Karne Frio: Ham, Bacon and Sausage

Karne Frio is one of the fast rising resto among the students in Los Banos, their main products are Bacon, Ham and Sausage  which are served throughout the day. The resto is not just about pork meat or beef, they also serve chicken, fish meats, pasta, vegetable salads as well. They confidently claim thay they have the best tasting bacon in town which according to them are their own produced. 

My wife and I tried some of their menu which includes: Pork Marinada, Chicken Kebab, Classic Red Spaghetti, Meatzanini and Shakes- I'm not satisfied with their shakes tastes like food color. Overall,  the food taste great at an affordable price and they also have a student serving  for  every menu. The place is small, perhaps it's designed for midgets and most of the time desserts are not available - I guess they should remove it from their menu.

The bestsellers are: Bacon, Gourmet Sausages, Marinadas, Panini, and their version of U.K.'s Bangers and Mash, we'll try that one next time.

Rating: 6 out of 10

Air Summit Gourmet

Located in the old Kamayan sa Palaisdaan in Tayabas, Quezon. Air Summit Gourmet is an interesting resto that offers a fine dining experience which opened last February 2016. The whole restaurant is housed in an old scrap plane which was bought 2014 and modified to function as a restaurant.

It is themed as an Airplane with the receiving area as the "Immigration" where visitors have to wait for a long time before they can enter the plane and get the order. Waiters are in complete in flight attendant/flight stewardess uniform to replicate the "airport to airplane experience". The plane has only 14 set of tables thus, it really takes a a while to onboard the plane - I guess that's the real scenario in the Philippine airport system =). 

The food is too expensive considering that they serve just plain meal. They only have one common restroom for men and women, they should have taught about that since they are expecting an influx of potential customers. I guess it's not the food that people are after but the experience and coziness of the place.

Rating:
6 out of 10 

Zark's Burger, not just your ordinary burger...

It was actually my second time to visit Zark's burger, the first was in Taft Ave., and the second was in McKinley Hills. The name of the burgers in Zark's menu are categorized in to two: The Minor League and The Major League. They used a well striking and quite catchy names that I myself find it humorous that includes: Strikeout, Homerun, Tapout, Three Pointer, King James, Stonecold, Tombstone and so on. But what made me laugh so hard is the Floyd Chicken Burger. I said to myself, if the inspiration of this burger is the badass Floyd Mayweather, then it serves him well.. 

The waiter told me that they still have this challenged - finished the Tombstone or Jawbreaker Burger in just 10 minutes and it's free, well I am not interested in the challenge even if it is free, I am not a competitive eater so I'd rather savor what im eating.

I ordered Zark's Ultimate Burger. It is filled with cheese sauce, sauteed mushrooms and bacon. It may be big but the beef patty is not that good and it breaks easily, also the buns that they used are just like any buns sold in local bakeries. The bacon strips are haft cooked or caramelized, it is much better if it's crunchy. But who cares, if the patties are not US grade patties or the buns are not that good, believe me once the burger is placed in front of you, all you can think of is to munch on the mouth watering meal.

I also ordered the Three-Pointer burger, it uses three kinds of cheese: mozzarella, cheddar and cheese sauce which is worth it for it's price.

(Three Pointer Burger)

(Zark's Ultimate Burger)

Rating: 7 out 10

Tokyo Cafe in Manila

Tokyo Cafe is not the typical Japanese restaurant, instead of the usual donburi/tempura/sushi, it serves Japanese-style Western dishes. The whole place is cozy with a cool white interior, books are also in display giving it a nice ambiance. I'm sure there is no Tokyo cafe in Tokyo and this would be a Manila version of what a Tokyo cafe would look and taste like.

Since I was really hungry after an arduous hike earlier that day, I ordered several meal that includes Katsu Ju, Japanese Carbonara and Chicken Cheese Balls. I am not satisfied with their Japanese Carbonara and nothing really special about it. The Katsu Ju tastes great but what I really enjoyed the most is the Chicken Cheese Balls. 

