Pain before pleasure

Sometimes, it pays to eavesdrop. Hehe. Last Saturday, my eldest daughter and her beau were talking about their day's 'itinerary' over breakfast when I heard about 'Zark's'. "What???You're eating at Zark's today?" I blurted out, my eyes sparkling with excitement, I was sure. In about three hours, they were there - at Zark's Burgers on Taft Ave. - with me. Haha! My other daughter and I had long planned to eat there on a Saturday before worship but due to her busy schedule at church, we haven't done so. The planning started after I read how big Zark's burgers were a few months back. My eyes widened seeing pictures of their Jawbreaker and Tombstone burgers which to me were really heart attack in between a sliced bun. Haha! They're that big! No, tall. Hehe. Anyway, thanks to my eldest daughter and her sweetie for tagging along mom to the first leg of their date (They went to Star City afterward without mom already, but of course. Hehe). 

But arriving at Zark's which is front of De La Salle University, I was shocked to see the long line outside! Good thing there were chairs all around and nobody needed to stand up in wait. But I came close to deciding to leave and just eat somewhere else because I was already having hunger pangs. But..oh well..sayang naman, I thought. This was my chance already so I persevered..even if it took some 30 minutes before we were finally called inside. Whew! Talk about pain before pleasure. Oh well..pleasure it was, yes, to finally be eating the burger 
of my dreams. Hehehe. 

Zark's Ultimate Burger, P130

Black Mamba burger, P120.

American All-Star, P120.

Nachos Galore, P85.

Deep-Fried Mars, P125.

The server gave us one free glass of iced tea. :-)

We enjoyed our burgers to the hilt! The patties were thick and juicy with a balance of flavors. My American All Star burger, as described in the menu, is classic bacon cheeseburger. My daughter's Black Mamba is cheeseburger 'in a bed of fresh lettuce, tomato, sauteed mushroom and caramelized onions then topped with a special rum sauce' that tasted like barbecue sauce to me. My daughter's beau's Zark's Ultimate Burger has cheese sauce, fresh veggies and topped with sauteed mushroom and bacon. Mustard added to our extreme burger bliss. All our burgers were 1/4 pounders, by the way. 
But before we had these, we whetted our appetite (as if there was a need for that. hehe) with nachos and bacon in a cheesy sauce. It was so good and the serving was huge it almost made me full with little room left for my burger. By the way, we added just P25 each to make our burger come with fries and a glass of iced tea. I didn't like Zark's fries, though. They were soft and bland. Anyway, I wasn't able to eat all of my burger but my two companions 'labored' to finish everything so that they they both felt full to the brim and wanted to sleep after eating. Haha! So, this was the feeling of everyone after eating at Zark's, probably the reason there's a small 'lying-in' area over at one side of the restaurant. No kidding! Hehe. Still, we cared for some dessert and so we had Deep-Fried Mars which is really fried battered Mars chocolate served with vanilla ice cream on top and drizzled 
with chocolate sauce. 
It was an unforgettable experience eating at Zark's with their really big and delicious burgers and kind-to-the-pocket prices. I was bragging about this to my hubby when he got home from work that Saturday. I knew he was envious but tried to look unperturbed. Hehe. 
I wish to be back there to try their other offers such as their buffalo wings and fish 'n chips.  See you there!
P.S. There a Zark's Burgers branch in Katipunan Ave. in Quezon City and another in BF Homes, Paranaque.

