The Old Spaghetti House (TOSH)

E and I went to Robinson’s Galleria last Saturday because the mall was having a sale! All of my friends knew that I love to shop especially going on sale-shopping. Although I am no longer impulsive when it comes to spending, I still enjoy going to malls on sale because there is always that chance of buying something on a lower price. This time around I only buy those which I think I really need and not just want. (Although I still went to VNC to satisfy my shoe fix and even at CMG for my bag fix – but I didn’t buy anything! :P)

We got hungry at around 4pm. At that time, I already bought a book at National Bookstore, some groceries and something from Plains n’ Prints. I suggested eating at Mongkok – well, because I love Chinese food. He said he was craving for pizza and pasta. I agreed to pizza and pasta since most of the time, he relents to what I like when it comes to food. Also because if we eat at Mongkok, we might be ordering Yang Chow rice and I’m refraining form eating too much rice. We passed by TOSH and I asked if he has eaten there. As expected he still hasn’t tried TOSH and so it was an obvious choice for us. We ordered arabiatta and chicken fingers.

TOSH offers food at a relatively cheap price. The arabiatta only costs P100 and the chicken fingers costs P130. Most of the dishes in the menu range only from P100 to above P200.

Indeed the arabiatta was hot! Only it was oily. After about two tablespoons, my lips were already oily. E liked the arabiatta at Amici better. The serving of chicken fingers was just ordinary. For really good chicken fingers, I would recommend The Chocolate Kiss Café at UP Diliman.

A glass of iced tea to soothe the hotness of the arabiatta.
At least, it didn't taste like Nestea - something which I can make at home.

To this date, my top two places for really good cheap pasta would still be Amici de Don Bosco and The Green Tomato.

The Old Spaghetti House
They have branches all over the metro. As I can remember, they have branches at Valero St, Makati City; at Libis; Paseo de Roxas; and at Robinson's Galleria.

California Pizza Kitchen

It was the birthday of Pam, one of my friends at the office. She treated us for lunch at California Pizza Kitchen. She said she was craving for salad from CPK. I was excited because it was my first time at CPK. I have that impression that CPK offers the same variety of food with those of TGIF and Burgoo. Except of course, their main selling point is their varieties of pizza. I was really eager to eat there. We shared two types of salads, one pasta dish and two flavors of pizza.

The Original BBQ Chicken

This was Pam’s favorite. I’d say that this is a fun pizza. When I say fun, I mean that it has a variety of flavors. It has chopped lettuce, black beans, sweet corn, jicama, cilantro, basil, crispy corn tortilla strips and Monterey Jack cheese tossed together in garden-herb ranch dressing. It was topped with chopped BBQ chicken breast, diced tomatoes and scallions.

This salad was mostly greens served with 4 pieces of breaded chicken topped with cheese. Perhaps I still need to read and broaden my knowledge on food. The greens used in this salad and the cheese were those I often see in cooking shows. I just can’t seem to figure out now what they are. I must admit my friends and I seldom get to taste these kinds of salad. We are those who are typically limited to Caesar salad. What I did in my plate, I got enough greens and cheese and chicken and sprinkled those with juice I squeezed with the lemon served with the salad. I found it really good. I think I was the only one who took a second serving of the salad.

Fettucine with Garlic Cream Sauce

I think this pasta was really creamy and the rest of my friends really liked it. It was just that when I ate some of these, it did not blend with the after taste of the salad and so I just ate a small portion of this.

Five-Cheese & Fresh Tomato

Santa Fe Chicken

I wasn’t brave enough to try the two pizzas. The combination of the salad and the pasta left me with a bitter feeling that I felt like puking. I opted to just not try these at all.

Although my friends didn’t touch it that much. Either they didn’t like it that much or they were already full.

Overall, I wasn’t really happy with my CPK experience. It didn’t leave me full. It didn’t have a satisfying effect on me. And the only reason I might go back is to give CPK a chance to redeem itself. Perhaps, I would try other dishes in their menu. After all, there were a lot to choose from.

California Pizza Kitchen
1st Level, Glorietta 3
Ayala Center, Makati City

Lunch at Leslie's,Tagaytay

I love Leslie's bulalo! For me, it was really tasty. The rest of the food though was just fine. Nothing to be raving about.

(From T - B)
Pinaputok na Tilapia (with tomatoes)
the ever famous bulalo with free refill of soup
crispy kangkong (not oily compared to that of Dencio's)
leche flan (nothing spectacular)
bulalo and grilled chicken

Our sweet escape

Guess who ordered the americano? :)

Amici de Don Bosco

I’ve been hearing a lot of good reviews about this place and finally, I was able to try Amici last Friday. I had to finish a lot of things at work that I skipped lunch during that day. I was really hungry when we got to Amici. It was around 4 pm and the place was empty. Only two tables were occupied when we got in but as I heard, the place could be full during meal times. The place has different counters for ordering pasta, pizza, bread and their famous gelato. E and I ordered rosemary chicken and arabiatta. The good reviews I have been hearing were correct. The pasta was so rich and they did not scrimp on the sauce. As I mentioned in the earlier post, I love meats baked or roasted with herbs. Rosemary is my favorite and so the chicken was a hit for me. At some points, E found it salty but I’m sure he agreed that it was good. Their chicken was not at all dry as it came with a sauce which I assume were drippings from the veggies and chicken. We were so full though that we were not able to try the gelato. Ainah, my classmate from La Salle, said that I really should have tried it. Maybe we can try it next time as we would surely be back. I’m hoping to try more pasta dishes aside from the usual that I can order from other resto or I can make at home.

Amici de Don Bosco
1299 A. Arnaiz Ave. (Pasay Road)
San Lorezo Village, Makati City