Bouqueria review: Do they really serve Spanish cuisine?

We celebrated our father's birthday at SM Megamall. We dined at Boqueria Restaurante Chocolateria, a restaurant serving Spanish cuisine or let's say a Spanish restaurant. We were five on that day because my other sister went overseas.

My youngest sister suggested that we eat at a Spanish restaurant instead of a Japanese one although my father also likes Japanese but his most favorite is Chinese. Boqueria can be found at SM Megamall's newly built fashion hall.

We all looked on the Boqueria menu:

We decided to order all at once. Sopa de Cocido (Php 198), Chicharrones (Php 198), Paella Marinera (Php 368), Lengua Estofada (php 398), Paella Queso Manchego (Php 398) , and the last one that I forgot the price and the original dish name but it is a fish fillet with clams and mussels.

Boqueria has a cute glass. Lucky for the supplier.

While waiting, we were sharing stories and taking pictures. The serving time is not too slow. Just an average for a formal dining restaurant about 15-20 minutes.

Peas inside the soup aside from angel hair pasta and broth

Sopa de Cocido was first served together with bread. The soup looks boring but whenever you dipped the bread to the soup or pour the soup to the bread, the taste will be like eating a pizza.

Next is Chicharrones, one of all time pinoy favorites.

The chicharrones itself is really delicious like eating a crispy liempo (pork belly). Below the pile of chicharrones, there is a little bit of sweet sauce together with vinegar which is a good combination. The vinegar dip tastes like.. vinegar, just a normal vinegar.

The remaining dishes were served altogether. I'll describe each dish.

Aside from chicharrones, Lengua Estofada is what our family is really craving for.

Paella Marinera tastes like tomato sauce. Thanks for the seafoods that this paella comes to life.

Paella Queso Manchego is salty in a good way because I love cheese. This is recommended for cheese lovers. But while eating it for a longer time. It's not special compared to other restaurants.

Here are the other shots to give you more clues about these dishes:

Fish fillet with clams. It's too late to eat the mussels. My family ate the mussels already

Paella Marinera and Lengua Estofada

After eating all the dishes, my eldest sister ordered the Chocolate Churros (Php 190 for 3 pcs.).

The chocolate dip tastes like cocoa not like the sweetened chocolate or hershey's or any branded chocolate. The churros have the exact sweetness. Those are yummy to eat while hot.

My eldest sister and my mother only enjoyed the chocolate churros. For me I enjoyed all except the Queso Manchego where I feel that I can make this or buy it on other restaurants. Boqueria has 10% service charge.

Thanks to my sister! She treated us for our dinner celebration!

I hope they can lower the prices on their dishes. Like for example, 325 instead of 368 or 380. I think it's expensive and the prices will be justifiable if those dishes are served in a five star hotel by hotel chefs. The restaurant has WiFi and I forgot to try it. At the same time, I don't know if the WiFi is for customers or for employees only.

The staff were greeting customers in Spanish.  They are polite and friendly. The ambiance is good. It exudes the modern Spanish mansion aura.

Rating: 

Boqueria
3/F SM Mega Mall Fashion Hall, SM Megamall

• 0917 578 0067

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Disqus comment box is back but..comments gone!

I have Disqus comments recently in Pinay Food Junkie but I thought that something's wrong with my comment box because neither Disqus and Blogger has comments appeared for me to moderate. It's strange that I have comments in my site but not on the Admin / Moderator's part. I also cannot export the comments because even one comment was not present on my disqus and blogger account.

What a pain! I have to reset my comment box again :(

Anyway, thanks for the ones who commented in my blog. My Disqus comment box / system is now working properly. You can now freely post your comments again. :)

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Army Navy: Crunchy french fries even when taken home

More than once in our lives where we have taken home, take out or "to go" fast food french fries. I heard from my sister that Army Navy freedom fries are still crunchy even if you have not eaten it for hours.

We know that fast food french fries are full of preservatives but since we are sometimes on a hurry, we tend to order these and speaking of french fries, we don't want to hurriedly eat it so Army Navy french fries is a must food for small amount eaters. We also take french fries as pasalubong and we don't want to take home french fries which are soggy and not tasty anymore.

Behold! Army Navy's freedom fries is coming to the rescue!

