Ye Dang

My friend Jen, another foodie and fellow schoolmate from the International School of Culinary Arts and Hotel Management ,   has been raving about Ye Dang , this inconspicous Korean restaurant beside Metrowalk for quite sometime now  and today, we had that opportunity of eating lunch there  with another friend,  who unlike us,  is a Korean food newbie ( after our meal, he said he has been "kimchified" ).

The place was full of Koreans so it must really be good.

Jen did the ordering for us. We ordered the grilled chicken , bibimpap, tofu and vegetable soup and spicy squid.  Then we were given the free appetizers.

free but yummy appetizers

The appetizers consisted of kimchi, sweet and spicy fish cake slices, sweet and spicy dilis, baby potatoes, pancakes, morning glory or something that looked like spinach and spicy radish.

We love these goodies in small plates, specially their kimchi and you can actually ask for a second bowl , the fish cake slices, the potatoes were so good, the dilis were crispy , even the pancakes were ok as well as the morning glory.

kimchi, the spinach look alike , spicy radish

fish cake slices and spicy dilis

dilis and the baby potatoes

mini pancakes - good also 

Our orders arrived....

Tofu with Clams Soup

I love this soup! You can request if the dishes will really be spicy or just mild and we picked mild for all the dishes. I liked that they serve it really hot, almost boiling hot and the tofu was so soft and it had clams and veggies too.. A must order dish and if you like a lot of heat, you can get the spicy version.

Bibimbap

We Ye Dang first timers, that means me and Pao enjoyed their version of the bibimbap. We finished it until the last grain. Great job Jen! You sure know your favorites by now.

Spicy Squid

The spicy squid was the best and the most tender I've had. And they served it with tender leafy vegetables and carrots and the sauce was sweet and mildly spicy. The sauce was perfect with the bibimbap or even plain rice.

Grilled Chicken

The chicken was also good, fully cooked yet moist and tender.

Thank you Jen for bringing us to Ye Dang, I will defnitely go back and try their other dishes.

Tokyo Cafe

Tokyo Cafe doesn't offer traditional dishes you would find in a Japanese restaurant ,  instead their menu boasts of salads, pizzas, pastas, burger steaks , sandwiches with a Japanese touch. But they also have a few classics like tendon and unaji donburi.

We ended up ordering two kinds of pastas, garlic and shrimp and creamy salmon and a tempura donburi.

Shrimp and Garlic 

I had the shrimp and garlic and in fairness, it turned out to be really good with lots of shrimp.

Creamy Salmon Pasta

The salmon pasta was ok too though it didn't have a lot of salmon compared to the shrimp pasta.

Tendon

I had only a small piece of tempura and it was crispy enough , the sauce was a bit sweet for me but I've had better tendon.

We didn't try their coffee and other drinks but I think they must be good because they're prepared using the traditional and distinctive style of Japanese coffee preparation.

Sango Burger

It's been months since we've tried Sango Burger at the Shang so this is a very late post...

We ordered the Sango Master Burgers with special sauce , fries and their green salad.

The salad looks like your airplane salad haha..but tastewise it was just simply ok, greens, corn, tomatoes, onion rings and a light dressing.

Sango Master Burger 

 

 

The Sango master burger had this special sauce oozing from the patty..I had my first bite with the sauce and it was good but the sauce gets a bit messy and it all goes to the side . Without the sauce, the burger for me tastes ordinary, I've had better burgers and I will appreciate this burger only if I continuously put the sauce inside before each bite.

Red Garlic

Red Garlic is the  newest resto bar along Katipunan near Blue Ridge. Though parking looks discouraging , we were able to find a spot in the nearby Metrobank. It was a holiday and the place was full. Their menu serves comfort food like buffallo wings, pizza , pasta, ribs  and other Asian fusion dishes.

We ordered the Mandarin Crunch Oriental Chicken Salad, Mystic Pizza and Santorini Pasta.

