Monday, January 30, 2017

Grind Bistro: Gourmet, All-American Dishes From the Carls' Kitchen


The Grind Bistro opened its doors last May 2016 as a place where husband-and-wife duo, Steven and Cristina Carl, can showcase their love for food. Working in the food industry for most of their lives, with Steven Carl previously working as the executive chef and F&B Director for Hyatt Hotels while his wife, Cristina Carl, handled operations for Hyatt, the many years of experience under both their belts only goes to show that they know their way around food. It is with this love for food that Grind Bistro was born. 

The concept for Grind Bistro was originally supposed to be gourmet burger joint but the Carls' just wanted to share so much more premium all-American dishes that they found it hard to leave many household favorites out of their menu. It's why Grind Bistro has so much more to offer than burgers, although burgers still consist of a large part of their menu.

 Here's what you can expect when dining at Grind Bistro...

Sunday, January 29, 2017

Have a Taste of Dangerously Cheesy Goodness With Taters' CHEETOFIED Snacks


Taters and Cheetos, two brands that serve awesome American snacks, is partnering up to give snack lovers the cheesiest and crunchiest snacks this year. They kicked off their new #Cheetofied snacks at the Glorietta Activity Center last January 25, 2017 to bring hungry Filipinos FIVE NEW CHEETOFIED SNACKS. You heard right, you can get your hands on FIVE Cheetos-inspired snacks this year! 


Taters has long been known for serving delicious cinema snacks across Philippine cinemas and a partnership with a household name such as Cheetos definitely gives movie-goers a cheesier option to enjoy at the cinemas this year. It's a perfect marriage that those of you who love popcorn and chips, like yours truly, will surely love. 


The partnership only available from January 25, 2017 until May 15, 2017 in all Taters stores nationwide, so hurry and get yourselves some #Cheetofied snacks now! 

Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Co Nut Ink Brings Singapore's Famous Premium Coconut Ice Cream to the Philippines


"You can't buy happiness but you can buy ice cream" are words that everyone should live by. Whenever life hits you hard, a scoop of ice cream instantly makes everything better. I eat ice cream all the time, whether I'm happy or sad, so imagine my excitement when I heard that Singapore's Famous Coconut Ice Cream, Co Nut Ink, was coming to the Philippines! 

Co Nut Ink is famous in Singapore for delicious ice cream that's affordable and unique with a focus on sustainability. The ice cream is served on a coconut shell topped with a variety of toppings, but the toppings just compliment the light, refreshing taste of Co Nut Ink's signature coconut ice cream. The stall is outside the mall so it's best for moments where you're craving for a sweet treat you can just 'grab and go.'

Co Nut Ink serves only one kind of ice cream but they do so really well. Here's what you can expect from Co Nut Ink...

Monday, January 23, 2017

Annam Noodle Bar: Authentic Vietnamese Specialties and Manila's Best Pho


Back in 2012, Chef Nam Quoc Nguyen opened Nam Nam Noodle Bar in Singapore to bring iconic Vietnamese street favorites to the bustling city. In just a few years the restaurant is now known to serve some of the best Pho you can find in Singapore - simple, fresh, healthy, and delicious.They opened their first store in the Philippines, Annam Noodle Bar, in 2016 in an effort to bring modern Vietnamese street food to Filipinos at Eastwood City's new fast-rising food strip, Eastwood Avenue.

It's good to note that Annam Noodle Bar has been ranked as the #1 Vietnamese Pho in Metro Manila by Spot.ph. They are also proud to advertise that they don't use msg in any of their dishes!

Here's what you can expect from Annam Noodle Bar at Eastwood Avenue...

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

Ippudo Philippines: World-Renowned Hakata Style Ramen Now Serving at Eastwood Avenue


Ippudo, the international ramen phenomenon, is finally spreading smiles and "arigatou" with their delicious bowls of ramen at Eastwood City's fast-rising food strip, Eastwood Avenue. The world-class ramen house's roots began at 1985 Hakata, Japan's ramen capital, when Ramen King Shigemi Kawahara opened his first ramen store. Since then, they've opened over 80 stores around the world, with long lines a common sight in every store. If you're interested to know more about Ippudo's history, check it out here.

From the very first sip, I can confidently place Ippudo as one of my top 3 ramen restaurants in Metro Manila. What they have is perfection in a bowl with a delicate balance between the broth, ingredients, and noodles resulting such a delicious bowl of ramen.

Ippudo's signature Hakata-style tonkotsu (pork-based) broth is what makes every bowl of ramen coming out of Ippudo's kitchen special. It probably took the Ramen King years of hard work, constantly changing and innovating the recipe, before he was able to come up with the perfection.

Here's what you can expect from your first visit at Ippudo, Eastwood Avenue...

Monday, January 16, 2017

Applebee's Grill & Bar: There's Always A Reason To Celebrate


Applebee's, the American Grill & Bar franchise, finally opened their second Philippine branch last July 2016 at Eastwood City - a welcome addition to the amazing selection of restaurants located along Eastwood Avenue. It's sister company, IHOP, is currently still under construction but will soon be available to hordes of pancake lovers that frequent Eastwood. 

The restaurant is all about celebration since Applebee's runs on the belief that 'There's always a reason to celebrate' with delicious comfort food - may it be a good test scores at school or successful projects at the office. Of course, there are also countless birthdays, anniversaries, and promotions to celebrate, but they're really champions of celebrating both the little things and big life events.

Applebee's American comfort food concept consisting of ribs, burgers, tacos, tenders, and mac and cheese really makes eating at Applebee's a celebration in itself - a feast for anyone who loves to eat their heart out. 

One big tip I can give you is that if you book through BigDish, you can get up to 30% off your meal through their very convenient restaurant reservation system. To learn more about Bigdish, check out this link. 

