101 Hawker Food House

101 Hawker Food House


I eat at hawkers when I was in Singapore, and so when my colleague invited me to eat at hawkers, I told her "Really we have hawkers here in Makati?" Hawkers or hawker is a term used in Singapore for a food center with a menu at an affordable price, in local term it's "carinderia". I thought the setting would be like that but when I came to 101 Hawker Food House, I was surprised because it was a decent place which looks more of a fast food chain. 


The Place

Every time I come here for lunch the place is too crowded and for sure you'll be waiting for the others to finish. Many patrons are also waiting outside specially those in large groups. This is located somewhere near the corner of Buendia and Ayala Ave in Makati City. Most of the patrons are corporate peeps. My first impression is that they offer good food since there are many people patiently waiting outside even if they're already hungry.

The Menu

I wasn't able to take a picture of their menu but basically it is patterned after the food in hawker centers in Singapore. I was even surprised that they serve liquor during lunch time and that I saw a man drinking a brand of beer (in green bottle) which you could find in Singapore.

If you wanna know what's on their menu check the site: http://www.101hawkerfoodhouse.com/menu.html

The Food

Nasi Goreng

I ordered Nasi Goreng but was thinking also of eating Char Kway Teow or Cereal Chicken but since it was lunch time I ordered a rice meal. If you could notice the serving is quite overwhelming, I bet guys would definitely love this. Nasi Goreng is a type of fried rice with squid and shrimp on it plus it's topped with egg plus salt and pepper chicken on the side. I like this dish because its not too salty and I like the combination of fried rice and seafood. This costs P120 with refillable juice drink.

 My colleague ordered one of their specialty which is the Salt & Pepper Spareribs. It's a rice bowl in a spicy flavored spareribs. This costs P100 with refillable juice drink. I've tried this before and it's tasty.

This is called Yang Chow Fried Rice and served with sweet and sour chicken on the side. This one is also delicious but if you're not a heavy meal eater, for sure you'll not be able to finish this meal. It's also P120 and served also with a refillable juice drink.

The Overall Experience

I like eating here because they serve good food with good serving for an affordable price. Even if you're on a waiting list they will have your order taken and once you're seated it will be served immediately, so for me they also have a good service. They even have a free wifi connection. If you wanna know their exact location and the food that they serve check out their website. 

http://www.101hawkerfoodhouse.com/index.html

New Bistro Deli

New Bistro Deli

If you're extremely hungry and wanting for a delightful lunch, then this is not the place for you guys. It's not that I hate this place but given the fact that it's a bistro you may not be able to satisfy your hungry tummy. They are serving easy-to-prepare meals in a modest setting.

The Place

Salcedo St. Makati City

This branch can serve around 30 persons without feeling too crowded.

Pay as you order setup then wait for your turn to claim your meal.

The Menu

Their menu is more on different types of sandwiches which I think is more of a breakfast meal. 

They also serve coffee to match the breads and sandwiches.

I noticed that the menu is similar to Country Style Donuts especially when I saw the doughnuts section at the counter, so I couldn't help but ask the food attendant if it's under the management of the said establishment. He told me that the doughnuts are made indeed by their sister company which is the Country Style Donuts.

The Food

I was pretty sure that these are from Country Style Donuts because of the flavors and because I'm a patron of the said cafe. The doughnuts are not too sweet and not too oily and I can also recommend their muffins. The doughnut costs around P25.00 and P35 for the muffin.

Since it was lunch time, I wanted to eat a heavy meal so I picked one from the all day breakfast meals since it seems heavier than the sandwiches.

Spaghetti with Hungarian Sausage

I ordered this thinking it was heavier but when I finished eating it up, I wasn't satisfied nor full enough. I felt I didn't have my lunch yet, not that I'm a glutton but because my stomach still feels like empty. It costs P175, while the one with rice is P135. 

