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Restaurant Review: Wingman, The Collective
In our endless search for good places to eat, we stumbled upon Wingman on the suggestion of a friend. Wingman is located in The Collective, a commercial hub along Malugay Street. It took quite some time for us to actually go there, as Wingman is kind of hard to find or go to if you’re not very familiar with the back streets of Makati. To those who might be interested, here’s a map to The Collective.
I will start off by saying that you might have problems parking there. There are only about six parking slots in front of The Collective, and if you’re not lucky enough to score one of them, you’ll have to make do with street parking. It appears that street parking here is acceptable, mainly because it’s a one-way street. There are parking boys to assist you, or maybe the security guard.
Once you’re able to park, you will see Wingman as the leftmost establishment. It is long and narrow, and can seat about 20-30 people. The Man and I usually just take one of the couple tables along the bar. Here’s a view of the bar from our table.
As this is Wingman, of course we have to try out their buffalo wings. We took the set of 12 wings, which we can order in two flavors. We tried out the classic hot and the hickory barbecue, with the bleu-cheese add-on. It comes with a side of raw carrot sticks and ranch dip. This costs Php350. I have to say that this justifies the name of Wingman.
We also ordered Roast Beef Au-Jus, which is a roast beef sandwich that comes with a dipping bowl of what I can call steak juice. It costs Php260, and it already comes with a side (your choice of fries or onion rings). Conveniently it comes sliced in half, so the Man and I are able to split this sandwich without much trouble. This is amazing! We ran out of sandwich too quickly, and unfortunately Wingman does not offer any bready sides that we can dip in the leftover steak juice. I would say that I would gladly take a trip out to Wingman just for this dish.
For our drinks we just got their bottomless lemonade, which came in this quirky shade of blue. Php80 each for this.
Summary: Arguably the best place to get your buffalo wings fix. The drawbacks here would include 1. it’s also a watering hole (we aren’t really drinkers) 2. limited parking slots and 3. they don’t have a good place to wash your hands. The ambiance of Wingman itself is pretty great, but I’m docking points because of the location and lack of amenities of The Collective. We paid about Php800 total for two people.
Food: 10
Service: 10
Ambiance: 8.5
Couple of chicken fillet experiments
So I got some time to cook last week, and I’ve been hankering to try some baked/roast chicken recipes. Unfortunately I only had skinless chicken thigh fillets at the moment, so I decided on these two.
First up, garlic-and-sugar roasted chicken fillets from Food.com. I like how easy it sounded, and it didn’t seem very odd to substitute thigh fillets for the breast fillets. I used about half the recipe, so 2 tbs of brown sugar and 2 garlic cloves, for about 4 thigh fillets (I thought 2 thigh fillets is equivalent to 1 breast fillet). Here’s what came out:
It came out surprisingly juicy, and one can clearly taste the sugar in it. Unfortunately, there may have been too much sugar. Chicken should probably not be that sweet. I will try variations of this recipe until I get the right mix.
The second dish is bacon-wrapped chicken rolls, from Allrecipes this time. I had a pack of Earle’s bacon to try out, and this seemed like a perfect dish. I used three of the largest thigh fillets I had. Unfortunately I didn’t have a meat mallet, so I made do with a flat cheese grater! Of course it didn’t really do too much and the fillets didn’t really become any flatter. I also didn’t have any fresh herbs, so I just used my dried herbs (sage, thyme, and basil). I rolled the herbs and chopped garlic into the fillets, wrapped a bacon slice around each, and secured with a toothpick. Here’s how it looked:
As there were only three rolls, and the other baking dish I had was much too big, I decided to roast some vegetables along with the bacon-chicken rolls. I chopped up some potatoes, carrots, and an onion, sprinkled a generous amount of olive oil on them, and topped with salt, pepper, and a bit of dried rosemary. Here’s a picture of the roast veggies along with the bacon-chicken rolls.
All I can say is, damn it was good! The chicken was juicy and the bacon went really well with it. Perhaps the two things I would change for the next time is a bit less herbs (since after all, I was using dried!) and maybe a longer baking time (I baked it for only 45 minutes).
I love cooking. 
Restaurant Review: Yabu Megamall
This article should otherwise also be titled “I can’t believe I’m writing this review.” I have long since scoffed at the raves I’ve been seeing online about Yabu. I have had experiences where the online hype was generally just that: to generate interest, but usually it doesn’t really have anything backing it. I’m glad and very surprised to say that Yabu rises up to the challenge more than adequately.
