Inggo Noms...

Beloved and I had our first 2012 food adventure at Trinoma’s Banana Leaf. I’ve actually eaten at this Thai-Malay restaurant before with a couple of friends, but didn’t manage to chronicle that particular time. And since that was a pretty decent experience, we weren’t afraid of trying it out, despite knowing little of Thai cuisine. Anyway, this place is sort of special for a couple of things. First, each order is good for two to three people, making this a family-friendly restaurant. Second, their plates are substituted with banana leaves, hence the name, and further making sharing a must. While there were only two of us, we decided that Beloved takes home any leftovers that we expected to have.

Beloved and I had dinner at Sentosa last night. This Singaporean-Chinese restaurant is among the newer ones in Tomas Morato, albeit this one has been here awhile. Still, I think it’s not yet been a year since its opening. Anyway, what kept us from eating here are a couple of things: first, we don’t know what to expect from a Singaporean restaurant, this being the first one we’ve to try; and, second, their windows consist of different fish tanks where they keep their fresh seafood, and we have no idea how many people are eating inside without taking a peek at the door to find out if people actually eat here. For some unknown reason, we did finally eat here last night, and what follows is the experience.

Me and family had dinner at BonChon Chicken last night. I’ve only recently heard of this place, which apparently recently also sprung up everywhere for some reason. All of my loved ones who have tried this place say that it’s fantastic. Mom had heard that their chicken is addictive, and they claim to be the best chicken in some parts of America. However, from what I’ve heard, this place is apparently a Korean fried chicken place. A pretty accessible one opened up in a somewhat newly-opened building at Katipunan Ave., and that was where we ate.

Beloved and I finally had dinner at Zensho a couple of days ago. I say finally because this is one of the couple remaining Japanese restaurants we have yet to try at Tomas Morato. Why we put off until now was probably because we had no idea what their “A la carte Buffet” mean. And while the 595 Php tag is a bit enticing, we didn’t know if this included their teppanyaki, which apparently what this resto is known for. After reading through the few reviews found on the web, we find out that this indeed include their teppanyaki, among other Japanese favorites. Since their sashimi was also included, it was a done deal.

Beloved and I had dinner last night at Sango. This newly-opened burger joint is located at our midway-from-our-homes turf, Tomas Morato. Specifically, it is found at the same building where Size Matters is. Like that place, this burger joint also has a twist to it, apparently a Japanese one. How that Japanese twist applies to burgers was for us to find out.

A few days ago, Beloved and I had dinner at Size Matters. Since this was basically a newly-opened burger joint at our turf, there was little reason not to try it out. However, we really didn’t know what to expect aside from burgers. After climbing a couple of flights of stairs, we find out that they actually specialize in sausages.

Beloved and I had a late dinner at Kanzhu Hand-Pulled Noodles. Beloved inadvertently became a regular to this place since her office usually orders lunch here. It also wasn’t my first time trying out this place as she brought me a couple of dishes to-go before. I thought it wasn’t fair to write about a take-home meal, as it might affect quality, but I thought it was pretty good and plentiful for a packaged meal.

Beloved and I had lunch at Gumbo. Yes, we’ve been to this place before, although not the same branch, so I guess this month is turning into a “revisited” edition of Inggo Noms…. Of course, as with our last two revisits, we ordered something different in this Southern USA-specialty place. And, as I’ve mentioned in my last review from the previous place, I was looking forward to trying out their Seafood Boil.

A week ago, Beloved and I ate at Chophouse. This grilled steak-specialty restaurant that features a cow statue with a halo and angel wings has been a mainstay in Trinoma’s 4th floor alfresco area. Well, the cow statue is a mainstay—this place was formerly called “Holy Cow”, quite appropriate for the mascot. At first we thought that this was just a simple name change, but Holy Cow opened doors on SM North EDSA’s new Annex, and now we’re not sure anymore. Me and my friends joked that perhaps Holy Cow was co-shared by two friends that drifted apart, settling for an agreement that one keeps the name while the other keeps the cow statue.

A few days ago, me and my friends ate at Tempura Japanese Grill. This would be my third time reviewing this place on this blog, if I’m not mistaken, and I still won’t be reviewing the “grill” portion of this place, sadly. However, I’m still pretty stoked at what I will be reviewing for this entry. I guess this week sort of becomes a revisiting week of my favorite Japanese restaurants, hoping they still deserve the praise I gave them before.