Happy Seafood and Fish Treats from Max's.

Dear Max's Chicken,

Although for forty days, I'd pass on the to-die-for Crispy Pata (literally to-die-for) and signature chicken, thank you so much for your seafood choices that you served to us last Monday. The rain and the chores I had at home didn't stop me. Although it was mainly Yeoh who egged me to go if I want to live to see the next day. Whaddya know? I didn't regret it.

Not only did the seafood/fish dishes make Lent less of a chore, but just in time for summer, when eating fresh yummy seafood reminds us of a beach picnic while we're in the concrete jungle.

Sweet and Sour Fish Fillet was a mixture of tasty and healthy. Before the guys took pictures, I already popped a bell pepper in my mouth so poor dish had to be angled. :P

Some are traumatized to eat bangus because a sliver of a fish bone is usually pried in the meat and you have to be OC and careful that no bone comes in contact with the esophagus. This one had nada tinik. Boneless bangus is really boneless. Yummy too even without the vinegar and atchara sidings.

My favorite would have to be a steaming hot pot of Sinigang na Hipon with crisp veggies, a hot, sour tamarind based broth, and bright orange crunchy shrimps. I love that this bowl wasn't stingy with shrimp. I'm a sucker for good shrimp, but these weren't crinkly, old, wrinkly tough shrimp. The shell could easily be peeled off the meat and it wasn't much effort to chuck out all the shells so I could devour them.

Guilty as charged!

Speaking of shrimp, another shrimp dish to behold is the Camaron Rebosado, which were shrimps (wheee) dipped in batter served with sweet and sour sauce. Sige na nga, hindi sya tempura. I thought it was tempura in the picture, but I forgot that tempura uses bread crumbs.

If anyone got hooked to the seafood bug and decided to sample out all the seafood dishes, be sure to get the special seafood fest frequency card, which rewards the bearer a Chicken-All-You-Can treat from Max's upon completion of all six stickers, which should be done in the time frame from March 8 to April 30, 2011.

I am totally serious on the Sinigang na Hipon and Sweet and Sour Fish Fillet that got me hauling seconds and thirds. So I think I know now where I'd be on Friday if I get too lazy to cook. :P

Lunching Solo

Resisting the urge to call delivery for sodium-ladden meals, since I've been spending lunch alone in the four corners of the unit I've been calling home, I just raided the ref and decided to be healthy.

Yesterday, I had salmon with lemon, capers, and a squish of lemon juice. I used smoked salmon here, a bit expensive, but I promised to have this only on special occasions, not to break a dent on the food bill because a little vacuum pack costs Php 231.00 for just a few slivers. I'm not talking big chunks here. However, salmon has quite a rich taste that too much could be horrible after I had a plateful of grilled salmon, so yes, it does make a point to have this only occasionally. Lemon and capers provide a good contrast too.

Since it was fat Tuesday, sige na nga, some pastrami slices na rin! Pastrami's an addicting one, I love peppered spicy smoky beef drizzled in mustard. Realizing I needed carbs because I'll be working and then working out at pole class, I went for the easiest thing I could find: cheapo toasted slices of white bread made sosyal by dipping it in olive oil+balsamic vinegar mix, just like in Italian restos.

Before they get all moldy, I finished up all the leftover strawberries. Thank God they were still okay.

Today was Ash Wednesday and since it's no-no to meat (except seafood today), saffron risotto wouldn't be a crime right? After all, that's just butter, onion, spices, water, saffron, and risotto. However, I found it too plain and I needed protein since I'm building muscle so I used slivers of smoked salmon and capers to put it on top. Didn't add the lemon na, sacrifice na ang lasang isda, fine!

I like how the capers provide contrast on color so it doesn't look like a swarm of warm colors.

It's prolly chore day today, and I'll take a few laps on the pool as soon as I clear the kitchen up. For a dish for one, the sink's quite a loadful.

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.

My Japanese Fix By The Bay

Being a fan of Japanese food and not having any adverse reaction to seafood unless you say it's sea urchin, which I hardly do eat since it's quite hard to find, whenever I'm in a Japanese restaurant, you guess what I order and it does not come in a big bowl of steaming rice....



I order the sushi/maki/sashimi name it...



So when we got in Rai Rai Ken at Harbor View, I wanted my fix of raw fish but unfortunately their sushi platters are just bank-breaking



I however, found a nice meal for less than 200 bucks






Unless I'm in any mood to splurge with the humongous sushi platter or have someone to split the bill with, this would do. Presenting my new Rai Rai Ken staple - the Salmon-Maki Bento which contains the usual vegetable sidings, rice, 3 pieces of California maki (I already ate one) And salmon teriyaki oh, and iced tea for Php180. Niiiice one since I get my seafood fix, my sushi fix, and it's not too heavy on the stomach or the pocket.

In fact, I still got room for FIC green tea ice cream right after. :)