Chi's Brick Oven Kitchen - Aguirre Ave, Sucat Paranaque

A trip to the south.. paranaque area wont be complete without visit to one of the most interesting places here.  Inside the resto is a humongous brick oven where they practically cooked all of their food. And they do it so well.  Here are the things we tried/

Parrish clams P195

Cody: the clams were a bit small, aside from that, the parmesan, bread crumbs and olive oil crust was good.

Elle:  tiny clams made it difficult to appreciate how it was made.  

Ginataang Kuhol P115

Cody: served piping hot!!!!  Good blend of coconut milk and other spices. The kuhol absorbing all the flavours.

Elle: such a strange thing to be served at  a pizza place. At first I thought it was going to be served on pizza. Since the dish was new(at that time) and it wasn’t on the menu. It was actually good. The coconut milk was not too strong in taste.

Pizza Mediterrano P365

Cody: interesting use of ingredients though I ask them to change the pesto to tomato sauce,  the grapes added a nice sweetness to the pizza, but I am having second thoughts now, that the pesto might be a better sauce for the shrimp and grape combination. This was good, the crust was great also.  It was also a good thing that they allow you to order pizza split into 2 flavours

Elle:  the grapes were still a bit succulent and juicy despite having been baked.  It gave a bit of tartness to the dish.  A mentioned by Cody the crust was great

Apple Pizza Pie ala mode P 115

Cody: wonderful dessert, crispy crust, soft apple slices, cold vanilla ice cream, the warm and cold blends in your mouth.  Yummy.:)

Elle: I agree, the crusty crust gives a nice balance to the cooked apples. The flavours and textures were a nice combination.

Definitely one of the places we recommend in the Sucat Area.

EL FAV Creamery - Pergola Mall BF Sucat Paranaque

Dessert places in Paranaque are very scarce. We were lucky to find this place in the 2nd floor of Pergola Mall here in Sucat. From the Makers of El Favorito ice cream, let us introduce theri ice cream store.This place is bright with a self service counter where you have to order by the counter and they wiill just bring your order to you. At each table there are little board games where you can play and entertain yourself and let time pass by.  You can have toppings for the ice cream that would cost little. There are free toppings available too.

Beer Ice Cream

Cody:  base ice cream that did taste like beer, I don’t like the nutty component though, but it was a good… not  so great rendition

Elle: It tasted like a bland, fizzed out and watered down beer.  The nuts made it seem like you immersed the pulutan in the beer which was not so good.    

Tequila  Rose Ice Cream:

Cody: now this was great. . This tasted like it has more alcoholic kick than the beer ice cream. Strawberry base with a hint of tequila.

Elle: This ice cream melted so fast and as it melted I realized how not so creamy it was. It was just okay, a cool alternative to your regular strawberry ice cream. 

Note: Elle: I tasted the Wasabi ice cream hoping it was as creamy as the Green Tea ice cream of Haagen Dazs but unfortunately it was as icy as a snow cone.  

The only similarity was the color.  I was very disheartened since Wasabi is one of my favorite condiment

Hanazaku - Sucat, Paranaque City

Located in Bf homes Sucat, a small cozy neighborhood restaurant hat surprisingly serves good Japanese food. From the outside the place doesn’t look appealing. It was design more like of a mediterranean restaurant on the outside than a Japanese place.

We love the freshly brewed green tea that definitely taste so much better than the ones in bags

Appetizer: Deep Fried Tuna Pieces. freebie

Cody: Freshly cooked tuna pieces, seasoned with soy sauce, lightly floured, I love that they made this dish only when we came, It was obvious it came out from the frying pan, still hot, the meat marinated nicely

Elle: Crispy tuna pieces with very minimal flavouring.  Tastes much like very fresh tuna fried Japanese style.

Next dish: Ebi Ten Maki

Cody- very very good sushi rice, the tempura was of average size but fried excellently.

