit (boooo!), so I just settled for the Spinach Cheese Dip.

The pizza takes around 30 minutes of serving time since it is made from scratch, yes, even the dough. So I suggest ordering an appetizer or another main dish if you're really hungry. If you opt for the design your own pizza (Php 280), you can supervise their chef on which of and the amount of the toppings that you want to go on your pizza. Here's a glimpse of the toppings they offer:

   

Our Spinach Cheese Dip (Php 178) came with their herbed dough, that was toasted and had a nice crunch. I was, however, disappointed with the dip. I expected the spinach to have been blended with the cheese instead of having place spinach leaves into the dip. I could hardly taste the flavor of the spinach.



Pizza was served fresh out of the oven. Justin's Favorite (Php 250) was made of mozzarella, parmesan, cheddar, pepperoni, bacon, sausage and meatball crumble.



The pizza was just ordinary and the pizza sauce tasted similar to sweet-style spaghetti sauce that's readily available in the supermarket.

Our overall dining experience was just on the average side. Will still be coming back here to try the Amboy and take a shot at their make your own pizza.

MAD FOR PIZZA

Second Floor, Il Terrazzo, South Triangle, Quezon City