Airplane Food with Cathay Pacific

I was recently in Hong Kong. Get to know what Hong Kong has to offer through my adventure.  This is the 1st of 14 parts.

Let’s kick-off the Hong Kong series with airplane food.

Murtle and I flew to Hong Kong via Cathay Pacific.

Our flight to Hong Kong was at the ungodly hour of 05:30 am and this is the food tray the airline served for breakfast:

Surprise, Surprise

It was a...

Ham Sandwich

Tasted better than it looked. Very filling and did its job of giving me the energy I needed to start the day. It was also nice that it was still warm when I took my first bite.

Fresh Fruits

While these were sweet, I passed most of the fruits to Murtle as I wasn’t comfortable eating fruits that early in the morning. Would have preferred chips or chocolates.

On our way back to Manila, we chose the last flight out of Hong Kong (10:00pm), so only light snack was served.

Pork Bun

A bit burned but was still tasty. Bread was light and fluffy indicating that this was freshly baked. Asado in a bun that one would think was bought straight from a local Hong Kong bakery as the flavors were authentic.

Also, when flying Cathay Pacific, don’t forget to have tea as Murtle said that it was very good.

Coffee, Tea, or Milk?

While nothing was remarkable, Cathay Pacific certainly delivered in serving decent filling meals to keep weary passengers like me satisfied.

Visit http://www.cathaypacific.com/ to book a flight.

HK Preview

I was in...

 HONG KONG!

Expect my Hong Kong food adventures in the weeks to come.

Reunited with Antonio's

I was back at Antonio’s with my family.

We dined at the upper floor and it felt like we were in our own private garden.

Once we were comfortable in our seats, complimentary bread was served. 

Onion Rye Bread

Not my favorite as this was hard and had little taste.

Appetizers to start the meal:

Pork Loin (250php)

New appetizer which our waiter recommended. Perfect! This was very light and yummy. Good flavors and textures all around.

Tempura Scallops with Mango Orange Sauce and Lumpfish Caviar (450php)

I have been craving for this. Second time’s not as earth-shattering though as the scallops were smaller and lacked the clean smooth taste I remember it having. Brilliant still and would order this again next time.

Again, a meal in Antonio’s includes soup of the day, house salad, main course, dessert, and choice of coffee or tea.  A kid’s meal, on the other hand, comprises of only soup, main course, and dessert.

Soup of the Day: Turnip Soup with Pancetta

Good clean taste with the pancetta giving the soup the right saltiness. I prefer this one over the mung bean soup.

House Salad

As crispy and fresh as before. I still don’t enjoy my vegetables though.

What I Had:

Herbed Roasted Rack of Lamb with Cardamom Buerre Blanc (1700php)

I could not stop eating this. The lamb had a very clean taste and was very tender. The sauce also complimented the lamb very well. Certainly better than the beef plancha I had before.

What The Rest of the Family Had



Carbonara (550php)

Pelgene Parkus had a kid’s meal of his eternal favorite, carbonara. A restaurant as renowned as Antonio’s will not fail with a simple pasta dish. Pelgene Parkus was extremely pleased.

Striploin Steak (650php)

Having a hard time deciding what to order, Ulrich opted for a kid’s meal of steak. Ulrich has a hearty appetite but left dinner feeling very full because of the very generous portion.  I’m sure the steak tasted yummy too.

Mixed Seafood Thermidor of Scallops, Prawn Mussels, and Sea Bass (1450php)

Barney was underwhelmed by how tiny this dish was. He said that it was good though.

Gratinated Grilled Beef Fillet Gratin with Mild Mushroom Sauce on Mashed Potato (1800php)

Murtle, who usually asks for my help polishing her plate, had no problems with this order. Truly a testament to how good this was.

Grilled Chilean Seabass topped with Shiitake Fish Belly Farce on Mashed Potato (1650php)

Nina wanted something healthy and opted for a fish dish. It was perfectly cooked and well seasoned.

Unlike last time, I was able to take pictures of dessert!

