Frannywanny

If there's one thing that excites me is when I get to dine at a restaurant that retains the good ol' tradition in terms of their quality and taste yet one that is also bold enough to break the stereotype and continues to surprise their patrons with "something new." Take the Japanese cuisine for example. Immediately, visions of delicious and comforting bowls of ramen would come to mind, right? How about if I tell you that recently, I tried one that's served in a sizzling bowl. Yup! It's one thing that probably not a lot of people would imagine to have in a traditional Japanese restaurant setting. Thus, this is precisely what sets Kureji  apart. Situated along Malakas street in Quezon City, I immediately fell in love with the beautiful interiors of this restaurant. It has kept the structure of an old traditional Filipino bungalow-style home with rooms in split-levels and an old-school bodega  (storage room) situated at the back of the house with a few step...

Do you know the nursery rhyme that goes like this: Jack Sprat could eat no fat. His wife could eat no lean. And so between them both, you see, They licked the platter clean. Sometimes, I feel that Paul and I are just like Jack Sprat and his wife. We can be very different yet at the end of the day, we know that we're truly perfect for each other. Those who knows us both would say that I could talk and talk all day while he can go about a day without uttering a single word. I'm definitely an extrovert while he's Mr Shy Guy. At the same time, I got to admit that I love the limelight and do not mind the attention while he tries his darnest to stay behind the scenes as much as possible. Still, these opposite traits make us get along so well. As the Law of Attraction has long proven -- Opposite Poles Attract. For Paul's 30-something birthday , he made it pretty clear that he doesn't want a big, highly publicized birthday celebration. All he wanted was to have a s...

I love Japanese food! Next to Chinese, it's one cuisine that I don't think I'll ever get tired of eating. I guess as lot of you will agree with me especially when we're talking about the freshest cuts of sashimi, beef yakiniku and sukiyaki that melts-in-your-mouth and the most heart-tugging bowl of ramen too. Japanese do take their food seriously and this is one reason why they have created a fifth sense called umami where all delicious flavors come together as one. Someday, I wish to visit Japan and to have a week-long gastronomical adventure where I can stuff myself silly with all the sushi and unagi (eel) that my tummy can handle. Thus, when I received an invitation to try the newly opened Watami Japanese Casual Restaurant at the New Glorietta mall, I immediately replied with a big and happy YES! YES! YES! Just a side note, on our way to the restaurant, Paul and I were amazed at how pretty the new Glorietta mall was. I know we've just been away for a mont...

It has been almost a year since my colleague told me to try this really good Japanese restaurant called Mangetsu . Back then, the restaurant used to be located in Mile Long along Amorsolo street in Makati. Time flies so fast that we have been so busy and before we know it, Mangetsu in Mile Long closed down to relocate. Shucks. I can't believe we just let one week pass after the other and just like that, the year has ended without us being able to try this highly-recommended restaurant. Fast forward to the start of 2012, I learned that Mangetsu is finally open again and this time it's located along Jupiter street, a place I am very familiar with. We wasted no time and there we were a few days ago to have dinner with two of my favorite food bloggers Jin and Leslie . We agreed to meet early, too early that we were the first batch of customers to arrive for dinner time. Good thing too as we got the full attention of almost all servers. Of course, I did my research by aski...