~ Five Cows ~

When you're at the fourth floor of Trinoma Mall, it's hard to miss the brightly lit Five Cows Resto and Ice Cream Bar.  They have a wide range of dishes & desserts to choose from.  We were still full from our lunch so we decided to just have dessert.

Table Napkin

Menu

Counter

We want this! :D

We ordered the Blueberry Cheesecake too. 

Cute Hat

All of the waiters & waitresses wore cute hats with a stuffed cow doll on top.  Our order taker was nice enough to have her picture taken. 

Blueberry Cheesecake

Absolutely delicious.  It tastes as good as it looks.  The top consists of blueberry ice cream then a rich vanilla ice cream with a graham crust.  If only the barquillos (rolled up thin wafer) was crispy.  It was actually stale when I took a bite.  Otherwise this dessert was perfect.

Comparing it with the picture in the menu.

Ferrero Crunch Supreme

This wasn't what I expected.  First I thought this dessert comes in a waffle cone just like the picture.  I was looking forward to tasting some Ferrero Rocher chocolate inside the ice cream but there was none.  It's actually their version of vanilla ice cream with hazel nut.  The dessert was nice but the name was deceiving. 

Comparing the ferrero with the picture. 

This is not just a dessert place.  They also serve hot meals.  Maybe next time I'll get to try some of their savory dishes & have my dessert too.



Remember: Eat Live and Be Happy!

Price Range : P150 - P500

Payment: Accepts Cash & Credit Card

Fee Wifi: Available

Parking: Mall parking

Address:

Trinoma Mall
4/F Trinoma Mall
North Ave. corner Edsa,
Quezon City, Metro Manila
Philippines
Tel: 63 - (02) - 901-3748

☺ Mooncake Festival Dinner ☻

Since it was Mid Autumn Festival on September 12, 2011 my family decided to celebrate it by going out to eat.  Other families even have a yearly tradition of playing the dice game.  I was able to celebrate this festival in Beijing, China exactly eleven years ago when I was still a student.

I expected the locals prepared an elaborate celebration for this festival.  I thought there will be a lot of food, fireworks, and the dice game.  The school organized for local students to meet & greet the "foreign" students on Mid Autumn.  I got to ask how do they celebrate this festival.  Their answer actually surprised me.  They said most of them usually meet up with friends or stay with their family, eat some mooncake and look at the moon.  I asked if they have the dice game.  They looked at me with a puzzled looked & asked what dice game.  I said, "didn't the tradition originate here, where you play a dice game on Mid Autumn and you get various prizes?".  They said those kinds of tradition might be regional.  I guess Beijing being in the north and my ancestors hailing from the southern part of China didn't share the same way of celebrating the Mooncake festival.  I hope one day I will be able to visit my ancestral land during this time of the year.  It would be interesting to see how they celebrate it in the twenty first century.

☺ Now on to our own food celebration.☺

Signage

The restaurant of choice was Peking Garden.  I guess we're suppose to have Chinese food for a Chinese festival.  I had a different restaurant in mind but then who would resist to eating good food. :)

Menu

Table Setting

The ever present Xiao Long Bao

Fish Fillet with Tao So Sauce

The fish is soft & tender.  The overload of fried garlic is a nice compliment to the soy sauce provided.

Sauce for the fish fillet

Fried mini "sliver thread" buns

It's just fried bread roll.  The restaurants give elegant names to simple dishes to make them more interesting.  I just had to order the bread since it's my favorite.

Condensed milk for the buns

Braised Abalone with Mushroom & Vegetables

The abalone was thinly sliced for easy eating with your chopsticks.  The combination of the mushroom & vegetable with the sauce completes the dish.

Mooncake for dessert at home

I'm already full from dinner but I just had to eat some mooncake for the occasion.  I had the lotus flavor with one egg yolk.  I still got to eat one fourth of the whole mooncake even with a full stomach. hahahaha  

Remember: Eat Live and Be Happy!

