Creamy and Cheesy at the Stock Market

A weekend at Boni High Street means limited food choices, if you're not adventurous. But, thank God I am and I have less food allergies so I could dine as I please. I've been intrigued at a restaurant called Stock Market, partially coz of how it looks (I love the cozy atmosphere) and well, it is something new.

Can't go wrong always with pasta so I went for pasta and soup. But here's something that caught my eye:

Tomato Foundue with Mozzarella and Parmesan Croutons (Php 285)

This appetizer is good for sharing. It's like tomato sauce... minus the pasta. It's richer than tomato soup. Here, you get a crouton, put it on your plate, stab it with a fork, and dip it in the rich fondue (just like how you dip chips on salsa) and pop it in your mouth. The crouton softens with the sauce, that's kept perpetually warm with a tiny tea candle.

For soup,an old favorite: French Onion soup (Php 230). yumm!

I like the beef broth base plus the onions (which had no onion spicy taste and topped with bread with melted cheese topping). Tip: Share the soup, you won't be able to finish the entire thing. :)

Main course, which for me a classic and unadventurous pasta dish. Choice was the uber rich Ravioli of Cream Cheese, Parmesan and Pine Nuts (Cream+Cheese+Loads more of Cheese = urk!)

Php 360

I could swear, it tastes better than it looks. Those bits there are actually ham. So imagine eating the richest carbonara sauce known to mankind loaded with cheese. If you love cheese, this dish spells heaven. The ravioli may be like a few pieces here, like 5, but trust me... this is one dish you would want for sharing, especially if you've had the fondue and Soup.

The dinner was topped off with green tea iced cream plus a cup of hot tea at the nearby Krispy Kremes. Price-wise, it kinda gets expensive. I like that the people treat us well though and gave us suggestions. I'd go back here and try more dishes. (Note to self: No cheese overload)

Large Means Large

This is how big the new large fries are:

And for a fry-lover like me, I couldn't finish them :P

Thai Silk Sampaguita Sorbet : Interestingly Sweet

One rainy night, for a change and since I wanted something to rid me of any cough before they start, thai cuisine was the way to go. I wanted something sweet so I checked out the dessert menu. I chose sampaguita sorbet, which was quite interesting. I mean I'm familiar with the flower seeing it hung on leis during church every Sunday but I never actually thought of it as a dessert flavor.

Actually it was a choice between this or durian ice cream. I chose this. Those who know me full well know this.

Don't expect this to be creamy though like ice cream. It's actually more of like fine ice shavings sweetened with sugar with the taste of sampaguita. The taste? Quite interesting and exotic. It does remind me of the flower's scent for some reason. A hidden joke is that it tastes like the air freshener. Not that I munch on the air freshener though...

(Sampaguita Sorbet available at Thai Silk restaurant at Serendra)

Oishi Gourmet Picks as a Pre-Dinner Snack

No rice for a week. Hunger pangs strike. I needed my carb fix and I needed something (quite) unhealthy and here's what I found in the grocery:

I was passing by the grocery since I wanted some chips and I saw this. It was roughly around Php45.00 and the pack was big so I was like... a big bag of chips for a low price.

I expected a full bag though but when I opened it....

ay.... :-

Nevertheless, taste-wise it was okay. And it's even got Nori bits.

I like too that it wasn't too salty or oily. The wasabi flavor also didn't burn my senses or nostrils. But then again, I love Japanese food and wasabi so I was munching along. I'm still fooled by the packaging though, but I like the taste nevertheless.

Lunchtime Treat at Fish and Co.

I was at the PC when my mom told us we'd be having lunch at Fish and Co. as a pre-Mommy's Day lunch to avoid the Mommy's Day crowd. This was the time that I still had my super schizo tummy but hey, good seafood comes only a few times at a time and since this is my favorite mall time - off-peak non-payday, it was a yes. So we found ourselves at the new Fish and Co. branch at Alabang Town Center with hardly any people on peak lunch hour. :)

Drinks first and I ordered bottomless strawberry iced tea.

Iced tea plus sweetened strawberry pulp and a slice of lemon made me cool down a few degrees on a hot summer day.

