Bellini’s Italian Restaurant

Last April 14, my mother dear celebrated her Nth birthday. Won’t announce her exact age in public or else, she might give me “the look”. Hahaha! I struggled for how many weeks, thinking over and over on what kind of gift to give her. For a daughter who wants to give back all the love to her mom, I wanted to give nothing but the Best. It took me more than 3 weeks to finally come up with an idea… to “cook” for her. If you really know me, you know that it’s not natural for me to cook for anyone. When I cook, it will be for someone special. To cut to the chase, I made her birthday special by preparing everything from scratch. I made the house look like a restaurant with the food, set-up, etc.
On the other hand, that is not what I’ll be sharing with you guys because I’m shy to show my dishes. Well if you’re my twitter follower, you probably saw some snapshots. Hehe! Instead, I would like to share with you one of her celebrations with our close family friends at Bellini’s.

More than 10 years ago, Bellini’s in Cubao Expo was established. It is a pioneer business in the area, a continuous success throughout the years in the restaurant business because of their remarkable and authentic Italian dishes. Knowing my mom’s taste, it’s a fact that she will never get tired of eating Italian dishes like pizza and pasta. To give her stomach enough satisfaction, I chose Bellini’s for her occasion. 

 Focaccia with dip (Php 100) - First, I thought it was complimentary. But when I saw the bill, oops it’s not. :-| I would rather get this as a free appetizer like in other Italian restaurants around the metro. Besides, the taste of their focaccia bread and dip - olive oil, black vinegar with cheese - is not that superb for me. 

 Quinticco Pasta (Php 1,550) - Pasta galore! 5 kinds of pasta in one plate made us want to try them all. Out of the 5 flavors, what stood out for me was their Fettucine Pesto Mare, the pasta on the right with white pesto sauce with mussels on top. I usually don’t order pastas with white sauce, although this one is an exception because of the pesto mixed that made the taste more delicious. Plus, fresh seafood used as mixture solved my pasta fix. 

Aside from the 5 pasta dishes you see on the picture, you may ask the servers or chef of Bellini’s on what pasta choices they have for a plate of Quinticco Pasta.

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Breakfast Magazine April-May 2012 Issue x The Food Scout

Break the Fast! 

The Healthy issue of Breakfast Magazine is out with the beautiful Iza Calzado on the cover.

• Get to know more about her take on being healthy.
• Learn from the chefs as they share healthy but flavorful recipes.
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• Check out my article, feature about 3 healthy-licious restaurant.
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Pray, Eat and Love.

Cheers,

The Food Scout

Acacia Hotel Manila Day 2 : Easter Sunday Celebration

What a great morning we all had at Acacia Hotel Manila. 8 hours of sleep in our Junior Suite room plus waking up to this view of Alabang graced my family’s morning. Now I know how Southern living is different from Northern living. Well, not all parts of the North, but most of it. This is the kind of view I’m missing from the North. Lovely laid-back view indeed.

Aside from that, It wasn’t an ordinary Sunday for us because that Sunday was Resurrection Sunday, a celebration of Christ’s resurrection from the cross. A day to remind us that Jesus died and saved us from our sins. In short, it’s a day to celebrate that Christ is alive. A hero was He, and will always be. :) Normally, we go to CCF’s 8am worship on Sundays. Since we had a scheduled breakfast buffet, we decided to attend the afternoon worship instead. 

 Acaci at the 2nd level of Acacia Hotel served us international & local breakfast food. 

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Macau Trip : Breakfast at Galaxy Hotel

We rejected breakfast buffet for the first time. Why? First, we didn’t want to be pressured to wake up early just for breakfast buffet. Second, Galaxy Hotel has numerous restaurants to choose from, including their food court with different types of cuisine. Lastly, we didn’t want to be stuffed, leaving no space for more food as we roam around Macau. 

Without the pressure of hurrying up for breakfast, we started to freshen up at around 9am, went to the ground floor of Galaxy Hotel and checked out the long lane with various restaurants. 

Tsui Wah Restaurant caught our morning hunger with their bread display from the entrance. Bread is the key to my heart at anytime of the day, especially mornings. I automatically made the decision to try out Tsui Wah Restaurant simply because of their breads. 

 Continental Breakfast ($ 49) - My sister Reine’s typical breakfast. Everything she loves is on this plate. Loaded her belly with these food before heading to our tour around Macau. 

 Mexico Creamy Yolk Bun ($ 13) - Rough outside texture that tasted creamy and soft inside. Reine didn’t make a mistake in choosing this bread for us. My breakfast was already complete by having one piece of this ducky bun. 

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Maitre Chocolatier (Boutique & Cafe)

“Intimidating from the outside”, a general comment I hear about Maitre Chocolatier. When I used to pass by Jupiter St. and look at Maitre Chocolatier from a passenger’s point of view, I would always think that the dishes they serve are beyond my budget. Seemed like a pricey boutique restaurant for me. Surprisingly one weekend, when I tried to enter and check it out with some friends, the prices I saw on their menu weren’t what I had in mind.

For a sophisticated-looking boutique restaurant like Maitre Chocolatier, the prices are not bad at all. Hence, I did not hesitate to go back one weekday and suggest this restaurant to my Friday Night Light group for one of our weekly meetings. 

 From the name itself, you shouldn’t think twice whether you’ll get your sweet tooth on the move or not. Definitely it’s a haven for chocolates!!! So if you are diabetic, I am so sorry. I always say this, “health is wealth”. Don’t even think of tempting yourself to try any of these, or else… you’ll be addicted! (no joke!) 

Brand is somehow important. By looking at their menu, I noticed that Maitre Chocolatier uses Lindt chocolates in almost all their dishes. That’s a powerful factor for me.

 Fantsy Gloriole (Php 100) - As described by Maitre Chocolatier, one plate includes 6 pieces of astounding Frey Chocobloc Blanc and Noir chocolate coated with their special batter and fried until crispy. It may look dull to you but I’m telling you, looks can deceive. If you are a white chocolate fan, save it for the last. Get a piece of the dark chocolate first, before you put those fingers on the white chocolate snack. Trust me, you will adore their Frey Chocobloc Blanc. Oh so luscious! 

 Sweet Revenge (Php 250) - Talk about presentation, this Lindt molten lava cake has it. Cold vanilla ice cream plus warm chocolate moist cake is the dessert combination that kills your diet. I know that summer time is all about getting that beach body. However, this cake might tempt you to forget about it. Just be careful if you’re on a diet. Ask someone to share with you ;) It’s also one of the sweetest temptations you can get in Maitre Chocolatier. 

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Acacia Hotel Manila Day 1 : The New Hotel in Alabang

The tollgate, whether it is at the north or south, serves as a landmark for me that I am already crossing out of Manila. Seems to be an out of town trip when we stop by the tollgate and handover money. Don’t overreact when I tell you Alabang is already an out of town trip for me. Take my shoes as the girl who grew up at the north side of Manila, I’d always have the perspective of going out of my comfort zone when I pass any tollgate. Not to mention that it costs bucks of cash too. 

As soon as finding out that Acacia Hotel, the newest 5-star hotel in Alabang, invited me over the holy weekend, I immediately gave my Yes as an answer. I believe I needed to get out of my comfort zone and experience a different kind of relaxation. 

Thank God my Acacia Hotel accommodation was scheduled during the holy weekend. Most of the people I know are out of the country or at their respective provinces. You know what that means, no traffic in Manila! Indeed, the perfect timing to drive without the hassle of being stuck in traffic and wasting gas. From Greenhills to Alabang, it took us less than 30 minutes to reach our destination… 

Acacia Hotel Manila

 Why Acacia Hotel? According to them, they resemble to the characteristics of an Acacia tree - shade, shelter and strength. “To provide comfort like a shade; a safe haven such as a shelter; and a strong and stable place that guests can keep coming back to. A true home away from home.”

 Well, true enough. Acacia Hotel made me feel at home when I saw their welcome note in the Junior Suite they provided me. 

 The Suite

This 43 square meter room can fit one family. Maximum capacity could be 2 adults plus 2 kids. If you can squish and don’t mind to hug each other while sleeping, like our family,  4 adults can fit ;)  

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Amoroma Ristorante Italiano

You can please my mom by bringing her to an Italian restaurant. So that’s exactly what we did. 

During one of our spontaneous trips to Tagaytay, I brought my family to one authentic Italian restaurant my friend Carlos was raving about, Amoroma. From the outside, I was already impressed with the Italian feel of its structure. 

While entering the back door, where there were allotted parking spaces at the back, I was having thoughts that the place looks like a dating spot. The cold breeze of Tagaytay added to that romantic feel. It was romantic that I felt like my sister and I shouldn’t be in the picture for dad and mom’s date. However, we are talking about Italian food here! That means pizza and pasta. Why would I say NO to that? 

Unlike other Italian restaurants that serve complimentary bread, namely Italianni’s and Bellini’s,  Amoroma didn’t serve us any. Not that I’m complaining but I was a bit expectant of some bread. Didn’t I mention I’m kind of a bread monster? I can eat one week without rice but I can’t live one week without bread. 

 Vongole (Php 235) - Since no bread given to us, first plate on the table was Vongole or in layman’s definition, it is an olive oil based pasta mixed with clams and white wine. I didn’t admire the pasta too much maybe because I prefer eating pasta with bread. Eating the pasta alone, without seafood, lacks flavor for me. Although mixing the pasta with a bite of shrimp/clams, flavors generated that made me love it. 

 5-Cheese Pizza (Php 320) for the win! Chewy and oozing mozzarella muffling our taste buds gives me the right to rave about this restaurant from now on. Normally, I eat 1-2 slices of pizza because it bloats me to eat more than that. Amoroma’s pizza is insanely abnormal. It would make me jog for about an hour to burn what I ate, more than 2 slices of pizza, not counting the pasta and desserts I had.  If I go back, you already know what I’ll be ordering. 5 cheeses for a 5 star taste! This made up my disappointment on how my Italian dinner started without bread. 

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