Wildflour Café + Bakery

Now, people left and right have been gushing about Wildflour Café + Bakery for a while now. But, due to hectic schedules (including 3rd trimester blues, no house help, a toddler, and a newborn), I only got to try the infamous restaurant when it landed at a nearby mall, The Podium.

The restaurant took over the old Café France space and it's quite cramped. I normally see people waiting for a table as the place is packed. We went there to have lunch one Saturday and we had to wait for about 15 minutes to get a table; good thing the movie wasn't until 2pm or I would've given up and tried another restaurant. 

The restaurant's front portion (cashier area) had a fantastic display of different types of bread, cupcakes, cakes, cronuts, and other goodies. It really draws in the crowd. You can't help but ogle at the different treats in front of you..

You have to order and pay at the counter, but food was served at your convenience. I had the Breakfast BLT Sandwich and Rob had the Short Rib Sandwich (a supposed best seller).  Be prepared to shell out a bit more when dining at Wildflour; admittedly, the sandwiches we ordered were quite pricey. 

I enjoyed my Breakfast BLT immensely; I liked how the fried egg made the eating experience more pleasant (I keep on thinking of the movie Spanglish where Adam Sandler cuts through his sandwich and the egg yolk floods his plate). Rob found the Short Rib sandwich good, the flavours mixed well with the side salad; but it was a bit on the oily side. I loved my cucumber, lime, and mint drink ❤ 

Agua Fresca, P110

Breakfast BLT, P320

Short Rib Sandwich, P410

We were too full for dessert, plus we barely had enough time since we were catching a movie.. bummer. But I was already eyeing the salted chocolate cake. Or that apple pie. Hmmm, next time then.

Mercato Centrale

I had my first ever visit to Mercato Centrale last week. I was completely blown away by the thick crowd and the many, many food options!

Look at all these people --

Here are some of the food we tried during our visit --

Taclings are bite-sized tacos. They offer a choice of ground beef or tuna taclings, flavor options are placed on the original or Malunggay fortified taco shots. These are then innovatively placed in an egg carton, which makes eating easier. The wrap was a bit thick, but I did like the chicken.

The green one is Malunggay fortified :) Two orders (of 6's) is at PhP100.

 We also tried these fruit juices at 3 for PhP100. I liked the Wintermelon flavor, but may be diluted with a bit more water to lesses it's sweetness. I love that these drinks are all semi-frozen.

I really liked this Peppered corn we chanced upon (and at only PhP20!).

 We were mesmerized by the flames at Big Bob's burger grill joint and decided to try it out. I really liked the burger itself, which was crisp and well-done. However, they could use better buns and I usually want bacon well-done as well. That could've added to the crisp of the burger. 

There's still a lot of food choices to try out at Mercato; I'm pretty sure you can't cover everything in one night. Well, that's reason enough to go back :)

Chocolate Kiss Nostalgia

Dining at Chocolate Kiss always reminds me of the good ol' college days :)

The restaurant has maintained in it's menu all the favorites, but once in awhile comes out with different week-day options. However, since I don't get to visit the restaurant often (during college this was almost a weekly affair), I usually stick to my favorites.

Even after all these years, I still get excited over Chix in a Basket and Eggplant Parmigiana :) And I'm happy that these dishes haven't changed, they're still as sumptuous as ever! Bottomless iced tea and a slice of Devil's Food Cake completes my nostalgic food trip :)

 Chix in a Basket

Eggplant Parmigiana

Also try their all-day breakfast options. I'd go for the Dried Adobo Flakes, but the Bangus option is not bad either.

Daing na Bangus breakfast

Prices are very reasonable at about P150-200 per dish. 

CAV

CAV is essentially a wine place with a cafe. The wine menu is about 10-15 pages long while cafe and dinner menus are just one-pagers! But when you order, servers can recommend the perfect wine to go with your choice meal... Definitely a good place for wine lovers :) Wine is P320 per glass. I can't do wine though, but even without it, I really enjoyed the food :) 

Interiors are formal and may be a bit intimidating, but the servers are real friendly and not at all stiff. Service was quick and they even provided an additional appetizer -- on the house!

Dining Area 

Of course complimentary bread is in order, especially in a restaurant such as this. We ordered salad for starters, but was pleasantly surprised when complimentary soup and ravioli was served. Great way to start a dinner :) Tomato Panzanella Salad was superb -- don't mix all the greens with the dressing; since it's real rich. But everything works together. Corn soup and ravioli were OK. But nothing extraordinary with the shakes, except that you can taste that fresh fruit was used.

