Manila Maki - When Manila meets Tokyo

Since I first tried out their food in the early part of 2012, I have become a frequent customer of a restaurant where the typical Japanese food gets a Filipino touch, the Manila Maki.

Located at the ground floor of Elizabeth Place Condominium in H.V. Dela Costa Street, Makati City, Manila Maki has been the go-to place for people like me who:

• wants a reprieve from the jolly-jeep food that's typical in the workplace setting
• has limited lunch hour to meet with friends over great food
• wants to date their husbands or bfs but don't know a new place to dine

Before I go on, I know you are curious of the resto's name. Well, be curious no more, the names of their dishes will speak for themselves, as well as the ingredients. So, let's go, I'll introduce you to the food that I tried on my first visit.

With some work friends, we ordered the following as appetizers:

• Manila Maki! (P255.00) This is not your typical maki. With each mouthful you'd get a taste of nilasing na hipon, fresh mangoes, kani salad, garlic rice, fresh tuna and mango sauce, which is the dressing. All I can say is, more please.

Manila Maki (P255.00)

• Pinoydon Fried Chicken (P175.00). Though it looks like fried chicken skin, it is not. Yes, it is crunchy but it has meat inside and this is fried in Japanese batter and comes with a dip of Teriyaki Mayo.Best eaten with rice because this is super tasty.

Pinoydon Fried Chicken (P175.00)

• Tempura Ukoy (P145.00). Think pinoy ukoy with its thin strips of veggies like carrots and onions, then add meat of shrimp (no head please) and fried in Japanese batter until super golden brown, crispy and crunchy, then served with radish-ginger tempura sauce. As of date, this is my most favorite.

Tempura Ukoy (P145.00)

Now, for the main meal, we had the following:

• Sisigdon (P215.00).  I can't really tell much about this because this was not my order but my friends. But the menu says this is pork sisig cooked in shoyu sauce where beaten egg is added and then topped with crunchy chicharon. This comes with rice also so its like rice toppers but already good for two, more or less.

Sisigdon (P215.00)

• Pork Katsu with Gravy (P175.00). This is good for sharing. Really crunchy and I just loved the golden brown color. Looked very yummy and it taste yummy too, promise.

  

  Pork Katsu with Gravy (P175.00)

• Batchoy Ramen (P215.00). Batchoy plus ramen, my kind of hot noodle soup. And just look at the noodles, they look so soft and tender! This one's really tasty, especially the soup, and filling even when the meat slices are thin, so I guess if you're eating alone, no need to order anything else.

Batchoy Ramen (P215.00)

Hungry yet? But wait, let me give you a peek at the place first. I know you'd find it interesting as I do too.

As you walk in, you'd be captivated with the unique way they decorated the walls. Nope, not your usual wallpaper. They coated one side of the walls with newspapers... from Japan! Then they decoratively placed wooden planks in the middle. Cute, unique and gives the diners something to talk about :)

The Decor in Newspaper

I'd also like to commend the staff (especially the two guys upfront and the girl with the hairnet) who are just so accommodating and courteous, and who always welcome me (yes they recognize me already) with warm smiles whenever I walk in and be their customer at least once every two months.

The Staff... and oooh, there's the owner in stripes!

And before I say thanks for reading, here are my work friends whom I shared the lovely meal with. Say cheers, guys!!!

My Work Friends

Happy eating!!!

Starbucks' Marshmallow Mocha

In celebration of Mother's Day, Starbucks introduced a new hot beverage, the Marshmallow Mocha, available for a limited time only: May 3 to 14 or until supplies (meaning the marshmallows) last.

I tried it out, me being a mom and a marshmallow lover, together with a slice of banana loaf.

Sadly though, I did not like it very much. This drink is just too sweet for me (maybe because of the melted marshmallows) that I had to add water so I could finish all of it. Good thing I only ordered the tall size or I would have spent the whole day drinking it and end up with tonsilitis. Ouch!

Baby Back Ribs in Imus, Cavite

On one of our late dinner hunts, my Hubby and I came across a resto which specialty is ribs, the Lady Christine's Baby Back Ribs. Since my Hubby was craving for some meat, we decided to try it out.

This place is conveniently located along the Centennial Highway in Kawit, Cavite so looking for this place will be a breeze. This ribs place has ample parking space so no problem for those who will be coming in their own car. But if your commuting, this place is a bus ride away.

Anyway, we ordered a Half Slab of Baby Back Ribs (P160) and a bottle of beer each, and while we waited, I decided to check out the super interesting decor.

I noticed that the decor has no specific theme but a mixture of so many different things. While one area is decorated with old school, wooden rackets, baseball mitts, skateboard, a bag of golf clubs, a couple of billiard balls and other sports paraphernalia (maybe the owner is really into sports?)

the other wall is decorated with book titles of different genre which was bought from Book Sale.

And then there's a whole shelf of wine from various year. They are selling these wines but a bottle is more or less P2,000 plus. Too pricey for us passersby.

And then our order arrived. It's super glazed and with a side dish of atsara. I can't wait to try it out.

Our ribs was super tender, as in fall-off-the-bone tender that you won't need a knife as you would normally do. As for the taste, it was tasty through and through but a bit too sweet. If I am not on a diet, I would have ordered rice to go with my ribs. However, I do have one complaint, the meat was a bit dry. The only reason I could think of was the meat came straight from the freezer so it's super frozen and then it went directly to the grill. The meat probably was not thawed properly.

So, next time we'd go back to Lady Christine's, we'd try their other dishes. Maybe we'd be luckier next time.