Update: 07/10/2011 – Banchetto now operates from Tuesdays to Saturdays in 3 different locations. Please check the bottom of this post for the schedules.

After attending Magnolia’s Summer Bloggers party, we (my friend Badeth and her photo booth guys, my bro and I) headed over to Banchetto in Emerald Ave. in Ortigas.

Banchetto started out as a very popular late night food strip in Ortigas. They recently opened 2 more venues in Libis, Quezon City and at Pioneer in Mandaluyong City (more info at the bottom of the post).

Badeth and Kenneth at Banchetto

I’ve been reading a lot of raves about Banchetto and so I was pretty excited to check out all the food I can enjoy there. Oh, trust me, Banchetto is definitely any foodie’s heaven. You’ve got a lot of food choices. You can enjoy a full meal or something lighter if you’re on a diet. We even saw a stall selling food for vegetarians.

Okay, let the photos speak for me. Wipe off the drool after. Everything’s really mouth-watering!

I wanted to try the isaw since I haven’t had them for a very long time. But, I was a bit full after the buffet at the event we came from. Next time, I’ll make sure to not skip this.

My bro and I are coffee and pastry lovers. So, when we saw Good Farm’s booth in Banchetto-Emerald, we were so eager to try their products. We ordered their Coffee Brownies with Vanilla ice cream, priced at Php 35.00. The lady in black was the one who baked the brownies.

The brownies were really moist and chewy, just the way I like it. We were disappointed though ‘cause we were expecting a li’l more kick of coffee flavor. I guess we should’ve tried their Arabica Coffee brownies (Php 25).

If you work in Ortigas, Banchetto-Emerald is definitely a place you’d be frequenting a lot. You can save on your meal expenses because there are many food choices at very affordable prices. There are even packed meals you can buy, as pictured below.

What I also would love to come back for are all these grilled food at Banchetto. When I saw these huge squids being grilled, I felt my tummy grumble even when I know I’m still full. These are perfect for a quick late night drink with friends.

Have you ever had Tokneneng, one of the famous street food here in the Philippines? Tokneneng is usually quail eggs (itlog ng pugo) coated with orange-colored batter, deep-fried to crispiness. Some may say it’s actually chicken eggs and they’re bigger, but the tokneneng I know and love are the small ones.

I know how to cook tokneneng at home. It’s very simple, really. I mostly use sweet chili sauce with it, but I’m not that satisfied. The deep-fried eggs aren’t really flavorful since it’s just plain eggs, so the secret to good tokneneng is to enjoy it with rich, sweet and mildly spicy sauce.

Egg Station at Victory Mall in Monumento

My favorite store that sells tokneneng is Egg Station. We never fail to drop by their stall in Victory Mall in Monumento. I love, love, love their sauces. There’s even this one time that we took more sauce than we needed when we had tokneneng for takeout just so we can try to recreate it at home. *LoL*

Different choices of Egg Station sauces on the side

We discovered Egg Station one time when we were checking out the mattress sales in Monumento. I like their setup – you order and they have small plastic bowls covered with plastic bags for your orders. They have containers of sauces on each side of their stall. They even have this small table where customers can sit their bowls and eat away.

Egg Station Price list

Their prices are the cheapest I’ve seen. You get 4 pieces of tokneneng for only Php 10.00. You can order 1 piece of balut that’s also coated and deep-fried for the same price.

Egg Station sells tokneneng, kikiam, one day old chicken, balut, penoy, squid balls, siomai, etc.

They also sell penoy, one-day old chicken (awww… poor li’l things *LOL*), kikiam, squid balls, chicken balls and siomai. They have available drinks, too, selling at Php 12.00 a cup. But, we usually just buy tokneneng from them with lots of sauce. Hehehe.

Egg Station street food goodness

I’ll try to recreate their sauce here at home and I’ll share the recipe with you. Might come in handy when we finally open our own carinderia or eatery here at home.

Tokneneng from Egg Station

Do you have your own recipe of tokneneng sauce you’d want me to try? Please share them with me at the comments section. If you posted it on your blog, leave the link and will post it here. Thanks!

Enjoy!

Have you ever tried Takoyaki?

I’ve had Takoyaki from different food stands in malls, grocery shops, and food courts. I enjoy it so much and I never really researched on what it’s made of or how it’s prepared. All I knew back then was that it’s made out of batter and vegetables, and that I love it, especially with the special sauce they come with.

These are "FAKE" Takoyaki balls we bought from Greenhills.

However, the last time we were at SM Mall of Asia, we came upon this food stall just outside SM Hypermarket – Musashi Takoyaki.