六十四：UCC Park Cafe

UCC Park Cafe has been near my work place for like 3 years already but it was just last year that I've tried eating there. I've heard food is good but is very expensive.

I've also heard that the cafe is actually from Japan and so the food is a fusion of Japanese and Western cuisines but is most famous for their coffee.

Based on my research, UCC stands for Ueshima Coffee Company and is actually a coffee manufacturer from Japan.

I like Japanese foods so I was sure I'd like the food there.

The first time that I decided to eat there was an epic failure. It happened when I was with a friend late night. We watched a musical event and I suggested we eat at UCC Park Cafe.

At first I thought I was lucky as my friend is a fan of the cafe and likes eating there with his colleagues at work and so we drove off to Taguig City where he lives and where there is a branch of UCC Park Cafe. Unfortunately, he doesn't remember the exact location and so we had to scour the place from Bonifacio High Street to McKinley. My feet got sore from walking and he had to pay twice for parking fees.

After about an hour searching, he remembered the location and when we got there, it was already close....

Unagi Rice Meal 409Php

My next attempt was a success. I was with another friend and she also likes Japanese cuisine. We were at Eastwood City and decided we want to eat Japanese food and so we went to UCC Park Cafe at the 1800 building. 

Typically, UCC's establishments are just coffee houses which serves mainly coffee, tea, cakes, pastries and the dishes are mostly for breakfast. UCC Park Cafe offers more dishes than the typical UCC Cafe.

Grilled Unagi on top of rice.

As expected, the prices are steep. The price ranges from 200+ to almost 400 pesos for a dish. 

They have a wide range of available dishes but of course most are Japanese such as ramen, curry and omurice dishes. They also serve Western dishes such as pastas, sausages and sandwiches and Filipino dishes such as our Si-Logs (sinangag at itlog/fried rice and egg) and the ever famous chicken adobo.

TanTan Men 399Php

Most of the time, when I eat at a Japanese restaurant, I would order ramen (Japanese noodles) because I believe it's the most Japanese dish in my opinion other than sushi.

TanTan Mian 399Php

That night I ordered their Tan tan men (399Php) or Tan Tan Mian in Chinese which is according to their menu is inspired by the Chinese Sichuan noodles which explains the Mian meaning noodles in Mandarin.

It's a spicy noodle dish with a Tonkotsu broth base with sesame paste topped with minced pork, scallions and eggs. The sesame paste gives it the creamy consistency and a nutty taste. It was very tasty and a bit spicy though I think the sesame paste is too overpowering. It's a bit too nutty for my taste but it is still delicious. 

UCC drinks (119Php)

My friend on the other hand ordered the Unagi Rice Plate (409Php). She is addicted to unagi which is grilled eel with a sweet soy sauce marinade. Unagi for me tastes like a very tender fish and is very delicious.

Pearl Milk Coffee 119Php

For our drinks, we tried their pearl drinks namely the Pearl Milk Tea and Pearl Milk Coffee. UCC is very famous for their coffee as they actually started as a coffee shop hence their name UCC Cafe but since we were going to eat warm dishes, we decided to have cold drinks and because the price of our dish is expensive already, adding coffee will be out of our budget.

Pearl Milk Tea 119Php

My friend ordered the Pearl Milk Tea and I tried the Pearl Milk Coffee (119Php each). The Milk Tea is very tasty. The balance between the tea and milk is just right. It wasn't too milky nor does the tea taste too strong. The Milk Coffee was served pousse cafe style (layered) where the milk settles at the bottom and the coffee floating on top.

I like coffee and the milk coffee was good. The coffee isn't too strong. Like the milk tea, it's just the right combination of coffee and milk. The pearls at the bottom also has the right chewiness, not too chewy nor too soft.

Japanese dinner at UCC Park Cafe Eastwood City

Overall, I liked the experience except for the fact that the food is too expensive. I would eat there again to try other food especially the coffee and pastries.

UCC Park Cafe in Eastwood is located at the ground floor of the 1800 building just in front of McDonald's.

