Restaurant Review

(Not) Just Thai

April 14, 2014 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan 28 Comments

I love Thai food, and we actually make our fair share of Curry, Tom Yum Soup and Pad Thai at home. Oddly though, we rarely eat at Thai restaurants. I’m not sure why that is. Like, in the case of Just Thai in Molito, we pass that place all the time but never really go inside. MrC or I would say, “Oh we should try this place one of these days.” And then when we’re out again, we opt to eat somewhere else.

Last week, we finally got to find out what we were missing at Just Thai. I was invited by a fellow southie mommy blogger, Kathy Kenny, to join a small group of bloggers for dinner. I’m actually super happy that I was allowed to bring the boys with me, too. The three of us always eat out together, and the experience just wouldn’t be the same if they weren’t there.

Little MrC and I got there at around 6pm, and we waited for MrC to join us, as he was on his way home from work. I got to chat a bit with Kenny and a couple other bloggers I met at the Chicdriven launch I attended at Azumi Hotel a few weeks back. The restaurant was nice enough to feed my little boy ahead after he so loudly declared that he was super hungry, then proceeded to down a plate of peanuts and a mango shake.

Kid-friendly food

The kiddo was served a plate of Chicken Sate and a bowl of Pandan Rice. Super good, and super kid-friendly. I often worry about what to feed this kid when we dine at Asian and Indian restaurants coz some flavors and spices just don’t agree with a child’s taste buds. I’m happy to report that, at Just Thai, this will not be a problem at all.

While waiting for everyone to arrive, we were served cold drinks. Of course, I chose my super forever favorite, Thai Iced Tea . I love how thick and creamy Just Thai’s version is. I would seriously go back just for this. MrC tried the Tamarind Juice , and he said it tasted like those sticky tamarind snacks that he likes.

Thai iced tea on the left, tamarind juice on the right

Starters and main dishes

After a while, our group was complete. I was so excited to finally have a face to match one of my favorite Twitter friends, @SouthSnippets, and also to finally attend a blogger event with my real-life friend Joei.

And then, it was time for dinner. We started with two big bowls of soup and a salad. The Tom Yum soup was quite nice, tangy and spicy and really MrC’s type. The Kuai Tiao Neua, was a beef noodle soup with a hint of sourness. It was good, but I can’t eat a lot of it. I loved the Yam Neua, a salad topped with spicy-sweet beef that went so well with the fresh veggies.

The main dishes were all really good, too. I love that we got to try so many of them, and believe me, there was a lot to sample. My favorite was the Pad Gaprow Talay, which is a mixed seafood with basil dish swimming in a coconut-cream sauce, kind of like a curry. The basil really gave this dish a clean, fresh taste.

We also got to try the Pad Thai, which is a must-order for me at every Thai place. Just Thai’s was different because there was a hint of tomato in there. This is the first time I’ve had Pad Thai like this, and I order this dish a lot. I even make it at home. I enjoyed it though, and I like that it’s not the usual.

Also served to us were the Gai Pad Met Ma Maling, which is chicken with cashew, the Gaeng Leuang, a yellow curry dish with vegetables and tofu, and Crabmeat Fried Rice. I was glad that the kiddo had some plain steamed rice left over, coz the main dishes were so flavorful that they really needed plain rice. I imagine the crabmeat fried rice would be good with Pandan Chicken, which is something I have on my must-try list for our next visit to Just Thai.

There’s always room for dessert

We were all super full (and the boys were actually sleepy) after all that food. There was no way we were leaving without trying the desserts though. We all loved the Tha Kho coconut pudding, which was really light and not very sweet. It was a great ending to a meal that was so full of flavor.

I also had a bite of the Khao Niaow Ma Muang, which we all felt was too pretty to eat. It’s a super heavy dessert made of sticky rice topped with mango with a coconut sauce on the side. I prefer it without the sauce, though. I think this would actually be great as an afternoon snack.

We officially have another restaurant to add to our must-visit places in Molito. Thanks so much, Just Thai, for a wonderful evening. The boys and I super enjoyed, and we certainly went home stuffed and happy. We will be back soon!

