Kusina Teatro- Ortigas Home Dept

We love concept kitchens and how they wanna ijmpress diners. We read about this place at http://www.atasteofmarriedlife.com/ nad it immediately caught our attention. Its a small place, bright and looked very clean. They have an open kitchen where you can watch them do there stuff.

Stuffed squid (bacon and onions)

Elle: the squid was soft and perfectly cooked. The slightly salty meaty filling would ooze out of the tiny squid pieces upon biting. The tomato sauce was a bit tart and balanced out the saltiness of the bacon.

Cody: Shocked!!!!! by the size... but happy with the overall dish, in taste and in cooking preparation. The squid was cooked just in the right amount of time . It was easily eaten and the smoky flavor of the bacon was indeed nice....

Seafood Paella (good for 2)

Elle: The rice was absolutely amazing! It was infused with the flavors of the ingredients and I loved the orangey-red color of the rice. It was soft and had a slight bite to it. The squid was again perfectly cooked, it was tender and not at all chewy. The prawns were tender and delicious and had a different flavor which added another dimension of taste to the dish. I loved the “tutong”! Yum! Super worth it!

Cody: It took time for this dish to come out. and thats a good thing, coz you know its freshly prepared Me and Elle were scrambling for the tutong part. hehe, Lots of seafood, Big in taste:)

Fried Cheesecake

Elle: The cheesecake was wrapped in lumpia wrapper and was served slightly warm. Upon cutting into the cake I noticed that it was dry and a bit flaky. It lacked the smoothness and creaminess I look for in cheesecake. The ice cream on top of the cheesecake complemented the dish .

Cody: Good concept, but the cheesecake itself was not of high quality, it lack in sweetness and wasnt as creamy as i want it to be Too bad, it was a beautiful dish pa naman.

We were the only ones eating there that night, i hope its not like this everynight or else this place wont last.

Kim Garden - Magallanes Commercial Center

Magallanes have lots of different restos, but this place is one of the less known one because of its location.

Roasted Chicken Noodle Soup

Elle: I was surprised since they served the chicken separately from the noodles. The chicken was cooked perfectly seasoned but still complements the noodle soup. The noodle soup had a nice burnt sesame taste to it and the fresh cilantro gave it a fresh clean hint. The noodles were thick and chewy.

Cody: Like Elle i was also surprised that the chicken was served as a side dish. But glad that the chicken was good. The sweet and slightly salty marinade penetrated the chicken well. The noodles are big and fat like japanese udon.. this is the chinese counterpart.

Fried Shrimp Puff

Elle: It looked a bit like a small empanada, the skin was thin and crispy. It had a lot of shrimp (looked fresh cause the shrimp wasn’t whitish it was still a bit salmon in color). It was a bit bland though but the crispiness of the dough made up for it.

Cody: At first i was skeptical, but upon first bite, it was love.... full of whole shrimps... yummy, too bad a serving only has 3 pieces.

Gloria Maris - Greenbelt, Makati City

What's one of the best thing to eat during rainy days?? What else but HOT SOUP!!! One of the best places to drink hot soup is Gloria maris with its famous hot pot.  You can either choose your ingredients or order the combination prepared for two or four persons

Here is what we had:)

Fish Fillet in Sate Sauce

Elle: Yum! The fish was super soft and it had a very creamy texture.  I liked how the fish was coated in a think layer of sauce and how sticky the sauce was.  It’s the kind of fish fillet you can’t have enough of.  It was a combination of salty, sour, sweet and fishy. Grrreeeaaat!

Cody:  I never imagine cooking fish fillet with sate sauce, but this combination was a winner together with the pineapple slices that exudes sweetness that complimented the Sate taste.

Hot Pot

Elle: It had so many ingredients I had a difficult time choosing which one to attack first.  Nevertheless the ingredients looked fresh.  The soup itself was refreshing, not too tasty and salty which I appreciate in hot pot.  The combination of sauces was also interesting because they had Chinese peanut butter, chili sauce, hoisin sauce, sate sauce, garlic and green onions.  The combination compliments the relatively bland broth. 

Cody:  The combination for four was enough to keep everyone full. Fresh ingredients, good amount of meat, seafood, vegetables, noodles.  Be sure to put the things that cook the longest first. And while waiting for it to be cooked, make your own sauce combination with the available condiments. And don’t forget not to each too much, because after eating the ingredients, be sure to have space for the soup cause it will be one of the best tasting soup you will ever taste. 

Taho

Elle:  The taho doesn’t have that plaster of Paris feeling to it (not that I’ve eaten it).  It’s very finely processed that it doesn’t feel sandy in your mouth.  The sugar sauce wasn’t too strong and didn’t have a burnt sugar taste to it.  The tapioca would have been better if it had a little bite or chewiness to it.  Overall it was a great dessert to end the whole meal.

Cody:  This was the first place to got to eat freshly made taho and it was indeed a pleasure to eat.  The fun thing here is that you get to put as much arnibal and sago as you want, The Taho was silky smooth and tasted wonderful.