Mangan ( SM City North EDSA Annex )

Mangan is a Kapampangan word which means "let's eat". It is also Cabalen's other brand. Mangan is located at the 2nd floor of SM City North EDSA Annex. Pampanga is known to serve great tasting cuisines so we want to prove if this holds true for this restaurant.

While waiting for our food, a plate of fritters was served. It's seems that it is made from bean sprouts. We didn't have to wait long for our food to be served, it arrived even before we finish eating the fritters.

We had the Tapang Damulag from their Patingapun menu. It was served with garlic rice, salted egg, tomatoes, burong mustasa and achara. I like beef tapa, but what I don't like here, is how they marinated the meat, it's too sour that it tastes like you are sipping vinegar each time you eat the meat. Tapa is usually served with vinegar as a dip, but this one should be served with fish sauce or anything that is salty as a dip. I was thankful that the meal was served with salted eggs, so I can neutralize the sour taste. Unfortunately, the salted eggs ran out before I was able to finish my meal. The burong mustasa and the achara didn't help with the sour taste because both of the two are also sour, and the same goes for the tomatoes.

We also had the Longanisa Chicken, also from their Patingapun menu. All the entrees from their Patingapun menu are served with the same side dishes. I like this one's way much better than the Tapang Damulag. The Chicken Longanisa tastes good, something that I've expected from a longanisa that was made by Kapampangans. 

Lastly, we had the Sampler from their Ispesyal Ning Bale menu. It is served with 2 pieces of bibingka and 2 pieces of puto bumbong with muscovado sugar and grated coconut on the side. This one made up for my disappointment over the tapa meal because it tastes good, and both were cooked just the way it's supposed to be, and was also served hot.

If you want to have a taste of Kapampangan delicacies, try Mangan restaurant. They offer wide variety of choices in their menu, from appetizers to deserts.

RATINGS:

Food: 3/5 go to Pampanga to have a taste of the real thing

Cleanliness: 5/5

Ambiance: 4/5 nice interior design but spaces are a bit tight

Service: 4/5 service is a bit slow but still tolerable though

Price: 4/5 a bit pricey for the food quality

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Type: casual dining restaurant

Cuisine: Kapampangan

Delivery: yes

Operating Hours: Mon, Tue, Wed, Thur, Sun from 10:00 am - 9:00 pm

                              Fri and Sat from 10:00 am - 10:00 pm

Contact Number: (02) 332-2320 

Branches: SM City North EDSA, SM City Mall of Asia, Robinsons Place Manila,

                  Robinsons Galleria 

Tokyo Tokyo ( Trinoma )

Craving for some Japanese food? Try Tokyo Tokyo, it is one of the many food chains all over the metro. They serve Japanese food and free rice refill which is more known as "unlimited rice". This branch is at the ground floor of Trinoma Mall. 

It's been a while since I last had a taste of what Tokyo Tokyo has to offer, after browsing the menu; I stumbled upon a familiar entree, the Beef Misono. We ordered this with a Tempura. The Beef Misono still tastes the same like it used to, a few years back. It's a bit greasy, thanks to the vegetable side dish, which helped alleviate the taste of oil in my mouth. The Tempura is about 6 inches long. However, I was disappointed that half of the length is only made of breadings, and it tastes bland. Thanks to the vegetable side dish again.

The Onion Rings was served with mayonaise. If I only knew that this was this greasy, I would never have ordered it. We only ended up surfeit of cooking oil after our meal.

The thing that irritated me the most are the flies! They are everywhere inside this place. There are at least 3 in our table not including the ones that are flying. This definitely means that the place is not clean.

Tokyo Tokyo used to be one of my favorite fast food chains, but after this meal, it just earned a spot on my least favorite list.

RATINGS:

Food: 3/5 not that good, greasy, bland

Cleanliness: 1/5 flies are everywhere, the towel that they use to wipe the tables leaves an awful smell  which attracts more flies

Ambiance: 1/5 crowded, noisy, weak airconditioning

Service: 2/5 unattentive waiters, they will just ignore you and pretend not to see you if you call their attention

Price: 4/5 budget friendly

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Type: fast food
Cuisine: Japanese
Delivery: no
Operating Hours: Mon, Tue, Wed, Thur, Sun from 10:00 am - 9:00 pm
                              Fri, Sat from 10:00 am - 10:00 pm
Contact Number: (02) 901 5589
Branches: Robinsons Place Lipa, Market Market, Robinsons Place Manila,
                  SM Centerpoint, Shangrila Plaza Mall, Eastwood City Walk,
                  Harrison Plaza, Greenhills Shopping Center, SM City Batangas,
                  SM City Sucat, Glorietta 5, Tutuban Center, SM City Manila,
                  SM City Fairview, SM City North EDSA, SM Megamall, SM Mall of Asia,
                  Powerplant Mall, Greenbelt 1, SM Valenzuela, SM City Lucena,
                  Festival Supermallall, Ayala, SM City San Lazaro, Forum Robinsons,
                  Ali Mall, Trinoma, SM City Bicutan, SM City Marilao, SM City Marikina,
                  Sta. Lucia East Grand Mall, Robinsons Metro East, Victory Mall,
                  SM Makati Food Court, Robinsons Place Otis, Alabang Town Center,
                  UST Campus, Waltermart Munoz

Almon Marina part 2 ( SM North EDSA the block )

Our next food trip brought us back to Almon Marina. Inspired by the great reviews about their sandwiches, we got curious and wanted to give it a try.

