New Hong kong Cafe - Banawe St. Quezon City

A lot of new restaurants are opening and closing in the Banawe area, and having a sign with bright lights does really get our attention so we decided to try this place. Place was... you can say empty....only two tables occupied.... not a good sign... anyhoo.. we ordered and crossed our fingers with what we are about to partake...

Chicken Baked Rice

Elle: Hmm… I have to think of how to describe this one. It’s forgettable. Sure it was cheesy, it had to be! The rice was hard…it tasted like it was cooked three days before it was served. The mixed veggies included in the rice were also tough especially the peas! I had to go through the strands of cheese to be able to taste the chicken. The chicken itself was bland and I was expecting a tastier chicken to contrast the cheesiness of the dish. I was very disappointed L

Cody: I first got to taste baked rice in Hong Kong.. then here in the Philippines.. got to try it in Mr. Choi at Robinsons Galleria.. So, we ordered and.. we ate.. and I was disappointed.. it was tasteless.. the rice was dry.. the cheese was scarce.

Fried chicken

Elle: Again…the rice! Serving size was good and I actually liked the gravy although it was a bit too buttery for me. They added 5-spice to the chicken batter and I actually liked it. 5 spice has this strange likeable taste that I look for.

Cody: Dont be deceived with pictures... I think the problem with our restaurant indutry here is the quality tends to suck.. I would serve an egg looking like this, unless the customer will request for it.. The chicken did taste good, and the skin was fried to the perfect crisp. The sauce was not good, the rice was again dry and hard.

Hong Kong Milk Tea:-

Elle: Again…bland. Milk tea should give you that comforting feeling after the first sip and I didn’t get it from this one. It was not as tasty as the other milk teas I have tried.

Cody: I like that they serve it this way, you know that it is made fresh and not powdered form. But it lack in taste also...

Oh well... we are guessing this place will soon fold up unless they change a lot of kinks in their food and system..

Sen Lek Thai - SM Makati Food Court

We never knew that the food court in SM Makati had undergone a great renovation. Its is more spacious now, cleaner and brighter. We can still remember eating at this food court when we were kids.Walking around the food court, we saw this stall. It's not usual that you see a THAI food stall.

There were pictures of food and a couple of people in line. So we decided to give it a try and these are what we ate.

Khaw Pad( Thai Fried Rice)

Cody: I was suprised with the serving size It was quite substantial. I love that it was fried on the spot. It has a distinctly sweet and salty taste.. which is because of their use of Thai fish sauce which is different from our local fish sauce which has a strong salty taste. There are bits of tiny shrimps and lots of shredded lettuce which i enjoyed.

Elle: True the serving size was big. Aside from the saltiness it actually had a spiciness to it that I liked. I would have liked it more though if they used bean sprouts and Thai basil, it probably would have made a bit more "Thai" than it actually was. There were tiny tiny tiny bits of shrimp I would have missed them if I weren't actually LOOKING for them. It would be a nice option to pay extra for big shrimps.

Pad Thai(Thai Fried Noodles)

Cody: It may look not as appetizing as other Pad thai from expensive Thai Restaurants. For 90 pesos a serving. It was indeed good enough for one hungry individual and can also be shared if you are not too hungry. Just the right balance of sweet and salty and tangy.

Elle: Again, I agree that the serving size was big enough. I liked the burnt peanut taste and the tanginess it had but it lacked the crunchiness of authentic Pad Thai. Again, I had to look for the CHICKEN bits if not I would have missed it. A good food item for someone adventurous enough to try something new.