Breakfast #4 – Best Western Hotel La Corona

Breakfast #4 - Best Western Hotel La Corona
Apple glazed pork, sautéed vegetables, garlic rice, scrambled eggs. Complimentary
Best Western Hotel La Corona, Manila PHILIPPINES

I think I got tired of breakfast pretty quickly especially when it seemed like the items were leftovers from the previous night’s dinner service. I mean, apple glazed pork? Hmm… Not impressed.

Lapu-Lapu Monument
Lapu-Lapu Monument (Statue of the Sentinel of Freedom), Rizal Park.

Chicken with chili and lemon grass – Sisters Cafe

Chicken with chili and lemon grass - Sisters Cafe
Served with rice, lettuce, tomato. 79,000 VND
Sisters Cafe, Ho Chi Minh City VIETNAM

Mmm, this lemon grass chicken was SO much better than the one at Vietnamese Kitchen! It was like night and day. This chicken was tender and the sauce was SO delicious. The portion was larger and the price was noticeably lower. Score!

Binh Tay Market
The bustling Binh Tay Market, Cholon (Chinatown).

Japanese plate – DADS Kamayan Saisaki

Japanese plate - DADS Kamayan Saisaki
California roll, gyoza, salmon croquette, shrimp tempura, eggplant tempura, sweet potato tempura. Buffet
DADS Kamayan Saisaki, Manila PHILIPPINES

I wasn’t all that hungry after the Filipino plate, but I figured it was a buffet and I should eat my money’s worth (stupid American mentality!). Lol! The items on this plate weren’t as satisfying though. Tempura is not the best item to choose in a buffet because the batter gets either really soggy or rock hard after sitting out for a while. Maybe the Japanese section isn’t as popular in this restaurant because everything tasted a little dry and old to me. 😦

Miso soup - DADS Kamayan Saisaki
Miso soup.

Intramuros
Exploring the Intramuros.

Burrata cheese – Mozzeria

Burrata cheese - Mozzeria
Cherry tomato, aged balsamic vinegar, basil oil, served with crostoli (fried dough with sugar). Pre fixe menu
Mozzeria, San Francisco CA

Ugh, what a disappointment! I love burrata, but this version had none of the characteristics that make the cheese so lovely. I don’t know if they make this in-house, but it wasn’t very good. This burrata was hard and chewy like a plain mozzarella, not soft and super creamy as it should have been. You could cut through this sad disc and it would hold its form without oozing out onto the plate. This made me really sad! 😦

Primaterra Primitivo - Mozzeria
Primaterra Primitivo, house red wine.

Tall flatsedge
Tall flatsedge (Cyperus eragrostis, Cyperaceae), Bon Tempe Lake.

Blueberry cream cheese pastry – Paris Baguette

Blueberry cream cheese pastry - Paris Baguette
Banh ngan lop pho mai viet quay. 25,000 VND
Paris Baguette, Ho Chi Minh City VIETNAM

I love the different shapes that all the pastries come in here! American blueberry pastries mostly come in a boring round shape. We don’t get a cool variety like the ones at Paris Baguette. It’s a shame. 😦

Iced cafe latte - Paris Baguette
Iced cafe latte. 55,000 VND

Hotel de Ville de Saigon
Hotel de Ville de Saigon (City Hall).

Cocktails – White Moon Bar

Mojito - White Moon Bar
Mojito. 220 PHP
White Moon Bar, Manila PHILIPPINES

Ugh, I was disappointed overall at how badly Manila made cocktails. They were either super weak or super sugary. Now I like to drink, so you better make my cocktails right, Mr. Bartender! White Moon Bar fell into the crappy cocktail category. All the cocktails were a little off. The mojito was probably the most drinkable. The malibu pineapple was too sweet and the electric ice tea was ridiculously awful. We had to send that one back. I asked if they could make the lychee martini on the not-so-sweet side, so their solution was so mix in olive juice! Lychee + olive juice, can you imagine?! LOL, that tasted like crap too! Omg, where can I get a decent cocktail?! :/

Malibu pineapple & Electric ice tea - White Moon Bar
Malibu pineapple. 195 PHP
Electric ice tea. 195 PHP

Lychee martini - White Moon Bar
Lychee martini. 210 PHP

White Moon Bar
The bar after sunset.