六十：Sushi-Ya Japanese Restaurant and SM Megamall Robbery

Sushi-Ya

    I like noodles and so I like ramen. I like Japanese cuisine in general.

There's always something to remember when I eat at a restaurant but when we ate at Sushi-Ya, it was very memorable. It was the time when SM Megamall was robbed by armed thieves stealing jewelry at the department store and the whole mall was locked down.

Luckily for me and my friend, we were able to enjoy our food first before the horror started.

Sushi-Ya Menu

To start the story, let me make a review of the restaurant first.

My friend and I wanted to eat noodles. We were thinking of Komoro Soba or Rai Rai Ken because I've tried eating there before until we ended at Sushi-Ya because the prices seem reasonable and they have the noodles that we wanted.

Sushi-Ya interiors

We asked the waiters regarding their bestsellers and they were nice enough to answer all our queries.

My friend and I decided to order Miso Ramen, Gomoku Ramen, their mixed maki combination 2 and bottomless iced tea.

Of course the iced tea were served right away.

Mixed Maki Combination 2

Next came the sushi platter. We chose Mixed Maki Combination 2 (225Php) which has  4 Cali Maki, 4 Tekka Maki, 2 Shake Maki, 2 Unagi Maki.

We chose combination 2 because of the Unagi Maki which is actually grilled eel. 

Unagi or grilled eel is actually tasty, very delicious and it's quite expensive. It's like fish but more flaky and the Japanese season it with sweet soy sauce.

Miso Ramen

Then came our noodles served in large bowls.

My friend ordered the Miso Ramen 150Php and I ordered the Gomoku Ramen 150Php.

We ate the sushi first and enjoyed every piece of it.

We then tasted each of the ramen that we ordered.

Gomoku Ramen

The Miso Ramen is very tasty, more salty than the Gomoku Ramen and I think it is more on pork based broth while the Gomoku Ramen has white broth and has lots of seafood in it like shrimps and squid.

I think both ramen use the same type of noodles, the long egg noodle type which are also delicious.

My friend and I really enjoyed the food and surely I don't mind eating there again to try the other dishes.

Price Range (50-400Php)
Sushi-Ya Megamall Location:
G/F Building B, SM Megamall, Julia Vargas Avenue Corner EDSA, Mandaluyong City, Metro Manila, Philippines
Phone: +63(2)6319998

To continue with the robbery story...

After we ate, we went to buy the caramel cake at Goldilock's. After buying the cake, we went to the toilet and then while inside the toilet, I hear the sound of a stampede and some people screaming. I actually thought there was an earthquake. 

There were also people going inside the toilet and so we asked them what was happening. They told us that they heard gun shots and they were just trying to hide for safety.

My friend and I got scared and started texting our relatives. After a few minutes, when some of the people who were talking to their relatives outside the toilet said it's clear, my friend and I tried to go out so we can go home.

When we got out the toilet, all establishments were closed.. the whole mall was locked down and when I checked one of the restaurants, I saw people with scared faces all packed at the corner because the restaurant has glass walls.

We went back to the toilet and saw a fire exit. There was also a family who decided to join us and a foreigner. We went down the fire exit and safely got out.

Outside there were police and lots of people who aren't really there to help but are more of a nuisance. We even saw a group of people taking pictures of themselves smiling beside a police car. How insensitive can you get?

Long story short, my friend and I were able to go home safely and saw in the news that thieves robbed the jewelry stand inside the department store and they had a gun which they fired just to scare people away.

It was a really scary experience but at least no one got hurt and at least we were able to enjoy the food before we got scared by the incident. ^_^

五十一：Kogi Bulgogi Korean Cuisine

My friend and I decided to have dinner first before going to Mass at the Padre Pio Shrine. She wanted noodles and so I suggested we try at Kogi Bulgogi Korean Cuisine restaurant since I haven't tried eating there yet. 

 Kogi Bulgogi Korean Cuisine is located in Eastwood City at the second floor of Eastwood Mall along the veranda. It's near the entrance and Italianni's restaurant.

