fried rice – Jellybeans in the City

Friendly get-together at Sundays, Marikina

While I’m happy as a clam with my current work-from-home setup, there are days when I do miss my work buddies. These are the peeps that I can relax with, as well as exchange jokes and all the hot gossip with.

During pre-pandemic times, we would venture out of our office during our lunch break to check out the nearby dining spots. Due to the fun we have while checking out new restaurants and amusing ourselves during our breaks from the daily grind, these lunchtime food adventures came to be dubbed as our #HappyLunch times.

Well, COVID-19 came and some of us transitioned to other companies or decided to take a break from the rat race, so some of us were only able to get together at Sundays Cafe & Restaurant in Marikina at the tail-end of last year.

Imagine my delight when I received a message to join another get-together with the gang at the same restaurant, this time on a Monday night!

So off I went to hang out with my pals (a bigger group this time) and return to the cozy neighborhood cafe in Marikina.

There was a marked difference between this outing and my last visit, which took place on a Sunday morning at the time when quarantine restrictions were just beginning to loosen. During my dinner date with my friends, Sundays Marikina was lit with a warm light which also seem to illuminate the surrounding area. Also, it seemed like the restaurant had a sizeable Monday dinner crowd which gave the place a busy and lively feel.

In between back-and-forth banters and gossip exchanges, my friends and I discovered new menu items to enjoy at Sundays:

Pizza Margherita (Php330). Always a safe bet, this hand-tossed pizza made with marinara sauce, mozzarella, parmesan and basil appeals to everyone in the group.

Salted Fish Fried Rice (Php195). A novel take on the sinangag given additional saltiness and umami with the addition of tuyo flakes.

Sundays Crispy Sisig (Php260). A favorite appetizer that also doubles as an entree consisting of crispy pork cheeks sauteed in house-made sisig sauce and topped with crispy onions and chilis.

Crispy Spicy Squid (Php260). Lightly battered pieces of squid served with chili sauce. (TBH, I prefer pairing this with the tangy ranch dressing).

Buffalo Wings (Php285). Crispy fried chicken wings coated in spicy and tangy buffalo sauce.

Salted Egg Wings (Php315). Crispy fried chicken wings coated in a rich salted egg sauce.

Crispy Kare Kare (Php405). An indulgent viand which combines crispy liempo with house-made special kare-kare sauce and veggies.

Sans Rival (Php145). A classic Pinoy dessert made with layers of nutty meringue, French buttercream and chopped cashews.

Mango Creme Brulee (Php145). A fruity take on the creme brulee, thanks to bottom layers of chiffon and mango cream covered by custard and topped with torched sugar.

While regular #HappyLunch adventures with my friends may not be feasible right now, I’m glad we were able to carve out time to do two of the things we enjoy doing together: eating delicious food and spilling the proverbial tea!

Sundays Cafe and Restaurant is located at J.P. Rizal corner V. Gomez Street, Barangay San Roque, Marikina City, open Mondays to Thursdays from 8am to 10pm, Fridays from 8am to 11pm and Saturdays to Sundays from 7am to 11pm. For reservations, call +63 917 1572634.

To know more about its latest updates, follow it on Facebook and Instagram.

Tasty Taiwanese dishes at FatFook Kitchen, UP Town Center

For a recent holiday get-together with my former office buddies, we settled on FatFook Kitchen at UP Town Center as our meet-up place.

For one thing, UP Town Center is easily accessible to all of us, scattered all over the metro as we are. Despite the Christmas rush, getting there was relatively easy, since most of the traffic are headed towards the opposite direction to the Makati and South areas.

Secondly, we know that we won’t be disappointed in the food. After all, Taiwanese cuisine is so close to what appeals to the Pinoy palate while offering a welcome break to flavors and textures we consider mundane.

The next challenge was ordering food for a group of five that will please everyone’s taste buds or sate their personal cravings. Fortunately, FatFook has a ready solution with its Feast for the Family offer which allows diners to order one appetizer, one noodle or rice dish, one vegetable dish and two main entrees for just Php1,1088.

Given our appetites and this amazingly affordable offer, we ordered two sets of Feast for the Family and indulged ourselves in a variety of Taiwanese dishes which included:

Appetizer.

