Browsing Tag:

Food

Food, Lifestyle, Uncategorized

Tales of a Hungry Maxie: Vieux Chalet

03/25/2014

2 Comments

Like I said, Josh had to postpone his anniversary dinner surprise to the day after our anniversary because I had to man my panini stall at Mercato Central. We opted for a fun and simple lunch at The Girl + Bull on the day of our actual anniversary. For Josh’s anniversary dinner surprise, he brought me to Vieux Chalet which is dubbed as one of Antipolo’s best kept secrets. Josh and I tend to lean toward restaurant choices that require long drives because it allows us to bond over the road vs fine dining restaurant in the city.

Vieux Chalet is a Swiss restaurant located in Antipolo. It is a house converted into a restaurant and it also operates as a bed and breakfast. The restaurant itself has big windows to showcase the magical view of the Manila Skyline and is adorned with charming pieces of furniture. The place was very homey which went perfectly with the weather and the the view to create a blissful vibe for its guests.

Josh purposely picked me up early because he wanted to catch the sunset at Vieux Chalet. We arrived around 5:30 and the head waiter warmly welcomed us. While waiting for the sunset, we took the liberty to explore the place and take photos! :)

We ordered a salad and two orders of their home made iced tea as we watched the sunset. We had a cozy spot by the window and everything was perfect.

Mango Shrimp Cocktail – 285

This salad is good for two persons. It has a light mango vinaigrette, fresh mango cubes, olives, regular tomato slices, cherry tomatoes, and a few pieces of fresh shrimp. Josh and I loved the salad.

Homemade Iced Tea

There were three kinfs of iced tea to choose from but the ther two were out of stock so we had to settle for the original iced tea. I’m so glad we did because OH MY GOSH this has got to be the best iced tea I’ve ever had. It doesn’t taste like a generic powdered iced tea at all and it was so so so refreshing. <3

josh and I making goofy faces with our iced tea because it was SO good talaga.

j’adore <3

After watching the sunrise, we finally ordered for our dinner. We had soup, a pasta dish for me, and osso buco for J.

Italian Farmer’s Soup

This has got to be the first time I’ve had a potato + pumpkin soup. It was sumptuous and perfect for the breezy antipolo weather. The chips and bacon complimented the soup well. I especially loved the texture of the potato chips soaked in thick and cream soup. It was fabulous.

Pasta Padilla – 275

I’m such a pasta lover and I just HAD to order pasta. This originally comes in white sauce but I asked them to add some tomato sauce because I was scared that the white sauce might be too heavy for me. The dish is made with homemade fettuccine, homemade smoked ham, homemade ricotta cheese, and mushrooms. This was probably the dish that did not impress me the most. I can’t pin point what I did not like about it but the effort to have all the ingredients freshly made was nice.

Osso Buco – 955

THE STAR OF THE NIGHT. This was Josh’s order and I swear this dish was glorious. The osso buco was cooked PERFECTLY. The fresh tomato sauce was also delicious. I loved the pairing of the lamb and the rosti. I would have ordered another piece of the rosti but I was already so full with everything that we ordered. This is a MUST-TRY!

beautiful set-up :)

Swiss Chocolate Ala Mode – 245 (compliments of the restaurant <3)

The head waiter was so sweet to give us this complimentary cake because he knew that it was our anniversary! The cake can be more moist but I loved the butternut ice cream on top of the cake. It was an interesting flavor because I haven’t tried anything like it! I also heard that their ice cream is homemade.

I seriously think Vieux Chalet offers one of the best views of the Manila Skyline. It’s one of the things that I think make the restaurant so unique.

Overall Thoughts

I really enjoyed my dinner at Vieux Chalet. They offer amazing food, have excellent service, and offer one of the most unique dining experiences in Manila. Everything that we ordered was a hit except for the pasta (Josh like it though… I’m very critical about pasta dishes hehe). I’m so glad that we spent our first anniversary in Vieux Chalet.

