Best Food Forward Year 3: A Benefit Summer Food Fair at The NBC Tent

Hi foodies, I am currently on a holy week vacation but I cannot wait to share with you a good news from our friends at Best Food Forward. (And hopefully, there will be another post tomorrow before I completely go on a Lenten hiatus.)

Now on its third year, Best Food Forward, the country's most awaited benefit summer food fair here in Manila is back! 

Truth be told, some of my favorite food finds were discovered during the time I attended the first ever Best Food Forward food fair last 2011. So, I am excited thatthings are looking good now that they are on their 3rd year of making foodies happy while helping Unang Hakbang Foundation in the process. For more information about this event, here are some words from the forces behind Best Food Forward, read on.

Primero Casa Filipino : Affordable Buffet in Quezon City

Recently, with some of my fellow foodies, I got to visit Primero Casa Filipino to try their dinner buffet. Located in Quezon City, Primero Casa Filipino boasts of affordable buffet deals in an upscale homey ambiance. With a new management to boot and a new marketing route to trek, we were told that this restaurant looks forward in providing a much better dining experiences for its customers.

Situated in a residential part of the Scout area in Quezon City, Primero Casa Filipino exudes a dining destination kind of place where every customer can enjoy a hearty meal in a peaceful environment, away from the buzzing sound of a busy street.  

Nomama Artisanal Ramen in Quezon City: Home of Palatable Creativity

For the longest time, I have been meaning to visit Nomama Artisanal Ramen of Chef Him Uy De Baron located in Quezon City. This celebrated homegrown ramen restaurant boasts of specializing in Japanese fare with Asian influence that uses best ingredients preferably sourced locally.

Scheduled visits in the past were always hindered by all sorts of odd events. So, when opportunity presented itself weeks ago, I vowed not to miss a dinner at Nomama for good or for ill. Good thing that I was able to make it since that night, aside from their best sellers we sampled new additions to Nomama's menu, specifically the Wagyu and Teppanyaki menu.

Nomama has partnered with people who shared the same passion of creating simple but good food. Kitayama Beef, Ministry of Mushrooms, and Kikkoman joined Nomama in its journey of to come up with dishes meant not just to please the palate, but to celebrate the creativity in flavors as well.

Backyard Burgers at Sgt. Esguerra, Quezon City

One of the best things about having foodie friends ready to catch your drift when mean cravings hit you on a lazy Sunday afternoon is their undying support to keep your sanity intact. That was the case weeks ago which led us to Backyard Burgers located along Sgt. Esquerra St, Quezon City.

I have read about Backyard Burgers at Table For Three, Please website and the urge to pay them a visit called for immediate action, hence the Sunday food trip.  Sure, there are a lot of restaurants that claim to carry the best burgers in Manila, but I believe in the noble pursuit of giving new players in the field a fair and just tryout.

Backyard Burgers is tucked right across ABS-CBN main building so it is not really hard to find. This burger joint boasts of decent variety of burgers meant to satisfy one's hunger with its bigger than usual serving portion.

GrandMomma's Kitchen in Il Terrazzo, Tomas Morato Quezon City

I am a true blooded Pinay but I must admit that I find thrill dining in restaurants which serve American comfort food. There are numbers of restaurants in Manila that serve such but few can pull off a homey vibe that can make its diners really feel at home.  Good thing that I was recently introduced to GrandMomma’s Kitchen located at Il Terrazzo in Tomas Morato Quezon City.  Although a new player in the field, GrandMomma’s Kitchen take on serving American comfort food and having that homey feel ambiance to it proved to be well executed.

I have always loved Tomas Morato area not just because it’s near my place but because it boasts of restaurants which I enjoy.  Having GrandMomma’s Kitchen as an addition to the band gave me all the more reason to visit the area and still feel at home, away from home. 

The ambiance is suggestive of a country style home with its wood clad interior peppered with quirky embellishments that gave the place a character on its own.  The place is relatively small which adds charm to the whole deal, but decent enough to accommodate small groups who want to indulge on freshly cooked comforting meals.

Skinny Mike's Restaurant & Sports Bar at The Fort: Sports, Beer, and Comfort Food

Couple of weeks ago, along some of my food buddies, we visited Skinny Mike's Restaurant & Sports Bar located at The Fort Bonifacio Global City in Taguig. We had a grand time indulging into bottles after bottles of beers and cocktail drinks and some food while drowning ourselves to every sports we fancy to watch in all twenty 42" LCD TVs spread around the place.

Okay, for someone who has an alcohol tolerance of a dying man (read:me) and whose knowledge about sports is limited to patintero (read: still me)
that first paragraph sounds just plain weird. But seriously, I did had a great time at Skinny Mike's. While the guys happily sipped on their beers, I focused my energy on food and drunk conversation. (Okay, I had one glass of cocktail drink y'all.)

