Tokyo Tonteki Now Open in Katipunan, Quezon City

Tokyo Tonteki: A New Contender in the Japanese Food Scene

by Katarina Antonio

'Tonteki' means pork steak. It is a well-known dish that hailed from Yokkaichi City Mie Prefecture. Tokyo Tonteki is the brainchild of Shusaku Namikawa. On April 15, 2007, the owner, founder, and chef opened his first restaurant in Shibuya Prefecture in Tokyo, Japan. Serving thick cuts of juicy, tender, and flavorful pork steak on a sizzling plate, the establishment was a hit. Shusaku opened three more branches of Tokyo Tonteki in Japan and now, in his first foray in the international market, has put up a branch in Manila. Specifically, in the burgeoning food hub that is the U.P. Town Center.

Calderon Restaurant - Homestyle Spanish Cuisine @ Little Baguio San Juan

Home is Where the Heart is at Calderón

by M.C. Jose

Long before the tapas craze struck Manila, Calderón has been sitting quietly along a street that shares its name in the city of San Juan. Monchet Carballo, head of QA and Product Development, traces its roots to his food stall in Salcedo Market. “I’ve been there for eight years,” he shares. “The paella, the bacalao, you can find on our menu—that’s where I started selling them. Calderón didn’t really kick off until Marmi started pitching ideas, though. She saw this four-door apartment here in San Juan and made a commitment to get the place before even knowing what to do with it. I figured that putting up a restaurant here would be a really good experience.”

Pablo's Pub and Restaurant @ The Forum, BGC

Pablo Has Arrived: Pablo’s Pub and Restaurant Opens in The Forum, BGC

by Beatriz Acosta

The year 2013 is burgeoning with so many new establishments that aim to balance both the eating and the drinking communities--watering holes that offer an eclectic mix of wines and spirits along with an extensive food menu, and all shapes and sizes of gastro pubs. The Forum, a new commercial building (and growing food hub) along Federacion Drive in BGC, is homebase to another establishment where one can dine and drink, and not settle with just meager bar chow selection when major hunger strikes: Pablo's Pub and Restaurant. This new pub, a concept of young co-owners (siblings Atty. Nicolo and Nathania Villonco, Jam and Joy Mabanta, and Miguel Escueta of The Morning Episodes), is just about a month old, but has been experiencing a steady stream of customers. It gets jampacked on weekends, Friday and Saturday nights filled with young crowds during after-dinner hours.

Café Shibuya @ U.P. Town Center

Café Shibuya: 'Perfect, Perfect Bread' Now Being Served in U.P. Town Center

by M.C. Jose

In the local setting, discussions on bread lead us to think of our everyday Pinoy staples such as pan de sal and “tasty” bread. Though Filipinos welcome bread on the table at various mealtimes of the day, we will almost always turn to our favourite source of carbohydrates: rice.  For some, bread does not provide the same level of contentment that rice does—which is quite understandable. We Pinoys have been born and bred to see the value of rice, after all. This does not mean that there is little room for bread in our hearts. Café Shibuya, a new dining spot at the U.P. Town Center, has spent over a year tirelessly conceptualising and revising the recipe for their special Shibuya toast. Now that they are up and running, local diners now have access to what I have dubbed as the perfect, perfect bread.

Red Onion Cafe - Best Taiwanese Cuisine in Manila

Red Onion Café: Bringing the Best of Taiwanese Cuisine to Manila

by Katarina Antonio

Taiwanese food is not as popular in the Philippines as its fellow Asians: Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Thai, and so on. The simple reason for this is that there aren’t many places here that offer food from Taiwan. More often than not, they are just a little addition here and there to Chinese menus. Red Onion Café is here to change that. This recently opened restaurant is situated in what promises to be a hub of good places to eat, the U.P. Town Center. The brainchild of Mark Endaya and Wen-Szu Lin, Red Onion Café brings us the best of Taiwanese and Chinese fare in one menu.