** Full details about Peking Garden can be found in a previous entry.**

中秋节快乐! (Zhong Qiu Jie Kuai Le)  Happy Mid Autumn Festival Everyone!

Sugi

It's been a while since I've been to Sugi Restaurant.  This used to be frequented by our family especially by my parents way back even when they were located in Greenbelt 1.  The staff are nice enough to remember us.  The restaurant was crowded for dinner but we were lucky one table was available for us.    

They still have the traditional menu where it's still filled with writings & description of their dishes.  I thought they might try putting some pictures on the menu, specially for their new dishes to promote them.  I guess they're sticking to tradition.  As I browse through their menu I noticed most of my favorite dishes are still available except for the Korokke (Japanese version of a croquette).  I asked the waitress if they still have it, she checked with their kitchen, she informed me they can make it even if it's not in the menu but they were not able to prepare the ingredients so better luck next time.  

Signage

2nd floor dining area

They have private rooms with tatami mats at the 2nd floor & western style private rooms at the ground floor.  

Ceiling Lanterns

Lantern Captions
Left: Soba
Right: Sushi

Menu

Table Setting

Appetizer: Beansprouts

Nishiki Maki

This is a sushi roll with eel, salmon, asparagus, creamy cheese, mayo & wasabi.  A burst of different flavors in just one sushi.

Yaki Meshi

  

Gindara Teriyaki

 I like fish & Gindara is one of my favorites.  The meat is white & soft with just a few bones on the side.

Kitsune Soba

  Soba (buckwheat) noodles with fried tofu in soup.  You may also have this with udon noodles.  I've tried this in other restaurants but I still like Sugi's version the best.  The tofu is soft & sweet that compliments the noodles & broth.  The serving is big enough to be shared by two persons if you want to try other dishes.

Nasu Abura Itame

 One of my old time favorites.  This simple dish is composed of fried eggplant with sesame sauce.  This dish is on the sweet side so children might even like it.  It's so good that even a friend of mine who is not a big fan of eggplant tried it & thought it was okay.  ;)

Niku Jaga

 A dish of potatoes, beef with lots of onions in a sweet soy based sauce.

Wall Pictures

It was nice to have my old favorite dishes & try some new creations by the restaurant.  It's always a treat to eat at your favorite restaurant.  I hope I can have my Korokke the next time I get to visit.


Remember: Eat Live and Be Happy!

Price Range: P500 - P1000

Website: http://www.sugirestaurant.com/

Free Wifi: Available but can't connect

Parking: Mall parking

Address:

Greenbelt 2
Esperanza Street
Ayala Center, Makati City
Philippines
Tel: 63 - (02) - 757-3678 to 79, 757-3986

Greenhills Shopping Center
Connecticut corner Missouri Street,
Greenhills, San Juan
Philippines
Tel: 63 - (02) - 721-7111, 725-0208, 723-9496

Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao

I was able to try this restaurant last year.  We got lucky & got a table quickly for a party of five.  I'm actually very excited then.  Crystal Jade is very famous in Hong Kong & Singapore for serving delicious noodles & xiao long bao (steamed dumplings with soup inside).  We got to order a little of everything then.  Some noodles, xiao long bao, & seafood dishes.  After trying the dishes we didn't find anything special.  We thought the other Chinese restaurants we frequent are much better.  Unfortunately the Philippine branch doesn't compare to the ones found abroad.  My cousins are definitely disappointed.  They had such high expectations from the restaurant.  I thought at most it was average during that time.

Recently, another cousin of mine wanted to try Crystal Jade.  I told her of my previous experience & reminded her it's not the same as the ones found in Hong Kong or Singapore.  I thought, after more than half a year I might as well give this restaurant a second try.  So off we go for a lunch out in Crystal Jade.  Even now there is still a waiting line to dine in.  We got our table after waiting for 10-15 minutes.  We got to look at their menu while waiting outside so we know what to order once we get our table.  The servers are actually quick & efficient.  I think they want their customers to eat & run so other waiting customers can have their turn.