Here's what makes dining at Applebee's a little special, and should be reason enough to take your next celebration to their newly opened Eastwood Avenue store...

Wednesday, January 11, 2017

Gourmet Farms Express: A Fresh, Healthy Alternative to Fastfood


Healthy food is difficult to come by in Metro Manila without having to pay an arm and a leg. Restaurants serving organic dishes typically charge anywhere above Php 400 pesos per person for a meal. Gourmet Farms Express brings fresh produce straight from their farm, whipping these up into tasty dishes, to serve to your table at a more affordable price. 

Gourmet Farms Express is the first Metro Manila restaurant of the Gourmet Farms Estate, a 12 hectare organic farm located at Silang, Cavite, and hopefully is one of many delicious, organic restaurants to sprout all over the metro. It's just one of the new restaurants to grace Eastwood City's rising dining strip, Eastwood Avenue

Here are the delicious dishes that you would find at Gourmet Farms Express...

Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Pizza Hut Introduces Hut Feasts Meal for 10 and They're Putting 25% More Cheese on Their Pizzas!


Fast food chains around the Philippines have been picking up their promo game to kick off 2017 and Pizza Hut is no different by bringing you this awesome Hut Feasts Meal For 10! That's a feast for 10 people at Php 1,299 or Php 130 per person. If you factor in the 10% service charge, then the real cost is actually Php 1,429 or roughly Php 143 pesos per person

That's way cheaper, on a per person basis, than either the Shakey's 2017 Meal Deal or the Pancake House's Php 370 For Two

They haven't announced a promo deadline yet, but Pizza Hut did say they're putting 25% more CHEESE on your favorite Pan Pizz for FREE! Check out more below... 

Monday, January 9, 2017

Choose Any Two of These Pancake House Dishes and Pay Only Php 370


There are a number of very enticing promos to start the year that certainly do not help with any of our diet goals for 2017, the most popular of them all is Shakey's Philippines 2017 Meal Deal. If you're only planning to have a casual lunch date for two, however, the 2017 Meal Deal is a bit too much. That's when Pancake House's Php 370 Meals come in handy. That's Php 200 per person (including 8% service charge) for food that's slightly more refined and is a lot better for you. 

You can choose from these three Pancake House favorites: Special Salisbury Steak, Spaghetti with Taco, and Pork Vienna. Each other comes with iced tea. 

This particular promo is available in Luzon and Metro Manila until February 28, 2017.

Wednesday, January 4, 2017

Shakey's Philippines Welcomes a Happy 2017 With the 2017 Meal Deal [UPDATE]


Shakey's Philippines has always had some of the most sulit promos ever to be made available in the Philippines, which is why we have been sharing a lot of their deals over the years. Although our favorite will always be the Buy 1 Take 1 Shakey's Supercard Promo that's available for every pizza delivery, the 2017 Meal Deal is one deal you'll definitely love if you don't have a Shakey's Supercard just yet!
Check out Shakey's Chicken N' Mojos promo for 2017.
The 2017 Meal Deal is available for just Php 2,017 and you'll be getting a number of Shakey's favorites that good for 8-10 people. On top of that, you get a FREE Shakey's Supercard with each purchase. That's savings of Php 1,861 on each purchase! 

If you're don't feel like feasting on loads of pizza and pasta or if you can't get at least 8 people, you can also choose any two Pancake House dishes and pay only Php 370. You can also try out Pizza Hut's Hut Feasts For 10 for only Php 1,299

The deal runs through January 1, 2017 until March 31, 2017 [EXTENDED] for dine-in, delivery, and take-out. The promo is open to everyone, you don't need to have a Shakey's Supercard to avail of it. 

Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Look Out! Eastwood Avenue Is Now Eastwood City's Hottest New Dining Destination


Eastwood Avenue, a once quiet strip inside Eastwood City, is currently teeming with activity. It's not the kind you would find in large crowds on the busy sidewalks of Eastwood City Walk 1 & 2 - a popular spot for nightlife dining in Eastwood. Rather, unique new restaurants began opening left and right along the strip just last year and now it's crawling with foodies looking try out all the new restaurants in the area. 

Eastwood's new dining strip does have a bit of variety and there's a spot for you whether you're craving for something organic, American, Asian or Spanish-Filipino. It's also an easy strip to have a fun little food crawl because you have a number of cuisines to choose from and seeing how close the restaurants are from one another. Don't even get me started on the view, it's a beautiful stretch for romantic evening walks especially if you're looking to impress. 

The map above might be have already given away the new restaurants that seem to have given life to this hot new dining strip, but now let's talk about food. So, what's new at Eastwood Avenue? 

Monday, January 2, 2017

Planet Grapes: Celebrate the Holiday Season With a Yuletide Feast


Planet Grapes, as the name suggests, is a cozy wine bar that celebrates good food paired with an selection of carefully curated wine from premium vineyards around the world. That might make Planet Grapes sound like a place only wine snobs would visit, but believe me when I say that's totally not the case. The restaurant takes pride in welcoming wine lovers regardless of familiarity - they don't judge how you like to drink your wine. 

Of course, Planet Grapes would be more than happy to recommend classic wine pairings - such as a Porchetta and a light red wine (i.e. Intrepid Awatere Valley Pinot Nior) - if you ask them for suggestions. But if you'd like to pair everything with a sweet glass of white wine you should comfortable do so. 

We were fortunate enough to sample their exquisite 2016 Holiday Menu that is available for pre-order (at least 2 days in advance) until the end of January 2017. It's 100% customizable and ranges from Php 1,200 to Php 1,800 per head. This is one holiday treat that will really get your tastebuds going.