Bea's Cooking Adventure v.2

Because I have tons of free time....

TADAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! (Cheeeeeeeeese)

I call this the Cheesy Sprite Delight. Cheesy because I made sure to put generous amount of quickmelt cheese on top. Sprite because the green bell pepper reminds me of the bottom of a Sprite bottle (Hahahahaha). Delight because I love chicken, mushroom, potato and cheese altogether- made my tummy happy. :)) It's healthy as well so double the happiness. :)

I know I made use of a muffin pan but I had to be resourceful. :))

Crazy Katsu + Conti's Date Night

Sorry blog for neglecting you for the past two months. :( I've been busy with work in a new company. But I already resigned after a month or so. Hehe. Yup! Only a month. Why? Because a better opportunity came knocking and I just had to open the door and grab it at once! :) Currently, I'm back to being a bum just because I was allowed to have a vacation this holiday season. Will start work next year. New year, new work. I'm very excited for next year!!!! This year has been filled with career decisions and looking back, can't help but be proud of myself for taking risks. This is it. Matanda na talaga ako. :)) I'm also proud of my boyfriend, as always, but I'm prouder now because this year has been good to his career as well. Downside of it is that we won't be seeing each other that often anymore. He was assigned way up north and it's a 10-12 hour drive. I wanted that work for him and I know that he's very happy now that he got it and what I can do is to be supportive. Seeing him happy and fulfilled with the work he has makes me feel the same. :) He's very hardworking and I kid you not. But he still has time for me. Hihihi. 

We had some downtime last week when Jap went home for the long weekend (Nov. 30- Dec. 2). What better way to spend time together? EAT! We headed to BF to search for food we haven't tried so we ended up choosing Crazy Katsu for some simple Japanese comfort food. 

I love anything chicken. And fried. So I recommend the Chicken Katsu. Though the chicken was a bit overcooked and toasted. I hope next time I order it would be cooked just right. I like my fried food to be juicy, moist and crispy altogether. Hehe. On the other hand, the katsudon in the Curry Katsu Jap ordered was cooked well- juicy, moist and crisp altogether! I also like the curry sauce- reminded me of Teriyaki Boy's Curry Nasu Tori. Will go back and try their gyoza. I heard it's good! They do have branches in Maginhawa St.,QC and Marikina. For Php400+, we were full but our tummies still have room for dessert!!! :)))

Jap's food: Curry Katsu (left) and Bea's food: Chicken Katsu (right)

So we headed to Conti's in ATC to do some damage on their Blueberry Cheesecake and Mango Tart. :)

DESSERT! Blueberry Cheescake, Mango Tart and Watermelon Shake (w/ free adobo roll)

Everything will eventually pay off when you work for hard for something. I always love date nights with Jap. :) <3

Crazy Katsu

Aguirre Ave. BF Homes,

Parañaque City

http://www.crazykatsu.com/

Conti's Pastry Shop and Restaurant
Alabang Town Center
Alabang, Muntinlupa City
www.contis.ph

Chicago Couch Potato: Nachooos! Twister Frieees!

This is still part of our post second anniversary celeb. As mentioned from my previous post, we went up North to celebrate. <3 After carb filling in C', we went to Harbor Point (an Ayala Mall inside Subic) to look around. Wala lang, malling before dinner. :)) While strolling, I saw this kiosk and saw the word POTATO. You see, I have a soft spot in my tummy when it comes to potatoes (especially when fried.. hihi) and nachos. 

Jap and I tried Chicago Couch Potato's Twister Fries and Nachos. O diba, kung may New York Fries and Dips, meron ding pambato ang Chicago in Subic. Labo! Haha! Nothing very very fantastic about the food but we love the big servings. Our orders were also served hot but we had to wait for that but it was okay. We weren't rushing anyway. The powdered lemonade drink was okay as well. We love snacking/munching/junk fooding (Or ako lang yun? Haha.) so we were happy that our 200+ pesos was worth it naman. Happy tummy! <3

Twister Fries (left) Nachos (right)

Nachos= happy tummy <3

Harbor Point Mall

Rizal Ave.

SBFZ, Olongapo City

C' Panizzas & Pasta: A Taste of Italy in Pampanga

Jap and I turned two last 9/05. <3 So as part of our 2nd anniversary celeb, we went up North to fill our bug tummies with happiness. Yay!

