Yanagi Japanese Restaurant

   Yanagi Restaurant is located at the 2nd flor of  Midas Hotel in Roxas Blvd. We've been hearing about the buffet so we gave it a try.  First thing that came into my mind when I saw the buffet table, very limited selection. They offer several kinds of makis, sushis & salmon sashimi. There's fresh salad with 2 dressings to choose from, & tempura  (you need to order them) which were served straight from the kitchen, pretty good idea since you can eat the tempura while it's still hot & crunchy. Generally, food was ok. We really liked the makis because they used japanese rice. Oh, almost forgot the sukiyaki, which was good, beef was very tender. There's unli coffee & tea as well.
  What I don't like, You're only given 2 hrs to eat. When time's up, everyone gets out & another batch comes in. Too slow with bringing out refills so line was really long. Place was pretty cramped up so it was really very stressful.

This is generally how your plate looks like after standing in line for so long

In fairness it's one of the best makis I ever tasted

My Kitchen

  Off to My Kitchen with my BFFs. A small restaurant in Oasis Hotel located in Paco, Manila. Cozy with a very relaxed ambiance, group of familes filled the restaurant that night. We wouldn't pass up on the panizza of course, which was really good.  The risotto dish was very oily, quite disappointing, plus it's a bit pricey.

Paco Panizza. Fine slices of herbed chicken fillet, smoked bacon, portabello & golden mushrooms, capers, & slices of kalamata olives.

Bowl of Arugula & Alfalfa Sprouts

Risotto Fruti Di Mate. Seafood risotto w/salmon, mahimahi, shrimps, imported mussels, tomatoes, parmesan, butter & saffron

Grilled Home Made Italian Sausage w/ caramelized garlic in red wine sauce, lentil casserole & golden fried potatoes

Cozy ambiance of the restaurant

Dinner with BFFs at Chef's Quarter Robinson's Place Manila

  The weather was fine when we were on our way to My Kitchen, then kaboom! It rained hard for 15 minutes & believe it or not, instantly roads were flooded. We actually reached our destination but the thing was the surrounding areas were already flooded so we decided to eat somewhere else. Well,  we got stuck because there's water everywhere. Finally we were able to reach Robinson's Place Manila. Starving, we ended up eating at Chef's Quarter.
  The place was nice. Big, classy, cozy. We didn't order appetizer anymore, went straight to the main event. We ordered fish & chips, half of stuffed chicken & seafood paella. Generally, we were quite disappointed. The dishes really looked good but the taste, from 1 - 10, I'll give it a 4, especially the pealla, tasted like butter rice. Maybe we should have ordered the steak :-)

Paella

Roasted Stuffed Chicken

Fish & Chips

Breakfast & Dinner at Cafe Ilang Ilang Manila Hotel

   Time to binge again. Armed with my sister-in-law's card,  hubby & I fearlessly charged Manila Hotel's Cafe Ilang Ilang. Since the card entitles the holder to a 50% discount we decided to try out the breakfast buffet. Hubby really enjoys good breakfasts. As expected, the place was full when we arrived. Lots of tourist that day. Since our little boy was with us, the first thing I hit was the congee section. Have to feed the little fellow while we eat otherwise he'll complain. There's a wide selection of food from Filipino to Italian. Food was average, just the usual buffet. Can't enjoy the coffee because it was not hot enough.
  Several days after & we're back, this time for dinner. Sis-in-law told us the card will expire soon so we might as well maximize it.  I really enjoyed  the japanese section, lots of  makis & sushis. It was good, was not able to taste everything though. When you're full you just can't appreciate the food snymore no matter how good it tastes.  Generally the food was average. Like what I always tell hubby, most buffets taste the same. The price was reasonable as long as you avail the 50% discount.
  By the way, Manila Hotel is newly renovated, the place brags of it's elegance. I wasn't able to take pictures because my little guy was so cranky during our 2 visits. Bottomline, if you don't enjoy the food, at least you'll enjoy the place & ambiance.

