Random Food Post: More Food from 2010

Or rather, more food I forgot or got too lazy to blog about haphazardly thrown into a post.

Best Bulalo in Baguio

The best foods can be found in unexpected places. I can't call this a hole-in-the-wall place as the original store was made up of aluminum roofing sheets. Haha. Due to popularity of their dish, they have since then renovated. But their bulalo is no joking matter. These people take their meat seriously. We talked to the man who cooks the Bulalo and they boil their bulalo for at least 8 hours. They start boiling away at around 3am in time to serve for lunch. I don't know about that but a Baguio trip is not complete without a visit (or two hehe) at this Bulalo place. It is on Session Road in front of SM, a walking distance from Casa Vallejo.

Sambo Kojin smokeless grill

Sambo Kojin is one of the new players in the yakiniku category. My brother read about this in the newspaper and he requested for us to try it. I've always wanted to try grilling my own meat but I am averse to smelling like my dinner. When I read that they use smokeless grill, we went for it.

Sambo Kojin has a good selection of food to grill not limited to meat. Aside from the standard pork, chicken beef, they have seafood (prawns!) and vegetables (Shiitake and Enoki!) for grilling. Sauces are available on your table but some meats are already marinated at the buffet table. 

Grilling the meat at Sambo Kojin

Sambo Kojin is a Japanese-Korean fusion restaurant. They have a good selection of sashimi and maki. They also have a separate table for the different kinds of kimchi, and the vegetables you can eat your grilled meat with. 

The dessert selection was so-so but dessert is not really the star of this meal. 

Sambo Kojin is located at Eastwood City Walk, at the back of Something Fishy in Libis, Quezon City. 

Roka Salata from Cyma

Arugula , romaine lettuce, candied walnuts, sun-dried tomatoes and shaved parmesan cheese coated with traditional Greek vinaigrette is Cyma's best selling salad. I love the play of contrasting tastes and textures of this salad. Also recommended at Cyma is their Tonnos Salata if you are not averse to eating raw (well, seared) tuna and anchovies. 

In Metro Manila, Cyma has branches at Shangri-La Mall, Mandaluyong City; Greenbelt 2, Makati City; Trinoma and Eastwood Mall in Quezon City; and Alabang Town Center, Muntinlupa City. They also have a branch in Cebu City at the Terraces. Their original branch is located at D'Mall in Boracay, Aklan.

Ristras Burrito

I am a big fan of Tex-Mex food. Mexicali was the choice of restaurant for our family for satiate the Mexican food craving. Luckily, there are choices of restaurants now. Ristras is not on the top of my list for that Burrito!   This is the place where my hubby became a Tex-Mex fan. 

Ristras allows you to choose your own fillings for the burrito. Every time we visit, we try out different combinations of ingredients (My hubby's favorite: Chorizo Rice + Al Pastor + Pinto Beans + everything else). The burritos are humongous. An order is good for 2 people.

What's in your Burrito? Burrito at Ristras

Ristras is located at J. Abad Santos corner Lopez Jaena, San Juan. For dessert (or for beverage), I recommend Serenitea located right in fron of Ristras. 

Hand Pulled Noodles from Crystal Jade

When Crystal Jade opened, there was frenzy to eat there to taste their Xiao Long Bao and hand pulled noodles. Lines can get insane during lunch or dinner (most especially during dinner) where you'd think that the line was for a lotto outlet. We let the brou-ha-ha die down a bit and visited during a weekday for an early dinner. 

Of course, we ordered their specialty. I wanted something spicy in my broth so we ordered Noodle with Dried Shrimp and Peanut with Spicy Sauce. In my book spicy, + peanuts = love.  The dish was delicious but the spiciness was a letdown. You'd be intimidated by the color of the broth but the heat from the chili barely registers. The noodles, however, are delicious. This is how any noodle should be: has a nice bite and no weird aftertaste. 

Xiao Long Bao from Crystal Jade

It was my first time to eat Xiao Long Bao. My brother and I have been dreaming of this since we saw an episode of Cooking Master Boy where the protagonist made Xiao Long Bao. :)) I enjoyed it immensly because it was my first time. However, this is not my favorite Xiao Long Bao , but that's for another blog post. 

We also ordered lemon chicken just because I always do a Dumpling + Noodles + Lemon Chicken at Chinese Restaurants. I liked it because it did not have that sickly sweet, cloying taste which can be common with renditions of this dish.

Lemon Chicken from Crystal Jade

Crystal Jade is located at the V-Mall, Greenhills, San Juan. During peak hours, be prepared to wait. They give out numbers for waiting patrons and call out these numbers once a table for your party is available. 

Makimi from "Big" Little Store

Makimi is a nostalgic dish for me. We would almost always have Makimi from Ha Yuan when it had a branch in SM Cubao. Ha Yuan Makimi is forever in my heart but I am always willing to try other restaurant's rendition of this dish.

Makimi is a pork and noodle dish in thick or rather sticky soup best eaten with a splash of black vinegar. 

This Makimi is from the "Big" Little Store, one of the few food establishments at rows upon rows of computer stores in Gilmore, Quezon City. This is a decent substitute but Ha Yuan is still my top choice for Makimi. 

The "Big" Little Store is located at the IT Center at Gilmore Street corner 1st Street.

Ha Yuan has a restaurant located at Mother Ignacia Street, Quezon City.

Xiao Long Bao from Ying Ying

Ying Ying is my used to be my favorite place to eat dumplings. (Who replaced Ying Ying in my heart?That's for another blog post.). Nobody does dumpling best than Binondo shops. I ordered kuchay dumplings and Xiao Long Bao. Ying Ying's execution of the Xiao Long Bao is poor as it was just soggy and not soupy. They give a generous amount of dipping sauce with ginger though. Their Kuchay dumplings are a treat. They're huge and yummy. Ying Ying congee is very good as my hubby loves it. Servings are larger than normal but not quite enough to fill 2 people. 

Ying Ying is located at Dasmarinñas Street corner Yuchengco Street, Binondo, Manila.

Kuchay Dumplings from Ying Ying