Cozy Afternoons at Cafe Xocolat

If you are ever in the Katipunan area, and you find yourself looking for a place to:

1. treat yourself to some nice comfort food
2. spend a lazy afternoon catching up with an old friend
3. just chill out and curl up with your laptop or book while enjoying a nice cup of hot chocolate

... then Xocolat is the place for you!

I can't believe I've never blogged about this place. This is definitely one of my ultimate go-to place, and why shouldn't it be? A small, cozy cafe converted from the sala of an old house, Xocolat definitely has that homey feel that makes me want to stay here all day. In addition, with the friendly staff, eclectic decor and of course, the consistently good food, I kind of wonder why I haven't just moved in already (well, they're not open 24/7 for one).

Xocolat's comfy vibe makes it the ultimate chill-out place

The food... oh, the food. Obviously, for a place named after the world's favorite food, Xocolat offers excellent chocolate. Their signature beverages and cakes are some of the most decadent chocolate offerings this side of town. Because of this, you'd think that those exotic creatures called people who don't like chocolate won't have any reason to come here, but actually, Xocolat offers so much more. The menu is a labor of love, carefully crafted to bring you all the best comfort food.

Tomato Kick: Part 1 of The Great Maginhawa Food Trip

If you live in the Quezon City area, you've probably heard of Maginhawa Street, that artist-culture-foodie haven located in UP Village, Quezon City. A nice quiet street by day, a crowded youth hub by night, this place boasts some of the most unique food finds this side of town!

Because Maginhawa's not-so-hidden treasures cannot be contained into one post, I'll be covering five of Maginhawa's best in this series which I dub The Great Maginhawa Food Trip. (Which, I know, is a ridiculous title, but there are just no other words fit to describe the sheer awesomeness of the Maginhawa experience.)

Just a quick teaser of the upcoming posts in the series ;)

This post is the first of a five-part series called The Great Maginhawa Food Trip.
Part 1: Tomato Kick
Part 2: Friuli Trattoria
Part 3: Cocina Juan

Part 4: Sancho Churreria
Part 5: Cha Dao Tea Place

For this post, we'll be starting off with one of the most well-known spots in Maginhawa: Tomato Kick.

A popular watering hole for students of the University of the Philippines, Tomato Kick has a laidback casual vibe that makes it the perfect hang-out. When you see the sign, you'll probably have trouble finding the entrance as we did, but it's actually on the second floor.

Affordable Fine Dining at Chef's Quarter

One day, my father suddenly had a craving for steak. We don't have steak very often, because of the cost and also because my family loves seafood more than meat. However, we do like a good steak once in a while, and it was up to me to find a nice nearby restaurant for us to enjoy some fine dining.

A few Internet searches led me to a restaurant in Robinson's Place Manila called "Chefs' Quarter." I've never heard of the restaurant, despite having been to RP plenty of times before, and when we finally found the restaurant, I realized why. Instead of being inside with all the other food establishments, Chef's Quarter is located outside, and there is no inside entrance. In short, you have to get out of the mall in order to get to the restaurant. No wonder I've never seen it before.

Despite the unfortunate location, its reputation is still enough to attract a hefty customer base, as I had seen from the many positive reviews on its Munchpunch.com page.

Wham! Burgers

With so many new burger joints popping up all over Metro Manila, it gets a bit confusing. There's so much you can do to a burger to make it different, but the sheer complexity of some of these variants cause the burger to lose its classic appeal.

And so, today I bring you Wham! Burgers.

Baguio Part 2

So here's Part 2 of Baguio Foods! It's actually kinda hard to look for really good authentic Baguio dishes. We were asking the local people for recommendations, but the only food place that was always directed to us was the ones in Session Road. But there are mostly just fast food here, so we got the most different one. And that's the reason why we ate at the Sizzling Plate Baguio.

Baguio Part 1

Hi everyone! I have something wonderful to share today and of course, it's once again related to food! haha. So today, I'll be sharing you something about the food in Baguio. As most people know, Baguio is known for its strawberries. And guess what! It's strawberry season! hahaha. So here are my strawberry highlights in Baguio:

We ate breakfast one time at the G and C Cafe. The place is just small, but good food and good service =)

Mushroomburger-- Totally Confused

I didn't really plan to write a blog about Mushroomburger BUT I just had to share my confusion... THIS.

Car seats at Mushroomburger

Yes, that's Mushroomburger at Katipunan. My reaction went like this "What??? Am I seeing things?.... Why???" So you could really feel my confusion upon entering the place. At first I thought it was just the new addition of pancit in bilao that was a weird addition to the chain, but now this! Why car seats??????

Anyway, since I have expressed enough confusion already, I shall now comment on the food. It was my first time to realize that there are rice meals there actually hahaha I thought it was all just burgers (it's named MushroomBURGER for a reason).. and to think that it's not my first time to visit =P So of course, I tried their Mushroom Beef rice meal with the side dish of Mushroom Fiesta.