Pino Resto Bar (Quezon City)

I had the privilege of meeting an online buddy (Asmo) who's very much into food trips as I am. After a while of exchanging messages about food - either eating out or preparing dishes at home - he organized a small get-together. I tagged my sister along, and we were together with another friend (Nathalie of Halie's Kitchen) and some of Asmo's friends. We planned to eat at Van Gogh is Bipolar (in Maginhawa), but no one was able to locate the restaurant (I later found out it was because the restaurant has no banners or the usual big letters to spell out the name of the restaurant... all it has is a small "welcome sign" at the door). Most of us haven't really tried food tripping at Maginhawa, so Asmo just decided we go to Pino Resto Bar instead, even if he already dined there before.



Pino Resto Bar, from what I gather, used to be located along Maginhawa Street. Today, it is now located along Malingap Street. It is not that big of a restaurant (but it is spacious enough), and because there were eight of us that night, staff had to move some tables and chairs so all of us could share a space together. Good thing we arrived before the place got full! :)

With eight people having their own tastes and preferences, Asmo thought it's just fair that one of us would choose what we want and just share whatever dish one suggested. Presenting the feast we had that night, in no particular order:


Mini Sisig Tacos
Asmo chose this one because he knew this will be a big hit. I loved that the tacos are small enough to be bitten in half right away, minimizing the mess. This was a great way of serving Sisig and because it is usually rich, eating it with tomatoes and lettuce sort of cuts through the richness of the Sisig.


Wasabi Onion Rings
The onion rings were naturally sweet, the breading (or the batter, I don't know what's the correct term) was fluffy with light crisp, but eating the rings as is was a little bland, unless you dip it in the wasabi mayo.


Kare-Kareng Bagnet
One of the restaurant's signature dishes. This was a very innovative way of deconstructing Kare-Kare! I love the Bagnet - it was crunchy yet tender, the vegetables were okay, and the sauce was good. If there's one thing to complain, it would have to be sauce, it just wasn't enough! :) My companions were looking for the shrimp paste, but because I personally eat Kare-Kare without the shrimp paste, I didn't seem to mind it anymore.


Bacon and Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts
Tasted just like any other Cordon Bleu, although the sauce was a little intriguing, in a good way.


Kalderetang Lengua
Another delicious dish! I usually just eat Lengua (pork tongue) cooked a la Estofado, and this was such a revelation.


Binusog na Pusit with Kesong Puti
The squid was stuffed good, alright... but it lacked Kesong Puti. Maybe, if this dish was for one person, it would be just fine, but because there were four of us sharing a piece of squid (we ordered 2 of this, by the way), only one of us got to taste the Kesong Puti. Anyway, the squid was cooked just right, so overall, it was okay.

Pino Resto Bar also serves Vegetarian Dishes, through its Pipino Restaurant. I liked the idea of having two different menus - giving vegetarians a chance to enjoy a good meal with their meatatarian friends and family.


Fried Eggplant with Adobong Kangkong and Brown Rice served with Nilasing na Mangga
I chose this dish... because I wanted to eat some vegetables. What I liked? The eggplant and the kangkong mixed with the slightly tangy-sweet mangoes went well together. What I didn't like? The adobong kangkong was so light (in the adobo flavor), that I sort of regretted choosing this one.


Lemongrass Tofu Skewers with Guava-Chili Sauce
I know this is one of Pipino's signature dishes. I have attended two food bazaar events and Pipino served this and had lots of praises and raves from the people at the bazaar, but this particular one just didn't appeal to us that much. The sauce seemed to be the typical bottled sweet-chili sauce (based on how we tasted it), and the guava flavor was so subtle we weren't able to recognize it. Maybe this is an acquired taste - that us not liking it that much doesn't mean it tasted bad; we just didn't like it, simple as that.


Fruit-Flavored Beer
Each of us went for the fruit-flavored beer. I forgot the exact list of flavors, but I went for the watermelon, my sister and Nathalie went for strawberry, one of us went for the apple (which tasted like Cali Shandy), and I also got to taste the peach flavored one (my least favorite - simply because I am not a big fan of the peach flavor). My sister and I were convincing each other that our drink was better than the other, but both strawberry and watermelon tasted great, although of course strawberry had its natural tang.

So many food eaten that night; all of us didn't just share food, we also shared stories and jokes and laughter. It was my first time to eat at this part of the Metro, and I was glad it turned out to be a very pleasant experience.

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Pino Resto Bar
39 Malingap Street
Teacher Village - East, Quezon City 
+63  (02)441-1773

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Lunch with a Catholic Feel

Ristorante Delle Mitre
CBCP Bldg, 470 Gen. Luna St.,
Intramuros, Manila
+63 (02)559-5220
14 November 2010

K and I opened Day 2 of our holiday by visiting Malate Church, which was a few steps away from the hotel. It was a Sunday, so there were a lot of church goers; we actually had to stand near the front door of the church. K is agnostic, but he respect my Catholic faith and allowed me to say my prayers before we left. From there, we went to Manila Cathedral just so he could see it. He may be agnostic, but he actually has no problems entering religious buildings. We then walked to Fort Santiago and roamed around to wind off time. It was Pacquiao day, so there weren't much people at Fort Santiago, but we appreciated the quiet moment. :)

From here, next itinerary on my list was the San Agustin Church, but because it was already lunch time, I took K at Ristorante Delle Mitre, just in front of San Agustin Church. It was a new food place for me, but I already knew the place even before K arrived because my sister and I planned to do a Manila church hop a few weeks before and I remembered sending Carlos Celdran a message via Twitter asking his recommendation. He told about this place, and since sister and I weren't able to check the restaurant then, I figured I'd just take K there instead.


