outdoor dining – Jellybeans in the City

The Jelly List: Top breakfast finds at Lamp Quarters, Marikina

Foodies in Marikina and nearby places, it’s time to rise and shine, especially with the sumptuous breakfast choices awaiting you at Lamp Quarters!

This food hub nestled in the quiet suburb is a perfect place to enjoy the first meal of the day because:

It houses a diverse collection of restaurants offering various cuisines
It has a spacious outdoor dining area where you can meet up and dine with family and friends in comfort (you can also bring your fur-babies with you)
Its San Diego-inspired decor will make you feel like you’ve stepped into sunny Southern California

So if you’ve been feeling cooped up at home for the past few months, you can definitely step out and enjoy the morning in the great outdoors with these fab breakfast finds from Lamp Quarters’ restaurants.

Dampa sa Cogeo Marikina Branch

Get a taste of the sea’s bounty with Dampa sa Cogeo’s various seafood dishes plus more for a wonderful start to your day.

Breakfast Bilao (Php599, good for 2-3 people). What’s Pinoy breakfast without the silog? Enjoy a hearty meal with this breakfast staple along with daing na bangus, tocino and beef tapa, all classic flavors we just love to wake up to!

Seafood Stir-fry (Php699, good for 2-3 people). For breakfast with a bit of zing, check out this sumptuous seafood dish made with fresh crab, squid, mussels and shrimp stir-fried with veggies in a slightly spicy tomato sauce. You’d definitely be asking for extra rice to go with this!

Dampa sa Cogeo also delivers its seafood bilao and party trays. For more details, call +63 945 8646423 or +63 961 4207400 or follow it on Facebook.

Night & Day Restorante

A fusion of Italian and American flavors await you at Night & Day.

With its Breakfast Buffet (Php299, available on weekends from 8am to 11am), you can feast on a whole slew of tasty, all-you-can-eat breakfast dishes. This July, the breakfast buffet consist of beef salpicao, corned beef, daing na bangus, aglio olio, pancakes and waffles, sanwiches and sliders, eggs, roasted sesame salad and breads, accompanied by iced tea, lemonade or hot chocolate.

Night & Day is open everyday from 8am to 10pm. To reserve your slots for its Breakfast Buffet, call +63 917 1079678.

For updates on its offers and promos, follow it on Facebook and Instagram.

Kebomb

A wise man once said “Why have abs when you can have kebabs?”

Why, indeed, when you can indulge yourself with delicious yet very affordable Mediterranean-inspired food that will also appeal to Pinoy tastebuds!

Widen your morning meal horizons with Kebomb’s breakfast dishes such as beef shawarma tapa, kebab longganisa meal and chicken tocino meal, as well as its best-sellers like beef or chicken kebab rice plates, keema, keemadilla, hummus, Persian burgers in shawarma wrap and my newest favorite: chicken skin nachos!

Kebomb also delivers via Grabfood and FoodPanda. Pickup options are also available. For more details, call +63 956 9781805 or follow it on Facebook or Instagram.

So if you want to catch the sun’s early morning rays as you fill up on tasty breakfast meals with family and friends, drop by Lamp Quarters in Marikina!

Lamp Quarters is located along Gil Fernando Street, Centro de Buenviaje, Bgy Santo Nino, Marikina City. For updates on its special promos and events, follow Lamp Quarters on Facebook and Instagram.

Disclosure: Together with my foodie friends, I attended a food tasting held at this venue. Food items mentioned here were served to elicit honest feedback and were not paid for by the attendees.

3 reasons to chill out and pig out at Arca South’s Fieldside Market

More and more, the ability to escape from the confines of our home for some rest and recreation has become a much-desired luxury.

This is hardly surprising since the home is still the safest place to be at this time. For those who are feeling some kind of cabin fever at being cooped up and isolated at home for days on end, an opportunity to venture out and meetup with family and friends is irresistible.

Fortunately, Arca South, the Ayala Land mixed-use development located in parallel to South Superhighway, provides a way for people to come together over good food and have a good time through its weekend outdoor food market.

Fieldside Market by Arca South presents visitors a great way to re-discover homegrown flavors in the safe outdoors by:

1. Supporting small businesses by featuring an eclectic curation of food items from various local concessionaires.

Whatever you’re craving for, you’ll probably find it here. Check out some of the numerous food options you can indulge in:

Authentic Ilocos Empanada.

Premium Beef Wagyu Cubes and Tempura.

Nacho Chips with Beef Dip and Cheese.

Pork Barbecue.

Streetfood.

Burgers.

Corndogs.

