a bite of brownie

I was a little put off by the people who serve customers in this place because the menu was shoved into our hands by their main waiter. I personally found this rude and unaccommodating because it felt impersonal and without desire to serve.The food on the menu didn't look appetizing either and everything on the menu seems simple enough to make at home. Sister decided to get us a pitcher of CMC (cucumber, mint, calamansi) to go on the side of the Aligue pasta and "prawn" pasta as well as the pork steak slathered with mushroom gravy. We were mislead when they mentioned prawn in the pasta, because we were a huge size of shrimp. Much to our dismay, there was at least 10 pieces of small local shrimp while the serving side of the dish.

I'll give them plus points for the steak cut fries, I just love them given the rarity of the restaurants serving these cuts. The pork steak, I didn't appreciate so much. It had vegetables, sure, but I'm afraid it wasn't exceptional. The pasta's serving size seems small too and it didn't look like it will feed a
couple of people (unlike that Greek place where the servings are huge!)

Anyhow, Fudge seems to be a dessert place to me because the desserts all look delicious. We got a lava cake to end the meal, a good order to save our otherwise disappointing experience. It was warm and moist and almost buttery at the center, with a slight hint of dark brown chocolate. It was also topped with a cool scoop of vanilla ice cream to complement the warm treat.






Fudge
Ayala Center Cebu



Verdict:
A: 2/5

It was an ok enough experience. I am slightly disappointed with the food. They should have specialized in desserts or better yet, hired a good chef for food. Needs a lot of work.

ihop is celebrating national pancake day today! they're giving out a stack of three buttermilk pancakes per guest for free. of course, i headed out to  get some free pancakes. i like how ihop presents their menu. it is well organized and has pictures, detailed descriptions and calorie information. it made me choose my order wisely considering i'm finishing those three pancakes with butter and syrup! i got the "simple & fit vegetable omelette" which has spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes and swiss cheese with a side of mixed fruits. it was delicious especially with some drops of tabasco. the pancakes were just fine. i prefer their flavored pancakes like strawberry banana pancakes which don't make me reach for some syrup (traditional maple, blueberry, butter pecan or strawberry) because the whip cream, strawberries and bananas were sweet enough. i like the service here too. the crew is friendly and food is served reasonably fast.

IHOP
5403 Stevens Creek Blvd
Santa Clara, CA

Verdict: 3.5/5 (ihop offers very few vegetarian/vegan options.)

i've been to two brazilian steakhouses before espetus: texas de brazil and fogo. you'd get the same ambiance and dining experience from here. i liked texas de brazil and fogo better though because of its wider options of cheese but i guess it's not fair to compare them based on that. it should be based on the variety of meat. among the three, i would say fogo has more and tastier meat options. i still remember its lamb chops. espetus has lamp steak but it doesn't have lamb chops. the three of them serve tasty, fresh and hot cheese bread rolls. i didn't enjoy the polenta but i liked the fried plantains. espetus has a good variety of steaks. it also serves grilled pineapple which i didn't see in texas de brazil and fogo. we ordered pudin (leche flan) for dessert. i liked that they garnished it with slices of strawberry, blueberry and raspberry. espetus is a nice place for fine-dining. the service is excellent.
 
Espetus Churrascaria Brazilian Steak House
710 South B Street
San Mateo, CA 94401

Verdict: 4/5 (fogo is better in terms of sides and steaks selection.)