Just Thai Alabang
Molito Lifestyle Center
Alabang, Muntinlupa
Phone 808-4058
#/pages/Just-Thai/194210380589164

The Mysterious Chairman Wang and His Prime Beef Noodle House

April 9, 2014 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan 32 Comments

The little boy and I joined a couple other bloggers last week at an intimate lunch mini-event in the newly opened Chairman Wang’s Prime Beef Noodle House in Molito. We have been excited about this event since mid-March when we received the invite because we are always in Molito, and we’d really been waiting for this place to open for some months now. Chairman Wang’s finally opened it’s doors last February, and I hear from their Operations Manager, Blush, that things have been going well for them so far. It’s not surprising, really, because, as we discovered, the food there is really yummy.

Who is Chairman Wang

This was actually the first question that I asked Blush and the restaurant’s Marketing Malanger, Alyz. I had actually expected Chairman Wang to be a fictional character, but apparently he is real! He is a chef, an expert noodle-puller and restaurant owner in China, and he decided to open a noodle house here together with some Filipino partners. We were told that Chairman Wang trained the chefs in noodle-pulling himself, and he was also very hands-on in developing the menu for the restaurant.

We got to watch one of the expert noodle-pullers in action!

My follow-up question was, “Is he old?” Why did I ask this? Well, it’s because I kind of imagined Chairman Wang to look like those old Kung Fu masters I remember seeing on TV when I was little, when Sunday mornings meant that Chinese Drama Theater was on. As in the ones with long hair, either white or black, long mustaches, long beards, and sometimes even long eyebrows. This was pre-cable, so I don’t know if any of you younger guys out there know what I’m talking about.

Checking out the beautiful restaurant interiors with my fellow bloggers

No, Chairman Wang is not old and he does not look like a Shaolin master according to Blush, who had the chance to train under him. The restaurant, though, looks like it came straight out of a Kung Fu movie set, and I think that might be what sparked my inquiry. Lol. A lot of the accents including their wall panel decor, mural and drop lights were actually imported from China for the noodle house. I really wanted to see what Mr Wang looks like, but I guess his face will have to remain a mystery for now.

Hand-pulled noodles and Szechuan-style cooking

Here in the Philippines, Chinese restaurants usually serve Cantonese cuisine. Chairman Wang’s features more of a Szechuan-style menu, with bolder spices and stronger flavors. In contrast, the freshly made noodles in their signature dish – the prime Angus beef broth – was mild and delicate, perfectly complementing the other food that was served to us.

Blush and Alyz did most of the ordering. Here’s what we had.

We were served a carafe of Chrysanthemum Iced Tea, which is a mix of chrysanthemum tea, longgan, goji berries, honey and mint leaves. This is super refreshing, and really my kind of iced tea. There was also some Lemon Ginger Ale, which I wasn’t able to try. For our appetizers, we tried the Smoked Duck Breast in Hoisin Wrap and the Braised Beancurd Skin with Soy Tofu. I loved the beancurd skin. It was really crispy and tasty. The duck wrap was good also, except that there was cilantro inside, and I really don’t like cilantro.

I know that people would usually try new things when in new places, but because I am a creature of habit (and I had a kid with me), I requested for the Sweet and Sour Pork and Olive Fried Rice. Little MrC actually wanted to try a different kind of fried rice, but it was the olive rice that was highly recommended. He wasn’t so hot on the idea of this unfamiliar dish so he ended up eating plain rice instead. I thought that the olive rice was really flavorful and went well with the sweet and sour. Instead of the usual pineapple chunks, the pork dish had orange wedges in it. It was good, but definitely not what we’re used to.

As for the noodle bowls, we got to try the Chairman’s Prime Beef Noodle Soup, which I loved, and the Poached Sliced Beef with Vermicelli in Spicy Sichuan Broth, which was good but really flavorful and oily. It was also on the spicy side. MrC would super love this.

The kiddo and his special request + my favorites

My favorites of all were the Shrimp Hakaw (I told you, creature of habit), and the Chinese Curry Lamb Caserole, which was a total surprise because this was the first time that I ever had lamb at a Chinese restaurant. I love lamb and I love curry, and so this was an expected hit for my taste buds. This dish needs plain rice though, as it’s really so potently flavored, so I was happy to finish off what was left of the kiddo’s jasmine rice bowl.

