Borough

I was finally able to convince Marlon that we try out Borough in The Podium. Sundays are usually lazy days for us but since we haven't gone out together for two weeks, guess it's about time. I made sure to leave a picture of Borough's steak frites in his computer just to entice him and did it work.

Borough is named after the Boroughs of New York and served NY comfort food 24/7. The ambiance of this place made it a little but more down to earth with the dirty floors and a slight mismatch of the furniture. This seems to draw different crowds and make them feel more at home. Although my friend Anj was laughing at me when I associated this with a medical clinic also named Borough.

We were there for Halloween and the waiters and waitresses wore masks for the occasion. They also have Halloween specials for the food.


We had the Baked Mac n Cheese (320 PHP) for our starter. I love the gooeyness of the guryere cheese and the parmesan and cheddar provided the salt in this dish. The panko crumbs on top provided a crunchy texture to contrast the soft and gooey cheeses. I find this a good but a little bit oily. If you're looking for your mac n cheese fix though, this is quite good but not the best one I've had.

I ordered the BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich (240 PHP) and loved every bite of this. The pork and barbecue sauce tasted great and balanced out by the coleslaw.  The bread was soft too. I should have eased this sooner as some of the oil from the pork was already dripping when I started to eat. I liked the crisps that were served with the sandwich--crispy but not too salty.

Marlon had the NY Strip Steak (890 PHP) for his main course. He had the fries changed with dirty mashed potatoes instead. We were disappointed that this was not served hot hence the fat getting a little bit tough by the time it got to our table. The herb butter gave a good balance to the steak. 

He also had a glass of Calamansi Juice (60 PHP) which we found sour.

Of course a visit to Borough will not be complete without Mom's Milk and Cookies (220 PHP). They had the Halloween special so we had a different variety of cookies--sour candy, rocky road and chocolate kiss almond. The cookies were warm and soft and I loved the vanilla milk. We were provided with small glasses for our milk where we can dunk our cookies. I have to try this on normal days though with the chocolate chip cookies variant.

Overall Borough was ok with us. Serving time however took very long hence some of our food was not that hot when it arrived to us. Marlon was on his iTouch the whole wait time and good thing I have my camera with me.

They have food that are worth raving about and some that are just ok. I would definitely go back for those Milk and Cookies and the BBQ pulled pork. I guess I have to try their burger too. Any other suggestions? What's your favorite at Borough?


Borough is located at the Ground Floor of The Podium, ADB Avenue Ortigas Center Pasig City.

Ye Dang

To get the baby sister her graduation gift (yes DLSU has graduations in October), I convinced her to choose any shoe at Payless. Although we ended up getting her a blazer at Forever 21 in Magemall instead. Along with my bribe, I promised that we will eat at Ye Dang along Meralco Avenue.

For my second time in Ye Dang, we decided to go for our favorites and usual orders.


Of course we had the Samgyupsal.pork belly (280 PHP). They did not use the charcoal grill this time, must be we were there for very late lunch. The onions helped in giving making the pork tastier. This is one of the best ones I've had so far. If anyone has suggestions of which Korean restaurants I should try, drop it in the comments section please.

The server grilled our pork belly with the onions then cut it up into smaller pieces so you can wrap it up in shiso leaves or lettuce. I liked the shiso leaf better as it gave another dimension of taste.

Best to dip the pork belly in the sesame oil with salt and pepper. Place it in the leaf with some rice then add the danjang paste and some garlic. Feel free to add some of the side dishes. Roll it up then eat your samgyupsal.

We had the Soft tofu in Kimchi soup. This was good too but the one from Woo Ri tasted better as well as another restaurant in Makati according to Choking, she's the Korean foodie after all.

Korean dishes always come with free side dishes. 

At Ye Dang they gave us a salad.

Sweetened baby potatoes.

Sweetened dilis.

Kimchi in pechay and kang kong variants.

Garlic kang kong.

Fish cakes.

And mushrooms.

