Are you looking for a good place where you can bring your friends in the morning? lunch? dinner? or for some drinks?
I got the perfect place for you! After All, which opened during the 2nd quarter of this year and is located at the G/L of SM Jazz Mall would be a place you should consider. From hearty breakfasts to big lunches to sumptuous dinners to after dinner drinks, After All has it for you! It's a one-stop restaurant for people who has different cravings because they offer different cuisines - from Japanese to Filipino to Spanish, just name it and they have it! It's amazing how they were able to pull off a restaurant with such concept, tbh. And I have not seen a place where everything can work for everyone, for different types of people with different preferences. HEHEHE Well, buffets can offer that too, but this one's absolutely cheaper than booking buffet reservations to fit everyones needs and wants. HEHE
To kick-off my pigging out session, I got a few things that also happened to be somewhat listed on my list of what to try in After All.
They have a variety of Tapas selection but my top three picks would have to be:
It's a given why I love these three. I love seafood, wings and spicy food. I loved how fresh the seafoods were, saktong pantawid gutom while waiting for the mains! The wings and the deviled squid, on the other hand, were both equally good. The deviled squid had the right amount of kick that I expected it to have. The wings was... well.. not too exceptional. But for a wings fan like me I'd say it's good to order it too.
Next up is the Madras Curried Chicken. This is part of their "Plate Special" menu that's available from 10am until 6pm daily. It's made for people who runs on a specific budget for their day-to-day meals. This costs P160 but it includes a bowl of soup and a glass of iced tea so sulit na din. Not to mention the generous serving of the Curried Chicken! :)
Of course, the excitement just doesn't stop with their good food. We also need drinks to make life a bit more exciting! Their Craft Cocktails are to die for!!! It's because the ingredients used for the drinks were all super pinoy! They even have Calamancello (my favorite!) and Buko Melon Freeze which is not in the photo because I finished it immediately after getting it. HAHAHA. IT WAS SO DAMN GOOD. It was like slurpee with a kick! Overall, the whole experience was really good! The live band that played during the time I visited was definitely a plus! I would bring my whole barkada the next time I visit.
0 Comments
Single Origin has been one of my 'reserved' go-to places around my turf. It's usually the place for me to unwind... alone or with a bunch of friends. The restaurant is just small having less than 20 tables (inside and outside). They have long tables so they really support the idea of sharing tables with strangers especially if you're just a small group of 2 to 3 people.
Anyway, I visited the place last Friday together with my 2 college friends. We wanted something new and something nice at the same time so I suggested we go to Single Origin. Okay, don't get me wrong... this place is not the perfect place for people running on a budget. Their wide selection of food, non-alcoholic beverages and alcoholic beverages would make you love the place instantly but it's also kinda pricey for me. Thank goodness I still have P500 worth of Booky credits!!! So I get P500 off a thousand worth of bill, amazing!!!
It was Friday so the planned 6 PM meet-up turned out to be a failure. Since our booking was at 6PM, there was no way we could be late bec that would mean forfeiture of discount!!! HAHAHA. I was there 5:45PM together with my other friend, so thankfully, the discount was not forfeited.
While waiting for my other friend to arrive, we ordered something to freshen us up. I opted to get the Crimsonberry Iced Tea (P125/glass) and my friend got the Iced Hong Kong Milk Tea (P190/Iced 16OZ). I got the Iced Tea because I just wanted something light and fresh at the same time. Crimsonberry offers that kind of experience with the fruity blend of Elderberries, Cranberries, Hibiscus, Rosehips, etc. It was just perfect! I would think the Hong Kong Milk Tea was also good and as legit tasting as the legit ones (OKAY. Legit, legit. too much).
We started the night by ordering SO Wings. It was good and was not the typical wings that you know. The flavour was rich and was a bit tangy. I loved that it was also a bit spicy because of the special sauce but it came very well with the bleu cheese. This dish is good for 2-3 pax.
We had Breakfast Pizza for our main. It was made up of bacon, mushroom, quail eggs and arugula. By the time the pizza came, I was almost full. So I only had a slice for myself. If I wasn't feeling bloated, I would probably eat some more!!! It was good and I prefer you use your hands when eating it. Roll the pizza, put lots of hot sauce and eat it. Forget about the mess! :)
We also ordered the Truffle Fries thinking we would all love it... well, I did not and it was mainly because I hardly tasted the truffle on my fry. I was so excite, ecstatic even, about the thought of truffle only to get disappointed. We also had Pumpkin Soup but I wasn't able to take a photo of it.
Best part of making Booky reservations is the privilege of getting free desserts out of the survey they send out during your 30mins in the restaurant. We were full and could barely eat some more but the thought of FREE DESSERT was just too beautiful to take a pass on.
Fun Fact... I do not know what this dessert was called but it was exceptionally good. It felt like chocolate mousse but not quite. Anyway, it was good. In fact, it was good to just be a free dessert. I liked it so much I had to control myself before I finish the whole thing on my own.
