Mercato Centrale

We tried out Mercato Centrale, the newest addition to the weekend markets in Manila sometime before Christmas. The good thing about this place is that they have both saturday and sunday markets.

 They organized all the participants in a few tents based on which category they belong to like organic food and supplies etc, and there is an outdoor area for the food being cooked. I liked how they organized this because it gives you enough space to go around without bumping into too many people in Christmas season or smell like barbecue trapped indoors.

Some things we tried out in Mercato Centrale:

Desserts from Low Cal. Perfect for those with high blood sugar like my sister Choking. She can have cake without thinking too much if our mom will kill her. We liked their carrot cake and calamansi cheesecake.

Bale Dutung's Pan de Bagnet and Pritchon wrap. I liked the pritchon wrap with different textures and flavors exploding in your mouth. I think the pan de bagnet needs more ooomph!

Triple beef burger from flamed. Not perfect more me since I want veggies on my burger too but meat lovers would love this.

Fresh Lumpia.

Milk Tea.

Plants vs Zombies cupcakes...now this is cute!

They placed around signs to clean as you go and this gave me a proper place to eat the goodies.

They also have non-food stuff. I got christmas presents of water-based citronella spray from All Organics. There are more you can check out too.

Mercato Centrale can be located at the Fort near Bonifacio High St (The Spa and Agave side) and is open on Saturday and Sunday mornings. They're going to have a midnight Mercato soon to cater to the graveyard shift people at the Fort area.

Salcedo Market

It's been quite a while since my last entry. Let me tell you about the time we were supposed to go on Galleon Andalucia but ended up in Salcedo Market. Tom, wanted to get on board the galleon for his birthday but the lines were just too long and everyone coming from work just seemed too tired to even line up several kilometers at the Manila South Harbor.

So off we went to Salcedo Market instead. The only thing we can compare it too is Banchetto in Ortigas which I would have to classify this in a different category. We found Salcedo Market to be quite organized and we can even find a table where we can eat properly.

There's a lot of stuff one can find in Salcedo:

Fresh fruits, vegetables and flowers

Breads

Kefir

Cotton Candy

Dimsum which I really liked and cheap enough

Different cuisines like French, Italian and Spanish

I loved the German Wine selection

There's even lechon baka

When I get another chance I would love to go back here. The paella I saw there seems worth a try.

And of course we had a really great time to bond with my IBM friends.

Wee Nam Kee

I find it hard to look for delicious chicken rice in Manila. If I can find a good one, it's very pricey too. Good thing Wee Nam Kee is now in Manila where they franchised it directly from Singapore. Wee Nam Kee Singapore is in Novena.

I was able to convince by IBM friends, Tom, Shai and Anj to try it out at Ayala Triangle. An almost south day for the north people.

I liked Wee Nam Kee's cozy interior. The bird cage lanters were a nice concept.

We eached ordered the chicken rice personal set at 160PHP which comes with chicken rice and soup. Tom and Shai got the roasted one and for me and Anj we had the steamed chicken. All I can say is, rice pa lang ulam na. The flavors in the chicken rice was so good with a balanced texture. Both roasted and steamed chicken were very juicy and tender. There is another choice too which is soyed chicken if you want to try.

Check out the unlimited condiments. Finally, they gave us freedom condiments here in Manila just like the chicken rice places in Singapore unlike what we usually have here where they place small amounts in small saucers and you have to keep asking the waiters for extra ginger. And it's the first time to see the pounded ginger to be not oily at all!

Since the cereal prawns were out of stock (boo!), the waiter suggested the sizzling barbecue prawns (350 PHP). The menu said 4 prawns but we had 5! I'm thinking if this is a way of compensating for a lot of items on the menu that were not yet available. We were patient though since they were on soft opening.

The prawns had a nice barbeque kick to it and very crispy. Tom ate all the prawn heads.

The place had a nice view of the ayala triangle gardens especially in the afternoon. You may want to check it out during the holiday season where they have the symphony of lights.

Overall Wee Nam Kee was excellent. Some of the staff just needs to be a little more attentive. They may improve in the coming weeks I'm sure. I'll definitely come back for the Chicken Rice.

Wee Nam Kee is loacated in the Ayala Triangle Gardens. Ayala Ave. Makati City.

Sabroso Lechon

We first encountered Sabroso Lechon when we decided to have lunch first before my shift. Marlon was resigning at that time and decided to take the day off since he needed to finish his papers required by his next job.

In between my two previous jobs 2 months ago, I decided to get Sabroso lechon again before we depart for Tagaytay. I got the half kilo at 300 PHP for take out. They packed it nicely in styro and even gave me extra sauce when I asked for it.

We liked the soft and flavorful lechon from Sabroso and we go here when we have a lechon craving in Manila. The skin is also very crisp. I find their sauce to be just right. Not too sweet and just the right kick of the liver flavor.

Sabroso also delivers around Manila per kilo but may require an additional price depending on which area. They also accept orders for whole lechon. They have a nice ambiance too if you decide you want to dine in. They have a lechon meal available at 120 PHP that comes with rice, soup and iced tea.

For more information, you may visit their web site: http://lechonsabroso.multiply.com/

Sabroso lechon may be found at Timog corner E. Rodriguez Sr. Quezon City. It's in the same building as World Class Persian and Nomnomnom.