Nanbantei of Tokyo

I"ve seen this restaurant for ages in Greenbelt but it was only last week that we got to try it. The other establishments beside it have closed shop and there are new ones sprouting but Nanbantei of Tokyo is still there so it must be serving the good stuff to withstand the competition.

We had a heavy lunch of baby back ribs so we just focused on the best sellers of Nanbantei and that would be their yakitori. I thought yakitori was meant for chicken alone but here aside from the skewered bite size chicken pieces , they have beef or yakiniku , pork , seafood, vegetables like grilled corn, eggplant , shitake mushrooms  and even grilled rice balls.

We ordered the chicken balls , the salmon balls and the cuttlefish with shiso leaf.

Grilled Chicken Balls

The chicken balls are made of ground chicken meat so it tasted like a chicken burger. It was ok , a bit ordinary but it was good with the teriyaki sauce.

Salmon Balls

I like the salmon balls better , drizzled with teriyaki sauce also, it's like salmon teriyaki on a stick haha..

Cuttlefish with Shiso Leaf

The cuttlefish was a bit dry and I didn't like much the shiso leaf.  Overall, Nanbantei is okay, specially if you're a fan of the grilled and skewered stuff and they do offer your reliable maki, tempura , kani salad and other Japanese staples to go with your yakitori. And looking at how packed the place was that night, it looks like it's here to stay.

RUB Ribs and Barbecue

RUB is a hole-in-the-wall casual restaurant that serves good , bang for the buck ribs. My office mates have been raving about it for quite sometime already (it's very near ABS-CBN , from the Tomas Morato rotonda, make a left at Shakey's and voila! ) and finally I got to try it I think a month ago and indeed, I was pleased with their ribs so I went back last Sunday with Marco because we're suckers for tender ribs cooked and seasoned or rubbed the right way.

The place is so small and unpretentious, Marco even likened it to a "frat house or dorm" or being invited to someone else's place for a cook out  or a barbecue lunch , in our case, it was indeed a barbecue,  laid back with a chill out vibe. The first time I ate there , our group was seated at the second floor  but this time since it was full ( the second floor can only sit up to 20 people max ) we ended up at the only table downstairs beside the open kitchen where all the cooking and grilling happens.

Definitely you have to order the ribs. You get to choose between solo with half slab, rice and one side dish ,  super duo which is a full slab with choice of two side dishes or a family platter with two whole slabs and 3 side dishes. Side dishes include mashed potato, fries, cole slaw, buttered vegetables, garlic spinach, corn and "sprice" or spiced fried rice..it has a nice ring to it , haha.. For appetizers, they have "nibblers" , nachos, buffalo chicken wings, calamares and other munchies while you wait for your ribs.

We ordered the nachos with salsa and this creamy dip which didn't taste like sour cream. The salsa is okay , it was a bit spicy because of the red chili.

Nachos P150

We got the super duo with mashed potatoes and cole slaw.  The first time I ate in RUB,  I tried the spinach and mushrooms with their  fries  but the spinach was salty,  good thing the fries were yummy, really good, delish you have to order it.

Super Duo with Spinach and Mushrooms and Fries P350

Super Duo with mashed potato and coleslaw P350

The main attraction would be the ribs. The super duo is a whole slab of ribs and it's tender alright but not fall off the bone tender but it's okay , though I think it can use a bit of additional boiling time. It was cooked or grilled perfectly, not so much of the burnt marks though it can't be noticed since it was basted with the sauce or marinade already. The barbecue sauce is okay, it tasted home made not just a bottled barbecue sauce , a bit sweet , smoky just the way I like it. The mashed potato is creamy with skin on  and the coleslaw is just okay, I can forego this the next time for the other side dishes. We got two orders of extra rice but it wasn't served hot , teeny bit of a  downer since I love rice ( I love carbs! hehe) and  I like my rice served steaming hot  hmmm..maybe better to try the spiced fried rice the next time but if a dish if flavorful enough it is best eaten with plain rice. (But during our first visit, in fairness, the rice was hot.)

Prices are very affordable for the quality of food, for just P350 you get a whole slab of ribs and two sides and  just P600 or P650 for  the family platter already with two whole slabs and three sides. A good and delicious deal indeed.

I'm happy with Rub, can't wait to be back for their ribs and fries!

