Michi Photostory

Since we only stayed for 2 days and 1 night we only tried 3 restaurants for our lunch, dinner, and breakfast. 

After our Heritage Tour, we immediately went to Kusina ni Nanay Maria for our lunch. This is where we ate our lunch too when we had our Day Trip at Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar but now, they have a separate venue for day-trippers. 

I was a little bit sad because the menu has changed already, akala ko kasi maoorder ko yung dating kinain namin. Hehehe! Kusina ni Nanay Maria offers Filipino dishes that are good for singles and families. For family combos, they offer 4 sets that are good for 4 persons but we are a group of 6 so we decided to order, a la carte na lang. 

There are only few options, we ordered Lechon Carajay PHP710, Kare-Kare PHP780, Pinakbet PHP490, Laing PHP380, Rice PHP75 per cup, and Softdrink in Can PHP125. 

We waited for more than 30 minutes before our food was served and I was surprised when I saw the serving, konti lang pala so I was thinking kung kakasya ba sa amin. Buti nagkasya naman. We were satisfied with the taste of the food but we were shocked that their version of Laing is different, walang gata? 

For our dinner, we are choosing between Cafe del Rio or La Bella Teodora but we chose the latter because it is near. We just finished watching the Cultural Show at Paseo de Escolta, so malayo ang Cafe del Rio. 

La Bella Teodora is named after Teodora Alonzo because it is beside Casa Biňan. This restaurant serves Italian food like brick-oven pizzas, pasta, grilled meat, and seafood. There is also an acoustic band here where you can also request a song.

Browsing the menu is hard, madilim kasi yung restaurant so we need to use our phone flashlight pa para lang makita namin. The rate of the food is more expensive compared to Kusina ni Maria, good thing na mahina kami kumain kapag dinner. Just like the quote “Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper” 

We ordered Margherita Pizza PHP630, Insalata Mista PHP450, Carbonara PHP695, Braciola Di Maiale PHP850, and Azimut Sparkling Wine PHP965. While waiting for our food, they served complimentary bread. 

It was already past seven so I really appreciate their fast service, mas mabilis ang serving ng food dito.

But I was a little bit disappointed with the Braciola Di Maiale because according to the menu “Grilled Pork Chops with Italian Herbs and homemade Mashed Potatoes”. So in my mind, 2 pieces of pork chops just like the pork chops that I ordered at Apartment 1B, 2 pieces of porkchops na magkapatong. But I was wrong because there is only one pork chop so the PHP850 is good for one person lang pala. 

The buffet breakfast starts at 7AM pero wala pa 7AM ang dami ng tao sa labas ng Binondo Hall. I overheard other guests na sobrang late daw ng 7AM breakfast, hindi sanay ang mga working people and senior citizens. I am not surprised because the breakfast time was also too late for us na sanay sa 5:30AM breakfast especially since I have a student na maaga pumapasok. 

Anyway, the door was opened at exactly 7AM so the guests were all happy. I was excited about the buffet breakfast but unfortunately, the options are very limited. Imagine for the main viands, tuyo and sweet longganisa lang ang options. 

Enumerating the buffet spread during our trip. 

Fruits 

Salad 

Homemade Potatoes 

Plain Rice 

Pansit Bihon 

Tuyo 

Sweet Longganisa 

Congee 

Lomi Soup 

Waffles 

Scrambled Egg 

Sunny Side Up Egg 

Boiled Egg 

Bread 

Biko 

Lansong Mais 

Puto Cheese 

Melon Juice 

Watermelon Juice 

Coffee 

I am thankful for the scrambled egg and sunny side up egg, may naulam ako. So if you plan to go here, don’t expect too much sa buffet breakfast. Nabusog naman ako sa kakanin. 

Anyhow, last week we went to the hospital for my blood test and after that, we went to SM Sta Rosa to buy some stuff for our Staycation at Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar. After finishing our errands we had early lunch at Banapple. 

Banapple is one of our go-to restaurants whenever we are in Alabang Town Center so I am glad that they already have a branch in SM Sta Rosa because we rarely visit ATC. At least dito sa Sta Rosa, pwede kami magdrop by after my check-up or procedure. 

