"Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all.”
-Harriet Van Horne

If you’re a regular follower of our blog, you may know now that I have exchanged a career in nursing for an unknown future in the culinary industry. I’ll be honest; there were times when I had doubts if I’ve made the right decision of switching careers, but I always find inspiration from people who have experienced the same things that I’ve been through and have become successful. One of them is Chef Myke "Tatung” Sarthou of Tatung’s Garden Cafe, who decided to brush aside writing and production work to put on a chef’s garb and start a restaurant business.

Hidden along the residential community of Sikatuna Village in Quezon City, a home-turned-restaurant stands with a luscious menu offering a modern take on Filipino Cuisine.

It’s a rainy Saturday morning when we were invited for a lunch at Tatung’s Garden Café. The façade gives little clue that there’s actually a restaurant inside.

Chef Tatung truly understands Filipino cuisine. He shared that Filipinos eat with flavors that are close to nature, and that our cooking is greatly influenced by our environment. That is the reason why in creating his dishes, he made sure that his food tastes like what they really are. A chicken dish should taste like it’s made of chicken. It’s as simple as that.

Manila Diamond Hotel’s award-winning Japanese restaurant Yurakuen is proudly offering a totally unique Teppanyaki Eat-All-You-Can experience for all us buffet lovers out there. Instead of getting food from buffet spreads and cooking them on your table’s hot pot and griddles, Yurakuen lets you sit back and relax as you watch your personal chefs prepare food at your very own tables.

Available during lunch and dinner, enjoy the Teppanyaki Eat-All-You-Can with unlimited flow of local drinks, local beer, and Japanese Kirin beer, all for the price of Php 1,970++ per person. My sister, Mhel, and I got to experience it ourselves when they invited us to experience a Teppanyaki dinner. It may be a little pricey, but we can seriously say that it’s worth every penny! Not convinced? Let me walk you through it.

First, above are photos of the long lists of food you can order with the Teppanyaki Eat-All-You-Can promo (click to zoom), which include appetizers, soups, noodles, meat dishes, and even desserts!

A few weeks ago, my nanay and I went out for our much-needed mother-daughter date. I had four vouchers bought from CashCashPinoy for 52% off on food and drinks from Dillinger’s 1903 Steak Brew restobar in Greenbelt 3. After hours of pampering from rO2 Beauty and Wellness Center, we were starving so we headed straight to the restaurant.

Upon our arrival on the third floor of Greenbelt 3, we immediately saw Dillinger’s 1903. Okay, I asked a guard for the exact location. It was beside Red Box. And as soon as we got there, I couldn’t help but admire the design of the outside of the restaurant.

The wooden doors, the brick wall, the mix of hues of black, gold and gray, and the wide glass windows are reminiscent of something you’d see in a mafia movie. So, let’s go inside…

Most of us look forward to Friday. It’s the end of a busy week and, at the same time, the start of a well-deserved weekend for all those who hustle and bustle at school or at work. It’s the ultimate day for relaxation and enjoyment. But, guess what, we don’t really need to wait for Friday just to have fun. With T.G.I. Friday’s infectious energy and with their excellent food and customer service, everyone would feel like it’s Friday every single day of the week!

T.G.I. Friday’s Maxim: “In here, it’s always Friday.”

After more than 15 years since setting up their first in 1994, T.G.I. Friday’s opens a new branch in Eastwood City, Libis. This is their 13th and now considered as their new flagship branch since it’s the location where the brand has decided to implement major changes in architectural and interior design.

It is the first free-standing Friday’s branch. All of the other branches, as we all have known, are located in major shopping malls around the Metro.

Facade of T.G.I. Friday’s Eastwood City in Libis

From outside, the facade looks bright and very inviting. They have replaced the old canopies and awnings with movie theater-like sheds, giving the place a more modern feel.

Almost everyone who comes to Friday’s has their own camera, and surely they wouldn’t be able to resist having their pictures taken with these life-size models of Superman; the king of rock and roll, Elvis Presley; and the iconic, Marilyn Monroe.

Superman, My cam-whore sis, Mhel, with Marilyn Monroe, and Elvis Presley.

Friday’s is known for having an “artistic clutter” of memorabilia from decades as early as the ‘30s. Now they have decided to move forward in time by including pieces from later decades like the ‘80s, ‘90s, and even from the new millennium.

We know, this is an uber late post. But, we still think it’s worth posting about our top picks for UTT 6. It’s better late than never, I guess. Stay tuned for our faves the last UTT 7 at Mercato.

We first told you about our experience at the Ultimate Taste Test in Rockwell. Now, let us share with you all the yummy food we had that day.

It took us a couple of days to finalize our top picks for the Ultimate Taste Test because we couldn’t agree on all of our choices. That’s what you get when you have 2 people (and siblings) with different tolerance to flavor intensities and with varying preferences. So, we agreed to not rank anything and just feature the ones we absolutely loved and those that were worth mentioning.

But, before we continue, please take note that we only got to taste what 38 out of 55 food suppliers have to offer.

Without further ado, in no particular order, here are our Top Picks for the Ultimate Taste Test 6.0 in Rockwell, starting with the sweet stuff…

Sweet Delights

Carmen’s Best and Holly’s Milk

Paco Magsaysay, the owner of Carmen’s Best Ice Cream and Holly’s Milk, was the very first food supplier who approached us. Even before we got to taste his products, we were totally convinced!

We first got to try the Salted Caramel and Coffee flavored ice cream (sorry, we didn’t get to take a photo of the actual product ). And let us tell yah it was the creamiest ice cream we’ve ever had! We both nodded at each other in total agreement.

Paco proudly continued on to tell us that their ice cream and milk are all fresh, even using this very catchy tagline “From Cow to Cone”. And you can truly taste the freshness from the milk and the ice cream. The flavors and creaminess of the spoonfuls of frozen delights served to us lingered in our mouths.

They don’t have this available in supermarkets yet so if you want to have a taste of their products, contact them to order:

Carmen’s Best
Contact info: 809-2042 or cb_icecream@yahoo.com
Carmen’s Best on Facebook

Holly’s Milk
Contact info: 813-1385 / Website: http://www.hollysmilk.com/ Holly’s Milk on Facebook

Update: They were the #1 pick by the UTT 6.0 foodies! Congrats!

For most local restaurants in the Philippines, surviving 10 years in the business can already be considered an amazing achievement, which gives Mario’s restaurant all the reason to celebrate for lasting an astounding 40 years in the industry.

Mario’s: A History

Mario Benitez’ great passion for customer service married well with Nenuca’s perfect execution of her family’s long tradition of Spanish cuisine, which, together, gave birth to the establishment of the very first Mario’s Restaurant in 1971 along Session Road in Baguio.

Former location of the original Mario’s restaurant, where a branch of KFC now stands.

After the original venue got burned down, Mario’s transferred to a more open and spacious location.

It didn’t take long until the restaurant received great reviews from both locals and vacationers alike, some even encouraging the couple to branch out in the big city of Manila. Finally in 1974, the Benitez Family, confident that their fusion of Filipino and Spanish cuisine will have a special place in the hearts of the Manileños, opened the doors of their second branch situated along the bustling streets of Tomas Morato, Quezon City.

The façade of Mario’s in Tomas Morato, Quezon City.