Your belly is missing out a lot if you haven’t brought it to a food trip at Trinoma, Quezon City. Yep, I told that to myself when I shifted my gear to the far north for the Trinoma Food Crawl presented by Yummy Magazine. Once upon a time, I was a noob if you ask me for good places to eat at Trinoma. I never knew it’s worth the trip to eat out at Trinoma. (Oh well, you can pinch me for that!)

Finally, a Trinoma rookie no more. I conquered 5 of the finest restaurants in Trinoma in less than 4 hours.

Ready to take a short food trip? Let’s go crawl!

Since 1927, Ginza Bairin have been impressing its customers from the first generation to the third generation, this generation. Masaya Shibuya, owner of Ginza Bairin, keeps the traditional recipes and guarantees the continuity of what his culinary ancestors have started. In the Philippines, Ginza Bairin is franchised by a family of travellers who was blown away by their tonkatsu while on a trip in Hong Kong.

For our first stop, also known as my first meal of the day, I distinguished the real authentic pork katsu through this Menchi Katsu Curry. Crisp and flaky standing Panko (bread crumbs) of juicy pork tonkatsu with spice filled curry. Half-dipped on its curry sauce, you can choose to dip the other half on Ginza Bairin’s famous Tonkatsu sauce.

What I tasted at Trinoma’s Ginza Bairin would probably be 98% as close to how Ginza Bairin’s katsu in other countries are. At Ginza Bairin, all ingredients are made sure to be imported from Japan except for their pork, which is still assured to be high quality, under the meticulous Japanese standards.

One of the best, or I may say the best Katsudon I’ve tasted! A special bowl made up of tender hire katsu, fragrant Japanese Koshihikari rice and the sauce, broth simmered for hours, that elevated this katsudon to its highest level. Oh, and you can’t miss out the two golden farm fresh eggs that puts this dish to the first place.

What seemed to be ordinary to me appeared to be extraordinary from the second I tried it for myself. I’m so sorry Black Sesame ice cream for judging you. Now, I still can’t forget you. You’re still on my mind!

 2nd Stop: Hanamaruken Ramen

Can you believe it? I was a Hanamaruken Ramen virgin until last week. Yeaah! I deserve a fist bump for finally entering the world of Hanamaruken!

Most loved by Osaka locals for their signature “Happiness Ramen,” which is slow braised custom cut soft bone pork rib in a shoyu tonkotsu broth. It comes with nori, negi and narutomaki. Now I can attest that Hanamaruken’s Happiness Ramen gave me a shot of happy pill in a snap. More happiness when you share a bowl with a friend since the bowl is really oversized for 1 person.

Whether you’re drunk or not, you’re worthy for this Drunk Man Rice Bowl. Generous chunks of tender kakuni with two fried eggs, negi and chili bits to cure that hangover. Hanamaruken’s homemade braising sauce stimulates the dish and sober you up quickly. My suggestion, don’t get drunk for you to understand the taste better.

Every restaurant must have this drink! Sorry for my demanding tone but I think I’m in a relationship with this Iced Green Tea drink.

Mango Tree Bistro, the hub for contemporary Thai cuisine, isn’t new to me but I don’t mind going back and forth to the restaurant that made me love Thai food all the more.

From Japanese cuisine, I was still in Asia for this grilled Thai herb chicken with lemongrass. Its Northwestern Thai dipping sauce improved the expected version of grilled meat with a mellow kick of spiciness.

I wanted to rest for a moment from meat but this stir-fried pork with garlic, fresh hot basil and red chillies told me not to. I tried not to stuff myself with more Grapow Moo since we were only on our 3rd stop. 2 more stops to go!

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With DJ Suzy of Magic 89.9

One common thing I have with DJ Suzy, who happened to be our host that afternoon, Wee Nam Kee is one of our family’s favorite go-to restaurants.

From the day Bob of Wee Nam Kee introduced me to Salted Egg Chinese Style Fried Chicken, this dish became the top of mind when I think of re-visiting Wee Nam Kee. My stomach was in complete reset for this crispy boneless chicken seasoned with curry leaves and chili, in a rich and sumptuous egg batter.

Weeee! Laksa time at Wee Nam Kee! Although I resisted a large portion of its chicken meat, I think my energy was fuelled after getting a dose of this spicy Hainanese Chicken Curry Noodles. Pardon, I need to share more space to the last stop of our Trinoma Food Crawl.

5th Stop: Pearl River Cafe

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The first time I’ve heard of this restaurant, I was already judgmental it’s a Chinese restaurant. Pearl River Cafe specializes in authentic Cantonese cuisine, serving afternoon delights like dimsum, congee, noodles, etc.

Do you see those little hedgehogs resting on my dim sum plate? I know you can define them as “cute,” but they’re more than that. Aside from its ‘instagram-worthy’ look, the cute little hedgehogs indeed delighted me after finding out the inner core.

Ladies and gentlemen, custard paste with salted egg brought glory to this steamed bun! That’s real beauty, inside and out!

To end my Trinoma Food Crawl, this Steamed Crab Roe and Shrimp Shaomai addressed me a sweet goodbye. It spoke to me for its freshness and simplicity.

Yummy Magazine and Trinoma planned the food crawl carefully by ensuring we finish the trip smoothly and harmoniously. No stomach ache for me.Yeah! Cheers to that!

This food tour won’t be possible without Yummy Magazine and Trinoma.

Thank you for asking me to crawl with you to 5 of the must-visit restaurants at Trinoma.

Cheers,

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Twitter: @TrinomaTweets

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