Lucky Plaza is said to be dominated by the Filipino Crowd, but on a hidden corner of this mall is a really good Indonesion restaurant called Resto Surabaya. It has simple earthly colored interiors and comfortable dining area. The Ayam Penyet (Surabya style Fried Chicken) was tasty on every level from meat to skin, especially with a dip of spice.
Singapore’s World of Flavors (1 of 2)
Hopping in from a hole-in-the wall restaurant to an al fresco street dining , to a humble stall in a kopitiam to an unpretentious mall restaurant, food tripping is one activity I cherish when I’m in Singapore. Food offering is so diverse I can eat different cuisines from different parts of the world depending on what my appetite dictates that day. During my week-long stay in Singapore, I tried different restaurants my friend recommended which were good on the type of cuisine they serve yet thrifty.
Crunchtime at 8065 Bagnet
The menu listed a grant total of 20 food items, six of which are bagnet main dishes and another six are bagnet budget meals. It takes a lot of gumption to offer just about only one thing in your restaurant and build the menu around it. Braver still to name your restaurant after it. But Bagnet 8065 does not disappoint.
Adarna Resto: Food in Culture, Culture in Food
“I wanted the people to be revitalized after eating” said Chef Giney Villar, much like how the legendary bird Adarna, where the restaurant’s name came from, would revitalize and cure people of their illness. Chef Giney traveled around the country and brought back the historical and heirloom recipes that date back to the early 1900s and recreated them for people to enjoy now. Just the thought of trying out recipes that probably our lolas used to make was enough to feed my curiosity. And the interesting twist is that Chef Giney’s a vegan. So how would those meat dishes taste without her actually taste-testing it first?
La Cocina de Tita Moning: Dining back to the 1930s
We’re already 10 years into the new millennium but stepping into the foyer of La Cocina de Tita Moning, I can’t help but feel like I’ve left the 21st century at the doorstep and slipped back to another era. The gleam of the afternoon sun and chandelier reflects off the polished hardwood floor. Old paintings and photos hang all over the walls. The air conditioning was on but I seem to smell (or imagine smelling) a faint musty odor in the air, reminiscent of the redolence of old houses. I pass by the souvenir/pasalubong shop immediately past the sliding doors and save for the air conditioners and big refrigerators, I can easily mistake the decade for the 1930s, not the 2000s.
Bale Dutung: Feeding the tummy, filling the mind
When traveling to the north, making a stopover in Pampanga is always a sensible decision. And why not? Kapampangans are really known for their rich food tradition. But eating takes on a deeper, and should I say cultural, meaning when you make a stop at Bale Dutung. Tucked in a residential village, the place looks more like a house than a restaurant which it actually is, being the abode of chef/cook/artist Claude Tayag and his wife, Maryanne. That said, the treatment we got was more akin to dining in a friend’s house.