Monday, May 20, 2013

RUB....Ribs and more in QC!


64 Scout Rallos, QC


Its Sunday. The family routine is usually Mass at 9am, followed by my rounds (if I have to), errands (if any) and then lunch.



I have been wanting to try a ribs place in Pasig. I was delighted to find out that they have a branch near Tomas Morato in QC. So this carnivorous family trooped to Scout Rallos where RUB is located.
The place is a bit small and can barely accommodate 50 people.






The most difficult part was deciding what to order. Finally we settled on the Family Brunch sized Ribs with three sides, 2 orders of rice and a pitcher of their house blended tea.
Menu
house blend iced tea php 110





 The first to arrive at our table is the house blended iced tea. It tasted like regular iced tea except that orange juice was added.





family brunch ribs with three sides php 685
 The Family brunch ribs can serve 4 people. We chose garlic mashed potato, coleslaw and potato bacon salad as sides, The ribs were perfectly done (bone falling off tender) but it was a bit bland and needed the slightly spicy sweet barbeque sauce that it was served with.


garlic mashed potato 65








I loved the garlic mashed potato so much that I ordered extra!
She liked the ribs!

sarap to the bones!




Fried Oreos with vanilla ice cream php150





The fried oreos was the house best seller dessert so we opted for it. It was surprisingly good. The oreos were dipped into batter and fried, served warm with Vanilla ice cream. Its just overpowering sweet so one order was good for us four.











The bill came up to just a thousand for four people. Not bad considering we were full and sugary happy with the sweet dessert. We even had iced tea left overs and half of the extra mashed potato in a doggie bag. The verdict? Worth going back if you have a craving for American style ribs.







RUB
64 Scout Rallos , QC
Turn right at first street at Tomas Morato from Scout circle.

Sunday, May 19, 2013

Pho bac, Stop over 2. Bonifacio Global. Taguig

The place was empty at 11am.
 It was an early work wednesday and first surgery of the day was at St. Luke's Global CARMI. Second surgery was unexpectedly cancelled so I found myself with about half an hour or so free to take my lunch before starting clinic at NKTI. I remembered there is a small Vietnamese resto across SLMC-Global and decided to try it.

Definitely I ordered my two favorite Vietnamese dishes, the fresh roll and pho (noodle soup). I chose mixed sea food. Service was quick (I was the lone customer at 11 am!) 

Fresh roll php 97



The fresh roll is the typical cold noodle shrimp roll. The basil was not over powering. It comes with a peanut sauce dip that complimented the fresh roll.









Mixed seafood noodle php 215
Before I could even finish the fresh roll, the mixed seafood noodles arrived . It was a bit bland, specially after I have slurped half of the delicious broth. Oh, there at the table were the condiments of chili, hot sauce and bean sauce! A dollop of the bean sauce and a tiny drop of the hot sauce solved the problem.





Hay, after that big bowl of noodles, I wanted to rest and sleep....But duty calls!

Condiments: Chili sauce, Bean sauce, Green chili slices

Josh and Jean Burgers

Belfast Ave. inside FilOil gas station

 One time on my way home from CHMC clinic, I passed by a Filgas station and saw a newly opened burger joint. I promised myself to try it and last Saturday with my friend Anna, we went out and tried the burger.



The place is literally on the gas station and there are no air conditioning. Dining is alfresco but Anna and I joked that its more of pinausukan (pinausukan ng jeep, bus, motorcycle and kotse). hehehehe.




alfresco dining



The menu as you can see is very limited. there are only two burger choices: Regular ( one patty) and Choice (Double patties). They have only two pasta: Spaghetti with meatballs and palabok.  There are no side dish (french fries, onion rings etc..) choices and there are only two softdrink options.
We decided on the choice burgers and palabok (after being told that spaghetti and meatballs was not available). 




Choice burger php 75
The burger as advertized was all beef. The patties were respectable in size and two of these makes it a good meaty burger. The only drawback is that the burgers were a bit dry. The  lean meat and fat ratio needs to be tweaked a bit more. 

 
That's me biting into the burger













The cheese is one of those tasteless pasteurized artificial sheets you get from the grocery store. I requested them to make my burger without the ketchup so I can truly taste the meat.




I thought they forgot the shrimp sauce when they gave me the palabok . Apparently they ran out of eggs and it was the only thing that was missing. well, this is not exactly an appetizing plate. However, it was not as bad as it looks. The noodles were of good quality and done just right. Though it did not have a sauce it was tasty. Still I would label this a pancit malabon rather than palabok. 

pancit palabok php 45




The verdict: Not so bad. The burger was tasty but a bit dry. I prefer this over nearby fast food joint burgers. And the price is reasonable compared to them. They should increase burger selection by adding extras like sides and different cheeses. As to the palabok, lets just say its the last time I will order that! If ever I get the burger craving, this is so near my place that I would not mind going there again.






Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Kebabers SM Fairview

 It was election day and I was pretty excited to go to the polls. But Word got to me that my name was no longer in the list. To vent my frustration, this disenfranchised  voter decided to go some retail therapy in the nearest SM---in Fairview!

On the way to hypermart, we passed by a newly opened kebab place. Hmm... this looks mighty familiar...aha, this is the kebab place along katipunan! Since yours truly loves kebabs, we decided to try this place out.





Their menu is flashed on a bright signboard over the counter. 











