The Beanster Blog

Located along Wilson (cross P. Guevarra) It's beside LBC and ShareTea. Nice place and interior looks clean. I went to this resto at 2:30pm on a Thursday afternoon. There were only 2 people who had just about finished eating already when I arrived.  I ordered the Beef & Tendon, chose thin noodles and miso soup. 240.00 PhP The order arrived in around 10 mins and was very hot.  Broth 5/10 - I chose miso while it was served piping hot it failed the taste test. It was like I was sipping watered down miso & beef broth Noodles 5/10 - clearly not fresh it was clumped together inside my bowl when I had finally separated them it was not chewy and had poor consistency  Toppings 7/10 the beef and tendon were tender and the portion was ok. flavor was ok too. Verdict - go else where for your noodle craving expensive for what you get.

The menu is a bit sparse and from the name they specialize in ramen. They have a few small dishes. I ordered the Kakuni Buns which is actually Char Siu (Chasyu) Cua Pao it has a very tasty sauce, the pork was tender juicy and thick. It was drizzled with mayonnaise. I had it scraped off. Who the fuck puts mayo on a cuapao anyway? 180 bucks for 2 buns well worth it except for the mayo. I also tried the Karaage which is fried boneless chicken. 3 big pieces tasty and not dry but I don't think 155 is the proper price tag. Clearly this place is on the expensive side. Which is curious because they use the cheapest kind of disposable chopsticks. The least you could do is get higher quality disposable chopsticks. For the ramen I decided toniest the Super Chasyu Ramen P380. This was the most disappointing dish of the whole meal. I will go into the 3 components I look at in ramen. Toppings – the chasyu slices were 1/4 the thickness of the chasyu in the kakuni bun. a lot of slices but very...

Finally was able to try Ristra’s I had come early because I got a table for our group and I was starving. I ordered the Burrito / Nachos / Sugarcane Lemonade. It was made in-front of me: Burrito: I had the 3 kinds of  meat toppings placed plus everything except sour cream. The result was great. I then made it swim in white garlic sauce and their hot sauce. My side of Nachos I got with cheese dip which is like warm cheezwiz (nothing special here) The Sugarcane Lemonade was sort of weird for me. I did not enjoy this one. Here is my meal sans the Lemonade total 705PHP Pricing was a bit steep but the quality of ingredients was ok. Ordering and service could be better. I mean the lady on the cashier would not write down my order which was complete already until she served pending orders from previous customers (who were paid already BTW). I look forward to trying other dishes from Ristra’s. I think it has great MEXIFILI cuisine (I wouldn’t call it really Mexica...

Review|Konbini Originally uploaded by bnycastro I was craving for tempura today. Good thing my sister told me about Konbini it's a Japanese goods store with small dining area. I had the Chasyu Shoyu Ramen (I actually ordered Miso based but there was a mix up), Ebi Tempura, Gyoza. Overall serving size was good. The Ramen lacked the firmness from Ukokkei's, the Chasyu was sliced thinner but had more fat as well. The tempura was great. The Gyoza skin ruptured too easily never good for any dumpling Sent from my HTC® Touch™ 3G smartphone.

Review|Konbini Originally uploaded by bnycastro I was craving for tempura today. Good thing my sister told me about Konbini it's a Japanese goods store with small dining area. I had the Chasyu Shoyu Ramen (I actually ordered Miso based but there was a mix up), Ebi Tempura, Gyoza. Overall serving size was good. The Ramen lacked the firmness from Ukokkei's, the Chasyu was sliced thinner but had more fat as well. The tempura was great. The Gyoza skin ruptured too easily never good for any dumpling Sent from my HTC® Touch™ 3G smartphone.

Review|Konbini Originally uploaded by bnycastro I was craving for tempura today. Good thing my sister told me about Konbini it's a Japanese goods store with small dining area. I had the Chasyu Shoyu Ramen (I actually ordered Miso based but there was a mix up), Ebi Tempura, Gyoza. Overall serving size was good. The Ramen lacked the firmness from Ukokkei's, the Chasyu was sliced thinner but had more fat as well. The tempura was great. The Gyoza skin ruptured too easily never good for any dumpling Sent from my HTC® Touch™ 3G smartphone.

Miso Chasyu Ramen. Excellent ramen! You have to try it. The soup is very good and the noodles are firm to the bite. Sent from my Palm® Treo™ smartphone.

Kim and I moved our dinner from San Juan to Quezon City. I have been craving for steak for quite some time now but 145°F was getting mixed reviews. So we decided to try Aresi. I recall going to this restaurant before they moved to the new commercial complex where it is now. They had a few steaks under the entrée section and I settled for the rib-eye medium rare. I also ordered a light beer battered shrimps & chips (like fish & chips but using shrimp). Kim ordered Pasta her choice was spaghetti with meatballs in tomato sauce. Suprisingly the steak was a generous portion, it came with some grilled veggies, mashed potatoes and light gravy. Tender and very tasty. I would say that my steak craving has subsided for now. The shrimp was so so. I would've like a more seasoned batter the fries were good until they became cold. Aresi is located at the 2F Il Terrazo Complex. Tomas Morato Avenue, Quezon City.

