valle verde Archives - Between Bites - Bites of Food, Travel and Lifestyle

Bella Cupcakes Manila

July 30, 2014 by Janey

There were three variants on the box including a Red Velvet cupcake and Salted Caramel but I zeroed in on the Bleu! I’m a bleu lover. It’s been a week or two without sweets or pastries and I could easily ignore it, but I couldn’t help not grab the Bleu Cheese and Honey Cupcake.

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I cannot resist Bleu Cheese. Or anything cheesy, except for pick-up lines. 😉

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Bella’s Bleu Cheese cupcake had a thick cream cheese frost icing the top layer and then chunks of bleu cheese on top. The bleu cheese had a strong intense flavor, very sharp that’s doing a foxtrot with the creamy sweetness of the frost. It’s a yin and yang in a forkful bite of cupcake.

Silya’t Sili

February 20, 2012 by Janey

Photo Credit: The on-the-rise food photographer, Richard of www.talesfromthetummy.com

Visiting a restaurant sometimes not only feeds the mouth, the experience can sometimes feed the eyes and soul too. This is one of those blog backlogs that I thought I’d never be able to publish anymore and finally I find the time to reminisce and remember my first visit at Silya’s Sili. I really hope I get started on my Europe trip travelogue too soon.

The words Silya at Sili translates literally to chairs and chili. Paintings filled the room and can fill souls that are hungry for art. There is just so much artistry in the dining room from the unique furniture to the large paintings (with price tags which means you can take them home with the right money) to distinctive décor details like a washbasin made out of old sewing machine. The restaurant is truly filled with conversation pieces but that’s only the beginning of it, there’s going to be talk about the food too.

On the Table

Squid Salad PHP 160

What a refreshing starter from the spring of red, orange, violet and green color amidst the white squid and spring of spice and acidity. The slices of onion and red bell pepper add a lot of crunch to the squid salad while the lettuce bed is drenched in the dressing. I’d recommend this to wake up your taste buds at the start.

Oli’s First Ever Birthday Surprise

November 18, 2011 by Janey

Regularly seeing each other every last day of the week, it positively feels like the usual Sunday family get-together. That is exactly what I feel with the Planet Zips (PZ) Valle group, it’s a family! 🙂

Now, prompt in “We are Family” song by Sister Sledge.

We are family

I got all my sisters (and bros) with me

We are family

Get up ev’rybody and sing

EL’s Birthday at Bugsy’s

June 25, 2009 by Janey

Pat obediently following my instructions to reserve a table for 6, indoors and couch area secured us a table at Bugsy’s Tuesday night. My friend Eric is experiencing Murphy’s Law since the start of the month and the biggest blow was about his work –news that broke only last week. On top of that, he lost a mobile phone, nicked his Mazda and is currently nursing a forlorn heart.

EL celebrates his birthday every 23^rd of June. What a way to welcome a birthday right?

But like what they say, it’s hard to put a good man down.

EL still celebrated his birthday in tasteful fashion with friends over drinks and good food.

Bubba and I were first to arrive but we were an hour early so we were off to Big Bert’s for a carwash. We came back to Bugsy’s and found Pat on our reserved table. Of course, as Eric’s spokesperson, he briefed us with Eric’s mishap in the recent week.

On the Table

Buffalo Tenders (2) PHP 175

Imagine your favorite Buffalo wings with all the tangy spicy goodness without the bones! No more working out tediously to get the meat out. In every piece there’s a flake of crispy skin that makes it all the more addicting. I can eat this all day. Pat is not found of spicy dishes but he loved this obvious when he wiped out one plate.

The Family PHP 265

I ordered Warren’s Dip and Chips but it wasn’t available so I tried their appetizer sampler, The Family. The Family was composed of potato wedges, mozzarella sticks (that I didn’t get to try. *shooting a mean look to Bubba*) and buffalo tenders.

French Fries PHP 150 (?)

