You Had Me With Your Steak, 7 Corners!

My Kuya celebrated his 29th birthday at 7 Corners, Crowne Plaza. The buffet was from 6-10 pm. Unfortunately, due to heavy traffic on a Friday night, we were stocked up in a bumper to bumper situation and was late for an hour. Good thing though, my Mom had an early reservation so we didn't have to wait in line for our turn to be seated.

Excited to eat

Seven Corners was named as such in representation of the seven stations found in the buffet. The moment we had our place, even though it was just a minute passed after we've seated, we immediately headed on to the buffet table. My first stop was the Japanese section. They had a variety of maki, sushi and of course they wouldn't fore go offering tempura. Of all the dish served there was this teeny tiny maki that really made a mark on me, because it was extremely hot, with a capital "H". It seemed like my tongue was really blazed on fire. This prompted me to cool down a bit and headed to the salad bar section (dessert on the early part of the dinner?). Their salad section was limited but I may say, their dressings were the ones that pulled it off.

The maki with orange seasoning was the one I'm referring to as HOT!

Fruits

After which, I headed to the Italian section where they cater a " do it yourself" pizza. After getting a slice of it, I also grabbed a bread as a compliment which was next to the pizza station.

Next, I tried their dessert section that offered home made ice cream with assorted toppings to choose from. I would love to try some of their cakes but sadly, some of it was serve only on an "a la carte basis".

My homemade ice cream. My buko pandan dessert is also seen.

The moment I felt I was ready for another gastronomic battle, I headed to the seafood area where they had crabs, mussels, oysters and clams awaiting to be exhausted. I also steered my way to the table of Thai entrees where they offered different viands of flavorful concoction of spices that zested up the lamb chops, chevon, beef and pork.

BF's foodams

But, the highlight of the night in my own opinion, was the US prime rib steak that was served at one corner of the buffet. We directed the chef as to the way we wanted it to be cooked. After how many minutes of waiting, the smoking meat alas caught my attention. It was so big, that the steak alone had already made our money worth it. If only I could squeeze in more in my tummy, I could have ordered, another slice of steak. Nonetheless, that one prime rib steak already satisfied my hungry palate.

The king of the night: US Prime Rib Steak

All in all, Seven Corners didn't claim the grandeur of being the biggest amongst the list of buffet here in our country but the taste and the choices of food is more than enough to claim being one of the best buffets in the metro.

Satisfied birthday celebrant!

Dulce de Leche Cake Turned "Pulutan"

While staying at a restaurant, my Ate handed Mom her birthday present which was a Dulce de Leche Cheesecake. After making a wish and blowing the candle, we partook some and ate it. However, since cheesecake requires refrigeration to maintain its shape, bit by bit, the walls of the cake started to crumble and that's when we realize, we have to consume it all at one sitting since we're still at the restaurant.

The cheesecake is like a yema rolled into a creamy milk. It's highly recommended for sweet tooths like me :)

Listen to the Beat @ Bistro Mateo

For the 52nd birthday of my Mom, she decided to have a dinner at Tiendesitas particularly at Bistro Mateo. The place reminded me of an old, rustic, vintage house coupled by incandescent bulbs lighting the place. We stayed at the second floor's veranda since there was a concomitant wedding reception held inside and also for the other reason that a live band was playing outside which was my mom's favorite part about dining out.

Outside Bistro Mateo

Mom's choice of entree would be chopseuy, beef caldereta, liempo and calamares on the side. Their servings were somewhat smaller than the usual. Nothing quite distinct about the taste. But even though the meals, were a bit ordinary, the live band made it extraordinary. My personal favorite would be that guy with a Jason Mraz like voice. He could pull it off so heavenly that I could imagine I'm in one of Jason Mraz's gigs. I love how cool Jason Mraz's voice could be. "hmm, well you done done me and you bet I felt it.." haha. Still couldn't get over the beat in my head..

Calamares and Caldereta

Chopseuy

Sadly, I don't have any pic of the wringer of Jason Mraz but their female lead singer is at the far part of the pic

Bistro Mateo is one of the feel good place where you and your friends could have a nice chat over a bottle of beer. Their viands may not live up to your expectation but the band and the ambiance could definitely pull it off.

Happy Birthday Mom!

===o===

Bistro Mateo

Tiendesitas, Fronte Verde

Ortigas Ave. cor. C-5

Bgy, Ugong, Pasig City

631-4367/0922 8148646

Wishlist 2010

Christmas is fast approaching and before the year ends I hope Santa will reward me with something coz I have been good this year ^_^

1. I want any 12 MP camera since my camera at present only has 7 MP. I want to give justice to the pictures I'm uploading in my blog.