Little MrC and I both agree that dessert was the best part of our meal. We each had a bowl of Chilled Coconut Milk Soup with Sago and Fresh Fruits. This was soooooooo good, not too sweet, and super refreshing. It’s perfect for a hot summer snack with the fresh grapes, dragon fruit and other tropical fruits swimming in the coconut milk broth. I would go back just for this. Really.

Thumbs up, Chairman Wang!

This restaurant gets a thumbs up from me. I promised Blush and Alyz that the fambam will come visit some time, and guess what, they already did! Last weekend, my parents and my brother had dinner in Chairman Wang’s and they were pretty happy with their experience, too. One thing that my brother noted was that the servers really knew their menu. He has food allergies, and they were able to tell him what he could and couldn’t eat.

Blush told us, actually, that the servers really were made to learn their food offerings inside-out, and I noticed that when we were there. Of course, I figured they would all bring their A-game for us bloggers. So when my brother told me that the server during their visit knew his stuff as well, I was definitely impressed. I can safely say that Chairman Wang’s staff members really offer top-notch service to their customers.

Thank you, Blush, Alyz and the rest of the Chairman Wang staff!

MrC has yet to try the yummy food here, so we will definitely see everyone again at Chairman Wang’s! Thank you, Blush and Alyz for being such gracious hosts, and of course, for allowing me to bring the little guy along for lunch. I super appreciate it.

Chairman Wang’s Prime Beef Noodle House
Unit 18 Molito Lifestlye Complex
Madrigal Avenue, Alabang, Muntinlupa City
Phone: (02) 828-8477
#/chairmanwangs

Panizza 101 at C’ Italian Dining

April 29, 2012 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan Leave a Comment

Last February, when our family trooped out to Clark for the Hot Air Balloon Festival, our first stop was C’ Italian Dining for a very late lunch before checking in at Fontana. Like I always do before heading off to an unfamiliar place, I asked around about the best places to eat at Clark. C’ came highly recommended by a lot of my food-lover friends, and so I made sure that we stopped there to eat before our schedule got filled up.

C’ is located outside the Clark Freeport Zone, in Balibago Angeles, Pampanga. The facade is pretty simple, and if not for all the cars parked in front of the restaurant, and even across the street (and of course the big sign in front of the building), I probably would never have realized that we’d found the place. I use the word found because we had made a number of wrong turns in search of the restaurant, and ended up lost and with no idea where to go, more than once. I’d never have guessed that such a nice restaurant could be found in such a shady place. Then again, I forget that a good number of Angeles’ residents are foreigners.

The place has this rustic, old house, sorta cozy sorta creepy feel to it. I’m guessing this vibe is caused by a combintion of the stone walls, the big windows , the art pieces on display, and lighting of the place. The entire restaurant is laid out in various sections and rooms, and nooks and corners you could just disappear into, which kind of made me think of it as dungeon-like too. Then again, maybe all this was just hunger messing with my senses.

My sister and her boyfriend actually got to the restaurant before we did, so we were expecting to have something to munch on while we ordered. Surprisingly, there wasn’t any food or drinks on the table. Since the two ordered ahead, they made a follow up while we placed our orders. My hunger was making me cranky, so I distracted myself by taking photos.

Obviously, Lola was already tired and hungry

Like I said, it took us a while to find the place. Ironically three out of four people in the car had maps and GPS apps in our phones. It was close to 3pm when we arrived at C’, so you can just imagine how tired and hungry we were by then. My Mc Donald’s Big Breakfast was long gone, replaced by gurgles and other similar complaints by my stomach.

Good thing these two were still in high spirits

When the drinks and bread arrived, we attacked like wolves. Pretty, composed wolves. I ordered a Strawberry Italian Soda, which was really refreshing. Their bread was super yummy, and I had to restrain myself from eating too much so as not to spoil my appetite. No, let me re-phrase that, my appetite is never spoiled. I just didn’t want to get full too fast. Bread is my absolute weakness, and C’s pesto dip was just too good to resist. Carbs, this is why I’m fat.

