Frannywanny

Huat Ah!* In the spirit of the Chinese New Year (yes, the celebration never ends!) , let me continue my story-telling on how my family and I celebrated this special occasion back in Manila. After tossing our Yu Sheng salad to bring in all the good fortunes, happiness and luck, we headed out for a family dinner at Huat Pot , a newly-opened hotpot restaurant in San Juan . Stepping inside Huat Pot , we were led towards our table that the far corner of the restaurant which was quite cramped and definitely could not comfortably sit 5 people. Oh dear! Sadly, the entire restaurant was filled to the brim so we had to make do with a little adjustments here and there. As soon as we were all seated, Paul, Pan and I were tasked by our parents to take care of getting the food. The set-up reminds me of our favorite hotpot restaurant in Taiwan where all the meats and veggies were neatly stored in a huge chiller and there were a lot of drink options and the best part of all -- free ice cream!...

"What's new here?" That was the first thing I asked my sister when she picked us up from the airport a few days ago. Pan exactly knew what was the new  that I was referring to and she filled me in on the newly opened restaurants that have been creating buzz around town. As she spoke, I was busy listing down the restaurants as I can't afford to miss out on a great restaurant to try given my very short visit. One of the newest restaurant was just located just a stone's throw away from home. It's called Guevarra's and Chef Rolando Laudico is the man behind it. I really admire Chef Laudico and I'll never forget the night when I dined at Bistro Filipino a few years ago. Unlike Bistro Filipino though, this one has no a la carte menu and it's a complete buffet service restaurant. I wasted no time and immediately invited my friends D and S out for our much-awaited catch up dinner at Guevarra's . It's a good thing that D was able to make ...

It's a FACT! I'm a certified foodie and the world knows it! Barely a month ago, I received at least three text messages from random friends and relatives telling me the exact same thing : "hey, there's a new restaurant called Greeka Kouzina . It's along P. Guevarra. What's good there?" The first message made me sat up from my lazy-Sunday-in-bed-while-watching-The-Buzz-position. Just like a news reporter who had just received a juicy scoop, I made a mental note and later on (realizing that my memory is terrible) jotted down the name of the new restaurant in my planner. I got two more messages right after that and I knew I have to give this interesting restaurant a try ASAP! Finally, the day came for me to try Greeka Kouzina . It was perfect timing that my sister set a dinner date with two of our high school friends / neighbors and I'm glad that they were just as eager to try this new restaurant with us. The door opened and a familiar face greet...

Tonight, I left the office later the usual as I had to attend a work-related event. It's a Friday night and with no other plans for the evening, I invited Paul to join me for late dinner. There's a newly opened restaurant in the neighborhood called Toki Q and I've been excited to try it as I see it every day on my way to work. Finally, it's now open and ready to serve the public. Toki Q boasts of being the first restaurant in the Philippines using the Rotating BBQ griller. Contrary to traditional grillers, it takes one Yakitori stick 3-5 minutes to grill while others would take more than 10 minutes, give or take. This allows them to serve your order fresh and hot just the way a yakitori should be. I tried the Combo 2 with Miso soup and Drink (Php. 149). All orders except for the group platters come with Unlimited Rice. This is perfect for office workers looking for a good lunch option nearby. The rice was sticky and fragrant which I like. The Combo 2 comes wit...

"San Juan is turning into a mini Taiwan !" I caught this comment over Twitter a few weeks ago and I couldn't help but agree. First, we saw the fast emergence of milk tea shops starting with Serenitea followed by ChaTime , TeaTap and now ShareTea from Taiwan is opening pretty soon. There are also a lot of Taiwanese bakeries and restaurants in the area like Feng Wei Wee and their delicious dumplings and Cold Layers for authentic Taiwanese Ice Desserts. A few months ago, a Taiwanese establishment called Taibun Bakery and Coffee Shop opened just a few blocks away from my home. One thing that I noticed is that they actually have a cool discount schedule where they give price-offs for their bread products  from 6AM to 10AM and from 9PM to 12MN. I guess this is their way of making sure their bread gets sold quickly to keep it fresh all the time. I also noticed that they operate with very long hours! Imagine being open from 6AM to 12MN? Wow! After watching No Oth...

I truly appreciate restaurants and coffee shops that dedicates a sufficient amount of time and effort to details . For me details is just as important as making sure you get the word out there, it's just as crucial as ensuring that your products are of top quality. Details creates the best ambiance and by giving your customers a good feeling every time they step into your store will surely bring back bigger rewards. Tonight, Paul and I went out on a date. Yes, after killing ourselves with months filled with busy weekends, we decided to just relax and go out tonight. Let me tell you more about our *ahem* romantic dinner date in the next few days. What I'm excited to share is where we ended up hanging out for our night cap before heading back home. After dinner, I decided to text my two girl friends J1 and J2 to ask what were their Saturday night plans. J1 told me she's spending time with her family while J2 immediately called me and invited us to join her and boyfriend ...

Allow me to share with you an inspiring story about rendering an honest service to restaurant patrons. Last night, Paul and I took some time out to have dinner at the newly renovated Everything at Steak in P. Guevarra, San Juan. It was our usual mid-week date where we unwind and just spend more quality time together. Over a plate of buffalo wings, a 1/3 pound burger for him and a hearty rib eye steak for me, we talked about our day and finalized our schedule for the holiday season. At some point, I handed him an envelope that has a small amount of cash from our business and his camera's memory card. We were both engrossed with our conversation that after paying the bill, we immediately stood up and left. Little did we noticed that Paul accidentally left both the envelope and the memory card on the table and he only remembered about it two hours after. We went back to the restaurant but unfortunately, it was already closed. We went home with heavy hearts and while he was worried ab...