Frannywanny

Metro Manila is roughly 600km² big but with the crazy traffic jam that happens everywhere in the metro, every single day, it somehow makes going from one point to another feel like an out of town drive. Since I spent most of my days with Kongkong and Ama in Quezon City, you'll noticed that most of the places that I've visited for this trip is just within this vicinity. Not a big problem there as Quezon City is one of the biggest cities and there sure are a LOT of dining options to choose from. Let me start with my latest find -- Tien Ma's Taiwanese Cuisine . I've actually heard of this restaurant from Mommy who even called me when I was here in Singapore to tell me about their latest food discovery. It must be that good that Mommy couldn't wait to tell me in person, right? Located along the busy intersection of N.S. Amoranto and D. Tuazon, parking may be a bit of a challenge but luckily, we went there for late lunch so it was easy to spot an empty slot. The me...

Whenever I'm asked what my favorite food is, I would always have to stop and think really hard. You see, the problem here is that I don't only have one but in fact, I have 3 favorite types of food that I love very very much! That would be sushi , dimsum and pasta . Give me any of these and I can eat it for days on end. I'm lucky that Singapore is such an awesome food mecca that there's pretty much a very wide array of food choices available all the time. Take dimsum for example. Yes, I do admit that Hong Kong still reigns as the dimsum capital of world but when it comes to Xiao Long Baos , then Singapore is pretty much ahead of the pack. What are  Xiao Long Baos ? It's a delicate, hand-created dumpling that is filled with pork and a small amount of soup. Steamed to perfection, the beauty of xiao long baos is that the soup stays intact even upon serving. So, there's one way to eat this -- carefully lift a piece using your chopsticks making sure that you d...

For someone who spends her weekends trying a restaurant or two, there are just days wherein I would go back to the ones that I've tried and "tasted"  through time. These are the restaurants that I have full confidence in bringing a guest to as I know the best dishes by heart and I have full confidence that it will be just as good as how I've enjoyed it the last time..and the time before that. One of my favorites here in Singapore (and basically in most parts in Asia) is Din Tai Fung . A restaurant that originated in Taiwan, they are very popular worldwide for their to-die-for Xiao Long Bao which is one of my all-time comfort food wherever I go. In fact, our first taste of Din Tai Fung was back in 2010 here in Singapore . We've been to a few more outlets after that, even to the one in Taiwan too.  It has been 4 years of non-stop patronage and loyalty still Din Tai Fung serves consistently the best Xiao Long Bao for me. In addition to their XLBs, let me...

I can't believe I haven't gotten around to dining at Kirin till late last year! As frequent visitors of Bonifacio High Street ever since it opened to the public, it's pretty much inevitable that Paul and I have dined at almost all food establishment in the area..all but one and that's Kirin Chinese Dining . I guess we were so busy trying all sorts of cuisines from Italian to American, from New Orleans to Filipino that we have overlooked the one that's closest to home -- Chinese.  Add to the fact that I've heard not-so-good reviews about Kirin back then that I decided to just put it at the bottom part of my priority list. It was until last New Year's Eve when my in laws invited the entire family out for lunch. I've mentioned a number of times that my MIL has really good taste in food right? Well, as it turns out, she has been a loyal patron of Kirin after discovering that the food was indeed yummy.  Lunch began with these huge steam baskets of ...

Last week, Paul and I were privileged to be invited to an intimate dinner to sample a number of signature dishes which will only be available for a very limited time at the Jasmine Restaurant of the New World Hotel in Makati . From September 19 to October 1 , that's a total of 13 days only, Chef Wong Kam Chung from Shanghai will serve his specialties to the patrons of the restaurant. Being the executive chef of the famous YUE 1525 in New World Hotel in Shanghai, Chef Wong is a veteran in preparing a number of Cantonese dishes including his special Double Boiled Whelk Soup with Chinese Herbs and a lot more. Since the drive from my office to Makati took a while, we arrived quite hungry and ready for our lauriat dinner. We began with two appetizers which were totally different from the usual cold cuts platter that we're all used to. We had Lotus roots stuffed with Glutinous Rice (Php. 480). A long platter where you get eight bite-sized pieces. It has a very sweet taste...

