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I've been eating a lot at Cerchio lately, mostly because I've been in the mood to eat salads recently and when I'm too lazy to think of what to have, I think of Cerchio's Shrimp Pomelo Salad.

So when Yeng and I were to have lunch and we had not idea where to eat, I suggested the place since I was in the mood for some greens again. She wasn't very enthusiastic about the place because she remembered that the last time we went there, she wasn't too impressed with the food. I asked her to give it another try.

I ordered the Shrimp Pomelo Salad again, then some Pumpkin Malunggay Soup. They both tasted like they always do. However, I also ordered their Seared Tuna Sashimi which Chi and I always order, and it tasted a bit different. It was not seared as well as it had been in the past. Maybe their regular chef had a day off? I was a bit disappointed as it did not taste like I expected it to be.

 
Shrimp Pomelo Salad


Pumpkin Malunggay Soup
For dessert, I had their Bailey's Panna Cotta, which I liked but did not really taste of Bailey's.


Bailey's Panna Cotta

Yeng was not really very happy with what she ordered, ( I think it was Crispy Tadyang) because it was not as she expected it to taste. I think the last time she had it, it was dry and crispy. At any rate, the chef made a new batch for her and she seemed pretty satisfied with it.

I will probably go back to Cerchio again (most likely with Chi, no longer with Yeng). I just wish their food were more consistent.


Cerchio Restaurant and Lounge
76 Sct. Limbaga, off Tomas Morato Ave.
Quezon City, Philippines
Tel. No. 63(2)351.5279

I had lunch at Chili's today, and a new item on their menu caught my eye. It was their Chili Lime Shrimp Nachos, and they were described as "crisp tortilla wedges topped with melted jack cheese, cilantro-lime shrimp, tangy-sweet pineapple pico de gallo, with chili lime glaze, and served with sour cream".

I decided to have one whole order for lunch. It was pretty big, and rather pricey at P425, but that's about typical of Chili's prices.

Chili Lime Shrimp Nachos

I really enjoyed the nachos, and finished them all by myself. I asked for an additional order of sour cream because it was just  perfect for it. (The server kindly informed me I would be charged an extra P50 for it.) The sweetness of the pineapple was a nice contrast to the saltiness of the cheese.

I hope they keep this item on the menu. I often find seafood dishes disappearing from menus, probably because they end up being more expensive and therefore less popular. I definitely will have this again in the future. If it's still around, of course.


Chili's Bar and Grill
199 Tomas Morato Ave. cor. Sct. Fernandez
Quezon City
Philippines
Tel. No. (63)(2)372.5007

It was a very hot Sunday afternoon, so some friends and I decided to cool off by hanging out in freezing coffeeshop airconditioning. We met up at UCC Tomas Morato, where the A/C is usually in full blast.

We all ended up ordering UCC's signature Sumiyaki Coffee Jelly. Some of us in fact had more than one. We ended up hanging out for several hours, and our group's loud laughter earned us some dagger looks from the other customers. It's a wonder no one actually complained to management.

Sumiyaki Coffee Jelly
We really enjoyed ourselves, a little too much maybe. Thanks, UCC customers, for tolerating our group's laughter volume.


UCC Vienna Cafe
Ground Level, Unit 101, Tomas Morato Plaza
Tomas Morato Ave. cor. Roces Ave.
Quezon City
Metro Manila, Philippines
Tel. No. (63)(2)928.6964, (63)(2)928.7047

James was in town, so as usual, I had lunch with him and Chi at Uno. (I think they'd been having lunch there the whole week.) I ordered their lunch special, which was some pea soup and pan fried snapper with hollandaise sauce. James was late, so when he arrived, my food was already being served. He became envious and ordered the same thing.

The soup was filling, but nothing really extraordinary. It went very well with their bread though.

Pea Soup

The snapper, as James described it, "looked better than it tastes". Actually it was a bit tough. The taste itself was fine as far as I was concerned, but the fish was a little hard to chew.

