Celebrating Family Milestones at Stories by Lilypad in Times Street, Quezon City
About 5 months ago, my dad had a bad fall. Actually, he missed a stepped and slipped in the bathroom. Perhaps for any ordinary person, one could easily just stand up and recover with probably just some minor bruising that an ice pack could easily fix. Unfortunately, as we age, so does our bones and for my 70-something Papa, this led to him damaging one of his hipbones. It was so bad that he felt so much pain and given his high tolerance for pain, we knew that something was just not right when he began complaining of the pain even with just very short distance walks. Anyway, long story short -- Papa had to undergo a partial hip replacement and that posed so much risk whether he can recover a.k.a. walk again. Thankfully, his surgery was a success thanks to his dream team (a.k.a. his team of doctors headed by my brother in law E). After surgery, he had to stay in the hospital for a few more days despite his wishes to go home right away as they wanted to get him started on his therapy. Finally, right on Paul's birthday, his doctors gave him the green light to go home. Yahoo! What a perfect timing.
To celebrate Papa's homecoming and my dearest Paul's birthday, we went out for a quick family lunch as the Doctor told us not to tire Papa so much yet. I've read so much about Stories by Lilypad and since this was located right behind the hospital where Papa was admitted, we took the opportunity to check it out. I love the old ancestral home vibe most especially the mug collection displayed right at the garden area. Inside was a very cozy dining space which I feel would be a great place to unwind or to catch up with work without any distractions.
The menu was very simple yet I had a hard time choosing on what to get. Haha! Very typical of me! Finally, I went for the Sausage and Garlic Pasta (Php. 290) which was so good! I was so happy with my choice which I happily shared with Paul. We loved the generous portion of minced sausage meat cooked in garlic cream sauce and served with fusilli noodles, my favorite type of noodles. This is the type of pasta dish that you'd love to have after a busy day at work or when you just want something familiar and truly comforting.
As for Paul, he went for the Jakothai Rice (Php. 310) which is one of their house specialties. I initially asked the server who is "Jakothai" and she told me that it actually stands of "Japan, Korean and Thai" which were the main inspirations for this interesting rice dish. So you start with the kimchi rice as the base which was topped by a good portion of Korean-style beef, a piece of fluffy scrambled egg in the middle and fresh kimchi on top. The birthday boy was so nice to allow me to have a bite and I have to say that it was so good. Truly a fitting dish for our celebrant and one that I will probably go back to Stories by Lilypad for.
For our little ones, we got them a bowl of Arroz Caldo (Php. 220) to share. I got to admit that it's a bit too pricey given that the portion wasn't that big and it's literally just boiled rice, chicken, quail eggs, leeks and garlic. Well, what's important is that our little picky eaters gave their seal of approval by finishing their small bowls of Arroz Caldo. It was such a joy watching the kids, my little girl who refuses to eat rice most especially, enjoyed spoonfuls after spoonfuls of Arroz Caldo.
For our yayas, they all chose the Pork Tocino (Php. 185). It's so funny how much they love Pinoy breakfast meals that wherever we go and we normally just let them order whatever they like from the menu, they would still end up with the same thing -- silog. It's pretty much just a toss between that or fried chicken. I asked them what they thought of their order and they all gave me happy, satisfied smiles.
You may wonder what the others ordered, actually we ordered similar dishes so there were 3 plates of the same pasta, 4 plates of the Jakothai rice and so on. Since I was busy taking care of my dad in the hospital the days leading up to Paul's birthday, I didn't had the time to buy him a cake and luckily there are a number of cakes on display. So, I surprised the birthday boy with a slice of Dark Chocolate Ganache (Php. 190) which was recommended again by our server. This was served together with a very cute Happy Birthday rendition by my niece A with claps and smiles from our twins J & L.
It was a nice, simply family lunch at Stories by Lilypad. I honestly was hoping I could have thrown Paul a nicer birthday celebration last year but given all the unexpected and totally unwanted happenings that took place just days before his big day, I just had to make do with last minute cake purchases and intimate family gatherings. I'll try again this year. :)
Just a side note, I'm very curious about the story behind the name of the restaurant. Anyone knows what it is? Perhaps to find out, I need to schedule a return visit soon.
Checkout Stories by Lilypad at 46 Times street, West Triangle, Quezon City. Call them at
0956 824 0094
