Mogu

Vicky arrived with a box of Mogu siopitos (small asado siopao, or hot pork buns), which I found to be quite interesting, because I had thought that Mogu was a Japanese restaurant located at the Serendra (it is), and that siopao was a Chinese snack.  Oh well, divergence--talk about pan-Asian cuisine!  The siopitos are just about bite-size (2 to 3 bites for others, but maybe I can do that in one bite, haha...), taste pretty good, with just the right mix of salty-sweet stewed pork.  This comes to P180 per dozen, quite reasonable.

The Chapel of Our Lady of Guadalupe

It's an entrance that you will probably miss if you are not attentive.  For those looking for a spiritual oasis in the middle of the concrete jungle that is the Makati CBD, the Chapel of Our Lady of Guadalupe is located at a very convenient spot--at the Bance De Oro Tower 2, at the corner of Makati Avenue and H. V. Dela Costa St.  I understand that regular service is held there, and one can see a lot of office workers entering the chapel for brief prayer.  I happened to pass by today, and I really like the serene ambiance of the prayer area, coupled with the colorful stained glass panels.

Lipa

It seems to me that the buko juice craze is everywhere... Or is it just because I look for buko juice that I have that impression?  I was in Makati earlier today, and I came across an old favorite, Lipa brand of buko juice.  This is one of the first bottled brands that I came across, and I like it because it has no preservatives, and the taste of the juice is very natural, with no added sweeteners.  Shelf life, however, is limited to 3-4 days, and I understand that Lipa is constantly chilled to 4 degrees centigrade (lots of ice and refrigerated delivery trucks involved, I would suppose) in order to keep the juice fresh.  Retails at P45 for a bottle of 500 ml.  Very refreshing on a warm day!

Art's Cream Gallery

At the ground floor lobby of the Pedro Gil (Herran) Wing of the Robinson's Place Manila, you can find an ice cream nook called Art's Cream Gallery.  This is a relatively new ice cream shop (I just noticed it a couple of weeks ago, but the food server says that they have been around for some time now) which serves home-style ice cream.  Monique and I bought a couple of cones out of curiosity, and we were pleasantly surprised to find that the choices of flavors were varied and that the ice cream had the right sweetness.  I thought, however, that the flavors were not as sharp and I would have liked them to be, but we enjoyed them just the same.  Scoops are reasonably priced, and one can have a good sized serving for just around P100.

Mey Lin

The tradition of hand-pulled noodles has been a long standing concept in local Chinese restaurants, but most of these were specialized noodle shops operating out of the Binondo or Banawe area.  This concept was first commercialized into the mall fast food scene by Mey Lin (circa mid-eighties), and their outlets proudly displayed the chef's talent in twirling, slamming and pulling dough into noodles.

Vicky and I visited their outlet at SM Megamall, and we tried both their noodle soup and their congee.  The verdict?  The noodle soups are truly their specialty--noodles are even and long (to signify long life), chewy, cooked just right, and the soup (we had beef broth) was very delicious--this is highly recommended.  The congee was more like rice soup, and we had expected the thicker consistency of porridge or gruel.  It was okay, but not as good as those of other shops that specialize in congee.

We had a bill under P400 so that means an average spend of P200 per person.  The restaurant also has a wide variety of Chinese dishes, and their group menus are priced pretty reasonably at around P400 per head.  Good place for group lunches--family, officemates or barkada.

La Natural

Buko (young coconut) juice is one drink that I am absolutely crazy about.  Every chance I get, I don't hesitate to buy some for immediate consumption.  Aside from the wonderful taste, the supposed health benefits are plenty--the lauric acid in the juice is supposed to invigorate body cells, and the kidney-cleansing properties of the juice have been thoroughly researched.  I walked into a convenience store last night and found that a local company has started marketing a canned version of the product under the brand name La Natural, which is under the umbrella of the AgriNurture group.  Up till now, buko juice has been sold retail in plastic bottles requiring a constant temperature of 3-4 degrees centigrade (otherwise the juice turns into coconut vinegar).  The canning technology sure has some upsides, as the juice stays fresh for a longer shelf life.  At P31 per can, this to me represents a good alternative to sodas, soft drinks and other artificial juices. The taste isn't exactly the same as that coming straight from the coconut, and I would assume that the some preservatives have been added to maintain freshness.  Nevertheless, it's the availability I'm after--this does wonders, and for me is a better alternative to sports drinks and energy concoctions (taurine drinks).

Va Bene

The gasoline station today is pretty much no longer the gasoline station of years past.  The Petron gasoline station at the corner of EDSA and Pasay Road is a case in point--shops, restaurants, dental clinics and laundromats have made the gasoline station a mini-mall.  Not a bad place for Chef Massimo of Manila Pen's Old Manila to put up his own pasta restaurant--Va Bene, meaning Quite Good!  Vicky and I had the opportunity to eat there with a couple of old office mates on a weeknight, and we were happy to get a table immediately--I heard that on Friday and Saturday nights, the waiting line is quite long.

I liked the interiors of the restaurant immediately.  Quite informal, cozy yet elegant, the use of bright colors and cookbooks made me feel that the restaurant was a statement of Chef Massimo's personality (it probably is).  I was told that uncooked pasta was available for sale, and I was already trying to figure out how to make my own version of their pasta sauces.

The tomato dip was a welcome treat--I sat down a hungry man and started to munch on the toasted bread even before the rest came in (I arrived first).  As our orders came in, I was delighted with the aromas that came to greet me--the tagliolini was made with portobello mushrooms and had a white wine cream sauce, and the light hint of truffle oil made my mouth want more.  The potato gnocchi had a gorgonzola based sauce, it was not bad at all (as a rule though, I prefer long pasta over gnocchi and ravioli).  The tomato-based seafood linguini was another exquisite surprise (I understand that they make their own pasta, which accounts for the sensational bite).  Last on our order list was some pizza slices; these however were ordinary and I would much rather take the pasta, which is the specialty of the restaurant.  As the dinner was the treat of our friend, I didn't get to see the total bill, but my guess would be an average spend of P600 for a pasta meal, and maybe P1,200 for a full course event.