angus beef – Jellybeans in the City

Brunchmate Premium Tapa for a quick and easy family meal

Being a working mom myself, I know the struggles of juggling the demands of family and work responsibilities.

Despite the many freedoms that working from home has allowed me, I still sometimes feel like I’m falling short in my duties at home.

Take our family meals, for example. I always want to make sure that my little brood enjoys our mealtimes: tasty comfort food, therefore, is always the order of the day.

Sometimes, though, my Zoom meeting would go overtime, or I would be too engrossed in my work that I find myself pressed for time in preparing the family’s meal.I’m sure a lot of other moms out there have the same problem.

If only there was a way to quickly and easily whip up a wholesome and delicious meal for our family, yes?

Well, that’s what the couple behind Brunchmate Premium Beef Tapa – AR and Jam Periquet – set out to do.

Both love to eat out, but with the pandemic and the quarantine strictures, their dining adventures were curtailed and they were forced to spend more time at home.

Being a foodie himself and beef tapa connoisseur, AR sought to elevate this Pinoy comfort viand by using premium Angus beef and incorporating some secret ingredients.

The result? Strips of tender Angus beef strips, marinated to perfection, packaged into 350 gram packs.

All we need to do is thaw out the packet, pour its contents into a pan and cook over low heat (no need to add oil). Spread the strips evenly across the pan and allow to fry in own juices until, flipping occasionally, until the beef strips are tender and brown. These are best served hot.

Brunchmate’s Premium Beef Tapa come in four variants – Original (Sweet), Garlic, Seeet & Spicy and Spicy Garlic – all at Php280 per pack. My Original tapa was juicy and flavorful, and went well with rice and fried eggs, much to the fam’s delight!

Too bad there were none left to make into tapa flakes the next day.

Fortunately, ordering my Brunchmate Premium Beef Tapa is a breeze with this online form. Payments via BPI, BDO, GCash and COD are accepted. Brunchmate delivers from Las Pinas to anywhere in the metro.

To know more about Brunchmate Premium Beef Tapa, follow it on Facebook and Instagram.

So to stop yourself from stressing over mealtimes, momshie, order your Brunchmate now!

Disclosure: A product sample was provided to facilitate this feature article.

Check out my blog posts on other small enterprises and startups in the food business:

Quarantine Party? Get some pizzas from Pizza X

And just like that: the year is almost over and we have already struggled through nine months under quarantine.

While the pandemic certainly is life-changing, there’s no denying that life certainly must and will go on. And with life comes all the milestones we use to mark the passage of time, such as birthdays.

Being a December baby, my son, #ExhibitB, also known as Gabe, is the last in the family to have a birthday this year. During the pre-pandemic period, the whole extended family – including grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins on both sides – would usually gather at a restaurant of his choosing to enjoy good food together. These celebrations would invariably involve pizza, my son’s favorite food.

This kind of get-togethers are not possible for the meantime, so the challenge for us was: how can we have a shared pizza experience with our loved ones during #ExhibitB’s special day?

The answer: frozen pizzas from Pizza X.

This new online food business was developed by entrepreneur Cheryl Camungao during the quarantine as a way to drag her kids away from their gadgets and teach them about business and how to earn money.

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Being pizza lovers themselves, her kiddos – thirteen-year-old Chase and ten-year-old Herc – set about crafting and promoting pizzas that their fellow kids would go crazy for and came up with six flavors for Pizza X which I was able to sample with the fam.

These include:

Xtra Cheesy. Made with four kinds of cheese – mozarella, cheddar, parmesan and cream cheese, this is – bar none – #ExhibitB’s favorite of the bunch!

Pepperoni Xstasy. Hubby always goes for pepperoni pizza so this suited him quite well.

Pesto Xcellency. My daughter, #ExhibitA, was quite taken with this Italian-Pinoy fusion pizza made with basil and malunggay pesto and white sauce, topped with cream cheese and parmesan.

Tropical Xplosion. You know what: I never joined the clamor against pineapple on pizza. For me, the combination of sweet and tangy crushed pineapples with double smoked bacon, onions and bell peppers works just fine.

Angus Xtreme. Meat lovers will have much to love with this creation made with savory Angus beef, mushrooms, bell peppers and onions.

Mexican Fix. A meaty and cheesy taste of Mexico made with chili con carne, onions and bell peppers.

All of Pizza X’s thin-crust pizzas are six inches of pizza goodness, frozen when sent to you to retain their freshness. They can be easily heated using a regular oven or an oven toaster. (Don’t worry; they come with instructions that even kids can follow!)

These pizzas can keep in the refrigerator for up to fifteen days or six months if kept in the freezer. (But if you’ve got a Pizza Monster like I do, I bet that they won’t last that long!)