The Man and I finally found the time to try out Yabu, and we decided to see what it’s all about. First you are greeted with this nice little setup of condiments. The tall ones at the back are the salad dressings, the three small ones in front are chili powder and oil, and the big pot on the left is the teriyaki liquid. I forgot what was in the right pot.
The menu teaches you how to mix your teriyaki sauce. You are given a small bowlful of sesame seeds, which you are to crush to let out the flavor. The Man chooses to keep his seeds whole, so he can use it as furikake (sprinkles over rice).
Our individual orders came in. I got the seafood katsu set 1, which included cream dory, squid, scallop, a huge prawn tempura, and what is perhaps the hugest oyster I have seen. As with nearly all meal sets in Yabu, these come with a side of pickles, a small bowl of fruit, and unlimited rice and cabbage. I also got tartar sauce for the fish. My meal costed Php485.
Take a closer look at this oyster. This is awesome! 10/10 would go back just for this oyster. It may be a little too rich for me though, so I don’t think I would ever get the meal set that gives you four of these. That much rich seafood might give me allergies.
The Man chose a Rosu 180g set, which is a pretty big piece of pork katsu. It’s nicely fried and sectioned, and since it’s not the premium pork, it has a bit of fat. This slab of pork can probably feed two people. His meal costed Php405.
Here’s a closer look at a pork katsu slice.
On the overall, it was a great experience. The staff was very friendly, and refills of rice, cabbage, and iced tea were offered frequently. Perhaps the only drawback one might encounter are the lines. Yabu has become pretty popular, and it’s not unusual to see a wait list before you can be seated.
Summary: A very excellent meal! I am glad that the experience was able to support the online raves. We would definitely be back to try the other items on the menu. We spent about Php1100 total, as we also each got bottomless iced tea.
Food: 10
Service: 10
Ambiance: 9 (when the restaurant is full, the space for walking between the tables/aisles is very narrow)
Salmon Teriyaki
After a long hiatus, finally I was able to find the time to cook! I wanted to surprise The Man with a special dinner, and what a great timing to have found this interesting teriyaki salmon recipe from Budget Bytes! I especially liked this recipe because it had a sriracha-mayo sauce. I adore sriracha!
I didn’t really change anything with the recipe, so go ahead and check out the original recipe. Perhaps the only thing worth mentioning is that I used two 250g packs of Norwegian Salmon (bought from SM Hypermarket at North) and I marinaded it for about an hour. The slabs weren’t very thick, so when I was cooking the sides they kept tipping over. Here’s a picture of the finished product, with the sauce.
As you can see, the top two slabs were kind of burnt, but in actuality they’re pretty good. It didn’t taste at all burnt, but rather the teriyaki sauce caramelized on the salmon so it was pretty sweet. These were the first two slabs I cooked, the bottom ones were the last and ended up slightly rare. Here’s a close up of the salmon.
There were some leftover marinade left, so I decided to throw them in a pan to reduce a bit more into a sauce. I also cooked a batch of Seth’s sopas as a side dish, which I thought went pretty well with the teriyaki.
Overall I think this is a pretty nice and easy dish to prepare. The only drawback is that the salmon is not really cheap, around Php200 ($4.80) for each 250g pack, so this cannot be prepared on a regular basis if one is saving money. On the other hand, we had a whole slab left over (from the four slabs prepared), so theoretically this dish can feed maybe four adults and a child more than sufficiently.
Restaurant Review: Linkin Pork
One of the recent restaurants we tried recently is a very newly opened one appropriately and hilariously called Linkin Pork. As you may gather from the name, their specialty is pork, in the form of sausages (links!). One Monday evening we decided to give this a shot.
Here’s a very low res shot of their menu.
What caught our attention is of course the house specialty: sausages! Here’s a close up of the three types of sausages they serve, and the meal combos you can make with them. Basically, cajun is spicy pork sausage, cincinnati is the nonspicy version of cajun, and boudin is a pork-and-chicken sausage.
Let me show you the things we ordered: First up, drinks! Iced tea and complimentary house water. I love their glasses!
Playful posing for the camera while waiting for the orders to arrive.
The Man’s order arrived first. It’s a plate of vigan longganisa and rice, with a side of sliced tomatoes and fried egg. He chose vigan longganisa because this is the type of longganisa I don’t like, and we will definitely not be having this on a regular basis at home. Why don’t I like it? It’s a little bit too weirdly spiced for my taste. On the other hand, he loved it!
