Category Archives: Restaurant

Filipino plate – DADS Kamayan Saisaki

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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

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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.

Assorted salad with garlic and vinegar – Nha Hang Ngon

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Assorted salad with garlic and vinegar - Nha Hang Ngon
Xa lach tron dau dam. With cucumber, tomato, onion, cilantro, and mayonnaise. 50,000 VND
Nha Hang Ngon, Ho Chi Minh City VIETNAM

Ugh, what is up with all that mayo on this salad – I don’t get it! You find loads of mayonnaise in Japanese salads but I didn’t know they put it on Vietnamese salads too. It was SO gross! I’m not a big fan of globs and globs of unincorporated mayonnaise so I didn’t like this salad very much. I tried eating around it, but it kept getting everywhere.

Military tank and helicopter
Military tank and helicopter, War Remnants Museum.

Pancit molo soup – DADS Kamayan Saisaki

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Pancit molo soup - DADS Kamayan Saisaki
Pork and chicken wonton soup topped with fried garlic and green onions. Buffet
DADS Kamayan Saisaki, Manila PHILIPPINES

So this is a Filipino version of wonton soup originally from the Iloilo district. I’ve had this several times before but never knew what it was called. There were only a few actual wontons in there and a lot of broken pieces of wonton wrapper, but what do you expect from a buffet. I really like the flavors of this soup though, and I think it’s more hearty than the Chinese version.

Drag performance
Drag performance in Malate. I was impressed at the quality of their performance and choreography!

Shawerma sandwich – Old Jerusalem

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Shawerma sandwich - Old Jerusalem
Beef and lamb marinated in spices with tahini sauce, hummus, pickles, salad and lettuce wrapped in lavash bread. Ordered hot. $7.95
Old Jerusalem, San Francisco CA

Shawerma sandwich - Old Jerusalem
Wow, this was really good! I loved all the flavors and the pickles were actually a really great addition. It added a great tartness that I wasn’t expecting in a shawerma sandwich. It was super sauce which I love even though it gets messy eating. Noms!

Bon Tempe Lake
Bon Tempe Lake.

Manchurian wings – Panciteria Lido

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Manchurian wings - Panciteria Lido
Deep fried chicken wings with a sweet “Asian” glaze. 265 PHP
Panciteria Lido, Manila PHILIPPINES

Ok, this was the only decent dish we had here. It really wasn’t all that great, but I’m a sucker for chicken wings covered in a sweet, sticky sauce. The wings were actually a little over-fried and dry though.

Manila Cathedral
Manila Cathedral, Intramuros.

Sweet and sour seafood hot pot – Nha Hang Ngon

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Sweet and sour seafood hot pot - Nha Hang Ngon
Lau hai san chua cay. Shrimp, clams, fish, squid, cherry tomato, cilantro. 295,000 VND
Nha Hang Ngon, Ho Chi Minh City VIETNAM

Assorted greens and oyster mushrooms - Nha Hang Ngon
Assorted greens and oyster mushrooms. I have no clue what most of these greens were, but I think there were even mimosa (sensitive plant) stems and leaves!

Vermicelli rice noodles - Nha Hang Ngon
Bun rice vermicelli noodles.

Sweet and sour seafood hot pot - Nha Hang Ngon
All the ingredients stewing in the hot pot! The server placed them in there once the pot was hot enough.

Sweet and sour seafood hot pot - Nha Hang Ngon
The end result was a delicious bowl of beautifully cooked seafood in a delicious broth with a little kick.

Hung King's Monument
Hung King’s Monument, Tao Dan Park.

Combo 5 Garden couple’s beef – Barbecue Garden

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Combo 5 Garden couple's beef - Barbecue Garden
Bo nuong phan hai nguoi. Beef with cheese, beef 5 spices, beef with lemongrass and chili, beef with honey, vegetables, and steamed rice. 209,000 VND
Barbecue Garden, Ho Chi Minh City VIETNAM

I liked all the flavors of beef and it was really fun cooking them on the grill. We had to change seats though to avoid the smoke getting blown directly at our faces. The servers were also very good at changing the grill tops when they got too dirty midway through.

Beef with cheese - Barbecue Garden
Beef with cheese. Can’t say I’ve had something like this before. It was kinda random, but delicious!

Tabletop grill - Barbecue Garden
Tabletop grill ready for some beef!

Saigon River
Saigon River from the Cau Mong Footbridge.

Pugon roasted asado – Panciteria Lido

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Pugon roasted asado - Panciteria Lido
Sizzling pork asado with onion, garlic, chives, plum and taosi sauce. 285 PHP
Panciteria Lido, Manila PHILIPPINES

This dish was SO DISGUSTING – it tasted like ass! The pork was really tough and dry and it was super hard to chew through. The combination of flavors from the rub and sauces tasted like old, wet dirty laundry. I guess this place specializes in this roasted pork so I don’t know if we just got a really bad batch but it sucked. If this is what it’s supposed to taste like then I’m really surprised that this chain remains open. GROSS!

Place setting - Panciteria Lido
Place setting.

Kalesa horse drawn carriage
Kalesa, horse drawn carriage, this one in the Intramuros.

Pork and shrimp stir fried rice vermicelli – Nha Hang Ngon

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Pork and shrimp stir fried rice vermicelli - Nha Hang Ngon
Bun gao xao tom thit. With carrots, cabbage, onion, green onion, cilantro. 120,000 VND
Nha Hang Ngon, Ho Chi Minh City VIETNAM

This was pretty good and I liked the slightly al dente texture of the vermicelli noodles. The pork was ok, but the shrimp were really tasty. Overall, it was good but I probably wouldn’t order it again.

Nha Hang Ngon outdoor dining area
Outdoor dining area.

Nga sau Phu Dong Thien Vuong
Nga sau Phu Dong Thien Vuong, super busy roundabout!

Seafood chowder – Bar Crudo

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Seafood chowder - Bar Crudo
Fish, mussels, squid, shrimp, potatoes, applewood smoked bacon. Happy hour $6
Bar Crudo, San Francisco CA

Omg, I loved this chowder! It was probably the “meatiest” version I’ve had a long time. It had SO much flavor and the most perfect, silky smooth texture. The seafood ingredients were delicious and abundant – I loved everything about it. NOMS!!!

7×7 Magazine’s The Big Eat San Francisco: 100 Things to Eat + Drink Before You Die – 2012, 2013, 2014

Bread and butter - Bar Crudo
Bread and butter. Complimentary

Sutro Tower
View of Sutro Tower from the Castro.