Good Food, Good Friends, Good Memories

dulce de leche birthday cake

Recently turned a year older and I usually take this opportunity to meet up with friends as I share good food with them. Since I do equate good food and good friends with good memories. 

our meal at The Chocolate Kiss Cafe

On the eve of my birthday (or name day, sorry I'm currently entrenched reading the A Game Of Thrones book by George RR Martin), me and my friends went to Katipunan specifically to visit a restaurant run by students being trained by CCA but was told that they need to close early since they've run out of food. Disappointed and almost close to tears (yeah, I'm overreacting), we head then to UP Town Center since The Chocolate Kiss Cafe has opened a branch there and none of my friends have tried this famous restaurant from UP yet.

The Chocolate Kiss Cafe

table setting

nachos (deconstructed-style) and chicken kiev

kalbi chim

sate ayam and nasi goreng

I wanted to try something different from The Chocolate Kiss Cafe menu so I decided to order Sate Ayam & Nasi Goreng. A hefty Indonesian meal this one definitely is but I feel the sate could have had a more satisfying, peanutty sauce which this sate ayam lacks. Same goes with the nasi goreng. Filling but totally forgettable. But I do appreciated this dish comes with sauteed vegetables and shrimp krupuk.


What I did love is the Kalbi Chim which my friend Star ordered. Beef short ribs cooked Korean style with a side of stir fried bean sprouts and kimchi. The meat is super tender I could almost cry when I tasted it. It's really good. My other two friends, Jamie and Victor ordered the Chicken Kiev which they did liked a lot. We also have a serving of a Nachos w/ Jalapenos, a deconstructed version as you can see from the photo above.

UP Town Center

216 Katipunan Avenue

Quezon City

946-3276

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Starr's Famous Shakes

a more impressive branch of Starr's in UP Town Center

counter

I then brought by friends to Starr's Famous Shakes which also opened a new branch in UP Town Center. I wasn't too impressed when I first tried Starr's in their Loyola Heights branch but I'm always in for second chances (with food, that is. Just to make that clear. Hehehe!).

our shakes

While my friends contemplate the flavor of shakes they will order, I already had my eye on the very simple yet truly satisfying Vanilla Milkshake w/ Horlicks. Mmmm! Tastes like heaven.

UP Town Center

216 Katipunan Avenue

Quezon City

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Main Street

Another time, I went to Main Street in Kapitolyo with another set of friends, I was gushing to them about the pleasant things I've read about this restaurant since they've opened their first branch in McKinley Hills and I wanted to get a first hand experience of it with them.

at Main Street restaurant in Kapitolyo

poutine

buttermilk fried chicken

We started with the poutine. We ordered the Smoked Pulled Pork Poutine. I got mixed reactions from my friends with this appetizer. Some liked it, some don't. But I'm easy to please. And I do like fries, so this is OK with me.

Same mixed reactions I got from my friends for the Buttermilk Fried Chicken. One even kidded that she could possibly whip it up at home using a commercialized breading ingredient. While the other wasn't too keen dipping the chicken with the provided garlic cream sauce and asked for ketchup. I did liked it. Crispy chicken with juicy meat. And I quite like the dipping sauce, too. So maybe my taste buds wasn't attuned with my friends that night. He-he! 

shepherd's pie and basil pesto & chicken pasta

hoisin baby backed ribs

We did all agree not liking the Shepherd's Pie. It sounded quite promising on its description on the menu. It has kitayama minced beef, parmesan cheese and mashed potatoes. But the mashed potatoes tasted curdly which ruined the dish entirely. We were also unimpressed with the Basil Pesto & Chicken Pasta. But we unanimously liked Hoisin Baby Backed Ribs. Tender meat with lipsmacking honey hoisin sauce. Really good!

10 East Capitol Drive

Kapitolyo, Pasig City

239-2827

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Kapitolyo Gastropark

crazy milkshakes

another set of crazy milkshakes

We did dropped by at Kapitolyo Gastropark to try some sweet treats from Sweet Nothing. Whimsical milkshakes that satiates our sweet cravings. I already visited this gastropark previously and might tell you more about it in detail on a future post. 

#12 1st street

Barangay Kapitolyo

Pasig City

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Blake's Wings & Steak

This visit to Blake's Wings & Steak is purely accidental. Me and another set of friends (they're couples, actually) was suppose to visit an Italian restaurant near the Engineering Office in Marikina but the entire restaurant is being rented for a christening celebration. We then went to a brand new restaurant also from the same street that specializes in buffalo wings and I believe some steaks but the place is still not open to the public. Already frustrated, I consulted my couple friends and they suggested Blake's which promises delicious food in big, hefty serving.

table setting

fully packed lunch service

our table

What I didn't expect is how hugely popular this restaurant in Marikina. There's practically a line snaking outside the entrance when we arrived here. And we have to wait roughly thirty minutes before our orders were taken. But the wait are so worth it. Among the restaurant featured on this post, Blake's is the one I've enjoyed most. And wow! The servings are really huge.

rigatoni pasta

spicy garlic shrimp

t-bone

The steaks are very affordable at Blake's. Just 230 php and you have a slab of meat to consume all for yourself. I had the T-Bone cut cooked medium flavored with honey mustard with pepper mushroom gravy. And the meat is malleable enough to cut through. I also enjoyed the Spicy Garlic Shrimp, an appetizer that reminds me of gambas. Gleaming in oil with a red sheen that I would suggest from annato and punctuated with zippy spice from green chilies, I wish the restaurant offered bread so I could mop all that sauce clean from the plate.

Surprisingly, the dish I truly enjoyed from this meal is the Rigatoni in Tomato & White Sauce. A truly creamy dish in perfectly cooked rigatoni pasta. It has nary any meat in it and it just tops my list of most favorite pasta dish I ever tried. The Wicked Wings lathered with sweet and spicy sauce with a bleu cheese dip is quite addicting as well.

75 Gil Fernando Avenue
San Roque, Marikina City

632-7190