Light dinner @ Dong Juan

One of the downside of having meetings in the afternoon is the heavy snacks.  After eating a couple of oven-fresh pan de coco and baked macaroni for an afternoon snack, I was planning to skip dinner and spend a quiet night at the hotel.  But after the meeting, J insisted to take me to dinner.  I tried to refuse kindly but he's having none of it. This is the usual scenario when I am in Cebu--suppliers feed me until I'm bursting at the seams, literally.

I finally agreed to go to dinner with a condition that we're eating light.  We didn't drive too far because around the corner was Insular Square in Mandaue.  I guess it's fairly new because some of the spaces were still vacant.

There were a couple of restaurants here but I veered towards Dong Juan---it looked cozy and I like the word play, it makes the name of this restaurant more memorable.  "Dong" is what  "toto" to an Ilonggo or "totoy" in Tagalog, a term of endearment we often call a younger male sibling, cousin, nephew, a young boy or a young man.

Dong Juan's cozy, casual ambiance  creates a fun, lighthearted experience.  They don't have an extensive menu---just what I needed for this dinner!

J told me that Dong Juan started as a hole-in-wall in Guadalupe then it became popular because of its affordable prices and range of popular food.  We got a garlic-cheese pizza and fish & chips.  The fish & chips was nothing to rave about but the pizza was good.  I was also impressed with the iced tea glass---it reminds me of a cough syrup bottle and the bottle where my grandmother aged her coconut vinegar.

This was a simple but fun dinner.

Linking to Food Friday and Food Trip Friday

Folded Pizza

Met a friend for brunch at a Yellow Cab near my place last week.  We wanted to try their breakfast offering.  I ordered the breakfast combo---My Size - Folded Pizza with Hungarian sausage and scrambled egg and Charlie Chan Chicken Pasta.  K had the Bacon and Mango Egg Breakfast. The folded pizza was actually too big for me, I only finished half.   

Charlie Chan Chicken Pasta has chicken strips, shiitake mushrooms and roasted peanuts, sauteed in a spicy oriental sauce and garnished with spring onions.  It's one of my favorite at Yellow Cab.

How's that for brunch?:p

Charlie Chan Chicken Pasta

 

Linking to Food Friday and Food Trip Friday

Mojos, Pizza & Pasta @ Shakey's

Mojos and Fried Chicken

S and I were in Glorietta recently to watch "The Mistress"---well, she wanted to see it, I was there for the mojos!  I have been craving for mojos and was pestering her that I needed to be fed first before going to the movies.  I didn't miss the chance of taking advantage of S's willingness to bribe me with food so I'd accompany her to watch her favorite love-team.:p

We shared everything here---although I ate most of the mojos.

Tropical Bacon Pizza

The pizza was a bit of a disappointment.  It wasn't as tasty as I imagined it to be.  I think it was the absence of bell pepper and onions.  The seafood marinara wasn't bad but it didn't excite my taste buds, either.

Seafood Marinara

Back to "The Mistress"...3 theaters in Glorietta were full when we got to the ticket counter.  We walked to Greenbelt 3, the theater showing "The Mistress" was also full.  Unbelievable!  I refused to walk to Greenbelt 1 anymore.  We ended up at Starbucks and S drowned her disappointment in coffee.:p  We finally watched the movie 3 days later.

Linking to Food Trip Friday

Food Friday

Domino's Shrimpus Pizza

I have a soft spot for Domino's Pizza.  An old flame used to bring Domino's Pizza when he visited me at home---this was in the late 80's.:o)  For more than a decade, I didn't see any Domino's Pizza, and then they opened a branch at Silver City-Frontera Verde!  This is my current favorite--Shrimpus Pizza, I just love the delicate flavor of shrimp and cheese.

 Domino's Pizza - Shrimpus Pizza

Posted for Food Friday and Food Trip Friday

Pizza perfect

@ mirandablue

I was shoe-shopping at the mall last week when the aroma of pizza hit me.  Didn't want to eat pizza alone so I called a pizza-loving friend [who swore she's on diet] to join me at CPK.  It didn't take much to tempt her and we finished off the 6 slices of Pepperoni Supremo.  It's one of CPK's thin crust pizzas with Italian pomodoro sauce, pepperoni, mozzarella, Parmesan and fresh mozzarella cheeses, topped with fresh herbs.  I am not a pizza connoisseur but this pizza was one of the best pizzas I've had in recent memory!   Or probably because I only eat pizza on rare occasions.  Pepperoni Supremo is a bit spicy [which I love], and although 2 slices are usually my maximum, I reached for the 3rd slice instead of ordering dessert.

But before pizza was shoveled into a pair of maws, we had the Original BBQ Chicken Chopped salad--a balm for a guilty conscience.

The salad and pizza gave me enough energy to chop wood.  Burned it off by walking around the mall for the next two hours and not using the escalators/elevators.  

Don't blame me, shoe shopping does make people hungry!:p

@ mirandablue

Posted for Food Trip Friday and Food Friday

Pizza and munchies at quiz night

Spicy Chicken Pizza--wok-tossed spicy chicken, onions, red & green peppers and cashews

What is a world-popular dish of Neapolitan origin, made with an oven-baked, flat, generally round bread that is often covered with tomatoes or a tomato-based sauce and cheese? A French word, literally means "outside of work", served before the main courses of a meal. They're tasty little bites that kick the party off in style.

If you answered "pizza" to the first question, you are correct. And I'm sure you can pronounce "hors d'oeuvre" with a French accent before you take an exquisite nibble.

Spring rolls, French fries, "Asia-rish" calamari, sausages with grilled fresh onions

I'm just practicing---you see, we munched our way to Murphy's quiz night on Tuesday. We were hoping all these junk foods would turn us into brainiacs, unfortunatley (for us), the place was swarming with beaux esprits. As the Q-master said, the questions are easy, it's the answers that are difficult! If you're a quiz fan, or just want to burn calories by thinking and learning, check out Murphy's quiz night every Tuesday. It's a trivial pursuit quiz, consisting of eight rounds of questions on topics such as music, sports, geography, mythology and film. Come with a team to increase your chances of winning. It's fun, fun, fun---and the food ain't bad either.

My friend, B, seriously reviewing the sports quiz sheet. Our team, "Wala Lang" won the night's "kalabasa" award and we got drunk on free rounds of Margarita. :p

Murphy's Irish Pub is at V.A. Rufino (formerly Herrera) corner Esteban Streets in Legaspi Village, Makati. This is not a paid ad but an invitation to join our team--we need to win this thing!:p 




P.S. Don't forget to review your almanac before joining quiz night! 

Posted for Food Trip Friday and Food Friday

Pizza craving - Food Friday

I was feeling conscientious last weekend when I ordered this Roasted Portobelio Mushrooms pizza at Chelsea Market & Cafe-Serendra. I had a pizza craving but instead of the usual Manhattan Meatlovers, I had my very first vegetarian pizza---loaded with asparagus tips, artichokes, mushrooms and tomato comfit, topped with fresh greens and olive oil. For somebody who binges on all-meat pizza, this vegetarian pizza wasn't half bad. It's a healthy alternative to the usual pizza we enjoy.

More scrumptious food at Food Friday