Refreshers: A Photo Album

Some places simply makes you want to come back for more.

Grilled Prime Rib (Php300)

Chicken Barbecue (Php175)

Gourmet's Brewed (Php60)

Fresh Organic Produce

Fresh Roasted Coffee Beans

See photos from my first visit at Refreshers (The Gourmet Diner) here.

The Roast Beef at Dayrit's

Roast Beef

There is something oddly likable about the food at Dayrit's. My brother and I found ourselves having dinner there one night when we segued to Magallanes after accepting the fact that at 7:30 P.M. we were never going to make it to SM North Edsa before it closed. The place, like the food, has a nonchalant air to it. The lights are a little dimmer than I would like, and I don't think they're going for that romantic ambiance either.

The furnishings are pretty Spartan, none of those bells and whistles. Whether or not the place had airconditioning on, I couldn't tell. But it was pretty lukewarm inside. I ordered roast beef, my bro, the chicken galantina. We both ordered their house-brewed iced tea, not of the bottomless persuasion, but it comes in a really big glass.

Iced Tea

The roast beef came in a pretty substantial serving- thinly sliced well-done beef, slathered with gravy, some diced vegetables on the side and a little baked potato laced with something creamy. Cheese maybe. I ordered bread with it instead of rice. The bread was brown. It really was.

I do not really know what to make of the presentation, and because of it I wasn't really expecting anything spectacular flavor-wise. But I did kind of like the roast beef. The gravy has a homey quality to it. The humble baked potato was quite tasty. The bread was soft and surprisingly tasted fresh and it had a nice molasses flavor. I finished the slices in a jiffy without realizing it. The iced tea had a robust muscovado twist to it. It was quite unlike any other iced tea I've had.

Dayrit's -  Makati Branch

Paseo de Magallanes
Ground Level, Paseo de Magallanes
Pres. Sergio Osmeña Highway
Makati, Metro Manila
Landline: (02) 854-9943

Uni Sushi by Sakura

Friday I think it was, we were in SM Mall of Asia. We were supposed to go window shopping for stuff that I probably may or may not buy for myself in the future. Maybe. I do not remember much about that day. For those who have been to that mammoth of a shopping mall, a lot of it are open areas. Often you would find yourself having to walk from one air-conditioned section of the mall to another air-conditioned section through an open corridor. During normal weather, that open corridor is actually a very short walk. But in this 38 degree weather, that short walk becomes a horribly torturous endeavor. On that day, in my attempt to cross one open corridor, I fell short of my target. Thirsty, over-heating and sunburned, I ducked into Sakura, a Japanese restaurant located along the open area between the department store side and the center mall. I immediately ordered their green iced tea which arrived as quickly as I ordered it. I suppose they understood how parched I was. So there I was gulping down that cold, refreshing drink while I fiddled with the menu. After my third glass of the iced tea (good thing it was bottomless), I decided to order Uni sushi. Sweet, fresh, utterly velvety uni.

That was about all I could remember that day. Sakura. Ice cold green iced tea. And Uni Sushi. I suppose good memories do outlast the bad.

Blizzard: Blending since 1985

Last Thursday, I went to Blizzard's 25th birthday bash in Eastwood-Libis. (I was eager to go because Dairy Queen's Blizzard has been one of my favorite desserts since the 90's.) There was ice cream everywhere!

It's funny because a week ago, I was craving for ice cream and every attempt I made to buy a pint was dashed. And it didn't help that it has been terribly hot lately. So, when I got there, albeit over an hour late, I was ravenous for ice cream. Truth be told though, I wasn't able to finish all three cups containing three of Blizzard's newest flavors. Maybe three cups of ice cream is a little too much for the average Joe. In fact when I got to the venue, there was an aftermath of Blizzard cups containing ice-cream ranging from empty to half-eaten to possibly untouched. There was that much ice cream there. From the Oreo line with Chocolate Oreo, Strawberry Oreo, and Mocha Oreo, to the Kitkat line which includes Strawberry Kitkat and Mocha Kitkat, and more new flavors like Double Chocolate Truffle, Caramel Marshmallow, Double Dutch, White Truffle, and Ube Macapuno, I don't think I've ever been surrounded by that much ice cream in my life.

The ones I tried were the Strawberry Oreo, 

Strawberry Brownie, 

and Chocolate Extreme. 

They are all good, really. Strawberry, Oreo, fudge brownie, and chocolate (These are a few of my favorite things!) blended into soft serve ice cream the Blizzard way, what's not to like? My absolute favorite is the Chocolate Extreme, which is loaded with fudge brownie, chocolate syrup, and chocolate chunks. Decadent yes, but I find it less sweet than the Blizzard Mud Pie.

Happy birthday, Blizzard! Many more ice cream to come!