Table mat

They got an award for their Hong Kong branches.

Menu

The place is packed :D

Iced Honey Lemon

I liked this drink.  It doesn't taste like the candy.  

It's light & refreshing, especially during a hot weather.

Crispy Eel

Sweet & crunchy.  Both me & my cousin liked this appetizer.  We just can't get enough of it.

Garlic Prawn

Green Beans

Xiao Long Bao

Red Bean Pancake for Dessert

I'm not a big fan of red bean but my cousin said the one she tasted abroad was really good & she misses this dessert.  The outside is a crispy wrapper with a soft filling of red bean inside.  After I had a taste, I thought it was actually good but my cousin said the one she had before was better.  

My second visit to Crystal Jade was a whole lot better than before.  I think the high expectations made my first experience a lot less enjoyable.  I hope I get another chance to try the other dishes.  Until next time. =D

Remember: Eat Live and Be Happy!

Price Range: P200 - P500

Payment: Accepts both Cash & Credit Card

Free Wifi: Not Available

Parking: Mall parking

Address:

Virra Mall
Unit 117-121 G/F Virra Mall
Greenhills Shopping Center
San Juan, Metro Manila
Philippines
Tel: 63 - (02) - 570-6912, 570-6910

Mr Kurosawa : Euro - Japanese Fusion

I usually pass by this restaurant when we're at the Resorts World.  I noticed the place is usually filled with people dining.  The one in Eastwood Mall is also just as popular.  I got to try this restaurant the first time when my cousin recommended it, taking special mention that the Oyster Overload is very good.  This bit of information definitely got my attention.  It was so good that we ordered two plates of it.  We got to try a lot of dishes during that time but then our tummies were growling & I forgot to take any pictures.  I reminded myself the next time I get to visit this restaurant I'll make sure to take some interesting pictures, specially the dishes we ordered.


After my first visit I got to go back and sample their dishes at the Resorts World branch.  This time I'm ready not just with my appetite but also to take yummy photos.  

Menu

The menu is BIG & heavy.  

It's a photo album of mouth watering dishes with very unique names & titles.

Table Set

Dancing Eel (California Roll with Eel)

Black Rain (Softshell Crab with Ebiko Wasabi Mayo)

Oyster Overload

A must try for people who are oyster lovers.  The cheese on top is really savory. 

Scallop Teppan

Four Cheese Yamamoto  Pizza

 This is a thin crust pizza with some seaweeds on top.

Tofu Steak

Wagyu Legend

The meat is tender and well seasoned.  

The steak goes well with the side of mashed potatoes & vegetables.  

A good choice, especially for steak lovers. 

Salmon Belly

Scallop Fried Rice

Sukiyaki

 A real comfort food.

This is a sweet soy based soup with beef, mushroom, soft tofu & vegetables with glass noodles.  I consider their version of sukiyaki as one of the tastiest I've tried with just the right balance of sweetness to the soup.

After having a nice meal, I noticed the ceiling lights are quite unique.  So I took some photos of the ones that caught my eye.

The Samurai

The Monk

The Geisha

There are a lot more interesting dishes we were not able to try.  I think we might visit this restaurant another time.  


Remember: Eat Live and Be Happy!

Price Range: P600 - P1000

Payment: Accepts both Cash & Credit Card

Here's a tip:  If you have a Resorts World Membership Card you can avail some discount.  This only applies at the Resorts World branch.

Free Wifi: Not Available

Parking: Mall parking

Address:

Resorts World Manila
2/F Resorts World Manila
Newport Boulevard, Newport City,
Cybertourism Zone
Pasay, Metro Manila
Philippines
Tel: 63 - (02) - 973-6213

Eastwood Mall
G/F Eastwood Mall Veranda,
E. Rodriguez Jr. Ave.,
Bagumbayan, Libis,
Quazeon City, Metro Manila
Philippines
Tel: 63 - (02) - 901-0825