Noodles and Rice.

Vegetable Dish.

Main Entrees.

Dimsum. Our meal wouldn’t be complete with some tasty potstickers so we ordered some of the frozen dumplings which the restaurant steamed and served to us.

We also couldn’t pass up the chance to have a taste of FatFook’s signature Taiwanese Sausages, plump and meaty links with a sweet, savory and garlicky flavor. Also, since FatFook does not offer service water, we washed down our meal with soda and TeaCo Black Tea.

Our enjoyable time together over good food was enhanced by the great service of FatFook’s staff.

I’m so looking forward to our next meet-up here.

This FatFook branch is located at 2nd Floor, Phase 1A, UP Town Center, Diliman, Quezon City, open daily for dine-in and takeout.

Other branches in the metro are located at:

SM North EDSA
Glorietta
Robinsons Galleria
Alabang Town Center
Ayala North Exchange
Ayala Malls Manila Bay

FatFook delivers frozen and ready-to-cook dishes via GrabFood and FoodPanda.

Best Asian fusion dishes from Bistro Charlemagne

Ever since I had my first taste of Bistro Charlemagne‘s celebrated dishes during a foodie meetup held at its Ayala Feliz branch two years ago, the restaurant has occupied a special place in my heart.

Then, the flavors my fellow foodies and I tasted were at once familiar and novel to our palates. This is because this high-end restaurant offers to its clientele a fusion of Asian and European cuisines.

I was also able to introduce this resto to Hubby and the kids, and a family favorite came to be. Bistro Charlemagne became our go-to restaurant for family celebrations, including birthdays and get-togethers with visiting relatives.

It was forced to pause its operations during the enhanced community quarantine but re-opened in the second half of the year for delivery. It was just in time for my daughter #ExhibitA’s birthday, who has declared Bistro Charlemagne as her favorite restaurant so I had some her favorite dishes delivered to our home for her birthday lunch.

As community quarantine restrictions have lessened, Bistro Charlemagne has also re-opened for dine-in service but with safety protocols in place.

I’m looking forward to dining in at Bistro Charlemagne soon. However, since my son #ExhibitB is below 18 years old and can’t enter malls, I decided to have our holiday lunch from Bistro Charlemagne delivered to our home for the whole family to enjoy.

Our family feast included:

Pares Rice (Php365). Slow-braised shredded beef shank with anise-sweet soy in fried rice topped with fried beef.

Japanese Beef Fried Rice (Php145). The fam’s favorite fried rice made with Japanese rice, ground beef, vegetables and egg.

Scallop Gratin (Php445). Baked bay scallops with garlic-chorizo cream sauce topped with cheese.

Golden 17 Chicken (Php375). Traditionally prepared soy chicken perfumed with an intricate blend of seventeen herbs and spices and served with yummy ginger sauce. Hubby discovered that its mild flavor is a perfect match with the Pares Rice.

Drunken Lengua in Brown Mushroom Sauce (Php445). Pan-seared ox tongue with mushrooms, asparagus and white wine. I’ve been raving about this dish for years now. It goes so well with the Japanese Fried Rice that these two dishes are my automatic orders.

Lengua in White Sauce (Php445). I decided to also introduce Bistro Charlemagne’s other lengua dish to the fam. Made with braised ox tongue with rich cream sauce and sautéed mushrooms. While this is an exceptional dish, the fam’s loyalty is still with our favorite Drunken Lengua.

The fam’s holiday lunch was so special because we were able to taste our old favorites and discover new ones as well.

Hoping that things normalize soon so we can all dine in at Bistro Charlemagne soon.

This Bistro Charlemagne branch is located at Fifth Floor, Ayala Malls Feliz, Dela Paz, Pasig City, open daily from 10am to 8pm. Orders may also be called in via +63 956 4507704. Digital payments via BDO and GCash are accepted.

Other branches are located at:

Paranaque: Third Floor, Cinema Building, Ayala Malls Manila Bay, Aseana Avenue, Entertainment City, Parañaque City
Laguna: Solenad 3, Ayala Malls Solenad, Nuvali, Don Jose, Santa Rosa, Laguna

Bistro Charlemagne also delivers via FoodPanda, GrabFood and Mangan.

