Chi's Brick Oven Kitchen - Aguirre Ave., BF Homes, Pque.

my wife and her best friend were planning to meet a balikbayan classmate of theirs. and since all of us were staying in south of the metro, i suggested that we go back and try the pizza and pasta of chi's brick oven kitchen in bf homes.

the first time we went was last month, and we only tried their mango ice box dessert and got their puchon (pugon lechon) to go.

while my wife and her friends were swapping stories, i ordered the pizza chips for our starter. it's pizza dough with olive oil brushed on it and topped with parmesan and a pimiento dip.

this is a great appetizer.

for our main course, i ordered 2 kinds of pasta; the rigatoni in 3-cheese sauce

and the chorizo alfredo



the serving size of their pasta is enough to feed 2-3 persons.





i also ordered 2 kinds of pizza, the chicken bacon mushroom melt

and the salmon pizza

both pizzas were 12" and had 8 slices each. the crust was cooked just right and both tasted great! the prices of their pizzas range from P160-220.

we were so full from the meal that we didn't order dessert, just coffee and tea but we were given a plate of their brick oven chocolate cake by apple tirona (the owner) to try and share.

their brick oven chocolate cake was the best that i've tried so far. it was like a choco lava cake, the outside was a bit crunchy and the inside was moist and melted chocolate flowed out as soon as the it was sliced. it was topped with vanilla ice cream and maraschino cherry.

another dessert of theirs is the mango ice box cake, which i mentioned that we tried the first time we went.

the place is nice, quaint and cozy. it could fit about 25-30 persons. when we got there, there was a group of about 12 which had a long table.

here you'll see the wooden trays that they use when serving their pizza.

they also have separate smoking area which has its own aircondition unit and exhaust fan.

the main attraction of the place is the open kitchen where you could see the brick oven. they use dried sampaloc logs to fire up the oven.

i wasn't able to take a photo, but they also have a small open air area for children to paly in while waiting for the food to come or while their parents are having fun telling stories with their friends.

the place is owned by chi and apple tirona. both had their own careers prior to opening the restaurant. and one day, they decided to leave their careers and start up a pizza-pasta place.

kudos to both of them!

so, when you're in the south of the metro, check out the place. it's an alternative to those expensive italian restaurants.

Jatujak Thai Food - SM Megamall

some say that after you've been to another place, you tend to look for the food of that place. in my case i was in bangkok last january with our other managers for a tourism event and my tongue was still looking for that thai taste.

and since my wife wasn't able to join my on my trip, i decided that we have dinner at the new branch of Jatujak Thai restaurant, located at the ground level, bldg A of SM Megamall. it's located right beside the vietnamese resto, lemon grass, which is also a great place to eat. where there are 2 japanese restos too.


we ordered the tofu salad, which had some lettuce leaves, julliened carrots, bean sprouts, peanuts and a nice blend of sweet and spicy dressing.


we also ordered the grilled squid, which was tender

and the chicken satay in peanut sauce, which had a dip that was tasted very good. the dip was some sort of cucumber in vinegar but the vinegar wasn't too sour.

i also ordered the thai iced tea for drink

and for dessert, we had the Thai version of halo-halo. i think it's called ruhmvit. please correct me if i'm wrong.

our dinner cost us about P800.

the food tasted great and their menu is quite affordable.

this is their 3rd branch. the first one opened in the block of SM City North and the 2nd is in Mall of Asia.

the waiter said that the restaurants are owned by filipinos and that their chef is thai, who oversees all 3 kitchens.

i told him, if he gets the chance, to ask their chef or the owners if the name of their restaurants came from a name of a park in bangkok, the chatuchak park, where they have their weekend market.

Behold: Pepper Lunch store designs for Rockwell

to those who've read my post on Pepper Lunch; here's an update from the Philippine franchisee;

set to open on april, 30 2008. it's located across the Rustan's supermarket, same area as Shakey's and Kenny Rogers

with permission from the franchisee.

for better view of the photos, go to http://chuvaness.livejournal.com/340815.html

4th-Feb-2008 11:25 pm - Behold: Pepper Lunch store designs for Rockwell We love working with Japanese. They are modern, innovative, professional, efficient and all the wonderful things you thought about them. For our first store in Rockwell we hired the official Suntory space designers, MYU Planning & Operators. While our project coordinator in Manila is Kimachi Takatoshi of Kuni Philippines (L) shown with Hiro (also of Kuni) and Jeroen of Pepper Lunch. Ok, their office in Makati is just awesome. Take a sneak peak at the floor plan sent by MYU and computer renderings by Kuni Philippines The seating looks cozy. Don't you wanna eat here? Eyelovit. Do you love it? For updates, join our Pepper Lunch group on Facebook

