Places to Chomp

These past few weeks have been a truly remarkable adventure for our stomachs as we search and tried some new restaurants here in Manila. After almost three years of trying stuff that are present in Greenbelt 3 and Glorietta, it's good to have an exposure to new tastes and aromas and healthier alternatives.

SEAFOOD MARKET (located in the middle of UN Ave. and Padre Faura)
It has the concept of "dampa" wherein you'll buy your goods fresh and just tell them how you like your goods to be cooked. What made it different is that the cost of cooking is already incorporated in the prices of the fresh goodies.

Upon entering, they will give you a push cart. Their goods are comprised of mussels, squid, shrimps, fish (lapu-lapu), lobsters, crabs and produce (veggies, mushrooms, fruits). At the end of the line is the cashier, where all your goodies will be weighed and priced.

We bought the following:
4 pcs shrimp (tempura size)
3 pcs squid (too small to be grilled, size is suitable for adobong pusit)
1/4 kl clams (clam soup)
a little bit of shitake and button mushrooms, brocolli, carrots, chicharo, string beans (chop suey)
1 coconut (drink)

All these for the price of P950++. This didn't include one cup of rice and house tea. Our bill was P1,068. Very pricey for 2 people. hehehe.. The food and service were great. Everything was cooked deliciously especially the clam soup and the chop suey. I computed the cost per dish and it turned out that the veggie dish was the most expensive -- ousting the P300 tempura.

I noticed also that most of the customers are foreigners. At the end of our meal, a table not so far caught our attention. The waiter served them a huge lobster. What puzzled us is that the "feelers" of the creature are still moving. To our horror, we saw the lobster's body is cut in half and its meat freshly scraped from the shell. Ewww... I dunno that the fresh version is a delicacy. Poor lobster, being eaten alive.

Next stop.... DYNASTY RESTAURANT (just across Manila Pavilion)

A typical Chinese restaurant. Since I've eaten already at Delifrance, poohbear chose the meal. He ordered yang chow (authentic!!) and beef in oyster sauce. They also have fresh goodies kept alive -- lobster, clams, "alupihang dagat", lapu-lapu, king fish... A bit pricey but the food is ok naman. The smallest serving of the dishes is P200++ minimum.

LA MESA GRILL (at the back of MOA)

I dunno if it's true but I think someone told me that it is owned by Sharon Cuneta. It's the same banana with Gerry's, Dencio's, Congo Grill... The place is designed with bamboo walls. Aside from the ala carte dishes, they also have seafood platters. The is one peculiar page in the menu that says --"niluto sa asin dagat".... something like that but we didn't try it. We just ordered the seafood platter and pinakbet. Affordably priced, the food tastes great but has a slightly smaller serving than its counterparts. They have a wide array of cocktails and spirits. We ordered long island iced tea (his) and weng weng (mine). Excellent service and you won't have to wait long for your food.\

HOTEL KIMBERLY BUFFET BREAKFAST

For only P199net, you would be able to enjoy a buffet breakfast of diferent kinds -- cereals, congee, pansit, tocino, ham, garlic rice, fruits, eggs, coffee, juice, bread (they even have a toaster on the table), jams and preserves..... As for eggs, they have this EGG STATION where eggs are cooked fresh according to your wishes. You can have omelette (with onions, ham, tomatoes), sunny side up or scrambled. They only serve few contents of each at the buffet table and refill the same frequently -- to ensure that the food is always warm and freshly cooked. Sooooo sulit.

Feel hungry already??? hehehhe..... more updates next time.