Elle: Very crispy ebi.  The crispiness compliments the softness of the sushi 

Hanazaku Yakisoba

Cody – this was a surprise, the sauce covering the whole dish, add a dash of togarashi and woah, the sauce was god enough to be wiped off with anything. The noodles gave a nice contrast of crispy and al dente

Elle:  The noodles were fried into a cake and it was covered in a thick and nicely seasoned sauce.  I liked that the noodles weren’t just simply boiled and thrown onto a plate.  It was not like your regular yakisoba.  This was a better version of the popular dish. 

This restaurant will rival the more popular restaurants in Makati like Nanohana,  restos in Little tokyo, NIhonbashitei, etc etc. WE love a great neighborhood restaurant. Too bad we dont live in the area

 

Carlos Pizza - Various branches

A restaurant with branches in Tagaytay, Quezon City, Baguio, Paranaque.  We read different reviews about this place, but with branches in key cities here in Luzon, they must be doing something right.  Ate at this place during lunch time and we were the only people dining here. Ordered one Appetizer, one past and one pizza dish.

Buffalo Wings

Cody: reminiscent of the buffalo wings of Don Henrico’s(same owners?) Big, juicy and succulent, coated in a sweet bbq sauce instead of the Wing sauce they use in Buffalo N.Y. But the Chicken itself is the star.

Elle:  The serving size was a champ! It was a WING! It was cooked just right, soft meat with crispy skin but it was a bit too sweet for my taste.  I would have wanted it more spicy. 

Chicken Pesto Pasta

Cody:  Spaghetti noodles tossed in a creamy pesto sauce topped with grilled chicken breast slices. The pesto flavor was mild, the cream giving it more body, but making it less healthy. The chicken was miniscule but gave the dish the protein content I always look for.

Elle:  Not a fan of pesto but gave it a shot just to taste what it was like.  It was actually good.  The pesto was not too strong and didn’t steal the show.  I liked the balance between the pesto sauce and the cream.  Noodles were kinda soggy. 

Pizza- Four Cheese, half topped with Italian Sausage

Cody: Thin crust,  4 cheese, however it was missing something.. pizza sauce, I didn’t know if they did it intentionally, or they just forgot, I didn’t ask anymore. IT was okay. The Italian Sausage was just okay

Elle:  The crust was thin but a bit soft.  Would have been better if it were crispy thin.  The blue cheese was a bit overpowering.  And of course it lacked the tanginess and freshness that tomato sauce brings to pizza. 

Its a toss up betweem us if we are coming back here or not. THe chicken wings were fantastic but the other dishes were not that great. 

Pizzeria Pronto

Who would have thought that there would be a good pizza place in SM Bicutan. Located in the topmost floor. This little Italian gem has been quietly making a name for itself. Though we don’t like the name. It took us a while to try this place because of the location. Was it worth it? Read on.

Fried mozzarella-

 Cody : I love the size of the mozzarella pieces, they are not the usual finger length pieces, their version is bite size which I like better, served with a pomodoro sauce, the crust was crispy and the cheese was gooey.

Elle: Crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside.  It looks more like a rectangular piece of ready made chicken nuggets.  The sauce compliments the appetizer. 

 

Garlic Shrimp Pasta –

Cody: Cooked in olive oil,  garlic, mushroom and black olives, this pasta dish was not drowning in any tomato or cream sauce. The main ingredients were shrimp and garlic and those flavors stand out in the dish. The pasta was cooked al dente…as it should be everytime in any restaurant that serves pasta.

Elle: Not really a fan of oil based pasta.  This version was a bit bland but nevertheless still a good eat.

Four Cheese Pizza, half with Italian sausage –

Cody: Combination of blue, cream, parmesan and mozzarella cheeses. On a thin chewy and crispy crust. Love the crust, love the sauce, love the cheeses… great combination, great pizza.

Elle: I agree to the last bite. A great pizza.  Cheesy but not oily…a rare find. 

Bad name, excellent food, they have a branch in SM Megamall named Gotti. We havent tried the place yet. Will definitely be back to try the other food here.