Bread and breakfast

Bread may just be bread - good to eat and available just about anywhere. But if you come to think of it, bread is something so interesting. According to Wikipedia, bread is one of the world's oldest foods. Reading this, the Holy Bible came to my mind. During our Lord Jesus Christ's earthly life, He ate bread. One of the great miracles He performed even involved bread. Remember the "Feeding of the 5,000" where that great number of Jesus' followers were fed after the Lord prayed over just five loaves of bread and two fish? Even in the Old Testament, God's chosen people, the Israelites, ate bread.  When there was drought, God told the prophet Elijah to hide himself near a brook east of the Jordan and said He had commanded birds to supply him with food. And so the prophet did as he was told by the Lord and ravens brought him meat and bread morning and night. What an amazing story!   
Fast forward to the present, here in our part of the world, bread has become wildly popular, so much so that even bakeshops from other countries are doing brisk business here. Notable are the "invasion" of BreadTalk from Singapore, Bread Story from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia,  and Tous les Jours from Guri, South Korea. These are in addition to the good old specialty bakeries that have been existing here for years - The French Baker 
and Le Coeur de France, among others. 
Meanwhile, you ought not to forget our very own Pan de Manila where one can get pandesal - the true blue Pinoy bread - hot and fresh anytime of the day. With bakeries all around, Could it be that bread is soon to take over as the Filipinos' staple food in place of rice? In urban areas, possibly. And why not? Bread is perhaps the most versatile food in the world. One can have it for breakfast, lunch or dinner. You can eat it on its own or put all sorts of things in it to make it a sandwich. Bakers make bread using various types of flour such as wheat, rye, barley malt and cassava, and put in a lot of different ingredients such as fruits and meat, so that breads come in all sorts of shapes, colors and flavors. Hmm..lovely.
And there is possibly a thousand varieties of bread the whole world over. Personally,  I love bread, too. It's perfect for breakfast, paired with a strong cup of brewed coffee. My hubby loves bringing home bread as pasalubong. When he does, the kids and I either eat it at breakfast or take it as baon to school or office the next day. Sometimes, I take home bread too. When it's from Pan de Manila, Le Coeur de France or French Baker, the kids know I brought it. When bread's from BreadTalk or Pan de Amerikana, they're sure it's from dad.  

Ham and cheese croissant from Le Coeur de France. Yummy!

Pandesal from Pan de Manila

My kids' favorite.

Pesto cheese sticks are perfect with pasta.

Wheat ensaymada from Pan de Amerikana. So filling!

Mr. Beans bean bread. Sure to put a smile on your face.

Do you know what this is called? I don't.

Even hubby doesn't know the name of this one. He just buys. Hehe. From BreadTalk too.

Eggstraordinary from BreadTalk

Garlic bread from The French Baker. My ultimate favorite!

Bread and chicken soup. Nice brekkie on a rainy morning.

Love the music, love the chicken

I mention Kenny Rogers to my kids and their eyes widen, roast chicken on their scheming minds. But say the name to my mom and most likely, she'll be singing "I will always love you". Hahaha! Truth is, both me and my mom love the music of Kenny Rogers.  But my kids don't know who in the world he is.  Surely, though, they know how yummy roast chicken is at this restaurant that bears his name, which the world-famous country singer co-founded (with former KFC owner John Y. Brown Jr.)  in 1991 . Ever since my children were small, Kenny Rogers Roasters has been our favorite family restaurant and we would always go for an order or two (when the kids got bigger and the youngest came) of a group meal consisting of one whole roast chicken, four cups of rice, four side dishes, four muffins and a pitcher of iced tea. However, it had been about three years since we last ate at Kenny Rogers so when I broached the idea to the hubby and kids one Saturday, not one opposed it as everyone had missed their roast chicken. So two roast chicken group meals we had for dinner at the new and lovely Robinson's Magnolia mall branch.  Our group of nine (with us were two of my nephews and my eldest daughter's beau)  had a nice, filling dinner.

Roast Chicken Group Meal, P675.

Delish! The best roast chicken for me.

Colorful, yummy muffins.

Iced tea.

The roast chicken was as good as my taste buds remembered. For sides, we had corn and carrots, coleslaw, steamed vegetables, mashed potato and fresh fruit salad. Sweet ending was provided by muffins that came in four different flavors. 

Meanwhile, more recently, I added Kenny Rogers Roasters to my list of to-go places for coffee after discovering that they now serve my poison. And they do have good latte! It's perfect with their sandwiches and pasta. My daughter and I dropped by another Saturday at Kenny Rogers Roasters - SM City Manila and had:

(I just used a point-and-shoot camera for the following pictures, thus, the paler colors.)

Roast chicken sandwich, P110.

Spaghetti Carbonara, P125.

Potato and Bacon Salad, P50.

Cafe Latte, P60. 

Strawberry sundae, P60.

We loved everything especially the Bacon and Potato Salad. Yummy! Now we have added reasons to visit Kenny Rogers Roasters.

