Gastronomic Adventure, Day 2

For day 2 of our Venice Piazza Food Adventure, we continued the game plan and started with appetizers, had our fill of the main courses, and ended with dessert. From the original 14 restaurants/establishments, we were down to half or 7 yummy treats to complete the challenge.

KBOP, a Korean fast food, offered a choice of either ChapChae (Glass Noodles) or Seafood & Vegetable Pancake. Both were delicious but I preferred the glass noodles.

ChapChae

Seafood & Vegetable Pancake

Little Asia Symphony of Flavors served a choice of either battered Shrimp Curls with Mango Dip or Vietnamese Spring Rolls with ground pork and sotanghon noodles which are both winners.

Shrimp Curls with Mango Dip

Vietnamese Spring Rolls

Old Vine Grille (which I wrote about here previously) had as front runners for the Food Adventure their Grilled Fish Fillet with Lemon Butter Sauce, served with garlic rice and a side salad, and Chicken Barbecue with Fries and Red Beans.

Grilled Fish Fillet with Lemon Butter Sauce

Chicken Barbecue with Fries and Red Beans

As a breather, we claimed from The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf our 8 oz. Hot Chai Tea Latte. Other flavors to choose from are English Breakfast, Tropical Passion, Moroccan Mint, Matcha Green Tea and Apple Pie.

Ramen Bar offered an uber-filling dish composed of Karaage and Kakuni Buns. The Karaage is fried chicken cuts while the Kakuni Buns is Japanese braised pork belly in white buns similar to pork asado siopao.

Karaage and Kakuni Buns

Figaro Coffee Company gave a choice of either a 12 oz. Iced Coffee or 8 oz. Brewed Coffee, available in decaf.

To end the night, we savored sweet but healthy treats from YoSwirls by BTC -- Original Mango Yogurt and Vanilla Chocolate Yogurt.

Vanilla Chocolate and Original Mango Yogurt

What an adventure...a real Food Adventure! From now on, we'll keep our eyes peeled for the next run of Venice Piazza Food Adventure.

The Venice Piazza Food Adventure is until March 31. Try this heavenly promo now or wait for next Food Adventure run.

Related Posts:

Gastronomic Adventure, Day 1

My First Time at Old Vine Grille

Filed under FLAVORS

Gastronomic Adventure, Day 1

My family and I are always looking for good food and exciting adventure that's the Venice Piazza Food Adventure was the perfect deal for us. Friends from Megaworld introduced me to the gastronomic adventure and I, on the other hand, shared it to my family the following weekend. The Food Adventure will let you sample yummy dishes from 14 restaurants/establishments in Venice Piazza, all of which can be availed within two consecutive weekend days from 4 pm - 9 pm, at a super reasonable price of P600 per person. Mechanics are fairly simple -- just wear the Food Adventure band, present the passport to the establishment upon ordering the designated dish/es, and enjoy!

Food Adventure wrist bands and passport

Since this is an adventure, we first studied the featured establishments and devised a game plan that will have the four of us finish everything within two consecutive weekend days, with each day allowing us to try equal number of appetizers, main courses, drinks and desserts. For those restaurants that offered two choices, we agreed that two will order dish #1 and the other two will order dish #2. We started on a Saturday so we continued the following Sunday.

Happy bunch on a food adventure

PHO HOA VIETNAMESE NOODLE HOUSE had their best seller Pomelo Salad -- fresh greens, julienne-cut cucumber, red bell pepper and carrots, pomelo chunks, shrimp and nuts with a generous serving of their sweet-sour vinaigrette -- as front runner for the Food Adventure.

Pomelo Salad

EMPIRE DELI & RESTAURANT offered healthy and delectable salads. The Empire Signature Salad is a simple one made of fresh green, cherry tomato, black olives, boiled egg and slices of grilled chicken. On the other hand, the Grilled Tuna Salad is a refreshing mix of greens, julienne-cut green mango, grilled tuna slices and sesame seeds.

Signature Salad

Grilled Tuna Salad

PINCHOS RESTAURANT & BAR, a fairly new establishment from the same owner as Blackwood Bistro, served a Duo of Buffalo Chicken Fillet with (Nacho) Chips and Salsa, a perfect combination.

Duo of Buffalo Chicken Fillet with Chips and Salsa

BLACKWOOD BISTRO offered their Penne Puttanesca made with tomato sauce, black olives and grated parmesan cheese, a rather heavy dish for an appetizer.

Penne Puttanesca

RED CRAB served specially created dishes for the Food Adventure -- buttery soft Dory Fillet with Honey Mustard Sauce and Fried Stuffed Bean Curd with Crab Relleno served with Garlic Chili Sauce. So yummy! Unfortunately, they're not part of the regular menu.