Had dinner with friends here yesterday. It’s located at Fox Square Building on Connecticut Street Greenhills [beside Capricciosa]. The restaurant was well lit and looked clean. I think they are on their soft opening. The service was not too good. I hope the management and staff get their act together. [Nigiri Sushi] I had sushi it was fresh and is way better than other mid tier Japanese themed restaurants [i.e. Teriyaki Boy or Tempura]. I then had Tempura Udon, the noodles were firm to the bite and the soup very savory. I would’ve liked less batter and more shrimp though. [Salmon Roe, Unagi, Uni, Ama Ebi, Mackarel]   [Tempura Udon] Pricing was not to steep. *apologies for the crappy images.

Had lunch yesterday with 4 beautiful ladies [Annlee, Engie, Erika ‘Let Let’, Shas] at Maňana at the beachfront in Station 2. We had beef, chicken buritos, tacos, the serving size for the platters were quite big and we were content on sharing and even had some left overs for take away. It was a tasty meal and I really enjoyed it. Check it out if you want some Mexican flavours…

Review|Kasbah Originally uploaded by bnycastro Lamb Tangine, Beef Tenderloin Kabab, Shrimp Kabab, Pita bread... The Lamb Tangine was pretty good. But the beef was tough and shrimps over cooked. Stay away from the kabab. Sent via my palm Treo Pro

Went to this resto for Bel's Despedida de Soltera. Had a lot of tasty morsels of fine Spanish cuisine. Food to try: Callos, this was really savoury and melts in your mouth. The Salpicao was very tender and well seasoned. The chorizo's flavour explodes in your mouth to caress your tongue with every bite. The fresh Gambas was also of note. If you get a chance swing by Dos Mestizos... Great food and ambience. Sent via my palm Treo Pro

Belgian Chocolate Seashells Originally uploaded by bnycastro Yummy!!! Sent via my palm Treo Pro

I had the Beef Noodles and Tiu had the Maki Noodles. We tasted the Pork Adobo, Adobong Tofu, and Kiampong. Nothing especially earth shattering about the food but the prices were fair. They have a small area with Taiwanese goods [Noodles, sauces, snacks, etc]. I wasn’t able to get their number but the small canteen style resto is at Madison Square along Wilson St., in San Juan [beside: Tuna to Go].

Review|Burger King Triple Stack Whopper Meal Originally uploaded by bnycastro This burger is just huge opted for the large coke and fries. I think I will skip lunch today. Damage PhP 309.00 Vincent Benedict P. Castro / Bny / 王清河 Sent from my HTC TyTN II Windows Mobile® phone.

Review|Burger King Triple Stack Whopper Meal Originally uploaded by bnycastro This PhP 185.00 meal is definitely filling but I got a sense of being pwned by BK… The picture was nowhere near how the actual burger looked like. Vincent Benedict P. Castro / Bny / 王清河 The FORCE Will Be With You Always... Sent via MSI Wind U100

Thanks to my good friend Wesley for the tip about this great restaurant. Located at: Shop 130, 3F Silvercord, 30 Canton Road Tsimshatsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR web: Din Tai Fung I really enjoyed the porkchop with noodle soup the meat was tender and not tough. The noodles firm and the soup savory. The main thing you should try is the Xiao Long Bao... The skin was not thick and the meat and soup was hot so be careful. The Siu Mai is great too! The Yang Chow Fried Rice had generous helpings of fresh shrimp... which is divine! Over all this was a great dining experience. If you have time be sure to drop by and eat your fill of xiao long bao :D

Hong Kong Baked Porkchop Originally uploaded by bnycastro Sent from my Windows Mobile® phone.

Review|Joey's 4xForce [Beef Tapsilog] Originally uploaded by bnycastro It has been quite awhile since I've had this meal :) -- For my foreign readers Tapsilog is TAPa SInangag itLOG - Tapa - Garlic Rice - Fried Egg -- Usually eaten during breakfast or as early morning re-group food after gimmicks. Tapsilog is great because it's simple, straight forward, and filling. -- There are various other SILOG variants some other faves include Longsilog (Longanissa), Cornsilog (Cornbeef), Tocilog (Tocino). I reckon there's one for everyone. -- Get your SILOG experience on at Joey's 4xForce along Gilmore Ave., in QC it is a winner! -- Vincent Benedict Py Castro / Bny / 王清河 via HTC TyTN II + Google -- The FORCE Will Be With You Always...

I was craving for steak like all good carnivores do... Chi, Lyn, and Noi joined in the meat fest at Jake's Steak . It's located along Wack Wack Road in Mandaluyong [near D'Marks]. -- -- This is my second visit to this place. So there were no surprises it is all about the meat! More pics after the break :D [Brazilian Rib Eye for Arlyn] [T-Bone Regular for Noi] [T-Bone: Ultimate for moi] [T-Bone Ultimate for Chinang] [Brazillian Rib Eye - Up Close] -- Although the T-Bone Ultimate was huge I would still suggest going with the Brazilian Rib Eye. I think the Rib Eye is a better cut and much more tender. -- [Cake and Coffee at Starbucks after...] -- Thanks Noi for the images