IMPACT Exhibition Center, Bangkok, Thailand

Me and my co-managers attended the ASEAN Tourism Forum in Bangkok, Thailand. The convention was held at the Impact Exhibition Center in the Muang Thong Thani district of Bangkok, which is about 25-30 minutes away from downtown Bangkok. It is accessible via one of the elevated expressways that Bangkok has.

The whole complex is bigger than the Phil. International Convention Center, SMX Convention Center, World Trade Center and Araneta Coliseum combined.

It has an arena, 2 exhibiton centers with 8 halls, 1 convention center with 2 halls and the IMPACT Challenger with 3 exhibit halls, several meeting rooms and function rooms and a huge ballroom. It was in the Challenger building were the convention was located. The Challenger is even bigger than the new SMX and the World Trade Center.

The convention center has it's own food court (Subway, Starbucks, McDonald's, etc) and a drugstore (Boots from the UK). It has 5 other restaurants (Japanese, Indonesian, European, Chinese, Vietnamese).

There's even a cafe in the center of the wide lobby area, across the registration counter (as seen in the last 3 photos).

How I wish our country could have a facilty or building as big as this, which could attract the international convention and exhibition market. This would boost the tourism industry of the country.

It doesn't even have to be in any of the congested areas of Metro Manila (Pasay, Makati, Manila, Pasig, Mandaluyong, San Juan, Las Pinas, Quezon City). The Thais situated the convention center on the outskirts of the capital. But, like I mentioned earlier, is accessible via one of their expressways.

Their elevated highway network is another story. Something which Bayani Fernando would want for Metro Manila and connecting provinces.

sigh.... wishful thinking.......

Smoking is dangerous to your health

Warning: Smoking is dangerous to your health.


Check out how the Thais warn cigarette buyers and smokers on the dangers of smoking tobacco.




If that picture doesn't scare you, I don't know what will.

I don't know why the government can't mandate the tobacco companies here to do the same. And to think that the cigarettes were made-manufactured-packed here in the Philippines, thanks to Philip Morris Philippines.

Pepper Lunch Resto, Bangkok

Was in Bangkok last week for the ASEAN Tourism Forum with 8 other managers from Microtel, and during our free time, we had the opportunity to go to one of the malls in downtown.We went to Central World Mall, it was about 7pm, the other managers wanted to do shopping first; i wanted to eat first so i decided to go up to the 6th level where the restaurants were. I was joined by 2 other managers who were hungry as well. Upon reaching the 6th level, we walked around to see what restaurant where there.

I saw an outlet of Pepper Lunch.





A Japanese restaurant, which was featured in 2 blogs (Chuvaness, and my good friend Spanky) and mentioned that Pepper Lunch will open a branch in the Powerplant Mall in Rockwell, Makati City. And if i remember correctly, they might open sometime in March or April.











I ordered the Hitokuchi Cut




It's beef strips with mung bean sprouts and rice, and i ordered a side of egg with it. Which cost me Baht 204.


While letting the electromagnetic hot plate cook the meat, I added honey brown sauce on it.




Aroi! (delicious!)

Joel ordered the sirloin steak

while Rose had the hamburger steak with egg on the side






I even sent a message to my brother in Singapore to try Pepper Lunch. He said he's seen the place already and will give it a try. he also said that it was beside his favorite Japanese hamburger place. I asked if it was Mos Japanese hamburger, to which he said yes. I saw the same in Bangkok and would have wanted to try had I had enough time.

I'm looking forward to the opening of Pepper Lunch Manila and try each item on their menu.

After eating, we proceeded with our shopping. And after an hour, I met the other managers and asked me if we've had dinner yet. I said yes and I told them to try Pepper Lunch too. So they went on ahead as I waited for Joel and Rose to finish their shopping.

We followed the others to the restaurant and they told me that they enjoyed the food they ordered. They were surprised that I knew the place even though there was no outlet in Manila yet.





I owe the info to the blogs of Chuvaness and my Kabalen, Spanky.

Kop koon kap!
(Thank you!)