I have been planning to cook spareribs for a long time now but haven’t had the courage to do so. I was scared of a “matigas” (hard) na end product. Anyway, since I no longer have veggies in my fridge, I decided to give it a go.

First step is to boil the following ingredients for 40 mins to an hour:

• ¼ cup soy sauce
• 2 cups water
• ¼ kg spareribs
• 2 tablespoons salt
• Pepper
• 4 cloves of garlic

Using a fork, check if the pork is already tender; if so, separate solids from liquid (can be discarded already or turned into an entirely new soup dish). Add the following ingredients to the spareribs and marinate for 10 to 15 mins:

• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• ¼ cup tomato catsup
• Pepper
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 pcs. Chili (siling labuyo)
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons white soda (7-up or sprite)

Heat a pan, add 4 tablespoons of cooking oil. Add a few drops of sesame oil. Add the spareribs along with the marinade. Cook using low heat until brown.

Anyway, here’s what I think of the resto:

First of all, the location is convenient because you can park right outside their restaurant. Secondly, their Monggo na Mayaman is to die for! The place is also awesome because the interiors stayed true to the Filipiana theme and I’m impressed with the implementation.

After that, the good stuff ends because their food serving is very small but expensive and paying an additional 10% service charge isn’t really thrilling.

This is how expensive their dishes are, and I am so hoping that they reassess their rates:

• Their monggo soup costs 240++ for 1 small bowl just enough for 2 people
• Their rib eye bistek costs 340++ for 1 small slice of beef

Aside from Monggo na Mayaman, we also ordered Bistek Filipino but it didn’t taste special and was kind of hard. Lastly, we had to ask for a receipt before they issued us an OR. I mean, every restaurant I know gives a receipt automatically right? Here’s how it happened:

1. Bill came
2. We paid
3. We received our change but the official receipt or even the bill-looking receipt was not there
4. We asked for the receipt but they gave us the bill-looking thing again
5. We were about to leave with that piece of paper but they stopped us
6. The girl at the counter told us that they’ll issue an OR instead

Weird huh?!

For information about 1521, read this article.

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1521 Restaurant
547 Shaw Blvd., Brgy. Wack- Wack
Mandaluyong City, Metro Manila
Telephone: (+632) 794-0433; (+632) 794-0433
Mobile: (+63917) 8606687 ; (+63917) 8606687
Email: fifteentwentyonerestaurant@yahoo.com

Went back to Antonio’s for the second time and the place looked more beautiful in broad daylight. The food was better than I remembered and the service was above average.

My order: Seafood Sampler @ PHP 1,600

From left to right:

Prawn Thermidor – I think this dish was the best among the three because it gave me the right amount of flavour without becoming too salty, and creaminess without overpowering the natural flavor of the prawn. This dish actually made me regret that I ordered the Seafood Sampler instead of the Mixed Seafood Thermidor

Crispy Cod Fish Glazed with Kombu Sauce on Peppered Egg Noodles – The glazed fish came off a bit too sweet for me and it kinda reminded me of turon (banna fritters). On the other hand, I loved the noodles so much, I think it tasted better than chinese misua being served in popular chinese restaurants.

Pan Seared Scallops on Celleriac Mashed, Truffle Cream Sauce – This tasted delicious but it didn’t offer something new and unique the way the thermidor has; it tasted like a normal scallop ;p

Herb Roasted Rack of Lamb with Cardamon Beurre Blac @ PHP 1,650

Schwein Haxen (Roast Pork Knuckle), Sauerkraut, Chateau Potato, Cabbage @ PHP 1,000

(not sure with this one yet, I’ll have to check)

Organic Free-Range Roast Chicken Leg with Bourbon Tomato and Boiled Potato @ PHP 1,200

My friends were raving for this… its aroma  reminded me of my all-time favorite Fazolis’ chicken.

Mixed Seafood Thermidor (scallops, prawn, mussles, and cod fish) @1,450

*drools* I wish I ordered this instead =(

My order: Sorbet (guava, green mango, lamolime, green apple, watermelon, calamansi) - This tasted like an ice shaved off from an ice candy. After tasting this one, I immediately swapped with Nats because I couldn’t bear eating one more spoon of it.

I swapped Sorbet with Profiteroles with Vanilla Ice Cream, Chocolate Sauce or Caramel Sauce

This one tasted a liitle better because of the bread and ice cream but I did not like the very generic taste of its chocolate. This is so far the best among the dessert offerings of Antonio’s.

Overall, Antonio’s is so worth another visit. Their main course dishes are awesome but don’t expect much on their dessert because you’ll be dissapointed.

A yummy surprise greeted me in the office this afternoon =) I was requested by my boss to go to Oceana (our Christmas party venue) and attend food-tasting offered Oceana for the the Christmas party committee of our organization.

As of now, I’m only sharing the pictures of the food we’ve ordered and will give the verdict after our Christmas party because I know there are still room for improvements; after all, the reason for the food-tasting is to get our feedback on how they can improve the taste of the dishes.

Special thanks goes to Carlo for his Nikon D40 camera; and Barbie + Rhenz for the beautiful photos.

  Roasted Pumpkin Soup with Cinnamon, Cream, and Bacon

Pepper Crusted Seared Tuna Nocoise

Pan Roasted Mahi-Mahi Fillets with Pesto Cream Sauce

Penne Pasta with Pancetta Cream, Wild Mushrooms, and Fresh Peas

Beef Pot Roast with Mushroom Bordelaise

 Fresh Mango Tarlets and Creme Brulee

Fresh Mango Tarlets

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Oceana is located at San Miguel by the Bay, SM Mall of Asia Complex. You can contact them at +632 7032515 or visit their site at www.cca-manila.com.

This dish is taught to me by my mom and although it is simple to make, it tastes awesome =D

Ingredients:

• 4 pcs Bisugo
• 1 tomato
• 1 medium sized onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 egg
• salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 cup cooking oil
• 1/2 cup water

Procedure:

1. Season the fish with salt and pepper.
2. In a deep frying pan, fry the fish over high heat until cooked. Set aside.
3. In another pan, add 1 tsp of cooking oil just so you can saute the galic, onion, and tomato.
4. Add the fish, water, soy sauce.
5. Season with salt and pepper according to your taste.
6. Add the beaten egg and bring to boil.

1. Optional: Fry your espada fish. This step is optional because you can just go ahead and add your uncooked fish later, which will really save you from cooking oil fats.
2. Saute the garlic, onion, and ginger; use only a small amount of ginger because its taste has a tendency to dominate all the other ingredients).
3. Add around 2 teaspoons. of taosi; you do not want to add so much of this because taosi is really salty.
4. Add the fish and leeks then simmer for around 15 minutes.