A (Second) Round of Applause for Tapa King

I am a glutton, yes, I admit, but I have conscience. For the first time in my life (this is true!), I had a second thought when it comes to ordering food. I have seen news about the victims of Ondoy who were left with almost nothing. My brother has already given a small amount as a donation, but I still felt hesitant to spend while others are suffering. Fortunately, with the help of my hungry stomach, I was able to come up with a rationalization for ordering food: since the victims of Ondoy do not get to buy from food chains and restaurants, ordering food is my way to salvage food chains and restaurants from bankruptcy. Whether this was logical or not, my stomach did not care anymore because it was about to explode. ^^

We were torn between McDonald's and Tapa King. My mother, my elder brother, and I voted for McDonald's, while my eldest brother chose Tapa King. One against three, and the King ruled over the clown.

We had our round one yesterday. We ordered Tapa King, Chicken King, Baked Spaghetti with toast, and cheeseburger. The second round was just this lunch, and we ordered Tapa King, Crispy Liempo, Tocino, Baked Spaghetti, and cheese burger.  Yes, we ordered twice for two consecutive days, and we rarely do that.

The food did not look so delicious; they were so simple and unembellished. But these plain-looking food made my week!

Unfortunately, I was not able to take pictures of our first round food. Excitement and hunger once again won. Good thing, I was able to "document" everything during our second round.

I ordered for the Tapa King meal.

I would say that Tapa King's specialty is of the same caliber as Chowking’s. Tapa King was really tasty. The meat was so tender, and what is more, the serving was satisfying. Actually, I have finished my rice already, and there were still some tapa slices left.

My eldest brother got Crispy Liempo meal.

The liempo was also good. It had the right crunch, and the serving was big.

My eldest brother chose Tocino meal.

It was I think it was young pork because it was so soft. It was not the typical tocino that I know because the pork was so tender. It was one of the best tocinos that I’ve tasted.

My mother opted for Baked Spaghetti with toast.

I rarely order for spaghetti whenever we eat out simply because I only want my mother’s spaghetti. But Tapa King’s spaghetti was something that met my expectation. It was not too sweet, and not too saucy. It was just right.

Aside from these, each of us ordered for Tapa King’s cheeseburger.

Ironically, this was the best among what we ordered! It became an instant favorite. It had cheese, tomato slice, and cucumber slice in it. The burger was very simple. It looked like a homemade burger. It was so different from burgers we buy from other food chains. The patty was yummy, but it was not overpowering. There was only a slice of cheese, tomato, and cucumber, but those were already enough to complement the patty. The creator of that burger made a perfect concoction of those ingredients, resulting to the best-tasting burger for me.

I cannot wait to have my third round!

A Supersizing and Surprising Family Dinner

For my family, every moment is a bonding moment. But, what makes each bonding time extra-special is FOOD! When there is food in between conversations, I always have this feeling that we become closer.

This afternoon, my family went to Walter Mart (my favorite mall!) to eat out. The decision was very abrupt. We were all lying in bed (actually, I just woke up) when out of the blue, we decided to go out to eat. I, as an eager eater, needed no stretching or warming up and stood up at once. I just put on powder over my oily face, and I was all set.

When we arrive at Walter Mart, we still did not have an agreement on where to eat. It was just 6:30 when we got there, and the mall closes at 9:00. I was worried (I always worry, FYI) that we might not be able to choose a place at once, but luckily, after buying a shirt at the mini-tiangge there and purchasing two cake pans at Baker's Depot, we came up with a decision. And the chosen one was.......Max's Restaurant!

The place was not crowded. Actually, the mall itself was not packed, and this one of the reasons I like Walter Mart. We occupied the table near the rest room, and that gave me a feeling of relief ^ ^. We ordered two viands, a pancit bihon dish, and three garlic rice.

