Cucina Victoria

Original date: June 11, 2007

One place that had delicious food, but i would never *or avoid to* go back to is Cucina Victoria. The place is so-so.. its interior similar to that of Dulcinea's.. the food is okay.. but if you're given as much choices as they have in powerplant.. definitely try somewhere else.

Salpicao Rice - PhP 265 (just the right slice.. was a bit cold though when they served it.. price is too much for the quantity)Crispy Fish Fillet with Cream of Parsley Sauce - PhP 265 (Mc Donalds' fish fillet would have been a better alternative.. the creamy sauce saved it from being a disappointment)Cucina Victoria
Phone: 898-1098
Address: Level P1, Power Plant Mall, Rockwell Drive cor. Estrella St.
Makati City, Metro Manila

Gracielo's Inihaw

Original date: June 10, 2007

One place in the metro that you should go to at least once is Tiendesitas. They divided the area into specialties like antiques, pets, fashion..etc..mind you, they offer it real cheap there. After shopping, there's no need to go far to eat because they also have a food court with numerous stalls..however, they basically sell the same viands. We chose Gracielo's because it was the nearest to where we came from.. lesson learned that we should sacrifice the walk to have something better.. unfortunately, there was no saving grace for them.. we didn't enjoy any one of the food.. never eating there again.

Grilled Squid - PhP 150+ (i don't really remember the price.. all i remember was how it wasn't worth it..the squid wasn't fresh and undercooked..malansa!)Sizzling Sisig - PhP 200+ (not sure about the price.. i'll recheck when i go back.. but this has got to be the worst sisig i've had. it's all pork fat.. ick.)
Gracielo's Sari-saring Inihaw
Phone: 807-8167
Address: Tiendesitas at Frontera Verde, Ortigas corner C5 Ugong
Pasig, Metro Manila

Sentro

Original date: June 9, 2007

If you have balikbayans craving for filipino dishes and don't want to go to the usual choices such as Kamayan, Cabalen, etc.. or if you yourself want to eat filipino food but are too lazy to cook yourself *like me! :p* then Sentro is the place to go. The food tastes great, although the serving is quite small. It's definitely one, if not my favorite filipino restaurants in the metro.

Butong Pakwan - free (they might as well not have served this..it looked old, tried one.. and stopped.)Boneless Crispy Trotter - PhP 390 (super super yummy!! the skin's really crispy and the meat so soft! it's less the hassle because it's boneless already! sarap talaga!)Lamb Caldereta - PhP 390 (the meat was surprisingly soft..although i would've liked it more if it were spicier..and the serving was so little for the price)**Also try their Corned Beef in Tamarind Soup.. i've heard so much rave about it.. will definitely try it when i go back.

Sentro 1771
Phone: 757-3940
Address: Greenbelt 3 2nd Level, Ayala Center
Makati City, Metro Manila

Bubba Gump

Original date: June 8, 2007

Another fun place to dine is Bubba Gump. It only has one branch in the metro which is located in Greenbelt. It's good for hanging out with friends or family. The environment is somewhat like in Friday's. The prices are quite steep, but you'll surely enjoy here!

Speckled Lemonade - PhP 110 (unlike other strawberry lemonades, this one has a generous amount of crushed strawberries in it.. too bad it isn't refillable)
Frozen Lemon-Ups - PhP 90 (too sweet.. lemonade shake with blue syrup which i'm not familiar with)Calamari Rings - PhP 270 (squid was not rubbery and not that oily.. although the price is too much for a small serving)Bucket of Boat Trash - PhP 610 (deep fried shrimp, lobster, mahi-mahi & fries.. just for kids! :p this will probably hike up old people's cholesterol! but really yummy)Salmon and Veggie Skillet - PhP 460 (too much butter! the salmon was fresh but the jasmin rice was swimming in oil & butter.. plus i don't really like capers)Name plate game - (a fun and innovative way bubba gump has thought of to call waiters.. you flip the plates to red if you want them to stop, and blue if you don't need them)
Bubba Gump
Phone: 757-5154
Address: 2nd Level Greenbelt 3 Paseo de Roxas corner Legaspi St., Ayala Center
Makati City, Metro Manila

Cyma

Original date: June 3, 2007

Becoming more and more popular, Cyma is definitely one restaurant you should try. Bombarded with Japanese, Chinese and American cuisine all over the metro, Greek specialties offered by Cyma is a wonderful surprise to your palette. The ambiance is very informal. Wooden stools and servers in jeans are examples to how casual it is in Cyma, making me believe that they focus on the food more than on the aesthetics. Well, i don't have a problem with that because they do serve great dishes!

