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!


Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Wee Nam Kee is finally in Trinoma

With Linda, Arlene and Rose


I love Hainanese chicken and will order it whenever it is available. There are very few places in QC where you can get good hainanese chicken. It was such an anticipated event when  finally Wee Nam Kee opened in trinoma (4th level near Yakimix). I have always wanted to go to their Makati branch but could not find the time. So when my cousin Linda came for her summer visit, I decided to bring her and her friends to Wee Nam Kee trinoma.




Combi Chicken Medium Php 488 --The star of the meal!
Of course the chicken was the first thing I ordered but decided to  make it a combination platter with roasted chicken. I just had to try the roasted chicken as my VMMC resident Dennis raved about it (he claims he can eat one whole of it in one sitting!) . The roast chicken is OK. Both are delicious and juicy but still, my favorite is the white chicken.There is ample grated ginger, hot sauce and (surprise!) hoisin soy sauce as condiments. They have a set chicken platter with rice and soup (Php 168).
Cereal Prawns php 395




The cereal prawns were good but Lugang Cafe's version is so much better. The prawns came out kinda dry and the oats were almost powdery.






Hongkong Fried Noodles Php275







The Hong Kong fried noodles were OK. Nothing to rave about.

We just had to order a veggie dish and chose spinach with garlic.       
Spinach with Garlic Php 190



















Arlene with the cucumber lime fizz php120
We had fun ordering the drinks. They were kind enough to give us a taste of the barley and the Lime drink. Rose and I decided on the barley. It was light and refreshing. Arlene chose the cucumber drink. Kudos to this drink for being really having a fully cucumber taste. I had tasted several cucumber drinks but so far this is the best!

Rose with the Barley drink php 55










Total bill for the combi chicken, noodles, spinach, prawns, 2 chicken rice, and 4 drinks + service charge came up to Php 1846.61 . Not bad for four people. We were full and happy with our meal! What more can we ask for? (Hahaha...shopping!)








Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Tagaytay weekend Part 3 (food trip)

How can a weekend trip go without glorious food? When we found out that the tiger at Residence inn Zoo was not available for photo-ops on Friday afternoon, we decided to reschedule entry to the zoo Saturday am. With the scorching warm weather, we decided to eat halo-halo. We passed by a small newly opened place along Aguinaldo H-way and decided to try it.

Carmela's (Along Aguinaldo Highway)
Halo-halo Php90
banana cake Php 160
 The halo-halo was ordinary. The leche flan on top, however, was super creamy. I like my halo-halo milky and would have liked a bit more milk. The banana bread was good (according to my companions) but I am no connoisseur of banana bread which for me was just ok.
I would not pass judgement yet on this cafe as it is so new (there were no permanent seats inside, just portable fold-able furniture) . We were the only customers at that time and the owners were kinda surprised to find walk in customers.

A trip to Tagaytay will not be complete without eating beef - as bulalo soup or steak. After our sky ranch adventure, we decided to head to the nearby bulalohan with a view - Near the Sky Bulalohan. I could not take lots of pictures as my 2 month old suddenly decided to start her crying sessions.

, I
Bulalo
I chose Near the Sky based on some of the reviews. There is little that can go wrong with good ol' bulalo. It was meaty, the marrow intact and yummy, the broth tasty.  I did not quite get what the reviews were raving about.




Crispy Tawilis







I did not find the crispy tawilis crispy enough. But the price was friendly. The total bill was just under 500php for three people (Rice, Bulalo and Crispy tawilis).







My first choice for Saturday lunch was Bawai, a Vietnamese restaurant that is strictly by reservations only. Much to my disappointment when I was turned down as they were already full for Saturday lunch and dinner. Second choice was Bag of Beans along Aguinaldo highway.


We settled in one of the areas with a daybed. We were promptly informed by one of the servers that it will cost us 1000Php which was consumable. It was ok as we decided to try their lunch buffet and just order ala carte for the yaya.  



Buffet area













The place was full and I felt a little awkward taking pictures of the food. Its a brunch buffet and there were breakfast viands (tocino, tapa, longganisa) and lunch entrees (kare kare, roast beef, chicken ala king etc.) The roast beef was a bit tough but as a whole most of the foods were good tasting.
My pasta connoisseur approves of the bolognese spaghetti
Chicken pork adobo (for yaya) php220


garden dining areas

dessert buffet






 There was a pasta area where you can choose between spaghetti and fettucini. There were 5 pasta sauces available. With my daughter in mind , I ordered Spaghetti Bolognese. It tasted good and my little one liked it.   
salad and halo-halo area

kitschy lighting decors
kitschy lighting decors



 Paul and I stuffed ourselves to the max. Our unhurried lunch took us almost two hours!  Probably the garden ambiance plus the calming piped in music contributed to this. We were almost tempted to take a nap at the daybed (hahaha).


Two adults on the brunch buffet, 1 ala carte chicken pork adobo (which the yaya said tasted really good), two take home solo pies- shepherd's and beef and veggie  plus the service charge totaled to Php 1576. Not bad at all!
 
 
my take out shepherd's pie

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Tagaytay weekend Part 2 (Sky Ranch)

As my kids were first timers to Tagaytay, we had to take them to the usual areas where kids are most likely to enjoy.

the family posing near the sky eye


Sky ranch is the newest place that opened last month in Tagaytay. Its besides Taal Vista Hotel where there were horses to ride. Apparently, the SM group bought the area and made it into a theme park. The horse corral is still there, less smelly and better organized. We decided to skip that part of the park.









ticket prices




 
The entrance is 50 php  per person higher than 3 ft. We paid for three and the two kids went in for free. Payment for the rides are located at a booth inside the park.  Best time to go is late afternoon and stay until evening. Ride the sky eye first as this will have the longest line and you will still be able to enjoy the view. 








There were several rides that are opened and we could see new ones being built as well. The most prominent of these is the sky eye, a huge slow moving ferris wheel ride similar to the one in MOA. This one claims to be the biggest one in the country.


The sky eye provided  a good view of Tagaytay and the Taal volcano. The whole ride lasted 10 mins . I noticed each carriage has its own separate aircon unit. We took the ride late in the afternoon as we felt it was too hot to start at the park's opening time (12nn). At night, the sky eye lights up and has its own "light show".
inside the sky eye










she enjoyed the inflatable playground.


 
My eldest loved looking at the rides specially the carousel;  but once it started to moved she starts to kick and scream. Hmmm....definitely she did not get that trait from me! Buti na lang the staff was kind enough to let us exchange the ticket to the inflatable playground that she enjoyed so much that we had to carry her out and away from!