Shinjuku Ramen House, Little Tokyo, Pasong Tamo Makati

It was our second time to dine at Shinjuku, located at Little Tokyo in Makati. I have always wanted to go this this place whenever I crave for Ramen, but parking is a challenge as it's always full. However, on the particular evening of June I saw that there was only one car parked in front of the store so when I told Doc M, we had to make a U-turn.

Here are what we ordered:

Yakisoba

It's toppings overload! We ordered the regular size, but it can actually be shared. This is what Doc M had so I can't say anything much about it. He said that it was good and filling, but nothing extravagant. I got all the octopus pieces, though.

Beef Tsukemen

This is what I ordered. The serving is huge and can feed about 3 people. The beef was tended and noodles are succulent. It's ramen with a twist. The idea is to dip the noodles to the bowl of soup, which will give you the liberty to control the taste.

I can use the chopsticks, but am not an expert on it. I had difficulty using chopsticks on the noodles because they were thick and compact. I only had 2 beef and wasn't able to consume even just the 1/4 size of the noodles as it was indeed heavy. 

3 people can actually share with this dish.

Crunchy California Maki

This is Doc M and I's newest favorite! We certainly felt that it's made of fresh ingredients and the taste was more than enough to satisfy our palate. 

This is actually a meal in itself. Next time we dine, we can just order sushi and we'd be satisfied.

Despite being full, it didn't stop us from finishing this set.

Coffee Jelly

Most of their desserts are shaved ice of different flavors. Coffee jelly is the only one that's different.

In other restaurants, you can just eat the coffee jelly itself. But for Shinjuku's version, it has a strong coffee taste, with no sugar whatsoever so it has this bitter taste. That explains why it's accompanied by a scoop of vanilla ice cream, which goes very well with each other. The rice crispies and candy sprinkles add crisps to the experience. 

Coffee Jelly (with Vanilla Ice Cream)

In summary, Doc M and I were satisfied with our dining experience at Shinjuku. We did not experience service problem as well. The waitresses weren't the most accommodating, but they know their job.

So yes, we will be coming back soon.

Crisostomo at RWM

April 18, 2015 (Saturday)

Since we started going to Resorts World Manila, I have been wanting to dine at Crisostomo. I am a fan of Filipino food but it was always full and we would have to wait so we always end up somewhere else.

I first saw it's big tarpaulin along South Super Highway everytime we travel South, promoting their branch in Nuvali and since then it kept me wanting to try them out.

So it happened one time for a super late dinner, perhaps reason why there weren't much diners anymore as it was about 10:00PM. We immediately had a table.

Quite overwhelmed with the options in their menu, we ended up wanting to try out:

1) EMILIO - beef morcon cooked in classic homemade tomato

    * This is a classic dish that is not often being offered in other Filipino restaurant. Nothing extravagant, but it was just okay. Nothing that excites my palate.

    * This was also a BIG FAIL for us. While Doc M was eating, he noticed a streak of hair on the morcon itself. We showed it to the waiter, who immediately took it away from our table. Few minutes later, the girl who I assumed was their supervisor approached us to apologize and advise that they're having it investigated and that the morcon itself came from their commissary and they just prepare it in the store. As a form of recovery, they offered us (I can't remember if it was a cake or something) but we opted to just get the bill. We totally lost our appetite. 

    * In the end, good thing they did not charge us for this.

Emilio - P395.00

2) Noli Me Talong - Tortang Talong topped with kesong Puti
    * Doc M is a fan of tortang talong. But to make the story short, he was not impressed with this dish either. It was bland, and we didn't get to taste the difference of having it topped with kesong puti.

Noli Me Talong - P215.00

3) Iday - Suman with Batangas Tsokolate
    * I have mentioned from my previous blog that I love "kakanins" so it didn't came a surprise when I ordered this. The combination of suman being dipped in chocolate sounded superb. This, too, was a disappointment. I think I was only able to consume one and didn't bother to bring home the rest.

Iday - P150.00

Yes, I may be bias because of the bad experience with the Morcon, but even though it was my first time to dine at Crisostomo, it would also be my last. 

The waiting time was rather long, at about 20 minutes or so. This I guess is one of the reasons why diners stay longer and tends to get full most of the time.

To sum up our experience: Once is enough.