One of my colleague ordered bacon & egg rice meal and look at it can you find the bacon? We were laughing when we saw the order and this costs P100.00. Another order that we felt is not worth the price is the tuna rice meal, that I didn't care to take a picture because it's like a preheated Century Tuna in can. Why do we say so? because of the laurel leaf on it.

The Overall Experience

It was a learning experience for all of us after eating here, one of  my friend said you should blog this and leave all negative comments because of the experience we had. All of us felt disappointed with the food serving and the price we have to pay. I should say were expecting more from it, but as I've said earlier it's a bistro so you couldn't expect more. I can recommend this if you're after a breakfast meetup or snack time bonding. I guess their specialties are sandwiches and doughnuts.

Cafe France

Cafe France

Hanging out with friends and colleagues usually doesn't end with eating dinner or lunch right?! You usually end up having a cup of coffee to continue chitchatting with them.  If you wanted to do both without the venue hopping, then this is the right place for you. Cafe France as quoted in their website, is a place for Coffee, Food, Everything French! 

The Place

I went to their branch in Salcedo, Makati because its near my workplace, its a little bit small but I think it's a lot different in the other branches.

Pay as you order

 

 It's more comfy to seat on a couch while eating and chatting but this branch is so small that it has few comfy seats available.

Before Lunchtime

This is the scenario before 12pm but then after a few minutes the place was already full, lucky for us that we were able to find seats because of the early lunch break.

The Menu

They have a lot on their menu as I've mentioned earlier, you can have your lunch or dinner then coffee and pastries after.  They offer sandwiches, pasta, salad, soup, breads plus they have rice meals to keep you loaded! I've read that they do catering as well. The food costs an average of P150-200 per head.

The Food

Premiere Clubhouse

 I ordered Premier Clubhouse but only the half serving. It comes with chips and soda and costs around P151

What's inside? ham, bacon, omelet, and lettuce. I like the thickness of the ham plus the crunchiness of the bacon

Spaghetti Carbonara

 We all ended up ordering Pasta Carbonara for our main course.  The sauce is creamy and I like that the bacon is crunchy, the pasta is firm and the bread on the side is crunchy. 

 I forgot the name of this bread its caramel something but it tastes like a Caramel Danish. I took this for dessert and I loved it. It's crunchy outside but soft inside. I could actually eat 4 of these if I wasn't full yet. It costs P27.

Grilled Ham & Cheese

The Experience

I love the food especially the bread because I love breads. I would definitely come back here for another sumptuous meal; I would like to try more of their pastries and coffee. What I don't like here is that their brochures are not updated, there are items on the menu which are no longer available.

Check out their website http://cafefrance.net/

Big Better Burgers

Big Better Burgers or BBB is one of the local burger franchise which I heard is serving only within Metro Manila. I first saw their branch at Pergola BF Homes Paranaque but I wasn't able to try it, so when it opened a branch in Waltermart Sucat recently, I didn't hesitate to give it a try.

The Place

This one is located at Waltermart Sucat Paranaque

The setup is like any other ordinary fast food chain wherein you pay as you order and wait for it to be served. 

The Menu

Their signature burger is a 1/3 lbs grilled burger patties. They have premium burgers, sandwiches, rice meals, pasta, side dishes and desserts. The food costs an average of P100-200 per person so it is affordable.

Menus are available at the counters







 The Food

Chicken Fillet Sandwich

BBB Quarter Pounder w/Cheese

  

Chicken fillet comes with lettuce and your choice of dressing which can be teriyaki sauce or tartar sauce. This one has tartar sauce.

Condiments are also available  per table such as: mustard, catsup and hot sauce.

Southern Comfort BBQ Rice

This is one of their premium rice meal which is like a sizzling burger steak with bacon on top. It has a barbecue sauce which can be spicy if you want.

Premium Teriyaki Rice

This one is similar to the other rice meal but it is topped with mushrooms and has teriyaki sauce. 

