Bringing out my inner Carnivore: The Sambokojin experience

I often see a big sign that says 'Sambokojin' in between the Ortigas and Santolan stations of the MRT, it says smokeless grill so I figured it's just Yakimix with a different name. I was never curious enough to try the place since it was really out of the way and I thought that I already had my fair share of smokeless grills. Good thing the boyfriend knows better and he asked me out on a date to this particular Japanese buffet. What's better is we found out that a branch opened up near my place! So one Saturday morning, the boyfriend had me claim the date he promised and he reserved us a lunch at Sambokojin West Ave branch.

The moment we stepped into the place I was glad that we had reservations - there were a lot of people waiting to be seated. I know waiting can be a pain in the tushy but I noticed that most people waiting are comfortable, there was a huge air-conditioned waiting area just outside the main restaurant. Note that they are really organized and had a system on getting their guests seated.

Filipino-inspired waiting area

Their very spacious waiting area after lunch hours

I found it sexy when the boyfriend approached the girl in-charge and said "Reservation for Miguel Blanco" hihi I saw envious stares from people who were seated in the waiting area while we were walking towards the main door leading to the restaurant, so a tip to anybody who plans to visit - Get a reservation!

We were seated at our table and the waiter assigned to us introduced himself and prepared our grill. I then walked over the 'to-grill' buffet and saw an array of meat, seafood and vegetable that we can cook. 

veggies rolled in various bacon sliced meat

marinated beef, chicken and pork  

mushrooms, skewers, quail eggs, salmon, tuna, prawns, crab sticks and more!

And then we grilled..

asparagus wrap(my love's favorite) and various meats

and grilled..

and grilled..

to our heart's content!

The diversity of their marinade is limited as compared to that of Yakimix but I can say that their meat is more flavorful than any meat Yakimix has to offer. Quality vs. Quantity. Aside from the to-be-grilled food, there are also cooked food that you can enjoy - the best one for me is the beef stew, the subtle korean flavor infused in slow cooked beef. Yum. ooh and of course given the fact that I am a tempura addict, I got to eat as many tempuras as I wanted. 

my tempura and katsudon

my baby had me try various noodles - yum!

the cooked food buffet

a must try! I had to muster extreme self control to NOT eat this with rice

Another section of their cooked food buffet

I swear that my self-control was challenged when I started tasting their food. The food took me from Japan to Korea without leaving Manila! Since I am on a low carb diet I had to eat all of these without rice - the agony! Protein overload. On the other hand, Miguel ate rice with caution - he wouldn't want to be full before we tried everything else in the buffet table. There was one particular rice that he tried, it looked to me as if it was sticky rice but I just could not remember what it was called, but judging from his ear to ear grin, I would say it was yummy!

The rice came in a cute steamer

my love's sticky rice

As with Yakimix, the dessert table was boasting with cakes, cream puffs, ice creams in different flavors, fruits and chocolate fondue. This is a Japanese Grill Buffet so don't expect much when it comes to the desserts or you'll be disappointed.

Assorted pastries

Generic Cake 1

Generic Cake 2

fresh watermelons

high-blood buster -- pineapples

chocolate covered apples and marshmallows

Your best bet for a yummy dessert is ice cream and fruits as for the rest of them I could not care any less. Eating a pineapple or an apple is a good way to reset your taste buds, it'll help you transition from one grilled meat to another. You'll appreciate the flavors of the meat by doing so.

For people who have been to Yakimix or RobotoSan, I don't know if you got the same ulam-like odor in your hair once you are done with all the grilling - I did, but with Sambokojin I noticed that you can leave the place with the same scent as you came in. Another remarkable thing about the place is the service, everybody was friendly and each table is assigned a waiter who actually helps you in the grilling in case you get tired of doing it yourself. The grill was also replaced in the middle of the meal - less carcinogens for the customers. Apart from everythaing that I have mentioned.the place also has a salad bar and a sushi bar. Kumpleto!