Dimsum time at Jade Garden, International District, Seattle

Touchdown Seattle!

After three years, I’m back in the Evergreen State for a much-needed and well-deserved (if I do say so myself) vacay! And even better, I’ve got the whole fam with me in this US adventure.

And being Jellybeans (see what I did there?), the family’s vacay will not be complete without some food trips here there.

So which Seattle establishment did the brood try on our first few hours in the city?

Well, my bro treated us to one of his favorite Chinese dimsum haunts: Jade Garden in the International District.

Having stepped out of the airport quite late last night, we were lucky that this restaurant was still open. It’s a small casual dining Chinese restaurant where, for a relatively large party such as ours, the food is served on the lazy susan on the lazy susan on top of the table. Hot tea was also provided while we waited for our orders.

Our meal consisted of:

Minced Beef Soup Westlake Style. Traditionally, soup is served last during a Chinese meal but we requested that it be served first. This soup is made of tofu, minced beef, thinly slice shiitake mushrooms and coriander in a steaming hot starchy broth. Quite a wonderful way to warm our tummies this chilly spring evening!

Salted Fish and Chicken Fried Rice. A flavorful rice dish that complemented the viands we ordered. Did you know that the earliest record of fried rice appeared in the Sui dynasty? Stir-frying rice in garlic and soy sauce with meat and vegetables was thought to be a way to re-use leftovers from previous meals into a new hot dish.

Mongolian Beef. Strips of tender beef sauteed in a mildly spicy (as we requested) sauce of onions and chilis.

Fish Fillet with Roast Pork Hot Pot. One of the resto’s off-menu daily specials, it has quite a lot of everything: fish, pork, tofu, mushroom and veggies.

Deep-fried Stuffed Shrimp Tofu. A variation of Hubby’s favorite crispy-on-the-outside, creamy-on-the-inside battered tofu dish, this one has a plump piece of shrimp that adds to the flavor and texture of the dish.

Steamed Pork Siumai, Steamed Shrimp and Scallop Dumplings and Steamed Pork Buns. These steamed dimsum fare are quite familiar to us since they have counterparts back home.

The food was served promptly by friendly and helpful wait staff. The servings are quite large and we had some leftovers which we heated up for an unusual yet still tasty breakfast the next day.

All in all, it was a nice welcoming meal for the fam!

Jade Garden is located at 424 7th Avenue South, International District, Seattle 98104, open Mondays to Thursdays from 9am to 2.30am, Fridays to Saturdays from 9am to 3.30am and Sundays from 9am to 1am. For inquiries and reservations, call +1 206 6228181.

For more details, visit www.jadegardenseattle.com.

Family’s Intro to Fat Fook at Robinsons Galleria

When you’re planning where to eat for the family’s Saturdate, and you consider the varied tastes and preferences of your family members, sometimes you just need to put your foot down, dictate where you want to eat and hope it pays off.

And sometimes, it does.

The fam’s lunch took place at the newly opened Fat Fook at Robinsons Galleria. It’s one of two existing branches in the Metro Manila, with the other one located in SM City North EDSA.

This branch is situated in the recently renovated wing of Robinsons Galleria, where a lot of new and trendy restos are expected to open.

The place is quite spacious, warmly lit and can accommodate 40 or so people. Similar to its SM North branch, it features porcelain bowls as part of its decor: this time, the bowls cover one wall, adding a quirky yet elegant Asian element to the resto’s interior.

Fat Fook offers authentic Taiwanese food. The dishes we sampled include:

Tofu with Century Egg and Pork Floss (Php198). The soft-chilled tofu was creamy and mild, and together with the century egg, the pork floss and the sweet-salty sauce, it brings a nice contrast of flavors and textures.
Taiwan Style Fried Rice (Php258). Served in a small pan, the rice is fried with a salty brown sauce and accompanied by bits of green onion and lots of savory-sweet chorizo pieces. It provides an interesting complement to the other dishes we ordered.
Taiwan Beef Noodles (Php258). Tender braised beef slices accompanied by hand-pulled noodles in a sour-and-slightly-spicy broth.
Fat Fook Chicken Chop (Php238). Juicy and tender chicken breasts coated with batter and breading, a quick hit with my baby boy!
Garlic Pork Spare Ribs (Php298). A safe bet, given that the fam has tasted this before in Chinese restos.

