Banana Leaf Trinoma: not good enough to satisfy my Asian Food craving

I was born in Malaysia and one of the thing that I missed is the food. Mee-goreng, roti and murtabak are very common food in there. You can buy it anytime of the day just like tapsi eatery here in the Philippines.

Murtabak

Last Feb 18, I was really craving for  roti and mee goreng. My mother just came back from Malaysia and didn’t even brought a single kechup manis. She brought a MAGGIE curry flavor though when she came to Manila to visit Mei-mei ( her sister).

Roti Canai Supreme with Kaya

Since Pat hasn’t tried Banana leaf yet and .I believe the last time that I was in Banana leaf was around 2 years ago and I can’t recall the experience anymore, we decided to dine at their Trinoma branch.

Mee-goreng

We ordered, BBQ whole roasted  baby back ribs P 388. ( out of theme but I was craving for RIBS), Penang Char Kway Teow (P188), Mee-goreng (P188),Roti canai supreme with kaya (P98),Murtabak (P128), Roti (P88), curry sauce P30.

Char Kway Teow

To start with, I’m not really saying that the food doesn’t taste good. If you already tasted authentic Malaysian or Singaporean dishes., the food that they serve just can’t come close the to taste that I was craving.

The Ribs and the Murtabak was a really turn off. We ended ordering roti and curry because of the disappointment. The roti passed our taste buds because of their curry but you could get tastier and softer version on a cheaper price tag in a different restaurant.

Pat is trying to rationalize that perhaps, dishes are already made to suit the Filipino taste buds but regardless it was a disappointment for me. So, if you’re trying to taste Filipino cooking with an asian twist then the resto could be an option for you  because the prices are quite affordable. If you’re looking for a near to real asian food taste, please stay away from banana leaf cause you’ll end up disappointed! 😛

My low rate here is a little biased because I was really craving for a good roti and mee goreng!:-D

RATE: 6/10

visit date: Feb 18, 2014

Aaron goes to Baguio: Pat’s 30th Birthday!

Hi! I just want to share some of our photos and itinerary during our Baguio weekend getaway last February 8-10, 2014.

Feb 8 (Friday): 9pm

– left home to catch Victory Liner hourly trip to Baguio in Cubao: Fare is P456/pax, P 375/kid.

Feb 9:( Saturday)

– we arrived in Baguio at around 5am,  grabbed a cab going to Hotel Veniz located at lower Session Road few meters from Burnham park.

5:30am; left our things at the hotel and started our Baguio tour with a full breakfast at Zola Cafe in Session Road, on top of Jollibee.

1. Baguio Cathedral Church.It has a beautiful twin spires structure and one of the most photographed buildings in the city. From Session Road it is accessible by pedestrians, only a few meter from Zola Cafe.

2. Lourdese Grotto: We walked down session road to the market to catch a jeep trip costing P8/pax. Climbed 252 steps to the top or you way also used the  winding asphalt road going up. We love seeing the sun rise from the top but Aaron prefers the rainbow house which could be clearly seen from the top.

3. Burnham park and Rizal Park;

4. Cafe by the Ruins: had our quick break here. Near Rizal Park. We ordered coffee and bread.

Aaron and I were quite tired walking but since Pat is playing Ingress, putol paa talaga ang peg niya 😦 After our disappointing meal, we grab a cab going to

5. Mines View Park then walked to the 6. Good Shepherd to buy Ube Jam.Although it’s still early we decided to skip the 7. Botanical Garden, and 9. The mansion and headed back to the hotel to grab some sleep.

But since there were still no rooms, we waited in the lobby area and had our lunch at CAfe Veniz. Located on the 2nd floor. After almost 2 hours, we got our room and sleep. Winner!!

We woke up around 2pm. Our original plan was to visit 7. Camp John Hay ut decided to skipped it. we ended up in Burnham Park again to check out the floral arrangement for the Panagbenga Festival. We rented a paddle  boat for P100/45 mins and check out the food booths inside. We bought Ilocos empanada. Yum Yum!

We were so disappointed with the food taste from our earlier resto experiences and was already craving for a yummy meal. We ended buying bread at bread talk and having dinner at Bonchon as Aarons request.

FEBRUARY 10. (Monday)

We went to Veniz Grill for the buffet breakfast. Limited choices but food options were better compared to other hotels that we tried.Around 10am, we checked out and left our things in the front desk. We walked  a few meters to catch a jeep going to La Trinidad Benguet so that Aaron could try strawberry picking which he enjoyed.

On our way back, we stopped by the Bell Tower temple and went to Casa Vallejo for lunch. We’re supposed to skip trying the food at the Hillstation. Good thing we didn’t because the food taste good. It was a nice treat to end our Baguio getaway. after our meal, we went back to Hotel Veniz to pick our things and grabbed  a taxi going to Victory Liner’s Terminal to catch the next available seat.

Overall, it was a nice quick getaway despite the long travel. Next time, I’ll try to look for some promo fare to avoid the long travel boredom. ll try to post some review of the places that we ‘ve been through.

RUB Ribs & BBQ: Satisfying my Rib Craving @ Tomas Morato Quezon City

Pat has been raving about this RUB RIBS restaurant in Tomas Morato for quite some time now. So last weekend, When Aaron was having his afternoon nap, we sneaked up to visit Rub in Tomas Morato. I was a little guilty though for not bringing Aaron with us since Pat told me that we might have a difficulty finding him food that he will like.

We arrived a quarter past 3 and we were already 6th on the waiting list. the place is located at Scout Rallos beside Serenitea. Our landmark was Shakeys @ Tomas Morato. When I saw RUB, I really hope that  they could find a bigger place in the area to accommodate more diners since their Morato branch looks so cramped and small in a 2 story building for 25 pax..Although they now have a 45 seater restaurant in Capitol Drive, and a newly opened branch in Makati that can accommodate up to 75 pax.

While waiting, we already ordered our food so we won’t wait that long for it  in our table. Our order came after 5-7mins of being seated.We had their family brunch consisting of 2 slabs of ribs and 3 side dish of choice for P685 and their house blend ice tea pitcher (4 servings)for P110 which reminds me of Shakeys’ ice tea blend and Wendy’s ice tea.All food was supposed to feed 4 person but if you’re a meat-eater like me, a whole slab would be my standard serving.hehe

With more space left in my tummy, it’s dessert time!

We tried their fried oreo dessert with vanilla ice cream, five pieces of coated oreo with a scoop of ice cream for P150. I’m a little bias since I’m not a fan of oreo but the vanilla ice cream complimented the dessert making it taste sweet and creamy..I only ate one piece but Pat was very happy with it. I guess,in order for me to consume more than a piece, I would need more  ice cream for the extra flavor boost.

More Photos of their menu below.

At first, I gave it a rating of 8.5-9out of 10 for value and taste second to Portos Rib in Cebu. But Pat told me that Portos is not accessible to us currently. Oo nga nman! 😀  kaya increase ang overall rate to 9-9.5

Overall, the Rib is very good and definitely worth the price. One of the best Rib I’ve tasted.The second slab was a little drier though.(me maireklamo lang. hahaha!)

Will be back soon! 😀