Prudence and Madness

This is the second part of the Spot Pass Bloggers’ Food Tour series.  I’ve already covered the TriNoMa part of the tour in my previous post.

Not being too familiar with the area, I used the bus that’s going around (which usually gets the bulk of its passengers near the Ayala MRT station). It’s lovely getting around Bonifacio High street, as the streets are clean and there aren’t too many people. Commuting has been stress free for me. At the end of the bus ride, I discovered that I was with Mica and Maki in the bus the whole time (though they’re seated much upfront). Then, together, we proceeded to Krispy Kreme at Bonifacio High Street to meet up with the other bloggers participating in the second part of the Spot Pass Bloggers’ Food Tour.

Bloggers enjoying their free chillers and donuts courtesy of Krispy Kreme

That’s Marilyn of Spot.ph. And yup, we’re being filmed for TV, as well!

There’s significantly fewer participants, compared to last Friday, which is understandable since it’s Monday and most people are still at work (or can’t leave work because it’s the start of the week). We’re still divided into 4 groups, each group composed of 10-15 bloggers. I was assigned to the green group and we’re being herded by Karl, community editor of Spot.ph.

Texas Roadhouse Grill

Texas Roadhouse Grill was the first resto we went into and I kinda like the western feeling and looked like a nice casual place to dine in, especially for a Saturday night when one wants to just hang out with friends and have fun with beer and some exchange of jokes and stories.

I like the look so much that I took pictures of the interior:

Liquor bar. Reminds me of that movie with those bar girls dancing on top of the liquor bar. Hmmm.

My favorite corner of the resto. It kinda looks like a painting. I like how the soft light hit the wall and the chairs

Portfolio of wonderful doggies! These must be pets of their recent clients

I hope that doesn’t fall on the heads of the diners!

But enough of the interiors! We came to dine, right? Here’s a photo of my favorite stuff in Texas Roadhouse Grill:

That’s some skewered shrimp and salmon and grilled to perfection and seafood marinara pasta. Yum!

Texas Roadhouse Grill claims to be the first modern Western saloon in the Philippines. Of course, it offers a variety of authentic Old West dishes like Santa Fe Nachos, Grilled Beef and Mushroom Skillet, Loaded Texas Chips, Baby Back Ribs, and Wrangler Pork Steak.

If you like their food much but can’t afford to go back to Bonifacio High Street because it’s too far from your place, they’ve got a branch at El Pueblo Real de Manila, Ortigas Center.

Next stop was Kabisera ng Dencio’s. I kinda like the fancy interiors, too. Also that the whole place seemed to be made up of mostly glass panes. It looked like a nice, bright, happy place to stay in.

That looked very Pinoy!

Whoa! That’s a creative take on the plain chessboard. Too bad we didn’t get to try to play this one

They’ve got a bar in here too!

Pinakbet salad. Who’d ever guess that bagoong would taste great in a salad?

Adobong Pusit Rice. I love squid!

Okay, I already forgot what this is called. But the squid tasted great! Squid! Squid! Squid!

And with the good food comes the opportunity to play! Here’s L.A. concentrating on his game of Jenga

And then, look who I saw sharing a plateful of food:

How sweet!

After a filling meal at Kabisera ng Dencio’s, we had the opportunity to grab some coffee and sandwiches at Starbucks.

Iced Caffe Latte, Bacon strips, egg and cheese on multigrain bagel, Hungarian sausage, egg and cheese on Ciabatta bread, Tomato, Mozzarella and basil on multi-grain bagel, black forest ham, egg white and cheese of Ciabatta bread.

This could be a healthy breakfast for those on the go, as the sandwiches are made with healthy and high-fiber multigrain bagels. Too bad the sandwiches aren’t available in all Starbucks branches.

Oh wow! I was so excited that Murray’s New Orleans is included in the tour. I’ve heard much about the place from friends who have already dined there. And definitely, it did not disappoint.