Don’t forget to make a reservation; they had to turn a group down because they were fully booked.

xoxo,

Food, Lifestyle

Tales of a Hungry Maxie: The Girl + The Bull

03/22/2014

1 Comments

My boyfriend Josh and I recently celebrated our 1st year anniversary together last March 21, 2014. He was supposed to surprise me with a dinner date but I requested if we could celebrate it the next day instead because I had to man my panini stall at Mercato Central. He sweetly obliged and we decided to just have lunch on the day of our anniversary. After doing some last minute research, we decided to have lunch at The Girl + The Bull located at BF Homes, Paranaque. The restaurant is owned by a young adorable couple from Ateneo and UP. I only got to meet (i’m assuming) The Girl as The Bull was in the kitchen working his magic.

We arrived just a few minutes after their kitchen closed. Apparently, they are closed from 3:00-6:00 pm. We were really hungry from the long drive across Manila and kind of half begged them to make an exception for us (we told them it was our anniversary)! Their kind waitress talked to the chef and owner and they let us in! YAY.

The restaurant is located in a beautiful rustic building in white. I believe the entire building is a bed and breakfast. The restaurant was equally stunning. The whole place was clad in black and white pieces, ghost chairs, vibrant photographs and beautiful art work. It was a feast for the eyes; every area was instagram worthy. <3

The owner (the girl) told me that these were prints that she gave her boyfriend (the bull) as presents. <3

we chose this pretty spot right near the window

I read a few blogs reviews to kind of research on what to order but I found out that they changed their menu lineup recently. I really wanted to try the grilled cheese with tomato soup and the pasta but their absence from the menu didn’t dishearten me. Their staff was composed of college students. Our server’s from DLSU. They were all very nice, accommodating, and I loved that they were able to give us suggestions on what to order. My pet peeve is when servers answer me with “they’re all very good” when I asked for suggestions on what to order. Here’s what we ended up ordering:

House Fries, Truffle Salt, Parmensan, Malt Vinegar 180

The fries were fried to a crisp. The parmesan was fresh and the truffle oil was legit! Haha, I’m a huge fan of truffle oil; some restaurant slap the word “truffle” on their dishes and there have been times when I wasn’t able to detect a drop of truffle in their dishes. This came with malt vinegar in a small bottle with a spritzer. It was an interesting experience but I would also have wanted to try their cumin mayonnaise which was on their old menu. </3

Pork Belly Confit, Potato Puree, Roasted Garlic, Pear, Evoo, Balsami Glaze 395 – my order

This plate is a work of art! The interplay of the different elements of the dish was interesting. My only complaint is that I wish that the pork had a little bit less fat. I also think that the pork could be more juicy; it wasn’t tough though. It’s also not very filling (omg, i have a huge appetite.. I shall go hide now…).

Hanging Tender, Quail Egg, Kimchi Fried Rice 495 – Josh’s order

The beef initially arrived medium rare and Josh found it a bit difficult to chew. We requested for it to be cooked to medium and they kindly obliged. The serving was reasonable and I was able to take a few bites from this (because I was still hungry from my order HEHE). The kimchi wasn’t too strong which is good because not everyone likes kimchi. The quail egg + kimchi rice + steak went perfectly together.

House Iced Tea

the housed iced tea was really refreshing!

Homemade Twix Bar with sea salt 160

I think this dessert was really the star of the entire meal. It was SO YUMMY and beautifully plated I almost did not want to touch it. The price was also very reasonable because the serving was quite huge. I would have been fine with a piece of this but the order came in four pieces! It tasted like a homemade gourmet twix bar. AHHH. I would drive across town again just for this! :)

the menu

Overall

Josh and I enjoyed the twix dessert the most followed by the steak and kimchi fried rice. Their iced tea is also a must try! The restaurant was worth the long drive from Manila. The whole place and food really spoiled our senses. Do make a reservation because they can only accommodate a few people at a time.

I’m glad this is the first restaurant that we tried in the BF homes area whole place is a melting pot of different cuisines!! I saw at least 5 korean restaurants, 3 thai restaurants, 3 Japanese restaurants and SO MUCH MORE! I can’t wait to go back!!! :)

xoxo,

Food, Lifestyle

Tales of a Hungry Maxie: Spatzle Euro Market

03/11/2014

2 Comments

Hi everyone!