1st stop: C' Panizzas and Pasta located in Petron Clark. This is the second branch of C'. The first branch is located in 1210 Don Juico Avenue. Based on the reviews from the internet, it has a bigger seating capacity. The menu has wider range of choices and a lot of celebs/big personalities have dined there already (e.g. Kris Aquino). Would love to dine there soon. Their branch in Petron Clark I think, is their attempt to reach out to a bigger market. As for me, I looove the food. Our tummies were happy!! <3

 French Bread with Basil Vinaigrette. Freshly baked- still hot when served. I love that it's chewy on the inside and crispy on the outside. 

Creamiest Pumpkin Soup I've tasted. Delish!!!

Red & White Sauce with Shiitake Mushroom. I guess they combined the tomato and cream sauce and they came up with this pasta dish. I love the clash of bitter, sweet and salty. YUM!!

And at last.. their famous panizza! We ordered the Bacon with Garlic. This is love! I never like sprouts and arugula but I know that it would very well compliment with the panizza so I still put a little. Hence, my flat rolled panizza below. I love the flavors! Italian food is LOVE. <3

The flat rolled panizza by Bea. :))

I love their brewed iced tea as well. I love brewed ice teas!! 

The 'perfect' rolled panizza by Jap. :))

C' Panizzas and Pasta

Petron Clark, Pampanga

Serenitea: That Extraordinary Happiness in a Cup of Tea

I'm not a coffee drinker. I think I'm the only one who didn't join the bandwagon when Starbucks became a hit here in the Philippines. I just can't drink coffee. It doesn't appeal to my taste. Although I like some coffee infused drinks/food. As long as it's cold and not bitter. I especially love Selecta's Coffee Crumble. Going back, my alternate for a caffeine fix is a hot tea. Although I'm not a regular drinker as well. I occasionally drink coffee when I was still studying, after a heavy meal or anytime I like. Oldies na oldies, diba? Hahaha! After the froyo craze, came the milk tea craze. My favorite, and Jap's favorite as well will forever be Serenitea. 

Our forever order:

Bea: 1 large Hokkaido, 50% or 25%, Pearls, Extra Pearls (Forever Number 1 for me)

Jap:  1 Large Okinawa, 50%, Pearls

Aaaaaand.... one order of chicken chops, please!

Our orders. See those pearls? :)) Our forever fave: Chicken Chops (inside white paperbag)

Serenit(y)ea

Jap and I love trying out the latest milk tea in the Metro but we will forever go back to Serenitea. We love the chicken chops. It has this herb-y, curry-ish taste. It also comes with crispy basil leaves which I adore. I love the combination of chicken chops + milk tea, they compliment each other's tastes.  Another reason why I love Serenitea is the fact that they use fresh tea bags in every order. I also love the relaxing feel of every store. Combination of white and mint green is love. Very relaxing. Very serene(ity). Chos! Drinking milk tea is one of my instant pick me upper just like eating Hello Panda. LIterally a pick me upper especially when the caffeine starts to kick in. :))

Jap and I at Serenitea, Alabang Town Center being vain and matakaw

I love that Serenitea opened a lot of branches already but I honestly miss those times when one of their few branches were in Alabang in ATC and in BF Parañaque. Maarte ako e. :)) Serenitea fix soon please! I miss it already! <3

Look for Serenitea's branches near your place: http://iloveserenitea.com/branches.html I love their website as well. Overused word for this post= love. Hahaha! <3

Bag of Beans: Itsy Bitsy Cinna(mon)bites

I was raving about the mini cinnamon rolls from my Bag of Beans post three months ago but I didn't have pictures as proof then. :)) So apparently, they are called Cinnabites and NOT Mini Cinnamon Rolls. Hee. I love the dip that comes with it- melts in your mouth yumminess. I feel one pound heavier after every bite though. Haha. I tried partnering these munchies with hot chocolate. It's loooove! I haven't tried the main courses from Bag of Beans yet so when I visit Tagaytay again, will definitely try them. <3

A bit pricey for me (the kuripot inside) but it's delish. :)

I HATE raisins. Threw them away before eating. :))

THE DIP. I think it's cream cheese. It tastes like their cheesecake.

Bag of Beans

115 Aguinaldo Highway

Mendez, Tagaytay City

What's for breakfast?

