New Found Love!

Last Friday night, the wind took us all the way to UP Town Center for dinner. Our first choice was Shrimp Bucket, but unfortunately, we were seventh on the waiting list. After being listed, we went around the area and my attention was caught by Tokyo Tonteki's Php499 Meal for Two promo, and of course, because they had bottomless drinks. :)

     

Tokyo Tonteki deviates from the over-hyped katsu craze and specializes in making the best pork loin steak you've ever had! With this, we were very intrigued on trying their specialty. We availed the promo and got their Regular Tonteki (Php 375 per order) and the Stir Fried Japanese Mushrooms (Php 250 ala carte) for our sides. We also added an order of their Chicken Karaage (Php 250) and a bottomless rootbeer (Php 85).

We were first served with their pork miso soup. The flavor of the miso was very light and delightful. The soup was also very meaty, having a lot of pork bits in it. This is probably my favorite miso soup.  The  best part is, it's refillable! I was able to finish three servings, while Kyle had four. Yes, it was that good. :)



Our mouthwatering main dishes: Regular Tonteki, Stir Fried Japanese Mushrooms and Chicken Karaage

      

Their tonteki was heavenly! Premium pork loin slow cooked and simmered in their signature tonteki sauce, topped with toasted garlic chips. The meat was so succulent and really soaked up the delicious sauce, it also had a decent amount of fat on it.

Complementing  our main dish were the stir fried mushrooms and chicken karaage. The mushrooms were divine! It had a very bold buttery flavor. Texture wise, it was both soft and chewy, very enjoyable to eat. The chicken karaage tasted like your usual boneless fried chicken.

The promo comes with refillable soup, rice and cabbage, but we only managed to finish one serving, except for the soup. I think their promo is actually good enough for three people.

Tokyo Tonteki is a definite go-to place for meat lovers! Will definitely be going back here!

TOKYO TONTEKI

Ground Floor, UP Town Center, Katipunan Avenue, Quezon City (02-9552269, 02-9552270)

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

Late bloomer: The katsu craze

Been wondering what all the hype is about these "katsu" restaurants, when for all I know, katsu is just glorified Japanese porkchop.

Just out of curiosity, we had our lunch at Yabu: House of Katsu.

The place exhibited a bit of an intimate mood, wall decorations were composed of  a series of manga (Japanese style comics) story lines talking about how Yabu originated. It's actually and interesting read.

The menu is mainly comprised of different types of katsu. The first thing that gave Yabu and other katsu places a good plus, is that they served unlimited rice, miso soup, cabbage and fruits.

The katsu sauce is a "do-it-yourself" kind of sauce, wherein you are given a bowl with black and white sesame seeds that you can grind (using the pestle) and combine with their signature sauce.

We got the Tori Menchi Katsu Set and the Rosu Katsu Set.



The Tori Menchi Katsu (Php 385) is a Yabu's version of chicken cordon bleu. Nothing really special about it. I love the cabbage and sesame dressing more than the katsu.



Rosu Set (Php 355), Kyle said that the pork was soft but there was nothing that "wowed" him about their katsu.

We still enjoyed our meal, mainly because of all the unlimited side dishes. I was planning to go back for their cabbage and sesame dressing, but luckily, Kewpie sells something that tastes similar to Yabu's version :D.

Overall, it was just an "ok" experience and I found the price a bit steep for what I'm getting.

YABU

Quezon City Branch - Second Floor, The Block, SM City North EDSA, Quezon City

Pasay Branch - 2nd Floor, Main Mall, Mall of Asia Complex (MOA), Pasay City

Taguig Branch - Fifth Floor, SM Aura Premier, C5 Road Corner 26th Street, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City

Ortigas Branch - Second Floor, Building A, SM Mega Mall, Ortigas Centre, Ortigas, Mandaluyong City

New Manila Branch - Lower Ground Floor, Robinsons Magnolia, New Manila, Quezon City

Glorietta Branch - Second Floor, Glorietta 5, Ayala Center, Glorietta Complex, Makati City

Alabang Branch - Ground Floor, Alabang Town Center Mall, Alabang, Muntinlupa City

 

 

 

 

 

My Kind of HOUSE

I am a huge fan of pasta, specially lasagna. Meaty, cheesy, fresh out of the oven, lasagna...YUM!

Long have we searched for a restaurant that could make us crave for their lasagna, luckily, our search did not fall in vain.

I am proud to introduce to you, THE HOUSE OF LASAGNA.



(Photo grabbed from House of Lasagna's facebook page)

House of Lasagna offers 9 different versions of lasagne along with various appetizers and main dishes. They also serve unlimited garlic bread with every order of lasagna.

Among all of their versions, we always stick with the Beef Lasagna and Carbonara Lasagna. We fell in love with these two when we first dined at their Centris branch.

The Centris branch is pretty spacious and it doesn't really get that packed because it has ample space to entertain customers.



For our latest visit, we ordered the same lasagna variants and just added an order of their Southern Fried Chicken Skin. Service was prompt and our appetizer was served after only a 5-minute wait. The serving time for their lasagna normally takes around 10-15 minutes, since it is made from scratch.

Their version of chicken skin was generously seasoned with salt and pepper, then deep fried for the perfect crunch. It was served with a ramekin of vinegar to help dispel the oil. Unfortunately, it was a bit too flavorful and salty for my taste. I actually branded it as "sosi" chicken skin.

 

Our lasagne were then served on our table, along with the unlimited garlic bread.

 

Beef Lasagna (Php 200)                                                     Carbonara Lasagna (Php 200)

Piping hot, cheese still bubbling, pasta cooked al dente,  plus the wonderful aroma that lets you know that you're in for a blast.

When eating pasta, I like combining both red and white sauces, it's no different when it comes to lasagna. I got small portions from both dishes and combined equal portions on my fork for that well-balanced tomato-white sauce-combo.

Stand alone, the Beef Lasagna packed a punch! It had a generous amount of well seasoned beef and wonderfully melted cheese. The Carbonara Lasagna also delivered the same satisfaction. The creamy white sauce, bits of bacon and mushroom, and the oozing amount of melted cheese is the perfect dish for those who are into white sauce based pasta. Both lasagne will surely leave you craving for more.

Our meal left us full and smiling.

House of Lasagna has a total of four (4) branches. My only unhappy thought about this place is that prices in their other branches (i.e., Greenhills and SM Megamall) are Php 50 to Php 80 higher than their Centris branch.

HOUSE OF LASAGNA

Little Baguio Branch - Unit 1-B, G & L Building, Jose Abad Santos Street Corner V. Cruz, Little Baguio, San Juan City (02-5708610)

Diliman Branch - Unit D, Two Cyberpod, Eton Centris Walk, Quezon Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City (02-7097004)

Greenhills Branch - Ground Floor, Virra Mall, Greenhills Shopping Centre, Greenhills, San Juan City (02-5708610)

Ortigas Branch - Lower Ground Floor, Building A, SM Mega Mall, Ortigas, Mandaluyong City (02-6550968)