I think their waiter was excited to have had customers and I believe we were the only customers that time so he was kind of ecstatic answering all of our questions regarding the menu.

 Since it's the Lenten season, we try to refrain from eating meat and we wanted to eat just seafood. Good thing the famous spicy Korean noodles Jjamppong only has seafood mixed in it.

We also chose an appetizer which was the soft shell crab sushi. We got intrigued by its name and the waiter said its serving is quite large and it's delicious and so we followed his suggestion.

Appetizer

Like any other Korean restaurants, they will serve you some appetizers first. I really liked their sauteed bananas and the sweet chili dried anchovies. I also kind of liked the salad though I think it would have tasted better if it was served cold.

Soft Shell Crab Sushi

The soft shell crab sushi came first and the waiter was correct, it was huge! It looked like a caterpillar with hair. LOL!

It was very intriguing because of what was on top of the sushi. I thought it was something mushy and soft but when my friend tasted it it was crispy and has mayo but it was really delicious! I think it's something like the batter in a tempura that has been fried and then mixed with mayo. It was really really good.

The sushi is sliced into 8 large pieces. I tried putting one inside my mouth whole and it would not fit I thought I'd choke but it was still delicious! You can taste the crab and shrimp. The lettuce also balances the flavor. It's a mix of sweet, sour, salty and a bit spicy.

Jjamppong

Then our main dish arrived, the Jjamppong. It was orangey red maybe due to the chili. We tasted the soup and it was delicious but not as spicy as I expected. 

The waiter said we can choose the level of spiciness and since we both like spicy we wanted it hot. The level starts at 5 up to a maximum of 10. Level 5 was not spicy at all for us so we chose 7 next. It was a bit spicy but still not spicy for us but we settled for it.

You can taste the seafood broth and it also contains clams, shrimps and squid rings. It was good but then again I was kind of disappointed with the level of spiciness. Next time i will try level 10! 

Peach iced tea 85Php comes with one free refill.

To match my meal I also ordered their iced tea and it was delicious. It tasted like peach iced tea and I think it's actually brewed, very delicious. It also comes with one free refill.

And.. you know if the restaurant is authentic if their locals eat there and before we left, a large group pf Korean came in to eat as well.

One more thing I liked with the restaurant is that there is NO service charge! ^_^

Price Range ( 200PHP - 400PHP per meal)

Address:

Eastwood Mall

2nd Level, Eastwood Mall

Orchard Road, Bagumbayan, Libis

Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines 

Phone Number

(+63 2) 470-6884 - 85

四十四：Best Pancit Malabon in the East

 

I like pancit Malabon very much. As the name implies, this type of pancit originated from Malabon where most of our seafoods sold in markets come from which explains why it is topped with lots of seafood such as shrimps, squid, and sometimes even clams.

Pancit Malabon is made from thick rice noodles and has sauce which is made from seafood broth and its color comes from atsuete extract. It's similar to pancit palabok but the difference would be the thickness of the noodles and the lack of tinapa topping. Both has chicharon and eggs for topping but pancit Malabon agains has lots of seafood.

I have tried different pancit Malabon like the Pancit ng Taga Malabon, Amber's and Mang Ado's Pancit in Pasig. All of those I said are equally delicious but when I tasted Dolora's Pancit Malabon, I was hooked. 

The noodles are firm and very tasty. The sauce sticks to the noodles but is not dry unlike in other restaurants. Their chicharon are also good because it is crunchy and has meat in it and not just plain popped pig skin. What Dolora's Pancit Malabon lacks is the other seafood ingredients like squid rings and clams. They only have shrimps but it's okay with me because it still tastes good. If you want more toppings, there is an additional fee. If I remember correctly, 20 pesos for extra chicharon or egg and 50 pesos for extra shrimps.

What I like best with Dolora's is the price. The cheapest would be 150 good for 3 persons and 850 good for 20-25 persons. They also have different branches but mostly in the East of Metro Manila but they do deliver for an additional fee of 70 pesos.

四十二：Choi Palace Restaurant Review

Chinese New Year is approaching and one great Chinese restaurant to celebrate it is Choi Palace.