Snapper with Hollandaise Sauce

I didn't take a photo of the Fallen cake that James and I shared for dessert. I think I've posted several photos of that cake here already.

It wasn't one of the best meals I've had in this restaurant, but their delicious bottomless bread and coffee more than made up for it. Of course I'll be back.



Uno Restaurant
195 Tomas Morato cor. Sct. Fuentebella
Quezon City
Philippines
Tel. no. (02)374.0774

After our rather lackluster breakfast at the train station food court, Z and I went to have some coffee at Black Canyon Coffee. It was one of the few places in the station that were open at that early hour.


I was rather amused at their tagline. "A drink from paradise... available on earth." I love taglines that are born of puffery.



I had their "Black Canyon Coffee" as this, I assumed, was the specialty of the house. It was pretty good. I just don't know about the coming-from-paradise part.

Black Canyon Coffee

As it turned out, this was to be the last restaurant that we would visit for the trip, since we had no more time to eat at any of the restaurants when we arrived at the airport. The train we took was very slow, and travelling to the airport took way longer than we expected. I guess that's all right, considering the amount of food we had already consumed the past week.

All in all, it was a good (food) trip, and it was happy eating for the most part. Bye Bangkok and Laos!



Black Canyon Coffee
Central Train Station
Bangkok, Thailand

I was so happy to find out that they had rock climbing in Vang Vieng. The problem was I didn't bring any gear with me. Luckily, we found a place called Green Discovery, which offered rock climbing tours, among others. Z and I signed up for the one-day course, which included lunch. They said they brought food for vegetarians, so that was fine by me.

 The next day, they picked us up around 9am and we rode a tuktuk to the climbing area. It was a short ride, and an even shorter approach to the actual rock face (around one minute of walking!). After a tiring morning of climbing several routes, our friendly climbing guides prepared our lunch.


I wasn't able to finish my meal, which was a baguette, some fried rice, and barbecued vegetables. It was pretty good, but it was just way too much for me to finish.


It was good that we had a hearty lunch because the routes we climbed in the afternoon were even harder. It was a great day for me. Outdoor climbing always gives me good vibes. I think I'll try to come back to Vang Vieng, hopefully in the not-so-distant-future, for more climbing.


Green Discovery Eco-Tours
Vang Vieng, Laos

We arrived in Vang Vieng after a four-hour bus ride from Vientiane, quickly checked into our hotel, then set out to explore the town. After a few minutes of walking, we decided to have dinner at Arena, which got positive reviews on Trip Advisor.

It was easy to find the place. It looked rather westernized, and the menu had a lot of western dishes as well. I figured that a lot of those posting reviews on Trip Advisor regarding Vang Vieng are westerners, so it makes sense that such a place would get a high rating. I liked the look of the place, and they had a nice outdoor area, which was perfect for people-watching.

 We ordered Pad Thai with Squid and Fried Rice with Mixed Seafood.

Fried rice with mixed seafood

Pad Thai

Both were satisfactory, although nothing particularly memorable. I liked the rice better than I did the Pad Thai.

Not bad for our first meal in Vang Vieng. I'm certainly looking forward to trying more of the restaurants that line the main road.


Arena Restaurant and Bar
Ban Savang, Vang Vieng 01000
Laos
Tel. No. 020-78181171

It was time for my weekly lunch date with former officemates and since it was raining, the basis for choosing a place to eat was whether they had covered parking. So Irene, Joan and I decided to go to Il Terrazzo, also because there were a lot of options there. When we got there, we headed to Jack's Loft. There were no people inside, so it was perfect for us since we had a lot catching up to do and we sometimes laugh a little too loudly for other diners.

Irene ordered baked potato soup, which I tasted. I just sipped some of the soup but I think there was bacon at the bottom of the bowl so it's not something I can order for myself.


I had the Penne in Tomato Cream Sauce, which is almost always what I eat there. I still enjoyed it, as I always do.