Then they give you a big plastic thingy that will light up once your order is ready.
Cheese kebab 3pcs with rice php 125


 I decided to order their "special" : kebab stuffed with cheese. It was kinda ok but if you are a true blue kebab lover this is a failure hands down. The rice was disappointing. Considering the price, I guess their market was geared towards university students . After all, their first store is across ateneo and miriam.






Ground beef stuffed with cheese
 
Paul ordered the steak shawarma. Their twist is the addition of potato crisps to the shawarma. He said it was ok and i asked for a bite. The texture was interesting ( because of the Potato crisps) . The chili garlic yogurt added much needed taste.





steak shawarma php 88













As extras we ordered fried jalapeno stuffed with chesse. Hmmm....this is mexican , not middle eastern fare. May identity crisis ang resto na ito.











Verdict: their product is definitely geared for the student market. It is cheap and you get exactly what you pay for. Was it that bad? Not so much. But if you want authentic mid east cuisine, this place will surely be a let down.

Sunday, May 12, 2013

Ulo-ulo in Maginhawa

It was a day before my birthday that I got a craving for Ulo-ulo. Yes, that ubiquitous fish head soup cooked in a sour broth (sinigang for short). I used to eat this near VMMC but I saw a place across Cafe quezon and with my VMMC residents in tow, decided to try this out.

Val gamely posing in front of the place

The garage converted into the ordering and display counter


The place is a bit big, a house converted to a resto. They applied screens all over the dining area which effectively kept pesky flies out.

Tinumok or Pinangat

Siningang ulo0ulo (Salmon) Not malangsa and soured with kalamansi

adobong kalabaw
The food was lutong-bahay good. Not much ambiance and service can be disappointing. The best part was the price. For seven people we ordered 10 servings of rice, 2 servings @ of Ulo-ulo, adobong kalabaw and pinangat; 3 servings of lechon kawali and two 1.5L of Mountain dew. The  total bill did not even reach a thousand pesos!

St. Alp's Katipunan

It was another sunday, and after attending mass, we were looking for a place to eat. Since we were near katipunan, we decided to look for a place to eat in Regis Bldg across Meriam and Ateneo. Initially we wanted to go to Mom and Tina's but as we passed St Alps we thought, hmmmm....why not try this place?

st. Alp's counter
The ambiance is warm and inviting. there were few diners in the place. You have to go to the counter to place your order. The staff was friendly and accommodating.  Unfortunately, those were the only positive thing in the place. The food which should be the best part of dining there was a total let down.

Daing na Bangus php 185

Ok, so what could go wrong with this? Its supposed to be boneless but Paul found several fish bones. Plus the fish was a bit bland. We like our daing  na bangus to be on the vinegary side.






Taiwanese Chicken Soup php195




I asked which of the noodles were non-spicy for my daughter and they told me to order this. Initially it was not spicy but as the soup cooled down it  became spicy. Why? I found two red chili slices in it!










Buti na lang we separated her portion in her own bowl and it was free from the chili slices.








Minced Pork Php 195




This was sweet, spicy and forgettable.










Honey Glazed pork php 195



This initially looked promising. It tasted ok but it was a bit tough. Closer inspection showed there were uncooked inner pork portions. ewwww....
Raw inner pork portions.


black sesame milk tea--gritty.


What else there is to say except,we should have stuck with our original plan to eat elsewhere!


Saturday, May 4, 2013

Kebab Cravings....World Class Persian Kebab

 96 Quezon Avenue
Saturday lunchtime no crowds
No posts for a while as the schedule was jam packed and at the evenings I was too lazy to blog. So its another Saturday of attending to a surgery , rounds on ward patients and clinic patients. before I knew it, lunchtime was here. Hmmmm...what should I eat? The kids were not around so I can forgo the usual noodle and soup requirements. Aha! I want to eat kebab!

Normally I would troop to West avenue or technohub for my kebab fix but hey, time to try something new! After some internet search, I decided on World Class Persian Kebab at Quezon Avenue. I passed this place so many times but I never noticed this kebab place. It was near work, the reviews were good and with my secretary, we looked for this place . Its along Quezon Ave and near Pantranco and Roxas. There is 2-3 car parking in front. The place was near empty on Saturday lunchtime.

Hummus pho 50; Pita Bread Php 10 @


It was past 12nn and we decided to order hummus and a piece of pita bread as appetizer while waiting for our other orders. The hummus was ok but I still prefer the motabal with its smoky eggplant taste.

watermelon Shake php 40







For our drinks, I decided on watermelon shake while Annalyn went for the usual soda.

Condiments: Garlic Yoghurt , Chili sauce











We were the one of the two table that were occupied and our orders came just as we had the last bite of the pita bread! Talk about great timing!
Chelo Kebab (beef) with Basmati Rice php 160

Chelo Morgh (Chicken) with Jasmine Rice php160


The Beef Chelo kebab was good. My only complaint is that it was a bit bland. A few sprinkles of salt solved the problem quickly.












The Chelo Morgh (chicken ) was the same. Both were served wih a heapful of rice. You can choose between Jasmine or beryani rice. There is a dollop of unsalted butter that is on top of the rice.





Plain Keema php 60



The plain keema was just ground beef sauteed in tomato and onion. Although this was tasty I like Mister kebab's keema..

*BURP*

 
For all our orders, the bill came up to a flat 500php. Not bad. Both of us were stuffed to the max and my rice loving lunch date was happy with her carbo loading! Will be back to try their other dishes like the lamb and ox brain!