We ordered an appetizer of Cesar's Salad with salmon. Salmon was smoked and flaky just the way we like it. The kids enjoyed it too.

Yum Yum Yum! With fresh Parmesan cheese too.

We ordered seafood platter A and since we had a coupon, we qualified for free fish and chips but our waiter suggested we avail of the other coupon for Mussels instead and he'll have our dory at the seafood platter fried so that we could have our version of fish and chips. It was a good choice too, as there would be overload.

So the mussels came in lemon butter sauce. I think I had 4 of these. I never say no to good seafood.

The free mussels with the Seafood platter. We ordered the smallest one, which had calamari, shrimp, dory fish (fried), and also mussels. Although this was the smallest one, it was already enough to fill 3 adults and 2 children. This huge platter is good for sharing.

They also had servings of sauces but I preferred eating them with the lemon butter sauce. Aside from the seafood, this platter came with servings of fries (which I found quite spicy) and slices of lemon. When I got my serving of tiger prawns (yum yum yum and good thing they were butterflied too so all I had to do was pry the meat from the shell), I saw to my suprise that they were resting on a bed of paella rice. Since I avoided carbs, I just had a few fries, the seafood, and no rice. The kids liked the rice though, and they got to try some of the seafood.

I like the dory cooked crisp and flaky, and it didn't have the unpleasant "fishy" taste but it practically melted in my mouth. Calamari was spicy, just like the fries. Prawns were firm and service was prompt. We were attended well and we appreciated the suggestions our server gave us. We did finish the food, and so did the kids.

Fish and Co. is a good place to eat on a special occasion, due to the hefty price tag (the seafood platter costs around Php 895) but it's a good celebration place for you and your seafood-loving friends. Best to order different meals and just share, and since the servings are quite big, it's good for a big group, like 4.

Would I go back here again? Well, yes definitely, on a special occasion with good friends and a fat wallet. On weekends though, I think it's best to make reservations as I've heard that during mother's day, the line was really long.

Dinner at Chilli's Greenbelt 5

Chilli's to me is one of those restos I go on very special occasions, the hefty price tags on the food is why. But on special occasions (re: a very good shoot and jobs well done) I wouldn't mind it though.



I've been suffering from a sudden appetite decrease though (oh dear) so we decided to keep dinner light, skipping the greasy fajitas and opting salad and quesadillas instead:

Boneless Buffalo Chicken salad (Php 215.00 for a regular serving) with pico de gallo, crumbled blue cheese, bacon, and tortilla crisps with crispy chicken breast and with Ranch sauce on the side (aside from the drizzling of chipotle-ranch dressing). I like the chicken part and ended up getting like 60% of it more than the greens. :)

The Fajita Quesadillas (Php 355.00 for chicken) were served with fresh pico de gallo and sour cream but were good as is.

Melt-in-the-mouth cheeses and chicken. I just had two of these because I bonded with:

Strawberry Top Shelf Margarita. Yum yum yum. I wasn't able to taste alcohol with this. It was just like drinking strawberry shake but I felt the kick halfway to the glass but maybe cos I havent been drinking in a while. The red crystalline stuff is actually colored sugar. :) Cost is Php275. I'll get back to you on the costs of the salad and quesadilla.

Servingwise, what we got is for 2-3 people. In fact, we took the quesadilla home and popped it in the oven for breakfast.

If you're wondering why I got my right hand bandaged, I had a luggage-cleaning accident where I accidentally sprained my hand when I tried prying something out. It kinda hurt at first but the pain was bothersome towards the end of the day so I immobilized and bandaged it to prevent further injury. It's a bit okay now, just can't move much so as not to exacerbate the pain.

So far so full. :) Not to mention really good ambiance. If you got kids with you, they also give kids art sets to play with while they're bored.

Takawness

To the girl that makes my Krispy Kremes pigging-out session lotsa better:

Here's a hug for you. Take care always and I'll always be here for you. >:D<

When all's better, my schizophrenic GI system included that has decreased my appetite tremendously, let's rush to the nearest KK store again.