Dek A Authentic Thai Food

Review by Ivan

Taste ★★★☆☆

Service ★★★☆☆

Ambiance ★★☆☆☆

Value for Money ★★★☆☆

"Dek A Authentic Thai Food" is a hole-in-a-wall type of place located in Pablo Ocampo Ext. I seldom pass this road to avoid traffic and finally decided to give it a try.

First thing i try when i eat at a Thai place is always ther tom yum. Having a little bit of thai background in my resume, I'm a bit picky when it comes to my tom yum. So I'm always biased when I am about to taste a new tom yum in a new place.

tom yum = P250

TASTE ★★★★★!!!

To my surprise its even better than the one i always base it upon - which is benjarong's tom yum. I can't say its the best in the world, but its definitely the best I've tried so far here in manila.

Next thing I tried is their milk teas. I'm quite addicted to this on going fad about milk teas. So I tried two of their teas which is the thai iced tea and their green tea. Their thai iced tea is typical of any thai resto. The highlight of the two was the green tea. First time I've tasted something quite like this. You'll definitely taste the jasmine in there. And you will even experience the aroma of the jasmine in the finish. Wow. I'm impressed.

cha yen (thai iced tea) = P50
cha kiaw (green tea) = P50

Tried their Pad thai, honestly it was okay - but it was kind of bland for me. But I'd have to admit it was prepared well. Textures were a good contrast though.

pad thai = P180

Thai spring rolls. i always have this in thai restos. It was neither great nor bad. But again, well made. You gotta give it to places that prepare the food well, at least.

poh pia tod (spring roll) = P120

Green curry. I was kind of excited for this dish cause it was in the "must try" categories. I'm somewhat of a fan of coconut milk in my food. It was kind of a let down 'cause I would think that since everything was
up to par this, too would be - or even better. But this time around I would say the green curry was forgettable. The veggies were nowhere and all I got was fat in my curry. Sauce was good though, but the components were missing.

gang kiaw wan (green curry) = P200

Satay was weird for me. I usually have them more tender and a bit toasted. Here they served it like it was marinated and just heated. I don't know if thats the "authentic way" of doing it. But i can't say it was bad as well. I would've preferred it more charred at least.

moo satay = P130

Lastly was the rice. Well, it was like any other fried rice. Gotta give it to them for using jasmine rice for it though.

kao pad (fried rice)= P200

You might be wondering what the price range [for the whole menu] would be. I can't really say because thats not how I eat. I usually just order the "must try's" in the menu and just build from there. I'm also in the food business so I usually critique in a different way but I try to be fair. All in all I would say the tom yum was best I ever had. The green tea was superb. The rest were okay. Green curry was poorly made
and the rice was forgettable. My bill was around 1.5k and i had 2 companions with me so do the math. haha!

I would recommend this place if your a tom yum kind of guy like I am. And well if you wanna experience the milk teas as well. But for the rest of the dishes there could be better out there. Price I would say not bad.

Mr. Miyagi Smokeless Grill

Review by Mr. Mike

Taste ★★☆☆☆

Service ★★★☆☆

Ambiance ★☆☆☆☆

Value for Money ★★★☆☆

Miyagi smokeless grill located at Timog ave. as the name suggests, it's patterned after buffet-king yakimix. The food and set-up of their buffet is almost identical to that of yakimix, down to the chandeliers above the buffet table. 

The only thing they failed to immitate is the quality. Their food isn't bad at all, it's just when you compare it to that of yakimix, they fall short. I probably would go back if the line is too Long at yakimix.

Buffet costs P499 per person Monday to Friday and P599 per person on weekends

Tsoko Nut

Review by Kamesh

Taste ★★★☆☆

Service ★★★☆☆

Ambiance ★★★☆☆

Value for Money ★★★★☆

Tsoko Nut is a small coffee shop-type of restaurant with dim lights and a comfy atmosphere. It serves favorite Filipino snacks and even some rice dishes. It seems fitting that it is right beside SM's Kultura, a heritage store filled with items for tourists. Tsoko Nut looks like its aiming to be a "Proudly Pinoy" chocolate drink shop.

This is in the 2nd Floor of SM Makati. Right at the other end of the entrance to Glorietta.

Eek! Blurry picture. Anyway, the set up reminds me of Figaro.

We were looking for a snack that would bring us to dinner alive. So we ordered Meal E, which is a regular chocolate drink and bibingka with red egg and goat's cheese. Surprisingly, the meal was served within 10 minutes. That was fast for bibingka. Unless... it's pre-made and just re-heated. That would account for the chewy texture and the relatively hard crust (relative to Ferino's and Via Mare).  That aside, the bibingka tasted like it was not plain bibingka - not sure if they put pandan flavor in it or if it has already started absorbing the banana leaf's flavor. Either way, it was good. It's best qualities are the fresh coconut shavings and the melting butter on top. Mmmm...melting butter!

P155 for the meal

The chocolate drink, which I would think is their reason for existence, is not bad. It's not milky at all, and it's good quality chocolate - not powdered, but the real kind of chocolate drink traditionally served after noche buena. It's served in a customized clay cup-which is a nice touch. It's comforting to drink, probably more so than coffee. It could have been a bit thicker though, that would have made it perfect.

I notice they have a wall dedicated to batirol - a wooden stick used for mixing the drink, I guess. If they made the display, they should have also given their chocolate drinkers a batirol to go with the drink to complete the Tsoko Nut experience.

