Food Trip: Firuz Mediterranean Cuisine

To start the year, my friends and I went on our supposed to be year-end Jologs day which involves going to the Perya, watching a jologs movie and eating. So on January 2, we did it. And first thing was the food trip, and I was again the one who suggested the place - it's Firuz, a small restaurant along JP Rizal near 7-11 and the marikina bridge, and I was eager to try it out since my first attempt with my family didn't happen because they weren't open that time. Good thing was I was prepared for this food trip, I got the cellphone number of the restaurant from Roni's blog and I texted the number a week before just to make sure they're open on January 2, and the answer was "yes, happy new year!", wow so courteous of them hihi :) And then when I was about to meet my firends at 7-11, I walked along JP Rizal and saw that Firuz was CLOSED, and I seriously panicked since we were all excited about the food experience, I even thought of just bringing my friends to Mama Chit's if Firuz is really closed, and then I texted the hotline number HAHA, and they did open at 5pm (store hours: 5pm to 12 midnight), and so we waited outside the resto :)) So there. 

We looked at the menu, and almost everything's not familiar except for the shawarma and kebab :)) we even asked the waitress to explain the dishes to us, although it was nice that they gave a short description of the food in the menu. We really didn't know what to order except for the Hummus which I googled when I first read it in Roni's blog HAHA. So we ordered Hummus and Moutabal for our starters. My friend ordered the shawarma with pita meal, another friend ordered the Lebanese yogurt pasta, I ordered the chicken souvlaki, and we ordered the moussaka for sharing, and lastly, the homemade yogurt ice cream which was ordered by another friend. So here's goes the food..

First was the Hummus and Moutabal. Hummus is made from pureed chicken pea and the likes, while Moutabal is pureed eggplant which are like palaman to the pita. I personally liked Hummus more than Moutabal, I like that it's spicy and had a garlic taste. 

Hummus and Moutabal P85

Shawarma pita P110

Then the shawarma with pita was served. It was like any other shawarma around, nothing really special though I only tried it once, so maybe I missed out the special part hehehe! And now, my chicken souvlaki. It was full of vegetables, which was consistent with the picture in the menu HAHA! The sauce (?) was the thing that's different, it was like milk with tahini and spiced up with some green thing haha! It was fairly good for my taste though the onions were overflowing which I didn't eat. It was different for my taste buds and I liked it. 

Chicken souvlaki P140

The Moussaka made all the difference! It was creamy and quite spicy and very good! We all liked it! Except  the fact that it was very oily that made us not wanting more (nakakasawa e!). And the serving was more than enough for us. And the waitress said that it's usually eaten with rice or pita so maybe that's the thing that'll counter the nakakasawang lasa haha!. The lebanese yogurt pasta was..bland. I think if they served it with parmesan cheese, it'll be okay. Maybe because it's just yogurt in a pasta though I think they could have experimented with it and added some spices just so it wouldn't be bland. The blandness made it difficult for my friend (and for the rest of us) to finish it since the serving was large (maybe good for 2 or 3 if not that hungry), but then again, maybe the recipe's just like that haha! so yeah, at least we got to try it :))

Moussaka P160-P180 i think :P

Lebanese yogurt pasta 

 As for the dessert, the waitress got my friend's order wrong, she ordered the flavored ice cream but the waitress heard it wrong so she served the plain one which again was bland since it's only yogurt hehe. But the texture was good for a homemade ice cream, enough smoothness :))

plain homemade yogurt ice cream P90

 What I like about Firuz besides the 'gastronomically challenging' yet good food was the place itself, even though the tables and chairs were simple, the lights (lamps?) were nice, with intricate designs and the colors were very eye-catching. They also had a magic carpet HAHA! and I like the comfort room (the tiles and the plant hihi). Also, the food prices were okay, not that expensive, and with that kind of serving, it's worth more than what you paid for :))

Food Trip: Casa Feliz

Last October 31, before the enrollment start again, my friend and I went to another food tripping adventure in Marikina. Since I wanted to try out the different food places in Marikina based on Roni's blog (I'm such a fan! haha!), we went to Casa Feliz which at first I thought was just near (walking distance near) our house, but I was dead wrong. It was far. VERY FAR! haha! My friend went on her own which was surprising because she's like an ipis with no sense of direction, anyway we both had a hard time looking for the place, and seriously it was tiring because of the weather and the fact that I walked from our house HAHA! 

