Flavours of China ( Trinoma )

Flavours of China is one of the few Chinese restaurants at Trinoma mall in Quezon City. If you fancy some Chinese food, you might want to give this place a try.

They have a nice and clean interior with space that is enough to accommodate a number of customers without the place looking overcrowded.

They are serving a bowl of crispy prawn crackers as a complimentary appetizer while waiting for your food to be served.

For 110 pesos, you can have a medium sized serving of Salted Fish Rice which is good for 2 - 3 persons. Large serving is also available for 200 pesos. It's basically fried rice with some eggs and a few bits of fish meat. Contrary to its name, the rice is not salty, and so does the fish that goes with it.

They offer a wide selection of pork dishes, one of them is the Flavours of China Spareribs. For just 270 pesos, you can have a taste of deep fried crispy pork spareribs tossed in sweet and spicy garlic sauce. This one is a must try, the pork is crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. The flavor of the meat goes well with the sauce. It is good for 2 - 3 persons.

They also offer bottomless Pepsi products here for 70 pesos. 

Aside from good Chinese food, they also offer good service. The waiters are courteous and attentive to the customer's needs. Maybe the survey form that comes together with your bill helps a lot in giving the management an idea on what aspects they need to improve and maintain. 

The only downside that I see is that they lack small servings which you will be looking for when you are dining on your own, unless you're hungry as a bear.

RATINGS: 

Food: 4/5 tastes good but they lack small servings

Cleanliness: 5/5

Ambiance: 5/5

Service: 5/5

Price: 4/5

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Type: casual dining restaurant

Cuisine: Chinese

Delivery: yes

Operating Hours: Mon to Sun: 10:00 am - 9:00 pm

Contact Number: (02) 901 5688

Branches: Trinoma, SM Sucat, Tomas Morato, SM The Block, SM City Batangas, SM City San Lazaro, SM Southmall, Cubao

Fariñas Ilocos Empanada part 2 ( VIsayas Ave

This is the second part of the Farinas Ilocos Empanada post. Aside from the usual Ilocano delicacies that they serve, they also sell other products made from Ilocos. 

It's a pay as you order restaurant. You can get some sodas in the fridge and pay it in the counter as you order. The place is not air conditioned but they have a few electric fans installed. 

Since they serve native Ilocano delicacies in this place, I think there's no one who can do the review for these dishes better than my girlfriend who is a certified Ilocana. Here's what she has to say about Farinas Ilocos Empanada.

Fariñas Ilocos Empanada offers the freshest and authentic taste of Ilocos, Since I haven’t been home for quite a long time, being here feels  like home away from home.  

We ordered one of their Bagnet Meals (Php99). It comes with salted duck's egg and tomatoes. Unfortunately, the Bagnet they served was 4 pitiful very thin slices which is a bit bland. The amount of serving doesn't seem to be worth its price. I expected that the deep fried pork would be served hot and crispy, but it's the other way around. 

We ordered a plain empanada (Php50) and Miki Supreme (Php115), a perfect compliment for the rainy weather.  In case you are not familiar with the Ilocos empanada., the empanada from the province of Ilocos is more like a bread or pastry that is filled with green papaya, togue or mung bean sprouts, skinless Vigan longganisa and whole egg.  You can opt for the plain version if you do not want the longganisa filling. The shell of the Ilocos empanada is made from rice flour of galapong mixed with atchuete for the orange color and a little bit of flavor and a little bit of salt and pepper. It is then kneaded as thin as possible.

I was quite disappointed with the empanada since it was too small, oily and the taste is far from the empanada which I grew up eating in Ilocos. The Miki Supreme which was cooked in chicken broth with eggs, bagnet bits, crushed chicharon and toasted garlic came out delicious but not as good as the one made from Batac, Ilocos Norte (my hometown). Each time I would go home to Ilocos for a visit, my day would not be complete without eating their infamous Miki so it was quite unsatisfactory that the Miki they served is not as good as the one made in Ilocos. However, I would give credits to their sukang iloko. It tastes great and is a great compliment with the Miki Supreme.

They don’t serve any dessert here but they do sell kamote chips and Garlic chicharon to snack on.

If you're in a tight budget or do not have the time to go to Ilocos to taste their native delicacies, Farinas Ilocos Empanada is the place to go. But if you want to have a taste of the authentic version of these dishes, a few days of stay in the beautiful province of Ilocos is the way to go. 