Dark Chocolate Souffle w/Cardamom Crème Anglaise

Felchin Maracaibo Chocolate Terrine w/Double Cream & Roasted Pistachio

Poached Pear in Port Wine w/ Vanilla Ice Cream

Chocolate Lamington w/ Extra Virgin Coconut Ice Cream



Watermelon and Calamansi Sorbet



After the memorable dinner at Antonio's with my family, there's no question in my mind that Antonio's is truly the best restaurant in the Philippines.

Until next time!

Antonio’s is located at Purok 138, Barangay Neogan, Tagaytay City. For more information, do visit http://antoniosrestaurant.ph/.

All Time Low at Don Henrico's

Don Henrico’s is my family's favorite restaurant back in the day. It’s been a long time since we've last eaten there so I decided to have food delivered by Don Henrico's during my birthday . I now regret the trip down memory lane as Don Henrico’s proved that there are things from the past that should stay in the past.

I hate to be negative but everything we had was oh-so-bad. Bear me with folks as this will be the last negative entry in a while.

Let’s start the train wreck:



French Onion Soup (75php)

The texture was more of a mushroom soup than an onion soup. I knew this wouldn't turn out delicious but I just had to try it.

Petite Mozzrella Sticks (175php)  

An appetizer that was so heavy because it had too much breading. How can this be petite?



Dip Nachos (180php)

A complimentary item which was at least decent. Crispy nachos which I’m sure Don Henrico’s just sourced from somewhere.

Don Henrico’s Buffalo Wings (7 pieces for 720php)

Classic dish that I LOVED when I was a kid. Sadly, Don Henrico’s scrimped on the tangy sauce this time. It was also very dry and Nina noted that the oil used for frying the wings tasted old. Yuck.

Classic Carbonara (420php for sharing)

Not classic at all as the carbona had peas and carrots. Pelgene Parkus was not feeling this. One would think that a pasta place would at least make a decent version of a simple dish.

Oven Baked Ribs (360php for Double)

I immediately knew that the ribs were going to be bad the moment I laid my eyes on it. It was hard as rock and the sauce was very sweet. The flavors of the sauce were nowhere near what’s expected of a ribs sauce. To make matters worse, the sidings of sweet corn and carrots were dried out and gross looking.

Basic Cheese Pizza (420php for 14 inches)  

My siblings know their cheese pizza and this left them unimpressed.

Don Henrico’s Supreme Pizza (540php for 14 inches)  

 The best compliment this pizza got was that it was ok.

When asked to comment on the meal, Barney said: ‘Wala akong nakain na masarap!”

Truer words have never been spoken.

Don Henricos’s has branches all over the metro. I f you dare, visit http://www.donhenricos.net/ for more details.

Good Food at GoodFellas

I’ve been searching for good burgers to try and came across GoodFellas. It’s a relatively new restaurant in Kamuning which serves burgers, steaks, and other comfort food.

Similarly, college friend Ban was raving about GoodFellas so we decided to go there with other friends Dheena and Curls.

Let’s get on with the food:

Flamingo Wings (375php)

I like my wings done the Don Henrico’s way so I didn’t enjoy how sour and spicy this tasted. Better when dipped in ranch to neutralize the taste.



Pat & Geno Sandwich (270php with fries and drink)

 Recommended by our waiter and what a good choice it was. The combination of flavorful beef plus delicious cheese oozing out of the bread makes for one dynamic sandwich. Loved this!

Margherita Burger (265php with fries and drink)

I just remember this having lots of cheese but I no longer remember how it tasted. Forgettable to say the least. Will have to try other burgers next time!

Carlito's Gang* (375php for share)

Ban ‘s favorite. Very tender and flavorful indeed! Seasoning is also just right.

GoodFellas House Steak (325php)

Best steak to be enjoyed on the cheap. Not only is the portion size huge for the price but this was also big on flavors. Are they sure that this is just local beef? Ten times better than the steak I had at 145 Fahrenheit.

It's important to note however that on my second visit, the Pat & Geno Sandwich was just so-so while the GoodFellas House Steak we requested to be cooked medium rare turned out raw. Curls investigated why the food suffered and learned that the kitchen was short on staff that night. How sad.

We also ordered a different sandwich during our second time.

