Wang Fu Chinese Bistro

Just like two years ago, my final review for this year goes to a Chinese restaurant in UP Town Center. Wang Fu Chinese Bistro has already carved a name for itself among local foodies, partly because of its delicious fusion of Malay/Chinese/Singaporean cuisine, and partly because of its famous owner – Actor/Entrepreneur, Richard Yap (insert collective fangirl shrieking here). Together with his two business partners, Richard opened the first Wang Fu branch in Tomas Morato back in 2013. Since then, Wang Fu has opened up two more branches – One in UP Town Center, and one in Serendra.

Interior.

Menu: Dimsum (crystal ball dumpling, beef ball), Personal set meals, Roasting, Pork (crunchy sweet and sour pork with lychee, bacon cheese roll), Chicken (Wang Fu hainanese chicken, salted egg fried chicken), Beef (sliced beef with chili garlic), Prawns (pork floss prawns, cereal prawns), Seafood, Vegetables and tofu (emperor chop suey, seafood tofu with cheese soup, seafood green soup), Rice, Noodles (beef crispy fried noodles), Noodle soup (laksa seafood noodle soup).

Milo Dinosaur.

Hakaw.

Tausi Fish Fillet. The fish itself had a slight crisp to it, which I liked.

Singapore Style Tofu. Look at that lovely sizzling plate!

Their buttery Yang Chow Fried Rice.

Pork Chop with Chinese Style Mayo. The Chinese mayo gives this dish a nice, sweet finish to it – And there’s no hint of grease at all.

Wang Fu’s ambiance/dishes may not have the fanciest plating or use the priciest ingredients, but it’s still 60x better than most of the other Chinese restaurants that I’ve eaten in – I guess it’s due to the fact that it didn’t leave me feeling queasy, which is what usually happens when I eat too much Chinese food. I highly recommend this place.

Ambiance/Interior: 5/5
Staff/Service: 5/5
Food: 4/5 (taste), 3.5/5 (presentation)

Wang Fu Chinese Bistro is located at UP Town Center, Katipunan Ave., Loyola Heights, Quezon City. Links: Facebook.

L&L Hawaiian BBQ

L&L Hawaiian BBQ is a Hawaiian-based barbecue chain that serves a combination of Asian, American, and Hawaiian cuisine. L&L is actually the most popular food chain in Hawaii, and has over 200 locations across the globe. I had kept a watchful eye on this place ever since I saw that ‘opening soon’ sign at their flagship branch in Shangri-La, and probably a month after it opened up, I decided that it was the perfect time for me to visit. A friend of mine came here a few weeks ago before I did, and even though her dining experience here wasn’t that enjoyable, her opinion didn’t stop me from wanting to try out their dishes.

Interior.

Menu: Chicken plates, Beef plates, Pork plates, Combination plates, Seafood plates, Musubi

Loco Moco. This is a pretty huge serving, but it just fell flat. The meat was a little tough. Thank goodness they served it with gravy because everything lacked flavor.

Mom’s rather bland – Yet well-cooked – BBQ Chicken.

Well I guess it’s safe to say that my friend was right I’m sorry but this was a pretty huge disappointment, especially coming from a supposed international franchise. I feel like this resto could actually improve the quality of their food, if they can just cook it properly + Literally add more flavor to it.

Ambiance/Interior: 3/5
Staff/Service: 5/5
Food: 2.5/5 (taste), 3/5 (presentation)

L&L Hawaiian BBQ is located at 5/F Shangri-la Plaza Mall, Wack Wack, Mandaluyong. Tel no: (02) 650-3600.

The Morning After

“There’s got to be a morning afteeeeeeerrrrrr…”

That 70’s hit by Maureen McGovern was the first thing that came into my mind when I saw the name of this restaurant. The Morning After is only a tiny part of a gigantic new mall/entertainment center located behind Solenad 2, in Sta. Rosa, Laguna. This new area pretty much sprouted out of nowhere – It resembles UP Town Center (like most of Ayala’s malls) except it’s twice as big. Anyway, as expected, there were so many new restos to pick from, but I ended up choosing The Morning After because if you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you will know that I absolutely love diners/restaurants that serve 24/7 breakfast.

My only picture of the interior. Sorry! It was also quite crowded inside.

Menu: Pancake Corner (sweet trio pancakes, banana peanut butter pancakes) Waffles and More, French Toast, Pasta (truffle shiitake mushroom), Dessert (churros)

Chocolate Chip Latte for my drink.

Breakfast Maki – Hand-rolled maki with tamago, mango, and teriyaki-glazed spam dusted with togarashi and roasted goma. A tad bit spicy, but still good.