Forever Purefoods Corned beef girl! 

Bea's Cooking Adventure v.1

09.04.2012. One Tuesday afternoon, I decided to get my lazy butt in action. No, not in the gym but in the kitchen. Haha! After a minute or two, thinking of what food to cook.. I opened our fridge and saw frozen chicken breast fillets. Lightbulb moment. As you all know, chicken is our default meat at home. We rarely buy pork meat. So my experiment turned out like this: 

I don't know what to call my recipe though. :( Maybe Herbed Crusted Chicken Fillet in white rice or french bread topped with cheese? Way tooooooo long! Hahaha!  Before grilling the chicken, I used Thyme, Ground Pepper and Salt to add flavor.

Will blog about the details of the recipes tomorr... nope, the soonest time! Promise! 

:)

Bag of Beans

AND. We're back. After a very very VERY long hiatus.

Craving for this right now:

His and Hers B.O.B mug :)

11.29.2010. This was my first time in Bag of Beans but I've been hearing about it before. Especially about their pastries. After window shopping in Cuenca Bazaar, Jap brought me here. I love the place. It's homey. Modest. A place where you can have a chat and chew with friends and family. I didn't know what to order so I opted for my safe pick: Blueberry Cheescake.

I LOVE every bite of it. The cheescake is like vanilla ice cream. Literally melted in my mouth. And to get the total experience, I partnered it with hot chocolate. Perfect food for the perfect -Ber weather in Tagaytay. YUM! :)

....

Another favorite from Bag of Beans is their Mini Cinammon Rolls Cinnabites. I don't have pictures to share, though. :( It only means it's that delicious, I forgot to take pictures. Hehe.

I love every variants- Plain (cinammon only), Chocolate and with Raisin&Nuts (I hate raisins btw) . What's unique about it is the dip that goes with it. That cream cheese-ish dip that compliments every piece. YUUMM! Now I'm hungry!

Will TRY to update more often from now on! :) 

Bag of Beans
115 Aguinaldo Highway
Mendez, Tagaytay City

Coupe (Koo-pay) Coffee Station

One random weeknight after office, Jap decided to take me somwhere to eat. It was a surprise but I figured where he will take me when he took the Bicutan exit from SLEX. He told me about the place before and how yummy the pastas are. The pasta-lover in me got excited instantly. 

Coupe Coffee Station is a small coffee shop located in Petron Doña Soledad in Parañaque. I'm not sure how it is pronounced but I think you pronounce it as 'koo-pay'. There were toy sports cars framed on the wall and the signage of the coffee shop has checkered racing flags on  it so I did a little research on Coupe's meaning. I learned that it's a kind of closed body style for cars with reduced number of doors from four to two. Coupes are mostly sports car. So that explains the toy sports cars and the racing flags. The owner must be a car enthusiast. 

Before Eating shot of  Jap :)

So anyway, back to the food. I ordered Spaghetti Bolognese, Tuna Sandwich and Mango Shake. Jap ordered Penne Pasta in White Creamy Sauce (I'm not sure with the name) and a Watermelon Shake. For dessert, we ordered a slice of Moist Chocolate Cake which reminded me of Conti's version of it. I get to taste all. Hahaha. And I must say that I love all of them as well as the price. It's not too pricey and not too cheap that you might think the food is not of good quality and would think otherwise to eat there. I personally love the Penne Pasta- very creamy. I like that the bread of the Tuna Sandwich is made of wheat and there were potato chips on the side. I love sandwich orders with potato chips or french fries on the side. They also have rice meals like tocino and tapa.

What we ordered :)

One good thing about Coupe is that they have a lot of cakes to choose from and pastries as well in reasonable prices. We weren't able to take pics of the cakes though. But I love the Moist Chocolate Cake we ordered and the cakes looked really delicious, I'll try a different one next rime we go there. If there's a good thing about Coupe, there's also the best and that is it's a free wi-fi zone. Yay for students doing their researches and  for people who just need a free internet connection to check on their numerous social networking sites.

Coupe Coffee Station

Petron Doña Soledad Betterliving

Parañaque City

(Across Parañaque Doctor's Hospital)

Frutti Froyo Frozen Yogurt

I love vanilla flavored ice cream. Before, I always have my sundae at McDo without any hot fudge on it. Just their plain, white, creamy vanilla ice cream... Yum! I love the simplicity of its taste and I always have this thinking that it's healthier compared to flavored ice creams.

