Bonchon

It seems that a lot of international franchises are now in Manila. Among the new favorites is Bonchon wings which is a Korean franchise that became a hit in the US.

I liked the cozy interiors of the place and the unique mural on the wall.

Since it's always packed, we decided to have it to go. I ordered the small box of Wings (PHP 185). You have two flavors to choose from, Soy Garlic or Hot and Spicy. I got the latter one since we had a tolerance for spicy food.

This was where my tolerance got tested. The wings were really spicy--not Filipino palate spicy but much more than that. What we liked about it though, is that even though it was really hot, you can still taste the flavors of the chicken. Double frying the chicken seems to have preserved the "chickeny" flavor. I also liked the crispness of the skin.

Next time though I will opt for the Soy Garlic. The hot and spicy seems perfect though with bottles of beer.

Bonchon chicken is located at Ayala Triangle.

Banapple

My Bannaple entry is something I should not forget. The pictures are with me for months but this seems to be the only time that I can find time and the access to blog.

So I had this "monthsary" date with Marlon sometime back in November and my sister Celine tagged along because she was scared of the movie we were watching on tv. Talk about a spoiler. We wanted to go first to Wee Nam Kee but it was packed and they said they said they don;t have any more chicken. Fine.

 We ended up at Bannaple, we were fortunate to get seats. The lights show at Ayala Triangle has started at that time and everyone seems to be there--well not just for the lights but for the restaurants that opened too.

We decided to order their Penne with tomato cream sauce to share. The sourness of the tomato sauce was a bit mild with the thickness of the cream. The pasta was al dente. Every bite of it makes you keep going for another bite.

Celine got the St. Gallerberger (I think this is the name but there was only one burger in the menu). It seems to be a little small but the price is not bad. Each burger comes with potato chips.

Marlon got the ribs. It was both tender and flavorful and worth every centavo spent. The butter rice is a flavorful companion to it though in my opinion but who doesn't like butter with rice? So I don't really mind that. The barbeque sauce had a nice tang to it too. It comes with corn on the side.

I had the Chicken Pie that day. Weird thing though, it was supposed to have potato salad with it but there was none. I didn't mind it since the pie was too big I can only finish half of it. The crust was flaky and buttery and crumbles with the filling when I bite into it. The chicken had a really nice creamy blend.

Of course bannaple will not be comeplte without desserts. We ordered 2 but can only manage to eat 1. Of course we chose to eat the Banoffee Pie. The toffee was not too sweet. The bananas were just right--firm and sweet. I loved the thick and buttery graham crust.

The oreo cheesecake (I forgot the exact name) was wrapped and I had it at home. It was love at every bite.

I would keep coming back for bannaple. The first time I had it in Katipunan, I know I would keep coming back for more. Glad they now have a branch in Ayala Triangle, which is much closer to home and I'm looking forward to the day that I can have bannapple again.

Banapple has branches at Ayala Triangle, Katipunan and Tomas Morato.

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.