Woodfire Brick Oven Pizza

 

 So I was just walking a little away from Power Plant Mall at Rockwell looking for a new place to eat and this restaurant caught my eye. Mainly because of three words.

Brick. Oven. Pizza.

Nothing can catch my attention more than that. Except by adding a fourth word that precedes all three. "Free".

So one of the things I ordered was the Agnolotti. Basically it's like ravioli. And the filling was mushrooms. The first thing I thought was that it didn't look like Agnolotti. Maybe they ran out..? Maybe the pasta broke..? I don't know.

Secondly, what I assumed was ground mushrooms tasted a lot like sausages. Trivia: Ground mushrooms when seasoned correctly can taste exactly like meat!!!So I thought that maybe they have some secret spice that made the shrooms taste like sausages.

This is the point when the receptionist came over and apologized because we had gotten the Salciccia instead. Sausage pasta. And they wouldn't be charging us for it. So I was satisfied anyway because the pasta was amazingly awesome.

We had finished our pasta and we had a pizza on the way. The pasta was so meatingly delicious that I was excited for my meaty pizza. When all of a sudden the waitress comes along with this.

It was the Agnolotti that we originally ordered!!! So that was pretty amazing of them. The whole time I thought that we just got the Salciccia for the price of the Agnolotti... when they gave us that one as well.

It wasn't as good as the Saciccia, in my opinion. But I'm sure the herbivores would enjoy it. (So guys, if you're dating a vegetarian, this is a good dish to get for her).

Lastly is the Tutto Carne. An all meat pizza. And it was food. freaking. gasmic. Salami, bacon, and Italian sausages. And just because it's only 3 kinds of meat, doesn't make the meat less. They overload the pie with MEAT!!!

And good quality meat, may I add. Not the cheap, generic, just-about-available-anywhere meat.

And the whole thing had mozzarella on it. So that's probably the clincher.

My only complaint about the place was the chairs. They had design but lacked function. I think I tried to lean back about 4 times that night but had to lean forward again because the chair didn't feel strong enough to support a human being. The backrest felt so flimsy. Upon looking around I noticed that no one was leaning back, either.

And here's a picture of the brick oven. Please donate this to me when you guys get a new one.

So that's it. Check them out on Facebook. Try the restaurant. I don't think you'll be disappointed. I'm an Italian food connoisseur and I'm definitely coming back here.

Second Burgerbar Experience

 I know that I had been here only a month ago.. but I meant it when I said that I love this place so much.

So I came back to Burgerbar at Greenbelt 2 to try making my own burger. And here it is.

So I opted for a burger with onion rings, yellow cheddar, lollo rossa lettuce, barbecue sauce, and jalapenos. You know.. a manly burger. And I absolutely loved it. Our server asked me if I wanted to name my burger and I didn't because I was kind of embarrassed to name it.

That's pretty much it. I just wanted to share the combination I chose for anyone who would want to try it. I know I wasn't disappointed with my choices.. I hope you won't be.

Another bonus that we didn't experience last time. The courtesy. We got a personalized thank you on our receipt. Good job, Burgerbar employees... you made us feel like you were happy to receive our patronage. I hope you know that we were equally happy to receive your service.

Until next time... because this is definitely not the last.

Yufuin Yakiniku and Japanese Restaurant

 So a few weeks back I decided to go to the Hot Air Balloon Festival at Clark Air Base. The experience was amazing. However, being that we aren't from that area... looking for a place to eat was relatively difficult. For the first few meals we stuck to the favorites; Sbarro and Jolibee. However for our last meal in Clark I wanted a place that couldn't be found in Metro Manila. So after a few minutes on my phone I found this "must try" Japanese restaurant in town. Yufuin Yakiniku and Japanese Restaurant.

Now I have VERY high standards when it comes to Japanese restaurants. But I saw a number of Japanese businessmen inside, which is normally a good sign.

Another good sign is that they had a sushi bar. In Metro Manila, the most authentic Japanese restaurants have sushi bars. Which was a good sign for my standards, but a bad sign for my wallet.

 

So we ordered the Uni Temaki for starters. Uni is Japanese for sea urchin. And on my first bite I knew that this was going to be an authentic Japanese dining experience. The uni was fresh and it had an amazing sauce that went with it. The nori wrapper was crisp to the bite. Definitely not one of the cheaper brands of seaweed that you see in some other Japanese restaurants.

 So this is their Chahan, which is Japanese Fried Rice. It was my first time ever to try Chahan. I usually go for Gohan, which is sushi rice. And I think this will also be my last time to try it. Not that it wasn't good.. it was really delicious actually. I just prefer sushi rice.

 

This was the Ebi Kakkiage. Which is shrimp and vegetables that were battered and fried. This is actually one of my favorite Japanese dishes if done correctly. Sometimes it's all flour and minimal vegetables. Sometimes it's just bits of shrimp instead of whole ones. And this time...? Well.. let's just say that I have found my favorite version of my favorite Japanese dish. The Kakkiage was just amazing. We were supposed to be sharing this plate... but I ended up getting more than half.

 

 The Gyoza was alright. It tasted just like every other Gyoza in every other Jap restaurant I've been to. Nothing to write home about.

 And lastly, the Agadashi Tofu. Quite honestly I would've liked my tofu breaded a bit more. But I think the reason why they didn't bread it heavily was so that customers could see the freshness of the tofu. It melted in your mouth and still had the right amount of crunch to it. Dipping it in the soup was quite an experience. As everyone knows.. tofu is quite boring. But the soup was so flavorful that I gulped down a couple spoonfuls with each bite of the tofu. And it went well with the tofu, too.

So this place is a definite must try if you ever find yourself in Clark.

Oh, and remember when I said that it wasn't a good sign for my wallet? Turns out I was wrong. So all those stuff we ordered.. that wasn't it. There was more that I didn't take a picture of because I didn't eat them. There was Miso Soup, Gohan Rice, and Tempura. So those three plus all the pictures of the ones I ate... the tab rounded up to something like 1,200 bucks. Very not bad.

Authentic Japanese at an affordable rate. If you want authentic in Metro Manila you have to be prepared to pay 2000-3000 pesos for a meal this big. Be sure to try this place out if you ever find yourself at Clark.

Good job, Yufuin. I'll see you again next year during the next Hot Air Balloon Festival.