The Freedom fries is long. I know that the fries is too brown compared to popular fast food chains but the taste is somewhat spicy yet delicious and crispy. It's a bit oily though. Army Navy freedom fries costs 75 pesos.  I am not a promoter of Army Navy but adding an additional small amount for long lasting french fries would not hurt for your pocket.

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Hanamaruken : New ramen in Trinoma

Hanamaruken 花丸軒 is now in the Philippines!

I was shopping for gifts three days ago in Trinoma. After I've done shopping, I was planning to eat at SM North. Upon, reaching for the exit, I passed by the ads standing on the middle of the hallway, I saw a ramen ad and I thought Santouka ramen will be the first quality ramen (except Ramen X) to open in Trinoma but when I looked again at the ad, it's not Santouka. I began craving for a new ramen. I went to the 2nd level, Trinoma Garden restaurants to search for this new ramen restaurant.

 I am glad that it's easy to find this ramen restaurant. It looks nice. I did not hesitate to enter the restaurant.

To enlarge photos, please click the pictures. 

While waiting, I asked the staff if when did Hanamaruken opened in Trinoma. She said it was about 3 months ago. I thought that Hanamaruken has other branches in the Philippines because it is rare that shops in Trinoma will be the first branch. I was wrong. Hanamaruken in Trinoma is the first branch of Hanamaruken outside Japan.

Even this restaurant is not that big, the decorations and interiors are simply stunning. Japanese ancient music is being played in Hanamaruken restaurant.

"Hanamaruken has over 40 branches in Japan. Osaka locals religiously line up for everyday."

Here's Hanamaruken's menu / price list:

I ordered Signature Happiness Ramen for P480 and Gyoza for P150. I felt overwhelmed that I found a nice ramen place again. While waiting for my ramen, the gyoza was served and I ate this dish immediately.

For me, the gyoza has a really good quality wrapper and meat for its price unlike others including the ones in Taisho Ramen where gyozas tend to stick with each other and the taste is somewhat salty. Hanamaruken's gyoza is a bit oily. Never mind the little bit of oiliness, important is, it's delicious and its meat and vegetables were fully stuffed inside.

Chili and soy sauce

I ate all including the green vegetable decor.I felt somewhat full after eating. Then, here comes the Signature Happiness ramen.

Cholesterol warning: Hanamaruken's Signature Happiness ramen has some lard floating

As you can see, the ramen has some lard floating but not to the point that it is disgusting to eat. The ramen actually contains 2 thin spiral condiments (naruto). On the picture below, 1/4 of this cooked spare rib is still in deep soup. :)

The noodles is not too thick. The pork can be taste on its noodles. It's like the noodles sipped the pork meat and soup. Even with some lard, the soup still tastes like pork spare rib. The two eggs were half boiled but still solid and no yolk spilled on the soup. I felt like slurping this whole bowl of ramen just like what I've did in Kichitora of Tokyo's Paitan Zenbu no Se.

Before I end this Hanamaruken review, I want to share that the two eggs (tamago) were really an additional and is usually not included in the ramen unless you requested these. Upon billing, I just remembered again that the two eggs are just additional. What I don't like is that the staff did not ask me first if I wanted eggs or not. To be honest, I also did not remember if I requested it. I just confirmed the orders before serving that's why I did not complain about it. They also did not bid goodbye or thanks to the customers exiting the restaurant.

For me, I cannot decide now which is delicious but I still choose Kichitora of Tokyo's Paitan Zenbu no Se because it has less oil and no lard's floating on that ramen. I'll definitely come back in Hanamaruken even though it's pricey because it is still nearer to my house compared to Kichitora of Tokyo. I hope Ramen Santouka will open asap in Trinoma. This is the end of my Hanamaruken restaurant review.

Rating:  
(Staff is polite but still needs additional training)

Hanamaruken Philippines
2nd Floor Garden Trinoma Mall 
(02) 720 9283 / (02) 628 1603
11:00 am - 10:00 pm

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How's the Tapa at Echocafe?

Having a lunch break, I walked at Centris Walk, Quezon Avenue. (No pun intended).

I already ate at Uncle Cheffy, Ramen X and Pancake House. I would like to try something new. Then, I decided to try the EchoStore at Centris.