One of their Gourmet Sandwiches is the Open Faced Black Angus. The Angus Beef is served on top of a toasted bread and comes with 2 scoops of mashed potatoes and a small serving of vegetable salad on the side. The Angus Beef is tender and juicy and goes well with the taste of their taosted bread, especially when you add the gravy. The mashed potatoes also tastes good with a unique flavor which is also enhanced by their gravy.

Since their roasted chicken is one of the best we've tasted, we decide to have another one of their chicken entrees. We had the roast chicken with one siding from their roast chicken menu. It really tastes good and is neatly served with java rice and macaroni salad on the side.

One of the things that I liked about Almon Marina is that they are serving my favorite brand of root beer, A&W Root Beer. One of the best tasting and classic brands that you will not find just anywhere you eat.

Once again Almon Marina did not disappoint me with their food and service. 

RATINGS:

Food: 5/5 great tasting food and they serve A&W root beer

Cleanliness: 5/5 neat as always

Ambiance: 5/5 relaxing

Service: 5/5 kudos to the crew

Price: 5/5 worth your money

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Type: casual dining restaurant
Cuisine: European
Delivery: no
Operating Hours: Mondays - Fridays from 10:00 am - 9:00 pm
                              Saturdays and Sundays from 10:00 am - 10:00 pm
Contact Number: (02) 352 8334
Branches: Robinsons Place Manila, SM Southmall, Glorietta 4, Alabang Town Center,
                  Festival Supermall, SM Mall of Asia, SM Megamall, The Residences at
                  Greenbelt, SM North EDSA The Block

Almon Marina ( SM North EDSA the block )

SM City North Edsa is home to a lot of restaurants that offers great tasting food. one of them is Almon Marina, it is located at the ground floor of The Block, SM City North Edsa. The place is not that spacious so they easily ran out of tables during meal times.

 

We tried entrees from their pasta reload menu, first is the plate of pasta, Italian sausage, garlic bread and salad. You have the choice on which sauce you want on your pasta, puttanesca, Alfredo or bolognese. This one's with the Alfredo sauce. There's nothing special or new about this entree, just the usual Italian sausage and an ample serving of pasta with vegetable salad and garlic bread on the side. But, I must say that it tastes good and worth your money. It's enough to satisfy your hunger, and reenergize you for another few hours at the mall or on the road to somewhere.

Another one on the pasta reload menu is the plate of pasta and quarter roast chicken with garden salad and bread. It's almost the same with the first one, the only difference is, instead of the Italian sausage, this one comes with a quarter of roast chicken. The roasted chicken tastes good and is well marinated and cooked to perfection.

I've read good reviews about this restaurant and it's all true. The crews are also polite, professional and accommodating to their customer's needs. Something that is not present in all restaurants. Those factors are enough for us to be back here.

RATINGS:

Food: 5/5 good food

Cleanliness: 5/5 neat

Ambiance: 5/5 nice and cozy

Service: 5/5 you will not be hesitating to leave a tip

Price: 5/5 definitely worth your money

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Type: casual dining restaurant
Cuisine: European
Delivery: no
Operating Hours: Mondays - Fridays from 10:00 am - 9:00 pm
                              Saturdays and Sundays from 10:00 am - 10:00 pm
Contact Number: (02) 352 8334
Branches: Robinsons Place Manila, SM Southmall, Glorietta 4, Alabang Town Center,
                  Festival Supermall, SM Mall of Asia, SM Megamall, The Residences at
                  Greenbelt, SM North EDSA The Block

El Pollo Loco ( SM Megamall )

We always want to try each and every restaurant and fast food chains everywhere we go. One day when we were at SM Megamall, we've noticed that there is a branch of El Pollo Loco here, I though they only have branches in the USA, so we've decided to give their food a try.

We were almost too tired to eat and it's getting late, so we just both had the 2 pc Chicken Combo. It comes with two regular side dishes, two pieces Tortillas and salsa.

The chicken was juicy and tender and it tastes good, and it comes in two big servings. The side dishes are just the regular ones so there's nothing special about, but it tastes good though. The same goes for their tortilla, it tastes different from other tortillas that I've tasted, it tastes better and its thicker and a little softer. The taste combination of the chicken, wrapped in a tortilla with the salsa in it is perfect.