Dory Fillet with Honey Mustard Sauce

Fried Stuffed Bean Curd with Crab Relleno with Garlic Chili Sauce

KUSE TRADITIONAL FILIPINO CUISINE provided a choice between Lechong Kawali (with plain rice and atchara) and Chicken Relleno (with garlic rice and atchara), two dishes that were so filling that we had to rest for a few minutes before going to our next stop.

Lechon Kawali

Chicken Relleno

SOL GELATO was our sweet ending for day 1 of the Food Adventure and each of us savored a serving of any two Gelato flavors of our choice. Mine was a Ferrero-Coffee Crunch tandem and it left me with a smile on my lips.

Two Gelato Flavors -- Ferrero and Coffee Crunch for me!

Being full from our first day of yummy treats, we spent the rest of the evening strolling around Venice Piazza, burning the calories while relaxing under the stars.

The Venice Piazza Food Adventure is until March 31. Try this heavenly promo now or wait for next Food Adventure run.

Related post: Gastronomic Adventure, Day 2

Filed under FLAVORS

Night Shopping at Venice Piazza

Check out the Great Night Market at the Venice Piazza at McKinley Hill starting tonight May 23 until May 27. Enjoy shopping from over 100 vendors from 10:00pm to 4:00am. Admission is FREE!

My Romance with AI

It all started with chance viewings of the American Idol (AI) show whenever I was on business trips -- was able to watch the finals of AI Season 5, where Taylor Hicks emerged as the grand winner; and AI Season 6, with Jordin Sparks taking the spot. It was only in American Idol Season 7 did I begin to follow the show religiously (on replays most of the time since the live telecasts were too early and am still at work).

I rooted for David Cook all the way from auditions to finals and was estatic when he won over David Archuleta. A fanatic, I downloaded all his AI performances and even made his rendition of Mariah Carey's "Always Be My Baby" my mobile ringtone and am still using it until now. I went to his press conference and also braved the crowds to watch him live in concert at the SM MOA Open Grounds last May 2009.

AI Season 8 was different story wherein my bet, Adam Lambert, only won second place to the underdog Kris Allen. I watched the finals live very early in the morning at the Star World-Dream Cable exclusive showing at the Greenbelt 3 cinema and was disappointed with the result.

Anyway, Kris Allen show that he greatly improved through the weeks at AI and I guess that was what the show was all about as opposed to Adam Lambert's stellar performances since the beginning of the season.

I also attended his press conference and had my few seconds of fame during the Q&A portion. Click here to see my previous blog entry with a video clip of the interview. Did not watch Kris Allen's concert but did not dare miss Adam Lambert's Glamnation in Manila in October 2011.

AI Season 9 was a little different for me because I had four bets -- the gothic belter Siobhan Magnus, the handsome Casey James, the spunky Cystal Bowersox and of course, Lee Dewyze. It turns out all of them landed in the Top 10 with Siobhan at sixth place, Casey at third place, Crystal at second place and Lee ran away with the top prize.

Now my eyes are on AI Season 10, especially that the finals is near with only five contenders. I was rooting for Thea Megia for obvious reasons but she was eliminated from the Top 10. Let's see if James Durbin gets the top spot.

Now for the good news...American Idol Season 9 winner will be here in Manila for a two-night concert. See and hear Lee Dewyze live at Venice Piazza on May 7 and at Eastwood Mall on May 8.

Sad to say I won't be able to go to the press con, as well as watch the concert, for I will be at the Fuego Sunset Run this weekend. To those who are watching, let me know if you enjoyed the show, ok?

HerWord's "China Crisis Live!" Promo

Comment on any HerWord story from January 14 to 18, 2011 and get a chance to meet and greet China Crisis and win tickets to their upcoming concerts. Visit http://www.herword.com/promo/main.php?id=chinacrisis

Psychic Festival 2010

I attended the Psychic Festival 2010 Celebrity Night at the Venice Piazza, McKinley Hills to see what the stars has to say about me. So what did the psychics say about me? Let me share a few.

1) that I am concerned about real estate - yes, I've been wanting to have my own house;

2) that what I have been planning/wanting will soon be realized, as a matter of fact, within 6 months, so I must be patient - good! this can be for business or love, but please know that I have been a very patient person;

3) that this is a year of blessings for me - I really hope so;

4) that new love will soon come and that - yay! so I won't end up a spinster after all :P

5) that I've already met/I already know my future husband - I wonder who can it be? mini, mini, miny, moe!

Had my readings from three different psychics yet the readings were somehow in the same context. I had my readings via Soul Mate Scanning, Tarot Cards, Angel Cards and Pendulum Divination. Astrology, Palm Reading, Feng Shui, Aura Reading and more are also available.

For those interested, the Psychic Festival 2010 is now in Eastwood Mall until February 28. Go and see what awaits you. :)

Thanks to Karen Sta. Maria of Eastwood Mall for the invitation.