IMC Kavino

Gwammy, Kongkong and I took Pipsey out for lunch at IMC Kavino along Jupiter St. in Makati.  The restaurant serves Cantonese cuisine and is jointly owned by Chef Kavino Lau and his partner, Wilson Tan, whom I understand both worked for local 5-star hotels (the Heritage along Roxas Boulevard and the Century Park Sheraton along Vito Cruz St).  IMC stands for International Master Chef, a title which Chef Kavino achieved a few years ago, by winning the IMC competition in Hong Kong (his medals are shown below).  I liked the interiors of the restaurant--the bright orange colors were muted by touches of olive and beige, and the ambiance was warm and welcoming.  Judging from the number of Chinese clientele that was already seated inside the restaurant when we arrived, I was sure that the food would be up to par.

The outlet manager, Lhea Badenas, quickly made friends with Gwammy, and gave us some pointers for the food choices.  The hakaw was simply delicious, shrimps were very fresh and the dimsum came in piping hot.  I was a bit disappointed with the siao long pao, which was tasty but lacked soup (I like the soup to pour out as I chew).

The main dishes were quite good.  The shrimps were wrapped in fried noodles, and were crispy, and Gwammy was delighted with the fried kangkong that came as the siding.  Fish was served with broccoli, and this was what Pipsey enjoyed.

I couldn't resist ordering the soft-shelled crab, which came on top of rice crispies.  True to my expectations, this was delicious, salted just right, and the whole crab was crunchy and spiced without going overboard.  As a throwback to memories of youth, I love the way lotus leaves affect the flavor of rice, and this sticky rice concoction was another treat that I just had to order.  Three cup chicken was also a hit with Pipsey, and was perfect with white rice.

Our bill came to something like P550 per head.  I think that we were lucky to have arrived on the lazy Saturday of a long weekend--we were able to sit immediately, without having to wait for a table.  I understand that the restaurant sits less than a hundred people, and this gets to be full especially on Fridays and Saturdays.  If you are celebrating some important event, or plan to have dinner with a big group, I guess it would be better if you made reservations.

David's Tea House

Another meeting in Makati finished at around 5pm, and I had some time to kill before running by Vicky's office.  It was drizzling that afternoon, and as I glanced at the David's Tea House sign in Greenbelt 1, I suddenly had the urge to have some hot noodle soup!  I chose the David's special, which cost something like P175.  The soup came separate from the noodles, and the toppings were a combination of beef cubes, dumplings, pechay, squid & fish balls, which to me were very delicious.  Some of my friends shy away from mami shops because of the supposed preponderance of MSG (makes them feel slightly dizzy).  Well, if David's does use MSG, lucky for me I don't notice anything at all, as the food just tastes additionally yummy!

Yen Yen

Monique had a hectic weekend while at her retreat, and to cap all that hullabaloo, we decided to have a family dinner at Yen Yen Taiwan-style restaurant along P. Guevara in San Juan.  This restaurant used to be located along Granada St. in New Manila, but that was such a tight fit--this location in San Juan is much brighter and allows bigger groups to dine in.  The food concept is Taiwan street food, and we enjoyed the same in a prim & proper setting.

We started the meal with crispy pork intestines, which was yummy, but wreaked havoc on my uric acid levels.  So much for my diet!  The three cups chicken was spicy, just enough for the oomph to hit our tongues.  Chami noodles came in hot, and had just the right amount of sauce; I don't like eating extra dry noodle dishes.  The disappointed though, was the onion cake, which was on the tough side--probably a wee bit over-fried for me.  Our bill came to around P400 per head.  Waiting time wasn't bad, we were in and out in about an hour; we were also delighted to find out that they deliver around neighboring parts of San Juan.

Chow Fun

Eating out with my old gang was an impromptu birthday event, and we decided to meet in the Wilson area in Greenhills for a fast dinner.  Luckily, a new Chinese eating place presented itself and we decided to try Chow Fun, billed as a modern Chinese bistro.  The interiors were modern and looked like a yuppie place, with white tables and a motley of seat colors.

I don't think the food was regional--didn't taste an exact Cantonese, Taiwanese, Beijing or Szechuan flavor, so I'm guessing it was probably a mish-mash of sorts.  We had Chinese fondue (a touch of the Swiss style), fish patties, hot & sour soup, fried chicken, fried pork, beef in coffee sauce and crunchy soft-shelled crab.