The appetizer arrived next. It’s fried sausage and mushrooms, topped with what appears to be wheatgrass or lemongrass. The sausage tasted like the cincinnati sausage.
My order arrived next. It’s a cajun sausage combo B, which meant I got herbed potato salad and mixed greens with red wine vinaigrette. The sausage wasn’t as spicy as I was expecting, but it was pretty good! It had a slight cheesy taste, and was very tender. I swapped my potato salad for The Man’s egg.
Lastly, Tee’s order arrived. It’s a cincinnati combo C, so she got bread, meaty red sauce, french fries, and honey mustard dip. Her sausage tasted the same as our appetizer. She loved everything on her plate! although she was not able to finish the sausage, and gave away her leftover red sauce.
We also got to try out their coffee and cinnamon roll, courtesy of David (owner of Linkin Pork). They also have a coffee menu again appropriately called LinkinPerks! I love their naming conventions! Here’s a shot of the menu.
My coffee is a latte with irish cream. It was amazing coffee! I would love to bring my coffeeholic dad here so he can try this.
Lastly, here’s a pic of the cinnamon roll. I forgot to ask if this will be on the menu, but I sure hope so as this is amazing as well!
Summary: Great sausages for a fair price. We paid about 800 pesos for the three meals, the appetizer, and the drinks. Will definitely be going back. Linkin Pork has two street parking slots, but they have more at the back. They also have provisions for functions on their second floor. Check out their facebook page here.
Food: 10
Service: 10
Ambiance: 8.5
Disclaimer: Linkin Pork is owned by my highschool batchmate David. He provided the coffee and cinnamon roll for free, but the rest are paid for by me.
We are still eating!
Hey all, this quick post is to just let you know that we are still eating! I have many photos to share and many adventures, but life is kind of pushing back at me right now. I have not found the time to upload my photos and not even to compose posts, but rest assured I will get to them soon.
Coming up on the blog: Two restaurant reviews and 2-3 weeks worth of baon diaries.
Let me just leave you with this picture of the first use of my totoro bento box.
Top tier: Vegetable salad
Bottom tier: from top, caesar salad dressing, plain egg omelette, hotdogs, bacon fried rice
Baon Diary (July 9-13)
A new week! Let’s see what we have. Oho! And I got a full ten pictures too, woo!
July 9
Recess: Hello Panda, grapes, Smart C juice in a lidded Nido tumbler
I forgot to chill some drinks for her this day, and unfortunately the bottle of Smart C wouldn’t fit in her lunch bag so I just transferred it to a lidded tumbler so she can still have juice.
Lunch: Spam and cheese sandwich, cut in four
I remembered to use my old bento picks to keep the mini-sandwiches together.
July 10
Recess: Monde Eggnog, grapes, Chuckie chocolate drink
When she got home today, she complained that the grapes tasted weird, so we had to throw it out.
Lunch: Fried chicken thigh, rice
July 11
Recess: Monde Eggnog, Nissin Wafers, Chuckie chocolate drink
No fruits in today’s lunch. We have not yet been able to buy more fruits, so I gave her an extra snack item to make up for it.
Lunch: Sliced tapa, tapa fried rice
Most of the rice went back uneaten. I think she doesn’t like fried rice all that much.
July 12
Recess: Monde Eggnog, apple, OMJ Apple flavor
Fruits are back! Unfortunately, we seem to have gotten a not-so-tasty batch of apples (this was a different store than where we usually buy fruits) and her apple came home almost whole except for one bite. Her dad and I tasted the apple and verified that it was inferior to our usual apples. I have to figure out what to do with the rest of the apples, as I’m sure none of us would want to eat any of them. Stewed apples come to mind. Do you have any suggestions?
Lunch: Sliced baked porkchop, rice
July 13
Recess: 2 pcs Nissin Wafers, Chuckie chocolate drink
Lunch: Sliced fried chicken thigh fillets, rice, grapes
It was reported that the lunch came home uneaten. This is understandable because she was again rushed to the clinic for high fever. We came home to her with an over 38degC fever which rose over the night. It was scary, but thankfully she got over it by morning.
Conclusion:
That was a pretty bad hullabaloo with the apples (they were crazy expensive too!), but I do plan to salvage what I can out of it. Maybe I can make a pie.. [Update! I've made stewed apples and cinnamon with those failed apples. They came out great!]
I’m also thinking that there seems to be not a lot of variety in her lunch, and definitely not at all any vegetables. These definitely need to be addressed. I’ll see what I can do to improve it next week.
