All in Food Notes

A Review of Tim Ho Wan in Bedok Mall in Singapore and a Comparison of it to the Tim Ho Wan in Manila

SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE. On our first night in Singapore, we could not help but eat in Tim Ho Wan... again. My mom has long been raving about this restaurant that when Tim Ho Wan finally opened here in Manila, we tried their food the moment we had the chance to do so. It was a very filling, first-time experience! I fell in love immediately with the Pork Buns which I can still remember fully to the point that I am still able to taste it in my mouth!

Chinatown: Maxwell Food Centre

SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE - I have been hearing a lot of great things about Maxwell Food Center that is why after roaming around the Gardens by the Bay, we decided to have our last meal for our latest trip to the Little Red Dot here! Due to the very convenient MRT interconnection plying all over the country, we reached this part of Chinatown in no time.

A Walk in Tiong Bahru District

SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE - Tiong Bahru Estate is the first and one of the oldest housing estates in Singapore. Its past goes back way before we were even born. During the recent years, Tiong Bahru underwent a rebirth and rejuvenation; from a quiet, residential estate before it now is Singapore's veteran hipster neighbourhood in the country. Together with the new designation it carries is the rise of a good number of specialty shops all around the vicinity.

Pasay: Nemoto Japanese Restaurant

MANILA, PHILIPPINES - I love food, yes, whatever cuisine it may be. But like any other, I will always just have a favorite or two that I could not say no to whatever the circumstance may be. If you have been following my blog, you might have probably seen that posts about Japanese restaurants along with their cuisine take up most of my internet space. And that's recognizing the fact that I have never been to Japan just yet! I wonder how much will I eat when I visit the place! 

Bonifacio Global City: Wrong Ramen

MANILA, PHILIPPINES - I have long been hearing great things about this restaurant that offers ramen knock-offs. Wrong Ramen is the name of the resto and their motto? Why compete with authentic Japanese restaurants that serve ramens that are equally authentic when they know they will never ever surpass them or at least be at par with them. So instead, this restaurant chose to cook ramens in the only way they knew. 

Mandaluyong: Tim Ho Wan

MANILA, PHILIPPINES - After many failed attempts to eat at Tim Ho Wan, I was finally able to try the place out last week! As usual, even though 6 weeks had already passed, a long line of would-be diners can still be seen outside the establishment. I was on the verge of getting frustrated yet again upon seeing the long line but braved through it this time since I was itching already to try their food out and since I was to eat with my family. Falling in line does not seem to be much of a chore when you are with someone, you know!

Makati: Pudding Republiq

MANILA, PHILIPPINES - Bread Pudding is love. I always get giddy whenever I eat pudding or I saw pudding in a store or a buffet table. I like it primarily because of its taste and maybe a little bit because of its mushiness but I love it more because of its simplicity and the comfort it gives me whenever I eat one. It feels like being transported back to the time when I was still a little kid and all I think about was sugar, candies, cakes, cartoons, jackstone and everything nice.

Makati: Boon Tong Kee

MANILA, PHILIPPINES - It is weekly that I go to Rockwell and I always pass by this Chinese restaurant named Boon Tong Kee, sandwiched between Burgoo and Make Room on the 3rd floor, but it is only last weekend that we were able to try the restaurant out! Hailing all the way from Singapore, Boon Tong Kee reached our shores last 2012 and unknown to some, it humbly begun in Chinatown in Singapore and was not then the same extravagant establishment that it is now.  

Puerto Galera: Luca Cucina Italiana

ORIENTAL MINDORO, PHILIPPINES - I was able to go to Puerto Galera a couple of weeks ago with my friends and I could not be more excited about it since it was my very first time to go to the island! I have heard stories before about it and vicariously experienced the place through stories from my friends but this was the first time ever that I was able to set foot on it. 

Makati: Urameshi-ya Yakiniku

MANILA, PHILIPPINES - It is only recently that we were able to try those Yakiniku-styled restaurants in the metro. You may be asking what took us so long right as restaurants like these abound here in our country due to the undeniable presence of Japanese and Koreans here? Well, prior succumbing, we had this notion that Yakinikus are somewhat pricey for their minute quantity and we initially thought that we could not possibly get full by these as we, as a family, are naturally big eaters. 

Tagaytay: Bawai's Vietnamese Kitchen

CAVITE, PHILIPPINES - Bawai's is literally a hidden gem in Tagaytay City. It was a Sunday evening when we traversed the path to Bawai's and boy was the trip a little bit scary! Well first and foremost, it was dark already when we went there and we do not really usually go off the beaten track when we visit Tagaytay; we usually just stay along the main road as most of the attractions can already be found there, so it took us a lot, and I mean a lot, of wrong turns before finally arriving at the place! 

Tagaytay: Mahogany Market Eateries

CAVITE, PHILIPPINES - Ever wondered where you can get big and cheap bowls of Bulalo when you are in Tagaytay? I have long been looking for a place like this and now we found it! Mahogany Market Eateries is not new and probably, not an unknown place too in Tagaytay but it is a place that does not get much recognition either. 

MANILA, PHILIPPINES - Ba Noi's, which serves Vietnamese cuisine, is a wonderful gem we have discovered in the midst of the hustles and bustles of Makati City. Ever since we had experienced Vietnam and had tasted their flavors, there was no turning back for us to those restaurants that served us Vietnamese delights that does not measure up, in any way, to those Phos and spring rolls we have tasted in the province. 

Hobbies of Asia: A-Won Charcoal Barbecue Restaurant

MANILA, PHILIPPINES - Korean restaurants usually fall behind our go-to restos whenever we dine out not because we do not like Korean dishes but just because the other cuisines take up the higher tiers of our hierarchy of food preference! Good thing we dismissed it tonight and decided to go beyond our comfort zone and try this one Korean restaurant that fights over for those hungry people's attention in Hobbies of Asia.

OLONGAPO CITY, PHILIPPINES - Opened in 1984, The Coffee Shop has become an institution in Barretto, a small barrio just outside the city center of Olongapo. The unassuming restaurant  is accessible through a 10-minute drive from the city center to the northern part of Zambales. Even before my parents chose to reside near here and even before I had been born, this restaurant is already up and running and serving the largest, if not the best, tacos in town!

SUBIC, PHILIPPINES - To anyone who has already gone to Subic, I bet you are all familiar with this small-turned-humongous cafe standing in the middle of it. For those who already did go to Subic but had not chanced upon this place when they were there, why oh why have you not?? First of all, it is hard to miss it because of the throng of people flocking the place day in and day out.  

PAMPANGA, PHILIPPINES - Last Holy Thursday, we decided to go home and visit our hometown that is Subic. The thought of seeing the place again got me so excited since it has been almost a year now since my last visit to it. Given that it was the start of the holy week when we chose to traverse NLEX, we found ourselves stuck in a bad traffic which transformed the supposedly 2.5-hour trip to an 8-hour one. 

MANILA, PHILIPPINES - We celebrated a good friend's birthday at Ninak about two weeks ago. We have been reading a lot about it lately hence the decision to try their food! And boy are we surprised with what we tasted!