Chicken Cheese Balls are chicken fillet stuffed with melted cheddar and caramelized soy. I liked the crunchy chicken balls with the cheesy creamy filling. The terriyaki sauce also added flavor to it. It was like eating a tonkatsu except for the cheesy filling, wherein the cheese squirts out of the chicken balls every time you bite it or slice it in half.

The prices are a bit expensive but it is exclusive of VAT and no service charge. Tokyo Cafe has several branches in Metro Manila.

Rating:

7 out of 10

The Cheese Steak Shop

The Cheese Steak Shop is home to the beloved Philly-style cheese steak, originally established in California and now has 31 branches in the United States. Last 2011 they opened their franchise shop in Amorsolo, Makati where they brought the original Philadelphia-style sandwich to our shores and allowed us to get a taste of authentic cheese steak.

They uses 3 kinds of cheese, namely: Provolone, White American cheese, and Cheese Sauce. You can ask the crew to change the cheese used in your sandwich according to your taste. The Italian-made Provolone is the tastiest among the 3 choice of cheese, with cheese sauce coming in at second. If you want to taste “more” of the meat, you can add the white American cheese because it’s the blandest among the choices.

I ordered the Classic Philly Cheese Steak, comes in different sizes - it is truly there specialty. The meat is perfectly blended with tomatoes, onion and cheese sauce. Their Fries w/ Cheese Sauce is also great, cheese sauce is the best dip for fries. However, the Spaghetti with cheese and meatballs doesn't taste that good, it's too expensive for it's price and the blend of sauce is not that good. Same as with Fried Oreo which I believe is quite too expensive, but out of curiosity it is a must try. They don't have much offerings in their  drinks and beverages except for rootbeer and softdrinks.

Average order time usually takes time to prepare, but there are board games that you can play while waiting for your food to be served.

Rating:

6 out of 10

Cafe Ella

Café Ella is named after the first daughter of former Los Banos Mayor, Ton Genuino. Students usually made this place as their unofficial "tambayan" or somewhere where they can study and chat around for as long as they want  because of the free wifi the cafe provides.

The vintage design inside Café Ella strikes nostalgia because of the wallpaper and accessories being displayed. The ambience of the room will make your eyes glimmer at the authenticity and originality of the shop's set up where it screams “home” for it isn’t just your day to day coffee shop that’s stiff, busy, and crowded.

In my opinion they have the best tasting cakes in town. Me and my wife tried some of their best selling cakes which includes Oreo Cheesecake (highly recommended), Rustic Torte made with Almonds, Belgian Chocolate Cake, on the otherhand their Tiramisu is a little bit sweet but still tolerable. Their Pasta Joana (Classic Carbonara) also taste great but one of the must try is their thin crust Carbonara Pizza. We had Iced Ciocolatto and Iced Cafe Latte. Overall, I am satisfied with this cafe.

Rating:

8 out of 10

Contis Bakeshop & Restaurant

Contis is a bakeshop & restaurant and one of their famous product is the Mango Bravo - a mouth watering seven inch tall cake made of soft butter cake with layers of cashew meringue wafers, mousse, mangoes, and cream ensconced in white cream. It is drizzled with chocolate syrup and topped with mangoes and served frozen. It is both sturdy and delicate truly a must try for anyone with extreme indulgence to cakes and pastries, which I, myself is guilty of.

And because I've been craving for it's scrumptious taste, I decided to visit one of their branch which is in Greenbelt (I've been to their Nuvali and Trinoma branch). I ordered none other than the famous Mango Bravo, it never fails to satisfy my taste buds. I also ordered  Choco Overload - made with layers of moist chocolate cake with rich choco creams and icings topped with ganache and drizzled with chocolate syrup. For me, this is the best tasting chocolate cake in the local market, they are the best in what they do -  in terms of cakes & pastries. For my main dish I had Chicken ala Kiev, bathe in white cream sauce with corn as a side dish. They also offer bottomless Iced Tea, which tastes good and I can say that it is a "real" tea compared to ice teas that are sold in fast food which are just made from Nestea. 

One of the best resto I can recommend for the whole family most especially for their cakes & patries. Good ambience, the food taste great, affordable (not really), quality and they have branches in several locations. (This is not a paid advertisement, I paid for my own bill).

Rating:

8 out of 10