The first time I heard about Din Tai Fung was from my mom who, after coming home from her Singapore trip, couldn't stop raving about this restaurant that serves the best tasting Xiao Long Bao that she has ever tasted in her life. She and my aunt loved it so much that at some point my aunt even considered bringing this amazing brand to Manila. It didn't took that long for me to also try Din Tai Fung myself. Ten months ago, when Paul and I went to Singapore for our Honeymoon, we set a dinner date with his cousin J for a fun Xiao Long Bao dinner at ...where else?!... Din Tai Fung ! We were fortunate that there was a branch located at the mall adjacent to our hotel. We had a great time! I love their Xiao Long Bao and Pork Chop Fried Rice . Needless to say, Paul and I have officially added Din Tai Fung into our list of favorite restaurants. Read more about our DTF Singapore here. Fast forward to our Taipei trip, of course Din Tai Fung was in our list of must-visits as th...

Four years. It has been four long years since college friends Daff, Anne, Tim, Len, Paul and yours truly shared a meal together. Call it falling out. We've had our own drama episodes in the past until little by little we've learned to pull down our pride and agreed to start on a clean slate. After all, that's what friendship is all about, right? Paul and I would regularly double date with soon-to-wed Len and Tim and last Wednesday night was no different. I sent Len an SMS to ask how she's doing and she invited me out to dinner. Only this time, she asked if I am game to invite Anne and Daff to join us. Without hesitation, I texted back, "sure, why not?!" I haven't seen them for a long time and it would really be nice to catch up with old friends..after all, we've known each other for more than a decade already. Looking back, they were all seated at the front row as they watched my love story with Paul unfold. We agreed to meet at Shi Lin a...

I'd consider myself a loyal diner. After having a wonderful dining experience with delicious food and impeccable service rendered, expect that I will definitely be back again and again bringing in friends and relatives who are eager to try after hearing my non-stop raves. That's how passionate I am about restaurants that I love. Not only will I blog about it here, I'd definitely keep on talking about it as well. Such is the case with Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao , the newest addition to my list of favorite restaurants in the Metro. The buzz about Crystal Jade coming to Manila began spreading like wildfire late last year. Initially, just like Happy Lemon, people were not sure which foreign restaurant is coming in. Guesses where thrown here and there and finally, last September, Crystal Jade opened its door to a long long long line of waiting customers. I've been wanting to try Crystal Jade since it first opened but after a couple of failed attempts, I...

Regular visitors of my blog can say how much I love this particular dimsum called Xiao Long Pao . I love how each piece was carefully crafted to keep the delicious soup intact and the meat flavorful and tender. It's always a delight to carefully take a small bite, slurp the soup and pour in a few drops of special Xiao Long Pao vinegar before popping the entire thing into your mouth. On our second day in beautiful Singapore, we met up with Paul's cousin J for dinner and I'm so glad we went with my request to dine at Din Tai Fung . For those who are not aware, Din Tai Fung is really known for their Xiao Long Pao as repeatedly told to me by my mom, aunt and friends. My aunt loved it so much that she even thought of bringing Din Tai Fung to Manila (now I wonder what ever happened to that negotiation) . Din Tai Fung has various branches in Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, the US, in Taiwan where it originated and a lot more! J regularly dines at Din Tai Fung and so we lef...

Every year, I find it a good challenge to pick out a restaurant on where I will treat my extended family to for my birthday. Early this year, I knew I wanted to throw a special lechon/paella dinner however after dining in more than a hundred new restaurants for the past two years, I have found a couple of good ones that I'd love to let my family enjoy for themselves. Such is the case of HK Choi , it was during one shopping date that I had with Mommy that we came across this promising Chinese restaurant in SM Megamall . We just shared on their Xiao Long Pao and Fish Brisket Hot Pot and HK Choi has successfully won us over. A week before my birthday, I invited my grandparents, aunts, uncle and cousin over at HK Choi . It's good that it's located in a mall making it pretty accessible for everyone. I went over and over their menu making sure I will be able to order a good mix. Of course, I also got suggestions from my grandpa and mom who are both expert foodies in the fa...

As they say, the third time's a charm. My first visit to Eat Well , I fell in love with their Shrimp Puff with Wasabi Mayo. A couple of weeks after, I brought Paul with me and we loved the Xiao Long Pao and their Yang Chow Fried Rice. Last week, I met up with two of my best friends at Eat Well and we had a feast! Trina, was a regular patron and she knows the best dishes to order. We started off with two baskets of steaming Xiao Long Pao (Php. 175/8pcs). Just the same way it captured my heart the first time, I continued to enjoy slurping the yummy soup inside the thick wrapper and later enjoying the soft ground meat inside. After our dimsum appetizer, we got two types of soup: Braised Spinach Soup with Seafood (Php. 88) and Hot and Sour Soup (Php. 88). We enjoyed alternating between the two. I love it that their soup is not loaded (or is actually cooked without) with MSG that it did not leave us thirsty after the meal. Yum! Spying our neighboring table, I noticed tha...