I love the products from EchoStore and I love their advocacy just as like as Human Heart Nature. They were not only selling beauty and cleaning products but they also help Filipinos working in the agricultural industry to make a living. Their products are not only organic but also environment friendly.

I don't have a clue about the food they serve on their restaurant.

I expect that food here is good since I like their products. Also, check out these blogs for Echostore product reviews: (I am not associated with these blogs)

http://callmekristine.blogspot.com/2013/10/top-5-reasons-to-visit-echo-store-echo.html
http://www.thepeachkitchen.com/2013/02/take-home-yummies-from-the-echostore-in-eton-centris/

Many people were eating inside. I have managed to take a decent shot of their small store.

The store has a free WiFi. I asked the staff about the password, tried to connect using my iPad mini and upon using the internet, the connection was pretty good and not too slow.

 There are cakes displayed at the front of echocafe's counter and anyone can order per slice. I did not take a picture of it because I just saw the mini cctv camera in front of the counter and it's awkward for me alone to take a picture of it. While looking at the echocafe menu, I cannot decide if I will order pasta or main dish with rice. Soon, I decided to go for Homemade Tapa (Filipino dish - dried or cured beef).

Too bad I have lost the receipt while writing this review. Anyway, I'll just proceed to do the review and to share to you if the price is really justifiable for this meal.

The meal comes with free coffee. Oh no! I have an acid reflux and I don't want to drink coffee so I asked the waitress if can I have a coffee freebie alternative. I am glad that I can have peppermint tea as alternative.

The hot echocafe peppermint tea was served first.

The peppermint tea tastes like peppermint (of course!) and unlike other peppermint teas, this one is really soothing my throat and the intestines. I felt good drinking it.

While waiting for the tapa, I surfed the net using my iPad mini. Finally after about 15 minutes, the echocafe homemade tapa was served.

I noticed that the echocafe homemade tapa's serving was small but the rice's serving was adequate for one person. Well, I'll eat it anyway and see if the tapa is really good.

Upon tasting, the tapa was delicious and somewhat sweet but the tapa pieces were sticking to each other. The quality of this tapa is like ranging from 100 pesos to 175 pesos. Yes it was delicious but I think it's expensive. 

Overall, I like the peppermint tea. About the tapa, it was delicious but not for this price range. I'd rather eat at cheaper tapa eateries.

Rating: 3/5 thanks for the peppermint tea.

Echostore

Centris walk

ETON Mall, EDSA corner Quezon Avenue, Quezon City

Centris 7097800 (Centris QC)

901.3485/ 5763703(Market) /Podium store 4702688/

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Pudding Republiq: Is it worth it?

March 1, 2014 - As I went inside Trinoma to go to Family lounge, I got curious on what's going on the ground floor's activity center. There are several clothes stores and a mini food fair. I became impulsed on buying clothes there but after looking, I haven't bought one because I don't like the cotton/fabric quality of these clothes and I can just buy these kinds in Novaliches Bayan for a cheaper price.

Upon going exit, I saw women trying desserts samples from the lady seller on the table. She is nice in accommodating those women. I saw that she sells puddings. I had tasted her red velvet and some pudding samples. I like the taste of it. At Food Republiq, the single bigger than the picture above pudding costs P 75. There is also a 2 piece set available but I forgot the price while the 12 piece set of mini puddings costs P300. I asked the lady if what's the shelf life of these puddings. She said that it is still edible for 1 week. Too bad they don't have a store here but anyway, I am the type to buy "pasalubong" for my family and I want to taste all these puddings, I bought the P300 set. Let's see if the taste is like on the samples and if it will melt easily or not.

The time I just bought this Food Republiq puddings..

                   

After strolling the mall for 2 hours and arrived to home from commuting within an hour. 

Even if it doesn't melt, I placed this in a refrigerator. After that, we ate it. What can we say is some are delicious some are just bland. The most delicious here are the red velvet, the chocolate with marshmallows, the chocolate pudding on the highest first row/first column from the right side and the pudding on the second row/second column from the right side. 

Overall, for the price of P300, it is expensive. Delicious but not as delicious as other desserts for that price range. It is better to just buy a single one or a 2 piece set.

Rating: 3/5

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