Deep Fried Burger Melt PHP 165

Burger meat, cheese in deep fried spring roll

Uncle Moe’s Beef Kebab Plate (2) PHP 130

I had to have my rice and I was craving for beef kebab. Bugsy’s was nice enough to let us bring in the food from their neighbor and serve it on a plate. You help your neighbor and you increase both your foot traffic –always good for business.

Margarita PHP 130

I love my margarita. I find it funny that they served it on a Martini glass.

Arctic Vodka (2)

Bottles and Bottles of Beer PHP 50

There is so much to love about Bugsy’s. The wait staff is really gracious, speedy and efficient. You wouldn’t mind hanging out with them on a Friday night. The food is nothing but delish particularly the mouth-watering appetizers! Price on the drink list is reasonable. There are no frills –just straightforward scrumptious dishes, reasonable price and quality service that always please. It seems to be the homiest hangout spot to enjoy beer drinking with friends, colleagues or sport groups.

Fred and Madz followed afterwards. It’s been more than 5 years since I last seen Fred. He still looks pretty much the same except that in this dinner he brought with him MUSCLES. Every time we look at him, he flexes them muscles. When he asks for beer from the wait staff, he flexes them muscles. When he laughs, them muscles flex.

"Pat, I know you enjoy our company... but what's with the BIG smile?"

Of course, Pat (as Eric’s VOLUNTARY spokesperson) had to share AGAIN with the latecomers Eric’s misfortunes. After much sympathy to EL, we know that our presence there is not to sulk with him but to remind him the comfort of having friends around at times like this. We remind him that as long as there is tomorrow, there is always another day of possibilities.

So we exchanged stories one after the other. Eric and Pat reminisced about the time there was a swimming get-together at Fay’s house. My girlfriends (Gina, King and Fay) and Fay’s other girl group were there while I was MIA since my parents didn’t allow me to stay out late during college days. Then-chubby Fred didn’t bring any swimming attire. He had to wear Fay’s badminton shorts that were sheer. We all doubled over laughing. They both demonstrated how Fred swam that evening like he was playing shark. Most of the time, he was sitting in one corner playing with Fay’s nephew trying to be unmindful of the beautiful girls that surround him. It was so hilarious. Fred evens the score when he tells us about the time Eric was so wasted and the Eng boys bathe him. He was so smashed that he didn’t know they were playing with his “cockpit where he keeps his gun”.

At this point, Fred was still flexing his muscles as he tells the story. The other tables were also getting as distracted as we were.

Bubba saw some Xavier friends while Chai walked up to me and surprised me.

We ordered another round of Buffalo Tenders. It was everybody’s first time there except for Bubba and I. They really liked the food and that makes me cheery. The humor and energy were nothing short of an upbeat tempo. The drinks continue to flow. We literally laughed our hearts out –it’s been quite a while since my abdomen had this heavy workout.

Little miss bo beep with the Engineering boys

Oh, Fred looks so much like Jake Cuenca when he laughs. With bigger muscles. Madz had to take another shot of Arctic Vodka to reluctantly agree. At this instant, Eric reminds me that it’s his birthday not Fred’s.

Effortlessly, the dynamics in the group bring so much energy to the table conversation.

Bubba and I excused us to go to Barcino and get Eric a cake. Good thing that Bugsy’s had a birthday candle on hand when we asked for one. To Eric’s embarrassment, we sang the Happy Birthday song.

It was a workweek and we had to call it a night. Pat was still raring to continue elsewhere. Eric and Fred were on board but Madz, Bubba and I had to beg off. Pat was convincing Madz to go when Eric unintentionally knocked the bottle that drenched Pat’s pants. I think Pat’s pants absorbed all spill because the red couch he was sitting on was spotless. That was our queue to get the bill. We were supposed to treat Eric and split the bill but Pat was insistent on letting Eric pay –how ironically funny.