A few weeks ago, I launched the newest series of my blog dedicated to food called, “maxie likes to eat”. The foodie boyfriend (uy foodie daw) quickly pointed out that is was similar to his favorite food blogger’s blog name, “Jin Loves To Eat”. Of course I did not want to look like I was intentionally copying Jin’s blog because I like to read her blog once in a while too! So, with careful consideration, I decided to change the name of my food review series to “Tales of a Hungry Maxie”. My friend Isa suggested “hungry maxie” because both words rhymed and I realized that it was something the boyfriend would often tell me: “Hungry Maxie na ba?” Thus, my new foodie series name is born! :)

My family and I went out for dinner a few days ago. We wanted to try out the new restaurants at Shang-rila Plaza’s east wing. Our first choice was Green Pastures but the waiting line was so long. We decided to try our second choice, Spatzle Euro Market. Spatzle is a beautiful restaurant with a rustic vibe and brightly lit interiors. As its name suggests, they serve a variety of European dishes with a lot of German influences. According to our server, Spatzle is a type of pasta made of egg and is similar to gnocchi. Just like gnocchi, Spatzle comes in small dumpling-looking pieces and have a chewy texture.

I found this utensil holder super quirky and creative! Each comes with special hand sanitizer. Neeat!

Although they specialize in spatzle dishes, they offer various other dishes to suit different taste buds. Here’s what we ordered:

Truffle Pomme-Frites

This is just basic truffle fries topped with parmesan shavings and lemon. It’s a simple dish but I love anything truffle so I really enjoyed this. The fries were fried to perfection and the thickness of the fries were just right.

Mozarella Sticks with tomato sauce and aoili

I know, it’s a bit of a boring dish but my little brother always orders this when he sees it on the menu. There wasn’t anything spectacular about this dish and it wasn’t as hot as I wanted it to be.

Spatz Beef Stew

I don’t know how to describe this because the flavor of the beef stew was so different from what I’m used to. It’s a good kind of different! I have to say that the dish arrived with TWO MEDIUM SIZED PIECES of beef. If I remember correctly, this costs around 400-500. My mom got worked up because of the incredibly tiny serving. It’s a good thing their manager handled the situation like a pro and gave us extra two pieces of beef to appease my mom. hehe.

Grilled Sausage Roesti

The first time I got to try roesti (a european potato pancake fried to a crisp) was in Chesa Bianca, Makati. It was so perfect that I still dream about it until today! Anyway, Spatzle’s version of the roesti is really well done. I love how the pancake if crisped to perfection and that it isn’t too oily.

Spatz Beef Stroganoff

Those queer looking noodles are the spatzles I was talking about. The sauce was very yummy, the beef was tender, and the spatzles were cooked al dente. It was our group’s favorite dish of the night.

Halibut with Spatzle

My mom had apprehensions before ordering this dish because she was scared that they’d serve dory. We clarified with the waitress and she guaranteed that it was halibut indeed. The halibut was cooked perfectly and was not dry at all. It paired with the spatzle and tomato sauce fabulously. The salad on the side was refreshing too!

All natural citrus cooler soda

yum! super refreshing! :)

Overall

My taste buds aren’t so used to this kind of cuisine so I can’t really rave about everything in general. I liked all the dishes except for the mozzarella sticks which could have been heated more. I love pasta and I’m really the long-noodle-type-of-girl so the spatzle dishes were just alright for me. The fries, halibut, roesti, and beef stew were ally yummy! Overall, their service deserves a two thumbs up, the food was different in a good way, the ambience of the whole place was lovely. I enjoyed my dining experience in the restaurant but I probably would not come back any time soon just because I want to try so many more restuarants! Spatzle would be a good choice for those who want to try out something new and different! :)

what do you think? :)

xoxo,

Food, Lifestyle

Maxie likes to eat: Breakfast at Antonio’s

02/23/2014

Leave a comment

My close friends know me for having two ultimate loves of my life (aside from my family, Josh, and my dog): makeup….. and food! I always get “bullied” by my friends for always posting photos of food on my instagram. I have this habit of critiquing food as I eat and I sometimes go as far as writing mini reviews along with my food photographs on Instagram! This post shall commemorate my intent to diversify the content of my blog and more importantly, share my lalalalooove for delicious food! :) Thus a new series of blog posts dedicated to food is born and I shall call this section, “maxie likes to eat.”