Man vs. Nature

   It's nice to see the sun shining again after 2 weeks of heavy rain. Last week it was caused by typhoon Gener which unleashed heavy winds causing Roxas Boulevard to flood again. High tide combined with high waves & clogged drainage systems would of course result to flooding. This week, it got worse. This time due to a low pressure area within the Philippines which flooded 90% of Metro Manila & other areas in Luzon like Bulacan, Pampanga, Pangasinan, Tarlac. It's sad to see how people are badly affected when disasters like this arises. But during the aftermath we can clearly see why it flooded. The disaster was almost man made. In my opinion, one of the major culprits are illegal loggers. Illegal logging causes water to come down from the mountains, causes dams to overflow, causes the dams to release water. Since tons of garbage have been clogging the drainage system,  naturally the end result would be flooding. Many people were trapped in their homes because water went up as high as 12 ft, maybe more. Rescue teams were sent out even at night because there were a lot of people who needed help. Evacuation centers are very crowded, children & the elderly are getting sick, there's no food, & to top it all, there's only one comfort room.
   I do feel bad for all the people affected but we should also admit to ourselves that one way or the other we contributed for this disaster to happen. Had we been responsible enough to take care of nature, nature would least stike back. All the garbage that we see, nature is simply returning it to us. It would take another 3 days to collect all the garbage. This a major social problem & I hope people would learn form this experience & realize that if we don't take care of nature, nature will not take care of us as well. 

Dinner at Casa Armas Malate

   It's my turn to treat my BFFs. We decided to eat at Casa Armas in Malate which offers spanish style dining. The interior has a very rustic feel paired with a cozy ambiance. We're not actually first timers, we normally frequent the place everytime we had the urge to eat their Paella, which happens to be their signature dish. The place is quite small with limited sitting capacity, but it's always full.
   We didn't order any appetizers that night, went right on to the main event. We ordered Pescados dos Salsas ( steames lapu-lapu with mayo), Pollo Estofado (chicken stew) & of course Paella Valenciana.

Pescados dos Salsas

Pollo Estofado

The Mini Bar

Rustic Interior

Taal Vista Hotel- Cafe on the Ridge

   It all started with a lunch buffet, then hubby decided to book for an overnight stay at Taal Vista Lodge. As expected, view of Taal was really very nice. It's one of those weekend getaways you'll never get tired of. Taal Vista lodge looks good at the outside. It's big & the lawns are well maintained. The room though was quite disappointing. We really hated the bathroom which doesn't have a door, separated only by a sink, the bath & watercloset areas have glass enclosures which shows your feet when you use the whitehouse, very uncomfortable because you lack privacy. Another disgusting thing, molds everywhere, the place really needs a major renovation. Even the beddings look dirty.
   Breakfast & lunch at the Ridge were average. There were only a few selection & refill was a bit slow. Considering the price, it's much better to go outside, there are a lot of restaurants to choose from.
   Overall, we really find the offer a bit pricey because you're not really getting the 5 star treatment you're expecting, & to think we got it on discount because they're celebrating their 75th anniversary. I would recommend other hotels or apartelles which are cheaper but also gives a spectacular view of the lake.

Dinner at Buffet 101 MOA

    It's been a while since I went out with my BFF's. We decided to try out Buffet 101 located at the bayside of Mall of Asia. The interior is very nice, quite spacious & there's room when you're getting food at the buffet table. Sometimes in order to maximize the space, tables are all cramped up making it hard to move about when getting food. There were a lot of food selection coupled with unlimited beverages including beer. The food was average, but then again, buffets have something in common, all seem to taste the same. Anyway, ate some oysters with cheese, wrong choice, woke up the next morning with diarrhea..and all the while I thought I have an iron stomach hehehe oh well.

The Main Section

Japanese Section

Cold Cuts & Dimsum Section