This one would do :)

2. I found another collectibles item and that is LOMO cams haha.. I go gaga over these cute gadgets.

3. I love cardigans especially those that are long with unique cuts. For this year I hope someone gives me a brown one :)

4. My TV in my dormitory isn't working anymore, so instead of asking for another one, an IPOD speaker would do so that I can listen to the music surrounding my room. I found this cute Ipod dice speaker over the net. I want to have one :)

5. I want a gray sandals this time :)

6. For the next year, I want to give my Papemelroti planners a break and indulge on a bigger one like this witty planner.

7. Obviously I want girly items, and to top this all off, I want a vintage like dress such as this one.

Oh well, they are just plain wishes but it won't harm if all my wishes can come true hehe :)

The Art of Maki @ Omakase

Japanese food is one of my top favorite dishes next to Italian cuisines. They have this tendency to make me feel full even by just eating around 8-10 pieces of maki. My subsection in Med once dined in at Omakase at Greenhills. Poor thing though, my BF wasn't around that time. He's a sucker for anything Japanese and of course wasabe. When we arrived at the place, we were asked to wait a little because there were no vacant seats yet (See, their place was really jam-packed!).

When we're seated a little later, the hard job of ordering my maki took place. Being a first timer, I'm at a loss of what to tell the waiter, provided the names written in the menu were somewhat bizarre, like: Crazy Maki, Jurassic Maki, Seabreeze, Rock n Roll etc. The pictures on the menu didn't help me either. It just made me crave to order all haha. :) So I asked my dear friends for any suggestions and they said American Dream would be one of customer's fave. So I ordered that, as well as a rice bowl topped with Katsudon.

After which, I eagerly took pictures of the different Japanese dishes found on our table. When I reached home and browsed thru all the pics on my cam, I suddenly forgot which maki is which. Oh poor memory (Don't be like that to me during exams!). Help me name these beautiful dishes ;) haha :)

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2

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5

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7

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9

Eventhough I've totally forgotten their names, still, I would be confident enough to pick just any dish next time. Just like what this restaurant means which is "to entrust", I would gladly entrust my next food trip with this resto to be all so worth it once again. :)

===o===

Omakase

Ground Level Connecticut Arcade

Greenhills Shopping Complex

Ortigas Ave., Greenhills, San Juan

470-9807

Celebrating Our 3rd Anniversary @ Seoul Garden Buffet

My BF and I are undeniably big fans of food. Achieving that gastronomic satisfaction is one of the ways we bond. Honestly speaking, I noticed that we had fewer fights every time we were not hungry, or whenever we were criticizing some new food discoveries.

For our 3rd year of being together, we decided to try something fresh, which in general was also a recent addition to the list of buffets here in our country, the Seoul Garden Korean Buffet. Aside from the fact that I'm fond of Koreanovelas, I couldn't resist the Korean barbecues this restaurant has to offer.

The only Korean hint I saw. Haha.

We arrived at SM North Edsa at around 5 pm, 1 hour past the start of the dinner buffet. Yes! The dinner buffet starts at 4 pm and ends at 10 pm (haha, such a long time to savor the meals). The place itself has quite a modern look however it lacks any touch of Korean in it. The table is comparable to that of Yakimix wherein a grilling plate with a pot at the middle of the table was provided. They first asked what kind of soup we wanted. They explained that the soup will be used in preparing some of the food we've picked (just like the Korean way of cooking we see on TV).

The grilling plate with our kimchi soup.

The yummy sauces.

The buffet table was just a long table with different meats served soaked in a variety of marinades. We chose from teriyaki, bulgogi, curry, etc. I grabbed every dish I could, returned to our table and started grilling. I kept coming back to the long buffet table so as to have around the clock cooking haha.. The only thing though was that, once the meat was cooked, I couldn't recognize the name of it because it got mixed up through all the twist and turns on the grill. The only downside was that my armpit was like "ngawit na" with all the cooking I had to do, but nevertheless, it was all worth it. Once I took a bite of each, and every single meat, I could really distinguish that certain taste that differentiates one meat from the other. I couldn't remember how many times we came back to the long buffet table.

Before grilling..

After grilling. The product of our cooking

They served maki as well but my BF didn't like it.

Another heaven sent treat was that, it was a bottomless drink as well. In my case, I needed that! Their kimchi soup spelled H-O-T!! On one part of the long buffet would be an area where you can do your own bibimbap concoction. It's a "do it yourself" rice meal with egg on top. Lastly, the desert section had halo halo and ice cream. Even if this was only what they had to offer, it's enough to satisfy my sweet tooth.

My pork bibimbap.

Our halo-halo.

Our ice cream.

