Frannywanny

To continue with my ninja-mode visit a couple of months ago where only a handle of friends knew that I was in town and they totally understood that I couldn't do meet-ups as all my time was solely dedicated to family. That's why I love them and that's why they're my truest and bestest friends. So, after my lunch date with Mommy dear at Oedo , the following day was spent with Pan. We had to do a couple of errands in the morning and since we were driving a coding car, we decided to just head to SM Megamall where we can stay for the time being. It's really amazing to see how the mall has quickly expanded within a year's time. Together with its expansion, there was also a boom in the number of restaurants that have opened and these are all on my list, waiting for me to try. One of those was Fireside . It was really silly of me to think that Fireside belonged to another restaurant group and it was only when I was reading the menu that I realized that it's ac...

On days when Paul had to work late, I would normally try to make it home earlier than usual to be able to prepare our dinner. So far, I've mastered the art of cooking rice and reheating a wide-array of viands too. When I'm feeling a bit more creative, I would cook a new dish and would surprise not only Paul but myself as well with the (thankfully) positive outcome. I have to admit though that we do most of the cooking during weekends where we have the luxury of time. Weeknights are normally meant for reheating our food as we basically have an hour to prepare everything to have dinner right away. One night, I went home late after paying a quick visit to the gym. Worried that we will end up eating really really late, I told Paul that I'll do something about it. As soon as he said "okay",  I quickly opened the ever reliable Food Panda app. The steps are really simple. First, I keyed in our postal code to be able to generate a list of restaurants that can ser...

Merry Christmas!!! Finally my most favorite time of the year is here and I'm one happy happy girl! Lately, Paul and I have been dining with friends to celebrate the holiday season. We have just been back for a few days and so far our days are packed with get-togethers and meet-ups with family and friends whom we have been so excited to catch up and be reunited with. If there's one holiday that we promised we'll never missed, it would definitely be this. So, what are you plans for Christmas Day? If you're thinking of taking the family out for a good meal, why not go and have a feast! Morganfield's recently launched their special Morgan's Christmas Feast (S$149.90++). This is good for 4-5 or even more to share! Each platter will give you 4 grilled sausages, half slab of the Christmas Cranberry Sticky Bones, half slab of the Christmas Hazelnut Sticky Bones, tender Bourbon Marmalade Glazed Ham Slices, Smoked Turkey Legs and a wide-array of sides such as roast...

Here's some Monday musing: Moving to a new country is like having a new life.  It's definitely a big leap of faith as you pack your suitcases and temporarily say good bye to your old life. The kind that you've grown to be so familiar and comfortable with. Then you land in a new, unfamiliar place with perhaps a few acquaintances here and there. They're definitely not the same old gang whom you've been hanging with every single day but then that means giving you the chance to build a better relationship with them and to find new friends too. It's normal that for someone who used to be so socially active, your social life in this new place can drop to zero for the first few weeks or months. Here's my advice, embrace the change with a smile . It will make adjusting so much more easier. Personally, I enjoyed my new peaceful and quiet life where I finally found the time to focus on myself for a change. It has been a year of learning new things, being more inde...

If there's one thing the Normanton Kids (NKids) have in common, it's definitely our love for good food. In fact, most of our weekends would basically have us food tripping or enjoying a good home cooked meal while watching a movie. So, when I invited the NKids out for a fun night at Morganfield's on a Monday evening, it was no surprise that I immediately got their YESes within minutes. They're definitely a fun bunch to eat out with! Morganfield's recently opened their second branch in Suntec City and we were all ready to enjoy slabs after slabs of ribs, fries and more! Being fans of western food, this is something that we rarely get to indulge in here in the Lion City. After all, Morganfield's is known to be the home of the Sticky Bones . Watch out for my Morganfield's blog giveaway below!!! You know that you're in for a good meal when it begins with some Homemade Cinnamon Candied Bacon  (S$8.90). Well, this is one thing that bacon fan...

Remember my search for the best Ribs in town ? It's funny that I first found my favorite rib places in Angeles, Pampanga and as far as California, USA but none yet close to home. My search for the best rack of ribs never stopped though as I am determined to find THE ONE. That perfect ribs place that will allow me to go back to over and over again. Wonder when will my luck strike? Ever since Paul and I tied the knot a year and five months ago, we have been planning to have dinner with our every talented wedding coordinators and host . Since we all live extremely hectic lives, this has been pushed back a million times until last Wednesday when we finally found time and met up for dinner. Jerome , our host, is also a foodie. This is also one reason why we instantly clicked as he's a great fan of the magazine that I work for and our pre-wedding meetings would also end up with us talking about food, food and more food. He was the one who suggested that we try Rub Ribs ...