Each table comes with a set of oils and condiments that you can add to your meat while it's cooking. They also gave me Japanese vinegar when I requested for one -- talk about customer service! :)

All throughout our two and a half hour stay at Sambokojin, I was telling Miguel how I like the interior of the place. I haven't been to their other branches but if it's as clean and as sosyalan as the West Ave branch then they are on right track to dominating the smokeless grill scene.

my date, my love - wearing our matching glasses :)

For less than Php500.00 you get to enjoy their lunch buffet from 11am to 2pm. I ate too much meat in a span of an two hours that I felt like a carnivore! Trust me, just an hour of staying at that place would give you your money's worth.

Sambo Kojin West Avenue

For reservations call 372-8846 or 921-2873

You can also visit their Facebook page

Roboto San Japanese Grill Buffet

I first heard about this place from my friends at the office. Sissy and Mitch bought groupons for themselves and their boyfies but since my internet connection was slow I gave up on scoring the groupon and instead I just decided to pay for the regular price.

The first thing that came into mind when I first heard about Robot San is Yakimx -- with robots as waiters in place of regular people. An image of the Jetsons popped into my mind. Japanese grill buffets are not uncommon in Manila, with the success of it's predecessors Yakimix and Sambokojin, it wasn't a surprise that a different take on Japanese grill buffet would emerge. 

Sissy and Hanz bought lunch groupons and my Miguel and I decided to just double date with them. The  first thing you notice when you step into the place is the modern take in dining, there are white solid beams that form interesting shapes and the play on the wall colors is very futuristic. What caught my eye is the large screen TV with Voltes 5 reruns. Good concept eh? A total blast from the past! The eye catching chair design is also a plus. Children and child at hearts would definitely enjoy their robot designs.

Robot Chairs

The food on the other side, did not disappoint when it came to taste but in terms of variety -- well let's just say it's a far cry from Yakimix. Of course there's marinated meat from chicken to pork to beef and seafood. There were also soups and cooked dishes that were served on the buffet table. The best seller for me would be the beef stew and the of course my favorite tempura. Did I mention that there's a salad bar?

Salad Bar

Their version of HaloHalo

Grill in action

Ooooh. I forgot to mention that their dessert table was really a treat! I could eat their Sesama ice cream again and again and again. yum yum yum! It's sad that I wasn't able to take a picture of their dessert. I was to busy to eat that I totally forgot. Epic Fail. haha

my date ♥

Sissy and I found our robots! See how the color  matches  her blouse and my cape?

I wouldn't be running back to Roboto San anytime soon, just because there are tons of other places to try but for a Php500+ lunch buffet it was worth the experience!

Roboto San Japanese Grill Buffet

2nd Floor, Crossroads, 32nd St., Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City

Mon – Fri 11:am – 2:30pm, 5:30pm – 8:30pm

Sat – Sun 5:15pm – 8:30pm

Bolinao 2012

I am lucky to have friends who likes to go places. We have been together on plane rides, bus trips or even just 2-hour out of town trips on a whim! After Caramoan trip, we wanted to go on another adventure. I really can't remember how we ended up in Bolinao, I have a vague memory of Mitch showing us a groupon for Puerto Del Sol, and after much bloghopping and researching I fell in love with their pool. And that was it - the pool made me want to visit the place. We settled for May 3 to 4, just because those were the days most of us were available.

We left Manila around 12midnight of May 2 via Five Star Bus in Pasay. The bus ride took 5hours which was equal to 2 movies and a couple of songs before we reached Bolinao. The bus is nothing special, it was a typical provincial bus, so if you are planning on going, better be ready for some cramps here and there once you board off the bus. There were 2 stopovers, one was on Tarlac and the next one was Alaminos.

