Nathaniel's @ Molito Alabang

 After a grocery date ( yeah, that's the kind of bonding activity stayhomemoms do ;)) ( and please ignore the crown toy I was wearing, haha) with my gfs, I spotted a newly opened outlet of Nathaniel's (from Pampanga), at Molito, Alabang.



Nathaniel's with all the glory and fame of their buco pandan salad has just arrived at the South ! ( this was last month and the store had just opened 3 days ago then) Yeheey!!! Finally I would be able to have the famous buco pandan from Pampanga. Yeah, I hadn't yet then.
And I had to wait to get home to have that buco pandan salad cos there were too many others to try first. I took home a half gallon  for my girls and me ofcourse.



Came from a small hometown myself, I always find it nostalgic to eat in a food outlet which root came all the way from a province too. You know, the familiar snack house dishes like siopao, halohalo, siomai, pancit, etc.



The first thing we ordered were these heavenly bottles of  buco pandan juice. Ahhh.. super thirst quencher. The best I ever had. With hundreds of  buco juice/shakes store carts mushrooming allover the country, this buco pandan juice definitely stands out. It's meaty and tastes like fresh from a coconut shell with perfect mix of pandan. Very filling too as it is in a 500ml bottle. I won't recommend it as a side drink for a meal thu'. It can easily fill you up and will take a huge space of your tummy and leave a little for the main dishes. But if you're dieting, well go gulp down the whole bottle before a meal, haha!

We also had their rice meal like the beef caldereta (* as expected, homecooked goodness) for me, forgot what my one gf got# haha, lumpiang sariwa (*nothing special),

lasagna (* creamy+meaty goodness, generous serving too, to come back for)



siopao asado

putopao

Those two pao-s  are pretty much taste alike with the same asado filling. I bought packages of them for take home. My girls love the siopao and didn't stay long in our fridge.

Then finally it was time for buco pandan salad at home. The thick but young and soft coconut meat cut in squares - perfect. The gelatin is pandan-ed tasty with a hint of gooey-ness adds an interesting partnership with the coconut. It's creamy and I'd say it's not just the usual all purpose cream we use at home but I'm quite sure a great deal of icecream is the secret ingredient. The sweetness is controlled which make it easier to finish in one sitting. Yah, we did it in one sitting. Half gallon = 3 of us!!! Done.

After three days from that first visit, my girls had to drag me for a repeat visit. I suspect my face hadn't left the waiter's memory yet cos he looked at me like he knew me, haha

We kindah had the same dishes ( and the same mistake of having bottles of buco pandan juice on the side that made us not finish our plates) except for the following :

porkchop steak. my o.daughter's. I tasted it and quite salty for me.

pancit palabok. daughters loved it, better than Razon's they said.

I took home some Nathaniel's goodies too.

Stackers Burger Cafe

Lately I just let  my always- hungry-whenever-in-a-mall younger daughter leads where to eat. Oblivious of  where we were at, it was too late to back out when I realized that she brought us in a burger joint! Again!

Younger daughter was triumphant! She loves burger. Just like her dad. Older daughter doesn't. Me neither.

We were at Stackers Burger Cafe at the new wing of ATC. Meat here is supposedly 100% Aussie beef.



Younger daughter ofcourse had a cheeseburger. I was happy to see some greens peeping out of her sandwich. This daughter doesn't eat veggies but somehow could tolerate some greens when in a burger. I took a small bite, just so I would have a taste of the claimed 100% Australian beef. Hmm, I like McDo better, haha. Trust me not about burgers, I rarely have them.

O.daughter was glad to see some chicken in the menu and twice glad that the chicken is baked. She's starting to think healthy about her diet. She's 18. My influence ofcourse:)))

If y.daughter loves burger, o.daughter is a fried chicken addict. The loophole in her trying-to-be-a-healthy diet. She said nothing so spectacular about the chicken here except that it's baked. Must be healthier than the fried ones.

Fries/chips. Another weakness of o.daughter that destabilize her will for a healthy diet. She always have them with chicken. I grabbed some pieces and well they were good alright. Must be the chives toppings.

I asked the waiter for the best seller salad. He suggested this burger bowl. Oops, I was willingly cheated  to have a quarter pound patty on a bed of greens. I had Bbq Burger Salad.

Immediately the wanton chip toppings disappointed me. I hate them on salad. The dressing was also too much for me. The burger was quite big for my small burger appetite. In short, I didn't like the salad. And the quarter pounder with it. I only had eaten the greens and left the rest. Wasted. This is what happen when I'm not keen on choosing where to eat.



Anyway, I checked my girls and they seemed to enjoy their plates.



Especially their milk shakes.

