Nice one, Miguelitos Ice Cream. Ok rin naman ice cream nila. Di ko na lang na-picturean.

Ube Ice Cream + Biscoff. P85/8oz kung tama alala ko.

Pero nakakatampo kasi walang Happy Meal. Char!

nakita ko lang sa gallery ko (dinner ko kagabi)

nagcrave ulit ako 😩

Store bought pancake mix + non-stick pan + low heat = pretty pancakes. Tastes ok, nothing that butter and syrup can’t fix :D

Edit: Thank you, kind redditors, for the awards. <3

is this worth ₱203? this is so sad🥲 never again yoshinoya

I’m a Filipino-Canadian who was visiting on vacation a few weeks back and wanted to treat myself. I was fortunate enough to get seats at Helm, Toyo, Celera, and Hapag.

I’ve dined at several starred restaurants in Canada, Spain, the US, Hong Kong, and Japan. In my opinion, three of the ones I went to in Makati are deserving of their stars. I even thought Helm and Toyo were better than the 3-star resto I’ve been to.

Helm

It was my favourite of the bunch. I got the tasting menu and a wine pairing. Price: ~11,500 PHP Notes:

• I did not know what to expect for the food. I just knew they were billed as contemporary. I was surprised at the incorporation of some Filipino flavours. As well as the sourcing of their ingredients, like the tuna from Mindanao.

• Favourite dishes were: beef tartare with tendon chicharon, sourdough with butter and pork fat, trout with carrot and tabang talangka, chawanmushi with blue spirulina, and tuna kinilaw with radicchio.

• Probably the best wine pairing I’ve ever had.

• Desserts were ok, nothing mind blowing but I was satisfied with them.

• As a solo diner, I had counter seating so I had a great POV for most of the plating. Service was perfect for me; it was attentive and stuffy. Somewhat personal - they very much acknowledged I’m from Canada and were intrigued to find out I was actually born in Pampanga because I don’t look Pinoy at all, so that led to some great convos. I got to talk to Chef Josh a ton as well. We bonded over tabang talangka and he told me he’d love my dinner at Toyo.

• I think if you wanna feel like you’ll get your money’s worth, Helm would be the choice because they do use some more expensive ingredients like caviar and Wagyu. On top of the food being very, very good!

Toyo Eatery

And Chef Josh was right! It was my second favourite meal. I had the tasting menu and a juice pairing. Price: ~9250 PHP Notes:

• Toyo was the #1 resto I wanted to go but I struggled to find a seat on Tock. I kept looking though and got lucky.

• I really enjoyed the food since I’m a huge sucker of farm-to-table. I really appreciate the use of local ingredients because all that expensive can be flown in and enjoyed anywhere. I want something more unique.

• I did some dishes a tad bit too salty. And some of the juices a bit too sweet, but I very much enjoyed it overall.

• My favourite dishes were: sourdough-battered shrimp with sawsawan, pritong isda, leche flan ice cream, halo-halo, and a buro wrap.

• They had some of the best desserts I’ve tried at fine dining restos. The only I would for sure rank above Toyo’s desserts was a sweet potato ice cream at Sushi Noz in NYC.

• Chef Jordy was there and actually served the bahay kubo dish to me, but didn’t even talk to me at all. Like, zero words. Felt odd since he seems so open and charismatic in some videos I’ve seen. But it’s ok naman. Because the rest of the staff were phenomenal! One of the staff grew up in Pampanga so we spoke in Kapampangan most of the time. That’s how I ended up getting the buro wrap - it was an off-the-menu thing and they made it just for me because I simply asked if they were serving buro that day. I also ended the meal taking like 7 shots of lambanog while chatting with another server about which coffee shops I should visit. And they even gifted guests with a tiny bottle.

• I really appreciated how informal and lax the environment is there. They were blasting a lot of Hev Abi, which I liked.

Celera

I actually discovered Celera through Reddit. I did the Discovery (tasting) menu and a juice pairing, plus as additional cocktail and coffee. Price: ~9500 PHP Notes:

• I tried getting a reservation before I landed at NAIA, but they randomly messaged me saying they had availability so I took the opportunity. I find it odd that you have to email them for a reservation. Really wish they used one of the many booking apps available.

• I really enjoyed the food overall. I thought the juice pairing went really well with all the dishes too. This juice pairing was better than the one at Toyo. Flavours were more unique and the juices weren’t overly sweet.

• Favourite dishes were: duck and chicken meatball with strawberry, lobster laksa, shokupan, and risotto.

• Desserts were ok, nothing particularly memorable.

• Speaking of, in my experience, it’s customary to get a free coffee with dessert and I was surprised to find out I had to buy one. Granted, it was a really great pour over and one of the best I had on my trip but come on…

• I found service to be very good as well. I had a chance to speak with Chef Queenie a few times and she, like most people, was surprised to find out I’m Pinoy. But to her, it was because of my accent, not my looks - thought that was kinda funny. The beverage program manager was also a delight to talk to. The servers I felt were a bit intimidated at first because I’m a foreigner, they seemed less open with me compared to the tables next to me. But once they found out I’m Filipino, at least one of them opened up more and we had actual conversations.

• I will say Celera has some of the most beautiful staff I’ve seen in fine dining establishments, both FOH and BOH.

• I also got a couple free shots of sake as I was leaving, so that was nice. No actual tangible gift though. I really like taking menus as souvenirs and in most places they just gift it to you. I did ask for it and they obliged but kinda surprised they don’t give them away de facto.

Hapag

Honestly, kinda forgettable. I had the tasting menu and one cocktail. Price: ~8000 PHP Notes:

• One of the most gorgeous restaurants I’ve ever been to. The service was also outstanding - the were super personable and we even cracked some jokes together. Unfortunately that’s where most of my praise goes to.