Crispy Chicken Fingers and Waffles – The ultimate soul food, consisting of fluffy corn waffles, and crispy fried chicken tenders served with gravy. The waffles had a bit of crisp, since they were toasted. The chicken was well-seasoned too.

This place looks really promising, and I can expect them opening up a couple more branches as the months go by. The food is already great, but I can also see them improving it soon enough.

Ambiance/Interior: 3/5
Staff/Service: 4.5/5
Food: 5/5 (taste) 4/5 (presentation)

The Morning After is located at Solenad 3, Nuvali, Santa Rosa – Tagaytay Road, Don Jose, Laguna. Tel no: 049 2580819.

Bag ‘O Shrimps

I know you guys are probably thinking… ‘Didn’t we already do this before’? Mind you, this is a different restaurant – Although thanks to its name/concept, sometimes one can’t help but compare the two of them and wonder if the similarity between these two was just plain coincidence, or not.

Anyway, Bag ‘O Shrimps is a seafood restaurant owned by a husband-and-wife team, whose main purpose of opening this restaurant was to give seafood lovers a completely new dining experience.

Interior.

Menu.

Shrimp Popcorn with zesty tartar sauce.

Fish Fingers – Flaky white fish served with tartar sauce, with potato chips on the side.

Clam Chowder. It was decent, to say the least.

Sweet Potato Fries. We didn’t even get to finish this. It lacked the subtle sweetness + chewiness that sweet potato fries usually have. In fact, it felt like I was eating a bag of (overcooked) French fries instead.

Ehhhh… I guess I expected too much from this restaurant because I was a bit disappointed. If I could recommend Bag ‘O Shrimps for something, it would be for those who want a somewhat good seafood meal at a cheap price.

Ambiance/Interior: 5/5
Staff/Service: 5/5
Food: 3/5 (taste) 3/5 (presentation)

Bag ‘O Shrimps is located at 3/F SM Megamall, Atrium , Doña Julia Vargas Ave Wack Wack, Mandaluyong. You can also find them at McKinley Hill. Links: Facebook.

Backyard Kitchen + Brew

Backyard Kitchen + Brew is a new restaurant owned by Chef Ed Bugia. Chef Ed successfully puts on a new twist to some comfort food classics, and not only that – The ingredients that he uses for the resto are all responsibly sourced from local farms. So you can be sure that the stuff that you eat in this restaurant is 100% delicious, not to mention, safe. Backyard has already opened a couple of branches since they first started out in 2014, but we ended up visiting the one in The Grove because it’s the nearest.

Interior.

Menu: Breakfast, Soups (sinigang na batchoy), Salads (tinapa and quinoa salad with honey balsamic vinegar), Sandwiches (backyard burger), Small plates (chicken lollipops with tequila lime glaze), Mains (kitayama t-bone steak), Garlic flat breads (4-cheese and truffles), Rice Bowls (roasted beef belly salpicao rice), Kiddie Meals, Desserts

Kitayama Beef Cheek and Brisket Pares – Local wagyu beef cheeks, beef brisket, homemade chili garlic oil, and garlic fried rice.

Waffle Breaded Fried Chicken – Waffle breaded fried chicken thighs, maple butter, sautéed kale, sriracha ketchup, and whipped bone marrow. You get to choose if you want it served with rice or toasted pieces of ciabatta bread (like what I did). The chicken was nice and juicy, but… IDK, I’ve gotten so used to Kettle’s boneless version with the syrup.

Pulled Pork Belly Rice – BBQ pulled pork, jalapeno peppers, sour cream, and fried egg served over a bed of garlic rice. Quite spicy, but still a great dish, overall – Although not as great as the pares.

Pizzookie – Baked to order chewy chocolate chip cookie, mantecado ice cream, and rock salt. Ahhh, a warm freshly-baked cookie topped with cold ice cream and drizzled with chocolate syrup. What could be more better than that? If there’s anything I enjoy more than a brownie ala mode, it’s a chocolate chip cookie ala mode.

I can see myself coming back to Backyard a couple of times to try more of their food. I saw several groups of friends and large families hanging out here when we ate here, so place is highly recommended if you want to have a nice, wholesome night out with either of the two.

Ambiance/Interior: 3.5/5
Staff/Service: 5/5
Food: 4.5/5 (taste), 5/5 (presentation)

Backyard Kitchen + Brew is located at The Grove by Rockwell, E Rodriguez Jr Ave Ugong, Pasig. Links: Facebook || Instagram: @backyard_ph.