Restaurant: Crave Burger

Crave Burger just opened up in Congressional Ave. so when I craved for a burger earlier, I thought it would be a good time to try it out.

We ordered Onion Rings for our side dish and we were not really too enthused about it. We found the rings to be oily, too heavy on the batter and lacking in flavor. Even the dipping sauce that came with it didn't do the rings any better.

Both my husband and I got the Crave Ultimate Burger. Their burger patty is probably the thickest I've seen but on the downside it is a little bit small in diameter. I think their patty can use a little bit more seasoning for more flavor and can be cooked better for that good beef juice. Their bread is very thick that it overpowers the flavor of the already bland burger patty. I also hardly noticed the bacon in the burger, not much flavor and no crisp at all - my husband was even surprised when I told him that there's a bacon somewhere in there.

It is pretty obvious that I wasn't turned into a fan of this place. My husband who is pretty easy to please when it comes to food could only say "nothing special" at the end of the meal. They give a free key chain for every order of this burger but I think it's gonna take more than just a free key chain (probably better bread and patty) to make us crave for their burgers.

Recipe: Mango con Hielo

Mangoes are very popular in the Philippines. I myself am a big fan - I love them whether on their own or part of a meal recipe . Luckily, I grew up with free supplies of fresh mangoes coming from my father's farm so I had the chance to eat 1 to 2 whole mangoes per meal and be creative with our supply - Mango Jam, Ref Mango Cake and my favorite refreshing treat, Mango con Hielo.

I don't know if this can even be called a recipe cos it's too easy to make. Probably 10 minutes tops to prep and put together.

Mango con Hielo

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup evaporated milk
• sugar (or honey if your prefer)
• ice
• 1 whole ripe mango, diced

Directions:

• In a small bowl combine the milk and sugar. Adjust sugar according to taste and how sweet your mango is.
• Put equal amounts of ice in each of the serving bowl.
• Put equal amounts of mango slices in each of the serving bowl.
• Pour in the milk syrup
• Serves 2

Restaurant: Buddy's

Buddy's offers dishes that are originally from Lucban, Quezon - most popular are Longanisang Lucban (Filipino sausage) and Pancit Lucban (stir fry noodles). From the outside, the place looks so festive that it is impossible to miss it along Timog Avenue. Both the facade and the interior of the restaurant give you that Pahiyas Festival feeling - a popular yearly event in Lucban.

An order of their Pancit Lucban (lower left) is good for 2-3 persons. I'd say flavor and texture-wise it is closest to the more popular Pancit Canton but the noodles are a little bit crispier and the ingredients are a wee bit different. To further bring out the flavor, you may want to add a splash of vinegar that Buddy's provide.

Longanisang Lucban (mid center) is another version of Filipino sausage. Compared to the more popular sausage in the country, Longanisang Lucban is redder, saltier and drier. Both versions are good but they serve different tastes. The fried rice was obviously cooked in the sausage fat since it's almost as red as the sausage. Although it doesn't really help my diet, a little fat for more flavor doesn't really hurt right?

Places like Buddy's pretty much describe how food is in the Philippines - they may all look like they're the same dish, but each province seems to have their own little twist to each recipe and the versions from Lucban, Quezon are pretty yum.

Restaurant: Cara Mia

4 ladies full from dinner...where else to go after? Dessert place, of course. Gelateria! Cara Mia! :)

I can be pretty biased when it comes to desserts so I'm just gonna keep it simple:

• Banana Blast (upper left) - your banana split in cake form - nothing special but I thought it was still pretty good.
• Mango Tango (upper right) - if you are familiar with ref cake then you'll know how this one tastes like.
• Mango Sansrival (lower left) - I was surprised that this one is a bit sour and I thought it didn't really taste like mango. Til now, I'm still trying to figure out what fruit it tastes like.
• Choco Sansrival (lower right) - this is probably my favorite. It was difficult to explain how good this was so just hit Cara Mia and have one. :)

We thought that if you are gonna consume their desserts in the gelateria, it would be cheaper to get a slice of cake and share it with someone since they are pretty generous with their slices rather than get a scoop of their gelato. But then again, who would want to share really good dessert, right?