Now here’s the problem. Because I’m blogging about this so late, I can’t remember what any of the dishes were called, and how much they cost. My bad. Lesson learned, write about things as soon as I can, or at least take notes for future reference. I’ll be sure to make a note of the names of these dishes if I ever get to pay a visit to C’ again. For now, photos and descriptions will just have to suffice.

We were informed by the waiter that the reason why my sister’s order hadn’t arrived yet was because they switched tables, and the servers got confused. Not a good enough reason, as far as I’m concerned, but lucky for them, I found myself to be extra forgiving that day. Maybe because I was on vacation mode and refused to be put in a bad mood. It could also be because the food was so good that it gave me an extra happy vibe. I kid you not, the food was that delicious.

Rolled up with arugula and alfalfa sprouts

We ordered two different kinds of Panizza, and two pasta dishes. Now let me tell you a secret. I never had Panizza before my visit to C’. Not even Yellow Cab’s Dear Darla. I think it’s a good thing, because I read somewhere that this is what inspired the Dear Darla, and I’m glad I got to taste the original first. Rocky and Koko chose one with the best tasting bacon ever, while mom picked a four (or was it five?) cheese panizza. Both were wonderful, but the cheesy one needed an extra sprinkling of spices for added umph.

Meanwhile, Mr C and the Kiddo chose to have Pasta Carbonara, which was also topped with the best bacon ever, and mom added an order of Spagetti Bolognese with Meatballs. The Carbonara was a hit. Their white sauce was exceptionally good, and that means a lot coming from someone who isn’t much of a fan of white sauce on pasta.

I expected more from the Bolognese, but it was still pretty good. After enjoying the bowl of bread so much, I hoped that the garlic bread that came with the pasta would be amazing as well. Guess I shouldn’t have expected much, since it turns out that all garlic breads are pretty much alike. Or maybe I feel that way because I don’t particularly like butter.

The food at C’ is really good. Too bad that it’s really far away, and in a place I don’t normally frequent. It’s also quite pricey. We ended up paying close to P3,000 for lunch for 5 adults and 1 kid. That’s more or less P500-P600 per person. Plus I got turned off with the slow service, although, I do realize it’s probably better on non-peak days. After all, we visited during Clark’s busiest season. This is exactly why I prefer not to travel when I know it’s going to be crowded where I’m headed. Yes, I can be antisocial like that.

For more photos from our visit, check out this post!

C’ Italian Dining
1210 Don Juico Ave. Clarkview, Balibago
Angeles City, Pampanga
(045) 892-4059

My Thai + Pho Hoa

February 22, 2012 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan 10 Comments

Last Sunday was another one of my working rest days. I dragged my sister Rocky to the mall with me since she didn’t have anything planned anyway.

After walking around for a bit and having new glasses made, we decided to have lunch at the mall’s newly opened Pho Hoa + My Thai + Jack’s Loft restaurant. It was an easy choice since Rocky was instantly sold on the idea of having Thai Milk Tea with lunch. I’m actually not sure how she managed to finish a whole glass of milk tea, plus half of mine. It was really yummy, but super heavy!

We shared a plate of Pad See Ew noodles, which was good. We also ordered Kung Pao Chicken. Both dishes were really yummy, and the servings were big enough to share. It’s a good thing we decided to wait for our meal to arrive before deciding to order anything more, otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to finish our food. To think, the waiter told us that the servings were good for one person only. All in all, our meal cost just a little over PHP600.00, which is not bad by my standards.

We enjoyed our lunch so much that we missed a photo op with The Lorax that we were both looking forward to.

I was hoping to try some of the yummy cakes on display at the Jack’s Loft side of the restaurant, but I was already stuffed by the time we cleaned our plates off. At least I have something to look forward to on my next visit.

I will definitely come back to this pink, green, black and white themed restaurant real soon. And next time I will make sure to leave room for dessert.

Pho Hoa + My Thai + Jack’s Loft

3L Chef’s Avenue
Festival Supermall Alabang