a bite of brownie

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.

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.

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.

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.

Because I don’t want to give up on something that easily (or probably because I need to make a mistake more than once so I really get it, haha), I am trying another poké-sushi fusion food stand! Sushi Nori is at 5F of SM Megamall Fashion Hall. I’m not sure why they call it that when all they have there are restaurants, haha!

And this time I didn’t go for that create your own bowl stunt, and I chose a signature dish that’s yelling “try me, try me!” from their menu. Just to make sure I don’t get slammed with an “I’m sorry ma’am but this and that is not available”. It’s just too hard to bear. LOL

So I chose this sweet little bowl from their signature bowls line up: Aburi. From the name itself, aburi style sushi refers to partially grilling (usually flame-torch) the topside of a nigiri. This bowl came with aburi salmon and tamago, topped with seaweed, bonito flakes, and roe. The salmon was a tad lesser than the tamago, which was dressed with some Japanese mayo for an extra umph.

Verdict: 2/5
It's a good deal if you want something filling, but at a closer look, they flame-torched the mayo more to give out that nice caramelization, which is funny. The tamago was really just scrambled eggs (seriously). The overall taste was good, it came together well.

It’s quite hard to look for sushi bites here in Manila if you’re after quality and whatnots. For a time, I was afraid to eat out here because you can’t be too sure if the preparation is quite right or if it’s safe, even! And what’s more rare than sushi?! Poké! This Hawaiian delight is truly a treat if you find a store that’s really doing it justice. But hey, we found this stand, Poké Poké, located at SM Aura Food on Four.

Looking at their menu, my eyes were greeted with their ready made flavor bowls, but having tried this in Vancouver, of course I went for the Create Your Own Bowl! For 350, it’s not so bad. But what disappointed me is the availability of the ingredients they have on their menu. I had the following marked accordingly: mixed greens (I know, should be rice but I just had a snack lol), (+) tuna salmon, (-) crabsticks, (-) uni, +) poached shrimp, (+) peppers, (-) white onion, (+) cucumber, (+) seaweed, (+) tomato, (+) nori powder, (+) garlic sauce so chose kimchi aioli, (-) avocado, and (-) croutons. Hmm.. yeah maybe a little overpriced, I had to pay for some other ingredients that’s sadly not available in CYOB feature. Weird. They shouldn’t have placed everything then in the checklist.

Verdict: 1/5 (can I rate lower than this?)
The overall taste is so distant from what I had before and it’s just so sad they might as well pack their bags and stop selling “poké” really. This is an abomination, please stay away.

It’s the monsoon season (well, at least here in Manila) and that makes having ramen for dinner more logical. But no, not really, we just wanted ramen and it did rain but after dinner LOL and so, Ramen Yushoken just happens to be near my area, in Molito Lifestyle Mall, Madrigal, Alabang to be exact. This is a good place to dine because there’s a lot of parking spaces and a lot of new restaurants to choose from, showcasing different cuisines and the prices range from affordable to highfaluting amounts.

I ordered a side of Gyoza because it just makes sense that way haha! It’s also one of their bestsellers. It was such a nice treat because of its crispy bottom and was adequately filled.


The Miso Ramen is a must-try and that’s what I asked for. Unfortunately, the server informed me that they're already out of it. *sadness* So I just opted for Shio Ramen. This is their salt based ramen and the lightest among the broth flavors. It wasn’t spicy at all, so you have to add chili powder if you want it that way. But for me, flavor was ok as it is. The milky broth had ultra hard noodles (fun watching the cooks in the kitchen - I was seated at the bar), which didn’t become soggy even I left it in there for a while. A very generous serving of chasu slices topped the bowl, with thinly sliced bamboo shoots, minced onion leeks, and of course, aji tamago! Ain’t it pretty?

Verdict: 3/5
I’d like to try their Miso Ramen next time! I liked the Shio Ramen, so maybe they’ll do fine or better with their bestseller. So for now, they can sit at a 3/5. We’re coming back for you, elusive Miso!

