East Cafe

Okay, sooooo… Prior to this review, I had no idea that this restaurant even existed. I ended up in Shang with my family today, and I was pretty much stumped since I have reviewed almost all of the Shang restaurants included in my handy-dandy list. And at the same time, I won’t be able to leave the house the next day because of work-related things, so I couldn’t postpone the review to tomorrow.

… Luckily, East Cuisine was there to the rescue! This is an Asian resto owned by chef Him Uy De Baron – Yep, the same guy behind Nomama, I am Kim, and Makansutra. The reason why this place is so new to me is because it’s located inside Rustan’s department store – The only time we ever get to step inside that place is when we’re doing our Christmas shopping. Other than that, I just like looking at the pretty displays by the entrance of the store. The shops/shoppers intimidate me too much. >_<

Interior.

Menu: Starters, Mains, East Style Maki, Noodles, Salads, Sashimi, Sandwiches, Sushi, Donburi, Dessert, Sides.

Tonkatsu Sandwich – Deep fried pork loin with special sauce on wheat bread. The katsu itself was a bit tough, but I still finished the whole thing. Comes with a side of sweet potato fries.

Pork Gyoza – Ground pork in sesame oil with cabbage wrapped in pot sticker. Not bad!

Shrimp and Pork Wanton noodle soup – Fresh egg noodles with shrimp and pork. According to mom, the broth was a tad too salty for her liking.

Since they’re still relatively new, I’ll be giving them another chance – I’m pretty sure they can improve the quality of their food. And they should, considering their location. But for now, everything just tastes ‘meh’ to me.

Ambiance/Interior: 3.5/5
Staff/Service: 4.5/5
Food: 3/5 (taste), 3/5 (presentation)

East Cafe is located at Rustan’s, Level 2, Shangri-La Plaza, Ortigas, Mandaluyong City. Tel no: 6334636.

Duck & Buvette

So I’m going to be doing a review of a Shangri-La restaurant again after a long while, and this time, it’s for Duck & Buvette, a French restaurant that specializes in duck (obviously). Prior to our meal here at D&B, I have never really known what duck meat actually tasted like – The only time I ever get to eat it is when I’m at a fancy Chinese restaurant, in which they serve thin slices of Peking duck accompanied by spring pancakes, scallions, and sweet bean sauce. And as much as I would love to eat duck as often as I could, my parents wouldn’t allow me to do so because of the high fat content. But now, I’ll finally get the chance to acquaint myself with this fine fowl – Just prepared in a different way this time.

Aside from the aforementioned duck, D&B also specializes in pizzas, pastas, meat dishes and buvettes – These are small dishes that are meant to be eaten as an appetizer. D&B was supposed to be one of my main choices for this blog’s upcoming anniversary in October, but I guess I’m going to have to pick another restaurant for that occasion…

We were seated outside so not a lot of interior pics here…

Menu: Mains (Confit of pork belly with egg and rice, Veal shank and smacked corn, Eight-hour angus briskets), D&B Specials (Slow braised beef burgundy, USDA prime paleron steak), Buvette, Bites (Truffle roasted cauliflower), Cured meats (Brandade de bacalao dip, Maple candied bacon and lemon), Salads and soups (Grilled romaine salad, Grilled octopus salad), Fried and Grilled (Salsa verde lamb neck), Bakery (Wild sourdough bread basket), Sourdough Pizza, Sandwiches (Duck fat angus burger, Bikini sandwich)

And here’s their dessert menu.

Bistro French Onion Soup – Homemade beef broth, caramelized onions, crusty sourdough bread, and melted gruyere cheese.

Crispy Potato Pave and Salted Duck Egg – Cubes of fried potato layers, topped with salty duck egg and crème fraiche. Not too bad, except it could use a little more salt.

And the piece de resistance… The D&B Crispy Half Duck Confit – Half-duck confit served with whole grain mustard, red wine sauce, ratatouille duck rice, and cranberry carrot sides. Just… Look at this thing of beauty. That’s a whole duck! And like I said earlier, it’s my first time to try out this kind of duck dish, with the skin/bones and all. It pretty much tasted like chicken, except the meat was more tender and tasted much gamier. I could practically feel the cholesterol coursing through my veins as I ate this dish with the duck rice, but I didn’t really care.

