Restaurant

Husband Date at Hossein’s Alabang Town Center

August 9, 2013 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan 15 Comments

MrC and I have been making an effort to spend more time together. More often than not, our bonding time involves playing video games or reading side by side, or watching a movie together at home. When we do go out, we usually try to squeeze a nice lunch or snack in between errands and grocery shopping. This lunch date at Hossein’s Alabang Town Center was our first stop before making a grocery run for things my mom needed to prepare dinner for my sister’s birthday.

We love Persian and Mediterranean food. Among our favorite finds over the years are Cafe Mediterranean, Arya, Mr Kebab and Cyma. This was our first visit to Hossein’s, and we were pretty happy with out meal. There aren’t many restaurants of this type in the south (that I know of), so it’s great to know that we have this place practically next door.

I love this light fixture. So pretty. I would like to have one in my walk-in closet someday!

Family Dinner at The Old Spaghetti House

August 8, 2013 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan 2 Comments

We are a family of big eaters. Seriously, you would be surprised at how much food we can consume as a group, specially when we eat out. A while back (yes, this is another delayed post), we had dinner out as a family at The Old Spaghetti House in Festival Mall Alabang, upon request of my dad. I don’t know why, but he just loves their spaghetti and meatballs. Personally, I think it’s quite bland. But anyway, since dinner was on dad, of course we went where he wanted to go.

Spaghetti and meatballs, our reason for eating at TOSH

I love when restaurants have nice kid menus because that generally means that my son will be in a good mood and we won’t have to rush through our meal because he wants to leave already to go someplace else. Like many places that have pizza as part of their children’s selection, TOSH has a make-your-own option. We always go for this whenever available because Little MrC really enjoys prepping his own food like a big boy.

TOSH2-1 — Make-your-own-pizza ingredients

Let me give you an idea of just how much we eat as a family hehe. So, my dad had an order of pasta, and my son finished his pizza. MrC and I split a pasta dish and a salad, plus I had a bowl of soup.

TOSH2-13 — Cannelloni stuffed with three kinds of mushrooms and cream cheese, baked with homemade marinara sauce

Now, I need to be honest and tell you that I did not enjoy what I ordered. The clam chowder tasted like cream of mushroom soup. I ordered this because I was craving for the chowder at S&R. The Caesar salad looked and tasted like it had fake bacon and lots of mustard in the dressing. Again, I was thinking about the Caesar in CPK when I ordered this. Are my expectations too high? And finally, the pasta just wasn’t very tasty. This was part of their premium menu, and I’m not sure if this is still available.

Okay, on to the dishes that people actually did enjoy. My brother ordered a bunch of appetizers for everyone. We had buffalo chicken tenders, and two orders each of mozzarella sticks and fried onion rings. All were yummy. All were wiped out too haha!

TOSH2-7 — Onion rings with ranch dressing

TOSH2-6 — Mozzarella sticks with marinara sauce

TOSH2-11 — Buffalo chicken tenders. The only thing missing was bleu cheese dressing.

I’m not done yet! My mom and my brother each had a pasta dish, and my sister ordered a main course.

TOSH2-10 — Blackened fish fillet with mango salsa and cilantro rice

TOSH2-9 — Chicken cordon bleu in white sauce with mushroom and bacon

Isn’t that a lot of food for 6 adults and one kid? Well, guess what? We still had room for dessert. We ordered two dessert items to share, but we only ended up eating one of them because my sister pulled out a very long strand of hair when she took a piece out of one of the dishes. That would have been the first bite, and we’re just glad that she pulled up that hair strand right away and not when we were already halfway through the dish. Gross.

TOSH2-15 — The colossal chocolate chip cookie ala mode which we returned, uneaten

TOSH2-16 — Golden Oreo cookie ala mode. Obviously they got to this before my camera did.

Since that epic meal, we haven’t yet gone back to The Old Spaghetti House. I think it’s only a matter time, though, before my dad gets reminded of his “favorite” spaghetti and meatballs, and we’ll either call them for delivery or head on out to the restaurant for another giant family meal.