Here we are with another Japanese restaurant in SM Megamall, at the 3F of Atrium wing this time. Botejyu is known for their okonomiyaki and okosoba dishes and of course I didn’t get those! LOL Somehow, the fantastic presentation of their All-Star Takoyaki and their very intriguing Potato Mochiyaki spoke to me more than anything else. So let’s begin.


I arrived at the restaurant early for lunch, to avoid the line, and I was seated on a booth. I knew what I wanted so I ordered that along with a refreshing Green Apple and Cucumber shake. It’s perfect after the walk under the hot weather. I love it because it’s not too sweet and yep, you guessed it, it’s green! 

After a few minutes, my Mentaiko and Potato Mochiyaki arrived. And it’s monstrous! Super thin deep fried potato strips sitting on top of a mentaiko mochi bed, topped with mayonnaise, mentaiko, and minced parsley. Cutting through it is a joy because it’s so light and crispy, it’s a little messy though because of the tiny bits flying off. The mochi bedding had the most mentaiko so it’s really flavorful and you must finish all that to get your money’s worth. Don’t get too carried away with the pretty potato haha!

And then my All-Star Takoyaki graced the table and wow! It’s as pretty as what they have on their menu! From top left to bottom right, here are the flavors: Salt Garlic Mayo, Spicy Mentai Mayo, Sauce and Mayo, Thick Spicy Sauce, Tomato Sauce, Umami Sauce and Mayo (although this really looks like the first one, or both could be this last one, I don’t know LOL). Each had real octopus bits and chopped veggies inside. They were also not too heavy for consumption, considering there’s 6 of them. I like the Spicy Mentai and Thick Spicy Sauce flavors most.


Verdict: 3.5/5
I gave a high rating for this restaurant because it’s evident they did not hold off on any of the ingredients, making it a good deal for your money. I have yet to try the best sellers, maybe next time we’ll do that.

During my Cebu visit for lola’s 103rd (or is 104th?!), we went to this not so new mall, Robinsons Galleria Cebu. Not so new because it has been there for a while but in the inside, there’s still a lot of empty spaces waiting to be rented by local or foreign shops. I even remember teasing ReiMart how they have so many malls in Cebu for such a small area. And like the SM SeaSide, we decided to go around the mall and visit every floor to see what’s out there. So yeah, just a lot of empty spaces, but hey! They have this huge guitar on display on the ground floor!

 After walking around, thanks to poeticnook’s fast screening of all the restaurants there, we end up with 3 stores to check in total. Sans Rival for sylvanas, Bohol’s Bee Farm for ice cream, and Byron’s Back Ribs for dinner. Whenever I think of ribs, I remember Casa Verde, which is a local Cebuano restaurant too! And Byron's Back Ribs hail from Bacolod, so let’s see how it fares.

We ordered the Half Slab of Ribs because yes, ReiMart and I can finish anything by this time! The ribs came on a simple wooden board with 2 dipping sauces of sweet and spicy flavor. It was quite a treat because of the serving size and it’s really tasty! The meat was tender and packed with flavors but all the while I found myself wishing they had served it on the bone. It kinda takes away the ribs feel from the dish, as they served it in small bites. Maybe to make our dining experience easier? I’m not sure.

And for the side dish (not that we needed any LOL), we ordered their Pork Sisig. This is an interesting dish because they gave it a twist by adding cheese toppings! At first we were staring at the dish and asked “Is that cheese?” Trying desperately to mix it in our minds, because sisig and cheese, if you think about it, just don’t go together, right?! But when I tasted it, I flipped. The cheese won me over. Now I want cheese on my sisig every time!

Verdict: 3/5
I can’t think of anything bad to say about their serving size, taste, and price. Maybe just a little something on their presentation of the ribs. I would have wanted it served on the bone and I would have wanted to have a little battle with it taking all the meat out. I like that they didn’t drown the meat in sauce and just placed it on the sides if ever we wanted more. Definitely worth another visit.