First up on this foodie post is my experience at Breakfast at Antonio’s in Tagaytay. I have always wanted to try the food at Antonio’s (original fine dining restaurant and sister company of Breakfast at Antonio’s) but the price range of the food there is really off the charts! I still hope to be able to try out the constantly-raved food from Antonio’s but for now, I’ll “settle” with Breakfast at Antonio’s. My dad had a 60k marathon which started in Luneta and ended in Tagaytay. Thinking about having to run that far already makes me tired! I’m so glad that my mom LOVES food like me. I think it’s actually more appropriate to say that I love food like her because I think I really got this food-loving gene from her. Being the food lovers that we were, she invited me and my brother to drive to Tagaytay and pick my dad up at the finish line and eat at Breakfast at Antonio’s to celebrate my dad’s accomplishment.

I really loved the whole look and feel that Breakfast at Antonio’s have. The place is not airconditioned but the Tagayaty breeze really reached every nook and cranny of the place. The place has beautiful white interiors and was illuminated with sunlight. I normally wouldn’t talk about this but even their staff had really nice uniforms which really suited the whole theme of the restaurant.

Anyway, let’s go to the main attraction of this post: the FOOD. Their menu was so extensive, I swear I wanted to order everything! It took a lot of restraint but we were able to narrow down the items we ordered to six items for the four of us.

Fresh Mushroom Soup

THIS WAS SO YUMMY!! You can really taste the freshness of the mushrooms and the creaminess of the soup was perfect!

Beef Stroganoff

My close friends all know that I love all sorts of noodles! I know, I was at a breakfast place but I just really had to try one of their pasta dishes. It took all the restraint left in my body to not order the truffle pasta because I ALWAYS order pasta dishes with truffle oil in them. I was so glad that I ordered this! My mom was hesitating and was telling me to order something else because we were at a breakfast place and I’ve been always ordering pasta dishes whenever we went out. Anyway, my mom ended up saying that my dish was the best among all six dishes we tried. HA! :)) Everything about this pasta was just AHH YUM. The pasta was perfectly cooked, the consistency of the sauce was just right and coated the noodles perfectlyl. Lastly, the flavor was divine. It was the perfect mix of cream and whatever it is that stroganoff contains. I hate bell peppers but I think they added complexity to the flavor of the dish.

Homemade Corned Beef

The corned beef was indeed homemade. It came with a small cup of rice and two eggs. I think the amount of rice is just right for normal people but my dad ran for around 8 hour straight so the rice was really not enough. The corned beef was yummy, definitely not the run-of-the-mill corned beef from the can.

Roesti Pastrami

This was just okay. The concept was interesting, though. It’s basically a piece of roesti (shredded potatoes that are formed into a flat circle and deep fried) with pastrami directly on it, and 2 medium cooked sunny-side up eggs to top everything off. The eggs were perfectly cooked but the 2 eggs overpowered the whole dish which is why the flavor of the pastrami didn’t really come out.

when sliced

Tapa

Good old classic tapa. The beef was tender and flavorful. The eggs were nicely cooked. Overall, a delicious dish but there wasn’t really anything worth remembering about it. (I might be biased though because I really loved my pasta dish!!! <3 )

French Toast Using Turkish Bread with Cinnamon Egg and Apple Compote

This was the only dish that disappointed. The break wasn’t easy to chew and the apple compote didn’t do much to make the dish yummy. It also came with burnt syrup which was interesting but it tasted too weird for my taste. I wouldn’t recommend this.

Mini Salted Caramel Cheesecake

We were already so full which is why we decided to just share this tiny cup of goodness. This was so scrumptious. The cheesecake was so rich and fine, and the thin layer of slated caramel perfectly balanced out off the sweetness of the cheesecake.

Overall

This restaurant serves really GOOD FOOD. The servers were very courteous and attentive. Almost all the dishes we ordered did not disappoint. The wide range of dishes to choose from ensures that everyone in your family (from you grandma, grandpa, dad, mom, aunt, uncle to your little sister) will find something they’ll like here. The place is perfect for friends, family, and even a romantic breakfast date with your other half. I declare Breakfast at Antonio’s my favorite breakfast place as of the moment and going back to what I said earlier, I can’t just “settle” on Breakfast at Antonio’s. It’s a really good restaurant on its own and is really worth trying.