Despite the movable exhaust nozzles, one can still smell like barbecue at Ye Dang, but I think their ventilation is much better compared to other Korean restaurants who specialize in grilled meats. Also I think it would be better if their staff is friendlier. 


I think Ye Dang is a good place to get my Korean fix. They have more dishes worth trying like the Bibimbop, squid with vegetables and the Kalbi.

Ye Dang is located along Meralco ave right before Metrowalk if coming from Julia Vargas.

A Quiet Saturday at Casa Roces

Yasuo san was back in Manila for another training session with us. We took him out for lunch on a Saturday morning.  We were undecided where to take him and it was a good thing Andrea suggested Casa Roces inside the Malacanang complex. During the long car ride from Makati to San Miguel Manila, we were exchanging stories about life in Japan and in the Philippines. 

We had no idea what to expect but this big beautiful door was the one that greeted us upon entering. I loved the furnishings of old books and antiques in the yellow shelves. The ambiance seems elegant and homey at the same time. 

The restaurant downstairs is actually called Kape Chino, paying homage to Don Chino Roces. The restaurant boasts Spanish and Filipino cuisine. Some of these dishes has been fused with other European cuisines to give each guest a different dinning experience. I loved the twists they have on our favorite classics yet there dishes that  best cooked the traditional way.

It took a long time for us to decide what to order as there seems to be a lot of good items on the menu. We started off with Choritos en Balsamico (295 PHP). The chorizos were not too salty and the sweetened balsamic balanced out the taste. It was served with slices of crunchy bread. Each bite will have sweet and salty flavors dancing in your mouth.

We then shared the Marinated Artichoke Salad (160 PHP). It was really good with fresh and crunchy vegetables dressed lightly in vinaigrette. I hope they had a bigger portion of this though. The artichokes had a nice touch of sourness and balanced out by the shaved parmesan and olives.

Chryssie and Karen both had the Fettuccine with Bleu Cheese and Roasted Mushrooms (185 PHP). The pasta was al dente and the cream sauce with truffle oil made this perfect. The aroma of the truffle let's you keep coming back for more.

Yasuo san had the Spaghettini Gambas ala Jillo (195 PHP). He liked this dish too with rich flavors of garlic, tomatoes and shrimp.

Andrea and I had the Pan-fried Sole ala Beure Noisette (220 PHP). I liked how the lemon and capers balanced this dish. It went well with the garlic and the tender fillet of fish. The fish was grilled perfectly--it has a nice golden crust but the fillet was very tender inside and full of flavor.

We had an array of desserts and hot drinks after our lunch. The Leche Flan Brulee (95 PHP) was very creamy. It was a fushion of leche flan and creme brulee. Instead of a caramel topped flan, the sugar was torched to form a crunchy topping.

We also liked the Cherry Walnut Cheesecake (150 PHP). It had the right balance of taste and textures. The cheese was not too strong. The cheesecake was velvety but had a good balanced of crunch from the walnuts.

The Tiramisu (150 PHP) was alright as well.  

Along with our cakes, we had Tsokolate Ah, Cappuccino and Baileys Coffee. All these over Yasuo san talks about reaching for your dreams and really wanting it. We will always remember his story on how he got the States.

After our lunch they toured us upstairs to see the function rooms. All the rooms had beautiful furnishings of chandeliers, antique tables and chairs and different types of art like sculptures, drawings, photos and even designed and carved parchment paper.

These rooms are great for intimate events and can be rented for 1000 PHP per person and consumable. The restrooms were beautiful too. All the function rooms are named after publications like The Manila Times, The Tribune, the Daily Mirror and more where Don Chino Roces was the editor.

We had a great time at Casa Roces, The service was good and all their staff were helpful and polite. We loved the food. The ambiance was perfect and quiet and just right to have good talks with the perfect company.

Casa Roces can be found in JP Laurel st cor Aguado st San Miguel Manila. This is inside the Malacanang Complex. Coming from Osmena highway, turn right at Quirino avenue then take the Nagtahan Bridge. Do not go up the flyover to Lacson st. Just go down and turn left at the intersection until you see the guard going in to Malacanang. Casa Roces is just down the road.