St Marc Café

I remember saying here before that I like having dessert any time of the day, because it’s dessert! So while being trapped by the number coding scheme in place in Metro Manila (it was a Thursday then and my car plate ends with 8), we had to look for a resto where we could have a quick bite, just to burn the 2hr window from 6-8pm. So St Marc Café was the winner among 3 finalists.

Looking at their display, I can’t imagine someone passing by without giving it a second look. I mean, look at it! The desserts are screaming for you! For your name! And if you just pass by, man, you’ve got no love. You’re dead in the bones. Haha!

So. Among the selection, I chose the Choco Berry Celebration sundae. It had rice crispies at the bottom, which I found weird, because it eventually turned soggy because of the sundae. It’s topped with strawberry slices, sliced almonds, a chocolate wafer sticks, and a panna cotta. Finally, it’s drizzled with chocolate sauce. It’s not too sweet, too!

Verdict: 3.5/5
For 250Php per pop I’d gladly come back next week! Try this resto when you’re in the area. It’s at the ground floor of Fashion Hall in SM Megamall.

Ooma

If there’s one thing interesting with restaurants nowadays, it’s how they elevate a classic dish to something more relatable but yet still affordable. Not your average Japanese restaurant, Ooma dances on the doors of being nostalgic and adventurous.

Oysters are normally deep fried or eaten raw. Then comes Oyster Aburi Maki, an aburi topping for a maki, is just plain genius. Not only it is a mouthful, but when consumed in the right way, it gives exploding layers of flavor and texture in your mouth. The creaminess of that torched Japanese mayo hugging chopped oysters passing on its smoky flovor is a nice contrast to its subtle and sweet flavor. The rice, you’d expect to downplay the taste does no such thing when drizzled with teriyaki sauce and the crisp cucumber and sweet kani inside is your hold to the traditional maki.


Another favorite is the Soft Shell Crab Katsu. I’m used to have this plated as is, dumped on a plate right at the middle. Ooma’s take on this, however, is somehow like a barbequed soft shell crab. The crabs were split to two, made to look like it’s standing up the plate. Drizzled with sriracha mayo that’s not overpowering the crab at all.

Verdict: 3.5/5
I read in Ooma’s menu that the name of the restaurant was a play for the Japanese word “umai” which means “good.” You should pay them a visit one of these days at 3F Fashion Hall SM Megamall.

Hanamaruken Ramen

Rainy season in Manila! And you know what that means, even in the humid weather, we get to enjoy a nice bowl of ramen from your local ramen store. We reviewed a few ramen restaurants in the past months and so far my #1 is still undefeated.

Tucked in the newly renovated wing in Ayala Alabang Town Center, Hanamaruken Ramen is proclaiming to capture happiness in a bowl, and they have ingeniously named it as Signature Happiness Ramen. The ramen was served in a bowl with heels (as I would like to call them) making it appear bigger, but when I dipped my spoon into the broth, I was met with utter dismay that the bowl was quite hollow. But kudos to the presentation! The ramen noodles (could be a little harder, if they ask me), was donned with nice shoyo tonkotsu broth (a little on the salty side), fish cakes, onion leeks, my (additional) aji tamago, and an insanely huge slab (yes, slab) of slow cooked pork rib. Oh, and there’s that seaweed with some writing on it, which I would like to think means “happiness.”

I was able to finish the whole bowl, because that’s what I came for. The slab, I had to push down my throat, it was too big! The tamago, I would have liked it to be a little on the runny side, so yeah, it was a little overdone. That slab was so huge I had to find a light dessert in the form of an ice cream sandwich (which I really, really liked!).

Verdict: 2.5/5
All in all, I’ve had better. Mind you, this bowl is available for a limited amount of servings per day, so be there early if you want to try it. The dish celebrated the huge pork rib slab and because of that, it tear away from the supposed star of the whole dish - the ramen.

Soban K-Town Grill

When I think of Korean, I usually think of Korean Beef BBQ, Bibimbap, and lots and lots of vegetable side dishes! And of course, that’s what I got from Soban K-Town Grill. The restaurant is located at the posh Ayala Corporate Center in Alabang. The restaurant is good for group or solo patrons and it was just my luck that there’s some sort of an on-going celebration three tables down from me.

I had the Woo Samgyup a la carte, all 180g of thinly sliced beef belly goodness. The sizzle on the grill was intoxicating and I had to forcibly remove myself from the trance so as not to overcook my beef (oh but I did, on some slices haha). This plate came with all assortments of Korean side dishes which is a joy to look at but a pain to actually finish.

The Chicken Teriyaki Bibimbap was just something you have to order to see how beautiful they set up a bibimbap. Sadly, it wasn’t that pretty. Which reminds me, I just recently watched a MasterChef challenge on this dish and wow, the homecooks really took it to heart! Well, some.

Oh and don’t forget to try their Green Tea Iced Tea, it’s a house blend. Don’t be shy, order the refillable glass! You won’t regret it.

Verdict: 3/5
Giving it a 3 as I really loved the Woo Samgyup, I had second servings of their lettuce wraps to really enjoy the strips down to the last bite. Maybe I should have stopped there, the bibimbap was just so-so and a little lacklustre.