I wasn't able to take that much pictures for reasons I can't remember now. It was a fairly new restaurant, which opened a few months before. Ristorante Delle Mitre means "Restaurant of the Mitre." Each table has this very unique placemat, which the customers have to read to know more about the concept of the restaurant. It says, "La Mitra (plural in Italian is "le mitre") is the bishop's hat or miter which he wears at liturgical celebrations." The restaurant may be put up so the bishops have a place to dine at - with CBCP located in the same block, but as what was written at the placemat, "Bishops, too, must feed their flock, so is everyone invited to partake of Lord's bounty."

The restaurant features different decorations - images, mitre, paintings. I did love the overall ambiance of the restaurant, but what made admire this restaurant the most was that they provide equal employment opportunity to everyone, and that they actually have deaf people as part of their staff. One of the deaf staff actually took our orders, and since it would be difficult to communicate by speaking, our main way of communication was through pen and paper.

Our lunch for that day:


Bishop Cabantan's Grilled Sole Fillet. K's choice. This was served primarily with rice, but K asked if they do have dinner roll. They asked if mashed potato would be okay for K, which he gladly accepted. I got to taste this dish a little, and I did love the buttery taste and how the fish was light and delicious. I still love the cream dory more, but this tasted good as well.


Archbishop Lagdameo's Chicken Adobo simmered in Olive Oil and Lemon. Quite a long name for a dish, yes, but this was a revelation! I love the fruity flavor from the lemon and how the herbs and olive oil came together. I so loved this dish that at times, I do cook my chicken adobo in olive oil, herbs, and lemon juice.


Pandan Juice. K went for canned soda as his drink, while I went for this, because it was unique. It tasted similar to the typical gulaman samalamig, but the pandan flavor made it more delicious.


Blueberry Cheesecake. It tasted like the usual cheesecakes, but I did love the crust. K and I shared this dessert, which was a great ending for a very sumptuous lunch.

Most of the restaurant's dishes were named after the bishops, and even if doing so made the names of the dishes longer, it sure made the dish unique. Actually, they do have a lot of dishes on the menu, but I trimmed down my choices to those with the bishop's name next to it, simply because of its uniqueness.

Ristorante Delle Mitre, like I said in the opening paragraphs, is located just in front of San Agustin Church. The restaurant do have a lot of tables and chairs and can accommodate big groups, but I do recommend for you to take that table near the window. Seeing San Agustin Church outside as well as the people and kalesas passing by will make your dining experience more enjoyable.

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A Cafe in the City

Cafe City 1888 by UCC

Lower Ground Floor - Annex II Building

SM City Fairview

Quirino Highway cor. Belfast Avenue, Quezon City

08 October 2010

The daughter of one of mom's colleagues worked as a manager of Cafe City 1888 in SM City Fairview, so there were times when they would go and eat there.. and every time they do, my mom would just rave about their foods. It has been one of their favorite food places, that when mom decided to celebrate her birthday here (only for office friends), I started feeling curious about the place and asked mom if we could eat there, too.

Our food trip there happened a few weeks after mom's birthday, but it was just us three as sister wasn't around. From the outside, it looked a bit small...

... but there was a much wider dining area at the back area, and they also had an al-fresco area for diners who smoke.

Cafe City 1888 is a food shop by UCC and was a concept of Hubert Young. I tried to get details about the place, but I couldn't access any of UCC and Hubert Young's websites, so I guess I will just leave it at that. Anyway, since this is the sister company of UCC, it has been a good choice for mall goers to visit if the nearby Starbuck's Coffee is full of people.

Aside from coffee, they also have some breads and pastries, but what made this place a hit to people is that coffee lovers can have their coffee, while their companions can have hot foods if they wanted to. As for us, we went there to eat dinner, so we had:


Carbonara. My choice. It was creamy, it was rich, it was heavenly. I loved that the bacon bits weren't totally toasted, so I still enjoyed the good flavor of the bacon. If there will be any complaints, it would have to be the bread - it wasn't toasted good.

Lengua in Mushroom Sauce. Brother's choice. The sauce was good, the lengua was cooked well, and even if it looked as if the sauce was flooding the lengua, it was all good because it blended well with the dish. Brother liked it, but I am not fond of eating lengua, so it was only so-so for me.

Hamburger Pita Pockets. Mom's choice. It was quite an unusual take on hamburger, but it was really good. The sauce had the right blend of seasonings, but I didn't like it that they stuffed the common hamburger thingies deep in the pita bread. As it turned out, mom had to eat all the meat first before realizing that there were veggies under.

Hawaiian Pizza. We also went to taste their pizza, and this one I didn't like. Well, for one, I am not into thin-crust pizzas, and although this had onions and bell peppers (two things I love in my pizza), I didn't appreciate that they used chunky tomato sauce. We only got to eat one slice each and took home the rest.

Mango Cheesecake Coffee. Mom's drink. Mom loved it, but I didn't... yes, mainly because am not fond of mangoes. However, if you like coffee, and you like mangoes, for sure you'd like this.

Butterscotch Cookies and Cream Coffee. My drink. Now, this I really love! It was like drinking a beverage and eating a dessert at the same time. Lovely!

Actually, brother had his own drink - two hot cups of coffee, but I couldn't find the image in the folder. Asking brother about it, he said the Caffe Latte he ordered tasted good, but the drip coffee included in his meal was good in itself, too. I guess what he meant with that is that - even if you get the drip coffee, you can still have a comforting coffee.

Cafe City 1888's foods might be good, but it was something that really didn't make a very good impression on me. It will definitely take a while before I eat here, but even if I don't, I won't miss it.

*** Jenn ***

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