Dad's Ultimate Buffet SM Megamall

One of the first and longest running restaurants to offer the smorgasbord to the Filipinos is the triumvate, Saisaki, Kamayan and Dad's, now more popularly known as the Dad's ultimate buffet. Of course you still have a choice whether you want to go full throttle and get from all the three stations or just one. The difference in price from the ultimate buffet and the single station is minimal so you will be getting a much better deal by choosing to go all the way.

Because of the competition from Korean and Japanese owned buffet establishments cropping up all along the metro, Saisaki has at last come out with more modern offerings. It wasn't enough that they hire a Japanese sushi consultant who is very visible in most of the branches of saisaki but they also modernized and seemingly standardized their fare across all branches so you get almost the same kind of dishes whichever branch you visit or prefer. Though their turkey leaves much to be desired (always as dry as a cardboard) and their Dad's station is really unimaginative, their prices are still pretty competitive and you can always find something enjoyable amongst all those dishes.

Dad's Ultimate Buffet
4th Floor SM Megamall
Lunch Monday to Thursday P520
Lunch and Dinner Friday to Sunday P620

Buffet Alerts - 145 Fahrenheit and Cafe Juanita

145 FAHRENHEIT
upper ground flour of the Il Terrazzo Building
#35 Tomas Morato corner Scout Madrinan, Q.C.
Lunch and Dinner
Friday, Saturday and Sunday

They are offering a US prime roast beef all-you-can eat for P1,399/adults and P899/children. The buffet includes soups, salads, side dishes and desserts.


CAFE JUANITA
#27 United Street Cor West Capitol Drive
Barrio Kapitolyo, Pasig City
Lunch 11:30am to 2:30pm
Sundays

Sunday lunch buffet for P485/person. Includes starters, main course and some dessert.

Abbondanza at Mall of Asia

Tucked in a quiet corner in the second story of SM Mall of Asia is a small restaurant with the very catchy name of Abbondanza. The menu makes very interesting reading and although the place has a non descript decor and an air of fast food Italian about it some items on the menu suggested that they were above being called fast food Filipino-Italian food.

The serving sizes are good, most of the items on the menu offered 2 sizes, the piccolo, which they say is good for 1 person (I thought it was good enough for two, especially the pasta) and the regular size. We first ordered the first two items on the menu that we thought would be interesting, the rissoto funghi (procini mushrooms, no less) and the risotto osso buco. Next we tried the baked chicken, with the interesting name, pollo arrosto. The chicken was enormous and came in just one size, half a chicken. It was very tender and was plated with generous slices zucchini, eggplant and young green beans. It was delicious. We had a more difficult time deciding what pizza to order so we settled for their most unusual one, the pizza con polpette, half without cheese. It was very good and amusing because of the small meatballs adorning each slice of the 12" pizza. The crust was excellent and reminiscent of the stone-baked pizzas of Giorgio, the very talented pizza master behind the success of Amici when it was still a "secret" place in Don Bosco. Aside from the whimsical tiny meatballs the other toppings included slivers of artichoke, black olives and a small amount of half cooked egg in the middle. We also tried their house specialty, the pasta montanara composed of fusilli pasta, sausage, bell peppers, cheese sauce and pepperoni, salami and a generous amount of thickly sliced mushrooms. It was deliciously spicy. I didn't get to try the cocoa focaccia that went with the pasta, but I'm sure it was also delicious. Last, but certainly not the least, we couldn't resist the zuppa rustica which one of the wait-staff assured us was the most popular item on their menu and a favorite of the son of Henry Sy. It was slightly spicy, loaded with mushrooms and spinach. We shared one order and I was still not able to finish all of mine, definetely value for money.

Just as we suspected, the chefs at Abbondanza trained under Giorgio hence the excellence of their pizza crust. Abbondanza at Mall of Asia is only 2 months old but shows great promise. Next time I will bring more friends so we can try their monster 24" Abbondanza pizza.

Beef Adobo in Gata

Beef Adobo in Gata

1 kilo beef, cleaned and cut into 2" cubes (use stewing beef for best flavor)
½ cup coco vinegar
½ cup soy sauce
1 bay leaf, crumbled
10 whole peppercorns, slightly crushed with the flat side of a large knife
10 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 thumb-sized ginger, peeled and cut into strips
1 cup coconut milk, (1st extraction)
2 pieces hot pepper (or to taste)

Combine all ingredients (except the coconut milk) in a medium pot. Bring the mixture to the boil partially-covered over medium heat for 10 minutes. Decrease the heat and let it simmer tightly covered for an hour or until the meat is very tender. On very low heat, add the coconut milk, stir frequently. Let the mixture simmer for another 5 minutes. Taste and season as desired with salt. The left-overs make a delicious filling for pandesal mixed with a small amount of mayonnaise.

How to Make Coco Vinegar

The question is, why make your own? First, you would know that what you are consuming is the real thing and not a watered-down version (like those being sold on the side of the road in Tagaytay). Secondly, you are sure that it's clean and not contaminated.

If these reasons sound good to you, then here is a recipe for making coconut vinegar that I filched from my mother's file.

Coco Vinegar

Utensils Needed:
Stainless steel measuring cup
Stainless steel measuring spoon
2 large funnels
Strainer
Cheese cloth
Rubber band
Dark-colored bottles

Ingredients:
8 cups coconut water
1 cup refined white sugar
1 teaspoon instant dry yeast (the yeast used for making bread)

Place cheese cloth over the mouth of a bowl or large measuring cup. Pour the coconut water over the strainer and strain. Remove the cheese cloth and set aside. To the strained juice add the sugar. Mix well until all the sugar has dissolved. Pour through a funnel into dark-colored bottles. Add the yeast (Use a small teaspoon) to the juice. Cover the bottle with small pieces of cheese cloth and tie with rubber band. Set aside. Let the juice ferment in a cool and dark place for three weeks or up to one month. Place the bottles in a pot of boiling water, neck deep for at least thirty minutes to kill any harmful bacteria. Dilute the finished product with distilled water if desired to taste. Undiluted coconut vinegar is delicious used to make chicken and pork adobo and other native dishes.

To hasten the process and if you have access to mother liquor*, add before covering with cheese cloth and securing with rubber band. Using mother liquor will cut the waiting time to half or less before your coconut juice becomes vinegar.

*As defined by my mother, mother liquor refers to the liquid set aside from a previous batch of coconut vinegar. It is deliberately saved to use for future vinegar-making.

Mom's Oatmeal Drop Cookies

Mom's Oatmeal Drop Cookies

1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups white sugar
2 large eggs
1/3 cup molasses
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1 cup raisins

Mix shortening, sugar, eggs and molasses. Sift all dry ingredients together. Blend in shortening mixture. Stir in oats, nuts and raisins. Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls about 2" apart on lightly greased sheets. Bake 8 to 10 minutes in preheated 400*F oven.