Jun-jun's Cebu Lechon and BBQ

It was my first time to dine here. We're craving for lechon that time. This restaurant is located at 32nd St. The Fort, Global City, just at the back of S&R. Of course, we have to try their lechon.

We ordered a kilo and requested for the belly part. Sadly, we're not given the part that we requested. The lechon skin was so crispy and the meat was tender and flavorful. We're expecting the "sawsawan" to be vinegar, but we're served with light soy sauce instead. An order of a kilo of lechon already includes 4 servings or rice.

We also ordered Sinigang na Isda (i forgot what's the name of the fish!hehe!), Tortang Talong and Stir Fried Kangkong.

The sinigang was also good, but the meat of the fish was hard to chew. The meat of the lechon is even more tender than the fish.

The kangkong tasted like it was stir fried with oyster sauce or something, it was not overcooked. I wasn't able to taste the tortang talong because according to my friends it did not taste that good.

If you're a Filipino, you SHOULD watch this..

All that Power can do...


Those poor farmers... Are we all aware of what they are fighting for?
Our poor country.. :(


The truth shall prevail..

Link to video.


*I  do not own this video.

Estero at Ongpin 2!

We just love dining here. The food is good but cheap! We see to it that order a different dish each visit.

Fried Beef (90 pesos)

Mixed Seafood with Vegetables (90 pesos)

Stuff Squid (95 pesos)

Shanghai Rice - Large (165 pesos)

This time, we tried Fried Beef and Stuff Squid. There's nothing very special with the Fried Beef, since it's fried, I'm expecting it to be tough and chewing but I was wrong the meat was so tender.

The Squid is stuffed with Chives, what makes it special is the sauce. It taste like Szechuan.

They also served exotic food like fried legs. We're planning to order that on our next visit!

Chao! :)

Binondo Foodtrip

Dong Bei Dumplings

                First stop, Dong Bei. We ordered the kutchay dumplings steamed. According to the menu posted on the wall, the filling is made from chives, vegetarian pork, bellpepper, etc. (I forgot the rest! Hehe!).  The only condiments on our table were chili oil and light soy sauce with garlic. By the way, they also sell FROZEN dumplings if you like to take it home.

The Taste: It was ok, but it’s not something I’ll be addicted to. hehe!  And I prefer it dipped with dark soy sauce because the dumplings are a little bland for my taste.

The Price: 14 pcs. for 100 pesos

Difficulty(ies) Encountered (oo, may ganun talaga! haha!): hmmm.. it’s a bit hard to eat it with chopticks because the wrapping is slippery specially when dipped it the soy! haha!

Shanghai Fried Siopao

Another hole in the wall store that is easy to miss.  Everything is to go, they don’t have tables for customers. The staff didn’t allow us to take pictures, their boss don’t allow it daw. They also sell different kinds of breads but we are here for the fried siopao.

The Taste: I love it! It has so much filling. We used to buy fried siopao at a store near tutuban mall (can’t remember the name) that was good too, but this one is better!

The Price: 16 pesos/piece

Difficulty(ies) Encountered: Self control-It’s hard to eat just one piece! Hehe!

Lan Zhou La Mien

We got loss finding this place. First we got the wrong address (819 instead of 818). Second, the signage is in Chinese, unless you walk across the opposite side walk, you will not see the” La Mien”.  Third, the Manong Guard we asked directions to keep pointing us to another restaurant (Wai Ying),when what we’re looking for is just beside the building his guarding lang pala! Hehe!

We ordered Beef Lamien and Knife Mien. The waiter gave us a glass of hot tea while waiting for our orders. I liked the fact that they have many condiments ready on the table.

Beef Lamien

The Taste: For the Beef Lamien, the broth was so beefy tasty and the noodles were good. They don’t sag easily. The meat is flavorful and tender.
The Price: 120 pesos
Difficulty(ies) Encountered: Others were right when they said that one serving is good for 2-3 persons. I wasn't able to finish mine.

Knife Mien

The Taste: I got to taste what my friend ordered, the meat was called “Tito” and it was good. The broth has milder flavor than that of my beef lamien but it has a rich taste too.
The Price: 120 pesos 
Difficulty(ies) Encountered: The noodles were a little chewy and it sags over time, a bit slippery too so it’s kinda hard to eat it with chopsticks especially if you’re an occasional chopsticks user like me. Hehe!

What’s good about this restaurant is that you can ask for extra broth and tea with no extra charge! Hurray for that! :)


Overall, I enjoyed our mini food trip. I still have several restaurants on my list to try in Binondo. Till next time! :)

-Bei Dumplings
642 Yuchengco St.

- Shanghai Fried Siopao

Along Ongpin St.

- Lan Zhou Lamien

818 Benavides St.

My latest disappointment: United Steaks and Ribs (E.Rodriguez branch)

They have  a newly opened branch in E. Rodriguez Ave.,  just in front of St. Lukes’ Medical Center.

It took me a long time to write about it because I can’t think of anything good to say about the place. (aaawww..sorry!)

They have all these posters with American presidents  pictures and something like “American taste”. Unfortunately, they didn’t live up to the expectations they set themselves.

Don’t have pictures, but I’ll try my best to give you a vivid picture of my experience.

The Place: 

Simple,does not smell like a steak or bbq house, personally, it gave me the vibes of a school cafeteria.

The Food:

I ordered their 99 peso meal which includes, a junior steak, java rice and a soda, seems reasonable enough.

And after few minutes I got my steak.. sigh..it looked pale for a steak. I seem pan-seared rather than grilled.

