Last Friday Night: A Night at Mezza Norte!

Last Friday Night: A Night at Mezza Norte!

Last night was awesome!

Last night, my friends and I went to Mezza Norte for a foodie adventure and bonding time.

[BACKGROUND INFO: Mezza Norte is a food bazaar/haven where one can find different stalls of food. It is located at UP Ayala Techno Hub. It’s open every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday every 6pm -3am]

Mezza Norte! :)

find your type of cuisine from the different food stalls

Jam-packed with people

Okay back to last night, so after a very busy week my friends and I thought of trying the pasta-all-you-can at The Old Spaghetti House at Techno Hub, BUT when we arrived the line was soooooo loooong. We then decided to instead go to Mezza Norte, thank God for Mezza Norte.

Mezza Norte was packed with people, despite of the rain. Entrance was free so it made my experience more fun. My friends and I decided to go around the different food stalls first before buying anything. By doing this, we got to see different dishes offered at Mezza Norte and we got to scout for empty tables and chairs. While circling the place, I saw buy-one-take-one desserts, Korean cuisines, Filipino dishes (particularly tapa), burgers, barbeques, burritos, tacos, Chinese dishes, pizzas, ice creams, and many more!! After two rounds at Mezza Norte and soaking feet, {tip: wear boots when visiting Mezza Norte on a rainy day} we decided to go for the burgers at Big Bob’s Burgers, but the line was long and when we asked it would take about 40 minutes due to the number of orders. So, instead we decided to go pika-pika (sharing food by buying small servings). I bought mini tacos from Taclings. My friends bought pizza (I wasn’t able to get the name of the stall but it’s in front of the stage J) and chicken from Dadi’s Berd.  We shared these and we loved the mini tacos. Afterwards, I bought dessert brownie mix with chocolate sauce) from Med Chef.

colorful juices

desssertsss!! :)

Big Bob's Burgers

flame on! :]

My Friends: Nikka and Sab

pizza for three: Sab and me

juicy chicken from Dadi's Berd

pizzza

TACLINGS!! <3

We went around for the last time to buy drinks. My friends bought tamarind juice and lemongrass juice while I bought milk tea. We stayed for a little while and listened to some live music then went home.

Last night was so fun! I’d go back to try the other stalls J

-DOT-

For more information check out: http://www.facebook.com/MezzaNorte

Photos are personally owned by writer, if you would like to use it kindly inform or at least cite the source thank you! J

You know it’s Christmas when...

A taste of Filipino Christmas

            I am truly sorry for not being able to post the past weeeeeekkkkssss (yes it was that long). J I have been teaching preschool kids these past weeks so I was tired and busy. But the long wait is now over….

            If you ask me what is a symbol of Filipino Christmas I could say the parol (star lantern) or the belen (manger), but if you ask me what food symbolizes Filipino Christmas… I would say bibingka and puto bumbong. There are no direct English translations for these yummy Filipino Christmas sweet. It might just be called rice cakes but in the Philippines there are various types of rice cakes. These two particular rice cakes are mostly available only on Christmas.

            Bibingka is made from rice flour topped with salted eggs, butter, and toasted coconut. While puto bumbong is made from a sticky type of rice called pirurutong, this makes the puto bumbong purple. It is then cooked in bamboo tubes by steam.

            A few weeks ago I was able to eat puto bumbong from Via Mare. This was after going around the mall looking for Christmas decors. Eating this made me feel that it was Christmas already because traditionally puto bumbong would be sold alongside bibngka every simbang gabi (Christmas night mass). It was freshly made when I ate it. It was topped with toasted coconut and brown sugar. Oh boy did it taste good! It was warm and sweet… such a perfect treat J.

bibingka

the purutong being placed in the bamboo tube

off to be steamed

finished product :)

            So if ever you find yourself in the Philippines during Christmas don’t forget to try puto bumbong and bibingka. J

-Dot-

Photos are personally owned by writer, if you would like to use it kindly inform or at least cite the source thank you! J

Great things can be found just around the corner...

Great things can be found just around the corner

[Patio Carlito & White House on the 84^th]

            A new restaurant and restobar just opened near our place. The name of the restobar is White House on the 84^th. This place serves great Filipino dishes with a twist. Some examples of their delectable dishes are: Picha pie (a Filipino twist on pizza) and Chicken Adobo Wings (a Filipino version of Buffalo wings). They also serve a variety of cocktails and liqueurs.

both found on the same corner

            Beside this new restobar is Patio Carlito.  It is a Filipino restaurant with a modern zing. It is located at 84 Sct. Tuason St., corner E. Lopez Sr. Ave., Quezon City, Philippines. 

menu cover

beautiful ambiance

            During my dining experience I was able to sample 4 dishes. The first dish was Kinilaw na Lamang Dagat sa Gata. Kinilaw is raw fish that was soaked (so that it becomes cooked) in vinegar. Lamang Dagat is the Filipino term for seafood and Gata is coconut milk. This dish was very good. It was spicy but the bite that the chili brought was so good. The next dish is Adobong Kangkong with Crispy Cuchinillo Strips. This dish was also superb! The Cuchinillo (chicharon) strips were so good and crunchy. I was also able to taste their Tagaytay Osso Buco. Tagaytay is a wonderful place in the Philippines and to fully understand what an Osso Buco is here is a link of an example recipe: http://www.monterey.com.ph/frenchPorkChopShanks.html. The last dish I tasted was Classic Lengua. Lengua is ox tongue. This was my favorite of the night. The creaminess of the sauce was just right with the meat of the dish.



Dish 1

Dish 2



Dish 4

Patio Carlito offers very good food at  an affordable price… this will surely make me come back for more J.

-DOT-