Quick Bite: H Cuisine

A quick Google search would tell you that H Cuisine is one of the must try restaurants along the Tomas-Timog area.  

I tried their best seller, Most Awesome Angus Beef Belly and I loved it. It's comfort food.  I would order this again in a heartbeat. (P308 / single serve with rice)

Dyown and Billy tried the Oven Braised Herb Chicken (P198 with rice) and the Fish Trafalgar Pasta (P228).

We also enjoyed their fresh dalandan juice served in a reallly big glass (P98)!

Budget would be around P350-450 per person with drinks.

H Cuisine

64 Scout Rallos St

cor Tomas Morato

Quezon City

7 Corners, Crowne Plaza Galleria

Crowne Plaza Galleria's 7 Corners remains to be one of our favorite buffet places. 

When we first ate there, we were blown away by the star of the buffet spread, the prime rib steak.  It is so good that Em-J, not a steak lover, went back for seconds.  He would also start his meal with the steak every time we visit.

Right by the entrance would be their dessert spread and directly in front of it, the bread, cheese and pizza station.  I like that they designed it that way so I can pick up something sweet to start off my meal.

 

There would also be little changes to the menu depending on which month you visit, Micah and I lucked out one time when we saw a cheese fondue which we both loved!

There are wonderfully prepared appetizers and a salad bar.

They also have cold seafood.

A chinese noodle station which you shouldn't skip.  I ordered this one time and absolutely loved the fresh prawns that were dunked in hot broth as they was juicy and delicious. 

There's also an Italian, Japanese and Indian stations along with a few hot dishes. 

Their spread is not as overwhelming as other hotel buffets, just enough to keep us satisfied and keep us coming back for more. 

They also often tie up with with Deal Grocer so keep checking the site to get good deals. 

7 Corners

Crowne Plaza Galleria Manila

Ortigas Ave corner ADB Ave

Ortigas Center, Pasig City

NINE in Manila

Atlantis Productions has assembled together theater, tv and film greats in its latest musical, NINE. If only for the casting, this musical is not to be missed with Jett Pangan in the lead who is no stranger to theater with numerous awards under his belt.



Eula Valdez plays his leading lady who has also proven her worth in theater via the country's most successful comedy musical, Zsazsa Zaturnnah. Joining them is theater's who's who, Cherie Gil, Menchu Lauchengo-Yulo and Carla Guevara-Laforteza.





Adding even more star power to the show are Sitti Navarro, the country's bossa nova queen and Ima Castro, who starred in Miss Saigon and recently, Atlantis Productions' In the Heights and Aida.

Nine tells the story of Contini, who’s turning 40 and facing a midlife crisis, as he prepares for his latest motion picture, and balances the many women in his life. The original Broadway production, which starred Raul Julia as the famed film director, won five Tony Awards including Best Musical in 1982. (source)

The people working in the background have, likewise, impressive portfolios. Atlantis Productions’ upcoming take on Nine will feature set design by Tony Award-winning scenic designer David Gallo (Memphis, The Drowsy Chaperone). “I’m so excited to collaborate with Gallo once again. He’s one of the most talented designers I’ve had the honor and pleasure of working with. He’ll also be selecting an up-and-coming designer in the Philippines to work as his apprentice for this production,” says Bobby Garcia, Atlantis Productions’ resident director, who first worked with Gallo in Broadway Asia’s touring production of Cinderella. “I’m also excited that the costumes for Nine will be designed by New York-based Filipino designer Robin Tomas,” he adds. (source)

The musical will run from Sept 21 - Oct 7 at the RCBC Plaza in Makati.



Prime seats are still available for the October 6, 8PM show:



You can purchase tickets through Ticketworld. Just click the link on the sidebar.

Meanwhile, here's Nicole Kidman's version of Unusual Way when she essayed the role of Claudia in the film version:

Cafe Provencal

Cafe Provencal has been an all time favorite restaurant but I realized that I haven't been back since December of last year and I suddenly miss it. I crave their red grape shake, the pesto mayo dip and all the other savory and sweet stuff that they offer.

For the mean time, the photos below should tide me over.

We normally finish this plateful of crunch bread and ask for seconds before our orders arrive. The dip is very delicious. 

Red grape shake that's very refreshing.



Em-J's favorite, chicken caesar salad



Truffle pizza





Creme brulee, courtesy of Choy, he had it sent over when he found out that we were dining there.



Calamares and Mozzarella with dip medley





Rustic pumpkin soup



French onion soup



Pasta a la Cafe Provencal



Happy diners

Crazy Tonkatsu Meals

Pork chops have become the new coffee, in terms of price points, I mean. I remember being very surprised at 150-peso coffee cups as I am at 500-peso pork chop meals now. It's scary to think this becoming the norm. Anyway, I digress.

I've always loved tonkatsu. When I was younger, I normally end up ordering a tonkatsu or a katsudon whenever we go to a Japanese restaurant. This is the reason why I finally gave Ginza Bairin a try even if it was crazy expensive. My friend also raves about this place and would often suggest this place for lunch.

Priced at an average of S$17 (600 pesos) per meal at a fastfood setting, while good, the meals didn't blow me away.







Tonkatsu by Ma Maison has also been getting a lot of positive reviews so I decided to eat out for my birthday there. Its the one time that I feel its okay to splurge.



I gave them a call to have a table for us reserved but I was told quite curtly that they don't accept reservations. There are two sitting areas at the Mandarin Gallery branch and one was closed off while the main area was full. There was only a one couple in line and then us but we waited for more than half an hour.





The restaurant finally decided to open the 2nd sitting area and I have to say this, we were very polite the whole time, never giving anyone from the restaurant a hard time. But what the guy from the restaurant did was a big turn off. Upon opening the 2nd sitting area, he told us that he'd sit us there only if we'd eat fast. He was really out of line, also, there was no event happening that day as all the diners after us were asked to sit there as well. I wanted to create a scene right there but seeing that we're already pressed for time since we already have tickets to a movie which was about to start in less than hour, I decided to let his comment pass.



The hire tonkatsu was thick and good. The finely sliced unlimited cabbage was fresh and the sauce was perfect for it. Priced at S$30 (1000 pesos), it comes with soup, radish, your choice of rice and tea but with the kind of service they have, it's not worth it.







In Manila, thanks to Chuvaness' blog, I heard about Yabu when it opened. Rhommel shares my liking for Tonkatsu so he requested that we have lunch there when I last visited.

I made the mistake of ordering the rosu katsu, it's not the restaurant's fault, but I find that particular part to be a bit funky tasting. (Call me wa-class but I don't like it.) I did like what Rhommel and Oliver ordered and when it comes to service, I give the restaurant a big two thumbs up. Their staff were friendly  and seem genuinely happy to see their diners there.





Average meal would be about 300 - 600 pesos.