It is no secret that I am a fan of Puerto Princesa (as evidenced by the post here) and the food. Fresh, cheap and uncomplicated, it’s easy there. Everything is mostly a tricycle ride away. I could go on and on about what I love about the place, but that is not the point of this post, but the chaolong.

I discovered chaolong on my 3rd(?) visit to Puerto Princesa. I had gone to other Vietnamese joints previously (Saigon) and raved about it, but on the third, we went to local favorite Bona’s, who serve the most local version of the beef noodle soup. It is not fancy. It’s mostly a bowl of tasty broth, a few chunks of beef and noodles. The ambiance is your typical Filipino down home joint, al fresco dining, utensils in hot water for cleanliness, monoblock chairs strewn across the way. It was awesome. They also had a Yakult slush shake that was perfect to cool off after the hot broth and thick french bread. It is one of the reasons I miss Puerto Princesa, and rightly so.

When we read that there was a chaolong place in Quezon City, we had to go. People’s reviews online were raving about it, and even in this crazy summer heat, we itched to try a bowl. So off we went one lunch after errands last week, in the blazing heat. We almost missed it, even if it was along Roosevelt. If you’ve been along that road, you know that there are a lot of establishments along the road and if you blink, you’ll miss it. Thank goodness for the large sign proclaiming “Chaolong”.

It was humble too, al fresco, empty, had a few pieces of baked goods in the display. We ordered bowls of chaolong and plain french bread to dip in. It took a while to serve, we assume that it’s because they make it to serve because of the aforementioned quiet space. So if you go, prepare to wait around 10-15 minutes to get your bowl.

It was not spectacular, it was mostly, okay. The bread was the savior of the meal, being the right amount of crusty without being dry. The chaolong was a little off, but good enough to satisfy cravings until you head back to Puerto Princesa for the original. A bowl will set you back P65 and bread will be P15 per roll. Good for lunch, especially when it starts to rain. They are open 7 to 10 Monday to Saturday and 8 to 7 on Sundays.

How to get there: Drive along Roosevelt Munoz until you see the Metro Gas Station with the 7-11. It is right across from there.

And now to petition them to make Yakult slush.

The website for Your Local says “A new take on familiar flavors.” I would like to agree. While a couple weeks ago was my first visit to the joint, the place felt recognizable, while being fresh.

I had heard of Your Local before, you can’t help but, if you read food blogs and local websites like I do. And my confession of the day is, while I am a voracious eater, trooping to Makati isn’t really my cup of tea. I take great reviews of restaurants down south, and file them away for other times, when I know I’m meeting friends from the south, or for when I can drag people from our cozy nooks in the north to travel the two hours both ways to get to eating places in Makati or the Fort.

But I digress.

I headed to Your Local a couple weeks ago with a friend who was visiting from Singapore. She made the reservation and we headed to Makati to try the joint. It was packed when we got there before our 7 pm. People were waiting outside for tables, and there was no parking to be had (which, since we walked from Greenbelt, wasn’t a problem for us, but may be an issue with 90% of the customers).

I had the day’s special, a truffle cream pasta (P550?)

With a glass of Moscato (P250). The server, who was very nice, suggested appetizers but since we came from a sashimi snack at Tokyu, we refused. I knew truffle cream pasta could be very rich so I hesitated ordering more.

Several minutes later, the server sets down two glasses, on the house, as my friend knows one of the owners of the place.

I got Tinker, a drink made from vodka, earl grey tea, lemon and rosemary. My friend got Social Dysfunction, a drink of many liquors, starting with Bacardi 151. Suffice to say, I was very happy with my drink, and would consider coming back to Makati just for another glass. My friend was very carefully sipping hers, having had a shot of it before, and having ordered the Lamb Rendang, coating her stomach with food so she could get home without causing herself injury.

Verdict: Fun food, really good drinks. Need reservations. Expect a sprinkle of Singaporean favorites with steak and potato options. Don’t go for a first date. The place is lit very romantically but the tile on the walls bounces back audio, thus making conversation kind of a strain. Works for a third date though, since you have to lean in next to your date to speak. Tip: The joint’s walls open to Yardstick Coffee so you can extend the date to an after dinner coffee or their Carmen’s Best ice cream topped desserts. Bring at least P900 a head for food and drinks, more if you want to get that coffee.

Find your way to Your Local here:

Contact Details
ADDRESS Universal LMS Bldg. 106 Esteban St. Cor V.A. Rufino St., Legaspi Village, Brgy. San Lorenzo, Makati
EMAIL hello@yourlocal.ph
TELEPHONE +632 8236206
MOBILE +63917 6543355

Ramen Nagi is a lot of people’s favorite from the ramen joints out there. It’s one of the more interactive ones, where you pick the richness of the broth, the garlic strength, noodle firmness, and individually pick add ons from the menu. I’ve heard about the place a long time, and I only had the time to go there last week, with a friend I haven’t hung out with in forever.

I picked the most basic broth, the Original King (P390, with P50 for add ons like egg or mushrooms), as I have heard that the spicy Red King was a burn on the mouth. While I like a bit of spice, I was not in the mood for a bowl of pain, as I was still nursing a cold, cough and a slight fever that day. The pesto green butao was interesting, but as I learned from my experience with the Double Cheese Tsukemen at Mitsuyado Sei-Men, and another time at Nomama and their green curry ramen, I really am more a traditional ramen girl.