Have your cupcake and eat it, too

Who says you can't have your cake and eat it too? Yes, you can enjoy two desirable things at the same time. Yesterday, we had sweet escape and ate cupcakes. I had coffee too. Now that's even three of a good thing. Hehe. A little break away from the work station is truly sweet, won't you agree? Just after having a lunch of arroz caldo and lumpiang prito which my officemate-friend Pam brought, we thought of having dessert at SM North Edsa. We had been craving for cupcakes for days so where to go to satisfy our sweet tooth was an absolute no brainer:  Blushing Cupcakes Cafe at the lovely Sky Garden. 

Red Velvet, P49.

Carrot, P46.

White Frosted Vanilla, P40.

Peppermint Vanilla Latte, P75

Strawberry Calamansi juice, P50.

I loved my Carrot cupcake. Pam's Red Velvet and White Frosted Vanilla weren't great, however. We had high hopes for the Red Velvet. But we had set a standard, we had a point of comparison - an unbranded cupcake given to us by another friend in the office that was soo delicious - but the Blushing Cupcakes version paled in comparison with it that's why we were quite disappointed. Our drinks, however, were the saving grace. I loved my Peppermint Vanilla Latte and Pam, her Strawberry Calamansi juice. I never knew coffee with peppermint was a real treat, except that it was on the sweet side a little too much. Had the coffee been stronger, i'd have praised it to higher heavens. Still, I savored those moments at Blushing Cupcakes Cafe - the rendezvous, a cup of coffee, sweets and laughter shared with a good friend. :-)  

Hits and misses at Grand Momma's Kitchen

Last Saturday, I was happy over a foodie find: the Grand Momma's Kitchen on Tomas Morato in QC. My friend Pam wasn't too happy, however. Haha! I guess I really am easy to please (read: mababaw ang kaligayahan) when it comes to food. Well, in truth, this applies to many aspects of my life. Hehe. Anyway, I was immediately impressed by the interiors of this restaurant. With the country-style motif, it strikes me as homey and cozy. I so liked their wooden tables that have natural, rough surface. I hadn't seen any other restaurant using such lovely dining tables. As for the food, t'was quite satisfying for me. 

Red Velvet Pancakes, P255.

Garlic and Basil Pesto, P155.

Quarter chicken with rice and side dish, P155.

Banana Split, P155.

Lemonade, P60.

Interiors

Wicker and wood. Nice!

There are tables and chairs outside, too.

I loved my roast chicken. The meat was tender and delicious. I had a little problem with my side dish, though. It looked like buttered vegetables and tasted like it, too. However, I told the server I wanted coleslaw for my side dish. Hehe. It's okay, however, coz I liked my veggies. But Pam, my friend with the discriminating taste (Hahaha!), wasn't very happy with her pesto. I tried it and liked it too, however. Hehe. I told you I'm easy to please, didn't I? Our banana split made both of us, happy, but of course. But surprise came with the Red Velvet Pancakes! My eyes widened when it was served because we were sure we ordered a slice of red velvet cake but here it was, a gorgeous pile of three red pancakes with a creamy crown! Pam and I wondered why the server didn't make it clear to us that they only serve red velvet pancakes, not cake. Hmmm..Booboo No. 2.  No. 1 was my side dish, remember? Now are you ready for Booboo No. 3? When the bill was handed to me, it came as a "shock" that it was only a little over P500. We ordered quite a lot and remembering the prices from the menu, I thought the amount was lesser than expected (This restaurant is full of surprises, I noticed. Hehe). I showed the bill to Pam and she said why would they make a mistake about it when they knew their prices. But after we paid and went to the restroom, Pam said she thought there was indeed a mistake. So we made a little kwenta and then we were sure something was indeed amiss in our bill. We were undercharged by almost P300! So we went back and had the server make ulit the kwenta. Our rightful charges totaled over P800. So we paid for the additional and walked away with a clear conscience. Hehe. Wow! What an unforgettable lunch we had 

at Grand Momma's Kitchen.   
By the way, watching an episode of the popular teleserye My Husband's Lover earlier this week, I saw Lally and Paul dining at Grand Momma's Kitchen. Hehe.

