Adobo connection is a haven for adobo lovers like me; adobo is indeed a staple food for us Pinoys…read moreand is already gaining popularity worldwide. I'm a traveler so I noticed that adobo differs from region to region. Thankfully I found Adobo Connection when they opened up a branch at Fastbytes , Northgate Cyberzone in Alabang. Try out their Adobo Flakes, these are crunchy pork bits give an interesting twist to the usual adobo, they have Adobo Sa Gata, Traditional Adobo, Beef Adobo, Sizzling Adobo plus they have rice all you can. Adobo Connection meal are perfect when you're on a budget, opt for their cheap but tasty dishes such as their Shanghai rolls, Kare-Kareng Gulay, Adobong Kang-kong, Krispy Kangkong, Laing, Gisng-gising and Tokwat baboy. They also serve great merienda finds that fills the stomach and are all below Fifty Pesos each,munch on their cheese sticks, get twirled with delight with their spaghetti, gobbled their Adobo paos or simply get full with their adobo rice, Adobo Connection simply serves the best creations of Pinoy Food. BONUS: they have the fastest Wi-Fi- and you can connect if you dine there.

Bagnet is one of the most sinfully good Filipino dishes ever! Imagine your favorite Filipino viand…read more(ulam) with bagnet...imagine no more as Yohel's Bagnet Station offers "bagnetified" Filipino cuisine! They have a wide range of offerings, including the following: - Kare-Kare - Sinigang - Adobong puti - Caldereta - Curry - Binagoongan - Sisig - Laing - Sweet & Sour - Dinuguan ....and more, all with bagnet! I especially like the kare-kare and dinuguan because their sauce alone could already be eaten with rice! So rich and really flavorful! They use freshly ground nuts for their kare-kare, which pays off big time as the nutty flavor is very apparent in the taste and aroma. As for the dinuguan, sometimes it isn't available because it depends on the quality of blood they get. Props to them for ensuring the freshness and quality of their dishes! For many, it would be a sin to eat any kind of bagnet dish without rice, and Yohel's doesn't just have plain rice, they also have garlic and bagoong. I like pairing sinigang na bagnet and adobo with the garlic rice, while their kare-kare is best paired with the bagoong rice. However, if you want to savor the flavor of each individual dish, then go for the plain rice. Speaking of bagoong, I know that it is salty, but Yohel's homemade bagoong alamang seems extra saltier, so I don't really like their binagoongang bagnet even if it is laid on a smoked eggplant (but I like the bagoong rice haha). If you're still curious to try it, make sure you also order their house-blend iced tea; its sweet-sour balance will help in battling the saltiness of the binagoongan. You can have an exclusive party (max is around 40 people) at Yohel's for P4500, consumable for 3 hours, and if you need to extend, it's just a thousand bucks per extra hour, also consumable. You can use their videoke all throughout your party as well! On regular days, I believe you need to pay P20 for 3 songs. Lastly, high blood pressure won't be a problem as they're located in front of a hospital! Hahaha! Just eat with caution, okay? :) p.s. they also have non-bagnet dishes like fish and chicken.

I've never been to Singapore so I won't be able to tell you if their version is at par with the…read moreones served in that citystate. I ordered their Hainanese Fried Chicken which comes with soup and unlimited rice. I love the yellow rice with hints of ginger. I can eat that even without a viand. The soup is also good, better than the clear tasteless broth that you usually get for free from other restaurants. The fried chicken is okay. I'm not thrilled with it. Pardon my ignorance but I thought they made a mistake when the fried chicken came doused in brownish broth. I thought the waiter accidentally spilled water on it. The chicken taste good but I prefer my fried chicken crispy especially the skin. The staff are nice and will make sure that you get what you want. They also try hard to provide quick service when there are a lot of diners.

Ba Noi's Ca Phe is the more casual (and cheaper) younger brother of the Ba Noi's with which you're…read moreprobably familiar. I'm not sure when the rebrand of this branch happened - some time within the last 6 months - but it certainly is a better fit for the stretch of casual-fare restaurants along East Kapitolyo. The menu is a bit smaller with servings and prices to match. They keep the essentials when one is craving Vietnamese food: Pho, Fried and Fresh Springs Rolls, Vermicelli Noodle toppers. What is notably missing are some of the seafood options that standard Ba Noi's offers. The worthy replacement is their list of Bahn Mi's - vietnamese sandwiches served on a French-influenced brioche with your choice of filling. Head to Ba Noi's for a casual dinner before drinks at Capitol Commons. But, you'll probably want to go for an early dinner, as the parking on Kapitolyo tends to fill up quickly - check to see if there are spots available right in front, across the street the guard at the empty house lets you park if you're nice and let him know you're just going to be eating across the street.