I was not able to get pictures of our food while they were still untouched; I instantly grabbed my spoon and fork and started gulping down. Like what I wrote in my first post, I am like that, so the photos below are not yummy as they look, but as they say, looks can be deceiving.

First off, I present the half-eaten Spicy Shrimp Gambas:

This dish is comprised of well, spicy shrimp. Actually, it was not that spicy. It was more of a garlic shrimp dish to me. It is not very saucy; it was oily, but the oil in the dish was just a perfect addition to the dish as it makes it moist and shiny. Honestly, when we ordered that dish, we were expecting the original gambas dish, which was saucy. We were surprised and disappointed that they do not serve that dish anymore. But upon tasting the dish, we were satisfied. By the way, this shrimp gambas comes with three slices of bread that you can dip in the oil in the dish, making them an instant appetizer. Although we did not get the original recipe that we fell in love with before, I would say that this new recipe fulfilled our craving.

My mother did not want to eat rice so she ordered Pancit Bihon. We chose the regular size, which is good for two to three persons. And here is the half-eaten Pancit Bihon:

This dish was surprisingly good! I am not a fan of pancit dishes, but this one is an exception. Actually, what made me appreciate this dish is the fact that it tastes the same as the pancit dish that my mother cooks. This dish was not packed with vegetables - just enough to add flavor and give crunch to the pancit. It had bits of chicken liver (yum!) in it and slices of squid balls! The dish was exactly the same as my mother's, so I really enjoyed it. You can try combining it with garlic rice also. They say that pancit makes you live longer. I say that this pancit gave me more reasons to live longer! I will surely go back to Max's to order this dish again!

It took a relatively long time before our last dish arrived. But it was worth the wait because it came with a bang! I give you the half-eaten Pinaputukang Tiyan ng Bangus:

This dish was superb! It looked good, but I did not expect that it would taste great! It really exceeded our expectations. Max's was a genius for having just the bangus belly instead of the whole fish. The belly itself was delectable, but it was made even yummier by the stuffing, which was composed of mixed chopped tomatoes, garlic, onion, and other spices. The presentation of the dish was just simple, but if this is how simple dishes taste like, then, I will never settle for the best-looking dishes. Okay, that may be an exaggeration, but this dish was really great! Shrimp Gambas is something; Pancit Bihon is something; but Pinaputukang Tiyan ng Bangus is something else.:)

We finished at around 8:00. For our dessert, we bought ice cream at Snowpy (fave!), and that wrapped up our dinner. This dinner was full of surprises, and that makes it more memorable. It was an eat-out that we enjoyed to the Max!:)




Side Dish: The garlic rice was not that garlicky; it was just like plain rice. Nevertheless, it did not ruin my meal because the overwhelming (in a positive way) taste of the food we ordered, especially the Pinaputukang Tiyan ng Bangus, compensated the flaw of the garlic rice.:)

My Happy, Snowpy Experience

There are several reasons I love Walter Mart. The first time I went to this place, I instantly fell in love with it! But what intensified my fascination is this small kiosk in the second floor of the mall, just near the department store - the Snowpy Ice Cream booth! And here are two of my favorites:

The first one is their vanilla ice cream cup. It comes with chocolate syrup. The syrup solidifies after some seconds, so you have a combination of soft ice cream and slightly hard chocolate. So, there is the texture that you may be looking for! This cup costs only P12.00.

The second one is the most expensive (but still cheap, relatively). It's only P16.00. Imagine how cheap that is compared to ice cream in cup in fast food chains. And it really tastes good! It comes with chocolate powder, chocolate syrup, marshmallows, and candies! Yum yum!

They also have ice cream in cone, which comes in three variants: wafer cone, sugar cone, and choco dip. And you can get all of these at a very cheap price!

