Fely J's Again

Back at Fely J’s again for some Filipino food. It’s Butchie’s second night in Manila and Fely J’s has been on his agenda prior to visiting Manila. So, off we went. Thankfully, I was able to reserve a table this time.

We got curious about Fely J's Kamias Shake. Kamias is a local sour fruit often used for making sinigang. We used to have a tree in our backyard way back during my formative years when we lived in a small apartment in Quezon City. When I got married, our old townhouse also had a Kamias tree in the backyard. The neighbors would often ask me (on the rare occasions that I would do some gardening out front), if they could have some. As we dined at Fely J's, we were pleasantly surprised that you can actually make it into a nice refreshing shake. If I knew, I would have served some to my guests during parties, he he he. Such an unusual beverage.



Since we were all pigged out from the previous night’s dinner, we all decided to go seafood and veggies that night, to take a break from pork and to give our arteries a break.

We had the Crunchy Pako Salad (baby ferns) and a Shrimp Pomelo Salad. Both were good, light and refreshing.





Our Fely J's experience is never complete without the Dilis Rice.



Fely J’s best seller is their Pritong Tilapia in Sweet Plum Sauce. Almost every table had this dish. It’s actually a very simple dish to make, the tilapia is butterflied, floured, then deep fried and just brushed with their sweet plum sauce. The plum sauce is probably the secret.



We also ordered the Sadap Spicy Squid. This dish is just like a sweet and sour dish. Very simple. The sauce is light, not too sour, not too sweet but nothing spectacular overall.



Fely J's a must stop-over for balikbayans, I think. For they provide a new twist to local cuisine.



We were so full, we decided to just forego dessert altogether. Well, except for hubby who had some frozen chocolate yoghurt at Qoola.



Hubby still had to go to work after, I was a bit tired already and called it a night. Mom and Butchie partied on and had many more adventures that ended in the wee hours of the morning.

Mesa Grill - Greenbelt 5

My cousin Butchie just arrived here in Manila from the US and a business side trip to Hong Kong. He stayed for about a week.

The first order of the day was to eat Fiipino food, for that was one of the reasons he came to Manila. We are a family of foodies so we were game to try different things. We’ve been wanting to eat at Mesa Grill for the longest time, but it’s always fully booked. By the stroke of lady luck, I was able to get a reservation for a table for four. Butchie, Mom, myself and hubby.

Since all four of us haven’t eaten there yet (I know, like, really?) , we ordered quite a substantial amount of food fit for maybe say… eight persons. Ha ha ha.

For starters, we ordered the Crispy Tawilis with Mango served with Bagoong Sauce. This was very light, sweet with just a hint of salt from the bagoong sauce. This is a great starter for the cholesterol extravaganza that we were about to devour. Nice presentation too. I am totally stealing this presentation style.



Next, we had the Shrimp, Tofu and Century Egg Sald in a Teriyaki Sesame Dressing. This was such a hit, hubby ordered another one. This appetizer is so light and refreshing. I highly recommend this dish.



For one of our our main courses, we ordered the Baby Squid Sauteed in Olive Oil. This was also delicious and light and the baby squid were tender and easy to chew.



We also ordered Sisig in a Pouch. Succulent sisig, wrapped in a lumpia wrapper and deep fried, served with local vinegar. I'm not sure if the vinegar was Paombong, but the vinegar was not the commercial kind so it was sooo gooood. A word of warning though, this dish is very high in fat and probably has no nutritional value, so eat sparingly. Butchie loved this dish.



For the main attraction, and a staple in any Filipino home during festivities, Lechon! We ordered 1/6 Crispy Lechon Served Two Ways. One way is, Pritchon. The skin, and the meat of the lechon was cut, diced and wrapped in pandan tortilla, served with three choices of dipping sauce – garlic mayo, hoisin and liver sauce. THe pritchon is prepared at your table, just watching it, made me so hungry.









The second way that they prepared the lechon was to fry up the rest of the it in sweet garlic sauce. Yummy yummy yummy. Fatty fatty fatty. Again, share and eat sparingly!



All the hype and the good reviews that I’ve read about Mesa Grill were true, so far. Mesa Grill is good eats. No wonder it’s always full!



For dessert, we made our way to Café Breton for some crepes. La Pinay Crepe is the favorite there. La Pinay is a dessert crepe with ripe mangoes and chocolate sauce, topped with Mantecado ice cream. Yummy! I had the similar version of dessert crepe, mangoes and condensed milk.



Hubby had Fruit Parfait which has ripe mangoes, Mantecado ice cream, chocolate sauce and whipped cream.



