Wabi Sabi Noodle House and Vegetarian Grocery

Pho

The boyfriend and I wanted to go out for dinner and didn't know where to go, so I fired up my laptop and started sifting through Clickthecity.com and Spot.PH. All those nights drooling over Vietnamese food in Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations' Vietnam episodes had me pining for good, authentic Vietnamese food.

I found a place called Wabi Sabi interesting. I called to check if they were still open, and they were, so off we went. Wabi Sabi is located at The Collection, at the old car accessories place along Malugay, you see it immediately upon turning left from South Super Highway coming from the Cash and Carry side. At first we had a hard time looking for the restaurant inside The Collection. It's located off to the side.

Healing from a Cold & Losing Weight Sanely

Two weeks ago, I came down with a cold. It was bad. Now, I am someone who avoids Western medicine if it can be helped. I don't like introducing foreign substances into my body (unless it's delicious food?) and frankly have more faith in the long-term goodness of eastern healing techniques. But I was desperate and I needed a quick fix so I succumbed to taking some flu pills. Then I remembered that I can boil some ginger with a small bark of cinnamon and drink it sweetened with muscovado or honey. So I did.

A friend of mine also recommended Banlangen Keli, which she says helped her with a cold before. So I asked my dad to buy some for me in Binondo since he was on his way there. Reading the information on the pack, it's supposed to work on balancing the warm and cold in my body/blood, reduce dry mouth, etc etc. So I opened 2 packs into a glass, put water and stir, just as you would instant coffee. It actually tastes pretty darn good. I like it. And it did relieve my clogged sinuses quickly.

Dimsum Lunch at Lili

Li Li, at the Hyatt, can probably be considered the best dimsum place in all of Metro Manila. Every time I go to dine at Li Li, there's a certain anticipation. I can already taste the heavenly Baked Barbecued Puff Pastry in my fantasies. Yes, that IS my ulterior motive for going to Li Li's, to taste that sublime Baked Barbecued Puff Pastry. There it is, just slightly below the center of the menu. That, my dear friends, is heaven in a bite.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Li Li's dimsum lunch is available from Monday-Saturday from 12:00nn-5:00pm at P670/person. On Sundays, they have an even grander spread with more desserts and non-dimsum dishes available, which costs more at P1,350/person. Having been to both, the one for P670 is a less expensive way to satisfy any onset of intense cravings for Baked Barbecued Puff Pastry. If money was not a consideration, I would still go for the Sunday Brunch, even though I always leave it way too full to do anything more than lie down in peace with a smile on my face.

Dimsum Lunch at Xin Tian Di

Last Father's Day, we had Dimsum Unlimited at Xin Tian Di at the 4th floor of the Crowne Plaza Galleria Hotel. The place was busy but service was good enough. The food is good. This and Lili's dimsum buffet are our dimsum go to places now. The establishments in Ongpin just don't measure up anymore.

Xin Tian Di's cuisine is Singapore Cantonese, and as such you'll see some menu items with a Singaporean twist, like curry in dimsum. But all in all, it's pretty good. They also have a more extensive menu compared to Lili's weekday dimsum buffet. More on Lili's on the next post.