Took a friend out to dinner last Wednesday who's on a short vacation from Dubai.  Choose a place to eat wasn't a hard task that night, thanks to the newly opened branch of Conti's in Katipunan.  Parking, on the other hand, was a killer given the limited space they have allotted for their customers.  Well, as long as there is good food, anything is possible.

We were greeted by their friendly staff and we didn't have to wait for so long before we got seats.  Great ambiance and cute interiors, if I may add.

They have a wide variety of food choices from seafood to beef to chicken to pork entrées. Even wider on their dessert menu.  Just thinking about it now makes me want to go back there for another food fest.  But for last Wednesday, we opted to have these set:

Mango Royale Salad (to share, P160)
Iceberg lettuce with fresh mango cubes tossed with our special house dressing

 

Chicken Ballotine (P225)
Meat-stuffed boneless chicken breast rolled in creamy sauce and
served with buttered vegetables and garlic rice

USDA Rib Eye Steak (P295/100g)
Certified choice of seasoned rib eye steak, served with Russian Potato salad

Salmon Salpicao (P295)
Served with buttered corn rice and apple potato salad

Chicken ala Kiev (P250)
Breaded and deep fried chicken breast filled with cheese
and herbs, topped with creamy sauce, served with
buttered vegetables and garlic rice

Mango Bravo (frozen) (P120/slice)

New York Cheesecake (P80/slice)

 I will definitely come back to try out other choices but preferably not on their peak hours since parking is a killer.  Two thumbs up!

It kinda seemed like I was living Elizabeth Gilbert's journey in Eat Pray Love when I went on vacation in Boracay last week.  Except that mine was all eat and I could only afford to spend a few days in just one location.

Real Coffee

I have been going back and forth to Boracay for some quite time now but last week, was my first time to try eating at Real Coffee.  I learned about this place from the movie When Love Begins.  And being the fan girl that I am, I had to check it out.  We got there about lunchtime having no idea that the place serves breakfast all day.  So then we decided to go American. Sugar overload!

Banana Pancakes

Banana Peanut Butter with Honey Toast

Marc's Melt (named after Marc Nelson!)

And here's a little something that I took as a keepsake from Real Coffee:

:)

It's a must that everytime I go to Boracay that I treat myself to Jonah's.  I don't mind walking the long stretch to Station 1 for a drink.  Banana choco peanut is a personal favorite!

Banana choco peanut (P90)

For our last night on the island, I decided that we go Italian.  Attraversiamo!

Cucina Italia Mediterranean

Aglio, Olio, E Peperoncino
(classic but simple pasta cooked with garlic, olive and chili, P345)

Pomodoro E Basilico
(San Marzano peeled tomatoes and basil with parmesan cheese, P345)

Margherita
(Tomato, basil and mozzarella, P390)

I'm not really fond of red sauce pasta.  But since I'm a huge fan both the movie and the book (Eat, Pray, Love), I decided to give it a try.  I would bet my life though that Liz Gilbert's spaghetti in Italy is 100x better than what I had in Aria.

“I found that all I really wanted was to eat beautiful food and to speak as much beautiful Italian as possible.”  

-- Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love

And as a treat, major pig out session at Fish & Co. Shangri-La.

New York Fish & Chips (P 465)

Grilled Porkchop Basilico (P565)

I think I was on food coma 2 hours later.  Both menu choices are good for sharing, estimated budget per head: P400. Happy eating!

I haven't updated for the same reason that I haven't been pigging out for the last weeks.  I only had the chance to dine out and had some pizza and burger from two different joints over the weekend.

Garlic and cheese pizza (P90) @ Tomato Kick

 

 

Crave Burger Meal (P175) with Fries & Blue/Red Iced Tea (+P25 American cheese topping)

Tomato Kick has just sprung a new branch along Katipunan Extension.  This wasn't the first time I've tried out their food since I've spent some time hanging out in their very first branch along Maginhawa.  On the other hand, oddly enough, it was my first time to try eating at Crave Burger and it's just a few steps away from my house.  If you have 200pesos in your pocket, then you're good to go.

Pesto Cream Penne with Chicken

Cheeseburger Pizza

Yummy meal with my college bestfriends last night at California Pizza Kitchen, Greenhills! As usual, my hungry tummy was satisfied with the menu choice we had last night. Pasta and pizza again? No regrets! Huge serving for their Pesto Cream Penne since there were three of us who shared for this.  And as for the pizza, it was like we were meant to be, it had 6 slices so it was perfect for us three.  

• Pesto Cream Penne - Basil pine nut pesto cream sauce, sun-dried tomatoes and Parmesan cheese. Also available with chicken, shrimp or chicken & shrimp.

• Cheeseburger Pizza - Ground Angus beef, caramelized sweet onions, Mozzarella and American cheeses, hearth-baked, then topped with Roma tomatoes and chilled shredded lettuce tossed in our secret sauce. Add applewood smoked bacon. Add fresh avocado.

* description obtained from CPK's official website.

What a way to end August.

Yesterday, my friend and I invaded ABS-CBN to watch Showtime.  Thanks to my long time friend Jugs (Itchyworms) for inviting us.  We got to the studio around 10AM and waited for roughly 2 hours before the show started.   By this time, I could already hear my tummy rambling because I wasn't able to eat breakfast then.  15 minutes before the show started, we rehearsed some dance steps as, we, the audience has a huge participation.  And just as the floor directed signaled for the show to start, I was already, starved and dehydrated.

Nevertheless, the energy inside the studio was intense.  It was a fun live show to watch.  The hosts of showtime were situated mostly where the audience were seated.  So when the camera was rolling, I already forgot about my hunger and the "little fan" in me was very much entertained.


I, surprisingly, was handpicked among the studio audience, or should I say "madlang people," to join in their live singing contest.  I didn't get to finish it because I was clueless with how the game goes.  Anyway, to cut the story short, I got a reward of 1000pesos as a consolation prize.  Not bad I guess.


So as a treat, we decided to eat at Grams which is located at the ground floor of ELJ building.  It wasn't my first time to eat there, but it was my first time to try out their main course  and I ordered for Rosemary Porkchops and my friend chose their Club Burger meal (comes with an iced tea + 30 pesos for french fries or cheese, your choice).

Rosemary Porkchop

Club Burger with french fries

It was the perfect meal for a late lunch. I was starved and not a single grain of rice was left on the plate.  Paired with my rootbeer, I felt relieved and is very sure that I had a happy tummy afterwards.  All the waiting and audience participation was worth it.  Add to that 1K prize I got from the show.  Oh well, maybe next time again Jugs?

Till the next food adventure! Welcome to my happy place. :)

.... and I'm back to blogging. :) 

I SMS'ed Barbie last week to ask if I can use "Money for Food" as a title for my blog, and I'm grateful that she said yes.  "Money for Food" is one of Barbie's (of Hungry Young Poets/Barbie's Cradle, before she went solo) huge hit way back 9yrs ago (maybe) wherein I did a cameo for their music video (see post below).

So ask, why Money for Food?  Well, I came up with this brilliant idea to put up  a food blog since for the past few weeks I have been majorly spending my time dining out trying new restos eating here, there and everywhere.  And I quite made that obvious with the amount of weight I gained for the past weeks.  As long as I have a happy tummy, then no regrets.

And yes I'm now officially a bum.  I just quit my 7 year old corporate life in exchange of happiness.  Which means eating has become a hobby.