Lasagna Day!

Last July 29, 2015, we celebrated Lasagna Day and House of Lasagna hosted a Buy 1 Take 1 Promo on their beef lasagna.



I wouldn't miss this simply because it's our favorite lasagna!

So the boyfie went ahead to their Greenhills Branch. He got us a seat around 5PM, ordered our favorite Chicken Skin (Php 180) and a Beef Lasagna. I arrived at the branch by 5:45 PM and the only item served was just the Chicken Skin, the complimentary bread wasn't also refilled even though we already requested twice.

So this was the crowd when I got there. Still manageable, but it got really full during our stay.



We waited for another 10 minutes before our Beef Lasagna was served. I again requested for our bread, it was acknowledged, but wasn't delivered. The servers kept on giving bread to other tables who did not request for any even though I called their attention. They're very disoriented and inattentive. You could actually see that they were overwhelmed with the crowd and were severely untrained for such an event. I finally got my bread when I personally went to the counter and waited for it.



While we were eating, I noticed that the guests to my left didn't have anything on their table yet. Kyle told me that they were seated just about 5 minutes after him. So technically, they were waiting to be served for over an hour already. Orders kept on flying out of the kitchen, but their table wasn't served, they already followed up quite a few times, but the orders of those who arrived later were served first. I wonder what training these people underwent, if any. Given the benefit that the place was indeed packed and they were also entertaining take-out orders (yes, they allowed take out even though the promo said it was for "dine-in only"), they should have anticipated that it would be chaotic.

Going back to our dining experience, we, ofcourse, ran out of bread again. But this time, it took only about 2 to 3 follow-ups and I didn't have to go directly to the counter. The guests to my left were finally served 1 Beef Lasagna (I didn't know why they were served just one when it's a buy 1 take 1 promo and there were 2 of them seated on the table). We asked for our bill around 6:45 PM and that was the only time that the 2nd lasagna of our neighboring guest was served.

It took about another 10 minutes before our bill was served, since I noticed that she was processing another table's bill.

To sum up our dining experience that day, it was very disappointing. Here are a few things that I noticed:

1. The staff were definitely not prepared, very inattentive, resulting to a lot of delays

2. This branch prioritized take-out

3. The serving size of the lasagna was noticeably smaller than the regular serving size (See previous experience here)

Holding promos are nice, but hopefully, they make sure that they are well-prepared for it. It's a given fact that a massive amount of people will line up when you have a promo, but it shouldn't be an excuse to compromise service and food quality.

This was the scene outside the branch around 7:15 PM.

Mexican Night!

We recently discovered a gem along the street of Scout Castor, near Tomas Morato.

La Taqueria Amiga Mia serves Mexican food, and I can say that they're very good at it.

They have a very simple menu, which makes it a breeze to order.

We had their Nachos (large), Tacos (3pcs per order), Chimichanga, and Home-made Avocado Ice Cream.

We were asked for our choice of meat, and we got ground beef for all the three dishes. Meat choices are ground beef, chicharones, pollo asada, carnitas, barbacoa, mexican sausage, callos, lengua, karne asado and pescado.

The Nachos were served first, and the serving was huge for its price of just Php 145. The nachos were literally overloaded with toppings. We loved the flavor of the ground beef, perfectly blending with the cheese, sour cream and salsa.



While happily munching on our Nachos, the Taco Trio (Php 245) was served.  The presentation was well done and it looked really loaded and appetizing. When we tried it, we both agreed that It tasted so similar with the Nachos. It was good, but I think they should put a little twist on the salsa or cheese sauce used on the Tacos.



Next to be served was the Chimichanga (Php 245). We opted for Onion Silantro Rice, and again, Ground Beef. My pictures don't do justice as to the size of this beast! Everything mixed inside the Chimichanga just blended so well, the Onion Cilantro Rice gave the perfect balance for all the flavors.

     

We were full by the time we finished the Chimichanga, but we wanted to try their Churros. Unfortunately, it wasn't available, so we ended up ordering their home-made Avocado Ice Cream (Php 100).



It was really creamy and you could taste the full-on avocado flavor with some avocado bits. Perfect ending to our hefty meal!

La Taqueria Amiga Mia also serves beer and is a good place to just chill and drink with friends. Although, it's best to arrive a bit early as the place has very limited seating and parking is a challenge.