Ribs, ribs, ribs! All I can think of are ribs! :) Lip-smacking, fork-tender meat that falls of the bone without a struggle. That's my type of ribs. I found one of the best rib places in Angeles, Pampanga and another one in California, USA yet I continue my search here in Manila . A few months ago, I purchased a Deal Grocer coupon with fellow Food Club members Richard, Jane and Abet to try Chubby's Rib Shack which is located right at the heart of Makati and is also the sister-restaurant of Buffalo Wings n Things . With Christmas just around the corner, I normally try to avoid heading to this part of town especially on a Friday night where everyone normally goes out for dinner and drinks after work. However, just the thought of having a plate of ribs for dinner was enough to convince both Paul and I to brave the traffic and head to Makati to try Chubby's Rib Shack out. The deal was pretty sweet, all I had to pay for was P300 and I get to order anything worth P500 on...

The Food Club went on another out of town trip and this time we all headed to Paul's hometown in Angeles, Pampanga ; where we stayed the night in Fontana Leisure Park . ( Read Rowena's blog entry about it here ) We got there around 11 in the morning and The Club decided to go Duty Free shopping first. After which, lunch was next on the itinerary and being the ones who frequent Pampanga a lot, I asked the group if they're game to have ribs for lunch. After all, I had my favorite restaurant in mind. I first encountered AC Rumpa a few years ago when Paul and I first watched the Hot Air Balloon Fiesta in Clark. As always, I went prepared ready with a list of restaurants to try after doing my research online and AC Rumpa got the most number of votes from our Hot Air Balloon group. AC Rumpa stands for Angeles City Retired US Military Personnel Association. I'm not really sure if the owner is an American or a Filipino but one thing I'm really sure of is that they ...

To find out what hot in Boracay, just follow the throngs of crowd outside or around a particular establishment. Take Hawaiian Bar-B-Que for example. During my first trip to Boracay a few years ago, Paul and I attempted to dine there but eventually gave up due to the long waiting time given to us as there were just a lot of people waiting to be given a table too. As mentioned earlier, Boracay is the perfect place to enjoy seafood , fruit shakes and barbecued meats and Hawaiian Bar-B-Que seems to be the place to go for a slab of juicy ribs and meaty beef. Luckily, on our next visit, we didn't have to wait as we made sure to get there early. Thus, our party of 7 were immediately given a long table inside the restaurant away from the scorching heat. My sister's friends took care of ordering our meal as some of them have already dined at Hawaiian Barbecue before. We were just happy to sit back and patiently wait for our food to be served. Thank you C, Y, K and R! Our Meaty...

Our trip was quite short..a bit too short that we barely had enough time to visit other cities outside of LA. Still, we had a blast! Within the span of 14 days, Paul and I fell in love with one particular restaurant that made us go back twice. It was that good that the server even recognized us and thought we were locals. Let me tell you about Lucille's Smokehouse BBQ which, I believe, has one of the best ribs in this part of the world. I guess I've mentioned quite often how much Paul and I love eating ribs . We enjoy chomping down on a full rack of ribs, clearing out the meat till the bone ends up shiny and clean. Yep, we're carnivores that way. While others would go for huge tender perfectly grilled steaks, we'd choose ribs any day. We love sinking our teeth into the tender meat that falls off the bone in an instant. What more, the juicy barbecue sauce that covers it and the delicious sidings that come with it never fails to make our day complete. One evenin...

After reading Jane's Top 10 Buffalo Wings list , I suddenly found myself craving for a basket of mouth-watering crunchy chicken wings coated to perfection with sauce that's not too spicy nor not too sweet. It was one Sunday morning when we thought of inviting two of Paul's siblings to join us for lunch at Carol's Texan 5 which was conveniently located just a couple of minutes away from my in-law's place. It's a good thing they were game to go with us. The place was empty as opposed to its normal night scene with a busy bar nearby. The procedure was to order at the counter, pay the bill and wait for your food to be delivered to your table. My brother-in-law A chose the Texan Beef Cheese Steak (Php. 155) which he said was just a-ok. It looks like he was not fully satisfied as he helped himself to our orders. My sister-in-law M, on the other hand, chose the Tomato Basil Pasta with Shrimp (Php. 220). We were told that this was one of their best-sellers and...