Lamb Gyros - PhP 150 (the waiter had to correct me as it is pronounced "gyro".. tasted really good! although it's hard to eat because the fillings keep falling out. it's like our local shawarma, but with a lot more fillings)Garides mi Feta Spaghetti - PhP 230 (sour to the taste unlike what filipinos are used to which is mildly sweet. i really liked this one.. the shrimp was fresh, feta cheese was the right size and the serving was generous)Hirine Brizola PhP 350 (tastes like the pork chops of italianni's.. really yummy, tender and juicy.. salivating now! :p served with potatoes or bellpeppers stuffed with rice)Flaming Mangoes - PhP 180 (this is a must try! served while flaming, and you get to hear all the waiters shout "Opa!"..taste is yummy depending on the sweetness of the mango.. we got a somewhat sour mango.. good thing it's served with the vanilla ice cream and the mango had cinnamon making it interesting)
Cyma
Phone: 729-4837
Address: G/F Greenbelt 2, Ayala Center
Makati City, Metro Manila

Dulcinea

Original date: June 2, 2007

It's fun eating in Power Plant in Rockwell because the restaurants are so diverse..japanese, chinese, indian, greek.. they have it. Unluckily, of all the choices available to us, we decided to eat in Dulcinea. We thought that since their pastries were so good, then their dishes would probably do good as well.. we were so wrong.

Soup - around PhP 90 (seriously, would you eat something that looks like this? i gave it a shot and.. ick. dropped the spoon)Spaghetti A Lasagna - PhP 110 (very bland.. not worth 110.. not even worth half its price. utterly disappointed in this one)Steak A La Pobre - PhP 300 (didn't personally taste this one, but my bf tells me it's good.. but i don't think it's worth its price)Fruitshake - around PhP 110 (mixture of mangoes, bananas, syrup, etc. the life saver of our meal in Dulcinea. Generous in the fruits, really refreshing!)
Dulcinea
Phone: 756-5043
Address: Concourse Level Power Plant Mall, Rockwell Drive cor. Estrella St.
Makati City, Metro Manila

National Sports Grill

Original date: May 20, 2007

It's best to visit National Sports Grill or NSG for short if there are sports games you wanna watch where you don't have tickets to. This place gets jam packed specially during ADMU-DLSU games or any sports finals. The prices are quite steep.. but i guess it's tolerable if you plan to stay for a whole sports event which usually lasts for hours.

Home Run Sampler - PhP 585 (a wrong choice as lunch! :p but really tastes yummy good for snacking when watching games)Sauces (different sauces for the sampler.. but the best was the sour cream!)Half Mile Chicken - PhP 285 (the description says it's juicy.. well.. it's not. quite disappointing.. jollibee's chickenjoy is definitely better than this)
National Sports Grill
Phone: 893-3617
Address: 3rd Level, Greenbelt 3, Ayala Center, Paseo de Roxas corner Legaspi Street
Makati City, Metro Manila

Tong Yang

Original date: May 19, 2007

If you enjoy eating in yakiniku or shabu-shabu types of restaurants, then you'll enjoy tong yang in jupiter. It's eat all you can for a very cheap price. Here, you cook your own food over a choice of either grill or pan. I suggest choosing the grill for health reasons.. since you plan to eat a lot.. at least cut back on the oil! :p The price, if i can remember it correctly is PhP 300+/person..cheap ehh?

Assortment of seafood and meat (the seafood wasn't really that fresh anymore.. i suggest just getting the meat or if you really want fish, just cook it really well)Assortment of veggies (veggies can be cooked on the stock provided.. need to balance all the cholesterol with some veggies! :p) Meat! Meat! Meat! (the grill cooks the food real fast so don't worry that you'll be hungry! :p and they change the grill quite often so you don't get stuck with the burnt taste)Veggies in stock (you can choose from a variety of stock to get.. and you can even have 2 kinds at a time like we did. We didn't really experiment on the stock and just chose sinigang and chicken.. the others were to expensive to try)
Tong Yang Restaurant
Phone: 899-3388
Address: 34 Jupiter cor. Planet St. near EDSA Bel-Air
Makati City, Metro Manila