The food was generally good, and I was pleasantly surprised with the soft-shelled crabs (this is something that I don't get too see much)--crunchy and crisp, with just the right amount of spice.  However, I was looking for the coffee flavor in the beef, but detected only a faint hint--is this really the way it is cooked?  Well, in any case, we were quite happy as we left; our celebrant host probably spent something like an average of P500 per head.

Ah Fat

It was good that the Pinnacle had a Jacuzzi-type swirl pool at the 5th floor, and we were able to relax for a little while before dinner time.  The water jets were invigorating, and we felt really ready to take on dinner!  We had enough time to proceed to Ah Fat Chinese restaurant, which was at the back of Victoria Plaza, one of the older malls in Davao City.  Ah Fat is probably the most successful Chinese restaurant, such that they have 3 venues right next to each other--you have to specify Ah Fat 1, 2 or 3 to your guests lest they get confused!

The food in Ah Fat is Cantonese style seafood.  I think they prepare very good meals, even better than some of the famous Manila Chinese restaurants.  The steamed shrimps were very fresh, and the shells would fall off as you peeled it (live shrimps harvested at the right time of the molting cycle).  The crabs were fat and had plenty of meat.  The highlight of the meal though was the steamed fish called Pigik, which, according to my friend, is usually found in the Cotabato area.  It was yummy, like Lapu-Lapu in taste, but a little bit tougher, and leaner.  For the dessert, we had another Davao favorite--Marang!  This fruit is a cousin to the Durian, but doesn't smell as much.  We spent something like P750 per head, and while it was our most expensive meal in Davao, we left the restaurant with a dawdle--quite difficult to walk straight with bulging tummies!

Wang Fu

Strolling around the Il Terrazzo Mall along Tomas Morato, I came across a newly opened Chinese casual dining place called Wang Fu.  Since I had to wait a while before the Invicta store would open, I decided to have a fast lunch there.  To my surprise, the Hainanese chicken meal (just below P200) was quite delicious.  The dish had 3 sauces (soy-hoisin, ginger and chili) and the rice was cooked in broth, truly Singaporean style!

I am waiting for an occasion to bring the rest of the family over, I would imagine that the other viands are also well prepared, with reasonable prices (I would estimate this to be about P350 per head, and that would have some variety already).

Emerald Garden

My cousins Mianne and Lianne came into town from Dumaguete to attend the Food Exposition which was simultaneously held at the World Trade Center and at the SMX Convention Center last week.  Since they were staying at the Roxas Boulevard area, Kong Kong decided to invite them for dinner at the Emerald Garden restaurant. near the corner of Padre Faura Street.  Anita and her family joined Vicky, Monique, Teppie and myself to welcome them; it was lucky that cousin Ed was also in town and he also joined in for the dinner.

We started our meal with fish lip soup, and I made sure that we had lots of dishes that Anita could eat (she has a shrimp allergy).  I got three kinds of fried rice--dried fish, yang chow and scallop, lo han chay (vegetable dish, but without mermaid's hair though), the special boneless Emerald chicken (slightly sweet, honey glazed), deep-fried spare ribs, pata tim with mantou bread (you eat this sandwich style).  We also had fish fillet in soy sauce and camaron rebosado (the only item on the menu that Anita was allergic to).  We finished the meal with the usual desserts--almond gelatin with lychees, buchi balls and mango sago (tapioca pearls).

While the food was generally edible, I honestly can't say that I was excited by the meal.  We last ate here some five years ago, and my memories of that meal were quite good--I was thus instrumental in asking Kong Kong to hold the dinner there.  This time, however, I found the food to be very much on the bland side.  The fish lip soup had a bit too much of pickled cucumber and this made the soup sweet (I like it salty, cooked the traditional way).  The only dish that was up to part was the chicken dish, and I think it is because this Emerald style chicken is the house specialty.  It seemed like the chef was recently reprimanded for excessive salt usage, and, as atonement, decided to halve the usual salt and flavorings for the day.  Well, the meal wasn't that expensive though, we spent something like P450 per head.  I'm hoping that it was just an off-night for the chef, but if this trend continues, I won't be recommending this restaurant anymore.