If you could notice the burger bun is like a pandesal which is good but honestly their fries is so far, the worst fries I've ever tried! It took more than 15mins  for my order to be served so I was expecting it to be freshly made, but I was disappointed because it tasted like it was fried few hours ago it's neither crunchy nor hot. 

The Service

Honestly,  I was disappointed with the service with this branch because it took some time for our orders to arrive, and I have to personally asked the food servers for a follow up on my order after seeing all the other customers behind me being served ahead.  I was also disappointed with the fries as I've mentioned above.

The Overall Experience

I must say it's a 3 out of 5. The burger patty is delicious and juicy; the fries sucks big time; the service is slow; the place in this branch is so small that usually customers would rather have their food taken out because of limited seats available; moreover, the ventilation is poor and everytime the door opens you can feel that it's colder outside.

I don't think I'll be a patron of this branch, but who knows, maybe it's a lot different on the other branches. I think it needs a lot of improvement since this branch is just newly opened.

You can check out their facebook page to see more info https://www.facebook.com/pages/Big-Better-Burgers/34135258477               

Me and my bro

BBB Quarter Pounder Meal comes with fries and iced tea. The burger has mayo, tomato and lettuce and there's an extra charge if you want to have cheese on it.


The burger patty is quite juicy and thicker than the average burger patties served in a franchise. 

La Piadina in PH

La Piadina sounds very Italian, well it is! When I saw their branch at Solaris One-Legazpi Village in Makati I wonder what Piadina is, all I know is I love pizza and pasta, so I decided to give it a shot. From the looks of it you might say its quite expensive to dine there than any other pizza parlor because most of their patrons are the corporate people, of course, given the fact that it's located in a business district. Here are the shots of their branch in Legaspi: 

A very relaxed and comfy setup

Lunch time

According to the video shown, the restaurant is founded by Chef Paolo Colonello who is based in Milan.

Patrons

Seats are also available outside the restaurant which are suitable for smokers.

The Menu

 I took shots of their menu to give you an idea of how much it would cost you to dine here.

Hard to read menu

Their menu obviously is hard to read because I'm not from Milan. You know what they say, the harder it is to read the menu, the more expensive the food is :-)

Pag hindi mo mabasa ang menu sosyal ang pagkain? korek?!

The Food

As you can see on the menu I can't order that much because I might end up washing the dishes and we are just having lunch folks it's not like a last supper meal. 

I ended up ordering Pasta Scampi which is a long pasta in a spicy tomato sauce topped with shrimps which costs P290

Pasta Scampi

I like the taste of it, the tomato sauce is not too sour and it's a little bit spicy. The combination of the cheese and the tomato sauce is just right, which makes it tastier than the other pasta served in a regular pizza parlor. The toast on the other hand, is perfectly crunchy and there's no garlic flavor added to it.

Piadina with Creamy Soup

Piadina is basically a stuffed Italian flat bread. La Piadina offers a variety to choose from, the one that we ordered has Italian sausage, tomatoes and other spices plus the pesto sauce.

The creamy sauce on the side is similar to Filipino sopas but with no noodles on it and a lot thicker and creamier. It has a unique taste of herbs and spices. This costs P210.

Pasta Italspagna

 

This one looks like my order but apparently its not. This one may have the same sauce as Pasta Scampi but with Italian sausage and chorizo on it. This costs P280.

The Experience

It's nice to try something new once in a while, especially if budget is not a constraint for you. Dining here may costs P300-500 per person and the food is ideal for single serving only. The food is quite expensive than the usual pizza franchise because it is more of Italian than American. La Piadina offers an ultimate Italian taste which I think will be most enjoyed by the middle age group,mostly, the corporate peeps.

The total experience is good; the food, the place and the service. For an average person like me I might occasionally eat here, meaning it's a payday special treat for me. =)

 

I tried to find their website but I can't seem to find an official one, only reviews, blogs and articles but you might want to check this out http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?publicationSubCategoryId=81&articleId=803026 for their other branches and contact nos.