With so many food options, I’m sure you’ll find an old favorite or discover a new one. Do try out as many offerings from the concessionaires and have a picnic with your companions.

2. It keeps visitors safe by implementing safety protocols and contactless payments.

Located in the expansive outdoor area called The Fields, there is enough space to practice social distancing.

Aside from strictly implementing health checks, requiring face masks and face shields and limiting the number of visitors, Arca South also made cashless payments via GCash the preferred payment method, making transactions safer.

3. It provides live music that you and your companions can chill out by.

Contributing to the relaxing atmosphere are the chill tunes performed by live acoustic bands and solo performers.

They will surely get visitors in the mood to let loose and enjoy.

So if you’re eager for the chance to venture out and have a good time with your nears and dears, do check out the Fieldside Market at Arca South.

Fieldside Market is located at The Fields across Visitors’ Center, Ayala Land – ARCA South, Taguig City, open every Friday and Saturday from 4pm to 9pm. For updates and more information, follow Fieldside Market on Facebook and Instagram or email fieldsidemarket@gmail.com.

Garden Dining by Whitemoon Bar

It’s been more than a year into the quarantine, and while we have gone back to less stringent restrictions, there are many of our life’s former pleasures that some of us still can’t enjoy.

One of these is dining out, isn’t it?

The excitement of venturing outside our home, discovering a new place to try or a new dish to enjoy, and hanging out with our friends – all these and more make up the experience of dining out that we used to take for granted.

Thankfully, more of our favorite haunts are re-opening, albeit while adopting new ways to operate so that they could keep us, the dining public, as well as their staff safe from the still present threat of pandemic.

One of these pivoted but still very welcome returns to the local food scene is Manila Ocean Park’s Whitemoon Bar which recently launched its Garden Dining.

Situated in The Barnyard, Garden Dining by Whitemoon Bar offers a delectable array of Asian fusion dishes that can be enjoyed in a relaxing al fresco setting.

Here, diners can take a brief escape into the outdoors, surrounded by greenery and interesting bric-a-bracs, while they enjoy their meal amidst the gentle breeze from Manila Bay and chirping birds from the aviary.

Sri Lankan Chef Ranuka Hettiarachchi brought his considerable skill sets to bear in whipping up dishes for Garden Dining’s refreshed menu using just a griddle and a stove in The Barnyard’s recently converted kitchen.

Safely served in to-go containers yet still retaining the visual appeal of gourmet food, these dishes put a fresh spin on our old favorites. Together with fellow food, bloggers Jen of sandundermyfeet.com, Anj of anjcolumna.com and Nix of ieatandiwander.com, I was able to check out samples of Garden Dining’s offerings such as:

Onion Rings (Php120). Large slices of onions battered and deep-fried for an appetizing start to the meal.

Corned Beef and Cheese Toast (Php140). Truth be told: I’m not a fan of corned beef sandwiches but this made me change my mind. The combination of grilled cheese and corned beef is a highly snackable treat.

Kimchi Fried Rice (Php190). A blend of tangy and spicy flavors, this fragrant rice complements the viands served.

Pork Satay (Php180) and Chicken Satay (Php160). Seasoned meats grilled to smoky deliciousness and served on skewers with sauce on the side.

Pineapple Glazed Pork Liempo (Php190). Tangy pineapple tidbits complement the savory grilled pork belly.

Spicy Asian-Style Seafood Spaghetti (Php250). A hearty and delicious taste of the sea with loads of seafood and noodles tossed in a slightly spicy sauce.

Whether you’re looking for refreshments or in the mood to imbibe, Garden Dining by Whitemoon Bar also has a great selection of drinks for you, such as:

Watermelon Shake (Php130).

Pineapple Shake (Php120).

Ginger Honey and Citrus Immune Booster (Php100).

A variety of red and white wines from its wine list such as this 2014 Elfo Salento Negroamaro from Italy (Php230/glass).

We’re still a long way from enjoying everything we used to enjoy before the pandemic, but with places such as Garden Dining by Whitemoon Bar, we can recreate those experience we look back on so fondly and even make new memories to cherish.

Garden Dining by Whitemoon Bar is located at The Barnyard, Manila Ocean Park, Luneta, Manila, open for outdoor dining Thursdays to Sundays from 3pm to 9pm. For reservations and inquiries, call +63 2 85677777.

To know more about its latest promos and offers, follow Manila Ocean Park on Facebook or Instagram.

Disclosure: Together with fellow food bloggers, I attended a food tasting held at this restaurant. Food items mentioned here were served to facilitate this feature article