You can get a taste of all these pizza flavors by getting a Xampler for Php499.

Want to make your quarantine birthday pizza party extra special? Get customized pizzas spelling out the celebrant’s name like I did! I distributed sets of frozen pizzas spelling my boy’s name to our extended family along with cheesecakes for dessert so they can all share in his favorite food.

Well, I do believe this quarantine pizza party is a hit!

To get your own Pizza X frozen pizzas, fill out this order form. An order confirmation will be sent to you via Viber or SMS along with payment instructions. Pizza X accepts payments via GCash, PayMaya, Cash on Pickup, or bank transfers via Metrobank and BDO. Pickup via delivery services will be shouldered by the buyer.

Disclosure: Samples of the six-inch pizzas were provided.

Check out my blog posts on other small enterprises and startups in the food business:

Reimagining Filipino food at Moonshine PUB, Ortigas

Look back on your favorite homespun food, the ones that your mom or lola used to cook for the family during special occasions.

Now imagine them with a fresh twist, a little change that makes them keep the nostalgia that you harbor for them but, at the same time, gives them a new dimension that gets you so giddy with excitement for a taste of something new.

That is what Chef Jehrad Dolino achieved when he unveiled his latest creations of reimagined Filipino food for Moonshine PUB.

Moonshine PUB is a cozy public urban bar situated in the hip and happenin’ Sapphire Bloc in Ortigas Center. It has a relaxing atmosphere with muted lights, dark leather furniture and brick decor reminiscent of 1920s underground speakeasies.

This is where Ortigas-based yuppies can go and unwind, enjoying the pub’s signature drinks which include these cocktails:

Calamansi Gin Smash (Php335). A refresing gin-based cocktail made with muddled sugar, cucumber and basil leaves and flavored with calamansi.

Smoked Old Fashioned (Php310). A whiskey-based cocktail made with muddled sugar and bitters accented by a lemon peel. It is smoked then covered for full effect.

Whiskey Sour (Php310). A whiskey-based cocktail made with lemon juice and sugar.

Chef Dolino’s new set of #FilipinoReimagined dishes take advantage of locally-sourced ingredients that are in season and allows Moonshine to continue to provide fresh takes on classic Pinoy cuisines. These include:

Chori Burger (Php395). Made from scratch by the chef and his team using vinegar and a lot of garlic and allowed to marinate in the chiller for two weeks, the chorizo patties give the burgers an exotic taste and feel. Each burger is served in a brioche bun with the house slaw and a sunny side up, plus some fries on the side.

Crispy Palabok with Crablets (Php350). Crispy glass noodles drenched in made-from-scratch palabok sauce made even heartier with the crablets and chicharon bulaklak.

Pizza Margarito (Php465). Chef Dolino’s twist on the Pizza Margherita, adding some house-made longganisa to the toasty pizza. This dish was inspired the chef and his wife’s trips to Italy.

Longganisa Shanghai (Php280). Also incorporating the house-made longganisa, this is the chef’s take on the classic Lumpiang Shanghai.

Laing with Chicharon (Php240). Inspired by the traditional family of one of the chef’s long-time cooks who hails from Bicol, this dish is not the blow-your-socks-off spicy kind of laing but, especially with the addition of crunchy chicharon, it is well-suited for a Manileno palate.

Spicy Sardine Pasta (Php320). The chef and his staff make the resto’s sardines from scratch using fresh, locally sourced fish. Added to some al dente pasta, these make for quite a filling dish.

Prawn Pakbet (Php380). Made with traditional bagoong, the vegetables here are prepared by blanching them in boiling water then shocking them in iced water, allowing them to retain their crispy texture and vibrant color. And seeing how the shrimp is mostly treated as an add-on in the usual pakbet dishes, he made it the star of the show with the addition of large grilled prawns in his version of the dish.

Salt and Pepper Prawns (Php700). Also inspired by his memories of meals at his lola’s seaside home, this seemingly simple dish pan-fried prawns accompanied by a refreshing cucumber salad presents a lot of pleasing complex flavors.

Angus Beef Adobo (Php540). Taking advantage of the resto’s abundance in tender and flavorful Angus beef, the chef applied classic adobo preparation for this dish with the addition of pan-fried potatoes for added texture like his grandma used to make, and some soft-boiled quail eggs for added richness, as inspired by his tita’s version of the dish.

Langka and Mango Biko (Php190). The classic kakanin (rice delicacy) is given the added twist of mango ang langka (jackfruit) bits, making this reminiscent of the Mango Sticky Rice dish from Thailand.

These new creations highlight the variety and versatility of Filipino cuisine.

Now, if you’re one Moonshine’s loyal patrons and have already developed your favorites among the items in its menu, don’t fret. These new dishes are additions, not replacements. You can still indulge yourself with your old favorites.

