Frannywanny

Fire up the grill!  Those four words are music to my ears. I just love BBQs as it's really simple to cook and even to prepare yet the rewards of enjoying freshly-grilled cuts of meats is truly heavenly. Not to mention the aroma that hits your nose while it's cooking. There's also no hard and fast rules when it comes to BBQ-ing. Basically, you can grill any type of meat, have any kind of rub that you prefer and just make sure it doesn't turn out toasted or charred. This is the perfect way to get cooking especially for amateur cooks. If you ask me, I love BBQ'd seafood and beef. Give me a slice of tender steak and a mountain of grilled scallops, prawns, fish and squid and I'm one happy camper. So, when Paul and I were invited to be part of the Asian BBQ dinner at Grand Park City Hall , we immediately said YES! Similar to the Afternoon Tunch , there are a couple of similar local dishes such as the Kueh Pai Ti, Satay, the Laksa, an assortment of hand-rolled m

As soon as May rolled in, this also signaled the start of a whole new batch of birthday celebrations with the NKids. For the past 3 years, we have been eating out to celebrate all of our birthdays and there's that traditional birthday salubong  where we would wish the celebrant Happy Birthday, watch him/her blow out the candles and enjoy a slice (or two) of the birthday cake! Regardless if our birthday falls on a weekday and we all have work the next day, this is one tradition I don't think we ever will miss. This is just one of those things that make the NKids feel like family, don't you agree? So, last week, we celebrated O's 30-something birthday! The celebration began the weekend before his actually birthday where he treated all of us to a yummy dinner at Spruce . I think I was the most excited about this as Spruce has been part of my list since last year. Finally, we're able to try it! Yay! The restaurant is located along the very quiet and exclusive

What's a great staycation without good food? Actually,  whenever Paul and I are having a staycation we rarely leave the hotel and instead take the opportunity to check out the different food establishments available inside. During our stay at Acacia Hotel , they only had one F&B establishment called Acaci . This is apart from the lobby and the poolside that also serves drinks and some light snacks. Delicious Salmon Gravlax at Acaci Located at the mezzanine level of the hotel, I was impressed by the size of the restaurant. To be honest, I wasn't expecting it to be very big. However, the restaurant has a capacity of about 150 guests at the very least. We had our dinner date at Acaci a few hours after checking in. Note that I just came from a full day cooking class where I've been inhaling butter, eggs and pasta for more than 5 hours and Paul and I even ate the three pasta dishes that I made. We just rested for about an hour and there we were seated at Acaci

This is one business model that I truly admire. With the growing number of people working at night be it at a call center, BPO or any retail establishments, the clamor to have more food choices is getting louder and louder. Of course, you can always count on the usual fast food chains or grab a quick bite at any convenience store but don't you wish there's someone who can provide delicious hot meals in just a snap of a finger? Meet the Kitchen Knight . Serving a wide-array of Asian favorites to the hardworking midnight crowd of Makati and its neighboring areas, Kitchen Knight is literally just a phone call away. One evening, I was lucky enough to be able to try some of Kitchen Knight's specialty for dinner. The rider came on time and efficiently presented our meals which was carefully packed in sturdy styrofoam boxes and delivered to us in huge plastic bags. Of course, my first pick was the Katsudon (Php. 85) as this is my favorite Japanese donburi (rice topping).

While waiting for our table at Crystal Jade one evening, my best friend T told me about the new restaurant that has recently opened just a few blocks away called Lugang Cafe . It's a new franchise brought in by the famous Bellagio Group which originated from Shanghai . Since T stayed in Shanghai for a while and has been going back and forth since then, she immediately tried Lugang Cafe the moment their first branch opened along Connecticut street in Greenhills. She was happy with the quality of the food and told me that some of the servers there were the same ones who were in the Shanghai branch. I was sold. I really trust T for her taste in food and after hearing her raves about Lugang Cafe , I made reservations to have dinner there with my college best friend L and her fiance T a week after. Paul and I really look forward to dinners with them as we have been double-dating for more than seven years already! You see, both T and Paul courted L and I almost around the same

Since my first visit to Charlie's almost two years ago, I have been a frequent visitor of their Pasig branch where I have discovered a number of favorites aside from their Black Angus burger and Original Buffalo Wings. Through regular visits, I've tried their Strawberry milkshake, Cheese steak sandwich and a lot more. I guess it's due to its close proximity to my workplace making it one of my top choices when dining out with colleagues. How I wish Charlie's would open somewhere closer to my home in order for me to frequent this with Paul. Guess Charlie's heard my prayers as they opened a new branch along Ortigas Avenue just a stone's throw away from our home. Yay! One weeknight with no dinner prepared at home, we decided to take a short drive to Charlie's second branch to satisfy Paul's burger and my buffalo wings cravings. Parking at the basement of Ronac Art Center is limited. So it's best to go early especially during dinner time. Initial