No, we did not eat healthy but we had so much fun!

We burned off the extra calories with laughter and a long massage after, he he he, which I think is the absolute best way to burn calories.

Our 15th anniversary together

I can't believe it's been fifteen years. But here we are :-)

Hubby and I celebrate two anniversaries a year, the first one of course is our wedding anniversary in April and the second one is the day that we officially became a couple. Yes, that cheesy part when I said "Yes, I love you too!"

Hubby and I met 15 years ago, at my 21st birthay party (the arithmetic says I'm 36 even though I still feel like I'm in my twenties). Anyhoo, long story short, hubby fell madly head over heels in love with me the moment he saw me and never let go. Ha ha ha. Here's a picture of us the day we met on that fateful Saturday afternoon in October 1994.


L-R Nerdy Hubby, my cousin Jopo, hubby's sister Joyce and moi. Jopo and Joyce dating at that time, that's how hubby and I met, by the way :-)

Anyway, back to the present, I wasn't sure how to celebrate such a 15-year milestone. I wanted to plan maybe a grand vacation getaway but we already had that in Hong Kong with family last week :-)

Hubby and I agreed to just have dinner in Greenbelt. Our restaurant of choice was Zuni, a winebar and restaurant. Both of us haven't dined there yet and this will be a new experience for us.

For starters, we shared a salad of Grilled Prawns with Avocado and Apples in a Sesame Dressing. I really liked this salad. It's light yet filling at the same time. The avocados were ripe and sweet, the prawns tender and the dressing just right. Hubby on the other hand kept telling me that I can easily duplicate this at home. (I can and I probably will).



For my main course, I had the Baby Lobster with clams, broccoli, califlower and marbled potatoes. This was very good also, quite rich and creamy, great with bread.



Hubby had Tenderloin Steak with a side of vegetables and salad greens. I had some trepidation because the tenderloin looked burnt. Hubby assured me that it was not and perfectly seared with a bit of blood oozing from the tenderloin.



Hubby also had his Mango Sherbet which he liked as well.



Zuni is a nice intimate restaurant, the food is nice, a bit pricey, the service is good as well.



For even more dessert, we made our way across the Greenbelt park and went to Bizu. Bizu had a wide array of delicious cakes and cookies.



Bizu's desserts are always so elegant and decadent. Their best seller is the Amor Cake, a Valhona orange chocolate mousse in between layers of creme brulee and brownie. Hubby was smitten.



I had the Babylon, a light raspberry mousse between layers of infused almond (paste?, I'm not sure). I liked this cake also but a bit too sweet for just one person.



Hubby also ordered some macaroons, rose, mint and mango. The rose is one of the most popular beacuse I think they make it with rose essense and is quite delicious.



I think I'll go workout now to burn off the calories!

Oh by the way, Advanced Merry Christmas! :-)

Lunch Date with Hubby

Ever since hubby was promoted and sent to the company’s Alabang office, we hardly, if ever, get to spend lunch time together on a weekday. Hubby’s in Makati today for a conference. He invited me to lunch and I jumped at the chance, of course. Such a rare treat nowadays.

Anyway, we decided to have lunch at Kai in Greenbelt. Hubby’s very fond of Japanese cuisine and I knew that he would enjoy dining at Kai. We've dined there before when they were in a different location in Greenbelt.

Hubby ordered the Mango Iced Tea. It's iced tea with mango sherbet. His only comment was that the sherbet was too sweet.



For starters, we ordered the Cucumber and Portobello Roll. Grilled Portobello mushrooms and fresh crispy cucumber rolled sushi style with rice and nori. This dish is a great starter, light and healthy. I really like this dish. I may have to do something similar at home soon, per hubby’s request :-)



We also ordered Goat Cheese Salad in Dalandan (local oranges) Basil Vinaigrette. The dressing for this salad is a little sweet and just balanced by the basil oil. Very nice. The goat cheese is rolled with Japanese breadcrumbs and then fried. I saved the cheese for last, because it’s my favorite part :-)



Hubby wanted to order the California Roll with Crab Meat but the chef said the crab meat that was delivered to them wasn’t very fresh so we just ordered the California Roll with Kani (crab stick). This was nice also and quite reasonable at only P107 per order.



What Kai is most famous for is the Wasabi Tempura Oysters in Balsamic Dynamite (maybe another word for dressing?). I highly recommend this dish because it’s so light and delicious. The dressing compliments the oysters quite well. The oysters are so fresh and succulent (despite being coated with tempura batter).



