Casa Italia Cafe, part 2

Yesterday, desserts came first at Casa Italia Cafe. Today, I want to share something else you might want to try at their cafe, that is not the typical Italian food - Pizza and Pasta. But before I share the food pictures, a look at how beautiful their cafe looks like:


The view from where I sit.


If you're alone and just want to have a cup of coffee, I suggest you sit by the bar and watch how they make your choice of drink.


I seriously want a taste of that croissant. Reminds me of how my friend Nina says it, "kwasan."


In a way, I love the divider. It gave diners some sort of privacy, without totally blocking out the view.


Want to combine eating with school work? The cafe has wifi connection that will allow you to connect to the Internet, though I wasn't able to check if they have electric plugs around.


A closer look at the shelves. Some Italian phrases and words are easy to translate, but "Il meglio dell' Italia" means "The best of Italy."


Two very interesting things to see - coffee silos in Italian flag colors and this dining area perfect for meetings.

Now, on to the food...


Pumpkin Soup (p150). Creamy and seasoned just right, I loved this so much to the point that I asked certain things about it - does it have carrots and/or apples (something like that) because partly I want to know if I can recreate it at home. This was so good, I can just have this and be contented.


Italian Baked Chicken (p330). I was not sure if they used chicken breast or thigh fillet, but I loved that even if it was baked, it was still juicy and tender. The sauce (or gravy, as how Italians call it) wasn't tarty or sour, something I preferred, but it wasn't the sweet kind the way Filipinos usually go for.


Sole Fillet with Lemon Pepper Cream Sauce (p490). A little bit pricey for me...but I liked that they used sole fillet instead of the usual cream dory fillet. The sauce lacked that lemon flavor I wanted, but it was still a good dish overall.


Hickory Pork Belly (p430). So heavenly good! The meat was tender and screams "barbecue" through and through.


Kaffe Otto. Not my drink, but this I think would be a good way to eat a great meal. This is Casa Italia Cafe's own blend of coffe, something I will try when I dine there again.

I plan to take mom and sister there so they can taste their food, too.

Casa Italia Cafe is located at the ground floor of SM North EDSA (The Block).

Celebrating my 36th at Microtel by Wyndham (Mall of Asia)

This year, I had no intentions of celebrating my birthday at all. I am grateful to turn another year older, yes... but at this point, I am more of being thankful than actually celebrating it, if you get what I mean. On the day of birthday, it was pretty much an ordinary day, but I gotta give it to my mom and sister for making it more special. My mom cooked Pansit Bihon and my sister brought home KFC and a small single serve slice of cake from Bread Talk.

I guess my sister truly is into not following requests as far as birthdays is concerned. For me, spending the day with the people dear to my heart would have been enough, but I was surprised to know my sister was cooking up a surprise. I would have never known about it if my sister had to ask me something about Agoda.

That's how I found out she was trying to book a room at Microtel by Wyndham - Mall of Asia. She asked me if I liked it, and instead of answering her, I asked if mom would agree to it. I was surprised when she told me she already talked to mom and brother. Ah huh... so I was the last one to know? Hahahaha. With the help of brother, sister was able to book hassle free.


I am not sure where sister got the idea of staying here, but I loved it instantly!


It was a little sad that only available rooms were those for smokers. We could definitely smell the cigarette smoke residue along the halls and inside the room, but it wasn't a big problem at all.

The room had two double-sized beds (as pictured), so of course mom and sister shared and I had the bed all for myself. Yipee! Since this is mainly a food blog, I decided not to share a picture of the bathroom and toilet anymore. It was nothing special, but fully functional. :)


They didn't have electric kettle, but they do have a steady supply of clean, drinking water and ice. Though guests had to get water and ice near the elevator, not having to buy bottles of water was a great relief.


The (zoomed) view from our room. So pretty!

Miscellaneous January Food Pics

This week was quite a blah for me, because I had to endure a whole lot of sneezing every day. Worst day was last Thursday, but since yesterday, the sneezing lessened, though I am now experiencing itchiness around my eyes and forehead. I really should be taking anti-histamine, but I don't really like taking meds.

Anyway, I haven't tried any new recipes and we haven't been to any food trips lately, so in an effort to update this blog, I decided to just share some food pictures I have on my phone. Now, most of these weren't plated or composed well; I took these pictures mainly to remember the day by, or to share to my sister who is usually not eating dinner with mom and I.


>>> On the second day of 2016, my sister and I went to Quiapo Church, then to SM Manila after, where had snacks at Starbucks so she could finally claim her 2016 Starbucks Planner. It was my first time to try their Corned Beef Pandesal, and though it tasted like any ordinary pandesal filled with corned beef, but I liked the idea of these three pandesal joined together.

>>> My sister and I bought chicken and requested mom to cook Arroz Caldo for dinner. However, when we got home, mom already cooked something for dinner, but the next day, she surprised us by cooking it for our breakfast. Thank you mommy.

Weekend Eating | Calatagan Getaway

It is true, where mom goes, I usually go. And because it was a long weekend last weekend, sister also went with us and the rest of mom's chapter members on a getaway to Calatagan, Batangas - a place I haven't been to.


Our day started around 10am of Sunday, when we set on a long journey to Calatagan. The girls and I rode on Tito Ed and Tita Malou's car, while the rest of the group rode Tito Arnold's van. We had a very smooth ride until we reached Nuvali, where the build up of traffic started. Good thing, all of us had the initiative to pack lunch, so even if we didn't really find a restaurant, we were still able to eat a hearty lunch. People looked at us because we were eating at the side of the road, but we didn't really care - it was one of the most unique and memorable dining experiences I have had!


