Mad Mark's

If you’re looking for a neighborhood deli serving HUGE sandwiches, Mad Mark’s it is! This Kapitolyo sandwich joint gives you a ‘Man Sandwich-serving.’ The two guys I was with were only able to finish half their sandwich! Good thing they have two sizes -- Man Sandwich (about P260 and up) and a Just Sandwich (about P180 and up).

Their signature Man Sandwich comes in only one size, and is definitely for a hungry carnivore - Grilled Angus Beef topped with mushrooms and melted mozzarella. Sounds great, right? I had problems with the meat though; it wasn't as flavorful as expected and had a lot of fatty portions. Not so great for me.

I liked the Chicken Firehouse though, which was basic chicken fillet with a hot twist. It actually tasted a bit like Buffalo Wings n Things Roadhouse (?) Chicken, which had the right amount of spice, so that you can eat without sweating buckets.

They also have Herb Parmesan fries, which was pretty normal. From the name, it's more or less fries with some Parmesan on top.

Herb Parmesan Fries, P50

Man Sandwich, P300

Chicken Firehouse, P190 (Just) and P260 (Man)

Looking at the options in the area, I'd say go for Charlie Grind & Grill Burger and get the Angus Burger at a slightly lower price.  Portion may smaller compared to Mad Mark's, but you can't deny that taste-wise, Charlie's  takes the cake.

Charlie's Angus Beef Burger with Fries

Bretto's

Just near C'Italia in Pampanga is a humble deli named Bretto's. Both the interiors and exteriors are not that fancy, but they do serve great sandwiches and pasta. Plus, they also have a collection of wine you can choose from :) 

On one end of the restaurant, you'll find different meats, cheese, and other ingredients:

We ordered a meat pie, the Submarino Club, and the Penne Moda Delo Chef. 

The meat pie was kind of disappointing. It was dry, even when drizzled with sort of 'gravy sauce' that came with the meal. Their Sub-stantial Submarino Club, however, is really huge (good for 2 if you're just eating a sub). This ham, turkey, and bacon sub was very tasty and completely turned around my disappointment on the meat pie. Partner the sub with their pasta; and I found another reason to visit this side of Pampanga :) The Penne Moda Delo Chef is a tomato-based seafood pasta, which had a rich tomato flavor that I absolutely loved. Seafood serving was generous and was also cooked well. Coupled with the Sub, Bretto's proved to be another food find in Clark.

Chicken Meat Pie, P95 (ala carte)

Submarino Club, P265

Penne Moda Delo Chef, P270

Bretto's has now been added to my deli list :)

Pages Deli

We really didn't have any dinner plans for Valentines, but since I was scheduled to get something from Shangri-La, we decided to scout the mall for a nice dinner place. We happily found this cozy Deli along the string of restaurants outside the mall.

On a regular day, Pages Deli offers sandwiches, pasta, wine, cheese, and desserts :) The restaurant has very nice interiors; a high ceilng, dark draperies, leather seats. The servers wear old-school newsies hats and suspenders, which were really cool. At the counter is a display of cheese and cakes.

I wasn't sure if it was because of Valentines, but at that time, dinner was accompanied with good music: violin and saxophone :)

We started with Dalandan and Calamansi juice, which were served in neat-looking glasses :) We decided to go for their Valentines special meals, since we felt that it was offered for that night only. Their meals were specially named, and we chose 'Romeo & Juliet' and 'Midsummer Night's Dream.' Both meals came with a salad or soup, an entrée, plus a half-serving of dessert; each priced at a reasonable P650.

We had a Tomato & Feta Cheese Salad plus Pumpkin Soup. The tomato was warm and mixed well with the cheese; the pumpkin soup was thick and flavorful. And our drinks were cool & fresh. Great way to start our meal :)

Freshly-squeezed Calamansi & Dalandan Juice, P85 each

Feta Cheese & Tomato Vinaigrette Salad

Pumpkin Soup

A Chicken Roulade with Chardonnay Cream Sauce represented the Romeo & Juliet meal. The white meat tasted real savory, and went well with the herbed potatoes on the side. The Midsummer Night's Dream entrée was Grilled Grouper Fillet with Tomato Vanilla Sauce. Beautifully presented, the fish was placed on top of a warm potato salad (minus the mayo taste), topped with a great blend of tomato and vanilla. I enjoyed it immensely, I even choose it over the chicken dish :)

Grilled Grouper Fillet

Chicken Roulade

What made the dishes extra nice was an accompaniment of small paper tokens, where a part of the Shakespeare plays were written on.

And finally, dessert was served! We had Cheesecake and Chocolate Cake. Comparing the two, I liked the chocolate cake better, moist and sweet. I would have wanted coffee or tea to go with it, but was already too full!

Cheesecake

Chocolate Cake

Pages Deli is definitely on my Shangri-La resto list, I'd love to give the place a try on a normal day to sample their sandwiches, pasta, cheese & wine :)

Bread Bag Pandesal Bar

Bread Bag Pandesal Bar is the newest "bar" in town! Found at the Ortigas Home Depot area, amidst the restaurants, bars, and BPOs lies this haven of great food and drink. It was a welcome surprise when I saw that Bread Bag is open from 7am to 3am everyday, and even delivers to nearby areas (with no delivery charge at that). 

The Bread Bag is a small, cozy bar, composed of glass walls and modest wooden tables. All in all, they just house about 4 tables outside and another 4 inside the area. The first thing I looked at was their wall menu. Everything sounded and looked great! They also offered strong coffee and hot chocolate, perfect for their pandesal meals.

It was pretty late by then, so we quickly ordered the Ala Cubana and Kesong Puti Pesto Pandesal, and 2 Hot Chocolates. We were not disappointed at all.

All their pandesals come with a good serving of native camote chips, with the right saltiness and crunch.

The Kesong Puti Pesto was definitely a great combination. A huge slab of Kesong Puti sprinkled with Pesto (and had additional Pesto sauce on the side), with tomatoes and lettuce provided a flavorful treat for the palate. Combined with the camote chips, the different textures provide an exciting meal.

Ala Cubana also had a good combination of Egg,

Banana, Classic Giniling, and Raisins. Even if I don't like raisins so much, both the banana and raisins completed the saltiness of the fried egg and giniling. A certified classic, this sandwich brings back a lot of those good ol' memories of sharing family meals.

One of the best things about Bread Bag is their Hot Chocolate made from Native Tablea. It was one of the best, if not the best, hot chocolates I've tasted (even compared to Phil. Mountain Coffee at Tiendesitas).

Yes I do! I really loved this "I Heart Pandesal" tagline and made sure I took a photo of this sticker on their door. Definitely, Bread Bag is a top-of-mind restaurant for exciting tastes and flavors, made with our very own all-Filipino Pandesal. :)

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I went back a few days later (at 2:30AM, mind you) and sampled their other sandwiches! Addict! These were as YUMMY! 

Longganisa Pandesal

Chicken Snitzel