For dessert, we had the Nutella Waffle – With almonds, whipped cream, and chocolate chips. Mmmm, mmmm, mmmmmm. D&B’s Liege waffles are all made from fermented dough, French butter, and pearl sugar. This went really well with our drinks: The Brazilian Black Cat Analog coffee and Masala Chai Tea Latte from Intelligentsia coffee, a famous coffee shop franchise from Los Angeles.

I feel like this was such a refreshing change from the other restaurants that I’ve been to for the past couple of weeks. I never in my entire life even thought that I’d get the opportunity to try fried duck (I really want to thank our waiter for the recommendation)! Maybe I could visit a restaurant that serves a whole turkey next time? Hehe. Anyway, I’m sorta glad that we went all out on this meal… Everything was a bit expensive, yes, but it’s totally worth it.

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

Duck & Buvette is located at 2/F Shangri-la Plaza Mall, Main Wing, Shaw Blvd Wack Wack, Mandaluyong. Tel no: (02) 631-0675. Links: Facebook || IG: @duckbuvette.

TWG Tea Salon & Boutique

(As with most birthday entries, this post is pic-heavy.)

Alright lads and lassies, bring out your dainty china cups, saucers, sugar cubes and fresh milk – Because it’s time for some tea! I had my (late) birthday lunch at TWG in Shang earlier, and it feels refreshing to not celebrate it in a Japanese or Korean restaurant for once. Hehe. Tea is one of my favorite drinks. It was actually one of the things that I didn’t like at first when I was little, but eventually came to love as I grew up.

TWG, which stands for The Wellness Group, started out in Singapore – A country known for exporting and importing tea leaves of the finest quality. Now known as an institution when it comes to tea-making, TWG is very passionate about tea and sends their tasters to different parts of the globe, in order to sample different brews. TWG has over 800 variants of exclusive blends and fine harvest tea drinks, as well as delicious desserts and dishes that are sure to go well with this beloved beverage.

If there’s one thing that I love about TWG, it’s their interior.

Menu: All day dining, Main courses, Crepes, Desserts, Tea ice creams and sorbets, Tea time, Tea cocktails and mocktails, Wines and champagnes.

They also have this fancy gold book that tells you in great detail about the restaurant’s history, and how their teas are made.

Eggs Benedict – Homemade toasted English muffins topped with two poached farmhouse eggs, served with creamy hollandaise sauce. I had the turkey ham version. The muffins were a bit tough, but it was still fine to me. I pretty much ate almost everything on my plate, including the salad/alfalfa sprouts.

TWG Tea Lasagna – Beef ragout with TWG’s signature homemade tomato and fresh basil sauce infused with Moroccan Mint Tea. It came with this huge and chewy bread roll.

We had their famous English Breakfast Tea. This was accompanied by a tray that had two freshly-baked Scones, with whipped cream and TWG’s own tea jelly. We were nearly fresh out of tea when the scones were served, which is a shame since the tea and scones/cream/jelly tasted really good together.

Of course we couldn’t leave the place without trying out their famous Macarons, which are flavored with some of TWG’s more popular tea variants – Here is the Moroccan Mint (right), and the Vanilla Bourbon Tea & Kaya (left). We ordered two more flavors for takeout – Vanilla Strawberry, and Buttered Popcorn, kept in a nice little box.

Well, what else can I say? Everything about this place just screamed sophistication and class. Although I sadly can’t imagine myself coming to this place on a regular basis (because of my budget hehe), it was still pretty cool that we got to dine in a place like this. Definitely one of the more memorable entries in this blog, for sure.

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

TWG Tea Salon & Boutique is located at Shangri-la Plaza Mall, East Wing, Shaw Blvd Wack Wack, Mandaluyong. Tel no: (02) 654-1421. Links: Official Website || Official Facebook || PH 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.

Poetry & Prose

Poetry and Prose is a quaint, elegant-looking French patisserie located at Shangri-La Mall. The spot that they’re currently occupying used to be the location of one of my favorite restaurants, Fish & Co. I read somewhere that Poetry and Prose is owned by the same people behind Nomama, so I assumed that this place would serve some good quality meals and desserts.

Interior. Very cozy, highly appropriate for dates, hehe. The walls are also decorated with several quotes about food and baking.

Menu: Petit Dejuner, Pasta, Verts Grais, Les Quiches, Soupes, Pain Perdu, Les Crepes, Les Croques et les Oeufs Benedictines, The Anglaise, De la Patisseries.

