When my husband was still working in Alabang in 2001, our usual meeting place was Ayala Town Center, and our restaurant of choice then was always North Park Noodle House. We would order food good for 4 people, and we would finish everything! No wonder we were both overweight then! LOL!

Last Saturday, when we went to Glorietta Mall, we decided we’d try North Park at Glorietta 5. We paid a little more than Php600.00 for what we ordered, not bad!


Lapu-lapu Fillet w/ Soft Tofu, Php268.00


Nanking Beef & Wanton, Php118.00


Pinsec Frito (fried triangular meat dumplings), Php109.00 (8 pieces)


Yang Chow Fried Rice, Php138.00
On a scale of 1 to 5, I’d give them a 4 for presentation. The Nanking Beef & Wanton was okay, according to my husband; we actually bought it for Justin. The Lapu-lapu Fish Fillet was a little bit salty, though. Plain rice would have been a better complement for that hot pot dish than Yang Chow Fried Rice because the rich flavors of the Lapu-lapu Fish Fillet and Yang Chow overpowered each other. Their Pinsec Frito was so-so. For their food taste and quality, I’d give North Park a rating of 3.

Whenever we pass by Greenbelt Park in Makati, we make it a point to dine at Conti’s. That’s because of the sumptuous treats they have to offer. Their Baked Salmon, for instance, never fails to satisfy! On our last visit to Conti’s, my husband and I ordered Callos and Fish Fillet and shared a delicious slice of Mango Bravo.



Callos (Ox tripe, knuckles and chorizo bilbao in garlic tomato sauce, served with steamed rice), Php225.00


Parmesan Fish Fillet w/ Parsley Sauce (Served with buttered vegetables and almond pilaf), Php230.00


Mango Bravo, Php120.00
Conti’s is located at Greenbelt 2, Ayala Center, Makati City.

Justin is quite a picky eater. I think he takes that after his Daddy and his grandfather on his Daddy’s side. Like most kids, he has his favorite treats, too, which include pizza, ice cream, spaghetti, french fries, and Auntie Anne’s pretzel. Too bad, I wasn’t able to take a picture of him eating pizza, specifically Chef d’Angelo’s Four Cheese Deluxe.








I just love seeing my son enjoying his food. I guess all moms are like that, huh?

Click on the badge above to see more Mommy Moments’ entries.

My best friend Remie and I held a joint birthday celebration with our closest friends at Banana Leaf at The Podium last night. Banana Leaf offers Malaysian and Thai cuisine.

We had two salads for appetizers. I found the Pomelo Salad Thai Style too sour and the Roast Chicken & Mango Salad too sweet.

The group was unanimous in saying that we should have ordered steamed rice instead of the Penang Fried Rice with Salted Fish & Chicken as it did not complement the viands we ordered. It actually overpowered the other dishes.

I liked the Stir-fried Chinese Kangkong with Sambal Sauce and the Squid Garlic.

However, I did not attempt eating the Stir-fried Crab with Spicy Golden Garlic because it’s too messy to eat. My husband said it tasted okay.

There was nothing extraordinary with the rest of what we ordered.

Meegoreng

Oat Prawns

Malayan Chicken Curry with Potatoes

I did notice something, though. We weren’t served any sauces, dips or condiments for the the shrimp, squid and crab in our dinner table. That could have made our food more appetizing.

Oh, I loved my Thai iced tea, by the way. It’s definitely worth a try. Too bad, we weren’t able to take a picture of it.

Banana Leaf did well with their food presentation. Overall, though, I’d give them only a 2.5 rating out of 5. I was full but not completely satisfied.

Justin has some very peculiar habits when it comes to the foods he eats and how he eats them. For a toddler, he likes ketchup, gravy and sandwich spread.

Justin likes to smother his rice with ketchup and gobble up the combination with gusto.

When we’re eating at either Jollibee or Kenny Rogers Roasters, Justin gulps down his gravy straight from the tiny plastic container and he would request for countless refills.

Justin also likes to get a spoonful of sandwich spread and devour it without bread. This is when mommy and daddy take over. We’re the ones getting the sandwich spread from the bottle and we give it to him little by little. We then hide the bottle of sandwich spread when we think he’s had enough.

Do your kids have food quirks, too?

Justin always associates cakes with birthdays. Yesterday, Justin’s grandparents brought him a few slices of Red Ribbon’s S’mores Chocolate Cake. When he saw the cake, he immediately sang:

Happy birthday, Justin
Happy birthday, Justin
Happy birthday, happy birthday
Happy birthday, Justin!

Tatay and Nanay and my family (me, Ed and Justin) decided to spend the night at my sister Meann’s house on December 25 to give all of us the much-needed rest before going home.