The Soft-Shelled Crab Tempura was nice too. It’s a little over battered but nice nonetheless. One thing that impressed me the most is that there was hardly any oil in the paper liner which counts for the “not oily” taste.



Ok, hubby was still hungry despite all that we’ve ordered and made an additional order of Scallop Tempura in Red Pepper Saucee. This dish is nice too but best shared by two or three persons because it’s quite heavy due to the glaze and the spices.



Kai ‘s slogan says, “Manila’s home of contemporary Japanese cuisine”

I believe them. I will definitely dine at Kai again.

Hubby's 40th

Yesterday marked hubby's official "over the hill" birthday. We chose to spend it quietly together. All my party planning was put on hold due to a minor medical procedure that hubby has to be confined for this weekend.

Anyway, it was wonderful to spend time with hubby alone since we don't get to spend a lot of time together due to our work schedules. I really miss our daily dinners together.

Fortunately, hubby was granted a birthday leave and was able to pick me up from work yesterday. Traffic was horrendous as usual, we decided to just dine in Greenbelt which is very near my office.

Our impromptu plan for the evening was to dine in two or three restaurants so that we can check out the new restaurants that we haven't tried in Greenbelt. It's been a while since we got the chance to dine out with just the two of us. We started by checking out the menus of the different restaurants before making our decision.

Our first stop was at Thai Patio in Greenbelt 5 for some salads. Hubby and I both love Thai inspired salads. My trade off was that we can have steak after if he's still hungry.



We ordered the Green Mango Salad with Soft Shelled Crabs. This salad is made with julienned green mangoes, onions, cashews, peanuts in a Thai Lime dressing. The soft-shelled crabs are absolutely wonderful, tender and crispy at the same time. I would order this again, definitely.



For something fresh and crisp, we tried the Thai Spring Roll. Julienned carrots and cucumbers with crab stick, shrimps, Thai basil wrapped in rice paper with a peanut dipping sauce. This is also nice, crunchy and a welcome burst of freshness in your mouth. This is so easy to make at home too. I think I'll duplicate this one of these days.



Hubby also ordered the house specialty Beef Salad with Grilled Portobello Mushrooms. OMG, I think I've died and gone to heaven! I just love the portobello mushrooms!!!!. The beef was nice too, tender and fresh tasting with the lime dressing, hubby and I requested the beef to be not spicy.



We were surprisingly full after all that! We walked to Park Square 1 to get hubby's gift from a photography equipment store there.

Umm, hubby, that camera you're holding will stay on the shelf. You are not allowed to bring that home unless I get a Luis Vuitton bag also, este.....



After a long walk in my three-inch heels, we made our way back to Greenbelt for some dessert. We had our desserts at Chateau 1771. We ordered their signature desserts to see if they were deemed to be called "signature" he he he.

Hubby had the Coffee Sansrival. Hubby really loved this cake. He said, that he would go back to Chateau 1771 just for the Coffee Sansrival.



I had the Lemon Meringue. lemon whipped Cream in layers of meringue and filo pastry with caramel sauce. Yummy! I love their version of Lemon Merigue with the right balance of sweetness and tartness. The filo is really nice too, very crunchy and buttery.



Hubby's 40th birthday was celebrated with hardly any hoopla but it was fun and intimate, just the way we like it.



Happy birthday hubby!

Fely J's Restaurant

My aunt took us to this new Filipino fusion restaurant in Greenbelt 5 called Fely J's. They specialize in Filipino cuisine with a modern twist.

For starters, we had the Pako Salad (fern sprouts) with prawns, salted egg in a Thai dressing. It was good and a bit different from Kusina Salud's version. If you're craving for Pako Salad, you don't have to travel many miles to have one :-)



Of course, the Chickaron Bulaklak will never be absent :-)



For a slightly healthier fare, we ordered the Gule Magulang. A combination of shrimps,squash flowers, yellow squash and other vegetables cooked in coconut milk. This was good as well and surprisingly light for a coconut-based dish. Probably a Capampangan dish (from Pampanga).



Next was Fried Tilapia in Plum Sauce. Yummy, not oily.



For our soup we ordered Pork Sinigang, which is a staple in any Filipino household.



For dessert, we tried the Bayabas Pie (Guava Pie). It tasted like apple pie but a little more tart. Nice. The pie crust was also nice, very light and flaky.



Hubby opted to gorge on halo-halo for dessert. Halo-halo literally means, mix mix in English. The cold concoction has milk, assorted sweet beans, bananas, kamote stewed in sugar, topped with leche flan, some versions are toped with purple yam jam and ice cream. And yeah, hubby finished the entire mug by himself :-)