SERYE : Cafe Filipino

We had our Sunday family dinner last weekend at Serye in Santana Grove, Sucat Road. This chain of restaurants is famous for their Aristocrat style barbecue dishes, yummy yummy yummy barbecue sauce and Java Rice. I fondly remember my younger years when we used to go to Aristocrat Roxas Blvd in our sleeping attire, order from the car and be served in the car !!

Wow! Although this was not The Aristocrat , Serye has evolved into a cozy Filipino cafe not just a barbecue resto. It has a separate area where you can have your Filipino barako coffee (which they brew in a siphon coffee maker. Same coffee maker you find in UCC restaurants). The tabletops in this area are artworks, so interesting to look at, and so Filipino! I like how they used Filipino decor in a contemporary manner. Enough of the foreign looking restaurants. We should promote our own Filipino food and Filipino style! I will definitely go back with friends and try their barako coffee and delicious looking desserts!I know many balikbayans who just MUST have a taste of their "chidhood barbecue restaurant" and am sure they will enjoy the new Filipino ambiance of Serye.


SERYE RESTAURANT AND CAFE
8340 Doctor A Santos Avenue
Paranaque
Philippines
Tel: 8254691
Tel: 8269317
Fax: 8254691

Pepper Lunch Adventure

Its a Japanese Pepper Steak!


The Philippine food business seems to be booming. In the midst of the world crisis, new restaurant concepts keep mushrooming in the mall or outside the mall. Specialty restaurants seem to be the name of the game. First we have Sango Japanese burgers. Now Japanese Pepper Steak?

Pepper Lunch in Power Plant Mall Rockwell is part of a Japanese chain of fastfood steakhouses. Their concept is a unique adventure because they serve you raw food that you cook yourself right on your own table in your own sizzling plate.

My Pepper lunch adventure went this way:

1. Line up and order from the counter - I went on a weekday so there were no long lines. You have to pay your order before they deliver it to your table.



2. My order was delivered to my table. It was on a special kind of sizzling plate which was wrapped with paper instructions (also protects your fingers I guess from the very hot plate) -Waiter gave a short orientation. However,I think he assumed we had been there before. He failed to tell me that you should not add the sauce before browning the meat. I was so excited to do the "cook it yourself routine" thinking it it just as simple as Korean restos. I didn't even bother watching the video demo/ instructional before cooking my food.


3. I quickly spread the herbed butter (served ala butter on top of pancake) on the pre-cut marbled steak. Unfortunately, in my usual eagerness, I forgot to take a photo again before doing this. I quickly turned the steak slices around with chopsticks and poured some of their vegetable and steak sauce. The sad result : half brown steak! ( The photo below is the nice seared side)



Oh well!! Better luck next time. It was tasty specially with the finely ground peppercorn and delicious Japanese sauce. Definitely worth trying agin. On the expensive side though for a quick lunch. My Shimofuri Pepper steak cost 645 pesos ( including rice and a drink). There are other more affordable items on the menu though if you prefer to spend less to experience your own Pepper Lunch adventure.

VOSGES- Chic Chocolate Truffles!

I love Chocolate!! but I love Truffles more...

Our good friend from New York arrived with a gift box of Vosges Exotic Chocolate Truffles for us. Thank goodness for thoughtful friends!

I have a weakness not only for chocolates but also for the chocolate boxes. Chocolate stores sure know how to package their stuff. In the case of Vosges, Haute Chocolates=Haute Box.





I just couldn't wait to see what was inside. As Forrest Gump would say, "Life is a box of Chocolates, you never know what you will get." Such is life, and I thought such is this box before me. As I stared at each truffle, I wondered if and when I would have the spirit to eat any of them . They literally looked too good to eat! But unlike Forest Gumps wise words, this chic chocolate box came with lots of literature including a handwritten guide of the different truffles.



I will add an update about how they taste after I decide to stop looking at them and pop them into my mouth. In the meantime, you may check out the Vosges website to know more :

http://www.vosgeschocolate.com/

Hap Chan to the Rescue

“Where do we go for dinner?"