 

L.E.S. Bagels - A Mini Cafe and A Bakery in the Fort

L.E.S. Bagels: The Best Place for Bagels in Manila

by Marian Joy Hernandez

The team who brought us the New York-inspired pizza parlor, Nolita, and the midnight munchies haven, Borough, has, once again, blessed us with a new food concept; something that’s surely been absent from the Manila food map: a bagel shop.

L.E.S. Bagels

Called L.E.S. Bagels, as in Lower East Side, the new bagelry is a cross between a mini café and a bakery. Located at Tuscany Residences, along Upper McKinley Road in The Fort, the place occupies a small two-floor area, where customers can dine in at the second level or al fresco. The ground floor is entirely for taking orders and gawking at the magnificent spread of bagels, tubs of cream cheese variants, and a spectacular array of cookies, donuts, muffins and other baked goods. It’s small; roughly 30 people can dine in comfortably, so ordering for takeaway might be best.

Cravings - Celebrating 25th Year in the Business

25 Things You Probably Don't Know About Cravings

by Trix Deseo

This October, Cravings is celebrating their 25th year in the business. In this article, founders Annie and Badjie relate how it grew from a single takeaway counter along Katipunan to 36 outlets.

 1. Cravings is a restaurant borne out of the love for cooking of three generations of women. The Cravings Group of Companies was put up by mother and daughter tandem: Susana “Annie” Pascual-Guerrero and Marinela “Badjie” Guerrero-Trinidad. When asked where she got her kitchen prowess, Badjie, chief executive officer of Cravings, remembers fondly, “I learned from my mom (Annie). I would always watch her cook.” Annie, Badjie’s mom and founder of Cravings, also had the same tale to say, “I learned from my mom. She was a teacher in Home Economics. She teaches in three universities and then she was doing cooking lessons at home during the weekend.”

26th St. Bistro by The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf @ BGC

 

All-Day Breakfast Place Alert: 26th St. Bistro by The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf

by Marian Joy Hernandez

Once upon a time, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf (CBTL) was known for their lattes, muffins, and their Eggs Benedict. Or, for me, at least, that was the extent of my CBTL dining experience. Until, a visit to 26th St. Bistro by The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, located in Net Lima Building, on the corner of 26th St. and 5th avenue in BGC at Fort, changed all that.

Unlike the normal CBTL coffee shop, 26th St. Bistro is bigger, exuding a vibe that is both cozy and inviting. The chairs and tables are wooden, blending in with the subdued lighting of the place; the floor tiles have a retro pattern reminiscent of the 1960s. By the barista’s area is a row of bar stools perfect for eat and run commuters; with a selection of cakes and pastries beckoning to you, not far to the right.

Big Bite! The Northern Food Festival

MarQuee Mall, Ayala Mall’s first dining, shopping and entertainment destination north of Manila presents “Big Bite! The Northern Food Festival” at the MarQuee Park, Angeles City, Pampanga from October 18 to 20, 2013.

 

Big Bite! is a foodie’s dream come true with its huge outdoor food market featuring everything from cooked Filipino favorites to famous native delicacies and baked goodies, fresh fruits, vegetables and more. The food festival showcases over 100 food stalls featuring the best food products from across the provinces of Pampanga, Bulacan, Ilocos, Baguio, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, Zambales, Bataan, Pangasinan, Cagayan and La Union. It’s a culinary showdown of the most mouth-watering heritage cuisines from Northern Luzon.

Mushrooms Go Pink PH Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign

'Shroom Trip For A Cause: Eat Your Mushrooms this Month for Mushrooms Go Pink PH

by The Click List

Here's a delicious idea for kick-starting the month of October: why not go on a 'shroom trip for breast cancer awareness? October 2013 is all about mushroom for Ministry of Mushrooms, Inc. and the ICanServe Foundation.

"The 'shroomtastic' dishes they've created for this year's campaign have notched up with the introduction of new mushrooms!" shares Marco Lobregat, Ministry of Mushroom, Inc. president. For this year's Mushrooms Go Pink PH Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign, they have collaborated with restaurants and food establishments to showcase the mushroom as a delicious, nutritious, and highly versatile food of choice when dining around the metro.