With all our orders, the bill amounted to just a little over Php1,500, so our Fat Fook sojourn is definitely among the more affordable of our food adventures.

I found this experience a good way to introduce the kids to new cuisines and food influences, which helps them develop a more adventurous yet discerning palate. For myself, I welcome any opportunity to go off the beaten path when it comes to food choices.

Given its affordability and fresh tastes offered, Fat Fook is among the restaurants I won’t mind returning to.

Check out my review of Fat Fook’s other branch at SM North EDSA.

This post contains affiliate links.

Want to try cooking Taiwanese dishes at home? Check out these books at Amazon.com!

The Food of Taiwan: Recipes from the Beautiful Island. Acclaimed author Cathy Erway offers an insider’s look at Taiwanese cooking—from home-style dishes to authentic street food.

Home-Style Taiwanese Cooking. This book by Taiwanese chef and food blogger, Tsung-Yun Wan, will inspire home cooks to make these authentic Taiwanese dishes part of their own cooking repertoire.

Taiwanese Cookbook: Food from The Streets of Taiwan. Author Carla Hale gives easy tips and recipes that will help readers prepare authentic Taiwanese dishes for their family and friends.

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Fine Filipino Food with a View at Fika, Capitol Hills

A Swedish chef whipping up Filipino delicacies.

That’s the way the cookie crumbles at Fika, the restaurant located in the out-of-the-way Capitol Greenstreet Commercial Center up Capitol Hills in Quezon City.

Head chef and CEO Mats Loo hails from Sweden where the word “fika” means “having coffee and talks with friends.” Having long dreamed of having a restaurant name Fika, he made his dream a reality right up Capitol Hills in Quezon City.

Diners of Fika are treated, not just to fine Filipino food, but also to a stunning view of the city. Being located in the Capitol Greenstreet Commercial Center, near Capitol Hills Golf and Country Club and Celebrity Sports Club, it is surrounded by lush greenery with a view of Quezon City all the way to Antipolo.

Also housed in the same building is the top culinary school First Gourmet Academy. It trains aspiring chefs in various courses that will prepare them for jobs in both local establishments and those abroad. Its working kitchen is also where the fantastic dishes in Fika’s breakfast and all-day menus are prepared and cooked.

I recently joined a foodie meetup held at Fika where, together with fellow foodies, I was able to sample delectable dishes from Fika’s all-day menu. These include:

Chicken Inasal (Php255). A popular Ilonggo dish, it is grilled chicken marinated in a special sauce that gave it its distinct color.

Laing (Php135). Dried taro leaves, coconut milk and chili peppers make this a winner among lovers of spicy food.

Pancit Luglog (Php195). Thick noodles sauteed in a rich savory sauced and topped with hard-boiled eggs and chicharon. A party favorite!

Pinakbet with Bagnet (Php265). A classic Ilocano dish, it’s made of stewed vegetables seasoned with bagoong and topped with crispy bagnet.

Fika Fried Rice (Php135). A recipe that came from Chef Mats’ mom, it’s a great breakfast fried rice made with chopped Chinese sausages, scrambled eggs, pork bits and various chopped veggies.

Binagoongan Rice (Php135). A flavorful dish made of rice, pork bits and kangkong sauteed in bagoong paste then topped with salted egg and ensalada.

Bangus Steak (Php285). The fish version of Bistek Tagalog, it features boneless bangus marinated in soy sauce and calamansi and served with lightly sauteed white onion rings.

Dinakdakan (Php140). An Ilocano dish made of various pork parts such as cheeks, liver, ears and tongue.

Sisig (Php150). Chopped pork parts are deep fried and seasoned with calamansi, mayonnaise, soy sauce and chilis.

We washed down our meal with ice blended drinks such as Choco Frappe (Php165) and Green Tea Frappe (Php175).

And since any meal wouldn’t be complete without dessert, we indulged ourselves in some freshly baked cakes, all at Php110 each:

Tres Leches

Ube Queso

Chocolate Cake

Chocnut Cheesecake

Clear winners for me are the Pinakbet with Bagnet, Fika Rice and – dare I say – all the cakes!

