Yoji and the Foodies

Ministop’s Premium Burgoo Kariman does not look too appetizing.

They went stingy on the stuffing.

But you know what? It tastes good. The bread is just like Pizza Hut pan pizza dough. The filling consists of ground meat, tomato sauce, pepper, and cheese.

This is now my new favorite Kariman flavor.

In the 1980s, my mother would buy PX goods in any friendly neigborhood palengke (market). Apart from G.I. Joes, Kraft marshmallows, and Kraft Caramel candies, she would buy this:

The packaging was different back then.

The last time I had this was in 2010 and I found it at Jurong Point Mall in Singapore (of all places!).  I microblogged about it here.

When the Japanese Home Center shop opened in my neck of the woods, I found a few boxes of them in the snack section. It’s a bit pricey at P88 pesos, but hey, I waited years for this reunion so price shouldn’t be an issue, right? Right.

I intend to make this a payday indulgence snack.

Zero Hour Grill exhibits no pretensions. It just what it is - a place that serves food and drinks.

No fancy table arrangements. No glitzy bar counters. No dapper waiters.

But the food is inexplicably good (at least the food items we ordered).

 Sizzling Tofu

 Chicken Salpicao

The Chicken Salpicao was the belle of the ball.

We also ordered pork liempo and porkchop (not pictured because our mouths are faster than the camera).

On top of these, we consumed 4 plates of rice, a pitcher of complimentary drinks, bottles of Tanduay Ice, and Coke.

We forgot to ask the name of the wonderful concoction pictured above. I would say there was vodka, rum and pineapple in there somewhere. Whatever it is, it is awesome.

After consuming everything in sight, we asked for a desserts menu (force of habit). Unfortunately, they do not offer desserts, but they gave us Mike and Ike candies.

My failed peace sign.

Best bar food I’ve had in a long time.

Zero Hour Grill is located along Sucat Road, Paranaque. In front of PATTS College of Aeronautics.

Okay, so it’s not exactly waffles from scratch, but hotcake left in the waffle maker to cook (which makes it a waffle, doesn’t it?) Believe me when I say that my real intention was to make hotcakes using two ready mix brands and wolf them down. Then I remembered I have a food blog so I had to make a comparison first before I wolf them waffles down. One look at my hotcake would convince you that the waffle maker is the way to go.

If you have not cooked hotcakes in your life, let me tell you that the first three hotcakes would look awful. Irregularly-shaped, flat, and burnt. Don’t ask questions. It’s just how it is. The 4th, 5th, and sixth hotcakes would look ok, but they will be subjected to taste tests by yourself, the kids, and the dogs. This leaves you with only 3 presentable hotcakes. Because each small pack makes 9 hotcakes, if you’re lucky. With a waffle maker, if the end product looks awful, you blame the machine.

There is a reason why White King is called a king in the hotcake circles. They make really good hotcake mixes. But the readymix (or premix) landscape has changed over the years with many brands joining the hotcake fray. I’ve tried a lot of them and the more I eat them, the more they start to taste the same. It would only vary in texture, which is also affected by the preparation process.

To simplify the mechanics of the Waffle Wars, I chose Pillsbury One-Step Hotcakes and Maya Complete Hotcake Mix. Other mixes require the addition of eggs and butter or oil. I figured that if I use the regular mix, there will be many factors that would affect the taste (e.g. the kind of egg, the brand or butter, use of margarine instead of butter, etc.). With the chosen ready mix brands, all I needed to do was add 3/4 cup of water. No fuss, no muss.

HOTCAKE MIX #1: PILLSBURY ONE-STEP HOTCAKE

HOTCAKE MIX #2 MAYA COMPLETE HOTCAKE MIX

Don’t they look pretty? Pretty awful. Please don’t judge the cook by her waffles.  Judge the waffle maker

 FLUFFINESS  

Pillsbury is  light and fluffy while Maya is a little dense. Pillsbury wins this category.

TEXTURE 

Pillsbury is soft to taste while Maya has the chewy and crunchy combo.

Waffles differ from hotcake because of texture. It should be the right balance of chewiness, fluffiness, and crunchiness. MAYA wins this round.

**Pillsbury’s texture is perfect for Hotcake.

TASTE

Pillsbury’s hotcake has vanilla and boy, it shines through.  Maya has the classic  taste. It’s also sweeter than Pillsbury’s.  Pillsbury wins by a vanilla.

COST

Pillsbury is more expensive by P1 peso (this would vary depending on where you buy them). MAYA is more affordable.

It’s 2-2. 

With syrup and strawberry jam, they both taste so good to me.

My mother introduced us to Samurai Takoyaki balls a decade ago. To a little kid, it smelled funny and it tasted funky. Back then, there is a long list of food I don’t eat but that list had dwindled to a few. I eat almost anything now. Just don’t make me eat bugs and durian. My sister loves takoyaki and I have come to like it a few years back and each time I eat it, I become accustomed to the taste that I crave for it occasionally.  Just this week, I had it on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I must say that after all these years, the takoyaki still tastes and smells as funky as it was a decade ago. And I love it.

Kopiccino, you had me at Choco Granules…

Arguably, the best instant cappuccino drink around. Kopiko has done it right. Nescafe, take a lesson.

Quickly’s 20-peso Upsize is so worth it. Just don’t choke on the “sagos”.  I just ordered a Taro Taro Overload.

Alabang Town Center (ATC or Town, depending on where you live) is slowly upgrading its mall to resemble that of the garden theme malls in Greenbelt and Glorietta. The outdoor wing is now home to newly-opened restaurants that include Johnny Rockets, Barcino, P.F. Chang’s, Abe, and Jamba Juice. They are the pricey bunch and very rarely do regular folks like us dine in these food joints.

Our mission was to try Jamba Juice. We’ve witnessed the hype but reserved judgment until the time was right to try the smoothies without the Jamba Juice Banana Man shaking his money maker on us.

 

Jamba Juice

When we asked for the bestsellers, Strawberry Wild and Banana Berry were immediately offered. I strayed and ordered Peanut Butter Moo’d instead. I give high marks for the texture because it stays true to its name. It’s thicker than most fruit shakes but not as thick as milkshakes. It is like drinking liquid choc-nut.  It tastes good on the first few sips, then satiation sets in. It is definitely not a thirst quencher.

Although Jamba Juice has something unique to offer, it had me wanting. I half expected a party in my mouth, but that didn’t happen.  It has plenty of gimmicks but short on taste.

I bought a yellow flesh watermelon because there’s no red variety around.  I know for a fact that the yellow flesh variety predates me but it is only now that it has become widely available (but then again, I tend to live under a rock from time to time).

They are sad to look at.  Boring, even.

But they are awesome! “Where-have-you-been-all-my-life?” moment at first bite.

I’m a sucker for anything mini. So this mini whole wheat pizza crust went straight to the grocery cart and into the oven.

I had no fancy cheese and sauce around, but I did have Ques-O and a leftover spaghetti sauce.

Not bad.

Looks like Village Gourmet has serious competition.