Thursday 28 July 2011

Tikim15: Ramen bar (Eastwood, Quezon City) by Rich Tiu

Slurp. As their shirt says, you need not be shy in slurping the night (or day) away in this ramen place. The name says it all... Ramen Bar. Simple. Clear. Direct to the point.


Minimalistic interior
Menu is clean and direct; don't forget the side dishes! :)

If like me, you love spicy food, then I'd recommend the Spicy Karaage Ramen. It is a spicy shoyu based ramen topped with fried boneless chicken. 

Spicy Karaage Ramen
Up close and personal
The other one that we had was the Sapporo Miso Ramen, miso infused ramen topped with tamago, naruto, negi, chasyu, butter and corn. As the name implies this one taste like miso soup.

Sapporo Miso Ramen
Last but not the least, do try their gyoza! Their version is deep fried, you'll feel some crunch as 
you bite into it. All in all, two thumbs up.

Gyoza can be fried or steamed

Quality 4/5
Price 4/5
Ambiance 4/5

Ramen Bar
G/F Eastwood Mall, Libis, Quezon City
570-9457

*restaurant review by my brother, Richmond Tiu

Saturday 23 July 2011

Tikim14: Fruitea Mix, another tea-place (San Juan, Manila)

After scavenging art materials in National Bookstore, I suddenly craved for some cold drink. At first I wanted to buy lemon yakult in Happy lemon but due to traffic, I decided to try the new tea-place beside Konbini, Fruitea Mix. The concept is just like the other tea-places in Manila ~ choosing a drink and the add-ons/sinkers, adjusting the sweetness level, and/or ordering snacks.

Nice ambiance
Fruiteamix's menu
I decided to order Passion Fruit Yakult with Coco jelly just because it is my favorite drink in Serenitea. (This also gives me a point of comparison between Serenitea's and Fruitea Mix :))

Passion fruit yakult drink my Fruiteamix

My notes...1) I noticed that their menu has fruit bits on their drink but unfortunately it was just for presentation and identification of what drink is in the menu. Real fruit bits included in tea drinks can actually be their U.P.S (Unique Selling Point) that will differentiate them all other tea-place. 2) The Passion Fruit Yakult I ordered almost tastes like that of Serenitea's but it is less sweet. 3) Fruitea Mix has more add-on options (Pearls, Coco Jelly, Grass Jelly, Red Bean, Black Bricks, and Egg Pudding but i recently visited Serenitea Banawe branch and noticed their variety of sinkers increased!) and snack foods that actually don't use peppers ( Potato cheese balls, crisscut fries, fresh potato chips, and chicken strips). This makes me excited to try on the other snacks and add-ons especially the grass jelly ^.^

Cheese balls: Will taste bland after 3-5 bites 
I will be coming to Fruitea Mix to try on their milk tea, if it's better than Bubble tea, Chatime, GongCha, Cobo, and Serenitea. I'll let you know soon! :) Remember to ask for their loyalty card (unfortunately I didn't get one as I didn't know about this prior to a blog I read just minutes ago :(..minus points for service!)

Quality: 3/5
Price: 2.5/5
Ambiance + Service: 3/5 

Fruitea Mix
Address: 57 Connecticut St, Noetheast Greenhills, SJ
Contact Number: 6550011

Tuesday 5 July 2011

Tikim13: Jolibee Chicken Nuggets vs Chicken Mc Nuggets


 Me and my classmates from SoFA went to Jolibee to buy lunch. Before entering the main door, I saw a new poster marketing Jolibee’s new product, chicken nugget crunchers! I got excited wondering what it will taste like, so I ordered one out of curiosity. My lunch consisted of 5 pieces of Jolibee chicken nuggets (P75.00) and cheese fries as a replacement for rice (the chicken nuggets isn’t a rice meal :( ) I was hoping it would have the option of a rice meal because Filipinos are used to eating rice for lunch.

The sauce is not packaged well, it doesn't look appealing

Tasty but flat. The chicken nugget crunchers boasts of having carrot bits
I can’t help but compare this with Chicken Mc Nuggests. Taste-wise the Jolibee chicken nuggets  crunchers have more flavor; not sure why but it may be cooked in Lard that gives it a lasting flavor. The size of the Jolibee chicken nuggets is more flat than the Mc Nuggets which seem to have more meat.  For the dips, the barbeque sauce of Jolibee nuggets goes well with it but it doesn’t give variety or options unlike the 2 dipping sauces, sweet & sour and barbeque, of Mcdo’s nuggets. Lastly for the price, Mcdo is more expensive; if you are on a bugget go for Jolibee it not then Mcdo! :)

Tell me what you like better! :)