Mesa @ Boracay

Just one satisfying lunch experienced at Mesa in one of it's Manila outlets, is enough to get it enlisted to my girls' favorites. So when they spotted one in Boracay, it had already been written that we would have one meal there.

Mesa at Boracay is located at station 2. Within the beach front prime location of Boracay Regency, and obviously being run by this high end resort.

We had one of our beach lunches there. I think it was when we were already had too much of "high-cholesterol-ed' meals that I suggested to my girls that we should tone down a bit this time. Because again they were hitting of ordering a bowl of their fave kare-kare, but we just had that the day before this. wt# :))) 

fried fish fillet. ok.ok. not the most perfect healthy dish, but atleast it's fish ! haha.

It got four dips. Now I forgot what were they, except for the bagoong *shrimp paste.

Younger daughter's bbq. Yah, I suggested no pork, but this girl insisted cos it's her favorite here. 

Refreshed by glasses of iced gulaman/sago *tapioca/jelly.

 Another awesome Mesa lunch filled us up with satisfaction.

We love PBCo.

I'm not so much of a peanut butter junkie. But when the craving hits ( which quite seldom ), I entertain.



 So it's condonable if it's only now that I give spotlight to PBCo ( Peanut Butter Co.)

It was not even a pb craving, just a no fuss hunger. You know how crowded Mall of Asia, on a weekend, right? It's hard to find a space to eat especially on meal hours. Right then, I spotted the white empty tables of PBCo. See mirror reflection (#photo), we were the only costumers. I was the one in the counter, daughters seated already. Unlike many whose attraction to a restaurant is define by the long q, mine is the opposite. Especially when already mad hungry.

I was snooping around the menu and was surprised to find interesting  peanut butter concoctions.

When you say peanut butter, you think right away of different sandwiches with pb spread, #a no- brainer.

So a blackforest pb sandwich, which I ordered half was not really something new. I'm sure you do pb sandwich at home with different jams or fresh fruits. This one was like that. It was peanut butter with a bit of cherry I guess.

We were excited much to taste the PB Burger thu'. My younger daughter who is a certified ( the mom certified, ok) burger junkie ofcourse had this. I took a bite and right at once, I knew I loved it. And I don't love burger per se. But this one, I like a lot. Yes, the peanut butter helps, but the meat I think is the bomb. It was so filling thu', it was the first time younger daughter let me helped her finish her burger.

And then my older daughter, the " chicken-all-the-time" girl, got a plate of PB chicken wings/buffalo wings. The wings were also drizzled with peanut butter. She let me tasted a bit and   omg_ it was damn good too!  Daughter uttered why she wasted so much time chewing on BonChon , when all the while PBCo got the wings she preferred. haha.

I swear, even the side dish potatoes were damn ass good!



We so enjoyed the food there, we bought some small bottles of peanut butter to go. To sample at home. Only P50 per mini bottle. We got white, dark, curry and pesto. By this time all wiped out. haha.

Good Old Muffins @ Real Coffee

Hookay.. everyone  who have been to Boracay many times or even just once must have had tried breakfasting at Real Coffee a lot of times or just once. But I bet there are still also like me who've been there at Boracay quite a lot of times but never been to Real Coffee.

Hookay.. I missed it on my past Boracay, even the time I stayed at Astoria which is so close to it. Hence, I had promised myself to not miss it the next time, anymore.

And then I was this close of missing it again during my most recent Boracay (1st week of this month), if not only I coincidentally stayed for a night in a room which stairs landed right at the entrance of Real Coffee!



So since it was technically just right down at " the next door" to where I stayed, I kept up with my own pace. I saw it quite full and busy after 7am & onward ,so I knew when to come.

I came at exactly 7am..

When the shop had just opened and I was the first costumer..

.. and whatelse do you think I would order? Nothing else but the Real Coffee's flagship_ the calamansi muffin! duh?! The verdict? I confirm every little yummy word written about it allover the net. It was what it is. It was very filling too if I may add. A muffin was enough to start one loaded beach day.

In a little while, my younger daughter woke-up and found me downstairs, @ Real Coffee. It was so just there downstairs, it seemed like it's a part of the place we stayed-in. She had a banana muffin and liked it  a lot.



My older daughter couldn't come down so we just bought her a pancake. She said it was good. I saw it being prepared with fresh low ( I think..)- fat milk. That was good enough for me.

Along with the pancake take-out, we bought other muffins to try. I particularly like "the ultimate muffin", the dark brown muffin in the picture. I guess, it's a house specialty cos it's the most pricey among all the muffins and got everything in it. But the calamansi muffin put Real Coffee in the map.




I love each one of them, I had  them all in a box to bring home to Manila.