You see, Skinny Mike's Restaurant & Sports Bar is the kind of place that you would want to be in if you are a big sports fanatic, a lover of good alcoholic beverages, and a foodie. Located just right beside S&R, a building where Kebab Kebab once was.

New Flavors of Magnum Ice Cream

When Magnum Ice Cream took Philippine market by storm, it created quite a stir especially in Facebook, Twitter, and other forms of social media. Noted as the premium ice cream brand in the Philippines, even those who are not really fond of eating ice cream were enticed to try it. Some says it's over-priced while the others believed that it is well worth the Php50+ bucks you will be spending. Personally, haters gonna hate, but I have deep affinity for Belgian chocolate so yes, I am a fan.

This Selecta's gourmet ice cream coated with Belgian chocolate is available in different flavors; Magnum Classic, Magnum Almond, Magnum Chocolate Truffle, Magnum Choco Cappuccino, and the recently introduced 2 new Magnum flavors, Magnum Chocolate & Strawberry and Chocolate Brownie.

These two new flavors of Magnum, Chocolate & Strawberry and Chocolate Brownie were unveiled last month together with its new brand ambassador, Georgina Wilson, popular model, video jock, and TV host. I was sick during its launch but I would not let an opportunity pass to share with you my take on these two new Magnum flavors.

Oyster Night Buffet at Circles Event Café, Makati Shangri-La, Manila

For the past years, numbers of buffet restaurants in Manila undeniably expand significantly. Truth be told, a quest to find the best buffets in Manila is never ending. But despite the addition of new players in the field, there are some buffets which up to this day remains to be much celebrated by foodies. One of them is the buffet at Circles Event Café in Makati Shangri-La Hotel Manila.

Highly recommended by most foodies in Manila, Circles Event Café boast not just of quantity but of the quality of food they are dishing out. Still on top of its game, Buffet at Circles creative spin on conducting "themed buffet nights" is one of the many reasons while they are still one of the best players in buffet league. Last Monday, I was able to try and enjoy one of their new themes, The Oyster Night. 

Circles Event Café is located at the ground level of Makati Shangri-La Hotel. It is near different shopping establishments such as SM Makati, Glorietta, and Greenbelt. Once hunger pangs hit you while you're on a shopping spree, you can head on to Circles to have a gastronomical ride of your life.

Shawarma Guys at The Fort Strip, Bonifacio Global City

While updating my friends on Facebook about my revisit at IHOP BGC The Fort last Saturday, my friend Spanky, one of the ultimate foodies in Manila left a comment on my page about Shawarma Guys located at The Fort Strip, few blocks away from IHOP. Since I am easily swayed by recommendations from few of my trusted foodies, I decided to pay a visit after our dinner at IHOP. Yes, shawarma after dinner, I guess I am hardcore that way.

My friend and I were scheduled to attend a late dinner at one of the new restaurants at The Fort Bonifacio Global City so we decided to visit Shawarma Guys first since we have ample time to do so. I am big on shawarma and sadly there are only few shawarma joints that I know which are decent enough to satisfy my constant cravings. So, it is safe to say that being introduced to Shawarma Guys at The Fort Strip was one of my foodie highlights of the year. No kidding.

Tucked in one corner of The Fort Strip, Shawarma Guys is located just right beside Pasto near The Early Bird Breakfast Club. Surrounded by nearby drinking places, Shawarma Guys is a perfect place to cure hunger pangs and hungover after a drinking session. Its owners are the same geniuses behind one of my favorites, Relik Tapas Bar and the nearby URBN Club.

A Revisit to IHOP Philippines at The Fort, Bonifacio Global City: The Long Queue, Other Items on the Menu, and The Craze

When IHOP Restaurant Philippines (International House of Pancakes) opened its first branch here in Manila last month, people suddenly started hopping their way to IHOP BGC The Fort, to have a taste of this iconic brand that takes and still taking Manila by storm. People are excited to know IHOP Philippines' location, menu, price, and store hours. Everyone wants to know if the branch we have here in Manila is as good as the one they have in the U.S. Everyone seems to be curious if IHOP Philippines offers the best pancakes and breakfast fares in Manila. As most of you aptly put it, we are now experiencing IHOP Philippines craze.

Tip: Check out my previous post about IHOP Philippines The Fort Bonifacio Global City

Since IHOP Philippines opened and after writing about it here on YedyLicious, I've been receiving a lot of messages through Facebook and Twitter, including sms about how crazy the lines were. So, last week I decided to check the IHOP Manila craze and see for myself the long queue at IHOP BGC The Fort that people are talking about.