Beignets – Puffy French donuts served with a side of chocolate and vanilla sauces. It’s my first time to try this classic French pastry, and I have to say that the donuts could use a little more puffiness. Still delicious and filling, though.

Truffled Egg Toast – Egg yolk embedded in a thick cheese toast, drizzled with truffle oil. Hmmm. It was… Decent? This looks like a dish that I could easily make at home. The toast was a bit burnt too.

Beef Stroganoff – Tender strips of beef sautéed in butter and whisked with sour cream and herbed sauce, served with al dente pasta. The beef was alright, and for some reason I’m glad that it was served warm to our table.

I’m sorry, but I have to say that the food here is ridiculously overpriced. The dishes that we tried weren’t even that special to begin with, honestly speaking. I guess if I were to come here again, it would be for the cakes or pastries.

Ambiance/Interior: 4.5/5
Staff/Service: 4/5
Food: 4/5 (taste), 3.5/5 (presentation)

Poetry & Prose Patisserie is located at Shangri-la Plaza Mall, Shaw Blvd Wack Wack, Mandaluyong. Links: Facebook.

Gyu-Kaku

Gyu-Kaku is known as the world’s number one yakiniku restaurant, in both Japan and around the world. They opened up their very first franchise in Japan back in 1997, and now have more than 500 outlets scattered across the globe. In the Philippines, they currently have two branches open – One in Shang, and one in BGC. As a fan of Japanese/Korean barbecue, I’ve always wanted to come here so I can see how great their food is.

Interior.

Menu: Appetizers, Salad, Vegetables, Warai set, Fuku set, Wagyu beef, Seafood, Rice, Noodles, Soup, Desserts.

Unfortunately we had to skip the grill because we didn’t have enough cash at that time (or maybe certain people just didn’t want to try them out even though that’s the restaurant’s main specialty <_< Sorry for ranting, but what’s the point of dining here if we won’t be able to try out their barbecue? Grrr.)

Fried Gyoza – Filled with meat and vegetables. Loved the fact that it was topped with bonito flakes.

Crispy Pork Belly – Deep-fried breaded pork belly, with a vinegar dipping sauce. I absolutely loved the combination between the pork’s crispiness and the sour, tangy flavors of the vinegar. And even though this was a deep-fried dish, I didn’t’ feel all queasy afterwards.

Spicy Karubi Ramen – Stir-fried short ribs with spicy chili oil, in beef soup. This is the only time that I got to try Gyu-Kaku’s delicious grilled beef. <_< Anyway, the dish wasn’t too bad – The noodles were firm, and I could deal with the spiciness of the soup.

Chicken Katsudon – A bowl of rice topped with a deep-fried chicken cutlet, covered with egg, vegetables, and special sauce.

Tofu Steak – Breaded fried tofu with vegetables and Japanese steak sauce. Tofu cubes were firm, and the sauce had lots of flavor.

Our experience here at Gyu-Kaku was decent, at best. The food was delicious, but the serving sizes were a little bit too small, and, as I mentioned earlier, I feel like we could’ve had an even better experience here if we ordered their beef and ended up using one of their grills instead.

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

Gyu-Kaku is located at Shangri-la Plaza Mall, East Wing, Shaw Blvd Wack Wack, Mandaluyong. (02) 631-7243. Links: Official Philippine Website || Official Website || Facebook

Lombardi’s

Before heading off to mass, my parents and I had lunch/dinner at this Italian restaurant called Lombardi’s, which I’ve always wanted to try out for a while now. Lombardi’s promises to take their diners to the heart of Italy itself, by serving them fuss-free, non-intimidating, genuine Italian fare that is both simple, yet sophisticated at the same time.

Interior.

Menu: Pasta (dry, fresh), Pizza, Unlimited cakes and coffee, Insalate, Antipasti, Zuppe, Icantorini (farinacci, verdure), Mains.

Bread + Oil dip for our appetizer.

Pizza Al Salumi – Tomato sauce, mozzarella with Italian ham, prosciutto, salame Milano and coppa. Had a nice, chewy crust, but overall, it didn’t really impress me that much.

Linguine Alla Carbonara – Linguine with Italian pancetta, parmesan cheese, and cream. Only got to try one bite, but it wasn’t too bad? It had a sweet finish to it.

Ravioli – Italian dumpling with meat and tomato sauce. It had a nice lovely meatball wedged inside each piece of pasta. It was decent, but halfway through I got really queasy with the sourness of the tomato sauce.

