Bagnet 80605 (Vito Cruz, Manila)

Last Friday, I met up with bookish friends Eunice and Cath to pick up our books from Gie. Before we went to Gie's work place, we had lunch at Bagnet Eighty Sixty Five first.


Located near De La Salle University, this house-cum-restaurant mainly offers Bagnet dishes (obviously), but they also offer a few fish and chicken dishes.


The place is small, but I like the vibe inside - it felt like eating at home. Also, the noises of the diners made eating more fun and pleasant, in my opinion.

*photo grabbed from eunice*

We settled for a table near the window, and because both Cath and Eunice have already eaten here before, it was I who had to really choose what to eat. Truth be told, it was difficult to choose which to order because even if their menu was short, they seem to have chosen good dishes to pair with bagnet.


Original Bagnet (budget meal)
Cath's meal. First impression was the amount of food on the plate. This may be a "budget" meal, but it sure was more than what I expected.


Kare - Kare Bagnet (budget meal)
Eunice and I chose the same meal. At first I wanted to try the Bagnet Dinuguan, but I didn't bring anything to clean my teeth, and the idea of having vegetables to pair with bagnet seemed to lessen the guilt.

At 120 pesos, this sure was a good meal to satisfy one's tummy. Though the kare - kare sauce was a little sweet for my taste and that I found it weird that there was okra and bell pepper on my plate (most of the vegetables were under the bagnet), it was a good dish overall. The bagnet was very satisfying - it was cut into big chunks and had a good proportion of meat and fat. Also, the meat was tender and easy to chew, and the pork skin was crunchy, much to my delight. It was a little sad that I am very unsure when to eat here again, but should my feet take me to this side of Manila again, I might probably try their dinuguan or their Bagnet Sinigang.

This food trip made me think about cooking my own bagnet dish. Biggest problem would be the guilt of cooking and eating Bagnet for everybody knows it is high in calories and cholesterol, but maybe a few months from now, I might indulge myself and the family with a Bagnet dish.

The only negative thing I could say about the place was that the smell of the kitchen clings to the clothes, but a splash of cologne is enough to cover it up.

Bagnet 80605 is located in Leon Guinto corner Estrada Streets in Manila.

Weekend Eating | Remembering Daddy

Nine years ago on March 5, we lost the head of the family. It was a very devastating loss as everything happened so fast, I personally wasn't able to react well to it and it took a few months before everything sunk in on me. Every year on this day, at least one member of the family travels to La Union to light a candle on his grave, but this year, none of us weren't able to travel (we vow to travel in November though).

Anyway, on daddy's 9th death anniversary, sister and I met up with mom at the mall to have early dinner at Conti's in Ayala Fairview Terraces. I guess my mind was floating that day, because I wasn't able to take any pictures of the restaurant considering it was my first time to dine there (but this was the third Conti's branch I visited).


Lasagna
At first glance, this seemed to be a little too pricey at nearly 300 pesos (I forgot if this was 270 or 280 pesos), but, it sure tasted awesome! It was meaty, it was very cheesy, and it was very flavorful. For its price, for sure this wouldn't be something I would eat every now and then, but during special occasions, I think I might go for it again.


Garlic Sotanghon.
My sister and my mom both loved it, but it was my first time to taste this dish. Again, another plain looking food - something that would make you question if they priced this right, but at first mouthful of the noodles, and I was shot straight to foodie heaven. Saying it was delicious would be an understatement, because it was more than delicious, but I don't know if there's a proper adjective for that. The noodles were cooked just right and it tasted like it was cooked forever in chicken broth because every chew screams chicken! Even if this didn't have vegetables, it was able to satisfy my tummy that I didn't feel the need to eat dinner at home anymore.


Mocha Tiramisu.
We do love their Mango Bravo, but I didn't want to pass the moment without trying their other pastries, and this one sure was a delight.


Mango Bravo.
Of course, a food trip at Conti's will never be complete without Mango Bravo. This particular slice had mangoes that are slightly tarty, and it just went well to the cream. If you have tasted this cake already, you do know why we love it...if you still haven't, I hope you can taste it the soonest possible time, especially now that summer has kicked in.

Between bites, us girls talked about the many "What ifs" - what if dad is still alive, would he be on Facebook... would he be traveling with us (or, would he allow us to travel)... would he be baking goodies with us... would he be lining up at the cinema every Mondays and Tuesdays for free movies? It was crazy answering the questions, but part of me was sad that daddy wasn't able to enjoy a better part of the century - the boom of social media that drove establishments to change rapidly.

Nine years. Seems so long ago, but a pinch of pain still lingers on.

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.

