Highway Ribbery Grille: Haven of Criminally Delicious Comfort Food

After a long and exhausting day at work, most people combat stress by stuffing their mouths full of delicious and filling food. We are guilty as charged! My sister and I are big stress eaters, and it’s  a crime we’re more than happy to repeatedly commit at restaurants that serve straightforward comfort food like Highway Ribbery Grille in Quezon City—the latest brainchild of Chef Niño Runas, who is the same chef behind El Cangrejo in Tomas Morato.

Highway Ribbery Grille Restaurant in Quezon City

 

Highway Ribbery Grille

Highway Ribbery Grille first opened its doors May of 2015 and has become one of the newest and hippest hangout place to hit La Loma, Quezon City. Its industrial-themed interior design, together with the wooden tables and chairs, delivered a rustic yet modern appeal. The restaurant is not air-conditioned, but don’t worry; they have enough cooling fans to keep the area at a tolerable and comfortable temperature. They also have more tables on the second floor, including a rentable function room that can accommodate up to 35 people.

Highway Ribbery Grille Restaurant Dining Area in Quezon City

For our refreshments, my Nanay and I ordered two glasses of their House Blend Iced Tea (PHP 125), which arrived ice-cold and had this super refreshing citrusy flavor. Mhel, on the other hand, asked for a bottle of the Belgian craft beer, Brew Kettle (PHP 55), that turned out to be incredibly light and tasty. Highway Ribbery Grille has a limited line-up of alcoholic beverages, since they want the restaurant to become more of a dining joint than an inuman spot. Aside from Brew Kettle, the other beer they offer is San Miguel Light for PHP 50 a bottle.

Beverages at Highway Ribbery Grille Restaurant Quezon City

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Nadai Fujisoba: No Ramen Here, Just Soba and Udon

Last month, I took my Nanay out to see a movie. We still had an hour to waste before the screening, so we decided to have dinner first. We headed down to the ground floor of SM North EDSA The Block because I remembered a number of restaurants are scheduled to open in February. When we got there, we saw two new Japanese restaurants standing adjacent to each other. It was a tough choice to make, but we ended up choosing Nadai Fujisoba since my Nanay wanted to eat some ramen (or so we thought).

Nadai Fujisoba Japanese Restaurant SM North EDSA The Block

When we were handed the menu, I asked the server what their bestselling flavor of ramen is. She was quick to inform us that they don’t serve ramen and that they only use udon and soba for their noodles. At that point, I still had no idea what she was talking about. It turns out, udon is a thick noodle made from wheat flour, while soba is thin and made using buckwheat. Well, I was extremely glad I learned something new about Japanese cuisine that day.

Nadai Fujisoba is a popular restaurant chain in Japan, which was established in 1966. The Philippines is only the second country they have entered after Taiwan. Now they have five branches in Metro Manila: Bonifacio High Street, Lucky Chinatown Mall, SM Aura Premier, SM Mall of Asia, and SM North EDSA The Block.

Dining Area of Nadai Fujisoba Japanese Restaurant SM North EDSA The Block

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Experience Japan’s Sakura Season at Tokyo Bubble Tea

For hundreds of years, the Japanese people have been observing their “Hanami” tradition, where they enjoy picnics under the blooming cherry blossom trees during Japan’s spring season. Travelers all over the world are packing their bags to join in on the celebration. But like the most of us, we don’t have the free time and—let’s admit—the financial capacity to splurge on a trip just to witness Japan’s iconic Sakura Season. But don’t fret; Tokyo Bubble Tea has finally brought the Sakura Season right to the Philippines with their newest offerings—the Sakura Bento Trays and Sakura JCC Milk Teas.

Facade of Tokyo Bubble Tea in SM North EDSA The Block Quezon City

 

Tokyo Bubble Tea at SM North EDSA The Block

I dragged my good friend, Rose Ann, with me since she’s more familiar with the Japanese culture. She’s an online English tutor and it’s her amazing job to talk with Japanese people all day. We visited the Tokyo Bubble Tea at SM North EDSA The Block in Quezon City for it’s the branch nearest to us.

Interior of Tokyo Bubble Tea SM North EDSA The Block Quezon City

Upon entering their store, we were greeted by their very accommodating staff. One was even game enough to strike a pose for a picture. This branch has limited seating capacity. I remember my family deciding to have dinner here one time, but we had to wait 15 minutes to get seated because the place was jam-packed with customers. I was also quite surprised with their cake display, since the last time we were here, they only had a handful of cakes to choose from. Now they’re selling more than 10 varieties of cakes, and they all look so sweet and delicious!

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Seoul Garden in SM North Edsa : Review

We were supposed to write a year-ender post for 2011 featuring our top favorite restaurants, food products and/or recipes/dishes we prepared, but since we still had a ton more reviews we haven’t posted yet, we decided to skip it this year and will do one next year instead. One of these uber delayed reviews is of Seoul Garden in SM North Edsa Annex.

Seoul Garden at SM Annex in North Edsa - CertifiedFoodies.com

When Ken and I have time to spare or we need to relax after hours of shopping, we usually end up at buffet style or eat-all-you-can restaurants. Though we spend a lot of time together at home, sometimes, talking about tasks seem to be more effective when we do it somewhere else. That afternoon in July 2011, we had hours to spare because we were scheduled for a Harry Potter movie screening late in the evening. Ken insisted he wanted to watch on the first day so we ended up with the last screening time. 😐

We decided to check out the restaurants at the newly-renovated SM Annex building. First restaurant we considered was Seoul Garden because, at that time, it was the least busy of all the places there.

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Straightforwardly Filipino : A Satisfying Lunch at Chef Tatung Garden Cafe

“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.

Chef Myke 'Tatung' Sarthou telling us more about his style of cooking at his garden cafe

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.

Outside Chef Tatung's Garden Cafe

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.

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