At the bus station, there are trykes there available to bring you to your resort. Since there were 9 of us, we occupied 3 trykes - P150.00 for each tricycle. It took almost half to hour to get from the bus station to Puerto del Sol, the road was kinda rough on some parts so if you plan on going you better be ready for bumpy ride.

A little before sunrise we were at the resort already, but a typical resort's check-in time is 2pm. Good thing the resort allowed us to use their facilities prior to check-in. We were able to use their pool and freshen up by taking a shower before our land tour. The original plan was to avail of their land tour package while we wait for our check-in time, but our plans changed when we were informed that the tour which was P350.00 per head would only be for 2 hours! This was contrary to the 4-hour tour that their Manila office promised us. tsk tsk tsk.

Puerto Del Sol pool

The Jacuzzi

Since we are on a budget a 2-hour trip worth P350.00 is totally out of the question. Good thing Anna knew her way around and suggested that we rent a tricycle for the tour. Renting a tryke there costs P250.00 for the first two hours and an add-on of P50.00 for every exceeding hour. We were able to rent three tricycles for all 9 of us. It was a steal compared to what the resort was offering.

Okay our first stop was the Bolinao Lighthouse, I have been to a couple of lighthouses before but this one brings me to different time, it's rustic features and abandoned feel reminded me of what it used to be. The place definitely made me use my imagination. There is a part there where you can view the sea, the waves, the sky and trees all at the same time. It was beautiful - I would go back there for a pre-nup shoot. 

The lighthouse 

The girls

Our boys

When I began going through blogs about Bolinao, Patar beach was one the places that stuck to my mind. The bloggers commented on how fine the sand was and how beautiful the beach is. Well, they are correct. Patar Beach was an unexpected surprise, the waves were rough but beautiful, the water is clear, the view was fantastic. I like that the people maintained the rustic appeal of the place by putting bahay kubos and wooden cottages along the beach. Surprisingly, even if there were a lot of people it wasn't dirty. Patar Beach could give Puerto Galera a run for it's money. It is a far cry from Boracay but  it is worth visiting.

Patar Beach

Last stop would be Wonderful cave. I wold say that cave was able to justify it's name. It really is wonderful! It was scorching hot and going down into a pool of fresh water inside a cave is the best thing to do. I know that Anna was bragging about how much we would enjoy the cave but I didn't expect that this would be the highlight of our trip.. well for me :) 

Wonderful Cave

At around 3pm and P168.00 poorer because of the trip, we were back at Puerto del Sol. We checked in our dorm-type room to freshen up and then we went out again to enjoy the beach. We stayed at their cottages along the shore line, played some cards, slept a little, ate halohalo, woke up, kayak'd, played frisbee, played volleyball and enjoyed their pool. 

The pool was the thing that made me want to stay at Puerto del Sol, but it was disappointingly hot. If I wanted a hot pool then I would have gone to Pansol. But the pool did look pretty when the lights were on at night.

Pool at night

Puerto del Sol is one of the highend resort along the Bolinao coastline so it was expected that their food would be pricey. It was on the range of P200.00-400.00 per meal. We wanted to experience their food even for just one meal so we decided to have our dinner there. 

Miguel ordered Chicken Teriyaki which reminded me of Teriyaki Boy's version of the dish but only a bit sweeter. It was yummy, but I think I tasted better. You have to give it them that their servings are really huge. I ordered Chicken Ala Kiev and Eggplant mousakka, the chicken was big and tasty, I liked the herbs they rolled the chicken in - it was served with mashed potato and fresh garden salad in asian dressing. The Eggplant moussaka was an interesting dish, it was like a lasagna but instead of pasta noodle, eggplant was used. I liked it. I would definitely order it again. Yes, I am an eggplant lover LOL

After dinner, we went up to our room and took a bath. Our room reminded me of college days, it consists of 7 bunkbeds and the bathroom is shared with the other rooms. It has a television set - which you can't watch from the lower bunk, and a ref. It was a room made for people like us on a budget. 

where we slept

One thing about vacations is that I don't get to sleep for a long time because we are following a strict itinerary, but this trip was different - I took a bath after dinner and slept til 8am in the morning. I did not even notice when Miguel slipped in beside me. LOL

It was funny how the boys bonded over watching basketball while the girls took a bath, I like the fact that they have something in common.. makes it easier for us to plan more trips again.

