Italian food is one of my weaknesses and although it may be true that everyone can whip out pasta dishes, not everyone can make them very well. That is why when I hear or read that an establishment is amazing at serving Italian dishes, I always want to give it a try. In Va Bene’s case, it took me probably more than two years and an earlier planned dinner that did not push thru because it closed, to satisfy my curiosity.

My friends and I were all set for a pho-night. I do not eat Vietnamese food that often but from my last experience, I liked those noodles very much. Thus, the disappointment when I drove by our target Vietnamese restaurant and read that it was indeed closed and transferring elsewhere. It was probably serendipitous since we ended up at Va Bene. At 8:30 p.m., it was full but thankfully, I only had to wait for a couple of minutes to get seated.

I noticed though that the place was cramped. There was even an instance when the glass of the person 2 tables from us got tumbled by the bag of another customer, accidentally of course. But that was really because the tables were so close to each other.

Anyway, even if I have not started ordering (because sometimes friends make you wait, ya know?! ), I was served with crostini with tomato salsa in olive oil. It was a pretty good gesture not to mention quite a good appetizer to have.

Read the rest of this entry »

I seem to be writing a lot about Japanese establishments lately. When I read about Mangetsu a few month back, that got me intrigued, being the Japanese-food lover that I am. Mangetsu is relatively new along Jupiter street of Makati offering varied Japanese dishes. One rainy night, we decided to finally give it a try.

The interior of the restaurant was bi-level with high ceilings and simply designed. I loved that the tables are far apart from each other, very different from the cramped restaurants in Little Tokyo. We were seated right away upon entering.

Read the rest of this entry »

I love desserts but lately I have been avoiding (as much as I can) to consume too much sugar. It is getting easier although I am having more trouble saying no to chocolates. I love them, I really do. And, the darker, the better.

Read the rest of this entry »

Birthday dinner means a new restaurant. I remember wanting to eat at Nuvo when I was still in college but couldn’t really tag anyone with me. For a while, I forgot about it and I was just used to passing by that area, almost everyday and have gotten used to Nuvo being just there. And so I saw a good deal at TCAT Philippines (which by the way has excellent customer service), one of the group buying sites (I no longer look at them one by one, this just happen to somehow made it to my Facebook feed). Hehe. Anyway, it was paying Php 650 for a Php 1,000 voucher. Not bad right? I bought quite a few.

Anyway, we are always a bunch when we go out for my birthday dinner, which makes me happy really. I love that my siblings will eat everything and anything, with an occasional comment here and there. If I knew how to cook, they would have made me happy finishing up the dishes I made. Anyway, enough about us. Let me walk you through our experience.

Read the rest of this entry »

From what I gathered, Bonchon is a South Korean company with branches all over the world. The franchise has finally invaded Manila late last year and I think my fellow countrymen have indeed embraced it with open arms.

Case in point, I’ve never seen the branch in Ayala Triangle without a line. Although I get to see the area a little before, during or a little after lunch time, thus probably the case. But even so, I think that Bonchon is doing quite well.

Read the rest of this entry »