La Taqueria Amiga Mia

93-B Scout Castor Street, Near Tomas Morato, Laging Handa, Quezon City (02 - 411-1234)

TORCHed again! The UP Town Center Experience

Last weekend me and the hubby wanted to go on a food trip for lunch. Both of us were craving for burgers, but we wanted to deviate from our default choices. So the hubby decided to go to Maginhawa.

I had a really nice time going around Maginhawa during my previous trip and was actually looking forward to it. We arrived there a few minutes before 12 noon, and we realized that it was too early to be on the prowl since almost all of the good places are still closed and will open only late in the afternoon. So we just decided to go all the way to UP Town Center.

We initially planned to dine at Casa Verde, unfortunately, we were 10th on their waiting list >.< . Knowing that Torch has a branch there, we went there instead. (I will be back for you Casa Verde!)

We were actually surprised to see that only two tables were occupied, being that it was already a bit past 12 noon. We happily settled in the corner, couch-seated table and ordered our favorites: Buffalo Asian Wings, Beef Short Plate and Bacon Roll (for a change) For the Buffalo Asian Wings, I requested if they could hold mixing-in the spicy sauce. They offered me a better alternative, which is to serve the sauce separately.

The Bacon Roll (Php 229.99) - Overloaded with bacon bits and cream cheese, yummy in every bite! The only thing that we noticed was that the rice used for it wasn't Japanese rice, since the roll would just collapse when I use the chopstick to pick one up. Hope they use real Japanese rice next time. :)



Buffalo Asian Wings (Php 324.95) - One of our staple orders. Yummy crispy wings, with sauce separately served. The two sauces are described as "Two Asian Sauces", one  on the right is sweet with a hint of barbecue and the other one tasted like mild spiced honey. Both go perfectly well with the wings! I personally prefer the spiced honey sauce.



Beef Short Plate (Php 269.95) - Our favorite main dish and definitely a bang for the buck! Tender beef belly slices drenched in mushroom gravy, with a side of buttered vegetables and a serving of garlic rice.



Torch is definitely one of our go-to places for affordable and delicious comfort food!

The good news is that the now have four branches:

TORCH GREENHILLS
63 Connecticut Street, Greenhills, San Juan, Metro Manila
477-3771
Sun to Tue - 7:00 am to 12:00 mn
Wed to Sat - 7:00 am to 3:00 am

TORCH KATIPUNAN
Ground Floor UP Town Center, Katipunan Avenue, Quezon City
287-8675
Sun to Thu - 10:00 am to 11:00 pm
Fri to Sat - 10:00 am to 12:00 am

TORCH TRINOMA
2nd Level Garden Restaurants, Trinoma, ESDA cor. North Ave., Quezon City
730-4102
Sun to Sat - 10:00 am to 11:00 pm

TORCH GREENBELT
Level 1, Greenbelt 5, Ayala Center, Makati City
751-6213
Sun to Tue - 10:00 am to 12:00 mn
Wed to Sat - 10:00 am to 3:00 am

1st Blogverssary and KRISPY KREME 78th Birthday!

Oh my, I didn't notice that today is my blog's first birthday, yey! Thank you so much for my readers and I hope that you don't get tired of following  / checking out my blog. ^_^

I haven't been that active recently since work has been really toxic, but I promise to make it up. ;)

Since I have a lot of catching up to do, I'll go ahead with my first post.

It just so happens that today is Krispy Kreme's 78th Anniversary! They have an on-going promo, you get to purchase a box of 6 of their Original Glazed Donuts for only Php 78! How? Simply follow their instructions here.

A summary of their mechanics include getting a screen cap or printing their official poster (as seen below), from their Facebook account. You could also download their app, create an account, and use the coupon which will appear in your "Rewards" tab. You can purchase up to 2 dozens of their yummy Original Glazed Donuts if you do both of the options above.



So what are you waiting for, go now while supplies last!! ^_^

Tip: The coupon can be used until July 17, so do both (screencap  and download the app) and just redeem your coupon at a later date. ;)

Starbucks Frappuccino® and Friends Promo

Today's the day guys! Buy 1 Take 1 on the featured summer frappuccino of Starbucks!



Below are the official promo terms and conditions:

1.    On April 28 and 29, 2015 from 2pm to 4pm, customers can avail a Buy One, Get One offer on Summer Berry Panna Cotta or Dark Mocha Panna Cotta Frappuccino^® Blended Beverage.