While planning for our trip to Kuala Lumpur months ago, I got a comment for a reader to try Nando's Peri Peri Chicken . Unfortunately, due to time constraint, we were not able to go with the recommendation but this got me craving for peri-peri chicken the moment we got back from our honeymoon trip. Thanks to our ever supportive friends, we scheduled a dinner at Peri-Peri Grillhouse at the Greenhills Promenade one Sunday evening. We arrived a little past 7 and the place was already packed. I love the cheerful greeting that you'd get the moment you walk into the restaurant. Who doesn't love chicken? While people would have a wide range of food restrictions due to religion, dietary requirement or allergies, rarely have I encountered anyone who is not allowed to eat chicken. Thus, this has been a common choice when dining out in groups. Peri-peri Grillhouse has been around for a while already and they have even undergone one major renovation thus the big change in their

We're so blessed to have a number of couple friends whom we regularly go out on double/triple/quadruple/quintuple (!!!) dates with. Paul and I truly enjoy chatting with them and sharing stories knowing that we can all relate with one another. Such is the case with one of our favorite couples S and J who just got married not so long ago and are now busy opening their very own hardware shop (for readers living in Quezon City please drop by their shop called N.S. Amoranto along..you guess it right! N.S. Amoranto street!) . I always look forward to dinner dates with S and J simply because they are really fun to be with! We can all just chat and chat all night and end the evening feeling happier and stress-free. One evening, we got a message from J inviting us out to dinner. Since we were just around the vicinity, we agreed to meet up near their hardware shop as Paul and I are looking for something new. J suggested Asian Twist . Following S' instructions, we were able to find

A couple of months ago, I was lucky to be chosen to win a romantic dinner date at Restaurant 101 by Pond's . Time went by so fast that Paul and I realized that the certificate was expiring next month and so we have decided to use it right away. It was just timely that we celebrated our last monthsary before our BIG day last Saturday. Overlooking the sentence that says to call 72 hours in advance, I just took the chance and tried to book a reservation barely 6 hours before dinner time. With our fingers crossed, we waited for the confirmation from Restaurant 101 . Luck must have been by our side that I immediately got a reply saying that we may proceed with our reservation for that evening. Yay! Arriving at Restaurant 101 , I was at awe with the grand interiors and the exterior reminds me of old western architecture with huge beams and high ceilings. Entering the restaurant, we were ushered by a nice Korean girl who happens to be a student of Enderun College , the culinary sc

Everyone is a chocoholic, in one way or another. For instance, my family loves deep dark chocolates while I prefer the smooth milky white ones. Nonetheless, we have that sudden craving for that bitter-sweet bar of chocolate that promises to take your stress away. We were fortunate to be invited to Xocolat , a lovely chocolate cafe tucked within the residential part of Katipunan in Quezon City. From the outside, it looks just like any of the houses beside it however, one step inside and you will be transported to relaxing chocolate haven. While scanning the menu, we chatted with Xocolat's marketing manager Tricia who also suggested a couple of items that we should try. For starters, we got the Churros con Xocolat (Php. 95), we love having churros as a snack and it's our first time to have this as an appetizer. I love how thin and crunchy Xocolat's churros are. The chocolate syrup won Paul's heart as he literally scraped the saucer clean. I love how it has a hint

Every year, I find it a good challenge to pick out a restaurant on where I will treat my extended family to for my birthday. Early this year, I knew I wanted to throw a special lechon/paella dinner however after dining in more than a hundred new restaurants for the past two years, I have found a couple of good ones that I'd love to let my family enjoy for themselves. Such is the case of HK Choi , it was during one shopping date that I had with Mommy that we came across this promising Chinese restaurant in SM Megamall . We just shared on their Xiao Long Pao and Fish Brisket Hot Pot and HK Choi has successfully won us over. A week before my birthday, I invited my grandparents, aunts, uncle and cousin over at HK Choi . It's good that it's located in a mall making it pretty accessible for everyone. I went over and over their menu making sure I will be able to order a good mix. Of course, I also got suggestions from my grandpa and mom who are both expert foodies in the fa

It was just another busy weekday for Paul and I as we had to run a couple of errands late in the evening. Driving along Banawe Avenue in Quezon City, we were looking for a place to have our (very late) dinner. I always enjoy visiting this part of town due to its numerous food choices. Growing up with my grandparents, I remember how fun it was when my Kongkong (maternal grandfather) and Amah (material grandmater) would take my sister and I for a ride down Banawe everyday for our afternoon snack. More often than not, we would end up in the same place -- Mami King . Kongkong loves their halo-halo and so every single day of our summer vacation was spent there. Aside from Mami King, which sadly is not operational anymore, there are a lot of dining spots that keeps their own food secrets. There's one that serves the best creamy crabs, one that has to-die-for Chicken and Taro Hotpot and a number who serves the best noodle soup, dimsum and tofu drink. Following the lead of fellow