Somewhere between Silang and Tagaytay, we passed by this fruit stand where we bought some lanzones and pomelo. It became our road snack because traffic from here 'til we reached Skyranch Tagaytay was such a pain in the bum!



It was already night time when we reached our destination. Initially, we reserved the green house, but the group that rented the house the day before extended their stay, so we were given this small house (just two small rooms) and two big tents were set up outside to accommodate all of us. It was also a little unfortunate that there weren't lights near the beach, so none of us really dared to take a dip.

Before Calatagan was the town of Lian, and because it was already about 5pm when we reached that town, we decided to buy dinner at their market. For that dinner, we had:


Sinigang na Batalay
It was already very late so there weren't much to buy, so this sinigang lacked other vegetables like sitaw, labanos, and kangkong. Still, this was a tasty dish - perfect soup for the windy night.


Grilled Tilapia
Simple, but oh so good!

For that dinner, we also had Paksiw na Galunggong, but I forgot to take a picture. :(


Early next day, we went to check out the beach, but to our surprise, the low tide made a big area of the beach without water! We thought the tide would come up near lunch time, but it was already 11am, and there weren't much difference in the water level, so we just walked 'til the level of the water was okay for us to dip in.

That early, too, some of the "elders" went to the market to buy ingredients for our lunch. Initially, some of us mentioned Grilled Liempo, but it was decided in the end that we would go for all-fish lunch, and we had:


Grilled Tangigue
I wasn't able to eat this because I am not really into grilled fish, but my sister said it was super delicious.


Grilled Tambakol


Kinilaw na Tangigue
Half of the Tangigue steaks were chopped up and made into Kilawin. This I truly had the pleasure of eating. The fish was still very fresh and had it's natural sweetness, and when dipped into toyo-mansi with garlic and chili peppers, umm umm! :)

The head and the tail of the tangigue (it was a very big fish) were cooked into sinigang, this time with the much loved vegetables. They also served Paksiw na Galunggong and Pritong Galunggong, which I ate a lot of. The combination of Sinigang broth and vegetables just paired well with the Kilawin and Fried Galunggong.

We left around 2 or 3pm that afternoon, and we got home around 10pm, because of the traffic. Well, Calatagan sure was a very far of a place, something I was really thankful to have visited now, because I don't think it would be possible for us girls to travel there using public transportation.

This was such a fun getaway, we hope there will be more of this in the future.

Tagaytay Mahogany Beef Market and Bulalohan

When I told friends we planned to go to Tagaytay, Eunice and Rexy both told me to go check out the Mahogany market and try their Bulalo. Us three girls just ate Bulalo for the lunch the previous day (at LZM Restaurant), but before traveling home, we decided to eat lunch here and check what the rave is about.


Going there is easy, as there are a lot of jeepneys. If you don't know the directions, you can always ask around or ask the jeepney drivers. You don't have to worry about getting lost because people are very friendly and they will tell you when you reached your destination.


If you come here to eat, the food court style eatery is located at the second floor of the market. During high noon (and dinnertime for sure), be prepared to wait for your turn, because so many tourists come here to eat; it was already past 1PM when we arrived and we had a difficult time looking for a vacant table.

The long stretch of the floor is home to different concessionaires, but they do offer similar dishes, so if this is your first time here, or if you are a part of a very big group and one eatery cannot accommodate you all, it is just fine to try any of the eateries and still eat "the same" food.

For this food trip, we ate at Nanay Deling Special Bulalo and Gotohan, and we ate:


Crispy Tawilis
Tawilis is a kind of fish that is exclusive to Taal Lake. It is for this reason that we wanted to try it out. I am not sure if this and the fish used in making Tuyo (dried fish) are the same, but this Crispy Tawilis is simply delicious! Very crispy, but it didn't taste burned or overcooked. It goes well with vinegar dip, and could be eaten as is or with rice.

PS - Can someone teach me how to make this dish? I know it is "only" fried, but I truly am wondering how they made the fish crispy and dry (no soft meat) without overcooking.


Crispy Crablets
Another crispy dish to go well with our bulalo soup. Nothing really exceptional... but munching on it is quite addicting! Next time we will try the Crispy Shrimps.


Bulalo
My friend Rexy told me the Bulalo here might be a little expensive, but the thing is, this Bulalo was actually cheaper than the one we ate the previous day. It was a little sad that we weren't given the bone with massive amount of marrow, but it was okay, we were given a big chunk of beef meat that made it truly worth it.

Tagaytay is a windy/chilly place, and it was very easy for Bulalo dishes to get cold and for the oil and fat to harden. What I loved about this place is that they served their Bulalo in a food warmer (same to the chaffing dish used in catering), so the Bulalo stays hot while you eat. I also loved that this had a lot of vegetables.

This serving of Bulalo was more than enough for us three to eat, so in the end we decided to just eat the Bulalo and after a few nibbles of Crispy Tawilis and Crispy Crablets, we asked the staff to pack it for us to take home.


Best thing about dining here? Free bananas! Tagaytay is also known for the Senyorita bananas, and every table has this pile of bananas for diners to eat for free. Of course, you can only eat as much as you can while you're there, so even if it's free, it's a common courtesy not to take them home.

If you plan to eat here, others dishes you can try are Crispy Pata, Beef Caldereta, Kare-Kare, Dinuguan, Chopseuy, Chicharong Bulaklak, Pinakbet, Laing, and Sisig. Make it part of your Tagaytay experience and you will not regret it.