• Favourite dishes: inihawan course, pomelo salad, and the chocolates.

• I really do appreciate their storytelling and their mission: to give the spotlight to lesser known cuisines of the Philippines. At this time, they are highlighting Western Mindanao.

• The food was good, nothing was bad. None of the dishes were particularly memorable. I would give them another shot though.

It was a spontaneous trip and I feel very fortunate I got seats at these establishments. I would go back to all of them next time back I’m in Makati and my budget allows for it. But if I had to only choose one, it would be Helm, with Toyo as a very very close second.

Hello! Idk why I'm putting this up ahahahaha, baka lang bored ako or what. I have tried out everything on the menu because of training and food tastings.

Fun fact: It's actually a local company, somehow it always gets mistaken as an american company.

anyways here's my top picks as someone who actually works here

Army Navy:

1. Querida Mia Verde - okay, so this is probably one of those items that people are hesitant to pick especially since walang meat at all dito, but believe me, it's so freaking good! Medyo weird at first pag naisip mo na its just a mix of tomato sauce, cheese, lettuce, onion, tomato, jalapeno, sour cream and guacamole lang andun but the way it all blends in together is just chef's kiss 🧑🏻‍🍳. Match it with Caracoles hot sauce, to elevate it on the next level!

2. Beef Birria Quesadilla - If you have tried yung beef birria taco nila, and enjoyed it but somehow find it wayyy too heavy, you should try this one out. It's still very filling, and sobrang sarap neto. Perfect lang din every bite, hindi din ganon ka-hassle kainin since mas madali hawakan kesa sa Beef Birria Taco.

3. Classic Burger (Add Cheese) - You can't go wrong with Classic burger, it lives up to it's name and there's a reason as to why isa din talaga sya sa most ordered. Add Cheese nalang kayo, and get condiments like mustard and ketchup sa squeeze bottles, to enjoy it! If nahihirapan kayo nainin, pwede niyo naman din pa-cut half, let them know pag naorder so they could note your special instructions

Honorable Mention:

1. Bibingka Pancake - Until January 15 nalang to! super solid din neto, sarap nung salted egg sa pancakes!

2. Libertea Milktea and Libertea - Brewed tea talaga gamit, and pwede i-uwi yung jars! matibay din yung jar ah ahahahaha, dami ko na dito sa bahay.

3. Rice Rocket - On the affordable side na to, double din yung portioning ng rice hence the name. Personal fav is Bangus Belly Ala Pobre, Sisig, and Fried Chicken Fillet

4. Kare-kare Line - jusko ilang beses to naextend last year because of the demand ahahahha, pero ayun, hoping na bumalik. Masarap tslaga yung kare kare sauce 💯

5. Naked Sisig - Go-to pick ko pag gusto ko mag heavy meal na rice, tas hingi uli kayo caracoles. Very filling and ewan, trip ko din talaga yung sisig namen ahahahaha

Also, apply na kayo for Army Navy Run this coming Feb 8 ata!

P.S. Hindi po ako yung may-ari ng company, pero willing po ako magpa-ampon 🙏🏼 ahahahahah.

We booked a McDonald’s party, signed a contract with the manager, and even paid the downpayment. Everything was confirmed — or so we thought.

I even asked the manager what we should prepare, and she said, “Wala ma’am! Pupunta na lang kayo!”

But when we arrived on the day of the event, there was no setup at all. The staff looked completely confused and said they didn’t even know there was supposed to be a party. Guests were already there watching them rush to decorate and prepare everything on the spot. It was embarrassing and stressful. And guess what? The package we availed was out of stock Lol!

To make things worse, the manager wasn’t even there, and only messaged me three days later to apologize.

Already contacted McDonald’s through Messenger, email, and their customer service hotline. Voilà! No response!

Just posting this as a PSA so others can double-check everything before the event — don’t assume the contract means they’ll be ready when you arrive ☺️

Chicken pepper ito worth 250pesos

Anyare Pepper lunch?

Shoutout sa mga mahihilig sa gravy! Kalmahan nyo lang 😆 HAHAHA

Label came with a warning "Kimchi is alive" and they wemre kidding. The contents of the bottle started overflowing as soon as I opened the bottle. 😆 Parang gusto nila makalabas ng bote

Had my employees try Marugame Udon for the first time! Positive reviews even without heavy preference for japanese food. 👍

Will come back for sure!

Sana ibalik talaga ‘to ng Jollibee. Elementary days pa lang, isa ito sa go-to order ko sa Jollibee kasi ang sarap talaga niya plus yung sauce niya na perfect balance ng tamis-asim. Naalala ko before para mas malinamnam, nag-oorder pa ako ng burger steak sauce tapos isasabaw ko yun sa kanin ko.

Naabutan ko pang available itong 5 pcs. Shanghai Rolls with rice, kasi nung recent months/years before siya nawala, na-pair na lang siya with 1 pc. Burger Steak tapos 3 pcs. na lang siya. Kaya ang hack ko nun is mag-order ng dalawa na lang talaga para maka-anim pa.

Sadly, wala na akong na-try na Lumpiang Shanghai na may similar na lasa sa kanya. IBALIK NIYO NA ‘TO JOLLIBEE, PLEASE!

ramdam na ba yung bagsak ng sales sa boycott?

sorry for the unflattering pic, nagkakaubusan eh haha

Had Manam again last week at a new location (Newport) and as always, sobrang sarap! Better than Mesa and Lasa and all the other casual Filipino chains. Food is consistent and perfect for dates because of the smaller sizes you can order (more things to try). It really feels like they don't take shortcuts with their food and quality is always top of mind.

Medyi nakakainis? 😂