Moksha

Moksha has been around for almost a decade now, and this resto-bar along J. Abad Santos St. in San Juan seems to remain as one of the popular night spots in the area.  After our dinner at next door Chow Fun, my friends and I decided to have a round of drinks at Moksha, which was surprisingly full for a Wednesday night.  As we entered, my eyes had to adjust a bit; I didn't remember the place to dimly lit.  Was it that I was getting older or was the place really that dark?  The interiors were designed with dark-colored wood panels, and I must admit that I did have a hard time reading the menu card.  The mojitos we ordered came in a pitcher, and I was happy to have something easy--no more nights of drunken stupor for me!  The last time I had dinner there, Vicky, Monique, Kong & Gwammy were with me, and we had a good Mediterranean dinner.  Food must still be good; while we merely had drinks, I kept on glancing at the dishes the waiters were buzzing out to the other patrons--looked like generous portions of good cooking.  Our drinks came to around P250 per head, and judging from the menu card, I would say that an average of P700 per head would be good for the restaurant fare.

Quattro

Eddie was again in town and we had a blast last night as we tried to recreate the memories of our younger days by having a round of drinks at Quattro along Timog Avenue (near the corner of Scout Ybardolaza).  Of course Eddie could only take a couple of San Miguel Lights, while I could only handle a bottle of Cerveza Negra before switching to Cali Shandy and Cali Ice (yes, to our chagrin, our appetite for lager and stout has truly waned...) Anyway, the bar chow was pretty reasonable for an average price range of P75 to P150--we started off with peanuts, then ordered some sizzling pusit (sauce was a bit sweet which Eddie liked; I had wanted a more garlicky approach), we then had nilasing na hipon (shrimps soaked in gin then crispy fried).  Before leaving, we topped off the night with crispy Quattro wraps (minced pork in molo wrappers) which tasted much like Lumpia Shanghai!  They have different bands playing nightly, mostly FRC fare (somehow the girl band playing reminded me of Monique's high school band).  Our bill for a 2-hour stay came to P350 per head, which would be expensive for students, but affordable for your average office gimmick.

Jack's Loft

I realized that Jack's Loft was the sister restaurant of My Thai when the bills came--there was a separate food bill coming from My Thai and the drinks (beer) were billed by Jack's Loft.  I guess that it made business sense to keep the alcohol license with just one entity, rather than having to pay 2 annual fees for 2 sister companies.  We decided to chit-chat a bit more and from the My Thai restaurant at the ground floor, we went up to the 2nd floor where Jack's Loft was located.  The cool December wind felt a bit like the Tagaytay breeze, and we didn't mind the open-air layout of the the place--really much like a loft.  We had a few alcoholic drinks and coffee, but didn't get a chance to taste the desserts that the place was known for--they had a display full of chocolate cakes, caramel cakes and cheesecakes, and from what the waiters were telling us, some patrons take desserts as the counterpoint to their alcoholic beverages.  Maybe next time!  In all, good place to "chill" as the youngsters put it...

Ronza

After dinner, the 4 of us took a look around the Wilson area for a bar for our nightcap.  We found Ronza at the ground floor of the Promenade along the corner of Wilson and P. Guevara.  The bar features a big seawater aquarium, and had a good long list of cocktails and hard drinks.  We settled on mojitos to start the night, and went on to have scotch cocktails (the guys had Black Russian while I had mine laced with Amaretto).  Music was okay, the place seems to be a hang-out for the yuppie crowd, we were lucky though to get in early, as parking spaces were available right in front of the bar.  Cocktails go for roughly P150 per shot, beer maybe half the price.  Cool.

Maya Taqueria

We tried bar-hopping in Cebu, but when we got to the Vudu Club in the Crossroads Arcade, we realized that the club was geared for the college crowd, and while we thought of ourselves as young ones, it would be pretty obvious that we were classifed as young once.  The nearby KTV was lame and appeared dreary, so we walked along and chanced upon Maya Taqueria which had a large and elegant wooden door--a very inviting look!  We quickly learned that this was an affiliate of the Abaca Resort, and we sauntered in, took a table and feasted on quesadilla, tequila & margaritas!  Shades of the early 80s, when we would spend countless nights in Tia Maria, Jalisco and Johnny Midnight's El!  The interiors were nice and classy, the food was good, and the company was superb--truly a night to remember!

Cafe 80s

Went with the office staff to celebrate despedida for one of our lovely ladies and the birthday of another.  We trooped over to the Ortigas Home Depot and had a few drinks at the Cafe 80s bar & restaurant.  When we entered, we were greeted by the music of A-ha, Duran Duran, Wham, Rick Astley and many other icons of the 80s.  A step back in time, even the video showed clips from Rambo, ET, Gremlin and other much-loved movies of the era.  Bar chow was reasonably priced, and the Margaritas tasted great!  After a few rounds of beer and Tanduay Ice we went home with a big smile on our faces... Nice time for relaxation and bonding!