steakhouse – Jellybeans in the City

Just like old times at SGS House of Minis, Greenhills

One of my most cherished childhood memories is celebrating important occasions and milestones with a special steak dinner.

Whether it’s a significant accomplishment (a school award, a new job or promotion, etc.), a birthday or anniversary, marking the event through a multi-course meal at the House of Minis is just the ticket!

That was how I was introduced to this restaurant. During my childhood, important family celebrations were marked by our special meal at the local House of Minis along C5 in Pasig City, where I experienced what was to me then a markedly leveled-up way of dining. In contrast to fast food outlets where self-service was the rule, or the family-style casual dining places where all the dishes are served together, this steakhouse serves its food one course after another.

Since it’s been quite a while since we’ve dined at House of Minis, we decided to have lunch at its branch in Greenhills when we were out for some holiday shopping.

The experience starts with ordering our mains (regular-sized T-bone steaks, grilled to medium doneness), then we waited for our courses to arrive.

The meal starts with hot creamy soup served with house-baked dinner rolls accompanied by unsalted butter.

Next comes a light starter salad of fresh vegetables with Thousand Island dressing.

We ordered some starches to go with our steaks: Hubby opted for a serving of gravy mashed potatoes, while, for me, good ole’ steam rice is the way to go!

Then our steaks made their grand entrance.

These are slabs of perfectly grilled fork-tender T-bone cuts beef served on hot plates with some buttered vegetables on the side. When doused with the house gravy, their hissing sound and appetizing aroma sure got us salivating.

This is a meal that is to meant to be hurried over so we took our time in enjoying our steak meal.

Afterwards, we opted against getting coffee after our meal but instead went for servings of vanilla ice cream.

(Actually, Hubby gamely gave his ice cream serving to me! Awww!)

While some aspects of this steak meal (such as the restaurant location and serving sizes of some of the courses) may have changed, I’m glad to say that it feels pretty much like old times at this House of Minis.

Got a similar steakhouse childhood memory? Relive it at House of Minis in Greenhills!

SGS House of Minis is located at Lower Ground Floor, Shoppesville Arcade, Greenhills Shopping Center, San Juan, open Mondays to Fridays from 11am to 8.30pm and Saturdays from 11am to 6pm. For inquiries and reservations, call +63 2 87211410 or +63 922 8640628, or Viber +63 927 8717896.

It also delivers via FoodPanda.

To know more about its updates and offers, follow SGS House of Minis on Facebook and Instagram.

Family steak lunch at Beeffalo by Hotrocks, Marikina

There’s something about biting into a juicy and flavorful piece of steak that makes one feel all good inside, right?

Each bite releases flavor, tenderness and juiciness, a powerful combination that simply makes you look forward to the next delicious bite.

However, steaks don’t come cheap.

Back in the late 2000s, my fam had a go-to place for delicious cuts of beef grilled to juicy and flavorful perfections: Hotrocks. It was a no-frills steak place located along C5 in Libis in Quezon City where we can enjoy steaks without having to break the bank.

Well, it disappeared when the area went through some renovations, much to our dismay, but we were gladdened to discover that it found a new home in the Marikina suburbs.

It even took on a new moniker: Beefalo by Hotrocks. Plus, it adopted a look as well: it transitioned from the down-home, cafeteria-style steakhouse (complete with wall decors of plates autographed by celebrity diners) to a more Western ranch-style roadside house with a spacious garden-style al fresco dining area and interior punctuated by brick walls and decorated with vintage appliances and bric-a-bracs.

During my visits there with my family since I discovered its re-emergence in Marikina, I welcomed its change in aesthetics (as well as the improvement in creature comforts that titas like me look for) but I was also glad to see our favorites still on the menu, such as:

Caesar Salad (Php 175 solo | Php345 for sharing). A bowl of crisp romaine lettuce tossed with bacon bits and croutons in Caesar salad dressing, then sprinkled with grated parmesan cheese is just the ticket for starting a great meal, wouldn’t you agree?

Porterhouse Steak (Php520 for 250g | Php795 for 450g). This is the steak that started it all: hefty cuts of porterhouse steak with spartan seasoning and served with mashed potato made from scratch, buttered veggies and the tangy housemate sauce. No-frills but still quite an indulgence.

Dulce de Leche Cheesecake (Php195). If memory serves, Hotrocks served me my first taste of this rich confection more than a decade ago. A cheesecake crust at the bottom is covered with a layer of milk-infused cake, which is then covered with a thick milky cream frosting. What’s not to love?

A family meal at Beefalo by Hotrocks is always a welcome foodie adventure for our family of steak lovers.

Beefalo by Hotrocks is located at Lot 6, Block 3, Gil Fernando Avenue, Santo Niño, Marikina City, open weekdays from 12 noon to 10pm and weekdays from 11am to 10pm for dine-in, takeout and delivery. For inquiries and orders, call +63 2 89676008 or +63 939 1130772.

Stay updated on its latest promos and offers by following it on Facebook and Instagram.

Delicious MEAT-up at Meat Depot, UP Town Center

Are you a certified carnivore like me?

Then, I’m sure you’re always on the lookout for juicy, flavorful and succulent morsels that you can sink your teeth into.

And where to find meats galore that you’re craving for?

Meat Depot, of course!

Meat Depot is both a butcher shop that carries a wide variety of meats, poultry and seafood, and a steakhouse. It is a place for meat enthusiasts to indulge their love for meat and meat products.

Whether locally raised or internationally sourced, its meat products are professionally handled from farm to plate as Meat Depot takes utmost care to comply with industry-certified procedures and employ industrial-grade facilities for meat handling, storage and cutting.