2.    Offer is limited to a maximum of two (2) purchased Summer Berry Panna Cotta or Dark Mocha Panna Cotta  Frappuccino^® Blended Beverages per transaction.

3.    This promotion cannot be combined with other offers or promotions.

4.    One (1) Beverage Star will be earned for the purchased beverage when paid using the Starbucks Card.

5.    In the purchase of goods and services which are on promotional discount, the senior citizen or handicapped individuals can avail of the promotional discount or the discount provided:

Example:

·        The promotional discount (Buy One, Get One offer)

·        Regular senior citizen or handicapped discount

Per DTI-NCR Permit # 4613, Series of 2015

Enjoy!!!

A Day Down South

I never expected to travel all the way down Las Pinas just to buy a set of four tires. But I'm actually glad we did.

We arrived at Hazardboy around 10 AM, and unfortunately, the person in-charge of the mounting and balancing machine won't be available until after lunch. Luckily, Eugene (one of the owners of Hazardboy) was kind enough and volunteered to introduce us to good and affordable places.

Our first option was the famous Mang Raul's Bbq, sadly, the bbq shack was still closed when we got there. So Eugene suggested a carinderia this time. I was happy with his Plan B, since I do love affordable, home-cooked food, but boy, was I in for a surprise!

Hidden within the streets of Pilar Village, Las Pinas, was a very unassuming and typical looking carinderia, but one look at their menu took my breath away.



Everything on the menu was really affordable, so we took the liberty of ordering quite a lot.

For starters, we got the Chicken Fingers (Php 150), then a full order of Lechon Kawali (Php 160), Pork Binagoongan Value Meal (Php 100) and Crispy Pork Caldereta Value Meal (Php 100). I initially wanted to order their Crispy Pork Dinuguan, unfortunately, it was not yet available.

Served first was the Lechon Kawali, and we were taken aback with the generous serving portion! Then the value meals followed.

        

Serving size was really generous for all the orders, and the rice was also a full cup.

I love that they used their signature Lechon Kawali as the main ingredient with the other pork dishes. The meat of the Lechon Kawali was soft and well-seasoned, while the skin gave a wonderful crunch!

The Pork Binagoongan did not disappoint. The flavor of their bagoong was not too overpowering, and had just the right "kick".

The Crispy Pork Caldereta was also spot-on yummy! Very saucy and cheesy.

The Chicken Fingers were served last, but, it was worth the wait. The meat was so tender and juicy. It's served with a side of garlic mayonnaise.



I really loved everything that we had for lunch, my only wish is that they are a bit more accessible.

Putsi Ko 'Ay

Rose Avenue, Las Pinas, Metro Manila  - (02) 543 8671

Subic Food-venture : Version 2.0 (Day 2)

For our second day, we went back to Xtremely Xpresso for lunch.

We really love their breakfast food and we wouldn't let our chance pass to try their main entrees.

The following were our orders: Grilled Pork Belly (Php 200), Pan Fried Porkloin w/Milkshroom Gravy (Php 190), Truffle Cream Spaghetti (Php 240), Meat Lasagna (PHp 200), and of course, the famous, Big Ben (Php 749).

      

      

For the side dish of our main entree, we both had the baked potato.

The Grilled Pork Belly tasted like a sweeter version of your typical liempo,  nothing really special about it. Also, I personally did not liked their baked potato. The Porkloin tasted like porkchops with gravy. The Lasagna, on the other hand was meaty, saucy and creamy, all at the same time. The pasta was a bit overcooked, but the taste made everything ok.

As for the Big Ben, it was just ok, nothing really special. It's like your typical pizza, just 20 inches big. I prefer Brooklyn's 10x more than the Big Ben. I wasn't able to take a picture of the Truffle Cream Spaghetti, but I was told that there was also nothing special about it and that they still prefer the one served in Poco Deli.

For our New Year's Eve dinner, we just decided to cook steak and porkchops ( I LOVE S&R!) paired with hot coco, in our Villa, while waiting for the countdown.

       

The fireworks display launched by Moonbay Marina left us all breathless. The entire show lasted for almost 20 minutes and it was nothing short of spectacular. Here are some shots:

      

      



So this basically sums up our Subic New Year Holiday. If you want to go for a quick R&R and a lot of food tripping, then Subic is definitely the go-to place!