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My brother Mons decided to fry two eggs the other day as part of his meal.  We were surprised with what the eggs looked like when they were done.  He placed the eggs on a plate and I snapped a photo:

This was purely unintentional! We both thought that it kind of resembled the Napster logo.  So cute!

If you enjoy munching on nori or seaweed snacks like me, you’re going to love Tao Kae Noi Japanese Crispy Seaweed.  This product was introduced to the family by Mons some time last week, and now My Dad and I are hooked!  He even brought a couple of bags back to China!

I’ve seen these delicious seaweed strips in two flavors: Original and Wasabi.  I haven’t tried the Original one even if we have a bag here at home.  I’m currently addicted to the Wasabi flavor.  Tao Kae Noi also comes in three sizes, with the biggest resealable bag (around 85 grams) asking you to shell out approximately Php130.

By the way, these goodies are available at Landmark Supermarkets, SM Hypermarkets and at Hi-Top Supermarket along Quezon Avenue.

With me still being able to enjoy the luxury of time, there are days when I can afford to spend some days immersed in reading about fashion and food.  Today was one of those days.

Unfortunately, I don’t have enough moolah to actually go to the mall and buy the things I read about.  This is where Polyvore comes in.  I’ve heard of Polyvore a couple of months back, and have been enjoying creating my own sets ever since.  I’m no expert in fashion; I just like mixing and matching and imagining outfits I can wear whenever there’s something I would have to attend to.

Here’s one of the sets I came up with: Something I would want to wear when spending a day at the mall:

Try making your own sets at Polyvore and share them with me if you feel like it.

Indulged myself with a serving of Banana Choco Hazelnut Sweet Crepe from Crepes & Cream while at Robinson’s Place-Manila.  The thing that made me enjoy this crepe so much was the creamy vanilla ice cream inside (which was, if I’m not mistaken, Fruits in Ice Cream or FIC). I didn’t manage to take a very good photo, but just trust me when I say that this dessert is simply divine (not to mention I just shelled out Php95 for it!)

Crepes & Cream also serve what they refer to as Savory Crepes, which you can eat for breakfast, lunch or dinner.  Examples include Pork Floss Cheesy Omelette, Tuna Onion Crepe, Cheesy Spicy Tuna Onion, etc.  I haven’t tried any of these before.  Maybe next time.

By the way, they also serve sugar-free ice cream, much to the delight of my Dad.  Each serving in a cup would cost you Php50.

***Crepes & Cream have branches in Robinson’s Place-Manila, SM Mall of Asia, The Podium and Rockwell PowerPlant Mall.

My Sunday morning started out really great, with my brother Mons giving me something yummy for breakfast: Green Tea Cheesecake from Kozui!

I’ve been wanting to try the stuff from that place ever since hearing about it from a couple of my friends.  Now that I’ve tried their cheesecake, I would say that it’s not completely mind blowing, but it was still pretty good.  The cheesecake was very compact and heavy. It could probably be good enough for two people to eat, but being the green tea AND cheesecake addict that I am, I finished it all by myself!

I’m planning to try Kozui’s other products soon, if I get the chance to visit their place at Tomas Morato.  By the way, the green tea cheesecake Mons got for me costs Php120 each.

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My family and I headed to another Japanese restaurant yesterday evening for our weekly dinner.  We visited Omakase, which is also conveniently located along Tomas Morato in Quezon City.  Mons already dined at the place with his friends a day before we went there, and so with his seal of approval regarding the food at Omakase, we went ahead and ordered an array of Japanese goodies to satisfy ourselves.

The meal started with the Spicy Tuna Salad (photo below) being served.  If it wasn’t for my sore throat, I would’ve devoured more tuna slices than I had that evening.  Yes, it was THAT good. It’s a must try for people who enjoy their raw tuna with a bit of heat. This was definitely one of my favorites during that evening.  I’ll probably order this one again upon my return to Omakase.

Next came the JSC platter, 24 pieces of three different types of maki.  I don’t exactly remember the names of the maki, but I do remember that there was one with eel, one with tuna and the other was, it seemed, a variation of the California Maki. My favorite was the one with unagi (eel) since they placed crunchy salmon skin inside the roll. The JSC platter would cost you a little over Php600.

My Dad also ordered a bowl of steaming hot Beef Curry Udon.  Since I don’t eat beef, I just took a photo and asked my dad his opinion.  He said that it wasn’t bad, but that he had eaten other better beef curry noodles from other places before.

Pointyman had Chirashi Don as his main meal for the evening.  He said that the Chirashi Don “was alright, nothing too special except for the inclusion of uni sashimi.  They [Omakase] put on a lot of sushi rice on it.”  That’s a direct quote from my Brother Dear.