The Old Spaghetti House
2/L Bridgeway Entrance (Near Shopwise) Festival Supermall, Alabang
+632 850-9959
http://www.theoldspaghettihouse.com/
#/TheOldSpaghettiHouse

Lunching at La Creperie

August 2, 2013 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan Leave a Comment

Earlier this week, I paid for my slot for Dainty Mom‘s upcoming Write On Workshop, the third in the series. I realized this morning that I have yet to post about the first two workshops, which of course I attended. The only evidence on my blog that I was actually at those workshops are my completed “homework” – this post that tells the story of my hopes, dreams and fears as a mother, and my about page, which I can now proudly say exists.

I love the Write On Workshop Series, and that’s why I keep coming back. There are three very compelling things about these workshops that I know all the attendees look forward to. First, and most obvious, is the learning experience. I don’t think anyone who’s ever joined one of these can honestly say that they did not gain anything from the session. I know for a fact that I am a better blogger because of all that I learned from Martine and my classmates. I’ll be sharing these learning points in a few days, I promise! Just need to get my thoughts and my notes together.

Second is the networking opportunity with other moms who blog. Through my involvement in these workshops, as well as the Manila Workshops projects, I have made so many wonderful new friends. What I love most about these ladies is that we are all on the same boat! Regardless of age, background, what city we live in, we all can relate to each other, we help each other out, and we encourage, uplift and inspire each other every day. It’s a great circle of friends to have and a great community to belong to. Through these workshops, we get the chance to meet regularly, and it’s always fun.

The third reason is the food. I remember Martine saying once that writers need good food and good coffee to function. I couldn’t have said it better myself. Obviously our workshops are always held in a place that has both. Happy tummies make for happy writers!

I was extra excited about the restaurant where we had our second Write On class, La Creperie in San Juan. Whenever the boys and I go anywhere outside of Alabang, I try to look for a place we can eat that doesn’t exist in the south so that we can try something new. We totally jumped at the chance to try La Creperie because all of their branches are north of Makati, an area I call the far north. Lol.

Dinner Date at Con Gusto by Buon Giorno

May 10, 2013 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan Leave a Comment

One Sunday, while the little boy was at Fishville with his grandparents, MrC and I decided to go out for dinner after mass. We decided to try out Con Gusto in Molito. It was an easy reastaurant choice, for once. They had me at Buon Giorno.

If you ask me, I’d rather still drive to Tagaytay to eat at Buon Giorno, if only for the whole road trip experience and ambiance. At the same time, the menu at Con Gusto doesn’t have everything that Buon Giorno has, which is actually something I’d expected. What I didn’t anticipate though was that the prices seemed a bit steeper, and the servings were smaller. But anyway, I can’t really complain because it really is more convenient to come and eat here, since Molito is only 5 minutes away from home.

So here’s what we had. Disclaimer: I can’t actually remember what each of these dishes are called, since this dinner happened a few weeks ago. Sorry!!!

Con Gusto-7 — Green salad with apples, raisins, feta and a fruity vinaigrette dressing

Family Lunch at Chili’s

May 4, 2013 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan Leave a Comment

I posted this photo on Instagram the other day, and it made my instafriends instahungry.

The Out-Of-Towners: Discovering Cafeño

May 7, 2012 by MrsC | Patricia Cuyugan 6 Comments

I’ve often said on this blog that our family likes to go out on trips together. Vacationing is one of the things that our family does well, and some of my fondest memories are from the many out of town trips that we have taken as a group. I consider myself lucky to have parents like mine, who have been planning day-trips, weekend getaways, and sometimes even week-long adventures for us since we were little. Over the years, my dad has made it a point to take time out from his busy schedule to take us someplace nice for the summer, or during Christmas season, New Year’s, and even just on an ordinary weekend. There were also times when he would take us all with him whenever he’d have out of town lectures or conventions. Because of this, my siblings and I have been able to see quite a lot of the Philippines already. On the photos on our foyer wall, you will see images of our younger selves on the San Juanico Bridge, at the Maria Cristina Falls, in Dapitan where Rizal was exiled, and on many other beaches and mountains all over the country.