This Moonshine branch is located at The Sapphire Bloc, Sapphire corner Onyx corner Garnet Road, Ortigas Center, Pasig City, open Sundays to Thursdays from 10am to 3am and Fridays to Saturdays from 10am to 4am. For reservations and inquiries, call +63 927 8000920.

Planning a trip to Moonshine soon? Drop by between 2pm to 8pm from Sundays to Thursdays for Happy Hour:

Get Php1,000 off on Black Label, Grey Goose and Hendricks
Buy 1 Take 1 on Superdry, Cerveza Negra, Brew Kettle and San Miguel Premium
Buy 1 Take 1 on wine (Php350 per glass)
Buy 1 and get 50% off on Signature Cocktails
San Mig Light and Pale Pilsen at Php50
Drop by from 6pm to 10pm every Saturday to Go Hard or Go Home:

Get Php1,000 off on Jack Daniel, Black Label, Grey Goose, Hendricks and Botanist
Buy 1 Take 1 on Jose Cuervo and Jagermeister

Did you know you can buy two drinks and get the same two drinks for free at Moonshine through Zomato Gold? Zomato Gold provides members with 1+1 deals on food or 2+2 deals on drinks. All you have to do is sign up for a Zomato Gold membership here. Use my code JELLYB to get 20% off the membership fee.

Disclosure: Together with my fellow foodies, I was invited to join a foodie meetup held at this restaurant. Food items mentioned here were served to allow us to sample the fare and were not paid for by the attendees, including myself.

Check out my reviews of other bars and watering holes in the Metro:

New Japanese Food Haunt: Dohtonbori, SM Megamall

After a bout of running errands in SM Megamall, Hubby and I decided to have lunch at the Dohtonbori located in foodie haven Mega Fashion Hall. I found it funny that despite the restaurant being around for the past three years, I’ve only just gotten around to it recently.

Named after one of Osaka, Japan’s principal tourist destinations known for its rich and varied gastronomic options as well as its vibrant nightlife, Dohtonbori is driven by its philosophy of “Teppan Communication.” This philosophy strives to make the environment surrounding the teppan – the iron plate on which the restaurant’s signature dishes are cooked – enjoyable and fun, where diners can experience a sense of being connected with each other as they share a meal.

The restaurant’s premises is reminiscent of the streets of Osaka, with light-colored pine wood walls, brightly-colored streamers and even a vintage bike on display!

For our midday repast, we opted not to avail ourselves of Dohtonbori’s claim to fame: the okonomiyaki. These are savory pancakes popular in Japan but unfortunately unfamiliar to Hubby and myself. (Well, we’ll probably try them on our next visit.)

Instead, we decided on ordering dishes that are more familiar to us, which include:

Endamame (Php90). Served freshly steamed and lightly salted, this is Hubby’s go-to appetizer whenever we’re at a Japanese resto.

Ajitama Ramen (Php350). Firm ramen noodles in a steaming soup base (I opted for the rich Tonkotsu broth), served with a melt-in-your-mouth piece of chashu pork, aonori seaweed and the tasty soft-boiled egg tamago.

Tempura Zaru Soba (Php350). Cold Japanese soba noodles served with dipping tsuyu sauce, wasabi, spring onion, shredded nori, and sesame seeds.

USDA Angus Striploin Yakiniku (Php750). A 200-gram well-marbled piece of striploin expertly cooked by a wait staff on the teppan right on our table.

Our lunchtime foray into this piece of Osaka gave us a tasty and filling meal that fueled us up for the rest of our mall errands.

Did you know that Dohtonbori works with the Autism Society of the Philippines on its Autism at Work Program? This means that staff are trained and well-equipped to assist persons with autism who visit the restaurant. Furthermore, persons on the autism spectrum are trained, employed and accepted as part of the restaurant’s staff and the whole Dohtobori family. Being a mom of a child on the autism spectrum, I’m happy to support establishments like this that help to get differently abled people such as my son be more integrated into the mainstream and more productive members of society.

This Dohtonbori branch is located at Third Floor, Mega Fashion Hall, SM Megamall, Ortigas, Mandaluyong City (open daily from 11am to 10pm). For reservations and inquiries, call +63 2 4772066.

Other branches are located at:

Cullinan Prime Building, 8 Missouri Street, Greenhills, San Juan City
Second Floor, UP Town Center, Katipunan Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City
Upper Ground Floor, Main Building, SM City North EDSA, Bago Bantay, Quezon City
Second Floor, Entertainment Mall, SM Mall of Asia, Mall of Asia Complex (MOA), Pasay City
Upper Ground Floor, SM City Fairview, Novaliches, Quezon City