This is one crazy interior design…and I love it!

I was kind of hoping that those windows and doors were real so I could go up to it. But no time for such, as the food totally took my attention.

And, of course, silly old me forgot to ask what the name of this awesome gastronomic dish. I totally dig the rice. And yup, I dug it I’m definitely going back to this place.

Chelsea’s got one of the most awesome-tasting classic carbonaras (besides my mom’s version of a classic carbonara) and one of the good-looking chefs too (hihi).

Not a Star Wars costume.  It’s just one of those ladies from Chelsea wearing ‘em

Mamou restaurant was our next destination after Chelsea’s.  Food we’ve sampled were really mouthwatering.  Plus, the store’s manager and staff were really friendly (a breather, perhaps, from the previous resto?).

Healdsburg’s Harvest salad (Lola Rosa and micro arugula greens, dried cranberries, glazed pecans, cranberry stilton cheese with a berry vinaigrette

Roast Pork Chicken (citrus-marinated dish served with a choice of red or white rice cooked in the marinade, Cuban black beans and cinnamon-sugar saba

Prime Ribeye steak (with sides of creamed spinach, corn pudding, baked mashed potatoes, steak red or white rice)

Dark Chocolate Sansrival.  Wow, was that even possible?  Well, obviously it is possible.  But this one really tastes good, especially if you’re into the dark chocolate dessert kind.

Next was Brasserie Cuillere (pronounced as kwee-yer).  French cuisine made less complicated and more affordable, or so their press kit says.  I haven’t tasted much food here, but I love the basic ham and egg sandwiches they’ve made:

Next stop was Cupcakes by Sonja.  Awesome desserts, I’d say.  I was never really a cupcake person, but Cupcakes by Sonja just made the kind of cupcakes a non-cupcake person would love (did that make sense?  Haha).

I don’t want to eat them anymore.  They look too pretty to be eaten

That’s how they prettify them cupcakes

Cafe Xocolat is heaven for chocoholics.  If it weren’t too sinful, I would have pigged out on all those chocolatey goodness they’ve served us.  But then, again, at that time, I was almost bursting with food.

A little intermission:  Cafe Xocolat at Eastwood city will be holding a Summer Speed Dating Event on May 3, 2008, 7 p.m.  20 dates, Xocolat dinner and dessert buffet, and Martini de Xocolat bar all in one evening.  There are limited slots only so if you’re interested, just email xocoholics@xocolate.com.ph for inquiries and registration.  Or you could just text the word “info” to 0917-8480929.

Mezzaluna restaurant/bar is quite a visual and gastronomic delight.  The soft light and warm ambiance just did it for me.

Marcelle, is this your handiwork?!?!

While that there were still other restaurants that are in the tour, I just wasn’t able to properly appreciate them as we were already running out of time and seemed that marathoning has become a necessity.  I think, as an advice for those who’d be organizing food tours in the future, it would be better if there were lesser number of restaurant/establishments participating (like maybe only 10 or less) because 4 hours isn’t just enough to properly cover 20+ establishments.  And to think we all have to do food sampling  in each.  Or maybe if there really are plenty of establishments who want to participate, then maybe we should do the food tour for one whole day.

But still, I’m looking forward to future food tour/events.  It’s just so fun meeting new (and old) bloggers and sharing food and drinks with them is just a nice bonding time.

Others who have blogged about the event:

• The Spot Bloggers’ Tour by Karl
• Spot Pass: Trinoma Food Tour by Tech at Hand
• Warning: Food Tripping Is Dangerous To Your Health by Maki
• Spot Pass in Trinoma (Part 1) by Maki
• Spot Pass in Trinoma (Part 2) by Maki
• Spot Pass in Trinoma (Part 3) by Maki
• Spot Pass: An Exclusive Bloggers’ Tour (Trinoma edition) by Franny

Filed under: Coffee and Food, Events by Prudence