Fresh spring rolls – Sisters Cafe

Fresh spring rolls - Sisters Cafe
Shrimp, pork, vermicelli noodles, salad served with sweet chili sauce. 39,000 VND
Sisters Cafe, Ho Chi Minh City VIETNAM

Meh, these were standard for Saigon. I mean they were better than most you can get back in the states, but they didn’t blow me away after having eaten at so many places already. I was surprised that they got their food from somewhere else though. You order at the restaurant, but they must have their kitchen at a nearby building because the server always came from outside to deliver our food. Hmm, odd.

Nha Tho Cha Tam Church
Nha Tho Cha Tam Church, Cholon (Chinatown).

Filipino plate – DADS Kamayan Saisaki

Filipino plate - DADS Kamayan Saisaki
Kalderatang baka (beef stew), pork pukyutan, kuhol sa gata (snails in coconut cream sauce), lumpia, mixed pancit, steamed rice. Buffet
DADS Kamayan Saisaki, Manila PHILIPPINES

Please don’t ask me what’s in a lot of these. I just know how to eat them, not cook them – lol! Even though this plate is like a heart attack about to happen, it was pretty tasty! I didn’t like the snails though. I liked the flavor of the coconut cream sauce, but the snails themselves had a texture that didn’t agree with me. They were tough, black, and a little slimy. I tried eating one and left the rest on my plate.

Lechon de leche - DADS Kamayan Saisaki
Lechon de leche (roasted suckling pig). He looks so cute! 🙂

Sidecar motorcycle taxis
Sidecar motorcycle taxis and jeepney.

Stuffed falafel – Old Jerusalem

Stuffed falafel - Old Jerusalem
Chickpea fritters stuffed with fried onions, roasted sumac and pine nuts. Each $1.25
Old Jerusalem, San Francisco CA

Wow, who knew stuffing a falafel would taste SO good?! I loved the filling they use – it has so much flavor and it keeps the inside nice and moist. These fried balls are pretty big so one was enough for me to snack on with my shawerma.

Stuffed falafel - Old Jerusalem
7×7 Magazine’s The Big Eat San Francisco: 100 Things to Eat + Drink Before You Die – 2013

Contemporary Jewish Museum
Contemporary Jewish Museum.

Sweet bacon roll – Paris Baguette

Sweet bacon roll - Paris Baguette
Banh ngot thit muoi cuon. Bacon wrapped croissant filled with chopped hard boiled eggs. 26,000 VND
Paris Baguette, Ho Chi Minh City VIETNAM

Sweet bacon roll - Paris Baguette
Omg, this was warm and delicious! I loved the bacon, and the pastry was the perfect thickness for cutting through and eating. I thought this was fun and new. We need these here in the US! They’re the perfect bite for breakfast.

Iced Vietnamese coffee - Paris Baguette
Iced Vietnamese coffee with milk. 40,000 VND

Saigon Skydeck
View of the city from the Saigon Skydeck in the Bitexco Financial Tower.

Breakfast #3 – Best Western Hotel La Corona

Breakfast #3 - Best Western Hotel La Corona
Teriyaki chicken, sautéed vegetables, kielbasa, scramble eggs, and croissant. Complimentary
Best Western Hotel La Corona, Manila PHILIPPINES

Meh, I didn’t really like the selection this morning. I mean, teriyaki chicken, really? It should have at least been chicken adobo. Oh well, you can’t win them all. 😉

Cream of mushroom soup - Best Western Hotel La Corona
Cream of mushroom soup.

Malacanan Palace
Malacanan Palace.