The innocuous looking photo lies about the richness of this bowl. The umami of the fat really sings through the broth with every bite, and as I discovered, chopped up bits of fat were in it as well. Now I know why people love this, we Filipinos have an affinity with fat in our broth, and if you don’t agree, I suggest you check out any pork sinigang broth and the fat chunks in that.

I had the pork belly, but I think I’m better off with the cheek next time as I left most of the belly in my bowl as I am not a fan of soft fat in broth, while my sister really couldn’t get through much of her meal. She found it too much, and left more than half the bowl untouched. Our friend, who had the green butao, found it good, but not amazing, she just thought it would be greener than what she had, there were tinges of green in her bowl rather than the overall green in the photos advertised. Also untraditional, so if you love pesto and want a fresh twist on your ramen, try the Green King.

Would I go back? Definitely. I would need a pot of hot tea to melt all that fat down the system though.

Ramen Nagi is in SM North Edsa’s Main Floor next to Jollibee near the grocery, and if you need to call them, 3740503 is the number to use.

I have to admit, I was skeptical about Kettle. When I read about the joint, I kept reading about their fried chicken, and was like, “really, fried chicken? I could get a bucket of Chickenjoy for one order at that place.” However, when a few friends and I went there to have a light lunch, I was fortunately proved wrong.

Here is their famous buttermilk chicken (P519):

The serving is good for 2-3 people, and served with gravy, honey, and corn bread. It was great. The skin crispy, the meat juicy, the serving large, and the gravy + honey combo made weird sense. We were four people sharing this and a couple things more, and I think I ate more than my supposed share. (I apologize to the people at lunch.) I can definitely see myself hungry enough to eat a serving all to myself.

We had the chicken with extra sides of coleslaw (P59) and roasted garlic mashed potato (P89). The mashed potato is my return item of the two, and I can’t imagine eating the chicken without it. It was subtle and comforting and I kept dousing it with honey. Not my finest hour, but hey, for the love of carbs.

We had the corned beef hash (P519) as my friend who had been to the place before had recommended it.

It was not your everyday corned beef, with chunks of beef and hunks of potatoes, but going back, I would rather get two orders of chicken, I do like my crispy skin and mashed potatoes.

The thing I liked about Kettle, even if they weren’t touting diet, healthy food, it wasn’t heavy. It may just be because we were sharing, but I didn’t feel like oil was clogging my veins and it was hard to work, thus the no regret part.

Verdict: Prepare around P700 a head if you want your own dish and a drink, but if you’re not starving, P500 is good. Nothing is avant garde, which i think is the point. So if you want unfussy food that people of all ages would like, head to Kettle.

You can find them at:

Level 5 East Wing, Shangrila Plaza Mall,
EDSA corner Shaw Blvd., Mandaluyong City
Telephone: +632 654-7077
Operating Hours: Everyday 11:00 AM – 09:00 PM

One of our friends had a birthday last month and asked for a recommendation for where to go. My sister had heard good things about Silantro from another friend, and off we went. The premise was nonpricey Mexican with a Filipino twist, and unlimited mojitos so we figured that would be hard to get wrong, and heck, they did things right.

It was a Friday and the place was packed. It only had about 12 tables and there were double the amount of patrons, half of which were waiting for others to finish. We were hungry, so we ordered a plate of Nachos (P145) to eat while waiting for a table to free up.

Here is what we were served:

Isn’t it pretty? We said it was like the best kind of parol (for the non-Filipinos, a Christmas decoration like this), since it was colorful, and we could eat it. And eat we did. We finished that sucker off in five minutes we were so hungry. It was so worth every penny, we ordered two more. It was a group of 8 people, and we each had our own things to eat, but it was so good we had to have some more.

We got a table around 30 minutes later and got the Calliente wings (P170):

Which was their take on buffalo wings from what we gathered. I liked the green stuff but was unsure what it is. The sweet, spicy, barbecue like sauce good for those who have little tolerance for hot things, served with a couple of sauces (I only know them as white and orange)with a bowl of orange sauce that was fiery and woke up the senses. Add a touch if you want a little spice, but more than a drop is punishment for those who don’t regularly eat spicy food.

My favorite of the bunch was the Silantro’s quesadilla (P160)

Basically a cheese plate, it was fries, cheese, bread, and other blobs of things that I couldn’t stop eating. We also had the beef version, but I liked the Silantro’s better.

What we had that wasn’t pictured:

1. The Silantro’s Burrito (P180): I wasn’t a fan. The rice had a frozen, then nuked texture to it. The meat didn’t chew well either. Burritos for me are 50-50, either you do them well or you don’t, and for me, they did not do the rice wrap justice.

2. Unlimited mojitos (P250): We loved it. It wasn’t the most faithful rendition of mojitos, but it was sweet, citrusy, sometimes strong, and the bartender was easy to talk to about adjusting the sweet or the strong depending on the three people that were drinking it. My sister had the most lethal mix, one friend had the sweeter, the last, more juice than anything. They each had at least three glasses each.

Verdict: Definitely Mexican for Filipinos, everything had a slightly sweet tinge, and gobs of cheese on every dish. Not faithful to the original recipes, but caters to the Filipino palate, and is on a cool, casual setting that is affordable for both yuppies and college students on a good day.

Tips: Go early. Place fills up and you don’t want to be waiting forty minutes for a seat. Have the unlimited mojitos if you like girl drinks, the beer buckets for a nice, chill time with friends with fun food.

Price per head: P200-300 with drinks and definitely full bellies.

Silantro’s details:

Hours: Mon - Sun: 11:00 am – 11:00 pm