It was my first time to try out authentic Japanese style Okonomiyaki last Sunday at Dohtonbori!! It was awesome! We tried out the Dohtonbori branch at SM North Edsa, Main Building. :)

First thing we noticed when we got there was the line. My friend Dana and I met up in front of the resto around 11:30 am, almost lunch time. While waiting for a table, we checked out the menu and chose what to order.

We went with the Cheesy Pork Okonomiyaki :D

 The Yakiniku looked pretty good too, so we ordered it as well!

We waited for around 20 minutes before we got a seat. The place was really packed and lively.

There was also the overwhelmingly delicious smell of cooking meat. Just can't help salivating. :D

We were brought to a table with a teppan, or the metal griddle in the middle of the table. :) It's for us to cook the okonomiyaki and other items on.

Within minutes, a server approached our table and asked for our order. We ordered the okonomiyaki and the yakiniku, we also got a side of gyoza and two rice sets.

The place is full of interesting Old timey Japanese posters! Makes you feel like you're in a movie set!

 Anybody know what the text on this wall says?

Also love the red lanterns lining the ceiling.

Our server came back with the raw version of our orders ready to be cooked. Except the rice set of course, wahaha!

Pork Yakiniku P180

 Gyoza P120

Cheesy Pork Okonomiyaki P240

See those square thingies on the right side? Those are mozzarella slices!!

Rice Set, 1 cup  of rice and 1 cup of miso, P90

Let's pretend that we did the cooking here. But really we didn't. Wahaha It was absolutely enjoyable just watching the server to mix and cook the food in front of us while we were sipping our unlimited House Blend Iced Tea.

Unlimited Iced Tea P120

The server started cooking the okonomiyaki first to make sure that it gets cooked around the same time as the other items. He even has a timer! 

Stages of an Okonomiyaki:

 Raw as hell, with cheese

 Flipped and almost cooked

 Cooked and glazed with the teriyaki sauce

Added the Kewpie Mayonnaise  

 Added the stripe design along with the bonito flakes and nori bits

Sliced into 4 parts and ready to eat.

The entire meal was cooked simultaneously on the same teppan. :D

This is us pretending that we did anything close to cooking the food. XD Actually, we just held the utensils for the shot. wahahaha

Here's the food, all cooked and ready to eat! The entire cooking time took probably 20 minutes or so.

I was really happy with the okonomiyaki we tried! The cheese was gooey and it was simply delicious! I would prefer it if the pork was cooked before it was mixed in the entire pancake mix, but it still tasted pretty good. I'd probably try it that way next time. :) 

Their pork yakiniku was heavenly too! It had a very tasty marinade, and it was cooked perfectly with crisp sides and still tender middle parts. I loved it with the soy sauce and lemon dip too. (sosyal version ng toyo at calamansi) 

Only the gyoza and miso soup were the "Meh" parts of the meal. Everything else was brilliant!

Overall, Dohtonbori's okonomiyaki is something I'd definitely try again! I'm planning to go back soon with my siblings next time and have them try to cook their own okonomiyaki. Wahaha
I can already imagine the mess! Til' next time!!

Dohtonbori

SM North Edsa, G/F Main Building

02 3724576

Visited: August 7, 2016

Adventurers: Ana Carla Pagulayan Dana Pena

For this Weekend Adventure, we visit Casa Verde in UP Town Center. We're going to try out their Ribs and Spaghetti.

Casa Verde is located on the 2nd floor of UP Town Center. It's near the central area where shows or activities must be held during weekends. We were wondering where it was at first but while walking, we actually just walked right in front of it. wahahaha

I've tried their food before when we went to Cebu, and this is my first time to try out their food here in QC. :D

Me and my friend Dana :)

I read from other blogs that they had to wait at least 30 minutes to an hour to get a seat. Luckily, there was no line when we got there, so we got to grab a table immediately. We even got to move to another table near the window. :D

Found an interesting item on the menu, with my name on it. But we didn't order it :P

We decided to get their famous Brian's Ribs and we also ordered Victoria's Secret Spaghetti for additional carbs. XD

Victoria's Secret Spaghetti P178

Brian's RIBS P250

Total for the meal is just P428

I really like how they don't have service charge for their food. I'm happily surprised when I encounter restaurants like that. Where you only pay for the price of the food based on a menu and not to see another amount because a Service Charge was added.

As for the food, it was okay. The spaghetti tasted good, but I'm still gonna pick Jolly Spaghetti over it. :) Also, I'm not too impressed with the ribs. They were sweet and tasty, the meat was tender and falls right off the bone. But the sauce was too much. It was okay after the first few bites, but after a while you just want to scrape it off the meat. I was expecting far too much I guess, after seeing a lot of good reviews. In the end it's not really worth the hype. But it's a good dish that's worth your money.

Don't just listen to me though, try it out for yourself! :D


Casa Verde
UP Town Center
2/F UP Town Center
Katipunan Ave
Loyola Heights,
Quezon City
02 3644154

Explorers: Ana Carla Pagulayan Dana Pena

For this Holiday Adventure, the Food Explorers visit Felicidad on Maginhawa Street in Quezon City.

When it's a holiday, I usually just go home and play video games the entire day. But this holiday was weird, it was in the middle of the week (on a Thursday) and instead of going home to Cavite then going back to Manila for work the next day, I decided to eat dinner with my sister during her lunch break. Coz she still had work that day. And that's why, this is called a Holiday Adventure, not the usual Weekend Adventure. haha :D

Peace!

We were planning to eat somewhere else actually, but since that place was full. We decided to eat at the restaurant nearby. And that's how we encountered Felicidad.

Felicidad offers Mexican and Italian style food at affordable rates. 
I wish I tried the Chimichanga. But I didn't T_T

Interesting part of this resto: they have handmade miniature bilao for coasters.

Compulsory selfie uh I mean groufie while waiting for our order.

Iced Tea - Free (came with the meal)

Eggplant Parmigiana + Bacon Carbonara Combo - P155

Spicy Buttered Wings - P120

First thing to notice is that the place was quite cute, it's just a small space. They only serve a handful of people at the same time and it was cozy. Next thing is that their menu is quite small. This is a good thing. Coz they can always maintain the quality of the food. But here's the main thing, the food. It was okay, but not thaat good. The chicken was small and depressing and the carbonara was obviously just heated and topped with cheese. It wasn't cooked as I ordered. I really wish I didn't order the Carbonara. *Sigh*

But the Eggplant Parmigiana was pretty darn tasty, so that's something to look forward to. Anyway, considering the price of the food (which was pretty cheap) I guess was expecting a little too much.

Our entire meal, drinks and all, was only under 300 pesos!

Overall, if you want to have a (sort of) affordable meal and pretty decent food at a cozy space, then try Felicidad. 

Felicidad
38 Maginhawa St.
UP Village Diliman
Quezon City

Explorers: +Ana Carla Pagulayan +Ma.Elissa Pagulayan

Visited: April 9, 2015