How was you experience at Breakfast at Antonio’s? What’s your favorite Tagaytay restaurant? and.. What do you think about my first “maxie likes to eat” post. hihi <3

xoxo,

For more updates, like my page on facebook here!

Follow me on twitter! :)

Don’t forget to follow me on instagram!

Lifestyle, Random

Instagram Update: 1

01/27/2014

Leave a comment

Hello guys!

How has your week been going? I just wanna share what I’ve been up to during the past week via the photos from my instagram! This new section of my blog is one of the things that I decided to commit to posting on my blog every week. I think it’s a great way to show you guys a part of my life without over sharing. :)

definitely the coolest burger I’ve tried in a long time! Putting up a review on this soon. :)

This photo came with my comeback post!

When josh gave me the prettiest sun flower to cheer me up because last week was a very tiring school week. <3

couple OOTD!

Josh: Ralph Lauren polo, Topman pants, Sebago shoes; Max: Warehouse Top, HnM pants, f21 shoes <#

tried our project pie for the first time!! it was really good, AAHH :)

my mom bought tickets for the whole fam + J to try out the burgers from the burger cook out at Rockwell! I think it’s an amazing way to be able to use your resources to and contribute to the rebuilding of Visayas. Mine was a double patty with poached pears and truffled aioli. It’s P500 per burger + drink and fries!

That’s all for now guys! :)

Leave your usernames below so that I can know what you guys have been doing! :)

For more updates, like my page on facebook here!

Follow me on twitter! :)

Don’t forget to follow me on instagram!

Food, Lifestyle

Ikkoryu Fukuoka Ramen

06/10/2013

Leave a comment

Josh and I haven’t gotten over our ramen craze so I suggested that we have ramen AGAIN on one of our date nights! I’ve been hearing a lot of good things about Ikkoryu Fukuoka Ramen andI naturally wanted to give it a try.

It’s located at the 5th floor of Shangrila’s newly renovated east wing. I heard that the line during dinner time could get really long. Luckily, we arrived past dinner time on a week day so we were seated right a way. The place has quirky wooden interiors and red chairs to accent the whole look of the place. It was a tad but warm inside the restaurant bit the heat didn’t bother me too much.

Here’s what we ordered:

I ordered the Black Garlic Tonkotsu just because I love garlic! The soup is not black all the way throught the bowl. The black part is only on the surface of the soup and that’s supposed to be the garlic flavor. The noodles were just right and my soup was very flavorful. The chasu had just the right amount fo fat too! :)

Black Garlic Tonkotsu

Josh ordered their Ajitama Tonkotsu, the number best seller of the restaurant. I have to say that the star of the dish was the perfectly boiled japanese egg. It tastes AMAZING when eaten with the miso soup. I actually prefer this bowl of ramen a bit more than my black garlic tonkotsu. :)

Ajitama Tonkotsu

Our ramen meals would NEVER be complete without our gyoza. ;) We are both gyoza fanatics which I think is fabulous! Their gyoza was pan fried to perfection and the flavor of the filling was heavenly. :)

gyoza

Final thoughts

I enjoyed my overall experience of the restaurant and a huge part of the credit should be given to their staff. Their service was impeccable and the waitresses were very friendly. Since I’m not really a food blogger and am not trying to make a living out of food blogging, I’d say that flavor-wise, I would have to hand it over to Ukkokei Ramen Ron (josh and I are currently LOVING ukkokei) for having really flavorful ramen. However, I think Ikkoryu Fukuoka makes up for it with the whole dining experience. their excellent food and service go hand in hand in making the restaurant worth visiting! :)

Happy Joshie goofing around with my ring after eating the yummy ramen. He was so hungry and so excited to touch the food but I didn’t let him until I finished taking photos. HAHAHA. k.

xoxo,

For more updates, like my page on facebook here!

Follow me on twitter! :)

Follow me on instagram!

Food, Lifestyle, Travel

Davao Food Trip

03/28/2013

7 Comments

Hi everyone!

I’ve took a mini hiatus from blogging because of my Davao trip. I just got back and I can’t wait to share the photos I’ve accumulated for you! I really love food and I want this blog to feature other things that I love other than makeup. :) This post will be photo heavy and I’ll be throwing in my comments here and there. It was really hard to take photos of all the food I ate because we were travelling in a group of 18 and I would have run out of food to eat if I stopped to take photos of all the food I ate. ha ha!

tuna from yellow fin restaurant

Tiny Kitchen

The restaurant used to be “tiny” but it becamed a full blown restaurant through the years because of its popularity in the city. The owner of the restaurant cooks the dishes himself! :)

This is supposed to be penne pasta (they ran out of penne pasta) with tomatoes, chorizo, and a thick cheese sauce. The pasta was a bit too cheesy for me and I couldn’t taste the flavor of the chorizo anymore. It was still enjoyable though! :)

*I’m a HUGE fan of parmesan cheese and I was disappointed to have been told that they did not have parmesan cheese when I asked for it.

Paella Valenciana. the star of the night. it was packed with meat and the rice was very scrumptious. :)

osso bucco. I wasn’t able to try this out.

Kalderata. It’s a straight forward home-cooked meal that will remind you of your mother’s cooking.

Canelloni Pasta. This dish was quite a disappointment. It lacked flavor and the sauce was very dry.

They have a wide selection of cakes and pastries! The sight sent me straight to pastry heaven! <3

Caramel Cheesecake. My pick for the night. It was delicious! I loved the crust. :)

My mom’s pick: dulce de leche cheesecake. I wish there was more yema in this….

This was meh. I LOVE anything red velvet so I know my red velvet well. This was a tad bit too dry and it lacked cream cheese icing.

ooey gooey chocolate oatmeal bars! now this was a delight!

What I had for breakfast in one sitting:

We stayed at Marco Polo Hotel by the way and I have to say, my breakfast meals were the best meals I had in Davao! They have such a huuuuuge selection of food to choose from and the service was impeccable.

i made my own waffles!

super duper sweet pineapples. <3

we were able to try out the ice creamery at the crocodile farm! Yes, some of their flavors have actual crocodile meat in them. haha

I tried the “banana nuts” flavor and it was really good! I wish it was more creamy though! :)

our last dinner was at the Outback Grill (completely different one from the Outback we have here in Manila). The ribs were very good. They were served with unlimited rice. I only had one cup of rice because one cup of their rice is like two cups of rice! I wasn’t able to take photos of the other food because the people I was with attacked the food the moment they were placed on our table. hahaha!

My breakfast on our last day in Davao:

that’s it for now! I’m back in Manila and in dire need of exercise but I found out from my trainer that the gym will be closed tomorrow. <//3 Oh well papel (HAHAHA I LOVE SAYING THIS RIGHT NOW)! Where are you guys going this summer? :)

xoxo,

Follow me on twitter! :)

https://twitter.com/#!/maxieissuper

Ask me anything on formspring!
formspring.me/maxieissuper

Food, Lifestyle, Travel

2013

01/04/2013

Leave a comment

My 2nd day for 2013 was very well spent! I went out with 2 of my girlfriends from my High School barkada and my guy bestie who’s now studying abroad! My high school barkada’s favorite past time is EATING! We don’t go clubbing and bond over yummy food and funny conversations instead! For our mini reunion, my friend Jemimah suggested that we visit the Mind Museum at the Fort.
I’m glad that I was with good company when I visited the museum. :) My experience was made so much more memorable because I was with my friends! :)

I look like a giant in this photo!

MY OOTD:

Corset from a bazaar, shorts from HnM

clutch from a friend, shoes from Payless, watch from Michael Kors, leather bracelet from a friend

Blazer from HnM

HE HE I kept on trying to create a huge bubble but the wind was too strong. :(

My friends almost always let me choose where we eat! I was researching on places to eat while I was getting ready to leave and I had Wild Flour in mind! I forgot to take the address down. Good thing The Mind Museum offers free wifi AND their information counter is very helpful! We walked to Wild Flower from the Mind Museum! :)

Banh Mi Sliders

Croque Madame

steak and eggs

California Burger

Jem (the slowest eater), Ralph (the bottomless pit), yours truly, Kristine (best photog ever)! :)

The food was really good! Another thing I love when eating out with my girlfriends is that we always share what we order! I got to try everything and I can’t pick my favorite dish. Everything was soo yummy! For dessert, we walked all the way to High Street for The Cake Club! It was so windy and we wanted to “burn” what we ate. :)