So at 11am we checked out and got our complimentary shell necklaces from the front desk(buti nlng naalala ni She! hehe) and off we are to another 30minute tryke ride to someplace to eat near the bus station. We settled for pizza and pasta and then off to manila we went. 

I am looking forward to spending another vacation with this group! It was hassle-free and budget-friendly. Sagada na soon, guys? Let's go ethnic! haha

P.S pictures grabbed from Mitch and Ian :) Thanks!

Bagoong Club 2012

I have been dying to try this place out since 2010. I know - what took me so long, right? Well, I tried asking the ex to go there a couple of times, even volunteering to pay for the dinner but he always finds a reason not to go there. Good thing that we never had the chance to visit the place because he aint the right person to go there with. See, I hit the jackpot and I'm with Miguel now and Miguel always gives me what I want. I'm his princess :p

We weren't supposed to eat there last Sunday, but he was late - again. So we lost our reservation at another restaurant. So at the very last minute I tried calling some places on my to-dine list and finally reserved two seats for us at Bagoong Club. The place is located near Tomas Morato so it's quite near my place, it wasn't hard to find actually if I followed the map, but being the miss-know-it-all that I am I decided to find the place my way and it took us a good 20minutes to get there. Normally it would take 10minutes. LOL.

Now on to the food! 

Bagoong Club offers a free platter of Singkamas and bagoong - dba umpisa plang bentang benta na sakin? :) I have to say that their singkamas is very juicy and the complementary bagoong which was supposed to be their staple bagoong was really good - and believe me I have high standards for bagoong and alamang.

What we ordered?

First starters we ordered their Bagoong platter - it consists of a regular Bagoong(Bagoong Asya), Bagoong with gata, Bagoong with crab meat and Bagoong with Pesto. I like the play they made on flavors of the Bagoong. I have to say though that at the end of the day, I would still go with the regular Bagoong.  

We also tried their Kaldereta - is it just me or does Miguel order this everytime we go out? LOL - I say it's just ordinary Kaldereta but the boyfriend insists that it's yummy. So there, choose who you want to believe. :)

We tried their Bagoong Club Special BBQ and I liked it! Miguel discovered a way of eating it - he added Bagoong Europa(the one with pesto) and it was yum yum yum! The sweetness of the BBQ sauce matched perfectly with the leafy taste of pesto. 

Of course I needed to order their Sinigang na Liempo sa Gabi. If Kaldereta is Miguel's go-to food, then I have to say mine is Sinigang and what made this Sinigang extra special is that it's soup is made up of crushed Gabi, ths soup was thick and sour and meat-tasty! I would definitely go back for this one.

Our last dish was Kare-Kare, we ordered this because we are at a place called Bagoong Club and what else goes well with bagoong, right? So their Kare-Kare has this thick peanut sauce -- you'd know that it's the real deal the moment it touches your lips. That's what makes their version of this pinoy dish special. 

And, lastly we tried their Pastillas de Leche Cheesecake - seriously, I want this cake for my birthday! It was the best cheesecake that I ever tried -- the biggest surprise of the night. I even bought one for She since I still owe her a cake becauseI wasn't able to buy her one from Chocolate Kiss --- and she loved it!

So there, that concludes our Bagoong Club experience. I would definitely go back and sample the rest of their menu!

BAGOONG CLUB
122 Scout Dr. Lazcano, Sacred Heart, Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines
For Reservations, please call 929-5450 • 929-0544
Hours: Mon - Sun 11:00am - 3:00pm • 6:00pm - 11:00pm

Flying Gecko - Baguio City

When you are learning to cook, its important to familiarize yourself with various dishes, that is why on our Baguio trip we tried different places to eat. I already blogged about Forest House, here is the second installment. I introduce to you - the Flying Gecko.