The taste?? not good.. seriously. This is the worst steak I have eaten so far. There’s nothing American with the taste, it seem like the meat was seasoned with fish sauce/ “patis”. They served it with gravy, just the typical gravy but much more peppery.

 I looked around for condiments, but to my horror, there’s no steak sauce, worcetershire sauce, not even soy sauce. Just chili sauce and salt.  Grrrrhh..

I really have to say this, my steak tasted FUNKY on some parts. It’s like the meat was not fresh, (yah I know it’s frozen) maybe something went wrong with the freezing or thawing maybe, IDK! All I know is that my steak tasted funky and that is not good.

The Staff/Service: 

They’re friendly but not that attentive. There is no crew, roaming around to attend to your needs especially if your seated far from the counter.

Bad experience. I'm not sure if it goes the same for their other branches. Hopefully they can manage to improve the taste of their food.

:(

Zark's Burger Review

Ok, i like burgers! I'm in search for the best burger in terms of taste and value for money. So, whenever i hear about a joint who offers great tasting burgers.. i just have to try it to believe it.

Here's one that i visited lately... Zark's Burger. It's located at Acher's Nook at La Salle, Taft.

I ordered ULTIMATE BURGER (130 pesos) and my friend ordered BLACK MAMBA (125 pesos), we requested to have it cut in halves so that we can get to taste each others burgers.. hehe! Just add 20 pesos to add fries and iced tea/lemonade to your meal.. now that's cheap for an upgrade.

For the look:

Here are some of the pics we've taken: (old camphone, di kami prepared!)

For the taste:

They're generous with the "toppings" like mushrooms and veggies. It's quite messy to eat and the bread tends to get saggy after sometime. I had to add just a bit of salt and pepper to suit my taste. I enjoyed dipping my fries to Black Mamba's bbq sauce. I could taste that the patty is not  100% pure beef and meat easily breaks.

My verdict:

Not the best burger i've tasted but surely you'll get value for your money.

You can visit their facebook page @ Zark's Burgers for more info. they have promos and burger eating challenges!

:)

Bulaluhan sa España

I got curious about this restaurant when i saw the preview of Ang Pinaka (GMA Newstv). They've listed the top 10 Patok na 24/7 Tsibugan, and one of them is the Bulaluhan sa Espana.  Well, i did't get to watch the episode to see it's rank from the list but since i'm just near Espana (sort of..), I just went personally to give my own rating.
Sorry I wasn't able to get any picture.. im just too hungry that time to even think about it. hehe!


It's is near LTO and Meralco. It's a Carinderia type of a place, has a parking lot. They have to types of Bulalo, regular and special. The Regular Bulalo is actually Sinigang na Pata (pork), price: 65 pesos. Their Special, is the typical nilagang baka, the part with the bone marrow, price: 115 pesos.


I ordered Special. They served it in a bowl with pechay. The serving was just right, the meat was tender and the soup was tasty. You can ask for the refill of the soup. It taste actually good. It ranked #2 on the list by the way. I can't really say that it was the best bulalo since i have nothing to compare it to.. but it's a good tasting and very satisfying bulalo.


There were other things on the menu like Papaitan (65), Kalderetang Kambing, Rice (8), live hito, etc.
The one that somewhat turned me off was the presence of flies flying around on the food serving area and some i saw landing on the food.


Overall, it is a must try Bulalo, since it also made it on the list of top 10 best bulalo of Spot.ph.. It's probably worth a try right? :)




UPDATE:
Here's the picture of the bulalo.

My Current Skin Regimen

For almost 2 months now these are the products I'm using and my skin greatly improved. My acne scars lightened. No more cystic pimples. Less blackheads and Whiteheads.

Lactacyd (blue variant) Baby Bath, Liquid Antiseptic

I used this for washing my face, I leave it on my face for a minute or two before rinsing.

What i like about it, natatangal makeup ko with just one wash, even hard to remove mascara without drying my skin. You can feel that it's soft and smooth after washing. This product was recommended to me by a friend who also suffered severe acne, this cleared her face according to her.

Indications: Antiseptic in dermatology such as Dermatitis, Pruritis, Mycosis, Eczema, Intertrigo, and Dandruff.

Active ingredient: Lactoserum Lactic Acid

Price: 130+ php (i think)

Crystalderm Acne lotion

I took risk to try this one, wala kasi akong masyadong mabasang reviews about it. It helped lighten my pimple marks and dried up may cystic pimples and small bumps. Its composed of glycolic acid kaya nakakapeel. At first, obvious ang peeling large strips of skin ang natatangal from my face but now, it's less noticeable na. One should avoid excessive sun exposure while using this.

Ingredients: (As stated in the label)

Deionized water, ethyl alcohol,propylene glycol, glycolic Acid, Citric Acid , Ascorbic acid, FD & C Yellow

Price: 100 php

Crystalderm Acne Cream

It's non greasy and oily. This serves as my moisturizer.

Product Description: Crystalderm Acne Facial Cream is especially formulated to clear away pimples, smoothens rough skin and remove blackheads and whiteheads.

Price: 100 php

BCP Sunblock Gel

It's not oily and my skin absorbs it like water when applied. Throughout the day, It didn't made my skin oily. Unfortunately, i forgot to ask the SPF level because it's not indicated on the packaging.

Price: 52 or 54 php (not sure eh! hehe!)

My skin is still far from perfect but i have high hopes. Ajah!  :)

Disclaimer:

These reviews are based on my personal experience and skin reaction to the products. These worked for me, but it may or may not work for you. Every skin is different and has own special needs. It's always best to consult a specialist and do some skin test first before using any product.

Thanks for reading! :)