Starbucks-ing in Tagaytay

Eons ago, I saw a picture of Starbucks Tagaytay on Facebook and absolutely fell in love with it even if I am not a big Starbucks consumer. When the girls and I traveled to Tagaytay last weekend, one of the things on my "places to see" list is this Starbucks branch. However, the problem was... where? The thing is, there are three Starbucks branches in Tagaytay that we know of, but because I have only been in Tagaytay twice (mid 90s and 2009), so I have no idea which one to visit.

On our first day, we checked out the branch near Cliffhouse and Leslie's. It was in a good location, but not the branch I was looking for. Since the other branch is located in Summit Ridge, my sister said maybe it was along the road going to Picnic Grove, and after our stroll to the place the day after, I finally got to see it!


This truly is the most beautiful Starbucks branch we have seen!


This branch has two floors - ground and lower ground floor, and there are also tables available outside for smokers and those who would like to have pictures with the view of Taal Lake. None of us smokes, but of course we went for the table at the balcony so we can have a good view while we sip our drinks.


Us three girls shared this piece of Cheese Ensaymada, which tasted so heavenly! They warmed the bread before serving, so the cheese melted a little, and it made the taste better, in our opinion. My sister chose to go with Green Tea Frappuccino, while my mom and I shared a medium glass of Apple Berry Freeze, because we weren't really thirsty, we just wanted to soothe our dry throats after walking around Picnic Grove. I also took the time to catch up on reading.

The balcony sure has a great view of the lake, and the volcano can be seen from here, too...


...but if you want a better view of the volcano, I suggest you visit the Starbucks branch near Leslie's. Unfortunately, the view couldn't be directly seen... you need to walk a little, but it did offer a good view - perfect for selfies and food pictures. This picture above is zoomed, but even from the view deck, you can get a clear and good view of the volcano.

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.

Mini Shabu-Shabu - SM Baguio

Mini Shabu-Shabu
2nd Floor, SM City Baguio
Baguio City, Benguet
(074) 446-6853 to 54

Last March, my mother and I travelled to La Union to light a candle on daddy's grave on his 8th death anniversary, and because two days out of town wasn't enough, we decided to take a side trip to Baguio City, where we met sister. She wasn't able to come with us to La Union because of work, but she was able to take a weekend off, much to our delight.

Upon checking in at our chosen hotel, we went to SM Baguio to eat lunch - just a quick eat out at KFC - then we spent the afternoon roaming around Session Road, which was closed at the time to make way for different shops from all over the country.

The weather that time was very good - sunny in the afternoon, but the air still gave a much needed chill. However, my body cannot really cope up with chilly weather, so for dinner, the only request I had was to eat something soupy. Sister only had one thing in mind -- Mini Shabu-Shabu.

My early memories of eating shabu-shabu was way back when my father was still alive, us eating at a Chinese restaurant. I wasn't so impressed with that particular shabu-shabu, so it never became a "favorite." Years after, we were able to eat at a buffet allowing guests to cook their own shabu-shabu, which was okay, but maybe because my lack of shabu-shabu cooking skills had me eating a not-so-good pot of comfort goodness.


If I can compare the buffet set-up to this, I would say I was impressed because each seating guest has their own pot to cook their shabu-shabu. The items on their menu are good for one person, but because it was already about 8pm, we decided to just order two sets, which us three would share.


This set included beef strips and prawns. The other set we ordered was the simplest set - one with only the veggies, noodles, and balls. All sets have this basic plate, the others will just depend on the add-ons they prefer. Though we ordered two different sets, we decided to cut the beef and prawns in two, which gave us two pots of the same set.


My sister worked at a shabu-shabu restaurant before, so she knew how to prepare a pot of good shabu-shabu. First, she poured the egg whites into the simmering broth and placed the egg yolk in the bowl of dip. Then, she added the ingredients in the broth according to their size and cooking time. The secret, she said is proper timing.


After a few minutes, our hot pot is cooked!

I can now say that shabu-shabu is indeed a pot of comfort, but I realized one thing - I pretty much preferred the basic set, I wasn't so crazy about the beef and prawns, even if prawns is one of my favorite food. The next time we eat shabu-shabu, I will just go for the balls.

Although each set is good for one person, it is actually good for sharing. The basic set (if I remember correctly) was 390 pesos, while the set with beef and prawns is about 600 pesos. We didn't feel the need to buy drinks anymore (they offer drinking water, by the way), so the 900 pesos total bill was actually good for us, since we do spend something like that whenever we eat out.

If the Baguio weather is getting colder for you, do know that there is Mini Shabu-Shabu at SM City Baguio to warm and comfort you.

*** Jenn ***