Lore Manila, One of Our Faves

We were famished after spending the whole morning visiting doctors. We only had a quick bite for breakfast. I don't think it even reached my tummy, haha. We've been to Lore Manila a few times and just can't get enough of their food. We finished our hospital visit at around one in the afternoon. 

Decidedly famished we headed to One Bonifacio High Street Mall for lunch. We went straight to Lore Manila. Ended up ordering a number of dishes. That's how famished we were. The only new dish we tried was the chicken sisig. It was perfect with the chorizo rice (oh, our first time to try this as well). 

We ordered again our favorites, the Davao kinilaw, molo soup, inihaw na liempo, and the five spice chicken with hawhaw sauce. Ahh, the food was so delectable and delicious. Every bite I took sent me to heaven (haha). Soon enough we were all full. We ordered so much food we had leftovers. We were happy we had leftovers we could eat at home. 

Maybe next we'll finally be able to try other restos, haha. I'm sure we'll visit Lore Manila again soon.

#BeKind #StaySafe

"Graduation" Special Treat

We're making it a point to celebrate milestones. We decided to dine at Lore again after the "ceremony". We had the restaurant practically to ourselves since we arrived after the lunch hour rush. It was such a treat to dine there again since I wanted to try their other dishes. Miggy ordered his favorite five spice chicken. I got the liempo and Sweetie got the chorizo hamonado. We also got molo soup and adobo rice to complete our meal.

Everything was cooked perfectly. The hawflakes sauce complements the five spice chicken superbly. I tried the sauce on the liempo and it was excellent. The vinegar that came with the chorizo hamonda was sumptuous. I really like adding vinegar to what I eat. I learned that from my Dad. The serving was good for 3 and the food extended to dinner (leftovers). 

As we were finishing our late lunch, Chef Tatung arrived. Sweetie "heard" him first, so he looked behind and told me that Chef Tatung just entered the restaurant. He passed by our table several times. I eventually had the courage to say hello and ask if we could have a photo. He gamely said yes and we had a short chat with him. 

That was a special treat for us. We've been watching his cooking videos since we were in Singapore. I have all his cookbooks and have tried making a few of his dishes. Aside from Lore, we also celebrated my birthday in his home in Antipolo. The food was really good, the location is just so far (haha), so Lore has been a good alternative to go to. Maybe in time we'll brave the traffic and try his other restos. 

#BeKind #StaySafe

Tried Tatung's Private Dining

Part of my bucketlist this year is to dine at my favorite YouTube chefs restaurants. We attempted to visit Chef RV's resto in Binan, but discovered they only offer takeaway. We were set to go already, but postponed it for another time. Chef Tatung has several restaurants, but most of them are far. We are not so brave when it comes to going through traffic, so I thought the next best thing was to book a private dining experience.

And that's what we did to celebrate my birthday. A few friends came along with us and it was really a different experience. I opted to do that instead of travel since it's typhoon season and the weather  can get really nasty. Our Bohol trip was also just two months ago, so I thought an afternoon at Tatung's Private Dining was a good alternative. 

I'm not really good at describing food, so I thought I'd compile the experience in a video. I'll let your eyes feast on the sumptuous food that was served -

Chef Tatung's private residence is a place where you could relax. It was a long trek for us from our home, but the fresh air and rich foliage made us feel welcome and relaxed. It's no wonder Chef Tatung spends time there and it's truly generous of him to share his place for others to experience it. Maybe next time they can just use a catapult to bring me to the dining area. The stairs were challenging, haha. Chef Tatung was around, but wasn't feeling well after his trip. That means we'll have to do it again, maybe with Kuya and Ate Joy. 

Thank you Chef Chester, Elmer, Jay and the rest of the team for taking care of us. And thank you Elmer for assisting me going up and down the stairs (haha). 

#BeKind #StaySafe

Home on Mondays: Got a New Cookbook!

We took a break from home renovations the past few weeks, so thought it would be nice to blog about something else. One of my favorite chefs on YouTube is Chef Tatung. I've been watching his videos since I was in Singapore and have been collecting his cookbooks. I also give them as gifts to my foreigner friends who want to learn how to cook Filipino food.

He came out with a new cookbook last week entitled, "Dishkarte". I felt ecstatic when it arrived and I immediately opened the package. I originally thought it would just be a recipe book, but I was pleasantly surprised when I saw it had pages dedicated to basic cooking techniques and know-how. 

As I leafed through the pages I felt like I was going through high school Foods class again. I suddenly remembered the four years where we were taught about managing your own kitchen. Our classes though were disrupted often because of coup d'etats, so there were certainly gaps. I also almost always volunteered to either do the dishwashing or marketing. I've been afraid to use the kalan eversince I remember. So, thank God induction and electric stoves were invented! 

I still have my Foods class handwritten recipe books with my teachers signature. She checked it to make sure we wrote down all the recipes she had us try. After high school I continued to use it to write down recipes. I still use it every so often and it now sits beside Chef Tatung's books. 

Going back to the book, I like how he gave a really good overview of Filipino cooking. There's a page where he discusses how to cook different types of adobo. How to make different types of pickles, salads, processed meat (longganisa, tocino etc.), soup and much more. There's even a section about pots and pans. It's a really good book for home cooks like me and Miggy. I will enjoy reading the whole cookbook to learn more :)

#BeKind #StaySafe