Todd English Food Hall

Todd English Food Hall is a relatively new restaurant in SM Aura. I went here with my officemates to celebrate after winning an award for our campaign! Waiting line could get long especially in the evening so make sure to reserve ahead. One of my colleagues arrived early and ordered this appetizer. It was okay, I liked the fried oyster.

Mix Frito

 I love the place. I love the concept. I love the food choices.  There are 9 food stations with different themes. We were seated near the cupcake ferris wheel in the middle of the restaurant. It's a good area because you can view all the stations from your table.

I had a hard time ordering.  There were a lot of good dishes I wanted to try.  Good thing I was with my team, we can all share and try more dishes!

We tried ordering 1 dish from each station. Service was great.  Waiters were so accommodating and food came fast, no need to wait long... First dish to arrive was the Rainbow Roll --- loved the colors! It had different Maki combination.  I got to try 2 and they were very good.  The blend of flavor was great and you can really tell that the ingredients were fresh!

Rainbow Roll

Then our pizza arrived! Yahoo! Dough was freshly baked -- thin and crispy (my kind of perfect pizza crust). I also liked the toppings --- fig and prosciutto combination. Next time, I would like to try Chorizo and Shrimp. 

Fig and Prosciutto

I've been seeing this dish from the foodie reviews so I really made sure to order one. It didn't disappoint me. It had diced fresh tuna on top of the shrimp (hidden inside the cucumber wrap) with special sauces. I liked it so much, I ended up finishing this dish.

Tuna Tartar

Shortly after, the main course dishes arrived. My colleague recommended the Pork Chop and Mac & Cheese.  On top of these 2 dishes, we also ordered Clam Bake, Slider and the Lobster & Steak. I was able to try them all and they were all good.  The Clam Bake broth was flavorful and you can tell that the seafood were fresh. I loved the twist to plain old Mac and Cheese by adding Crab --- must try.  The slider was okay. Pork Chop meat was so tender and  juicy, I was looking though for a more intense flavor.  I also loved the Lobster but the steak was a bit chewy for me.

T.E. Clam Bake

Slider

Mac and Cheese with Crab

T.E. Pork Chop

US Steak and Lobster

Then we asked for the dessert menu.

We ordered OMG Chocolate Cake and S'Mores.  If you're a chocolate lover, you would love OMG - chocolate, chocolate and chocolate!

OMG Chocolate Cake

S'Mores

I would love to go back to this place with my husband and order the other dishes I haven't tried yet.

Todd English Food Hall

5th Level, Sky Park, SM Aura Premier

Bonifacio Global City Taguig

+632 6214002

The Girl + The Bull: "Yeah, you found us"

After a tiring flight from Singapore, we opted to have dinner near our house. We've been hearing a lot of good reviews so we wanted to try it ourselves. My husband called a day earlier to reserve at The Girl and the Bull. The restaurant is quite hard to find - from Aguirre Ave just go straight to the end, past El Grande Ave. The restaurant is just few meters from the intersection, right side - situated inside a hostel (no sign). Upon entering, you will be greeted with this message on the front door:

 

I love the ambiance of this restaurant - black & white flooring, paintings, chalkboards, nice lighting, glass-like seats and unique decors. It's a small restaurant so make sure to reserve a table beforehand. They have limited but interesting dishes on their menu.

We started with our Tarragon Tea.

Tarragon Tea

For starters, we ordered the Wild Arugula salad. I loved it! Unfortunately, we weren't able to eat the bacon since the kids beat us to it.

Wild Arugula Salad

For the kids, we ordered the Truffle French Fries, which came with a vinegar in an atomizer - very interesting concept.

Truffle Fries

For main course, we ordered Hanging Tender (Steak with Kimchi Rice and Egg) and the Buttermilk Fried Chicken. The Steak was flavorful but the meat was a bit tough/chewy. The Kimchi Rice was also good but could be better with a dash of Dashida (Korean beef seasoning).

Hanging Tender

My eldest son was so hungry and kept following up on the buttermilk Fried Chicken. Good thing it didn't disappoint him. It has 3 large chicken portions. The meat was juicy with yummy (little spicy according to my son) and crispy skin.

Buttermilk Fried Chicken

For desserts, we ordered the Faux Twix and Vanilla Ice Cream. Oh I loved the Faux Twix. It doesn't look very appealing but once you've tried it, you won't stop til it's finished! I love the perfect mix of all the ingredients - just superb! My son ordered the Vanilla Ice Cream. It was drizzled with virgin olive oil - a surprisingly flavorful touch. Who would have thought Ice Cream would taste better with it? This is really a good twist to plain old Vanilla Ice Cream.

Faux Twix

Vanilla Ice Cream

We will definitely go back to this restaurant. Next time, would love to try either Grass-fed Beef Tenderloin or Blowtorched Rib Eye.

The Girl and the Bull
346 Aguirre Avenue, BF Homes Paranaque
+63905 5722556

Singapore Food Trip!