Except for Nanay and Tatay who are early-risers, we all woke up late. We still enjoyed our Christmas left-overs.

First, we had to drop off Nanay and Tatay at their house in Dasmarinas, Cavite. Hubby offered to treat all of us to lunch at Max’s Restaurant. We ordered family fried chicken (whole), beef kare-kare, fish fillet in black beans (I’m not too sure I remember this right), and chopsuey. Boy, did we enjoy that meal!


At Max's Restaurant while waiting for our orders

Next, we’re headed for our place in Ortigas, but we had another stop-over at Festival Supermall. Our little boy badly needed a train ride, so hubby, me and Justin rode the Junction Express. Tito Orlan and Justin then had a grand time maneuvering the “big cow” while mom and dad took a restroom break.


At the entrance of Junction Express


Waiting for our turn to board the train


Mommy, Justin and Daddy enjoying our train ride


Oops! Where is Daddy?


Justin with Tito Orlan riding the walking "big cow"

Yesterday was a fun, fun day!

Because I work Mondays to Fridays, I do my grocery shopping once a week so it doesn’t get in the way of my work schedule (See my article “How to Make the Most of Your Grocery Shopping.”) Besides, I work at home, so it becomes quite a chore to dress after work just to buy groceries. I’m usually tired by then, and the only energy I have left is for taking care of my son Justin.

Suffice it to say that I have to prepare the week’s menu ahead of time. Before I head to the nearest supermarket, I make a mental or physical list of all the ingredients of the meals that we’re going to prepare at home for the entire week. Now, there are things I consider when preparing our family menu for the week.

First, I take into consideration each family member’s food preference. My husband likes sinigang or nilaga, so I make it a point to include any of those in our weekly fare. He’s not really a fish person, but when he’s in the mood to eat fish, it’s usually the small types, like tawilis or salay ginto, so again, I make it a point to buy any of those or both if they’re available. My son Justin, on the other hand, likes tomato-based dishes, so it’s imperative that we have one of those in our weekly menu, too. For myself, I prefer fish (bangus, especially) and vegetables.

Of course, I also have to keep in mind my family’s health, but as you can see, we already have a good (healthy) combination of food from our individual preferences. For one week, we usually end up having one or two pork dishes, one or two chicken dishes, and three or more fish/seafood dishes.

Here’s a sample weekly menu for my family:

Monday – Fried tawilis and sautéed ampalaya with shrimp
Tuesday – Chicken tinola
Wednesday – Adobong pusit
Thursday - Menudo
Friday – Sarsiadong tilapia
Saturday – Fried chicken and chopsuey
Sunday - Pork sinigang

You might be wondering why we only have one dish for the entire day. I also planned it that way because Justin’s nanny doesn’t have time anymore to cook new dishes every meal. Besides, I want her eyes only on Justin the entire day. When Justin was smaller, our next day’s meals were prepared the night before (See my post "How to Have Some Semblance of Order in the House When You Have a Baby.") Since I now work at home, I have enough time in the morning to look after my son before my work shift, so the nanny can now do the cooking in the morning.

I read from Yahoo! News last Sunday that a 67-year-old woman from Fujisawa, Japan experienced numbness on her tongue after consuming Nissin’s Cup Noodle. Japan’s health office discovered the presence of paradichlorobenzene, a chemical found in bug repellent in the said food item, although there was no puncture or other abnormality in the cup.

Because of this, Japan’s Nissin Food Products Co. voluntarily recalled 500,000 cups of instant noodles made on the same factory line on the same day. While Nissin president Susumu Nakagawa apologized for this mishap, he denied the possibility of contamination at their factory, saying it had never used or stored the insecticide inside the factory and had seven security cameras overseeing manufacturing lines.

When we went to the mall that afternoon, there was a newly installed booth beside Tom World’s at Robinsons, Galleria. And what do you know? The people manning the stall are giving free Nissin instant noodles, not the cup noodles, but those in pouches. My initial reaction was to get as far away from the booth as I could, my husband and son in tow. Those noodles might be contaminated, too. Who knows? I wonder what’s safe to eat these days.

Last Saturday, hubby and I finally got the chance to savor some gastronomic delights at Pho Bac, Robinsons Galleria. It was our first time to relish Vietnamese food, and we both enjoyed it. We had spring rolls for appetizers. Too bad we weren’t able to take a photograph of these. Ed had Cambodian Pho Bo soup noodles afterwards, and I had Chicken with Lemongrass. We capped off our dinner with those dainty pandan puddings. We’ll definitely go back to this place.


Cambodian Pho Bo Soup Noodles


Chicken with Lemongrass


Pandan Pudding