Anyhoo, the place looked tired or not that maintained anymore, I was looking forward to a Spanish themed cafe (which was the case) although it didn't beat my expectations, and it was an open restaurant, but still it was cozy, we were asked to sit at the couch thing. And then the menu came which looked good, there's a variety of food but we were mostly excited by the pastries that we ordered it first rather than the meals. The prices were I think so-so, since the serving was enough (or more than enough if you're not that hungry). So we ordered a pasta whose name I forgot HAHA! It was like a garlic pasta thing, which I think has a similar taste with TOSH's vietnamese pasta (again I'm not sure with the name haha). The parmesan cheese made everything different, the saltiness gave a twist in the seemingly simple pasta dish. It's good for those who are not a fan of red or creamy pasta sauces. 

garlic pasta, I think it's around P115

And of course we ordered pizza, the cheapest HAHA! I think it's the meaty pizza - what I like is the pizza bread, so soft and rightly thin, and they were generous with the cheese as you can see haha! What I didn't like was that it was too oily maybe because of the overflowing cheese! 

pizza! around P200

Then the desserts! We ordered the famous Vida verde and a chocolate cake whose name again I cannot remember. The vida verde was delicious! It's like sansrival sprinkled with pistachios. It was supposed to taste like green tea but it didn't, we thought maybe it was overpowered by the pistachios or the cream of the sansrival. I like that it wasn't that sweet, just enough to take away the oilyness and the garlic-y taste in your mouth. The chocolate cake was also good! With the right level of sweetness, and it was very moist!!

Vida verde, around P95

chocolate cake! around P90

So there! Our food trip ended with us having a full stomach though our wallets weren't. HAHA! Still looking forward to more food trips around Marikina! yey! 

Food trip: Mama Chit's

My brother just turned 23 (yak old!!) last November 7, and we haven't celebrated yet until yesterday when all of a sudden Mother superior told me to look for a good place around Marikina where we could eat and celebrate Panget's (brother) birthday. Soooo I immediately suggested Firuz which based on Roni's blog (reviews on food places in Marikina) is quite good and affordable..and different since it serves Mediterranean cuisine. And the other choice was Mama Chit's since one friend suggested before that they serve good burgers. After my jogging session and the family's badminton game, we drove along JP Rizal to find Firuz, but unfortunately it was closed :( 

Good thing, Mama Chit's was along the way.

The place is not that big, which I think is okay since it's a coffee house. It also has a unique theme (though I wasn't able to take pictures from the inside since we dined outside) - kind of retro. The walls have paintings and black and white pictures, and there's this coke-in-can (not only coke I think) banderitas, and mind you, the coke-in-cans weren't ordinary, I thinks some were from outside the country. Also they have lots of antiques or collectibles. 

There's this huge jar which is half-filled with coins, coke bottles from all over the world, and plate numbers (some were chinese) hanged outside. It's a fun place. (and a good photo ops place HAHA!)

Since they're famous for their cheeseburger, we ordered 4 (me,panget, dadi/mami, kaye-cousin), and Ate ordered the turkey sandwich and Hungarian sandwich for the parents. We also tried their Combo pizza, onion rings and french fries. 

Mama Chit's cheeseburger - P100

 The cheeseburger was very good - the patty was tender and tasty, and I like the vegetables since you can't really taste it, it's like they've washed it several times it's as if you're eating a crispy leaf (HAHA!) though I don't know with the cucumber - it was so big and thick I didn't dare eat it. AND the serving's enough, I mean we thought it was cheap for a price of P100. The turkey and Hungarian sandwiches were also good though I liked the Hungarian better since the turkey's similar to chicken hehe. The onion ring(s) was mushy inside while the fries was unsalted (though it's good since its soft inside and crispy outside). The pizza was okay, the cheese gave a different flavor - we think it's Parmesan but better haha! and I like that it has a very thin crust - very thin and crispy! 

Turkey sandwich ;)

Hungarian Sandwich ;)

combo pizza - P330

So there! We really had a great time at Mama Chit's and I think my dad enjoyed it the most - he was murmuring "sarap..very good..sarap..very good" most of the time haha! He really enjoyed the hungarian sandwich :)) And then I realized, that everything we lost during our jogging/badminton session was replaced with more calories - though Panget said "at least may cardio exercise pa rin" hahaha!