Complimentary Bread & Butter

Dalandan and Grape Shakes, P220 each

 Corn Soup and Cheese Ravioli (on the house!)

Tomato Panzanella Salad, P290

Main course was Tiger Prawns with Tarragon Foam and Kurobuta Pork. Great meal presentation, hands down. Loved both entrees, I think it's the first time I've tasted tarragon on my food, and it went real well with the baked prawns. Soft, well-cooked rice pilaf completed this dish. The Pork was real juicy and tender, it was difficult to separate fat from meat! 

Baked Tiger Prawns with Tarragon Foam, P790

 Kurobuta Pork, P780

I still wanted to do dessert, but was really too full already. I looked at the dessert menu, only to put it down again --  I don't think I could finish any of the dessert options. But surprise, surprise, they gave me Flourless Chocolate with vanilla and orange slices on top, complete with a birthday candle! How nice!  (But no singing waiters, thank God! I don't think they should be allowed to do that anyway, in such a fine dine establishment). Flourless Chocolate tasted great, it was really rich and blended well with the tangy oranges. I was right not to order dessert anymore; since we didn't even get to finish it :(

Flourless Chocolate (compliments of the Chef)

 Rob enjoying his food :) 

 Me and my Birthday Treat :)

All in all, we found CAV to be a great place for birthday dinner :) Thanks to Rob for making my day extra special with his thoughtfulness, and for all the gifts and surprises as well -- it's going to be another great year! :)

MoMo! Cafe

It's been awhile since I've last eaten at MoMo Cafe in Eastwood, but I still find the food good and the servings generous :) You won't miss this resto when you enter the new(er) Eastwood mall -- it's the first resto on your left.

What I specifically liked this time would be the Corn Dogs! I even forgot to list down the price :) Four corn dogs with a serving of fries and 3 dips... definitely a fun dish to share with friends.

A look at MoMo interiors from outside the mall - Clean & Crisp

Complimentary Bread and Dip

Roasted Baby Gambas and Sweet Garlic Pizza - P395

Corn Dogs

Seafood Pesto Cream Linguine - P395

Hickory BBQ Riblets - P450

Fish & Chips - P395

Re-visiting Katre

Had dinner at Katre again (after a long time) with old-time friends :) The resto was packed on a Saturday night, good thing we had reservations -- make sure you've made reservations especially on a weekend!

Undeniably, the hit of the night was still their signature Lamb Curry! Love love love :) Just hope Katre updates their menu with new dishes, it seems that there hasn't been anything new for awhile.

Vegetarian Pizza Appetizer, P165

Grilled Mahi-Mahi, P365

Pasta ala Katre, P330

Lamb Curry, P395

Coffee Fudge Ice Cream Cake, P85

Classic Chocolate Cake, P85

Cerchio

Found ourselves in the Morato area for late lunch yesterday. We tried this fairly new place named CERCHIO (Tzher.Kyoh) along Sct. Limbaga St. The resto is open from 11am-3pm and 6pm-1am.

Cerchio interiors are quite impressive. Combination of black and white furniture; distinctive use of circular patterns and straight lines mark the modern and classy feel of this place. There is even a small meeting room/ boardroom at the 2nd floor that one can use for meetings or private parties.

Finally, food was served :) We had freshly-squeezed dalandan and their signature drink, Cool as Cucumber. The cucumber drink was great! Tangy and cool way to start our meal, and went perfectly with the quite spicy & sweet Singaporean Squid Heads. The squid was good, and I recommend this appetizer, can be great if coupled with a beer too.

Dalandan Juice (P95), Cool as Cucumber (P95)

Singaporean Squid Heads (P180)

For our main dish, we ordered Pork Chops and Herb Crusted Tilapia. One thing's for sure, their serving is very much adequate, even good for sharing :) The Chops came on a bed of grilled veggies - zucchini, eggplant, bell peppers, onions; but the meat was a bit tough... Be sure to get a steak knife. The Herb-Crusted Tilapia was soft to the bite and had this superb fries on the side, which I absolutely loved (unfortunately more than the tilapia itself).

All in all, the meals weren't bad, but not really to die for either. It was a good thing they had big servings, which compensated the prices. The Squid heads are definitely something to try though. And if just to see how well the place is designed, Cerchio may be worth a visit.

Herbed Pork Chop (P350)

Ginger Crusted Tilapia (P350)