Venice Piazza Night Market: The Ultimate Budget Food Trip!

Last night, I took my last final exams for the term.  It was difficult than expected but it was a relief that the finals week was finally over.   What better way to celebrate than to have a food trip!  So I went straight to Venice Piazza Night Market to join Kurt and other bloggers in a night of food feast, live music and other festivities.  

Venice Piazza Blogger's Night courtesy of Venice Piazza Night Market,Fruitas and Boardwalk

There was also a bar specially for the event.  Most of the bloggers enjoyed themselves alcoholic beverages but we don't drink so we savored ourselves with food.

There were a lot of food and drink stalls.  I was surprised that most of the dishes were at an average price of only 70 php.   That's extremely cheap.  If it were in my school area in our Makati campus or Taft campus, that price would only fetch you a fairly decent drink.  So its really a bargain!  People working and living aaround McKinley Hill are so lucky they have a food place like this nearby.  

Let me give you a quick tour.  

These are the stalls having drinks as their specialty:  

Ai Tea

Fruitas and Black Pearl are classic, tried and tested brands which all of us are familiar with so if you don't want to risk then you're safe with these.  Ai Tea is a new tea brand exclusive only at Venice Piazza Night Market.  I tried a shot glass of their Thai Tea.  It was good but I still prefer Milk Tea.  I really liked Zuper Zhots "Shirley Mix Story" drink the most.  For a long time, I've loved the four seasons drink but this drink is even better.  It's deliciously tasty and very smooth to the throat as though it was only water.  It was not too strong or too sweet at all.  I wish I could describe the taste more in words but I can't so you have to taste it for yourself.  I assure you, you won't regret it!=)

Zuper Zhots

As expected, there are more food stalls.  I bet you can eat here everyday and never get tired with all the variety.  Here are the food stalls:

Polland Hopia

If you love Chinese food like we do, I highly recommend you try out Polland's Baked Chicken.  All the bloggers were impressed with this dish.  The rest of their food are delicious too.  For the quality of the food they serve, I'm shocked that their price is only 60-75 php.  The owner was also there energetic throughout the night, giving FREE samplers to passersby.  She is confident with the quality and pricing of her food. The crowd seemed to be convinced too.  

Mexikanto

If you enjoy Mexican flavors then I recommend you try out Mexikanto.  For an affordable price, they offer your favorite Mexican snacks like Tacos, Burritos, Nachos, Quesadillas and more.  I'm a bit picky when it comes to Mexican dishes but I really liked their version of it.

Kbop Diner

Want to taste delicious Korean dishes that fits your budget?  Check out Kbop diner!  We tried their Bibimbap and Korean Dumpling and we both agreed it's pretty good.  If you're very hungry, I dare you to try out Order All You Can Breakfast only for 189 php.  

Treasure Oven

Treasure Oven offers dishes like Chicken Fillet, Fish Fillet with Tartar Sauce, Baked Macaroni and I think it was Carbonara.  I tried the Carbonara with salami and olives because it looked interesting.  It was okay.  The creamy white sauce was contrasted by the olives.  

Simply Deliciouso

Simply Deliciouso offers the best enchilada we've ever tasted hands down!  I never thought an enchilada could taste that good.  You guys should try it!  The owners are husband and wife foreigners and are really nice.=)  Kurt wants to add that their flautas though a bit spicy is really good too!

Kurt tried the Shawarma but he didn't like it.  When I tasted it, I instantly knew why.  It was chunky and meaty but it was overcooked and burned so it had a bitter taste.  On some chunks that were cooked just right, the flavor was good.  I think it deserves another chance.

Jacqueline Anne's Catering Services

Update: I brought home their food and my brother said it was good! My brother was always hard to please when it comes to food so I was surprised that he liked it.=)

Z's Sausage

I saw a lot of crowd surrounding Z's Sausage but I never got to try it out because of the long line.=(  I have a hunch that it's delicious!