Socially conscious buyers can rest easy knowing that Meat Depot also champions conscientious butchery and helps to raise awareness for ethical slaughtering processes and food safety.

Over the years, the fam (and our extended family) have developed a liking for Meat Depot due to the quality of its meat products and the masterful grilling of its steaks.

After taking a break from dining in at our favorite steak place for over two years due to the pandemic, the fam was able to try out another one of Meat Depot’s branches, this time at UP Town Center in Quezon City.

Its chillers house various steak options to suit the tastes of all kinds of steak lovers, from the most basic to the most discerning:

Black Mountain: Ribeye, Striploin, Tenderloin, T-bone, Porterhouse, Tomahawk
Star: Ribeye
Clear River: Ribeye, Striploin
Lamb: Lamb Chop and Lamb Steak
Local: Ribeye, Striploin, Tenderloin, T-bone, Porterhouse

After selecting our steaks, the steakhouse’s expert griller set about grilling them to come out all juicy and flavorful and marked by those gorgeous grill marks, of course!

Newbie steak fans can take some pointers from Meat Depot’s cooking guide on various stages of doneness:

Blue: grilled for 30 seconds on each side.
Rare: grilled for 45 seconds to 1 minute on each side, resulting to a steak that’s seared on the outside while the inside is mostly red. This meat is soft and tender.
Medium Rare: grilled for 1 minute to 1 minute and 15 seconds on each side, resulting to a steak that’s seared on the outside while the inside is half-red. This is the recommended doneness of most chefs as it has the perfect texture.
Medium: grilled for 1 minute and 30 seconds to 2 minutes on each side, resulting to a steak with a rosy pink interior and slightly firmer texture. This is the preferred doneness of most steak lovers, my fam included.
Medium Well: grilled for 3 to 5 minutes on each side resulting to a steak with a mostly brown center and firm texture. This level of doneness is well-suited to people who may be squeamish and prefer not to see color in their meat.
Well Done: grilled for 5 to 7 minutes on each side, resulting to a steak a brown center with a very firm texture. Surprisingly, a lot of people prefer their steaks this way.

To make our steak meal complete, we opted to pair our steaks with mushroom sauce and side dishes that include steamed rice, mashed potatoes and marbled potatoes in balsamic dressing.

Wouldn’t you love to also MEAT up with your family and friends for a flavorful and filling steak meal at Meat Depot?

Then hie yourselves over to any of these Meat Depot branches located at:

2/F Ayala Malls Vertis North, North Avenue, Quezon City
815 Banawe Street, Brgy. St. Peter, Quezon City
283 Aguirre Avenue, BF Homes, Parañaque City
G/F Paseo de Magallanes, Magallanes, Makati City
2/F O Square 2, Greenhills Shopping Center, San Juan City
Corner Market, 2/F The Podium, Ortigas Center, Mandaluyong City
3/F Robinsons Galleria, EDSA, Quezon City
G/F U.P. Town Center, Katipunan Avenue, Quezon City

You can also shop for your steaks and other meat products online through Meat Depot’s website and enjoy free shipping for orders exceeding Php2,500.

Stay updated on Meat Depot’s products and offers by following it on Facebook and Instagram.

Check out my previous posts about Meat Depot:

Meat Depot, Greenhills — Steakin’ it easy at Meat Depot

Steak break at Meat Depot

If you’re a true-blue carnivore like me, a big hunk of steak would be one of your ultimate gustatory pleasures.

Just imagine: a sizeable well portioned slice of beef, rightly seasoned and then seared over on a hot grill over charcoal or a cast-iron pan to the perfect juicy and tender doneness (and no, it won’t be well-done).

What’s not to love?

From the contrast of its seared surface to the reddish tender flesh underneath, its wonderful aroma wafting to your nostrils, to its strong flavor and rich, juicy mouthfeel, a perfectly cooked steak is a multi-sensory experience.

For me, the go-to place for this kind of epicurean delight is Meat Depot in Greenhills.

With the pandemic still a consideration, Meat Plus implemented health and safety measures for strict compliance inside its stores to keep its customers and staff safe. These include:

Wearing of face masks inside the premises and conduct of respiratory etiquette (covering of nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing)
Temperature check and footbath upon entry
Frequent washing and sanitizing of hands
Maintaining 6-foot distance from other people

All store personnel are also required to face masks and disposable gloves, while the stores and their equipment are cleaned and sanitized on an hourly basis.

Being both a butcher shop that carries a wide variety of meats, poultry, seafood, and of course, steaks, as well as a steakhouse, Meat Depot allows you to select your preferred meats from among the choicest cuts to bring home or turn over to the store’s expert grillers who can cook them up for you to enjoy in a jiffy. You can also select which sauces and sides will go with your cooked meats.

Such was the case when Hubby and I dropped by after a running a few errands to give in to our steak cravings.

Rib Eye (Php870 + Php150 cooking charge)

We know that we can count on Meat Depot to bring out all the possibilities in flavor, juiciness and tenderness of our chosen steaks.

Lamb Chop (490.42 + Php150 cooking charge)

Similarly, Meat Depot did not disappoint with our Grilled Lamb Chops, which are tender and full-flavored with every bite.

Well, the true-blue carnivore in me surely got her wish!

With some family celebrations coming up, we took advantage of the opportunity to stock up on some Rib-Eye (Php2,670/kg) that we can grill at home.

Hubby masterfully pan-grilled these steaks for our family celebration. This way, we were able to indulge our carnivorous cravings at home!

So if you’re craving for a delicious piece of steak or specialty meat that you can enjoy when you dine out or you can cook at home, check out Meat Depot.

Meat Depot branches are located at: