A 4th of July Feast
Well, it's sort of a feast because we ate and drank thrice during this U.S. celebrated holiday. Thanks to Tupperware, we also experienced the holiday to commemorate this very important day in U.S. history. So, we decided to eat, watch a movie and just hangout with the girls (Marie, Mira and Carolyn). Here goes our overnight quest for good food in the city. Our first stop:
A perfect spot to hold an early dinner, American style. This restaurant located at the I.T. Park has been the talk-of-the town since it first opened last May 22nd. I've heard that their burgers are really tasty.
We lined up, grabbed a menu near the counter (or you could just look up the big menu overhead) and started to decide what to order. Besides their famous burgers, they also offer tacos, quesadillas, burritos, a few sandwiches (only two), sides and drinks.
For our appetizers, we chose their Freedom Fries and Querida Mia - Charlie Bravo (this is an open-faced quesadilla topped with cheese and other ingredients). They were delicious! The fries are similar to that of KFC's but thinner and the quesadilla is akin to pizza, thin-crust. I'd definitely eat them again. I would've loved to order their Onion Rings but they ran out of it :( I think it's really that good.
I ordered Strawberry Milkshake for my drinks and it was really flavorful and rich (they used strawberry ice cream) but I was disappointed with the size. You would need to order two to satisfy yourself. So, I ordered another drink, their Libertea. It's also delish, you can taste the lemon and the sweetness is just right.
For my main meal, I chose... the Double Burger! At first, I was thinking of getting the Bully Boy Burger (triple quarter-pound patties) but changed my mind because I know I couldn't finish it. It was yummy but the patties were a bit dry. I was expecting them to be juicy. I was also looking for a smoky, grilled type of flavor to it but then they cooked their patties in a regular burger stove. Good thing that you can put in as much mustard, tomato ketchup and garlic mayo you'd like, that made it not so bad after all. I even forgot to add cheese! Anyway, instead of the typical burger bun, they used a kaiser bun and that one I loved!
The girls ordered their Fearless Fried Chicken and Chicken Burritos. The chicken was the best! It's crispy and I would compare it to Sunburst Fried Chicken but better because it's full of flavor even on the inside. The gravy is tasty and it has a lot of black pepper and it did give it that nice kick, woohoo!
The burrito is also good. It's a full meal wrapped in a flour tortilla. It's filled with chicken meat, Spanish rice, beans, onions, lettuce and cilantro. I especially like it more because they put in a good amount of cumin. We went out super full! If we didn't have a movie to catch, we would've walked from the I.T. Park to Ayala :)
Our next stop:
After watching the Amazing Spiderman, our tummies were looking for something else. Desserts and coffee it is! Vanille Cafe and Patisserie (located at the Terraces in Ayala) is ideal because besides answering our craving for sweets, we were looking for a place where we could discuss about the movie (as if we have a reaction paper to write, hehehe) and just really chat. The place is cozy and nice.
I ordered the L'Opera and a Belgian Chocolate Truffle over a cup of brewed coffee. The L'Opera is made of chocolate with layers of chocolatey stuff that I couldn't figure out what but it was sweet and delicious! My all-time favorite is the Belgian Chocolate Truffle. It's bittersweet and the best among all. 
Carolyn ordered the Peppermint and Coconut Macarons. Both were delectable. By the way, a macaron is is a sweet meringue-based confectionery filled with ganache, buttercream or jam. A personal favorite is the Peppermint one. In between the mint-flavored macaron, they put in chocolate ganache! I have tried them from three different cafes and so far, Vanille's macarons are the best! Very addictive :)
Marie ordered the Brownie Cheesecake. Unfortunately, it's really just so-so. Visually attractive but the taste doesn't give justice to the dessert overall. I hope they can make it super tasty as what all cheesecakes should be. The winner of all the sweets that we ordered is... the French Chocolate Cake! Mira's choice, way to go! It's superb and chocolatey inside-out! Just the right sweetness and if I would rate the richness of the cake, it's just right. One slice is perfect to satisfy that craving for chocolate!
We then went back to Panagdait, bought some DVDs and just when we thought the night was over, Mira got a text from Berta. He was done with his QA training and asked if we were still up for a bottle. Hmmm... Why not? We then went to our favorite spot, Ramedaz. Just our luck. They ran out of our favorite beer in the world, San Miguel Pale Pilsen. We searched just within the venue and decided to settle for San Mig Light at the place beside the Manok Republic. A bottle wouldn't be complete without "pulutan"! Instead of the typical sisig or nuts, we went for Hungarian Sausages with gravy. Indeed a perfect pair, try it. Who would've thought that we'd stay there for the next couple of hours! They had a 32" LCD TV and "The Avengers" was up. We watched it, talked about a lot of things (Game of Thrones particularly ;p) and had loads of fun. Around 3am, we called it a night, or dawn. What a 4th of July that was. Until next time... :)