It was supposed to be a mini reunion with my college friends about a month ago unfortunately there were only two of us who showed up and we just ended up eating dinner at Choi Palace in Eastwood City Libis.

Condiments such as chili garlic sauce, soy sauce and fish sauce.

I first learned of Choi Palace while strolling around Eastwood Mall. I saw their aquarium filled with live seafood such as lobsters, crabs, fishes and shrimps. I also saw their promotional advertisements posted at the entrance of the restaurant and it says there that they were selling frozen hakaw. I asked my friend and co-worker if she would like us to try buying some and we’ll steam it ourselves but then we thought it was too much of a hassle for us and so instead we chose to eat inside the restaurant. The restaurant's theme is dominated by the white and red color with gold accents which I believe are considered lucky to the Chinese. Most of the table wares and utensils are made of ceramic or China wares. 

I'm not sure if it was a busy that for them though it was a weekend but the one who took our order looked like one of the managers there because he was wearing a suit compared to the other waiters who were only wearing vests on top of their white long sleeves. That day we ordered a beef noodle bowl, wonton noodle bowl and an order of xiao long bao (pork stuffed dumplings with soup inside) and to my surprise we only paid less than 500 pesos in total. We were even given a complimentary hot tea (which was really good and had great calming effect on both of us) and kropek with vinegar sauce.

The food that we ordered.

During our so-called reunion, my college friend and I were looking for a place to eat and he told me he wanted to eat noodles so I suggested Choi Palace. I again suggested to him the noodles that my co-worker and I ordered. We ordered Beef Noodles served in a large bowl which is only 120Php each and an order of hakaw (whole shrimp dumplings) which is also 120Php for 4 pieces. We also ordered fresh calamansi juice as our drinks which are 75Php per glass. This time we were not given any complimentary tea maybe because it was a weekend and they had a lot of customers that day but it was still a good experience.

Hakaw.

Our bill was around 500 to 600Php which already includes the service charge. For me it was very reasonable and quite cheap considering it’s a real Chinese restaurant compared to let’s say Super Bowl of China or North Park though the latter two also serve delicious Chinese foods , Choi Palace is more authentic and has better ambiance.

Closer view of hakaw. Beneath the wrapper is a whole shrimp.

  Choi Palace serves traditional Chinese food and from the ambiance and menu of the restaurant, it’s more like a family restaurant especially for those celebrating special occasions such as birthdays or Chinese New Year. They even have function rooms for larger events. When we went there, there were actually Chinese families eating dinner on the traditional round tables.

Beef Noodles.

 Choi Palace serves noodles, dimsum, dumplings, tea, fresh seafood, Peking duck etc. Choi Palace in Eastwood is at Eastwood Mall 3/F along the veranda.

二十五：Restaurant Review of Rai Rai Ken

 

Rai Rai Ken is a Japanese restaurant that specializes in ramen.

 

My friends and I had dinner at this restaurant in Megamall and we all chose to order ramen. One of my friends ordered the Gomokumen which is mostly seafood, the other one ordered Seafood ramen but it also has large chunks of tofu and if my memory serves me right I ordered tantanmen or whatever was served spicy.

 

Lots of vegetables and seafood.

 

I specifically requested that my ramen be spicy because I really like spicy foods. When my ramen came it was orange in color mainly due to the chili sauce added. My friends noticed it and requested chili for their ramen as well.

 

Seafood and tofu with thick soup.

 

The ramen was delicious. At first all the ramen looks almost the same but when we tasted the soup or the broth of the ramen, each had it's distinct flavor. You can almost tell what type of broth was used like if it was seafood or meat. The bowl is also full of toppings like vegetables and meat. One bowl was enough to make one hungry person like me feel full. I was satisfied.

Lots of chili in there!!!

 

An order of a bowl of ramen is somewhere around 200 to 250 pesos which is quite expensive but reasonable. They also serve Japanese rice bowls and appetizers. The branch that we visited was at Megamall but unfortunately it's not there anymore but there are other branches like in Galleria and in SM Taytay.