Johnny Roastbeef Sandwich (270php with onion rings and drink)

Good with real beef flavors but I still prefer Pat and Geno.

I wish that GoodFellas would be more consistent in producing good food as I hate to see a restaurant full of potential go to waste.

And oh, special thanks to Ban and Dheena for the cake surprise during our first time from Cara Mia. It was yummy!

GoodFellas Steaks and Burgers is located at 56 T. Gener corner K-1st Street Kamuning, Quezon City. Contact them at 4133187. You can also visit their facebook page.

*Photo taken from GoodFellas facebook page.

Negative 145 for Fahrenheit

I’ve heard not so good reviews about 145 Fahrenheit but randomly gave it a shot. Knowing what I know, I already had low expectations going in.

Too bad my low expectations were still not met.

Complimentary Bread

Every entree at 145 Fahrenheit comes with either soup or salad and coffee, tea, or dessert.

I chose to have soup.

Roasted Pumpkin Soup

Dinner was off to a decent start with this flavorful soup. I wish the consistency of the soup was denser though.

USDA Black Angus Beef Porterhouse (1490php)

Unbelievably bad! Requested for the steak to be cooked medium well but this came out way overcooked. Very hard to chew on with natural steak juices non-existent. It had zero flavors save for the mushroom sauce it was paired with. This was also the thinnest cut of porterhouse steak I’ve eaten unless I count orders I’ve had from the Steak MD or Slice N’ Dice variety. Black Angus, I have my doubts.

Mashed Potatos

The siding of mashed potatoes was of the commercial kind. Blah.

Good thing we ordered seafood!


Tri Peppercorn Crusted Prawn with Garlic Confi (495php)  

Not really king in size but it at least had good flavors and was cooked right. The garnish was a wonderful accompaniment to the prawns with its crispy garlic bits. Redemption for 145 Fahrenheit or so I thought.

Unfortunately, I was halfway done with my prawn when I saw a strand of hair mixed with the garnish. Yes it was another HAIRY experience. Too bad I wasn’t able to take a picture as everything happened so fast. When I complained about the hairy situation, I received no apologies from the waiter but he did offer to have the contaminated prawn replaced.

It took some time before the replacement arrived and when it did, I noticed that the prawn was even smaller than the original prawn served. It also wasn’t crusted and tasted plain. Is this the proper way to treat an already displeased customer? The incident made the uninspiring meal all the more disappointing.

We also had dessert as this was part of ordering an entree.


Choco Mouse Cake

So bad nobody finished it.

I also had a complimentary mango torte cake since it happened to be my birthday.

This was better than the Chocolate Mouse Cake but not much.

Coincidentally, 145 Fahrenheit is celebrating their second year anniversary this November. I'm amazed that they have managed stay in business as restaurants this lousy usually don’t last long. Miracles do happen.

145 Farenheit is located at Upper Ground Floor Il Terazzo Mall Tomas Morato Quezon City. For more information visit their facebook page:

Crispy Gay Vasquez Sansrivals

It’s no secret that sansrival is my cake of choice. For my birthday this year, I had not one but two variations of Gay Vasquez’s much raved about sansrival.

We celebrated at home with a Macadamia Sansrival while my friends surprised me with a classic Cashew Sansrival.



Macadamia Sansrival (950php)



Cashew Sansrival

I proclaim Gay Vasquez’s sansrival as the crispiest sansrival I’ve eaten to date. It’s so crispy that one could feel and hear the crunch of the sansrival in every bite. The sansrival is also very rich with a creamy butter goodness going for it. After a while though, one will notice how sweet this filling is. Those who have a sweet tooth would surely not mind this.

I’ve got to say that the macadamia version is more decadent and sinful compared to the traditional cashew topping. The macadamia brought the cake to another level of richness for a more wicked dessert experience.

In the end, while Gay Vasquez’s creations impressed the sansrival lover in me, I still prefer a Delize sansrival. It’s simply hard to top a Jill Sandique masterpiece.

Gay Vasquez's sansrivals are available for pick up at 35 Firefly St. Valle Verde 6 Pasig City. Contact her at 6310125 or 09173010615 for cake availability.