Overall, Seoul Garden Buffet was worth the experience.

Busog na.

===o===

Seoul Garden Korean Buffet

Unit Ax1 225-226 The Annex 1 Level 2

SM City North Edsa, Quezon City

Tel. No.: 355-4006

Weekday (Mon-Thurs):

Lunch (10am-4pm)

Adult: 529.00

Child: 295.00

Dinner (4pm - 10 pm)

Adult: 585.00

Child: 325.00

Weekend (Fri-Sun):

Lunch (10am-4pm)

Adult: 585.00

Child: 325.00

Dinner (4pm - 10 pm)

Adult: 635.00

Child: 355.00

Student Meal (Mon-Fri exc. holidays):

Lunch only: 355.00

Just present your ID or registration card.

*Child are those 4ft and below.

: Prices are subjected to 6% service charge.

Sweet Ideas #01 - Personalize It!

"Life is like a box of chocolates" as quoted from one of my favorite movies. Surprises are just everywhere. It's such an overwhelming feeling to be surprised by someone, and at the same time it feels great to surprise others knowing that by your mere actions you've already made their day. I as a girl, typically love one, and it's like a hobby to me to look for surprises for the people around me. Here are some I've received and done for the past years:

1. Personalized Ref Cake

It was during those times I still lived in a dormitory during pre-med years. We were about to celebrate our first monthsary and to make it extra special we decided to give something as remembrance. In my part, since I didn't have enough resources for a laborious cooking, I decided to do a ref cake instead since it just required a ref (obviously) and the rest was up to me. For the recipe, I added cream cheese to the nestle cream and whipped cream in order to have a cheesecake like flavor. Crushed oreo cookies were also incorporated into the filling. To top it off, I spelled out my message using oreo cookies ;') My BF loved it. (He has such a sweet tooth)

2. Personalized Cake

During his 21st birthday, I ordered a cake online and had it personalized. I asked the baker to make a smiley face cake. For me, it symbolized his personality because he is my happiness (haha.. keso!).

3. Personalized cupcakes

During the Valentine's day, I ordered personalized cupcakes from the same person who baked the smiley cake ;') Yummy as usual ;')

4. Personalized chocolates

Before anything else, they're not ornaments, they're real chocolates! These two were given to me by my BF one Valentine. These cuties were made by Chocopix. What he did was give a soft copy of the desired photo to Chocopix, select the kind of chocolate design, and then they'll cater the rest of it.

The first pic was a choco box. It was literally a box with three yummy truffles inside. The second pic was like a choco lollipop. And the pic on that was a caricature of me that he asked his friend to draw (how sweet!)

The only downside, you have to eat it (if only I could preserve those, haha)!

5. Personalized cheesecake

This was also given to me by my BF. He ordered this from one organization that was selling those at the moment, and he had it personalized.

===o===

Chocopix

Unit 101 East Side Condominium

77 Malakas Stree, Pinyahan

Quezon City, Metro Manila 1100, Philippines

Phone: 920-5911

www.chocopixonline.com

My Gambasetti Experience at TOSH

I have read different raves about TOSH's Gambasetti and lucky for me, I was fortunate enough to try it one time. Upon arriving, I already had my Gambasetti in mind even before the menu was handed to us.

Front cover of the menu. My BF was bullying me that I was that girl on the menu.

At this point, my BF on the other hand, ordered Peppered Crusted Fish with Spaghetti in Sun Dried Tomato Pesto (hmm, sounds yummy). For drinks, I had Pepsi Light while my BF had Pepsi Max. I don't know if it was just me, but at that time, I was clueless that Pepsi Light was served together with a glass with lime. We even asked the waiter about that, and he reassured that it was for me. Haha, pardon my ignorance for that piece of lime.

Can you see my glass with lime?

Alas my meal arrived. Hmm, honestly, I really don't have that "master" taste buds that could differentiate pasta sauces. The only thing I knew was to eat.. Haha.. Well, for this meal, the sauce was like a wringer of McDonald's spaghetti, through its tinge of a sour taste. The only difference was that gambasetti has a bit of tanginess compared to our dear Mc Spaghetti. Aside from that, my plate was a heaven for seafood lovers. I had about more than six pieces of shrimp on my plate. I just hoped that they completely remove the shell to facilitate ease in eating.

Gambasetti P175

I know you might be expecting a review on my BF's meal, but unfortunately, even before I had to get a taste of it, he was already finished with his meal. Oh well, I'll just try it next time haha.

Pepper Crusted Fish with Spaghetti in Sun Dried Tomato Pesto P170

===o===

The Old Spaghetti House

3rd Floor AnnexBldg, SM North Edsa

426-TOSH (8674)

Allows delivery