Papa John's Has New Surprises in Store for Everyone!

My love for pizza has never been a well-kept secret. Back when I lived in Bangkok, I used to eat boxes of pizza everyday and even thought about opening up a place called "P&P" or "Pizza & PlayStation" where you would basically just eat pizza and play PlayStation - the only two things I did in 2005.

As such, it isn't any surprise that I blogged about the opening of Papa John's here in BF Homes during the earlier days of this blog.

So, when Vince announced that our big When in Manila meeting was going to be in Papa John's in Tomas Morato, I didn't hesitate to make the long commute over there just to get some delicious food in my belly.

Here are some of my Papa John's favorites:

Their regular pizzas.

It doesn't even matter which flavor. I love them all!

The best part is that they've slashed their prices!!! So you can now get their regular pizzas at Php250 to Php340 (depending on the flavor) instead of from Php280 to Php370!

Their family and party pizza prices have been slashed, too! :D

Their carbonara.

I'm a noodle/pasta lover. So this is on my list.

Chicken wingettes.

I'm not a big chicken lover, but I surprisingly love these.

Naturally, I am - above everything else - a dessert whore, so... TRY ALL OF THESE DELICIOUS DESSERTS AT PAPA JOHN'S!!!

LAVA CAKE!!!

APPLE PIE A LA MODE!!!

AND I DON'T EVEN REMEMBER WHAT THIS WAS, BUT IT WAS GOOD, TOO!!!

Papa John's has a payday flash sale going on until September, too! During every payday weekend, you can basically enjoy this:

And oh, kids under 12 eat free on Saturdays, so guess where S and I will be heading tomorrow! Oh yeahhh. Papa John's, baby!!!

Bulgogi Brothers: The Best Place for Quality Korean Food

My love for Korean food started in Bangkok about a decade ago when my dad would bring back bottled kimchi from the Korean ambassador to Thailand. Since we moved here, though, I have moved way past the kimchi phase and into a lot of other Korean dishes.

As such, it should make complete sense that I couldn't wait to try out Bulgogi Brothers when it opened in the new wing in Alabang Town Center.

Well, that is exactly where we went for a huge dinner after a day of fitness, courtesy of barre3, the walk for TOMS' One Day without Shoes and some good ol' Dance Dance Revolution at Timezone. :p

Despite my immense love for Korean food, it was actually my first time at Bulgogi Brothers, though. See, I live in BF Homes - the capital of Korean restaurants (and Korean grocery stores and Korean billiard hotels, etc.) in the Metro. But since we were in ATC already, I took the chance to finally try out this much talked about restaurant by the Bistro Group.

#funfact

To start, we were served this platter of sweet potato, corn and quail eggs. To be honest, that platter in itself already made my day.

And what would a Korean feast be without some hot tea?

The appetizers were great. We had some fried goodness in the form of Haemul Gunjung Mandu (beware the veggies in the middle, though - they are extremely spicy!!!).

And my favorite dish of the night: Dubu Steak. I absolutely looove tofu in every form, so I will definitely order this again and again every time I'm at Bulgogi Brothers.

For the drinks, we were served some lime juice and raspberry juice. The raspberry juice was far too sweet for my taste, to be honest, but nothing a lil watering down couldn't handle. (The good news is that watering down drinks also gives you  more to drink in the end. Haha!)

We also had some Haemul Bibimbap, which was great with the sauce that it came with, and some Kimchi-Jjigae. I wasn't able to take a picture of the soup, though. Coz, as mentioned earlier, I'm a sucker for kimchi, so... I ate without thinking. :( #badblogger

For our "barbecue", we had the Bulgogi Brothers Special, which was apparently good for 2-3 persons. With all of the other things that we had to eat, though, this was a lot (it included the pictures above and below this paragraph).