During our first visit, we bought Supercaramel Fudge Cake and Pesto Bread only so last week was our first time to eat at the restaurant. We were the first diners. We are creatures of habit so most of the time we order the same meal; we ordered Hickory Smoked Barbecued Country Ribs PHP539, Lasagna Roll-ups PHP469, Banoffee Pie PHP215, Pesto Bread PHP135, and Soda in Can PHP80. 

I only ordered dessert because, at that time, I am not hungry yet. Banapple has big serving so nakitikim na lang ko sa Lasagna Roll-Ups ni hubby. In addition, I learned that “Stress cannot exist in the presence of a pie”- David Mamet. Baka mawala stress ko sa Banoffee pie. :)

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Since then, I added Teppanya to my bucket list because my son hasn’t experienced eating at a Teppanyaki restaurant and it’s been few years already since my last Teppanyaki Experience at Yurakuen.  

I remember last year when my mom was on vacation, we tried a few times na rin to reserve but it was always fully booked siguro dahil ber months na rin and weekend lang kami available. But finally, last March we were able to try Teppanya at Evia for my Father-in-law’s birthday. 

My husband called Teppanya to reserve but he was informed na no need to reserve, kapag group of 10 lang daw para sa private room. Since we are only 5 people, walk-in na lang but it is on a first-come-first-serve basis so we were in Evia 35 minutes before the opening pero may mas maaga pa pala sa amin, hehehe! 

It was my first time in Evia Lifestyle Center and when I saw the interiors, it reminded me of our trip in Venetian Hotel in Macau. I was wondering why it took us a long time to visit here samantalang lagi namin nadadaanan ito papunta ng Landers since 2019.  

There are a lot of tables in the restaurant but it is good for sharing so for our table, we are 3 groups; 5, 3 and 2. Unlike in Yurakuen, na kahit 2 lang kami ni hubby, solo namin table. But of course, magkaiba ng rate. 

They have a la carte meals but we went here for the Unlimited Madness. We chose Deluxe only since kasama namin ang in-laws ko na maraming bawal kainin. Upon seated, there are printed instructions and menus on the table so you will get an idea of how the Unlimited Madness works. 

* To avail of Unlimited Madness, the minimum requirement is two full-paying adults. 

* Everyone in your group must avail of the same type of offer, Deluxe or Premium 

* The time limit per group is two hours and it starts when your first set of orders has been served. 

Just like in Yurakuen, after a few minutes of waiting, the staff already get our order. We can order a maximum of 10 kinds of Sushi Dishes and 10 Kinds of Teppanyaki Dishes per group of 2-4 persons. Then after serving those dishes, we can order again. 

It took us a long time to order because there are so many selections of sushi, sashimi, rolls, grilled dishes, baked dishes, ramen, soups, donburi, rice, and appetizers. 

Unfortunately, for the teppanyaki, not all are available so we were not able to try the St. Helen’s Black Angus High Choice Sirloin Fillet Steak, Pork Tenderloin, Korean Pen Scallops, and Flounder Fillet. Ang sad lang kasi scallops pa naman yung type ko sa teppanyaki, they only have Baked Aklan Scallops na hindi ko naman type. 

After they served our soups and drinks, I was surprised because the chef already came to our table and she started cooking the main dishes. I thought, same sa Yurakuen na they will give us enough time to eat our soup, sushi, and sashimi before the chef arrived. 

Imagine, while the staff is serving the 10 other kinds of dishes that we ordered, the chef is also cooking our 10 kinds of teppanyaki dishes. Everything was in a rush phase because the chef is cooking the vegetables, rice, beef, and seafood by batch. Hindi siya per type so halo-halo na yung kinakain namin, hindi ko na nga madifferentiate kung ano pinagkaiba ng Brazilian Ribeye and NZ Ribeye and ng Snapper and Uhu Fillet. 

If I knew that this would happen, we will just order a few dishes like 3 appetizers, 1 meat, 1 seafood, and 1 vegetable dish. Then reorder na lang. Hindi namin alam na sabay-sabay lulutuin yung beef, yung fish, etc. Nasa isip ko kasi yung Yurakuen na one dish at a time so we really enjoyed the experience kasi slow eating. Well, maybe that is the disadvantage of shared table kasi mabilisan lahat. 