The only problem is that you cannot be satisfied with just a cup or a cone. On second thought, I guess this is not really a problem; this just shows how delicious their ice cream is. Actually, when we went there last Sunday, after finishing my choco sundae, I bought a wafer cone sundae. After that, I bought a choco dip! I should have bought another one; luckily, my mother was with me to stop me when she realized that she was already good with the three ice cream cones that she digested and that it was time to go home. ^ ^

Not all the best things in life are free, but some are just cheap. So if you are an ice cream addict but is willing to spend just a few pennies, I suggest that you visit Snowpy. Thanks Walter Mart for Snowpy! c";P

Chow at Chow

I am not a fan of eating out for breakfast. I prefer eating at home in the morning because it is the time of the day when I unleash what needs to be unleashed. But sometimes, this is not really an issue. Just this morning, my brothers and I agreed on having our first meal of the day at Chowking. It was an exciting date because it was our first time since we transferred to Makati. Donning our best pambahay attire, off we went to Chowking at the Export Bank Plaza, Chino Roces corner Gil Puyat.

Upon arriving at the place, we ordered for our food at once and went to our spot. After five minutes, our coffees arrived.

I love coffee! But this one is not my type. If you are a fan of dark, bitter coffee, then, this one is for you. For this one cup, I added two sachets of sugar and one sachet of creamer. But its bitterness was really overpowering, so nothing happened. Actually, it tasted weird. However, its taste was tolerable, so if you will order coffee at Chowking, just do not add sugar. And, let it cool or you might drop it when it's too hot! Just after one sip of my coffee, the Crab and Corn Soup came.




Oh! Yes! I almost forgot that it was a soup because it was overflowing with sweet corn kernels and crab meat! When I tasted it, at first, I thought it was too sweet. But, it only took me three spoons to realize that the soup was perfect. I really love the texture of the soup; the slight crunchiness of the corn and the delicate crab meat really complement each other. The soup was generally sweet, but the taste was not overwhelming. I would say that it is something that I would order again (maybe next week?). I finished just half of my soup (I was supposed to take everything in) to give way to the King.





The King's Special consists of fried rice, sunny-side-up egg, ham, longganisa, and tapa (my favorite!). The rice was okay; it's just your typical fried rice at home. Nothing special. The egg was supposed to be sunny-side-up, but mine's egg yolk bursted, so it was not perfect. It tasted like a typical fried egg. The ham was also all right. I expected a sweeter one, but it tasted well, so I still appreciated it. The longganisa tasted good. It was not awesome, but I really liked it because it was not fatty. The meat was not coarse as it did not have stray small chunks of meat. The tapa.... The tapa was perfect! It was not too salty. Just right. And the best thing was that the meat was so tender! Whenever I eat tapa, the first thing that I look for is the tenderness of the meat. If the meat is not tender, then, my tapa moment is ruined. Good thing, the tapa on my plate that morning was really tender. I never needed a knife to slice it. Just my spoon was enough. The tapa was the best part of my King's Special.


It was a satisfying meal. I really enjoyed it. What made it more enjoyable is that I shared it with my best eating buddies. After an hour or so, we wrapped up our breakfast date. And this was what was left of my food:





I could have finished everything if I am just an egg-lover. ^ ^


___________________________________

Side dish:

*When you order extra rice during breakfast at Chowking, make sure that you ask for fried rice also because their plain rice was a bit hard like it was undercooked (I am not sure if its the same in all Chowking branches), but it was tolerable. To be sure, just go for the fried rice.

Glutton at large!

I have always wanted to write a food blog complete with pictures. But for some reasons, I always fail to take pictures of the food I eat whenever I go to a restaurant, a fast food chain, or any cheap food stand. On second thought, I think it is simply because of a single reason: I am a gourmand and the only things that my hands grab once my eyes spot food are spoon and fork. It's reflex, I guess. So, even if I am bringing a camera or my cheap camera phone, I end up devouring the food at once instead of taking pictures of them. But being somebody who loves reminiscing gluttonic memories, I decided to push through with this picture blog. Plus, it feels nice to share my delicious escapades with others. Delicioso!