So when the FroYo craze started to make news, I got curious and didn't hesitate to try it out. After all, flavored yogurt has been a staple in our home, for snack and dessert purposes and one good thing about froyos is that it contains less fat. I can enjoy eating it, guilt-free without anticipating that my jeans would not fit the next day. Haha. 

Cutesy!

Frutti Froyo- Alabang branch

My latest froyo craving is Frutti Froyo. Jap was the one who introduced this to me months ago. It's a locator at one of the Petron stations in Katipunan- their first branch. I thought it was just a normal froyo store where you just point the toppings that you want and someone will put them on your froyo or pick pre-selected mixed toppings from the menu. One thing unique about the concept of Frutti Froyo is that it's a DIY yogurt store. You will be the one to get your own flavored froyo from the machine. They have chocolate, raspberry, blueberry and my favorite- plain and many other flavors. For the first timers like I was, you don't have to worry because someone will assist you in operating the machine. But it's just really easy. You just need to hold your cup tight while pulling the lever on the machine. Anyway, after that is my favorite part: choosing the toppings! My first Frutti Froyo toppings were blueberries and crushed grahams which is my all-time favorite. Jap's favorite would be the green apple flavored jelly.

For the health buffs, they have assorted fruit toppings like kiwi, strawberry, bluberry, etc and for the food junkies like meeee, they have all sorts of chocolate flavored toppings, marshmallows, nuts, gummy bears, etc. etc. etc. Everything you can imagine! I love that they have a lot of toppings to choose from and you have a total control of what you put. Just a piece of advice: Don't get too carried away in getting a great amount of froyo and toppings because it's a bit pricey once you do.

I love the colorful interiors of the store, makes me feel like a kid. The branch in Alabang is very spacious. I love the funky tables and chairs. They also have a space dedicated for events for kids and kids at heart. It's a nice bonding place with your family and friends and a haven for FroYo junkies. Will definitely visit the branch in Alabang more often (beacause it's nearer my house compared to other branches) especially when you get to have freebies. Hihi.

Me and Jap. My birthday shot. :)

Frutti Froyo

The Commerce Center

Commerce Ave. Alabang

The Room Upstairs

After spending our day at the office last Saturday, we decided to grab a light dinner at The Room Upstairs. I was so happy my heart was jumping because we'll finally check out the place after seeing it being featured in a certain internet site. I fell in love with the nice furnishings and interiors and the photos made me feel cozy at once. I'm glad my feelings were true to our dining experience there. Woman's instinct, I guess? Hehe.

It was a 10-minute drive from the office and it was a Saturday so traffic was not a problem at all. The building where it is located is occupied with different stores which mostly caters to customers who love discovering nice interiors and unique pieces of furniture. There's also a spa and what looks like a fine dining Italian restaurant which I would also like to try one time (Love, say yes!). We figured it was located on the upper floors of the building and true to its name, it's located at the 2nd floor. It really looks like a normal furniture store from the outside but when I saw two men chatting and eating on nice tables and chairs, I figured we were at the right place. 

We were a bit confused on where to sit because all the chairs and tables were so nice, I felt it had an imaginary thanks for not sitting sign on it. We decided to take a sofa seat with a big table fit for 6 people I guess. I ordered an Herbed Chicken Sandwich (one of their bestsellers accdg. to the one who took our order) and a Strawberry flavored Iced Tea which I think is a bit pricey for its quantity. On the other hand, Jap had a cup of Cafe Americano, a slice of chocolate truffle cake and a chocolate chip cookie with raisins. The sandwich was okay but if you are cutting down on fats, I don't recommend this. It was the first time I ate a sandwich with both mayonnaise and butter on it. But overall, it was good. I like the way it was served on a wooden chopping board- reminded me of Chelsea. Minimalist chic!

Hers 

His

Jap's overall rating is 8 out of 10. Likewise. The food as well as the dining experience was good. I love that there were only a few number of customers. Us and what looks like a family. It's an intimate place. It's a nice place to go to after a long day's work and you need a quiet time for yourself or for artists who just need inspiration for their work.

So where's our next eatscapade, love? :)

The Room Upstairs

2nd Floor LRI Design Plaza

N. Garcia St. 

Makati City