O' Mai Khan

On our countless Baguio trips, O' Mai Khan has always been full packed with dining costumers. A crowded resto gets a "no today" from us but surely it would be on our waiting list of "yes in the future" when we chance upon it on a much lesser crowded day. We shy away from torturing ourselves with ridiculous queue. But the message is clear, a full packed resto means there must be something good going on there.

So on our very recent Baguio trip, same scenario of crowded O'MaiKhan greeted us. Everyday we would passed by and on our 3rd night, finally we saw vacant tables. I thought this was the right time.

This resto is actually famous for their Mongolian buffet and barbecue.



But we had enough of those and was eyeing for a hot soup dinner against the cold rainy night of Baguio.



So glad with the fusion of dishes going on in the menu.

We opted for a big Mongolian Hot Pot.

And requested to transfer table outside. Where we enjoyed the super cold night weather of Baguio and the hot soup as a contradiction.



The thing is_ I didn't get to like their hot pot. I'm used to Chinese hot pot with lots of spices and flavours. This Mongolian hot pot was bland to me. Lacking in everything except a hint of grocery bought meat cubes. Nevertheless, the rest of my family was happy for the hot soup.



To save my night. .

I was happy to check the sweets. .

Well, this decadent choco slice made my night. .

The girls and the dad enjoyed a cake too..

Happy Father's Day to the gangstah of our life !!!! You're the bestest!!!!

also to my best ever papa and my dad-in law and to my brods-in law. . haaay, it's hard to start. .I could go on and on with cool dads I know and for sure would miss a name or two. .so to all DADS around the world, thankyou and we all love you!!!

Fatless Shabu-Shabu

Tagaytay was smoking cold the other day when we went up. It was also raining non-stop.



So the plan to bring my tourist? cuz' Sylvia to a garden moonlight dinner was washed away by the rainfall. Instead, we made a stop to a newly opened shabu-shabu (hotpot) resto by the road - Fatless Shabu-Shabu. The word fatless pulled us straight right into the entrance of the resto.



The only stuff that made us think twice was the emptiness of the resto. That was just for a second. We were all chilling and majority wanted some piping hot soup. We are all gearing towards a healthy new year so the famous bulalo of the area was temporarily dismissed.

We ordered a set menu for 4-6 persons which included rice and drinks already.

The seafood/meat plate was good. The fresh squid came late thu'. It was served when all of the stuff were already in the pot. But turned out okey anyway.

I was liking the idea that we were shabu-ing at chilled Tagaytay and had a good feeling that vegetables were all fresh.

Condiments. I missed the flavor-fullness of authentic chinese /vietnamese sate sauce. In here, sate paste was quite bland and didn't fully glorify the tasty soup we were used to, from other shabu-shabu resto we frequent in Manila.

My first bowl. I didn't touched the rice. I don't eat rice with shabu-shabu. for me it's already a complete meal. With corn in it, I'm good to go.



Overall, I like the place. It's new ( only opened a month ago), clean and fresh. I also like that it's not big and therefore not busy. I hate crowded place.

MXT Tea House, Baguio

When the weather is cold , everyone likes to sip a hot soup, right? We actually love shabu-shabu (hot pot) and for the second time_ our first lunch in Baguio upon arriving to this chilly city was at MXT Tea House at SM. That would be before checking -in a hotel. I would have had refused the idea of taking lunch there if it wasn't for our cousins from Davao who wanted to try a shabu-shabu for the first time. My issue is that dining at MXT, Baguio is not at all elevated-ly different from eating at MXT, Ongpin (China town,Manila). The issue of hygiene remains. Utensils at their cheapest forms.



We went for all -meat. The other choices were_ seafood and all-vegies.

Since, cuzin Che and I frequent some shabu-shabu houses in Manila, we felt we were  experts ( really ???) to teach our older relatives from Davao the basics of shabu-shabu.

I only ate a bowl of hot shabu-shabu soup, thinking that the boiling soup would surely kill any living bacteria, in case it's confirmed.

fried chicken, covered with kropek?



pancit canton, very tempting

No doubt that MXT dishes are all delicious. But the issue of hygiene kept me away from enjoying the chinese dishes.



As if I was calling for it, after this last photo, we saw a cockroach crawling from a plastic tiny bowl in our table !!! Immediately, I called the attention of the food server. He said nothing. As if it's a normal-daily occurrence, he just took out the said bowl. Nada!

That was it!!! I totally lost my appetite and ran out of the table.