And because of that, after one hour, we are done. Feeling ko tuloy kumain lang kami sa fast food or restaurant sa sobrang bilis. Kasi naman, hindi mo maenjoy food kung malamig na kaya dapat mabilis din kumain. Parang mas matagal pa yung pagluluto ko sa Samgyupsalan kaysa dito. Hehehe! 

Overall, the experience is just okay because some food is hit and miss. Some food is too salty for our taste. My personal favorite is the Premium Yasai Itame, I like asparagus and mushrooms kasi. The service is good naman although wala silang staff per table so if we need anything, maghahanap kami ng staff na matatawag para magrefill ng drinks or if we want to reorder. The chef asked if there are birthday celebrants so may complimentary cake and birthday song pala sila. 

Anyway, it was still a good experience for my son who is starting to love Japanese cuisine. Dati hindi naman yan nagsushi or sashimi, pero ngayon kumakain na. If ever we will go back, I will just order a few dishes at a time so we can maximize the 2 hours teppanyaki experience. It was a birthday celebration kasi so parang ang bilis lang din ng pangyayari. Much better siguro kung group of 10 kami para private room or table. 

PHP1488+ Lunch 

PHP1588+ Dinner 

PHP1588+ Holiday 

PHP1788+ Lunch 

PHP1888+ Dinner 

PHP1888+ Holiday 

Free - 3 feet below 

Half Price - 4 feet below 

Full Price - 4 feet above 

PHP1,212 will be charged on top of your bill for leftovers per head. Leftovers for this offering are not allowed to be taken out 

Mon to Thurs - 10AM to 9PM 

Fri - Sun - 10AM to 10PM 

Watch the video here ito yung pagkakasunud-sunod ng food na naserve sa amin.

I suggested two restaurants for my mom’s despedida and she chose Teppanya. So just this month, we went back to Teppanya EVIA but this time with my family. I mentioned before that we planned to eat here last year pero lagi fully booked but we tried our luck again.

I asked my husband to call Teppanya EVIA to reserve a private room and was advised that there is a minimum of PHP15,000 total bill to reserve this room. Which is not a problem since we are group of 11 so even we just availed the Unlimited Madness Regular Rate, pasok kami sa minimum amount. 

The day before our schedule, my husband received a message and call from Teppanya to confirm our reservation. And at the time of our trip, we arrived 30 minutes before the opening and marami na rin nakapila, mas marami ngayon compared sa last visit namin. And since we have our reservation, kami una nakapasok.

It was only 8 months ago since our last visit pero marami na rin changes. The good news is, the menu is already laminated, much better kaysa sa printed paper. The sad news is, the menu has changed na pala. May 3 choices na, Regular Rate na kami sa second visit. I was looking forward for scallops kasi wala dati pero ngayon, wala na talaga sa menu. No more St Helen’s Black Angus High Choice Sirloin Fillet Steak and Korean Pen Scallops but there is an additional King Mackerel Miso but we did not order this. 

Even though we are a group, we have our own likes and dislikes so may kanya-kanya rin kami order. Like I said before, konti na lang order ko para maenjoy ko kasi sabay-sabay niluto last time e. For my family of three, we ordered NZ Ribeye, Salmon, Shrimp, Squid, Premium Yasai Itame, Usuyaki Beef Roll, Miso Soup, Ebi Tempura, Premium Sashimi Moriawase and Baked Scallops. 

I liked our recent teppanyaki experience kasi hindi sobrang nagmamadali yung chef so we were able to enjoy our two hours. And this time, hindi maalat yung food, so siguro nakadepende na lang talaga sa chef. 

I was expecting na may sariling butler sa private room pero wala pala so the downside is, kapag may gusto ka iorder or ifollow-up, mahirap. Kailangan mo pa lumabas or maghintay na may magserve para makapag-order or follow-up, especially sa drinks. Ang tagal makapagrefill.

Lunch PHP1,488+

Dinner and Holiday PHP1,588+

Lunch PHP1,888+

Dinner and Holiday PHP1,988+

Lunch PHP2,888+

Dinner and Holiday PHP2988+