Traveling Tummy: Beach Grub

A word of advice: When in Boracay, Eat Local.

The little mom n' pop spots on the island are being invaded by franchises like Starbucks, Yellow Cab and Shakey's. Why anyone would go all the way there to eat that is beyond me. Especially when there are so many island-grown establishments that are REALLY good. If you are worried about price, there is something for everyone, and one of my favorite spots is the very tasty, very wallet-friendly SMOKE.

Smoke is a little hole in the wall spot in one of D'Malls little turns. You can easily miss it but it's to the left of the big Andok's

Our photographer, Pao had Bulalo. I had this before and it's really good on a cold beach night. Ok, so it was 3 pm but it was really gray and windy the whole weekend.

Then we shared this sizzling bulalo. Oh-my-god. Garlicky goodness. I heard they have crispy bulalo too. Madness.

I had the salpicao- which I always get. Can't go wrong with this for P99 pesos. I think they cook it in butter too for extra flavor. It's actually best to go here late at night in that moment between being drunk and a hangover.

Smoke is located at D'Mall, Station 2, Boracay

Out of the Kitschen: Truth

I don't spend ALL my time eating.

Untitled from Sarah Meier Albano on Vimeo.

Listen to me and my girls as we ramble for roughly 8 minutes... Don't worry, it's good stuff :)

Sarah-sarahmeier.tumblr.com
Danielle-trustme-itsparadise.blogspot.com

Traveling Tummy: What breakfast should always look like

The "Braz"-- sausage, scrambled eggs, garlic potatoes and toast with butter and jam.

Pain Perdu minus the bacon with a side of tapa and fruit bowl.

This was what breakfast was like at Ti-Braz over the weekend.

Now back in the city, this is what I had for breakfast today:






Yep. NOTHING. Sadness.

Kitschen Chaos: My very first Crepe

While hanging out at Ti Braz in Boracay, I casually mentioned how cool it looked to make crepes and how I wanted to make one. My friend and manager of the place, Danielle was like "Go ahead and make one" which of course excited me and scared me at the same time. The people that make them make it look so easy but I knew mine would be a mess.

So, Sarah, the enabler that she is (Hi Sarah! haha) said she wanted a crepe and to make one for her, so I gave the list of ingredients I wanted and went behind the bar.

As expected, my first attempted was disastrous. haha. It's harder than it looks!

My second attempt was waaaay better. Ok, that's a lie. It was better, but not by much.

First four layers-- ground beef, emmental, garlic and tomatoes

Last few layers--- bechamel, basil and parmesan cheese

I cheated my way into making it look awesome!

About to serve it to my favorite taste tester, Sarah! (sarahmeier.tumblr.com)

Ta-daaaaah!!!!

Visit Ti Braz for crepes on the island! If you're nice and make pa-cute, maybe Danielle will let you get behind the counter too! Oh and their breakfast is awesome here.

Ti Braz is located next to Cafe del Mar (With the big mermaids!) between Station 1 and 2. 50% off on all crepes every Tuesday!

Workday Lunches: Cafe Mary Grace

I usually bring my own food to work, but there's days I just can't be bothered to prepare anything or I forget and end up walking over to Alabang Town Center to eat.

We were gonna go get pho but I got sidetracked by the possibility of my favorite ensaymada at Mary Grace. Never tried their food before but I'm glad I did now!

Mary Grace has the whole nostalgic,wholesome thing down pat, with little notes from customers under their glass tables. So cute.

Started with the Onion dip served with cassava chips. This was amazing. It had the texture of kropek (prawn crackers) but made of cassava. The dip was filled with caramelized onion flavor mixed with cheese. I could have eaten just this.

But no. Despite the fact that I am leaving to go to Boracay this weekend, I still insisted on eating pasta- as if I haven't been eating enough!The pasta serving for the Pasta Vongole looks small and you at first will feel like it won't make you full, but halfway through, I was stuffed. (I still finished it though)

My workmates Trina and Tanya both got the chorizo and olive pasta. I think I want this next time.

My girl Margaux got this cream dory pasta with creamy leek sauce, or something like that. She said it was good, but also heavy.

A nice way to spend a Wednesday lunch hour (followed by Sebastian's ice cream)

I never even made it to my ensaymada!

Cafe Mary grace is located at Ground Level, Corte De Las Palmas Alabang Town Center.
Tel: 384-0129 / 828-8476

Restaurant Review: Army Navy

I'm so behind. I only tried Army Navy last night!

My past few weeks haven't exactly been stellar, so Abdul suggested we grab a bunch of food from Army Navy and stay in on a Friday night watching dvds.

We did the Army Navy part and one dvd after which we passed out...at 10 pm! Caught up on much needed sleep, finally! I got 9 hours!

Freedom Fries. Yummy, thin cut and seasoned perfectly. Still crispy after a 20 minutes car ride.

Onion Rings. They were ok. I like how they were thin and crunchy but needed to be seasoned/ salted more.

My burger. Their regular burger consists of a quarter pound patty, lettuce, tomato, raw onions and ketchup and mayo. I asked for mine without the mayo and ketchup and caramelized onions instead, with cheese and extra bacon. I know, I know. I made it 10x more unhealthy. It was bomb though, I love their black sesame seed bun.

What did we wash it down with? A bottle of Moet of course. We ghetto fabulous like that ;p

Army Navy has branches along Commerce Avenue in Alabang, Glorietta 5 and De la Rosa street, Makati

Restaurant Rant: Jozu Kin

Abdul wanted to eat dinner at Charlie's in Ronac last Sunday, but I managed to sway him into going to Jozu Kin instead. I had some food from this restaurant a few weeks back at a housewarming and really enjoyed it. I shared this information with the boyfriend and his Japanese food living butt willingly obliged to my request to eat there instead.

Unfortunately, I was really disappointed this time around.

Should have stuck with Charlie's!

Abdul got this spicy tuna maki. He said it was ok. Nothing special.

I got the unagi maki. The unagi looked really limp and sad. It also had a strong fishy taste. I ate it because it was there but I didn't really like it at all.

I also got the tempura roll. The rolls were loose and kept falling apart. The crunchy tempura batter tasted like old oil and it was cold. This gave me a stomach ache after from all the oil. I feel like the tempura itself wasn't cooked well :(

The only thing I actually enjoyed was the garlic rice Abdul got with his main. And the guyabano juice--> but that was out of a can.

For this price range, or even cheaper, go to Omakase instead-- they have never failed me over there!