Last Sunday, Eric and I were headed south to Enchanted Kingdom (my next post) for a media event. Because we were early (a usual habit I, at least for me, practice is to arrive really early) we decided to side-trip to Legaspi Sunday Market.

Since I haven’t had breakfast, I did some food-hunting. I ended up eating at Casa Goñi Spanish Cuisine. (sorry for the lack of better photo) I ordered the Paella de Pollo or the Chicken Paella, and it sure was yummy and filling.

~o~

Casa Goñi Spanish Cusine
Brgy. San Lorenzo Sunday Market
9am-2pm at the Legaspi Carpark
Macille or Loubel @ 517-8776

Right beside the Casa Goñi is Imang Salud, one of Pampanga’s best melt-in-your-mouth Ensaimada. I had a taste of their Plantanilla, and all I can say is that this sweet coconun dessert is truly to die for.

Another interesting and yummy dessert treat is the Med.Chef stall. If we weren’t going to an event, I would’ve bought these delectable cakes and pies.

After all these hustle and bustle of academic life, I vow to return and be merry and filled (I mean fulfilled).

Adarna Food & Culture is on its 8th month of operation in Kalayaan Avenue. On the outside, one would be really intrigued if you pass by the restaurant. At first, you wouldn’t really think that it’s a restaurant. You get intimidated by it because you think it’s a catering service for weddings (kind of) or a modern food service, or something to that effect; but once you go in, you would be amazed on how decorated, colorful, and homey the place is.

Interior of the place. Spacious, with comfortable old fashioned chairs from Old Manila family setting. You would feel you entered Noli or Fili, and is one of the famous characters in the book.

While Delaney, Karen, Tracey and I were waiting for our food, we jokingly talked about speaking in straight Tagalog or Filipino. The place seems like its calling you to do so, with matching character portrayal. Oh, they gave us Sweet and Spicy Dilis on the house for appetizer

Batanes Yellow Rice Family Size (Php 130) - From up north, a rice dish that is so simple it is elegant. Turmeric, garlic and a bit of pork flavors the rice for a special treat.

Adobong Batangas Ala Adarna (Php 176) - The base recipe of the dish was shared by the granddaughter of an architect whose family is prominent in Batangas.

Felicidad (Php 120) - A luxurious drink made from eggs, cream, milk with a splash of rhum and vanilla. Nice with a naughty streak. An unauthorized deviation from a secret originally wholesome family recipe.

All I can say is that this drink is to die for! The trip was worth it just because of this single drink. Well that might be over-reacting, but your Adarna food trip wouldn’t be complete (aside from the scenery/ old Manila culture preserved here) without trying this.

Pasta Alegre (Php 266.05) - A veggie and nut pasta tossed in olive oil, spices, and a local vinaigrette adds a suitable Pinoy kick to this Adarna original. Grilled squid complements this all-day goodie.

The dish is a mix of sweet and salty flavors which I liked because it’s something that will surprise you (something good).

Grilled Chicken Breast Fillet with Pepper Kesong Puti Boursin, Bacon and Mango Salsaa (Php 314) - Smoky, juicy chicken breast grilled with bacon and stuffed with pepper kesong puti boursin and mango salsa. New flavors played out in good ol’ Pinoy taste.

The chicken was overcooked, but this dish has the potential.

Seafood Special (Php 471) - A true-blue Manila family shares an Iberian style seafood dish of shrimps, scallops and fish in a flavorful tomato-olive oil sauce topped with bell pepper, fried onions and parsley.

I think that this dish is nothing out of the ordinary. It’s just good.

After our meal, I toured around the place, looking at the old stuff from the not-so-distant-past of the Philippines, particularly Manila. They have really old radyo (radio) and telepono (telephone) that are still working. Meanwhile, the waiter told us that we can use the piano - and so Karen played us something.

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Adarna Food & Culture
119 Kalayaan Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City
Telephone: +632-926-8712
Mobile: +63917-961-8113
Email: adarnafoodandculture@yahoo.com

ROX, The Travel Club, Robert Alejandro and Jethro Rafael presents the “1st Pinoy Backpacking Festival 2008” in cooperation with Ayala Malls, The North Face, Sanuk and Eagle Creek.