I think Tsoko Nut started as a brilliant idea. And then somewhere along the way, this idea met reality and capital expenditure. The unfortunate outcome is the restaurant we see today. It's not so bad, though: the food is tasty and the price is very friendly. I just have this feeling that it could be so much more. I hope the owners feel the same way and are secretly making plans of reinventing themselves. We're rooting for you!

The search for the best hopia

The search for the best hopia

By Kamesh

My friends know that I've this obsession with hopia. I've been trying out different types - usually whatever is available in C-mart at the ground floor of our office building. A few weeks ago, I bought mongo hopia from them but I didn't pay attention to the brand (the idea of having a blog hasn't been hatched yet). The crust was flaky and the filling was light with just the right amount of sweetness. The next day, I wanted to eat it again but couldn't find it in C-mart's shelves anymore. :( 

And that's when this quest began. The first hopia brand that comes to mind is Eng Bee Tin. Growing up roaming the streets of Binondo with mom, I remember the little shop well. So for about two weeks, this has been my new obsession. One day my officemate bought me some Mr. Pullman hopia. It was awful (sorry, it was!). The crust reminded me of eating empanada - only not fried. Eating the filling brought one word into mind - extenders. I could only eat one and gave up the rest to my other officemates. 

Mr. Pullman

Taste ★ ☆ ☆ ☆☆

On Chinese New Year's eve, my husband had enough of my whining and brought me to the store in E. Rodriguez, in front of St. Luke's. And there it was, my Superbrand Hopia Mongo. It's not actually an Eng Bee Tin store, but a Mr. Ube restaurant. At the entrance of the restaurant, they sold Eng Been Tin products. They don't have the full range of products, mostly just the different flavors of hopia and some tikoy. 

Costs less than P50 for a pack of four.

Re-united at last, I bite into my EBT hopia. And to my GREATEST disappointment, it wasn't as I remembered it to be. The crust was thick and chewy, like hopia de japon. The yellow mongo filling was better than Mr. Pullman's, but it wasn't as delicious as I remembered. Looks like my officemates will be having another serving of hopias.

Eng Bee Tin
Taste ★★☆ ☆☆

Mom-in-law to the rescue. She bought me sa Polland hopia in Landmark. A stall is located right at the entrance of the grocery at the basement floor. Still heart-broken about EBT, I didn't have high hopes for Polland. Over at Twitter, @168mighty tells me it's the best. The packaging suggests I toast it for 5 minutes but I go ahead and chomp down. The crust is not flaky, it's crunchy like a thin English biscuit. There's a generous amount of sesame seeds giving it a nice aftertaste. The red mongo is perfectly sweet. The hopia is not heavy on the tummy, because the filling is fluffy - not a solid mass like EBT's or Mr. Pullman's.

Polland
Taste ★★★★☆

So far, Polland is the best I've tried. If you have suggestions on what other brands I should try, message me! 

Wang Mart - Ramyun

Review by Kamesh

Taste ★★★☆☆ 

Service ★★★☆☆

Ambiance ★★★☆☆

Value for Money ★★★☆☆

A few blocks away from work, Wang Mart is our not-so secret spot for a Ramyun fix. Wang Mart is a Korean grocery in Polaris street, Bel Air Makati. It sells everything from back scratchers to home made pickled chillis. It also has a counter at the end of the grocery that serves tteokbokki, Ramyun, and other Korean food I cant read on their menu.

Kimchi, chillis, radish, dilis (P80-P150)

Pork with vegetable pancakes, kimbap, and rice cake (P100)

We go for Ramyun here because it's only a hundred bucks, and you get unlimited kimchi to go with it. Get your own drink from their fridge, there's a huge collection of Korean drinks like Chilsung, Sac Sac, various ginger drinks, teas, milk drinks, of course, some soju as well - this time I tried bottled tea.

The nice Ate will cook according to your choice - mild or spicy. I always choose mild. While waiting for her cook, I usually go around the grocery looking for a pasalubong for my husband - like Korean chocolate wafers. After about 5-8 minutes, Ate serves the Ramyun with a small plate of Kimchi, chopsticks, a long spoon, and tissue...in our case we use it to wipe our sweat ("from the 'mild' Ramyun", you say? Yes.).

The noodles are thick. This time, its a bit undercooked. The Ramyun has seaweed and egg. It is still spicy, but tolerable. Soup is murky, probably from the spices and the egg white. The kimchi is not well-made, the lettuce is still too white and it hasnt quite absorbed the chillis its marinated in. I was a bit disappointed about this, I've eaten here many times, they're not very consistent with their kimchi. Sometimes, its really good. Sometimes... Well, today's version was the worst version yet. Still, we had the little plate re-filled. Haha!

The Ramyun and kimchi combo will barely leave room for the best part of the trip, Korean ice cream. Must...make...room!! The best ones are the "fish ice cream" or Bungeoppang (red bean and vanilla in fish-shaped waffle casing) and Melona. Melona is the safest one for the those trying this for the first time. It's a guaranteed favorite. Expect to have no merienda and a late dinner after this experience.

The truth is, Wang Mart's P100 Ramyun is just P26 if you buy it from their shelves. It's just instant noodles cooked with egg. What youre paying for is the Kimchi and the cooking service. So if you don't mind the P74 difference, you can head on over for a fun experience eating in a Korean grocery.

This is huge for P26. I asked the cashier twice, and she said it was really only P26.

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