My Mom and I had our bowls of Katsudon (breaded pork with fried egg and onions on top of steaming rice).  Everytime I visit a Japanese restaurant that I haven’t tried before, I always order Katsudon as my first main meal.  Why?  Because I want to know if there’s a place who can prepare a meaner version of Katsudon than my current record holder, Komoro Soba in Megamall (I seriously LOVE this place).  And what’s the final score?  While Omakase’s Katsudon is satisfying enough, Komoro Soba still wins hands down.

Last but not the least, Mons had his Zaru Soba served.  It consisted of cold buckwheat noodles served with a sweet sauce and raw quail egg.  It also came with a mixed tempura.

Our total bill amounted to Php2000 for five people, and that includes the taxes.  It was pretty cheap for a Japanese restaurant.  It’s a great place to get delicious Japanese food when you find yourself hungry while driving around Quezon City. 

***Kozui is located at 258 B Tomas Morato Ave. Quezon City and is open daily from 11a.m. until midnight.  For their website, click here.

UPDATE: Omakase is now located at Il Terrazo (Sct. Madrinan, QC), which is right across Burgoo. They also have branches in Libis and Ayala Alabang.  Come early when you plan to eat at their Tomas Morato branch since there are limited seats available and the place get pretty full quick!

Another Sunday family dinner brought us to the much talked about Amici Restaurant along Tomas Morato in Quezon City.  It was the 24th of August, my first time to visit the place (Yes, this post is long overdue…).  A lot of people say that the place served good food and my family and I went there to give it a try.  Amici was originally the canteen for Don Bosco in Makati, and then was bought by the former owner of Red Ribbon Bakeshop (now handled by the Jollibee group of companies).

Anyway, let’s go through some of the dishes my family and I had that Sunday evening:

Cannelloni Agli Spinaci (Php180), pasta dish consisting of spinach and ricotta cheese.

Spaghetti alla Pescatora (Php190), pasta dish made up of shrimps, mussels and squid.

Ai Quattro Formaggi (Php270), four cheese pizza.

Roast Chicken (Php170), half chicken baked with rosemary.

Fruitti di Mare (Php270), seafood pizza. (I was only able to take a photo of one slice, but all of Amici’s pizza are served whole in 12″ circular pans.)

Amici’s food, in general, didn’t measure up to the ruckus they’ve been getting, but I won’t say that they tasted bad. I would have to say that out of the five dishes, the Cannelloni and the Ai Quattro Formaggi are my favorite, something I might probably order again. The one that didn’t quite appeal to our taste buds was the Spaghetti alla Pescatora.

For dessert, my Mom had a slice of Brazo de Mercedes (Php40 per slice), while my brothers and I had a cup of gelato each (sorry, no pictures here!). I had Mint with Chocolate, Mons had Cioccolato, and Pointyman had the Mango Jubillee. Each cup costs Php45 to 50, depending on the flavor. The gelatos were also sold by kilograms.

There’s also something you have to remember: Amici is purely self-service, which means that you have to stand in line to order your food, get your own utensils and condiments from stations scattered in the restaurant, and have somebody from your group literally sit and wait at your chosen table while you order lest you want your seat to be taken by somebody else. Kind of like how Sbarro works, but Amici doesn’t quite match Sbarro’s style.

While a self service restaurant isn’t necessarily bad, we were able to take note that Amici could use a bit of improvement in this aspect of their operations. We were lucky that my brother, Mons, have already dined at Amici before, so he knows what to do upon arriving at the place. However, confusion about the procedure was prevalent in the faces of their other customers, especially for those expecting otherwise. If the idea was to continue with the school cafeteria feel (especially at lunch hour), then I think they were right on, everything from the noise levels to the lack of organization was perfect.

Overall, the food and the price would probably get the rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars, but Amici could definitely improve on the food presentation and their staff could use a bit of training in terms of customer service. Mons and I were taking a look at the desserts when one of their staff snapped at me, telling me that I should form a line in front of the cashier so that other customers won’t get confused. What irked me was (1) we weren’t ready to order yet, Mons and I were just browsing the goods; (2) the girl who was supposed to attend the cash register was still refilling the gelato freezer/display and not ready to take any orders yet, and (3) there was a “Next Counter Please” sign right in front of the cash register where the irate staff wanted me to form a queue. It was sad I didn’t catch that staff’s name. She wasn’t wearing a name tag like all the other servers.

One other improvement that would probably help Amici would be changing their menu from a single sheet of almost crumpled photocopied paper to something a little more presentable. Maybe to a laminated version, with the words and prices printed more clearly. With a little bit of extra work, Amici can become better and another Italian place worth hanging out at.

***Amici Restaurant is located at 243 Tomas Morato cor. Fuentebella Street, QC. They are open 11a.m. to 11p.m. Mondays to Thursdays, and 10a.m. to 12midnight Fridays to Sundays. Word has it that they’re opening branches at Greenhills and at SM Megamall.