Paul and I are such big fans of ribs ! We enjoy the tender, falls-off-the-bone type that was perfectly marinaded in yummy barbeque sauce and grilled to perfection. Sure we have tried a number of rib dishes here and there but we are still in the look-out for that perfect ribs platter that will make us lick our fingers clean and leave our stomachs happy. I've been looking forward to this year's Valentine's Day simply because Paul told me he got something planned already. You see, for probably 350 days in the year, Paul will just leave me to choose which restaurant to dine in and to plan our entire day's itinerary. For the remaining 15 days though, which includes Valentine's Day, my birthday and our monthsaries and anniversaries, then he would take charge in doing so. He told me that we will have a fun romantic dinner in Makati and left it at that. The suspense was killing me as I was dying to find out where exactly our Valentine's dinner would be. Despite consta...

It's always a joy going to the new Eastwood Mall . With its growing list of interesting food establishments, I normally would suggest meeting up here for a quick get-together or a cozy lunch out with friends. Such was the case one Saturday afternoon when my balikbayan friend Ei and I agreed to meet up for lunch. Since she lives up north and I, somewhere along the center of the metro, Eastwood City turned out to be our middle ground. I have a growing list of must-try restaurants in this new mall and this includes Momo Cafe . After enjoying our lunch at Chelsea Market and Cafe and loving the drinks over at M Cafe, I was very excited to try out this particular restaurant by the same operating group. We arrived just a little past 12:30 and the restaurant was jam-packed! It's a good thing that service was quick and turn-over was pretty fast too. In no time, the front desk officer was able to lead us to our table. I love the bright, colorful interiors. With yellow being the main t...

I can still remember my trip early last year to Cebu . It was the farthest place that I've ever traveled to for work. For one thing, to get there requires riding a plane. Upon arrival at sunny Cebu, we were warmly greeted by our fellow partners who excitedly toured us around. While walking around Ayala Center Cebu, one of the city's major shopping malls, I asked a partner what are the must-eat places around the area and without even batting her eyelashes, she said, " You have to try the ribs at Bigby's ". Unfortunately, our time in Cebu was pretty limited and most of our meals were taken inside the resort, thus I said goodbye to Cebu without having a taste of Bigby's famous ribs. Needless to say, I was disappointed and vowed to return to Cebu soon. SM Megamall's Atrium is starting to be one of the places that we frequently visit during the weekends. It's very exciting to see a new restaurant opening one right after the other in a matter of days. Unlik...

During my visit to Cebu early this year, the first thing that I asked our partners after exchanging Hi's and Hello's was "San masarap kumain dito?" (Where is it good to eat here?) Our partner, who was so accomodating immediately enumerated her recommendations: there's the infamous Sutukil (which I later learned was a big al fresco food court that houses a number of stalls selling barbeques and grills), then there's Krua Thai and lastly La Maison . I was further intrigued by her last recommendation. "Is that a french restaurant?" , I asked, noting the sound of its name. Our hospitable partner told me that it's really more of a casual dining restaurant that specializes in ribs and steaks. Sadly, due to my tight schedule, I wasn't able to try La Maison but promised to do so on my next return. Luck must have been at my side when I found out the La Maison has opened not one but three branches here in Manila. Hooray! Now, I do not have to wait til...

Allow me to take a short trip down memory lane: Around 10 years ago, my family would wake up extra early on a Sunday morning to have breakfast at Racks Tomas Morato. We would have our fill of their Pinoy breakfast meals with the accompaniment of Racks' signature BBQ sauce. It was also at Racks where my sister and I first fell in love with Baby Back Ribs. This, complete with Baked Potato and Baked Beans! As kids then, it was the best treat after a long week at school. Ten whole years went by so fast, there were more establishments that opened besting each other out with their ribs, grilled chicken and whatnots. Our taste have further developed to enjoy the finer things in life knowing the difference between fine vs. fun dining. We find joy in Spiral's creative buffet and get nostalgic when dining at Dulcinea, Alex III, Sugi or Kimpura. We realized that, after watching Super Size Me, fast foods shouldn't be our regular staple and veered towards restaurants that offers health...