Flying Gecko can be found along Session Road, you really would'nt notice the place if you're not walking since the place was really not that big. Because I did my research before going to Baguio, I know excatly where to find the place. We went to Fyling Gecko for our last lunchout in Baguio City.

Like the other places in Baguio, Flying Gecko was not airconditioned, hey who needs airconditioning in Baguio, right? We got there around 10:30am, so we decided to have our breakfast/lunch there.  We went through the menu and I decided to try their New Zealand Fish Fillet and Chicco sampled their Beef Bourguinion.

The Beef Bourguinion was a surprise! When you bite the beef it seems like there is an explosion of flavors in your mouth, it was a dish like no other. This dish is originally a french cuisine, but the version from Flying Gecko incorporated a Filipino feel to the dish. It was worth every cent we paid for it. A big plus was the serving size, it is actually good for sharing.

The fish used for the fish fillet is mahi. It was topped with almonds and the fish has a lemon taste to it. Like the Beef dish, the fish fillet serving was huge! I would definitely recommend this.

I hope you get to visit Flying Gecko :)

Forest House - Baguio City

I was browsing through my Baguio pictures and realized that what makes Chicco and me click is the fact that we have a lot of things in common and we also have our differences which does not make us lose our individuality :)

One thing we have in common is our love to cook and eat. So when we went to Baguio last week, we tried some foodie places that were given good reviews.

First stop? Forest House, which was located about 15minutes (by cab) from where we were staying. After dropping our stuff at the hotel, we went straight to Forest House.

The place reminded me of a storybook house, it has a cottage vibe which makes it cozy and homey. The place was supposed to open at around 10:30am but we came a bit too early.. still, the staff was courteous enough to invite us in and accomodate us. We were given the option to dine at the overlooking part or inside where it is less chilly, we opted for the inside table because I wanted to take pictures of the interior.

When we were given the menu, I was actually impressed with the variety of dishes they serve. From the menu alone, I was convinced that that this was not an ordinary dining experience.

We chose Seafood Gambas for our appetizer and I have to say that its the best Seafood Gambas that I have tasted, it was a bit spicy which made me eat it in small servings. It was the perfect appetizer.

For the main course, I opted to eat St. Peter's fish in Honey mayo, don't be fooled byt the fancy name, St. Peter's fish is actually our local tilapia. I was curious on what magic they would do on the tilapia, When the dish arrived, it was plated perfectly, and the honey mayo sauce was heaven to the mouth, it removed the fishy taste of Tilapia while maintaning the natural taste of the fish. You can also tell that the fish was really fresh because it was tender and it literally melts in the mouth.

 

Chicco chose the Pork in Lemon grass Marinade. Just like the first dish, it was plated very well. Just remembering the smell of the meat and the spices it was marinated in makes my mouth water up to now. The meat was so tender and was juicy all throughout! It was seasoned perfectly!

Finally after a very satisfying main course, we chose Peach-Cherry cheesecake for dessert. Aside from the main restaurant -Forest house also has a pastry shop which makes cakes for dessert in the main restaurant. It was not the best cheesecake, but the combination of cherries and peaches made my taste buds happy :)

 Did I mention that all the dishes came with buttered veggies straight from their very own garden? Sulit tlaga!

Forest House gave us the fine dining experience in Baguio City, the food was superb and the staff was really accomodating and courteous and they are in formal uniform which added to the high class vibe. I would trully recommend eating there. I promise you won't regret it.

Oh - you should try their Benguet Blend Coffee. They have the best coffee in Baguio, believe me - it came straight from Chicco the coffee critic himself! I would blog about the other Baguio foodie paces that we tried, so stay tuned to my next entries. :)