Rita's Italian Ice: Italian Day Out (Dessert)

Here's part 2 of our Italian themed food trip. After Mama Lou's, we went to Rita's to get some Italian ice goodness. A long line greeted us. The place was quite small, just enough space to line up and make your order.

Waiting in line, we saw some orders being prepared.

There were a lot of choices of flavored ice.

Our orders! Two orders of gelati - Italian ice topped with custard.

My friend got the cherry flavored ice and vanilla custard. The cherry ice had a hint of sour and some pieces of crushed cherries. Creamy custard completed this gelati.

I wanted to get the cookie dough ice but they already ran out so I got this marshmallow peanut butter ice. For my custard, I chose a mix of light vanilla and coffee in an effort to neutralize the sweet ice. Indeed the ice was sweet, as if I was drinking peanut butter s'mores! The light vanilla was a little less creamy and sweet compared to its original vanilla counterpart. The coffee was not too sweet as well but still just as creamy.

Branch visited located at: UP Town center, Quezon City

Mama Lou's: Italian Day Out (Lunch)

Recognized as a place to get good Italian food, Mama Lou's is the first destination of our UP Town Center Italian themed food trip.

I have been wanting to visit Mama Lou's in BF Homes ever since I heard about it from my cousin. For this visit, I went to its UP Town Center branch with my friend. It was lunch time and we did not make any reservations so we were put on the waiting list for a while.

After a few minutes, we were given a table outside and some complementary bread. This came with salsa and pesto.

Poutine with additional bacon

The poutine with additional bacon arrived soon after.

Fries glistening in its gravy-cheese glory. Maybe it was just me but the gravy had some kind of pizza taste in it. Perhaps from meat, tomato, and spices?


Risotto Tartufo Funghi

It was a longer wait for the risotto. Finally, this truffle dish arrived.

Slices of cheese and mushrooms on top of rice in a round plate, this photo does not capture how flavorful this dish really is. Truffle cream provided a different taste. The creaminess and cheesiness reminded me of carbonara.

Watch out for part 2 of featuring an Italian dessert! Any guesses?


Branch visited located at: UP Town Center, Quezon City


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Cafe Mediterranean: Kebab Platter

After our taste of Greek food, I became more curious about Mediterranean flavors. This brought us to Cafe Mediterranean.

There was this bright blue tile design on the tables.

Wanting to try many things at a time, we ordered a Kebab Platter. Three types of dips, four types of meat, and six pieces of pita bread arrived at our table.

First, the dips:
Moutabal (left)
An unexpected favorite among the three, this is made of eggplant and tahini (paste/sauce made of sesame). I don't usually eat eggplant but the combination of this vegetable and sesame is great. It has a hint of sweetness to it.

Tzatziki (top-middle)
Made of cucumber, yogurt, and garlic, this one has a milder, cooler taste compared to the other dips.

Hummus (right)
This chickpea dip has a strong taste.


Now the meats:
Kofta

This tasted the most Middle-Eastern to me, especially if you try to pair it with the hummus. These are meatballs made of lamb meat and beef.


Chicken

Thick chunks of tender chicken. The flavor is not really that strong, which is okay since I think it is just the right amount of flavor.


Beef

Some were parts tender, some were parts chewy.


Fish

The fish itself was kind of ordinary. The spices and herbs made the taste a little different.

All three of us were full after eating the platter.  Next time, I better leave some space to try out their desserts.


Branch visited located at: Ground Floor, Entertainment mall, SM Mall of Asia, Pasay

Blé: Real Greek Food

Bringing the food expedition to the Parañaque area, my cousin and I visited Blé along Aguirre Avenue. We were greeted by blue and white interiors. The place was quite small. Good thing it was only me and my cousin dining at that time so it felt like we had the whole place to ourselves.
Blé has a newer and bigger branch at El Grande Ave called Blé+. Some of their menu items are only available at that new branch.

This restaurant has also been recognized as one of the best new restaurants.

We are curious about what Greek food tastes like. For this visit, we tried their meat in the form of a souvlaki and kebabs.

Tenderlion Souvlaki

Meat, tomatoes, tzatziki, and more, wrapped in a pita bread. The tenderloin was definitely all meat with just the right mix tenderness and chewiness.


Yougurtlu Kebab
This comes with our own choice of 2 sticks, plus chopped pita, plus a drizzle of Greek yogurt and special tomato sauce. We had the chicken skewer and lamb skewer.

The chicken meat was tasty throughout. You can taste the spices up to the center of the fillet. It was tender too.

There aren't many places around where you can get lamb meat so we marked it as a must try for this visit. The ground lamb meat kebab was slightly crispy outside, a little crumbly inside, and has a different taste of meat with spices all over.


Baklava

Layers of phyllo pastry with pistachios soaked in a special syrup was our dessert for the day. The pastry has some kind of chewy feel to it (reminiscent of, but less chewy than mochi). Finely chopped pistachios can be spotted in between some layers. I like that the syrup was not overpoweringly sweet, but sweet enough to go with the pastry.


Frappe and Strawberry Shake (with Greek yogurt and honey)

It was a really hot day so we ordered some drinks to cool down. My cousin ordered the Frappe while I had the Strawberry yogurt shake.

Satisfied our Greek food craving right here! We would like to try the moussaka and falafel next time. And maybe try some dishes only served at their El Grande Branch.

Branch visited located at: 188B Aguirre ave., BF Homes, Parañaque


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Backlog Post: Highlands Prime Steakhouse

Sifting through my files, I found some photos of our Highlands Prime Steakhouse visit last July 2014. We ate there twice that week.

It was as if we walked into a log cabin when we entered the establishment. The place was quite spacious and has extra space to accommodate a grand piano. Seats overlooking the Manila Bay are also available. Here are some photos of what we had:


Steak

We ordered some meat...

Butterfly Prawns

...and some seafood as well.

Mango Cheesecake

That swirly mango garnish is made from a sour mango. I expected something sweet when I ate that whole mango garnish but I was greeted with sourness. The cheesecake was quite thick and rich.

And a few days after our lunch, we decided to have our dinner there. This time, there was a pianist playing some songs on the piano which enhanced the ambiance of the place. We tried the following dishes:

Espresso Apricot Chicken

Tasted some of the coffee and apricot in there.

Salmon Tornado

This salmon steak was the seafood of the night.


Mango Panna Cotta

A lighter dessert compared to the mango cheesecake. Still, there was a sour mango garnish. The panna cotta itself was milky and creamy.

I want to visit again and relive the taste of the food!


Branch visited located at: 2nd floor, Entertainment Mall, Mall of Asia, Pasay City

*This is a backlog post. Actual food expedition was made over a few months ago.