Penne in Tomato Cream Sauce

After that heavy meal, we still wanted dessert. And sinfully, we each had one instead of just sharing one or two. We ended up not finishing it because it was just all too heavy.

One disappointment during lunch was that they didn't serve coffee. If I understood it right, their coffeemaker was busted or something. Having dessert was not the same without it. I had some tea instead.

Joan ordered the cheesecake, Irene had chocolate mousse, while I opted for their brownie a la mode.

Strawberry Cheesecake

Chocolate Mousse

Brownie ala Mode

I think my brownie was the favorite among the three.

Although we ended up satisfied with what we ate, we weren't very happy with the service. We had to repeatedly remind them that we had asked for some water, and whenever we tried to call the attention of the servers, it seemed as if they were avoiding looking at us or pretending that they didn't see us.

Jack's Loft remains a convenient place to eat though, so I will probably go back there some other time.


Jack's Loft
IL Terrazzo Mall
305 Tomas Morato Ave. cor. Scout Madriñan St.
Brgy. South Triangle
Quezon City
Metro Manila, Philippines
Tel. No. +63(2)332.1894

I had just watched The Hunger Games at Trinoma when I realized I hadn't had lunch yet, so I was, uhmm, hungry. Italianni's was very close to the cinema, so it was an easy choice for a quick very late lunch.

There were so many new interesting items on the menu that I took a while to decide what to have. I ended up choosing an old favorite, as well as a new offering. Their Truffle Fries di Lussi sounded appetizing, so I started with that. Never mind that it's deep fried. I was famished after all. Since I like truffle oil, I was satisfied with this. It was crunchy too.

Truffle Fries di Lussi

For my main course, I had a lunch portion of their parmesan-crusted fish. Again, deep-fried; again, satisfying.

Parmesan-crusted fish

The Hunger Games and a deep-fried meal at one of my favorite chain restaurants. What a great way to spend a summer afternoon.



Italianni's Restaurant
Trinoma Mall
EDSA cor. North Ave.
Quezon City, Metro Manila
Philippines
Tel. No. 63(2)915.3582

Chi is leaving for a three-week CNN fellowship In Atlanta (yes, I'm very proud of her), so we had lunch a little earlier in the week than we usually have our regular lunches. We couldn't decide where we wanted to eat. The only thing we agreed on was that none of us felt like eating a heavy meal, i.e., something with rice. So we drove down Tomas Morato to consider our options.

We reached the corner from which you could see Cafe Breton, and we were in instant agreement that that was the right choice for that afternoon. Some years back, we would hang out there often, but we hadn't been back together in that branch for quite some time.


Being in Cafe Breton felt like a blast from the past. One of the servers was a familiar face from almost a decade ago. I guess they treat their staff right if they inspire such loyalty.

I ordered my favorite crepe, Galette Bretonne, which has "spinach, shrimps sauteed with crab meat, fresh cream, and gruyere cheese". I love how there are so many pescetarian options. As usual, the crepe was excellent.

Galette Bretonne

Since the crepes we had were not all that heavy, Chi and I felt justified in having some dessert. (That is probably the reason why we both wanted a light lunch. We just wanted to leave some space in our stomachs.) She ordered my first favorite crepe in Cafe Breton, Deja Vu, which had some mangoes, special cream sauce, caramel syrup, and vanilla ice cream.

Deja Vu

I, in turn, had my current favorite dessert crepe, La Delice, filled with bananas and coated with nutella, topped with almonds and vanilla ice cream. Yum!

La Delice

With all the new restaurants to visit along Tomas Morato, it was easy for us to overlook Cafe Breton for years. There's a reason it has endured, despite being slightly hidden from sight. Their crepes are consistently good, and the staff continue to be attentive. When I'm in the mood for a "light" meal (meaning one that leaves just enough room for a big dessert), Cafe Breton will always be a great option.


Cafe Breton
Tomas Morato cor. Sct. De Guia
Quezon City, Metro Manila
Philippines
Tel. No. (02)374.6334