tapa – Jellybeans in the City

Indulgent weekend brunch at Rustic Mornings by Isabelo

Weekend brunches are always something to look forward to, wouldn’t you agree?

They give us the opportunity to leisurely enjoy a sumptuous meal with our family and friends, time well spent catching up on each other’s news and making plans for the next get-together.

That’s what we #OfficeMaritesses were up to one rainy weekend: we embarked on a foodie adventure at one of Marikina’s top brunch destinations, Rustic Mornings.

In this quaint eatery, we were able to surround ourselves with gorgeous greenery, eclectic artworks as well as other points of visual interest made from scrap and recycled materials while enjoying a delicious meal which consisted of:

Spinach Dip (Php400). Isabelo’s famous rich and creamy spinach dip accompanied by pieces of toasted ciabattaa. A tasty start to our lovely brunch!

Berry Cream Cheese and Bacon-Stuffed French Toast (Php500). Thick pieces of French toast generously stuffed with berry cream cheese and crispy bacon.

Waffle Churros (Php290). Sweetly spiced crisp waffle tossed in sugar and cinnamon powder.

Brunch Platter (Php990). Group platter good for two-to three persons that includes breakfast favorites: pancakes, waffles, bacon, scrambled eggs and hash browns.

Filipino Platter (Php990). Group platter good for two to three persons that has a delicious sampling of the classic Pinoy almusal: beef tapa, tocino, crispy bangus, fried rice and sunny-side-up egg.

Drinks. Brunch wouldn’t be complete without hot drinks to perk us up or iced drinks to cool and refresh us.

We loved the fresh and airy feel of dining al fresco in such a beautifully reinvigorating setting, which is quite conducive towards sharing all the hot goss on various office and barkada topics.

We found the group platters to be well-curated as they combine various breakfast favorites in reasonably priced packages.

So if you want to enjoy your own a setting for spilling the proverbial tea with your fellow Maritesses or to enjoy a lovely morning meal with family and friends, it’s high time you indulge yourself at Rustic Mornings.

Rustic Mornings is located at 11 Isabelo Mendoza Street, San Roque, Marikina City, open from 8am to 4pm.

While walk-ins are welcome, the place can get full pretty quickly so it’s best to call ahead of your visit to reserve your table via +63 2 8425 8610.

You may also course your takeout or delivery orders via Viber at +63 995 2493732.

@beingjellybeans
Enjoy wholesome breakfast faves and al fresco dining surrounded by eclectic art and nature at @Rustic Mornings by Isabelo. Deets at beingjellybeans.com! #beingjellybeans
♬ Aesthetic – Tollan Kim

Know more about Rustic Mornings via its website or follow it on Facebook or Instagram.

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:

Feel good food at Recovery Food, SM Megamall

Whether you’re trudging in from a busy workday, or amping up for a hectic one, you need some comforting and nourishing food to rev you up.

Some tasty feel-good food would be just the thing, right?

Well, if you happen to be at the Eatogether Food Hall in SM Megamall, you can just head over to the Recovery Food stall.

Recovery Food is a casual dining concept that offers a variety of comfort foods which range from Asian-inspired hot noodle soups, home-style pressed sandwiches and to simple rice bowls.

During a recent meetup with my fellow foodies, we were able to sample first-hand Recovery Food’s signature dishes, which include:

Balbakwa (Php195). Extra tender beef skin in tomato-based broth, great for warming up our tummies!

Doc Sisig (Php155 for regular | Php235 for full recovery). Recovery Food’s house sisig – the Kapampangan dish made with various pig parts flavored with calamansi, onions and chilis – served with fried egg and garlic rice.

Tapa de Morning (Php185 for regular | Php265 for full recovery). Home-made tapa – tender slices of salt-cured beef – served with fried egg, garlic rice and ensalada, one of my personal breakfast faves.

Tomarrow Never Dies (Php235). RF’s newest offering: roasted bone marrow topped with garlic served on a sizzling plate along with beef bits and rice. Food for the fearless!

Champosandro (Php99). Recovery Food’s version of the champorado, a chocolate-rice based porridge served with milk and salted fish on the side. Whether for breakfast, a snack or as a dessert, it sure hits the spot.

So if you want some real good, feel-good food to power you up for all you need to accomplish, make a pitstop at Recovery Food!

This Recovery Food branch is located at Eatogether Food Hall, Second Floor SM Megamall Building A, Ortigas Center, Mandaluyong City.

Other branches are located at:

Ground Floor, Crossroads Building, 32nd Street Corner 8th Avenue, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City
BGC Stopover Pavilion, Rizal Drive Corner 31st Street, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City
Molito Commercial Complex, Alabang, Muntinlupa City

Disclosure: I attended a food-tasting here together with fellow foodies. All food items mentioned here were served for us to sample the fare and elicit our honest feedback.

Check out my posts on other comfort food places in the metro:

Breakfast with the parents at Almusal Cafe, Katipunan

With all the restrictions from the lockdown since last year, my folks may have been nursing a case of cabin fever. Stuck at home for months, with only a few short trips out to break the monotony, I suspect they may have been feeling blue.

So with my daughter #ExhibitA as my co-conspirator, I set out to find a way to cheer up the parental units.

We decided to treat them to breakfast at a new breakfast joint I chanced upon on Instagram: Almusal Cafe.