Weeellll…. Honestly speaking, my experience here was just so-so – But unless they improve the taste/consistency of their food, I can’t really imagine myself returning to this restaurant anytime soon. Sorry! T_T

Ambiance/Interior: 4/5
Staff/Service: 5/5
Food: 3/5 (taste), 3.5/5 (presentation)

Lombardi’s is located at 4/F Shangri-la Plaza Mall, East Wing, Shaw Blvd Wack Wack, Mandaluyong. You can also find them at Robinson’s Magnolia. Links: Facebook.

Teddy’s Bigger Burgers

Teddy’s Bigger Burgers started out as a small burger joint located in the tropical island paradise known as Hawaii. Its owners, Rich Stula and Teddy Tsakiris, want to give the humble burger joint a modern, unique twist, so they opened up the first Teddy’s branch in 1998. Their first overseas branch opened up in Japan (I’m guessing it’s because Hawaii has a rather sizeable population of Japanese-Americans), and the second one is located here in Manila (in Greenbelt). Another overseas franchise just opened up recently in Thailand.

Apart from the Greenbelt branch, Teddy’s has another restaurant open in Shangri-La Mall, where we had our dinner earlier.

We were seated outside, so I guess this pic serves as both a shot of their interior and exterior.

Menu: Starters, Salads, Specialty burgers, Sides, Sandwiches, Kid’s menu, Teddy’s seafood special, Entrée, Rice, Dessert, and Beverages.

Their burgers and some of their dishes come in three sizes: Big (which is actually the smallest size), bigger, and biggest. You can also choose the doneness of your burger patty.

I ordered the Kailua Burger, with teriyaki sauce, swiss cheese, grilled onions, and caramelized mushrooms. Hmmm, this wasn’t so bad! I guess I just really like the combination of onions, melted cheese, beef, and mushrooms together. The size of the hamburger was also just right for me – I thought that it was going to be one of those super-huge/tall burgers with two or more patties sandwiched in between.

Mom had the Loco Moco Curry Bowl, 100% beef chuck patty and a fried egg on top of a bed of Japanese white rice mixed with curry sauce. The curry rice had so much flavor! And of course, a burger patty + fried egg + rice meal is always a surefire winner for me. ^^;

For dessert, we had the Peanut Butter Skillet Brownie – Old-fashioned peanut butter mallow brownie topped with vanilla-Reese chili ice cream, and drizzled with vanilla espresso sauce. The most enjoyable part is towards the end, when you mix together the cold, melted ice cream and the warm espresso sauce, creating a wonderful sensation on your tastebuds.

I’m so glad they decided to bring Teddy’s here because their food was just SPECTACULAR! Their burger patties were just pure, smoky, meaty goodness. I can’t wait to return because there’s still so much that I want to try.

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

Teddy’s Bigger Burgers is located at Shangri-la Plaza Mall , Shaw Blvd Wack Wack, Mandaluyong. You can also find them at Greenbelt 3. Links: Official website || Facebook

Wicked by Cravings

Here’s a fact: Everybody loves dessert. I definitely do, and I’m sure you do too. So what better way to celebrate everyone’s passion for dessert by taking a trip to Wicked, located at Shangri-La Mall’s East Wing?

Wicked, owned by Cravings, promises to truly satisfy your sweet tooth with their arsenal of sinfully good desserts, ranging from sweet pies, cakes, brownies, and cupcakes. They even have a fondue! And bacon! And if dessert isn’t really your thing, then not to worry – They have some pasta dishes, savory pies, and sandwiches in store.

Interior + Obligatory shot of the cakes/pastries.

Menu: Cupcakes, Sweet tarts, Pasta and sandwiches, Wickedly sexy, Cakes, Junior cakes, Breads, Macaron de Paris, Merchandise items, Bars, Wickedly toxicating, Wickedly sinful, Coffee and tea.

Warm Salted Caramel Pecan Tart, laden with whole pecans, honey, butter, and topped with a small scoop of cold vanilla ice cream. Yummm!!!

Reese Peanut Butter cupcake – Creamy Reese peanut butter cake topped with frosting and jelly. The peanut butter frosting was fantastic, but the cupcake base crumbled too easily. Barely tasted any jelly.

Mac and Cheese, which was delicious and offsets the sweetness of all these pastries that we ate.