Overall, the experience was very very good. We ended up paying P300 each for everything we ate and it was not bad at all. Sobrang sulit ng dinner na 'to. P300, wow. The ambience was also great and the staffs were friendly and attentive :) Okay, I have to be honest... I've never really considered going to Brunei until my cousins from Switzerland pushed me to plan a trip. It was all last minute planning so I had to look for the cheapest flight I could find for any destination in Asia. There were no seat sales available for our travel dates so I had to make do with the VERY limited options. ROUNDTRIP AIRFARE: 5,600 via Cebu Pacific HOTEL/LODGING: 2200/night/2pax/free breakfast | Jubilee Hotel ITINERARYDAY 1: A R R I V A LJubilee Hotel is located at the center of Brunei. It's not a 5 start hotel but it was definitely a good place to stay. It's located near the Business District and Center of Bandar Seri Begawan so everything you have to see within the city was just a walk away. There's really no need for you to rent-a-car or ride the Taxi. But of course, do not set expectations too high because this place is a budget hotel so get what you pay for. There are other hotel options available but this place attracted me the most because they offered a FREE AIRPORT TRANSFER. Some hotels I've seen offers Airport Transfer for a certain amount and I think it's about $10/passenger. Our flight to Brunei was at 8:15PM Manila Time, it was a 2-hour plane ride so we got there around 10:00PM HKT. Obviously, there was no place we could chill during our first night because Brunei doesn't really cater to 'night life'. Everything was already closed by then. We just decided to sleep early to get ready for the next day. DAY 2: CITYtourAll the must-see places within the city can be visited within a day and the best thing about it is you do not need to spend a lot since it's all just accessible via walking. FIRST STOP: Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque I personally loved this Mosque because of how elegant it looks - inside and out. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to take photos inside the Mosque because that's being disrespectful of the very solemn place. We were also asked to wear the Abaya and removed our shoes as we went inside the Mosque. SECOND STOP: Water Village To get to the Water Village, you have to ride a water taxi that costs B$5 per person (if I remembered correctly). It take a 20-minute boat ride to roam around their community. I think it's skippable but also good to have so you'd understand the life of locals. One thing I noticed though was they had lots of schools in the village. They have I think 3-4 schools so education is really one of the most important things for them. To get to the schools, students ride the water taxi (and I think that's really COOL). We roamed around the village for 20 minutes, went to the mall to buy a sim card and had lunch at a nearby restaurant. Brunei does not have their own cuisine but they pretty much offer the same food as what you find in Singapore, Indonesia, or Malaysia. They have Burger King, KFC, Jollibee and Coffee Bean if that will make you comfortable with other food choices. :) After lunch, we went back to the hotel to rest a bit. It was really hot so we had to go back to our hotel to rest, freshen up and prepare for our afternoon activities. THIRD STOP: Royal Regalia Museum (Open form 9AM-5PM) The museum is FREE for everyone to enjoy. Unfortunately, they have strict rules inside the museum. 1) No shoes allowed, 2) No cameras or mobile phones inside. You are only allowed to take photos outside and at the lobby. But the museum houses and shows the very rich culture and traditions of the Brunei Kingdom/Palace. DAY 3: Getting to know Brunei more For our third and last day, we opted to avail a tour. It was very hard to go around Brunei without getting tours. I can do without it if I just need to tour around the Business District because everything was very accessible but the other must-see places are just too far from where we are.... I forgot where I placed the card of the travel agency we contacted for it but once I find it, I will quickly update this blog so readers will be made aware. We booked the tour for B$70/each and we were lucky enough to have a Filipino tour guide and a Filipino driver! Phew! It made everything so much easier. Brunei may not be one of those places that would make you want to visit the place. But it's a very beautiful place with such rich history.
I started 2017 with a quick trip to Taiwan. I spent almost a week trying their street foods and night markets. Damn, I think I gained 10lbs that week!!! I know it's been months since I visited the place but the memories are still fresh as if it just happened yesterday. HAHA. The food there was super duper good! I think I spent most of my money on food than shopping... which I think... was a good thing, right? :) T A I W A NESE STREET F O O DI only shared all my favorites out of the many things I've tried, so there's still a lot of things I've tried that's not on this list. :P I loved the Nian Gao/Tikoy and Wagyu Beef the most and would not complain if I had to eat it everyday. The Nian Gao comes in different flavours, which makes it more interesting and attractive. HEHE.
I also loved the Stinky Tofu but it's not for everyone. I kinda think it was because of the weird odor but the flavor is very unique and that's what makes it interesting too. Taiwanese street food was way cheaper compared to other places I've tried before. You wouldn't feel the pain of spending so much money on food because it's cheap, it's good and it's absolutely satisfying! :) Comments. Questions. Inquiries? Please do not hesitate to connect via Instagram or email [icons below]. |
Reann | 27 MNL
|