Duday Ihaw2

When it was already 1:30 a.m., we all wanted to go home but Kurt was missing.  I searched for him over the booths and found him at Duday's happily eating "Isaw".  It was quite rare for me to eat "Isaw" because my stomach cannot stand dirty food.  So I was also happy to be able to eat "Isaw" there because it was safe, clean and delicious.=D


We also tried the Carlo's Kitchen.  We ordered the  beef steak with mushroom sauce and the crispy liempo.  It is best paired with their fried rice.  The store owner insisted we try out the crispy liempo so we did and it was one of a kind!  Amazing! It was so crispy all throughout even the meat in it!  Better than Chicharon in my opinion.


For snacks and desserts, you can visit these stalls:

Simply Sweets by Mommy Lei

We recently, wrote about Medchef by Hasset Go.( see separate entry)  Well, Mommy Lei is actually Chef Hasset's mother and baking mentor.  I bought some cream puffs (3 for 100 php) and she gave as a few slices of cakes to take home.  I'll write about that once I've tried them out.=)

We were given samplers of the Brazo Bars Original Flavor and I liked it.  I wanted my family to try it out so we also bought a box of flavored Brazo bars (50 php/bar) from Supreme Brazo Bars by Cez Lopez.  Perhaps, I'll review them too.


There are also merchandise stalls in case you want to shop.  There's a clothing and perfume stalls.  

That's it for now.  Please await my next post on our food tasting and food pics.=)

Lunch Buffet at Spiral Sofitel Philippine Plaza Hotel Manila

One beautiful sunday, my family decided to eat our lunch at Spiral at Sofitel.  It was our first time to try it.  We've heard a lot about it.  People say that it is the best buffet in the country.

Upon our entry at around 12:30 p.m., we were brought to our reserved seat.  We noticed that each part of the venue had different ambiance from western to asian.  Our round table had a european influence in it.  As we roamed around, we noticed that the place was packed.  There were foreigners and local Chinese and Filipinos.  

We quickly got up and started with the sushi section.  The Salmon Sashimi was fresh and sweet.   I also loved the Mackarel sushi.  I ate a lot of it.  It was tastier and was more fun to chew than the cooked one.  We also enjoyed the Temaki.  I think I ate around 3 of those.

After that we tried the fresh seafood section.  The Fresh Crab, Oysters and Prawns were so big and sweet.  I only added a few drops of lemon and it was very delightful.  We then picked out samplers of the salads.  We loved the Waldorf Salad.  We also tried the variety of cheese and matched them with crackers.  It was so many that I could no longer identify which cheese I was eating.  

We ordered the Foie Gras.  It was cooked on the spot by a chef upon order.  It was my first time to try one.  Initially, it was really good.  It was soft and tasty but as I ate more, it was "nakakaumay" (too tiring too eat).  I guess, it is best enjoyed at an ample amount of at most 2 pieces.  How about you? How much Foie Gras could you eat?

Just beside the Foie Gras, we took a slice of Pizza and got a Lamb Shawarma.  As expected they tasted ordinary.  The shawarma meat was delicious but the sauce was not.  

The next section was the tempura section.  There were all sorts of tempuras but we only chose the Tempura Shrimp.  It was a disappointment.  The prawns were small and the batter didn't taste good.

I got some Yakitori and Miso Soup from the Japanese section.  It was nothing special.  I think we got some dishes at the Mediterranean section but we forgot the names of those dishes.  

Then we tried the Roasted Lamb with the mustard sauce and Roasted Chicken at the International Cuisine.  We didn't like the tangy taste of the sauce.  We also tried the Salmon Puff.  It was good.  

Xiao Long Bao

We then proceeded to the Cold cuts section where we ordered Peking Duck.  It was sliced on the spot.  It was delicious and still crunchy.  Next to it is the Dimsum section where we got ordered Xiao Long Bao.  It took 15 minutes to cook.  We glanced at the Thailand Section and tried the Chicken Tikka.  We were too full so we skipped the Filipino section.