Sticky Buns – Melt-in-your-mouth buttery and soft dough, with gooey caramel pecan topping. Best served warm. It tasted similar to cinnamon rolls. I thought the taste was okay, but my mom found it too sweet.

My drink was the Aphriki Masala, a type of chai tea latte that had a nice balance in flavor – Not too strong, and not too mild either. Very fragrant too.

My mom had the Dallah Earl Gray tea, served in this really cool pot which only pours the tea if you place it on top of the mug.

Oh, and one of the waitresses gave us a sample of their Mallow and Graham Chocolate Bark… I guess she must’ve sensed that I was a blogger because I kept taking pictures of their food, hehe. The bark was delectable too – As the name suggests, it had giant pieces of marshmallows, and bits of graham crackers mixed together, all smothered in rich milk chocolate.

It may not be the most filling of meals, but I still enjoyed it – Some of their dishes are a bit overpriced though (like their cakes), but I’m sure it’s totally worth it. It also gave me a bit of a sugar buzz in the end, hehe. In short, Wicked definitely managed to quench my thirst for decadent dessert! ^^

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

Wicked by Cravings is located at 5/F Shangri-la Plaza Mall, Shaw Blvd Wack Wack, Mandaluyong. Tel no: (02) 654-0614. Links: Facebook.

Green Pastures

Ever since I was rushed to the hospital nearly a month ago due to a stomach bug + eating too much greasy food, I’ve been trying my best to eat healthy, whether I’m doing a restaurant review or just eating some simple, home-cooked food. In my head, I’ve compiled a short list of the organic/healthy restaurants that I want to visit – And Green Pastures just happens to be one of them.

Green Pastures, owned by Chef Robby Goco of Cyma fame, took the restaurant’s name from his quest to search for the freshest ingredients to use for his dishes. All of the food used in this resto does not contain any MSG or preservatives, and are grown by local farmers.

The interior was slightly cramped, but that’s just fine. I think their branch in Eastwood is slightly bigger.

Menu (Organic Provisions): Large plates, Small plates, Soup, Do-it-yourself salad bar, Signature salads, Whole grain bowls, First course, Specialty pasta, Meat and bread, Faux rice, Commandable mains, Grill, Sides.

Drinks menu (Liquid provisions): Water, Iced tea made with organic honey, Local organic citrus in season, Kombucha tea, Cold-pressed elixirs, Smoothies

My drink was their delicious Salted Caramel smoothie with hints of salted caramel, pineapple, mango, and banana – Truly a sweet and all-natural combo.

Then we had the Roast Organic Chicken, swimming in konbu brine broth, lemon, grilled asparagus, and jus. The meat was packed with so much flavor, and you can even drink the broth by itself because it’s not too salty.

Our second viand was the GP Porkchop, a huge piece of roasted pork with cinnamon butter, roasted potatoes, and guava jam. The potatoes were nice and slightly crisp, while the pork had this strong, meaty flavor to it and goes well with the sweet guava jam.

Yang Chow Cauliflower Rice, with 8-hour roast pork, river shrimp, 142-degree egg, green peas, carrots, scallions, and lettuce mixed in. Okay, I admit – I got a little excited about wanting to try cauliflower fried “rice” especially after watching this video that I saw on Buzzfeed. But I guess I expected too much because it tasted quite bland, even though it already had eggs/meat/seafood/other veggies mixed in. I guess it was my fault too because I resisted adding some salt and pepper to it, because I felt like it would ruin the essence of the dish. Hehe. >_<

Everything that we ordered was gluten-free, so I didn’t feel guilty at all about stuffing myself and feeling a tad bit full after eating. ^^

For dessert, we all shared this piece of Kouign Aman bread with Mt. Atok coffee, with beans coming from the Cordillera region. It is described as having a “smooth texture with balanced body and acidity”. I found it really cool that each type of coffee bean came from different parts of the country and had different flavors, despite it producing the same drink.

Even though the food is too pricey for my taste, I still think it’s great that restaurants like these are helping Pinoys be more conscious with their health by eating the right food (and exercising, of course). Another thing that I love is that this resto supports the local farming industry, and it makes people aware that this country can produce great produce (pun intended).

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

Green Pastures is located at 4/F Shangri-la Plaza Mall, East Wing, Shaw Blvd Wack Wack, Mandaluyong. Tel no: (02) 654-3219. Links: Facebook.