Feigning courage at Nueve Cafe

How adventurous can your palate get? What's the most exotic food have you stuffed yourself with? When I was a gawkish teenager in our hometown in Quezon, I "accidentally" ate asuzena (dog meat) and that was the "weirdest" thing I'd ever had..till last Friday. My office pal Pam and I decided to go out for lunch. After minutes of walking under the noonday sun, we found ourselves at Wilcon Depot, inside Nueve Cafe which serves croc meat. Yup, you read it right. Crocodile! Remember "Lolong", the over 20-foot saltwater crocodile that landed the Philippines in the Guinness Book of World Records? Hehe. Pam told me she couldn't and wouldn't eat croc meat out of  respect for the memory of the former world's largest crocodile in captivity. Haha! But I couldn't be at this restaurant without trying croc meat. I had to have my croc! Haha! But before I impress you with having an adventurous palate, let me admit that I was only feigning courage. Hehe. Truth was I shied away from pure croc meat by looking past the Dundee Burger, Croc Katsu and worst, Sesame Croc Ribs (I wouldn't want to be staring at crocodile ribs and scrape the meat off it too and eat it!) in the menu. Instead, I ordered Croc Carbonara because I knew that once I mixed the pasta and sauce all together, I wouldn't taste croc meat in all its pureness. Hehehe.  

Here are Pam and mine's orders:    

My Croc Carbonara, P135. See the crocodile meat toppings?

Pam's Arrabiata, P120.

Tuna Clubhouse, P185. We shared this.

Our drinks: Mango Juice and Dalandan Juice, P40. each.

Inside Nueve Cafe.

Pam and I both loved our pasta and the clubhouse sandwich too. If you're curious how the croc meat tasted, I tell you I'm not sure, I didn't want to concentrate on it for fear of losing my appetite. Hahaha! But Pam opined that it tasted like longganisa and I agreed. Anyway, I asked the server where they get their croc meat and she shared that Nueve Cafe is owned by Wilcon Depot and that they have their own crocodile farm in Teresa, Rizal. By the way, Pam and I "pitied" the server because she seemed to be the lone crew so she also was the cashier and the one who prepared (the sandwich, at least.. not sure if she cooked our pasta too!) and served our food. I cheerily added that maybe, she was also the one who caught the crocodile for my order. Hehehe. (Joke lang!) I liked her though because even if she was multi-tasking, she was still friendly toward us..until she told me I couldn't take a picture of the counter. Grrr..hehehe. The owner forbids it, she said. Oh well, I'm glad I was still able to take a picture of the cafe's interior. (I hope the server doesn't get a memo for this). 

Nueve Cafe has three branches that I know of - Visayas Ave., Libis and Alabang Zapote. I'm not sure if there are others besides these and so is Google. 

Dare munch on croc meat today?

Letdown lunch

I hadn't been going to Goldilocks except to buy cake and tarts a few times over the last couple of years. Lately, I'd been wanting to go for a sit-down meal, especially since I had been seeing their posters on new menu items. One day last summer, the opportunity presented itself. With two kids in tow, I was at Goldilocks inside Crossings Mall on Quezon Ave. in QC. My excitement, however, was doused with cold water once our orders came. Food was served on disposable dishware. Call me maarte but I'm not so happy eating using disposable utensils. It depends, however, on the situation, as some occasions necessitate it. For instance, eating Styrofoam-packed food is perfectly okay with me while taking part in a tree-planting activity. And yes, I'm used to eating on Styrofoam at Jollibee (most branches, thankfully, already use melamine dishes these days). But I was expecting more from Goldilocks. I looked forward to better food presentation that would look really good in pictures, at least using melamine plates. But oh well, I couldn't fret too long as I had to eat. The kids and I were ravenous as it was way past lunchtime so we started eating. And then..another disappointment..my Arroz ala Cubana was swimming...almost drowning, in oil! My son, on the other hand, whose order was Baked Lasagna, was also not so happy. The daughter, thankfully, didn't share our trouble. Hehe. She said her Breaded Porkchop was okay, same with her Veggie Kare-Kare, except for the bagoong, which wasn't so good..
Have a peek at our orders:

Arroz ala Cubana

Baked Lasagna

Breaded Porkchop

Veggie Kare-Kare

A slice of Cathedral Window

The counter at Goldilocks-Crossings Mall

Goldilocks has been around for many years (starting in 1966). Though it isn't a foodie place that I frequent, I still hold it in high regard  for its success and stability as a business. Consider this: almost 200 stores nationwide and a few in the US and the Middle East. I hope my wish isn't too big to grant for Goldilocks: that they start using stoneware or even melamine plates soon. Also, that they hold some back cooking oil when making Arroz ala Cubana. :-)