Restaurant: Wee Nam Kee

We wanted to see what's over at Ayala Triangle so we decided to have our dinner at Wee Nam Kee - this place that serves Hainanese Chicken Rice.

I thought the food in general was ok but I don't think it's something I would crave for a lot. The Fish Fillet and Beancurd with Tausi (lower right) did not really offer anything special; it tasted much like your typical Chinese dish and I thought it could probably still improve its flavor.

I liked the Sambal Kangkong (not in picture) but my friend thought it tasted much like Chowking's Kangkong with Bagoong - I agreed with her but I thought Wee Nam Kee's version is cooked better and is wee bit spicier which adds a little surprise in each bite.

The main star of course is the Hainanese Chicken Rice. We all ordered our chickens steamed so I'm not really qualified to give a review of the roasted version. Also, I'm not qualified to compare it to the original version in Singapore since I've never been there. So being the uneducated person that I am, I thought it had good flavor and I enjoyed how perfectly the sauce complements the flavor of the chicken. That was until I got to the middle part of the chicken where it was still cold and it seemed undercooked. Was it supposed to be cooked that way? If it was then I really won't too excited to try out the original.

Overall, the place, the food and the price were ok but I just hope they had better quality control.

Recipe: Korean Beef Stew

A friend of mine brought this one time during a potluck dinner and I knew that I just had to immediately ask her for the recipe. Thanks again Mommy Lorie for giving us this recipe! It's sweet, salty and a bit spicy - perfect recipe for something to be cooked over and over and over.

KOREAN BEEF STEW

Ingredients:

• 1 kg stewing beef with bones
• 1 whole garlic
• 1 whole onion
• Large piece of ginger (2-thumbs ginger)
• 3-4 chili peppers
• 1 bay leaf
• 3/4 cup of dark soy sauce
• 3/4 cup of white sugar
• Salt
• 12-15 stalks of onion leaves
• 1-2 tbsp sesame seeds

Directions:

• Place the beef in a casserole. Cover with water. Place over high heat and before the water starts to boil, remove the scum that floats on the surface.
• Add the whole garlic, onion, ginger, chili peppers and bay leaf.
• Pour in the soy sauce and stir in the sugar.
• Simmer gently for two hours or until the meat is very tender.
• Halfway through the cooking, taste the broth and add salt.
• Toast the sesame seeds. Place them in a small frying pan and set over med-low heat. Shake pan often for even toasting.
• Slice onion leaves finely
• Place 2-3 pieces of beef individually and ladle plenty of broth over them. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and onion leaves

Recipe: Century Tuna Basil Pasta

I've been so busy the past two weeks and I've never really had time to cook. Luckily, Century Tuna sent us 6 free cans of tuna (as appreciation to our feedback re: Tuna Mayo) so I decided to cook this really really easy tuna dish - ready in 30 minutes!

Century Tuna Basil Pasta

Ingredients:

1 pack spaghetti (I got the 400g one)

1/4 cup olive oil

2-3 roma tomatoes; diced

3-4 cloves of garlic; grated (minced is fine too)

salt & pepper

2 cans Century Tuna Hot and Spicy; oil drained

1 can Century Tuna in Vegetable Oil; oil drained

(1 can each will do but we wanted more tuna in our pasta; if you want less bite use less of the hot and spicy one)

basil - I forgot to measure but I probably used 1 1/2 tbsps

- Cook pasta according to package instructions

- Heat olive oil in a pan

- Add tomatoes and garlic to pan and season with salt and pepper. Saute for 3-5 minutes.

- Add in tuna; season with salt and pepper (be careful when adding seasonings since the canned tuna has already been seasoned)

- Sprinkle with basil - adjust as desired

- Add drained pasta to the pan and toss together

- Serve hot.

- Optional: Top with grated parmesan