These Fika food sure are Fika good! Do check them out!

Fika is located at the Ground Floor, Capitol Greenstreet Commercial Center, Capitol Hills Drive, Old Balara, Quezon City, open Sundays to Thursdays at 6.45am to 10.30pm and Fridays to Saturdays at 6.45am to 11pm. For inquiries and reservations, call + 63 917 7006588, +63 2 3553132 or +63 2 5142480.

Disclosure: Together with other food bloggers, I was invited to attend a foodie meet-up held in this restaurant. All the 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 Filipino restaurants:

Xiao Long Bao is the star in Bai Nian Tang Bao, BGC

Xiao Long Bao is comprised of a savory meat filling (usually a mixture of ground pork and shrimp flavored with chopped green onions, salt, pepper, sugar, rice wine and sesame oil) accompanied by a fragrant soup (chicken broth infused with pork fat with herbs and aromatics) inside a delicately pliable bao wrapping. This Chinese delicacy is usually prepared in a small bamboo steaming basket called xiaolong, hence the name xiao long bao.

Boldly claiming to be the origin of xiao long bao, Bai Nian Tang Bao, located inside Bonifacio Global City, promises to sate the cravings of fans of this dish.

View this post on Instagram

Pork #xiaolongbao (Php158), #sweetandsourporkribs (Php279), #peppersaltchicken strips (Php199), #beeffriedrice (Php219) and #SausageFriedRice (Php219) at @bainiantangbaoph. It was supposed to be a quick lunch though. #ChineseFood #foodie #foodiegram

A post shared by Jellybeans in the City (@beingjellybeans) on Jun 1, 2018 at 10:01pm PDT

Trivia: Did you know there’s a right way to eat the xiao long bao? Here’s a clue: it definitely does not involve immediately popping it into one’s mouth nor biting into it as we do other dumplings. Nope, enjoying this special dish requires some special steps:

Once served, allow the baos to rest in their basket for a few minutes. This will allow the baos and their filling to cool and settle a bit. You might want to take this time to prepare the sauce by combining the vinegar, soy sauce and minced ginger to your taste in a small saucer.
Using your chopsticks, gently pick up a bao (make sure not to pierce through the wrapping), dip in the sauce then place it squarely on your spoon.
Poke a small hole at the top of the bao with your chopsticks, just enough so that some of the steam inside can get out and you can slurp the soup from inside.
Once the soup has been duly slurped, you can then pop the what remains into your mouth.
Repeat as desired. 🙂

During a stopover in Bonifacio Global City, the fam decided to have a quick lunch at Bai Nian Tang Bao. We ordered Sweet and Sour Pork Ribs (Php279) and Pepper Salt Chicken Strips (Php199) to go with our Beef Fried Rice (Php219) and Sausage Fried Rice (219). The pork ribs went well with the fried rice but the chicken strips were a little dry and much akin in flavor to the kind of chicken strips we would make at home. Of course, the star of the meal is the Xiao Long Bao (Php158) which was served in the traditional steaming basket. As we followed the correct way to eat this dish, we were able to fully enjoy its taste and texture.

Maybe next time we find ourselves in this resto, we’ll just get ourselves several orders of that xiao long bao, hmmm?

The restaurant has a nice minimalist feel to it with some Asian-inspired accents. The servers were also friendly and prompt with our requests.

Bai Nian Tang Bao is located at the Ground Floor, Uptown Parade, 9th Avenue corner 38th Street, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig. It is open 11am to 10pm Mondays to Thursdays, 11am to 3am Fridays and 11am to 12midnight Saturdays to Sundays.

Check out my posts about other Chinese restaurants:

Learn more about Chinese cuisine by checking out these books on Amazon.com!

Want to try some recipes today? There’s no need to leave home to shop for ingredients. With Honestbee, just order your groceries online and you’ll get them delivered right at your doorstep at your preferred time. Use this referral link and get Php500 off for a minimum spend of Php2,500. You can download the Honestbee app on iTunes or Google Play.

If you’re in the US and an Amazon Prime member, sign up for a free trial of Amazon Fresh to get your groceries delivered to you.