Mandarin Crunch Oriental Chicken Salad P195

 The salad was ok, mixed greens with barbecued chicken slices, crunchy wonton strips and an oriental dressing. It was refreshing and good for two people.

Mystic Pizza P250

The mystic pizza is their take on the margherita pizza. The crust was thin and crispy but I feel my brothers make better home made neopolitan style pizzas.

Santorini Pasta P400

The santorini pasta is a penne pasta in tomato sauce with rock salt shrimps and crabmeat . This was good , a bit spicy but I liked it that they didn't scrimp on the shrimps. Good for sharing also.

For our next visit, we will try their tokyo and chicken steak burgers . A wide array of desserts are also available for your sweet ending.

Hacienda Macalauan Chocolate Milk

This is what I'm loving now...so good!!! : ))

Trying Out Chelsea's New Dishes

I was at Chelsea Market Cafe Podium last month as part of my week long birthday celebration but I forgot to take pictures of the food we ordered  because we went straight at it ! Anyway, last Saturday, we decided to have dinner at Serendra  and we picked Chelsea because they have new items on their menu but this time we made sure to take a snap shot of the dishes we ordered.

For our salad, we tried their version of the Greek Salad with Panko Crusted Feta. I love Cyma's Roka Salata so I'm curious if Chelsea's version will hold its ground. 

Greek Salad with Panko Crusted Feta P350+

Their Greek Salad was refreshingly awesome! I love the dressing , it was a cross between ranch and a Greek vinaigrette and didn't overpower the greens. The panko crusted feta , panko is just a fancy term for the Japanese breadcrumbs , blended well with the salad.  Imagine a warm, crispy soft cheese mixing with the plump, juicy tomatoes and the crispy greens, hmmm...gotta love the texture in this dish and the overall taste. 

For the main course, we ordered the Seafood in Tomato Cream Sauce with Linguini Pasta. This is one of their best selling dish . 

Seafood in Tomato Cream with Linguini P450+

I love this pasta, it's tomato based but not that acidic because the cream dilutes the sauce and bursting with flavor.  Topped with shrimps, calamari and mussels though the squid was a bit tough for me, it is satisfying and good for two. 

But the piece de resistance for that night was the newest addition to their menu , the Crisp Citrus Rosemary Roasted Pork Belly with Cranberry Chutney served with Mashed Potatoes . 

  Crisp Citrus Rosemary Roasted  Pork Belly with Apple Cranberry Chutney  P450+

What a long and fancy name for crispy liempo! Reading it sounds yummy already and it sure was , this sinfully good dish has huge chunks of crispy and tender pork belly or liempo with a crackling skin served with a killer sauce of apple and cranberry chutney. The sauce is a bit sweet and citrusy and perfect with the mashed potatoes and a few asparagus strips.  An interesting way of serving the liempo, just don't eat the layer of fat between the skin and the meat. 

It was a happy and really filling dinner , with the other tables ordering pretty much the same dishes we had. I've been dining at Chelsea way back in 2007 with Chef Sau Del Rosario still at the helm  and I'm impressed that four years later , the  place still gets packed with diners like us looking for a good and  heartwarming meal.

Orale!

As I've mentioned in my previous entries, I love Mexican food  so I was very pleased that there's a new one at the Fort called Orale! . Orale , based from what I saw online , is Mexican for  "hell yes!" or "right on!". They have the more or less the basic menu of tacos, burrittos , quesadillas, chips and rice plates.

We ordered the chips and salsa , I just can't recall their word for it, it sounds like a topopos but it's just your usual chips but theirs is home made and really good with the ranchero sauce!

For the main meal, we tried the grilled chicken soft tacos and vegetarian burritto. 

Grilled Chicken Soft Tacos

The grilled chicken tacos are a bit spicy but if you like a bit of heat in your dish , this is really good.

Vegetarian Burrito

The vegetarian burrito is ok but I'm not really raving about it.  Still, we're happy with the food and will be back to try their other offerings. Orale!