Learn Backpacking Basics, Travel Photography, Travel Sketching, How to Pack and special participation of tourism boards from different country and couchsurfing.com.

If you or your friends wish to join the FREE workshop, simply register by sending the following :

“name/mobile number/email address
<space> “workshop date”

via E-mail to :
pinoybackpacking@yahoo.com

OR via text to :
0926.6933.783

Travel is for everyone!  This is your chance to make that dream travel come true! Robert and Jethro will also sign their books during the event.

Here is the official trailer of the animated movie:

If you want to start early with your Christmas shopping, you might want to head to Tshirt Project’s Warehouse SALE this Saturday. Tshirts are priced at very low price of 100 pesos only and below! So what are you waiting for? Mark your calendars and grab your friends and bring them with you to #16 Evangelista St. Santolan, Pasig City on October 4, from 10 am to 6 pm

Oh, and they assured that parking would be the least of your problems! Now, just in case if your problem’s shopping money to use, then I’m so sorry ‘coz we can’t do anything about that anymore? hehe

Classes will be over and done with in less than a week. CRS has already updated its site and opened the enlistment of 2nd Semester classes. So far I’ll be taking 5 majors and a GE subject (English 1 or 10 - depending on how generous CRS will be to me).I’ll have my Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays off, and will have 5:30-8:30pm classes on Thursdays and Fridays. What a life.

It’s super nearing sem break, and I really really really want to go on vacation NOW! But we all have to keep ourselves in check, back to reality, and face all the remaining stuff we have to finish. I believe I did this last year, and now I’ll be doing it again:

• Eng 30 Last Activity/Paper
• Eng 30 Final Output
• PA 141 Policy Analysis Paper
• PA 141 Generics Act Report
• PA 141 Finals
• Pa 161 Debate
• PA 161 SLO Diary
• PA 161 (optional) Finals
• Psych 108 Newsletter
• Stat 101 (take home) 4th Exam
• Stat 101 Finals
• PA 113 Activities
• PA 113 (not yet sure) Finals/ Activity

After all of these, here we go Cam Sur!

Manong Pepe’s, a subsidiary of Jollibee Foods Corporation, is nearing it’s anniversary now. And lot of branches have opened across Metro Manila. I was particularly surprised to see this branch in Ortigas, right in front of the Philippine Stock Exchange Building.

I ate breakfast there some weeks ago, before heading to Clark Pampanga for the Auction.ph event. I ordered the Beef Tapa with rice and egg (Php 54.00) from the breakfast menu and a Sago’t Gulaman drink (Php 17.00).

It wasn’t that wow-great. The tapa’s overcooked, but for what it’s worth, I say that it’s something that would make your hunger go away? (hehe) The Sago’t Gulaman’s yummy though

First time I tried Tokyo Cafe, I was with fellow Foodistas Harrell and Joey in SM North Edsa. This time around I was with Barbie, Malin, Reg and Tenai for a supposed (well it was!) group lunch meeting for our policy analysis paper before heading to the Senate to meet Senator Aquino and Senator Roxas this time around.

Anyway, my friends would always like to leave it up to me to pick where we’ll be eating (always! o.O) since they say I should know where it is best to eat, and to “use the Foodista in you.” But little do they know, I really don’t like deciding where to eat for a group of people - especially when it’s an impromptu decision I have to do.

That fact aside, we ended up eating in Tokyo Cafe - one safe decision, I guess.

Mango Chicken Salad (Php 170) - Chicken salad, ripe mango, grapes and romaine lettuce

Shrimp Aglio Olio (Php 240) - Medium-spiced pasta with hot green peppers, garlic, and shrimp sautéed in olive oil

Kani Crab Sandwich

And a Chicken Burger (Sorry, I forgot what the name of this dish was) for Ms. Gepte

Over-all it was a little bit pricey, but the food was comforting. In the end, we added an extra order of french fries to satisfy everyone’s craving (after we all devoured Reg and Tenai’s plate of fries).

You can also visit Manila Foodistas’ Restaurant Review | Tokyo Cafe for more information about this restaurant.