I went to Singapore for a business trip last week.  And when I'm there: I meet friends, eat food and have fun!

I was fortunate to stay with my friend in her service apartment.  I arrived on a Tuesday (holiday) afternoon, left my luggage at her place and went straight to H&M.  After shopping we ate at Red House. We started with boiled sweet peanuts and hot tea.

Peanuts and Hot Tea

For Main Course, we ordered Cereal Prawns and Chili Crab.  I love their Cereal Prawns. For my "sawsawan," I asked for vinegar and chili sauce. Sarap! I thought this would be the highlight of our dinner until the Chili Crab arrived with the Mantou bread - perfect combination. Super yummy! I wanted to eat more but I was super full already.

Crispy Cereal Prawns

Chili Crab

Mantou Bread

After our satisfying dinner, we walked around the block and settled at Pies and Coffee.  The place is so nice, love the ambiance. We ordered hot tea and coffee.  

The next day, I went to our SG office. I had lunch with my Filipino Colleagues at Shin-Sapporo Ramen.  I wanted to order the Menchi "value meal" but opted to order what my colleagues have recommended: Beef Gyudon.  It was quite okay for a lunch meal - added spicy sesame oil to make it more exciting.

Menchi with Rice

Gyudon

Then for dinner, I went out with my team.  I saw this restaurant near my friend's service apartment, Brussel Sprouts.  Unfortunately, will be dining at a different branch - inside Sentosa.

I was so excited to eat Mussels.  Our host ordered for us.  He ordered 4 buckets of Classic Mussels dish, some cheese and cold cuts platters.

Mussels and Fries

Cheese and Crackers

The Mussels were fine (big, flavorful and with good texture) but I didn't enjoy the dish that much. I think I'm not a fan of the sauce: Vin Blanc (onion, parsley, butter, celery, leek and white wine).  Next time, I would love to try their Cream-based: Ostendaise (fish stock, lobster bisque, shrimp and mushroom) and Poulette (parsley, butter, mushroom, chicken stock and cream). These are the recommendation of the Filipina waiter.

For dessert, we ordered the Lava Cake! 

Lava Cake

On my 3rd day in Singapore.  I booked a lunch date with my former colleague-friend.  We both love spicy food so we agreed to eat at a Korean restaurant, Auntie Kim's.  As expected, there were yummy appetizers!

For Main Course, we ordered Spicy Pork Bulgogi and Seafood Pajeon.  Oh, I love Korean Food! The Spicy Pork Bulgogi was to raved for.  I would strongly recommend to order this dish!

Spicy Pork Bulgogi

Seafood Pajeon

For dinner, I met my old team mates.  We ate at Imperial Treasure Steamboat.  On your table, you will see many dipping sauces.  Since we didn't know how to mix the sauces, we asked the waitress to do it for us.  Just tell them whether you want it spicy or not.

We ordered the set meal for 4.  We added the fish skin.  This dish is so delicious - must try!

Fish Skin

The set meal includes the following:

Appetizer

2 types of soup base: Satay and Pork broth

Seafood and veggies

Assorted Balls

Meat, Noodles and Tofu

I liked the Satay soup-base.  So yummy! And for any shabu-shabu meal, you just have to shoot all the meat, balls, veggies and seafood into the pot. Once cooked, you can dip your meat into the mix (prepared by the waitress earlier).  Wow, I really got "bundat" with this meal.  I was hoping there's more space in my stomach to eat more...

After dinner, we walked along Orchard looking for a dessert place.  We found Robert Timms. We ordered coffees and cakes.  Another colleague followed and order his sandwich.  We didn't bother trying it because we were really very full!

Carrot Cake

Hazelnut Latte

House Sandwich

We had so much "kwentos," we ended around 12 midnight.  It was a great day catching up with friends.

On my 4th day, I had a brunch meeting outside of the office - BoomArang.  I ordered coffee and Eggs Benedict. It was a good meal to end my SG trip. I loved the smoked salmon!

Cafe Mocha

Eggs Benedict

I will surely go back to Singapore to discover more good restaurants!

Red House

60 Robertson Quay, #01-14 THE QUAYSIDE, Singapore 238252

+65 6735 7666

Pies and Coffee

11 Unity Street,Robertson Walk, Singapore 237995

+65 6733 9272

Shin-Sapporo Ramen

460 Alexandra Road, ARC (#02-23), SINGAPORE 119963

+65 6276 5708

Brussel Sprouts

31 Ocean Way #1-01 Quayside Isle, Singapore 098375

+65 6684 4344

Auntie Kim's

460 Alexandra Road ARC 0221 Singapore 119963

+65 6274 3383

Imperial Treasure Steamboat

UOB ATM - ION Orchard, Singapore 238801

+65 6732 8231

Robert Timms

Wheelock Place, Singapore 238880

+65 6735 9201

Boomarang

60 Robertson Quay, Singapore 238252

+65 6738 1077