Now, for my favorite part, the dessert.  There were Assorted Cakes (some sugar-free), Sliced Fresh Fruits that you can dip in the chocolate fountain: one color brown and the other was green (I don't know what the green was...), Cotton Candy (Yes! I was the only adult to order one), Crepe (we chose blueberry), gummy candies and jelly beans, churros, cookies, halo-halo, ice cream and Teppanyaki Ice Cream (ours was chocolate mixed with pistacio and some sprinkled candy) similar to Cold Rock.  I tried all the deserts offered except for the churros, cookies and halo-halo but I don't remember which one stood out from the rest.

Overall, the meal was great.  In fact, we were so overwhelmed by the selection and the dishes that we forgot to take a picture.  The price was a bit expensive as expected from the longest buffet we have ever tried.  The experience is definitely worth it.  We were able to taste new dishes.  The food selections were delicious but nothing so special that would make me want to try it out again.   

Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila

CCP Complex, Roxas Boulevard, 

Pasay City

(02) 551-5555 loc 1086

Good Earth Tea Room Eat-All-You-Can Lunch Buffet

To celebrate Kurt's and Lychee's (our maltese) birthday, we reserved three weeks in advance at Good Earth Tea Room.  It was difficult to get a reservation so we got the 1:30 p.m. slot instead of our preferred time at 11:00 a.m.

Upon arrival at 1:30 p.m., we saw 4 others who were lined up literally in front of the store door waiting for the busy service crew to attend to their reservation.  They told me their reservation was 1:00 p.m.  So we knew we had to wait.

The wait was understandable since it was an eat-all-you-can and their customers really took the time to even chit chat and take pictures before leaving.  Perhaps it would have been better if they had a waiting area.

As soon as the customers at our reserve place left at around 2:00 p.m., the waiter immediately clean the table and led us to be seated.  They also told us we could start with the buffet.  The lunch buffet was reasonably priced at 399 php.  (Excluding drinks)

We started by getting a bowl of their Seaweed and Beancurd Soup (normally priced at 125 php).  The bean curd was chopped liked sticks instead of cubes.  The seaweeds were also in strips.  It had a sweet fish broth taste.  We all loved it.

Iced Green Tea (refillable)

We all ordered their Iced Green Tea (refillable) (75 php additional).  We wanted to taste the Herbal Tea (80 php) but it wasn't available.  This is one of the best ice tea I've ever tasted.  Kurt prefers the Home Made Iced at Jacob's Shawarma (see separate entry).  But I like them both because this one is lemon green tea while that of Jacob's is minty.  This is more affordable because at 75 php it is refillable.  The waiters were also quick to refill them and always with ice.  It is very refreshing and not too sweet at all.  I usually don't drink a lot when eating but I was able to drink 3 glasses of it.

For dimsum we had Stuffed Eggplant (normally priced at 85 php) and Fried Wanton (normally priced at 85 php).  The stuffed eggplant was the best dish for the day.  It was like a meatball made of pork attached to a slice of eggplant.  With its sauce, it was perfect.  The fried wanton was also good.  It was crunchy and a little bit salty.   But the vegetables and sauce contrasts its saltiness.

Popoy's Delight

We proceeded to the other dishes:  Honey Chicken, Popoy's Delight and Good Earth Fried Rice. The Honey Chicken was crunchy with honey sauce and topped with sesame.  The Popoy's Delight was steamed Dory Fish Fillet.  Sadly, I had a weird bitter taste on some parts of it.  The Good Eartn Friend Rice was nothing special.  

For dessert we had Mango with Sago.  Their version was sweetened milk with sago with bits of cherry and mango.  The tanginess of the mango slices goes with the sweet milk.  It was no longer cool when we took our so my mom requested for ice.  The waiter gave us shaved us (How nice of them!).

Mango with Sago

Overall, we were full and satisfied.  The service was good.  (Did I mention they have a 10% service charge?)  The waiters were quick to refill the food whenever we informed them that it is already empty.  I don't mind having a buffet with limited choices as long as all of them are delicious!  If you're hanging out at the area to watch movies or shop, it is a good place to dine.  They also have affordable Rice Bowl Toppings.

Good Earth Tea Room
2F Greenbelt 3, Ayala Center Paseo De Roxas cor. Legaspi St.
Makati City, Metro Manila
(02) 757-4561 to 62