RATINGS: 

Food: 3/5

Cleanliness: 5/5 

Ambiance: 4/5 

Service: 4/5
Price: 3/5

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Type: casual dining

Cuisine: Ilocano

Delivery: 

Operating Hours: Sun to Mon 24 hours

Contact Number: 

Branches: Visayas Ave, QC, Kalayaan Ave, QC, West Ave, QC, West Fairview, QC, E. Rodriguez Sr, QC

Papa John's ( Visayas Ave )

Papa John's Pizza makes the best pizza in my own opinion, not too greasy, great tasting crust and flavorful ingredients. A newly opened branch in Visayas Ave, Quezon City is very much welcome to pizza lovers near the vicinity.

The Spicy Italian Meatballs Pizza is one of their specialty pizzas, it is full of flavorful toppings such as meatballs, pepperoni, onions and jalapeno peppers. The crust is good as always. Like most of the pizzas here, it is served with their signature jalapeno pepper and melted butter. It really goes well with the pizza.

The Seafood Carbonara is also good. Although I would love if it has more shrimps, squid rings and cheese on it, but as they always say, you only get what you paid for. The white sauce is creamy and tastes just right.

The Diablo Burst is served with Italian sausage, mushrooms, onions, garlic and crushed red peppers. It is a bit too spicy for me, that it tends to overwhelm the flavor of the other ingredients. 

Sodas in can are available on their beverage menu.

As always, Papa John's never fails to make great tasting pizza due to fresh ingredients and their unique recipe. They also offer discounts on their pizzas on certain days. This place is definitely a must try for pizza lovers.

RATINGS:

Food: 5/5
Cleanliness: 5/5
Ambiance: 5/5
Service: 5/5
Price: 5/5

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Type: casual dining
Cuisine: Italian
Delivery: yes
Operating Hours: M, T, W, Th, Su: 09:00 am - 12:00 mn, F, Sa: 09:00 am - 01:00 am
Contact Number: (02) 887 7272
Branches: Greenhills, SM Megamall, University Mall, Greenbelt 3, Robinsons Galleria, SM City Fairview, Sta Lucia East Grand Mall, Tomas Morato, Jupiter, SM City North EDSA, Waltermart Center Sucat, Visayas Ave, Blue Bay Walk, Recto, Pasig, Banawe, Better Living

Hanamaruken Ramen ( Trinoma )

Rainy days are here again, surely most people will be craving for a hot soup or some comfort food. One way of satisfying your cravings is by having a big bowl of ramen. Hanamaruken Ramen as they say, specializes in meat from Osaka, Japan. They opened their first branch here in the Philippines in Trinoma.

The place have a nice and cozy, modern interior that somehow gives you a feel of Japan's ramen houses just as I have seen it on tv.

They have tables that can accommodate a group of people. The place is simple and 

clean. Nothing to distract you from enjoying your nice and hot bowl of ramen.

Another thing that I've noticed, is that they only have a few entrees on their menu. You can choose from their 6 kinds of ramen, 5 rice bowls and 4 side dishes.

We tried their most popular dish, the Signature Happiness Ramen. It is a shoyu tonkotsu ramen topped with a dark, tender and slow braised soft bone pork rib. They say that the founder, Takaku Arakawa drew the inspiration from his family's expertise in pork to create this dish. It seems like he have succeeded with his creation, because this ramen really deserves its name. The pork is tender and tasty. It is said that they only serve up to 20 bowls a day of this ramen. It also comes in big servings that can be good for two persons.

They serve canned sodas here in case you need some refreshments after a hot bowl of ramen.

Next time that you crave a hot bowl of ramen, you might want to give Hanamaruken Ramen a try. I'm sure that you won't regret it. It truly is a taste of Japan here in the Philippines.

RATINGS: 

Food: 5/5
Cleanliness: 5/5
Ambiance: 4/5 
Service: 5/5 
Price: 4/5 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

Type: casual dining
Cuisine: Japanese
Delivery: 
Operating Hours: M, T, W, Th: 10:00 am - 9:00 pm, F, Sa, Su: 10:00 am - 10:00 pm
Contact Number: (02) 720 9283, (02) 628 1603

Branches: Trinoma