The name says it all doesn’t it?

Almusal Cafe has has been serving comforting Filipino breakfasts – albeit with a New York or Aussie twist every once in a while because of its expat owners. It opened its doors just as the metro was loosening its restrictions on dining out and mobility and was transitioning to a general community quarantine. To me, this restaurant serves breakfast food that act as reminders of better days past and better days to come.

What better place to bring my parents for some breakfast and bonding, right?

For one thing, Almusal Cafe boasts of lots of greenery at its outdoor seating area that will surely excite, not just plantitos or plantitas, but also any suburbanite longing for a break from quarantine.

Its interiors are also well-appointed, sporting couches where you can lounge while having your coffee and dining areas where you can eat your breakfast in comfort.

Our group enjoyed Pinoy breakfast classics with a few welcome touches of the unusual. Check them out:

Kesong Puti Grilled Cheese Sandwich (Php370). The soft and un-aged white cheese made from carabao’s milk is partnered with sundried tomato pesto on sourdough bread and served with potato crisps on the side.

Beef Belly Tapa (Php380). Beef belly slow-cooked for a day then served chimichurri sauce on top of mixed red and white rice.

Ultimate Fried Chicken (Php450). Two fried chicken fillets served with elote, country-style gravy and hot honey.

Shrimp & Arugula Croissant (Php580). Fresh shrimp is tossed with arugula and cherry tomatoes in a light and creamy aioli and served in a toasted croissant with potato crisps on the side.

Long Black Coffee (Php100).

Strawberry Mint Iced Tea (Php120). Freshly picked strawberries blended with mint leaves and tea.

Peach Basil Iced Tea (Php130). Iced tea made with peaches, fresh basil and lime.

Cold Mocha (Php170). Malagos chocolate mixed with a double shot of espresso.

With great food, great surroundings and great conversations over our meal, I had a memorable breakfast experience with my folks; one, I hope, that ushered in some good cheer in their hearts.

Well, it certainly made for a brighter start of the day for me!

Almusal Cafe is located at The Pop Up Katipunan, Xavierville Corner Katipunan Avenue, Loyola Heights, Quezon City, open Tuesdays to Sundays from 9am to 4pm. For inquiries and reservations, call +63 917 1371510.

To know about its latest promos and updates, follow Almusal Cafe on Facebook and Instagram.

Check out my posts on other breakfast places in the metro:

Tapa Box delivery from Tapa King

Sometimes, the stars align and everyone in the family agrees that they just had a good meal.

This Sunday, after running morning errands and lunchtime looming just a short hour away, neither Hubby nor I were in the mood to handle the stress of meal prep and cooking.

Well, I thought to myself, this looks like a job for my food delivery apps!

So off I went, tap-tap-tapping on my phone, looking for food that I can have delivered for the fam’s Sunday lunch. My criteria is that the meal should appeal to the fam’s collective taste in food, not be something we recently ate (for variety), and should cost below Php1,000, delivery fee included (because payday is still a few days away!).

Lo and behold, the solution to my dilemma was at my doorstep less than an hour later.

The fam’s meal consisted of five sets of Tapa King Classic.

Tapa King started as a hole-in-the-wall business in 1987 in Makati CBD. Today, it’s a chain of restaurants with presence, not just in the Philippines but also in Singapore and the United Arab Emirates. Despite recently undergoing a brand refresh and store makeover, it remains true to its original intent: to serve homestyle Pinoy comfort food – tapa.

Tapa is basically marinated beef, stir-fried in oil and, when served with fried egg and garlic fried rice, forms the iconic tapsilog (tapa–sinangag–itlog).

The Tapa King Classic is the formerly known as Tapa King (yes, there were also a Tapa Queen and a Tapa Prince). It is tapa cooked the traditional way, seasoned with spices that bring out the beef’s natural flavors. With fried egg and garlic fried rice included in the order, it is a deliciously satisfying meal.

You can have it as a solo meal at Php169.

Or you can choose to have all the meals in the 4-in-1 Box (Php678) be all Tapa King Classics. You even get solo bottles of Pepsi to go with your meal.

In our case, I opted for both so the whole fam – myself, hubby, the kiddos and yaya – can all enjoy our own Tapa King Classic. Thanks to a a GrabFood free delivery promo, my total bill came in at just Php847.

Thanks to Tapa King, I escaped lunchtime stress. Now, on to worrying about dinner…

This Tapa King branch is located at G/F L&Y Plaza E. Rodriguez Ave. Brgy. Ugong, Pasig City, open daily from 6am to 8pm for dine-in, takeout and delivery. For inquiries, reservations or orders, call +63 2 82916254 or +63 915 0611117, or course your food delivery via GrabFood or FoodPanda.

Download the Grab App and get a discount on your first food order when you use my code: GRABJELLYBEANS.

Use this link to download the FoodPanda app and get Php100 off your first order.

Check out my reviews of other Filipino restaurants:

For late-night tapa cravings, there’s Angus Tapa Centrale

This resto is great if you have late night cravings for tapsilog or if you want to cap a night out with a hearty rice meal. Their Angus beef tapa is sliced very thinly – sukiyaki style – and marinated to come out flavorful and tender. You can also opt to get some local spiced vinegar to go with your tapsilog.