Frannywanny

For someone who only gets to fly back home at least once a month and who stays in Manila at an average of just 3-4 days in total, choosing the places to dine in is really crucial. I really have to plan each meal well. So, it's really rare that I get to repeat a restaurant given my long, long list of new places to try. However, I got to admit that I do have my favorites and I really have to give in to my cravings once in a while. Remember the first time I tried Tuan Tuan Chinese Brasserie  with my family in SM Megamall? I fell in love everything that we ordered most especially the amazing House Special Trio . It's definitely the best fried rice in town. On my next visit back home, I went back again to Tuan Tuan  this time with my in laws . Then, I was able to try more dishes which I got to my list of favorites such as the XO Radish Cake  and the Deep-Fried Baby Squid with Aioli Sauce . As you all know, December is the time of the year where we get to spend more tim...

Allow me to skip from telling you about my first day in Manila straight to my last day before flying back to Singapore. Don't worry, I promise to fill you in on all the food adventures that we had in between. It's just that my last day was quite amazing even if it means having to hug my family tightly as we bid each other "see you soon" as they sent us off at the airport. So, my day started early as Pan and I headed to our favorite salon for my mandatory hair cut and mani/pedi session. I have been putting this off all throughout the trip that I had some sort of panic a few days before flying back when I realized that my hair was in bad bad shape. As for my nails, they've grown so long that I once scratched myself accidentally. Pan sensed the urgency and gamely joined me for our 9am appointment that day. After an hour and a half we were done and she invited me out for breakfast.

No matter how many days our visit to Manila may be, we always fly back feeling that it was too short! As they say, time flies when you're having fun and our recent 5 day trip zoomed by so fast that I couldn't believed it when it was time to us to say goodbye to Manila once again. I have to say that among all the other visits that we've had so fast, this was the BEST. Why? Well, it's simple because we were able to see the people whom we wanted to see. Just our closest and dearest friends and family. Take for example my friends B and K, it has been a year since I last saw them and I really made it a point that no matter what happen, our planned lunch should push through. After all, the next time I'll see them, B will be a mommy while K will be a blushing bride. Oh, I'm so excited for them! Since I told them that I was to try a new restaurant this visit, we decided to check out Roots Market Bistro located at the new Greenhills Promenade. Outside, they're...

Do you believe in giving second chances?  Well before you answer that, let me tell you a little story. *puts on her lola glasses and sits on the rocking chair* *ahem ahem* Once upon a time, there was this girl whom we shall call FW. She went out with her best buds one evening for some delicious sushi and wagyu beef. Over their favorite Japanese choices, girly chit-chats and stories were exchanged back and forth. Dinner came to an end and not wanting to call it a night, FW suggested that they go get some ice cream. Feeling all grown up, the three girls decided to have some gelato instead. Off they went to Cafe Publico which was just a few steps away from their original place. It was raining hard that evening and they found a certain calmness inside the store. The rustic Italian garden interiors felt old yet comforting. The chess table in one corner looked really interesting. The place boasts of serving good gelato and so the girls made their choice. FW went for a sco...

I can't believe it has been almost a year since Paul and I flew to Singapore then to Malaysia for our 2-week long Honeymoon. I remembered being welcomed by our friend HK who took us on a fun food trip around the Tekka Market where I had the best tasting Lamb Briyani and later we dined at a Nonya Restaurant where it was my first time to try this type of cuisine. I knew from that point on that our honeymoon will truly be a gastronomical trip. As we get closer to celebrating our first wedding anniversary, Paul and I were invited to a food tasting at Shiok where we relived the fun eating moments that we both had during our Honeymoon. We met Chefs Nicco and Denny who are both owners of the restaurant. They first opened a branch at the Fort Bonifacio and lucky for us Greenhills loyal visitors, they now have their second branch at the food court of Greenhills Promenade . Initially, I thought Shiok means "cheap" as directly translated in Hokkien. It was only after meetin...

Last Monday, Chris invited the Club to dine at Coco Asian Kitchen at the Greenhills Promenade. Paul and I are familiar with this restaurant that opened last 2009 but never got around to trying it as we were loaded with wedding preparations for the first half of last year and an assortment of trips for the second half of 2010. This just goes to show how time flies, while we frequent the Greenhills Shopping Center almost twice in a month, we would just have enough time to run our errands of paying the bills, buying some groceries or having our clothes altered. It has been a while since we had the privilege to leisurely stroll around and try the new restaurants in this area. I'm glad that 2011 seems to be a more laid-back year for us. Giving us sufficient relaxing weekends and weeknights where we can unwind either as a twosome or with our group of friends. We were introduced to the owners of Coco Asian Kitchen , a local concept with dishes taken from various Asian cuisines. With...

Not long after my first visit to Happy Lemon , I went back with my high school buddies and enjoyed our night-long chat as we catch up on each others lives. I took T's lead by getting the Milk Tea with Black Pearl Sago (Php. 85) while I convinced E to try the Green Tea with Rock Salt and Cheese . The store was packed despite the fact that it was a weeknight. Familiar faces all around as it is conveniently located without OUR neighborhood. I liked my Milk Tea and was surprised how mild the tea was. Unlike other milk teas, I would spend the evening with a bad hyper-acidity attack. I slept like a baby that night which was a very good sign. my pretty best friends T and E -- they can pass as Happy Lemon's endorser, don't you think? Nothing beats spending a great night with friends who truly loves you for who you really are. Cheers to our two decades long of friendship and a dozen decades more! Love my co-musketeers! ♥

For months, word has been going around that one of Hong Kong's popular milk tea brand is coming to Manila. Wild guesses were thrown here and there as to which particular brand this would be. Finally a happy yellow tarpaulin was put up beside Fully Booked Greenhills and I recognized the cute winking girl from our trip to Guangzhou, China last year. Happy Lemon is coming to town! Finally, the long wait is over and Happy Lemon finally opened to the public a couple of weeks ago. Despite the crazy traffic happening in and around the Greenhills Shopping Center , Paul and I were very determined to finish our Christmas shopping before December begins thus we patiently waited in line to get a parking slot. After almost crossing out our to-do list, we rewarded ourselves with a visit to Happy Lemon . I love the bright yellow interiors and the winking little girl is just so adorable. The store is still having their soft opening at the moment but I noticed that the service was prett...

While planning for our trip to Kuala Lumpur months ago, I got a comment for a reader to try Nando's Peri Peri Chicken . Unfortunately, due to time constraint, we were not able to go with the recommendation but this got me craving for peri-peri chicken the moment we got back from our honeymoon trip. Thanks to our ever supportive friends, we scheduled a dinner at Peri-Peri Grillhouse at the Greenhills Promenade one Sunday evening. We arrived a little past 7 and the place was already packed. I love the cheerful greeting that you'd get the moment you walk into the restaurant. Who doesn't love chicken? While people would have a wide range of food restrictions due to religion, dietary requirement or allergies, rarely have I encountered anyone who is not allowed to eat chicken. Thus, this has been a common choice when dining out in groups. Peri-peri Grillhouse has been around for a while already and they have even undergone one major renovation thus the big change in their...

My craving for Japanese food lasted for the entire month of February! Starting from the yummy Japanese burger and Katsudon dinner at Sango! followed by a laid-back sushi bonding with friends at Omakase , we ended the love month with a relaxed casual Japanese dinner at Teriyaki Boy . We arrived early for dinner but the place was packed! Luckily, the friendly server was able to get us a nice table for two. Our Teriyaki Boy Feast We are regular patrons of Teriyaki Boy and it wasn't difficult for us to choose the dishes that we would like to get in every visit. For this particular meal, I was craving for sushi once again. We zeroed in on the Tempura Tuna Tartare (Php. 135). We were hoping that this will be similar to the Spicy Tuna Salad that we enjoyed at Omakase . Teriyaki Boy's version was not spicy at all. While it consists of tuna sashimi cubes, I felt though that they added in way too much tempura bits that made the entire thing oily. We should have just gotten a plate of ...

We all just got back from our respective trips abroad ... one came back from her exciting F1 trip in Singapore, another gave birth to her second baby after staying in Canada for 8 long months and I'm still experiencing a major hangover from my Uniquely Singapore Trip . Thus, despite the fact that Metro Manila was declared to be under typhoon signal #3 this didn't stop us from meeting up for a relaxing night with good food and a wonderful company. It was a unanimous decision to meet at Arya Persian Restaurant that evening with both friends declaring how much they love Arya and I just couldn't agree more. I love Arya's lamb dishes and the moment the menu was handed to me, I knew right away which page to flip to. It was a toss between the Bareh Koobideh and the Bareh Shish . I would also have wanted to try the spicy Lamb Biryani but since I was coughing that night, I opted to just skip the spicy dishes so as not to worsen my poor sore throat. Finally, I made my choice...