These days, the vacations have become even more exciting with the addition of new members to our out of town crew. What was once a family of five has expanded to include MrC and my Little Kiddo, my brother’s girlfriend, my sister’s boyfriend, and occasionally my sister-in-law, her boyfriend, and her roommate Phil, who is practically our adoptive sibling already. As expected, my parents have become even more excited about travelling now that the little guy is part of the group. The nice thing about it is he is so appreciative of new sights and new experiences, and he truly enjoys sharing these moments with his grandparents. At the age of five, he’s already been able to take a plane to Ozamis, see Baguio twice, play on the beaches of Dagupan and Batangas, and hang out in Tagaytay at least five times. He is now eagerly anticipating our 2012 summer outing, which is coming up soon. Actually, we’re all really excited for three whole days of fun in the sun at a private resort owned by one of my dad’s doctor friends in Zambales. We were told that they will eventually be open to the public, and from what I hear, their beachfront is really nice. I’ll definitely be sharing photos and recommendations after the trip.

Speaking of vacation photos, I just realized that the year is almost halfway done, and I still have not been able to post much about our 2012 family outings. Promise that you will soon be able to read about our Chinese New Year weekend at Virgin Beach Resort, our first ever Hot Air Balloon Festival experience, my birthday weekend at Discovery Country Suites, the little guy’s birthday weekend at Hotel H2O, and all the fabulous food we’ve had along the way. Promise.

In the meantime, let me share this wonderful little place we discovered en route to Laiya called Cafeño. If you ever find yourself on our way to the many beach resorts in the area, I suggest you stop by this quaint cafe and restaurant for some coffee, homemade ice cream and other treats.

We chanced upon the place on our way to Virgin Beach Resort last January. We happened to leave the house much later than we’d originally planned, and so, at a little past noon, we found ourselves too hungry to keep driving, but too close to the resort (and a proper lunch) to risk spoiling our appetites by eating a big meal somewhere else. Plus we all needed to take a bathroom break, and so it was decided that we would stop at Cafeño. The building is actually an old house, one of many in the area, and sits at the corner of General Luna and Rizal Streets in Poblacion, San Juan, Batangas.

The first thing you see when you enter is the counter and display case filled with yummy pastries. It took some time before we all decided on what we would be having. While waiting for the rest of the family to order, I took a quick look around to see what the rest of the place looked like, and since it is a relatively small restaurant, it didn’t take me long to survey the entire area.

The brightly colored perimeter wall of Cafeño showcases many cute illustrations like this one (Lolo and Kiddo not included)

The decor inside Cafeño is mostly made up of vintage items and old photographs. I thought I was able to take a photo of the table next to us, which was made of the base of an old Singer sewing machine, but the photo is probably in my sister’s camera. The place being designed this way makes it very homey and cozy.

There’s also an alfresco dining area labelled Cafeño Annex, but we opted to stay inside on this very hot day

An old ice shaver sits on top of the counter

Shelves of merchandise and framed photographs line the walls

I finally decided to order churros and Spanish chocolate, but was disappointed to learn that the churros were not available. I ended up just getting the chocolate, while mom and my sister ordered coffee floats. Dad and MrC had barako coffee, and my brother and my son went for the crispy waffles.

Cream and chocolate-filled crispy waffles

Looking back, hot chocolate was a pretty odd choice for me on such a warm day. Oh well, I enjoyed it anyway. The crispy waffles were really good too, and were a good enough substitute for churros, dipped into my chocolate.

Crispy waffle ice cream sandwich made with home-made vanilla ice cream

My sister Rocky with her coffee float, which actually is cold Kapeng Barako with a scoop of ice cream on top

Coffee + Crispy Waffles + Homemade Ice Cream + Dad

It was a good start to what would be a totally enjoyable Batangas weekend for us all. As always, the little guy cozied up to his grandparents for most of the trip. He even chose to ride in their car because he found my dad’s GPS completely fascinating.

I’m sure that we will pass by Cafeño again on our next trip South. Hopefully when I get to go back, I’ll finally get to try those churros.

Cafeño
No.9 Cor General Luna and Rizal St.
San Juan, Batangas
(043) 575-5161
cafeno.cafe@gmail.com
#/cafeno.batangas