Napa Bar and Restaurant

Something new and somewhere near my office..with this in mind, we ended up at Napa along Scout Borromeo. I think Napa used to be Napa Bistro or something and it's originally located at the Il Terrazo building though I never got to try it until last week.  Obviously, the owners got inspired by Napa Valley, the world famous wine region and they translated it into this really spacious bistro and restaurant that's like divided to an al fresco dining area , the cozy indoors with function rooms and other pocket dining areas with warm and charming interiors.

We were set on having salad, pizza and pasta or salad, pizza and one main course. We got the chopped salad, a pizza that was split between margherita and five cheese and fish and chips because I was craving for thick cut fries.

Chopped Salad 

We love the chopped salad, lettuce, tomatoes , cucumber, onion , carrot strips , chopped chicken breast cubes and ham (not really sure 'coz I don't eat ham) in a creamy dressing. There's nothing really new about this salad but it was comforting , something you can prepare at home that tastes good and can offer to your guests.

Margherita and Cinco Formagio ( five cheese pizza) 

You can have two flavors in your pizza so we tried the cinco formagio (five cheese)  and the margherita, both are okay but I like the cinco formagio better. The crust is thin and crispy but firm enough that it doesn't collapse when you bite into it.

Fish and Chips

As  mentioned earlier I  was craving for thick cut fries to go with the fish  but they turned out to be thin and not so crispy, a few notches above shoe string french fries. I'm guessing they used Dory fish, it's just so commonly used here and I avoid ordering it since I prefer other types of fish like halibut, cod or snapper but the fries made me do it haha...

Napa offers comfort food , that's how I see their menu, nothing really super unique but it was a pleasant meal.  We  didn't get to try their desserts though because we wanted to have crepes in Cafe Breton but they offer interesting sweet endings as well.

Moshi Moshi

This a super delayed blog on Moshi Moshi, a Japanese casual resto or fast food located at the Regis Center, the new lifestyle building along Katipunan , which also houses Bon Chon, Brother's Burger, Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, Red Mango, Mom & Tina's, Peanut Butter and Co. and Saint's Alp ( a milk tea place).

Moshi Moshi serves the usual donburi ( gyudon, katsudon etc..) , maki , tempura , gyoza but they also have takoyaki , okonomiyaki among other goodies and they sell Kitkat Green Tea chocolates as well. For that lunch, we ordered their takoyaki ( I love takoyaki! ) , miso soup, gyoza, ebi tempura, katsudon and oyakodon.

Takoyaki

Their takoyaki is really good, I'm not sure about the price now but they were on soft opening that time and each order was only P40.

Gyoza

Their gyoza is ok too, nothing spectacular but I like it, 3 pcs for P65 and P95 for 5 pieces.

Ebi Tempura P105 for 3  /P150 for 5 pcs

 The tempura is okay, crispy but a bit oily though. I ate it with the oyakodon.

Oyakodon P120

 I ordered the oyakodon but I didn't like it as much because some of the chicken slices still had their skin on them,  I don't like non crispy chicken skin so next time better to order the chicken teriyaki don because the chicken slices or fillet are fried to a  crisp.

Katsudon P135

Marco said the katsudon is okay and I agree, it looked more appetizing than the oyakodon.

Prices are affordable since it obviously targets the student lunch crowd on allowance and well, for the takoyaki alone ,  I will definitely go back  plus they have a new menu so more stuff to try and don't forget the Green Tea KitKat !

Pepper Lunch

I've finally tried Pepper Lunch at the Alabang Town Center last Saturday. I don't really like having too much pepper on my food (and all their dishes are served with what else? pepper rice haha) so I've taken this casual dining place forgranted and only got to try it last week.

We ordered the garlic beef pepper rice since this is one of the best sellers the cashier told us and the chicken teriyaki pepper rice and the kani salad.

Garlic Beef Pepper Rice

Chicken Teriyaki Rice with Egg

There was a lot of rice! Hmmm..My order was the chicken pepper rice with egg and teriyaki sauce on the side and what can I say? It was okay but nothing really extra ordinary , the rice was indeed peppered with corn as garnish and you have your chicken slices with  the scrambled two eggs that cooked to dryness. The teriyaki sauce is on the side but they have another table sauce that's actually good with the rice.

I forgot to take a picture of their kani salad but it was good. They serve it in a plastic cup that you shake to mix in everything including the udon noodles they added.

I didn't try the garlic beef pepper rice but Marco said it was okay.

The food was just okay,  not something I will suddenly crave for or go out of my way should there be a second visit.