Sunday night family dinners can be fun adventures. They can also be good reason to start a family debate!

When you have many kids of different ages ( teenage to toddler), asking the magic question can lead you to more questions than answers. “Wasn’t it your turn last time to choose where we will eat? Wasn’t that where we felt sick after eating their …? Didn’t we eat there last week ?“ Life was much simpler when there were less choices!

But this Sunday was different. It was a miracle that everyone had the same restaurant in mind. Although not one of our regular Sunday venues, Hap Chan at Britanny Bay, South Super Hi way was on everyones mind. We only ate there once many many months ago which is why I say it is a miracle we all remembered it at the same time. Chinese food to the rescue!


You might have noticed the row of restaurants in victorian style looking “houses“ along the SSHWY near Sucat exit. At night, these are outlined with lights and kids are so facinated by them. Last year, they had a GIANT Christmas tree in front of their restaurants. No Christmas decors up yet this year but I am looking forward to their grand display again ( I hope) for 2008.

The place is not too small. Maybe good for about 60 persons. They also have a big balcony area behind overlooking a lake. Nice! Typical red Chinese restaurant interiors but more of modern Chinese.


Ordering was not hard since we always pick the “usual” in Chinese restaurants when our kids rule. Waiting time was also VERY quick. Maybe about less than 10 mins only? And they even provide free Hot tea while you wait.

Chicken with Salted fish Fried Rice(165p)- Oh gosh! They have one of the best. They certainly do not scrimp on salted fish here. One order was not enough for 5 though. We brought 3 kids but they all ate like adults! Finally, my “white rice only please “ son attempted to try Fried Rice and congratulations he is now a certified Salted Fish Fried Rice addict just like the rest of us. No more ordering extra white rice in the future I bet. Bad news for the rest who now have to share with one more head !

Sweet & Sour Pork(210p) – Delicious! I think we have tried every Chinese restaurants Sweet & Sour Pork and this is definitely one of the better ones. Slightly crunchy and big chunks of pork. Definitely not soggy like the rest we have tried. And it had more meat than vegetables and pineapples too!




Lemon Chicken(245p)- Not one of our usual orders but one of the kids tried it at a friends house and suggested we try it too. It was originally a choice between Hap Chan Chicken, Butter Chicken and Lemon Chicken. I secretly wanted the Butter chicken but the waitress said it was all bones. All bones? Not a good way to sell a dish I must say! Her selling point for the Lemon chicken was that it was all fillet. It surely was but nothing great compared to the Sweet and Sour Pork. Am still looking forward to trying the boney Butter Chicken next time. Or maybe our usual Salt & Pepper Spareribs.


Birthday Noodles(185p)- I always love the standard birthday noodles in Chinese restos. This one was good. Not dry of course. Strangely ( or not) the quail eggs were orange. Aren’t they usually pinkish red? Not too many vegetables too. Don’t get me wrong. I love vegetables. The kids don’t.

Dessert was a last minute decision. They have Cold Taho served in different ways. We tried the Chilled Taho with Mango.(35p) It was a surprise because it came with lots of Sago too and the Mango was actually a Mango Taho Flan/ Gelo. I was expecting to see fresh Mango bits floating in Taho. It loooked so good that I even forgot to take a photo and just started eating it right away! Tasted so good too … not too sweet. It is now officially a family favorite. Unbelievable value for money at 35 pesos only. Now I have an excuse to go back again soon.

By the way, our bill was just a little over 1,000 pesos. Not bad at all !

Hap Chan has branches in Ali Mall, Baclaran, Congressional, Dakota Malate, Ermita ( w KTV), La Pinas, Makati, Neptune Bel Air, Market Market, Monumento (w KTV), Pedro Gil Malate, Tagaytay, Tomas Morato, and West Avenue.

Brittany Bay branch along Sucat Exit, South Super Hi Way also has delivery service. Just call 8389330.