My appointment with a client was cancelled, and so I took the opportunity to have a date with my…read morewife instead. We picked a restaurant wherein there is a high chance that both our families will not eat...and that's Vietnamese food. Ba Nois is a casual dining restaurant with black and white tables and chairs. Its walls hang pictures of Vietnamese lifestyle and culture. To try as much as we can, we ordered the spring roll and pork strips on dry noodles, large size (Php320) and the crepe with bean sprouts and side salad (Php250). Just for the sake of reminiscing our honeymoon in Vietnam, she ordered an iced truong coffee (Php110) while I tried the blended ice mocha (Php150). The crepe came out first and we were happy to see that it looked like the one we had in Vietnam. The crispy crust, eaten together with the bean sprouts, basil leaves, lettuce, and the special sauce has a nice, clean, and balanced taste. It is crunchy, sweet, and healthy, too. The noodles came out next. The combination of each ingredient makes it a wonderful dish: the bland rice noodles is complemented by the salty spring roll, sweet tocino-like pork strips, sourness of the vinegar-chili sauce, and the freshness of the vegetables. My disappointment would fall into the drinks. My wife's coffee was too light for a Vietnamese coffee, but we were glad that it was served authentically into a Vietnamese brewer. My mocha, on the other hand, was too sweet and too creamy. It was like a milkshake, and destroyed the otherwise good taste of the food. I was also disappointed to find that they do not serve banh mi. Service is ok. Ambiance is also warm, except for a certain fly that won't get off our table.

I've only recently discovered how good Vietnamese food can be. When I go to Pho Hoa I always get…read morethe fried spring rolls and the Pho Ga or the chicken noodle soup. The clear, light broth is perfect when nursing a cold or to feel warm and cozy during a rainy day. I always make sure to put all the bean sprouts inside, the thai basil and chili. They add more layers and flavor to the soup, making it tasty, interesting and flavorful. The other types of pho are good too. It all depends on preference. My friends prefer the beef, but I find Pho Ga most comforting. Aside from pho, they also have rice meals if you're not in the mood for noodle soup. With a moderate price point and good portions, Pho Hoa is really good value.

How can anyone not love Spanish paella? It has chicken, chorizo and different kinds of seafood…read morecooked in huge amounts of saffron flavored rice. This internationally-renowned rice dish is loved by Filipinos and because of this you're never far away from enjoying its distinctive flavors whenever you are in Manila. Speaking for myself, I head over to Las Paellas in BF Homes whenever I crave for this dish. I always order their Paella Valenciana and find myself constantly lost in its deliciousness midway through the pan. The price per pan isn't expensive once you realize that this restaurant does not scrimp on ingredients. Their standard pan priced at P450 could feed up to 4 people with huge appetites. If you're looking for something nice to start your meal with, I suggest you order their oyster Rockefeller (something light since the Valenciana is quite heavy) or if you're really famished try their Chorizo Fritos. Lastly, try to enjoy these dishes with a bottle of their Spanish wine!

As soon as you sit down, you're greeted with a bowl of chicken broth. Is warm and comforting. The…read morelaksa was good and flavorful just like what you get in Malaysia. The hainesse chicken is juicy, tender and boneless. The ginger sauce not as flavorful I I like but adequate, could be better. All the flavors of south east Asia in Manila. Very good for lunch. The laksa portion was quite small so I got the hainesse chicken as my second lunch.

This vacation trip would not be complete without having some Pho and it was next to where we were…read morestaying (Novotel). It is a smaller restaurant connected to a MyThai restaurant. We had a larger party and there was available seating outside. Portion size of a small vs large would be comparing a bowl for cereal to a serving bowl for soup. In America, a standard Pho is a large here in the PI. If you look at the menu pictures of the Pho, you get less meat than what is shown. I received two tiny pieces of tendon. There is no option for extra tendon either, I would have gladly paid. The spring rolls are also half the size than stateside. The broth was your typical pho broth, a little on the light side. Your side dish of veggies did not have hot peppers. It was nice that our kids can get rice noodles and broth. For a pho chain in this country, they did it right. More than enough choices in the soup, noodle and rice department. The food was good and the price was right.

Was feeling bloated from a recent food crawl, so I told my boyfriend that we had to eat something…read morelighter but still filling, and Vietnamese food fits the bill. For starters, we had the beautiful and delicious pomelo and shrimp salad! Man, I could definitely eat this by myself! The shrimps were juice and the pomelo has just the right sweetness. The other veggies were kind of dry, but the dryness was remedied by the accompanying delicately sweet-sour dressing. My main dish was the grilled chicken vermicelli bowl, which is like the Vietnamese version of spaghetti sans the sauce and with more veggies. I don't usually like sweet food that's meant to be savory, but this one just hits the spot! The sweetness of the grilled chicken wasn't overwhelming, and the veggies, fresh. However, the stars of this dish are the spring rolls! Solid, ang sarap! They actually taste like lumpiang shanghai. So good! My boyfriend tried the hot and sour pho with pineapples and prawns, and it did taste good, but I still prefer the original pho. Service was a bit slow, though, but I'm willing to wait for such yummy food. :)