Baon Diary (July 2-6)
Got delayed in uploading this. I have all the pics and stuff, but I just didn’t have the time to compose and upload the pictures. Alright, let’s get on with this.
July 2
Recess: Bread Pan (green), Apple, Chuckie chocolate drink
I’ve also included a shot of her water bottle. She has this along with her baon, so she doesn’t really have only her chocolate drink/juice drink to hydrate her all day.
Lunch: Sliced baked porkchop, rice
July 3
Recess: 2 packs Nissin Wafers, grapes, Chuckie chocolate drink
Lunch: 3pcs chicken nuggets (cheesy), rice
July 4
Recess: Monde Eggnog snack, grapes, Chuckie chocolate drink
You’ll notice her bag color is now pink. This is because she forgot to bring home her green lunch bag and left it in her school bus. Thankfully, we bought extra packs of the OMJ 6-pack with free lunch bag, so I did not immediately panic when she didn’t bring home her green bag. It made me realize that it’s a good idea to have spares (bag, box, utensils).
Lunch: 2pcs fried spam, rice
July 5
Recess: Fita Crackers (9pc), grapes, OMJ Apple Flavor
Lunch: 3 pcs chicken nuggets (cheesy), rice
July 6
Recess: 2 packs Nissin Wafers, grapes, OMJ Orange Flavor (?)
Lunch: 2 pcs spam (?), rice
Conclusion:
Well, it has happened finally. I have forgotten what I had sent her last friday (July 6), so the entries there are not 100% accurate. I only have vague recollections, and only remembered that we had pepperoni pizza bread for breakfast. I would of course remember it if I took pictures, but I didn’t! Noo…
I also realized that the Fita crackers may be too much for recess, since there are 9 pieces in that pack. As far as I know though, she returned that day without leftover crackers, so she either ate them or gave them away to her classmates.
Restaurant Review: Sandwicheese Katipunan Ext.
Finally, another review post! It’s been a while.
My husband and I went out in the late afternoon for some errands. Since we have not eaten lunch yet, we decided to stop on the way south at Sandwicheese, located along Katipunan Extension. Sandwicheese is of the same company as Banapple, I think, and is in fact located near the first Banapple branch. We have always wanted to try Sandwicheese but was never able to find the correct timing. Finally we found a perfect time, and it was not crowded since it was some time between lunch and dinner.
We each ordered their house blend iced tea (Php 60 each). It was the same iced tea that Banapple serves, and it was great although it was not very big. They also gave us a glass of cold water each, without being asked.
We also ordered the Banapple Potato Salad (Php 90) to share. This is a salad we’ve been ordering whenever we eat at Banapple, so this is nothing new. It is basically a carrot and potato salad tossed with a cream dressing (mayonnaise based, my husband thinks) and is spread over a bed of lettuce. I love this salad.
Another side we ordered is their thick cut fries (I forgot what it was actually called, and forgot the price as well!). We just got the plain one, but you have the option of getting flavored fries. It came with a small container of blue cheese I think. In my opinion this is their weak link, as I didn’t like their fries. They seemed too starchy, and seemed pretty redundant considering we already have potatoes in our salad. I gave most of my share to my husband.
My husband ordered their Drippin’ Roast Beef Sandwich (Php 160). He seemed a bit disappointed that it was only a six-incher, but once he took a bite of it he immediately changed his mind! It was delicious! The beef was cooked perfectly and was very tender. The gravy was plentiful, and very tasty.
I ordered the Cheesy Roast Beef Sandwich (Php 160), which was identical in every way to the Drippin’ except for a layer of cheese pimiento underneath the roast beef. And, presumably, it has less gravy. I have to admit that I enjoyed this sandwich very much, and lamented that I couldn’t finish all of it. I would definitely be coming back to get this sandwich again. My husband, on the other hand, didn’t like the cheese pimiento (I gave him my leftovers, hehe!) and preferred an all-gravy topping.
One caveat of eating the roast beef sandwiches is that one must be prepared to eat with her hands. It was a bit messy eating the sandwich, and the fillings kept sliding out. They do have a nice bathroom to wash in, so getting clean again should not be a problem. It’s not a really expensive place, in my opinion, and getting flavorful sandwiches seems to be worth its price. The place itself is also very small, can probably serve about 5-6 groups of 4. The parking is very tight, since it has to share with the stores beside it.
Summary: Great food and service, fair price, small place and relatively bad parking. Definitely worth going back to! Check out their menu at their facebook page.
Food: 10
Service: 10
Ambiance: 7