I must say that El Pollo Loco's chicken is worth the try and I wasn't disappointed with their food here. 

RATINGS:

Food: 5/5  food tastes good, especially the chicken and it comes in big servings

Cleanliness: 5/5 the place is clean 

Ambiance: 4/5 just the regular fast food ambiance, crowded but it's fine

Service: 5/5 it's just fine

Price: 5/5 worth your money

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Type: fast food, casual dining
Cuisine: Mexican
Delivery: no
Operating Hours: Mondays - Sundays from 10:00 am - 10:00 pm
Contact Number: (02) 633 4977, (02) 633 1617
Branches: SM Megamall, SM Mall of Asia

Papa John's part 2 ( SM North EDSA )

Here's another day at Papa John's Pizza, SM North Edsa Branch, one of my favorite places to eat.

 While waiting for our food, we had one of their Italian Sodas, the Green Apple flavor. It's Sprite served ice cold with cherry and a slice of lemon on top. And the Strawberry Ice Cream Float. It's also Sprite, with a scoop of ice cream and whipped cream on top. They're perfect to cool you down while waiting for your food to be served.

 The Sausage Mushroom Rosa tastes good and it can also be good for two persons in case you want to share. It's penne pasta with mushrooms and Italian sausage blended in carbonara and tomato sauce. It is also served with slices of cheese on top instead of the usual grated cheese.

For our pizza, we wanted to try something new and stay away from the usual pizza flavor so we've decided to try the Fisherman's Catch Pizza. It has shrimps, calamari, green peppers and onions for the toppings, and their very own garlic sauce. I didn't expect it to like it because I'm not really a fan of seafood flavored pizzas but, I did like it, and it tastes good too.

After the pasta and pizza, we felt that there's still room for a little more food. So we decided to order a Chicken and Mushroom Calzone. The calzone was made from their freshly made dough, and then it was filled with grilled chicken, mushrooms, cheese and garlic sauce. It is then oven baked and served with their pizza sauce. We were surprised by the size of it when it was served. We though that the two slices are just good for 1 person but instead, each slice can be good for a single person. It's thick and meaty and it goes well with the pizza sauce.

As always, we were satisfied with our dinner at Papa John's. As long as they serve good food here, we will always be coming back.

RATINGS:

Food: 5/5 still one of the best pizza parlors around

Cleanliness: 5/5 clean and organized as always

Ambiance: 5/5 comfortable seats and nice ambiance

Service: 5/5 attentive and polite crew

Price: 5/5 still worth your hard earned money

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Type: casual dining restaurant
Cuisine: Italian
Delivery: yes
Operating Hours: Mondays - Sundays from 10:00 am - 9:00 pm
Contact Number: (02) 921 8263, (0915) 791 9023, (02) 92 8321
Branches: Robinsons Galleria, Greenhills, University Mall, Sta. Lucia East Grand Mall,
                  BF Homes, SM Megamall, SM Fairview Annex, Makati, Tomas Morato,
                  Jupiter, Greenbelt 3, Waltermart Center Sucat, SM City North EDSA

Five Cows part 2 ( Trinoma ) CLOSED

Since Five Cows is one of our favorite restaurants in Trinoma, we decided to eat here again. Nothing much has changed. We checked the menu for pizzas because we wanted to try the other flavors of pizza that they offer, but the pizzas were not on the menu anymore. I guess the waitress is just a new hire because she looked puzzled when I asked her where were the choices of the pizzas in the menu, then she said that they do not serve pizza. Also, I did notice that they have wifi connection. I'm not sure if they have one when we first went to this place.

We had mango shake and ice tea while waiting for our food. The mango shake's made from fresh ripe mango and is served with a small slice on the rim of the glass.

We had the Chicken and the Sea. A combination of roasted chicken with gravy and fish fillet. It comes with stir fried vegetables and a few french fries, rice and two kinds of dips. They still serve good food amid some changes in the menu.

We also had the roasted chicken with creamy white sauce on top. It does taste good and it is served with rice and stir fried vegetables on the side.

Another thing that I've noticed when we ate here again was that their servings are now a bit smaller compared to the last time that we were here. It could be due to changes in the country's economy, that's why they have to cut down on the serving size so the prices of their dishes won't be affected. Anyway, it still tastes good and still worth the price.

RATINGS:

Food: 5/5 food tastes good 

Cleanliness: 5/5 place is clean

Ambiance: 5/5 nice and fun ambiance

Service: 5/5 good and fast service

Price: 5/5 still worth your money even if it seems that they cut down on the serving size a bit

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Type: casual dining restaurant

Cuisine: American

Delivery: no

Operating Hours: Mondays - Fridays from 10:00 am - 9:00 pm

                              Saturdays and Sundays 10:00 am - 11:00 pm

Contact Number: (02) 901-3748, (02) 901-3948

Branches: Trinoma Mall ( closed )