If you plan on going with 2-3 persons, you might just want to order this and nothing else. But if there are more of you, order this and some of the other things I mentioned above. :)

My favorite part of the meal was the fact that all of the hamburger patties were shaped like hearts. Piella, our waitress for the night - love her, by the way! - said that this tradition started when a random guy in Korea asked a restaurant if he could get special heart-shaped patties to surprise his girlfriend with. Awwwww!

Of course, dessert couldn't be left out. I am a huge fan of Korean ice cream and buy most of the Korean popsicles at our nearby Korean grocery store in BF, so I was sooo happy to see that they served different kinds at Bulgogi Brothers.

It was my first time to try this Ice Sandwich with Cookie and I like it even more than the Melona popsicles, if that's even possible.

Now, my biggest problem in reviewing restaurants is that, when I visit it as a review, the food is always awesome. But then, the next time I go, it's not so great anymore.

I actually went back to Bulgogi Brothers a week after we went to ATC for dinner, though, and I am so happy to announce that Bulgogi Brothers tastes amazing, whether they know you will be writing about them or not and regardless of which branch you go to (I went to MOA the second time around).

Great food. Great service. You can't go wrong. Bulgogi Brothers is now officially my second favorite "Brothers"... after Super Mario. :p

Don't forget to like Bulgogi Brothers Philippines on Facebook! :)

T.G.I. Friday's: The Best Place to Kick Off Summer!

Hey, hey, hey! Despite the random drizzles here and there, summer is clearly officially upon us. And for my fellow alcoholics alcohol enthusiasts out there, this means the switch to more refreshing alcoholic beverages that won't leave us dehydrated or begging for water. 

Parental Advisory:

Drinking water between alcoholic drinks would always be a good idea to avoid a potential hangover the morning after!

Anyway, because of this need for refreshing alcohol, T.G.I. Friday's has launched a whole new bar menu, which includes various affordable drinks, such as the following:

Electric Lemonade

Flings

Long Island Iced Tea and ... wait for it ... Refillable Mojito! The refillable mojito is available every day for only Php295!

As you can see, the new bar menu features drinks that will fit every bar personality, from the life of the party to the fellow winding down after work.

Aside from that, the T.G.I. Friday's Red Card is now available, as well:

In a nutshell, the T.G.I. Friday's Red Card serves as a passport for buy one, take one cocktails every Thursday. And you can get yours completely free of charge just by dining at any T.G.I. Friday's branch. How great is that?

Things don't stop there, either. Adding to all of this excitement is the first leg of the "Stars Behind the Bar" tour:

During this tour, celebrity bartenders will show off bar stunts, give away free drinks and teach people how to make basic flairs and cocktails.

For complete dates and more information on the tour, like T.G.I. Friday's on Facebook and follow them on Twitter! You may also visit their official website here! :)

Chops Chicago Steakhouse: The Ultimate Powerhouse for Steak

The minute you walk into Chops Chicago Steakhouse (located on the 4th floor of Greenbelt 5, Makati), you'll know it isn't any ordinary steakhouse. In fact, the words I would use to describe Chops best would be 'intimidating' and 'powerful' - and I mean that in the best way possible.

Chops generally exudes a masculine vibe with the strong elements of stone, brick and hardwood panels in the restaurant that definitely made me want to don a suit and channel my inner bro.

With its minimal lighting and dark vibe, Chops caters mostly to power lunches, business meetings, gentlemen's nights out, and dinner dates.

Here are some of the dishes that I was able to try out there:

Soup of the Day (P170)

The soup at Chops is made fresh daily and only in small batches.

Shrimp Cocktail (P430)

Definitely one of my favorite starters in account of the fact that it brings together two of my favorite foods: seafood and fruits. <3

Classic Caesar Salad (P285)

Steak and Kidney Pie (currently not on the menu)

I was definitely intrigued by this because it wasn't on the menu yet and I had never tried kidney pie before. Plus, I've always been interested in trying pies ala Sweeney Todd. Haha!

In the end, I must say that kidney pie is an acquired taste, unfortunately. I kinda wish it was heart pie or liver pie instead... But, hey, to each his own!

Skillet Buttered Corn (P180)

This was one of my favorite side dishes, next to the Creamed Spinach. :)

Wisconsin Beef Tenderloin (P850)

Ah, yes. The steak... The steak... Definitely the most perfect part of the entire meal. I usually order my steak Medium Rare, but we were advised that the Medium cooked steak is their specialty and that they ensure that the steak still stays just the right amount of red inside - and it was true. I still have dreams about their steak to this day. Take me on a date there, please!!!

Dark Chocolate Cigars (P290)

Another thing that I have dreams about is their dessert. Chops' Dark Chocolate Cigars are to die for!

Make sure to order Chops' Signature Iced Tea (P110) to cap it all off! Delicious! The best part is that they a have a fast wi-fi connection, a fax machine, a copy machine and a scanner available, as well - everything you need to make your next power lunch an incredibly productive one!

If you have a tight budget, then the Executive Lunch Set Menu would be perfect for you! For only P888, you can get a soup of the day or a caesar salad, a Wisconsin tenderloin steak with siding and sauce, and dark chocolate cigars! They have a kids menu available, too. :)

For more information on Chops Chicago Steakhouse, like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter today. :)

Long Lost Files: Syrena's First Yabu Experience

One sunny day, back when the babydaddy still lived in Manila and when I actually still spent time with my best friend, we all decided to have Yabu for lunch since we had to go to Megamall to return pullouts anyway. Of course, the booboo munchkin came with us.

To be honest, it was actually my top priority to bring her because I wanted her to finally bond with Jacob. See, my daughter is very, very, very picky with who she talks to/plays with/likes and before this Yabu date, she and Jacob never really "got along".

In fact, she used to hide her face and cry whenever she saw Jacob before. My mom had this theory that she's scared of good-looking men. But that's clearly not true coz Jacob's not good-looking. :p

The babydaddy and the baby waiting for Jacob to pick us up.

Thank you, Khaeiycee, for the baby umbrella! :)

Fortunately, it seems that God decided that day would really be the day where they finally bond. In the car, she actually sat on Jacob's lap and pointed at random stuff for him to look at outside of the window. And at Megamall...

Awwwww! Look! She's holding his hand! Or, more like, holding his finger with her hand. She's got tiny hands.

And then off we went to Yabu!!! :D

It was both Henry and Syrena's first time there, so I was excited to hear their feedback. I always love introducing people to Yabu and watching their reactions while they eat and after they eat. It's almost better than actually eating the food at Yabu itself. Almost. But not quite.

Jacob making his katsu sauce.

Syrena deciding what to eat.

I look horrible in this picture, but look at how cute my daughter is!!! Clearly happy to be in Yabu. :)

Her favorite phrase of the day was, "Mommy, I like this soup." next to, "Mommy, I like this rice." She had four cups of rice. It's a good thing the rice at Yabu is unlimited!

Henry's katsu set.

Jacob clearly enjoying his katsu. :p

They gave us free dessert, too - my favorite chocolate lava cake. :)

Ahhh. Writing about Yabu always makes me crave it. I've actually been craving it for a while now, but don't want to commute all the way to Megamall just to eat alone. Anyone wanna join me? Let's have a Yabu get-together, please! :D In the words of Kelly Medina: Yabu dabu doo!

Find out more about Yabu by liking their Facebook page and following them on Twitter! :)

Forque: A Taste of Lavish European Comfort Food

This restaurant review is waaaaay overdue, I know. (Sorry, Bea!) I have personal reasons as to why I didn't post this sooner; but now that I'm over those reasons completely, I am proud to blog about one of the most understated yet well-worth-it restaurants in Makati today: Forque.

Forque is located along Arnaiz Ave. (formerly Pasay Road) and provides different dishes from different European cuisines that are sure to satisfy your palette.

Since I actually grew up in Europe (Germany, mostly), I was really looking forward to filling up my stomach with a ton of European food for a change.

I fell in love with Forque the minute I walked into the restaurant. The walls were a beautiful shade of red - a color I have always wanted to paint my room in. I also loved the artwork and the dimly-lit ambience. Perfect for dates and intimate gatherings with friends.

Naturally, I brought my best friend and favorite food buddy, Jacob Gayanelo, with me to experience the whole thing. We were there bright and early - can you tell from the photo? Haha. In fact, we were so early, Bea Munoz, the chef, wasn't even there yet.

So, to bide the time, we took outfit shots (separate post on that later) and Jacob took some more of his signature artsy fartsy shots:

Forque. Lol. Geddit? :p

We eventually sat down after Bea called in several food orders for us (so nice and accommodating!) and got ready to feast!

Boom. Signature smile.

We started off with drinks...

Forque Iced Tea (Php120)

I loved this drink. It was refreshing, sweet and definitely unique, but being the alcoholic alcohol lover that I am, I would recommend these more:

Flavored Mojitos (Kiwi, Peach, Banana and Plain)

As mentioned before, Jacob and I always tend to taste the mojitos at various restaurants; so when Bea suggested we try out their different mojito flavors, we didn't hesitate to say yes. Naturally, since our tastes always differ, Jacob's favorite was the peach one and I loved the kiwi one.

And then we got to the appetizers...

Forque's Stuffed Balls (Php310)

Obviously, I loved these. There's just something about potato balls that strike my fancy.

Brushetta Three Ways (Php275)

Again, our tastes differed here. Jacob loved the one with shitake mushrooms, but I loved the one with the tomatoes and balsamic vinaigrette.

Classic Onion Soup (Php190)

The onion soup would definitely be a feel-good soup for onion lovers. Since I'm not an onion lover, though, I'm looking forward to trying out some of their other soups next time - maybe earthy potato chowder or roasted pumpkin! :)

Now onto the salads...

Sophia's Salad

This salad was new and wasn't even on the menu yet. When Bea arrived later on, she told us that she had just given birth a few days ago to a baby girl named Sophia! (She didn't look like she just gave birth, just FYI. Totally unfair! Lol.) Thus the name of this delectable dish. Hands down the best salad I have ever tasted so far in Manila! Of course, Jacob disagreed coz he liked this one better:

Blacked Tuna Salad (Php325)

He likes seared ahi tuna. Go figure! :p

My stomach was already struggling to keep up by this point, but I'm not one to give up, so here is the main dish that we had:

Lamb Chops (Php547)

This was Jacob's favorite part of the meal and it was indeed very good. However, I was more drawn to the potato side dish that came with the lamb chops. Now that was delicious! I would go back to Forque for that alone. Haha. What is it with me and Forque's potato dishes???

And now on to my favorite part: dessert! :D

Turones with Latik and Pili (Php100)

If you're not particularly hungry and are just craving for something sweet or if you're looking for an affordable dessert place, then Forque will work out just fine for you. Their turones are delicious and they've got this one dessert that will simply blow your mind:

Forque's Special (Php275)

Believe it or not, Bea came up with the Forque's Special by accident - just by mixing random ingredients together. Who knew that caramel popcorn, orange juice, strawberry syrup, ice cream and a cherry could end up tasting so incredibly good?

Forque can easily fit up to 35 people and with their great selection of alcoholic drinks, it proves to be a great place or lunch, dinner, drinks or dessert. You can even rent out the whole place for a party or an event, if you want. Acoustic night, anyone? ;)

To be honest, I just want to go back for the desserts right now. I'm so easy to please. Haha. So, if you're a blogger and are interested in reviewing Forque for yourself, leave a comment below and I'll try to arrange something for you. :)

For now, don't forget to like Forque on Facebook and follow them on Twitter! :)