On the way out, I snatched Fred’s jacket as soon as he stood up. He stares at the chair for a few seconds and then looks under the table. He looks at me and said, “Did you see my jacket?” He looks bewildered and shy, “I think I lost my jacket…” with his voice trailing off. I rapidly hand off the jacket to Madz from my back. I asked him, “did you bring a jacket?” He responds, “Yea, remember you were teasing me that I took it off to show off my muscles when I got in?” “Really,” I respond biting my lip to keep from laughing. He had this super worried look on his face that Bubba, Eric, Madz and I tried the darndest to stifle our laughter. Madz and Pat went out ahead while we wait for Fred to look for his jacket. He couldn’t resist and timidly asked the waiter if they saw a jacket. That’s the time I had to tell him and point outside to Madz.

We had such a commanding happy night that it took us another hour to say goodbye. It was already midnight.

Spotted: Zanjoe Marudo, Epi Quizon, Drew Arellano, Jake Cuenca (oh, that was Fred, my mistake)

Bugsy’s

Unit C-105 City Golf Plaza

Julia Vargas Avenue, Pasig City, MM

(632) 489-4985

Bugsy’s Album

EL’s Birthday Album

Related Post

Bugsy’s

Leave a Comment Filed Under: Inside Dish: A BITE of Food Tagged With: Alida Fay Santos, Bar, Barcino, beef kebab, Beer, Bubba, buffalo tenders, buffalo wings, Bugsy, Bugsy’s, carrot cake, Celebration, celebrity, celebrity spotting, Chai Talag, chocolate cake, City Golf Plaza, CLA, COE, college girls, College of Engineering, commendable, De La Salle University, dining, DLSU, Drew Arellano, drink list, drinks, elizabeth, Epi Quizon, Eric, Eric Lopez, evening, Fay Santos, Fred, friend, Friends, Gina Leon, girl, girlfriends, good food, good review, Good Service, group, hang-out, hangout, Happy Birthday, Inside Dish: A BITE of Food, Jake Cuenca, Jane, King Martinez, La Salle Greenhills, location, love life, Madz Alsola, margarita, menu, metrowalk, ortigas, Pasig, Pat, Patrick Velarde, Place, popular, price, quality service, reasonable, reservation, restaurant, resto, review, ruth, secret, service, shawarma, Sitel, Spot, Taste Manila, Uncle Moe’s, valle verde, Venue, wait staff, Warren’s Dip and Chips, Xavier, Zanjoe Marudo

Market at the Hill

April 28, 2008 by Janey

A new weekend market is in town and it’s the nearest market to my place. It is located in The Clubhouse of Temple Drive. It was an extremely hot day that Saturday afternoon. We arrived in the venue around 1pm and there weren’t many people there. I think it was only their second week in operation and being it summer, people are always driving to the beach.

On the Table:

170 g Wagyu Cheese Burger PHP200

The Wagyu burger patty tasted fresh and without any additives –only pure beef, but the cheese and the actual bread ugh, it could be better. I only realized that bread of the burger also matters. No matter how good the meat is, if the bread used is dry and thick and overly starchy (tasteless), it ruins the whole burger experience.

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Paella PHP95

It could use a little more tomato taste. The orange color was there but not the taste. I asked for lemon to spike up the taste but they didn’t have lemon.

Kaldereta PHP85

I love Kaldereta but this was actually Bubba’s order because I didn’t feel like eating Kaldereta that day. Anyway, the Kaldereta was not bad for its price.

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Grape Snow Cone PHP30

As any grape snow cone should be, but this one is alive and jumping.

We wanted to try Floring’s Barbeque but apparently somebody bought 1 big batch of the pork bbqs, which left nothing for me.

There were only a few concessionaires on its second weekend run and I’d like to see more concessionaires to bring in more variety. I guess another barrier also is that the street where it’s located is inaccessible to people who can’t bring their own car.

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Since this is a delayed entry, Bubba already went for a second visit yesterday with his family. They apparently changed the setup and Bubba said there were lesser people. He was able to try Floring’s and said that the pork barbeque was okay, similar basting to Aling Nene’s or Bonibel’s at Tiendesitas, but he said the vinegar was really yummy and makes a huge difference to eating the meat.