Meshwe : Authentic Lebanese Shawarma

I always loved Middle Eastern / Mediterranean cuisine. In fact, when I was around 6-7 years old, my parents often brings me at West Triangle, where Good-ah, Burger machine and this fast food where they serve shawarma, pita bread and 3 types of sauces. I remember having fun because it was a flat bread and I had to tear it and dip it on a garlic sauce.

Fast forward to 2013 and few years before that, I love going to World Class Persian Kebab for their chicken biryani, hummus, yogurt and of course shawarma.Hassan is another go to place if I want a quick fix since it's relatively near the office.Not until I discovered Meshwe.

Meshwe is owned by a half Lebanese half Filipino who grew up in the middle east. A friend of the T's since basically they all grew up in K.S.A. Amazingly, he makes serious dishes to satisfy your cravings of Middle Eastern sandwich. Meshwe means "grill" (thanks to Diana who just came in time and explained the term before I even publish this entry).

So let's start shall we?

Meshwe is located at Il Mercati in Metrowalk Ortigas and is serving during Friday-Saturday. Catering Halal chicken and beef, this is a total hit for those who are back from the Middle East as well as the local fans of the cuisine.

What's on the menu? Chicken Shawarma, Chicken Shawarma Plate, Shawarma Rice Bowl, Arabic Fries, Pita Chips, Chicken Tenders with fries, Falafel, Muhallabia and Hummus.

It's my first time to eat shawarma with potatoes inside. I never knew that there are really potatoes in a shawarma. The chicken is well seasoned and the garlic sauce which accompanies everything is totally the bomb. 

The garlic sauce is not the usual "runny" type but rather with a very thick and sort of fluffy consistency. It goes well with everything I must say. The best thing about it is that Meshwe also sells their famous garlic sauce for you to bring home.

Peek whats inside. Sorry for the somewhat blurry low quality. I didn't bring my camera and had to resort with the tablet that I'm using. Note to self, always bring the camera :]

And now, for the dessert, Muhallabia. This milk pudding has an aromatic and creamy texture.Made with rose water,milk and topped with a generous amount of pistachios, this serves as the finale to your meal.

The shawarma rice is another delicious part of the menu. It's a surprise that its almost similar to the dish I've tasted years back where the rice has raisins, spices and nuts. Interestingly on this menu minus the nuts, grilled strips of chicken lays over bukhari rice with tomatoes on the side.

With a very reasonable price, you get to taste authentic middle eastern dishes and enjoy the night away with music. The sandwiches costs about 80php each while the chicken tenders is around 125php.

Happy eating!

xx

One Date: Saturdate - Krung Thai

Hey hey heyyy! :)I thought I have posted this while back. But it seems I forgot to push the publish button. Silly me and now I have to do it all over again to just get the description and time right. Boo hoo!

So yeah, one Saturday back in February, I treated BB with Thai food at Krung Thai. I always wanted to try out this place. Last time we attempted to dine here was when I was with Jamie and they were already closed. I think we got there around 9 or 10ish pm.

Krung Thai is located at the back side of the Marikina Public Market. It is quite small which can accommodate less than 20 people or so.When BB and I got there it was just in time for early dinner and a few were already there. We got a table beside the window. They promptly got our orders and served us water.

 

I ordered Pork Binagoongan with Thai Salad on the side. 

First, I love the salad! It has mango and carrots and turnips with sweet dressing (can't describe what type it is) with peanuts. The binagoongan is cooked well, as the meat falls off easily. The rice is Jasmine rice with bagoong of course.

I under estimated this meal as I thought that it'll be just "OK". But this is a very heavy meal that I was not even able to finish it.

I ordered beef in red curry for BB. Good enough for 2 people to share, this is not the usual curry that we cook here. It has a peanut-ty taste and of course the taste of coconut milk and it is kind of sweet. The beef strips are well cooked and no hard time in eating it.

I wouldn't miss ordering Pad Thai of course! Very Delish!

The bill came around 700-800 php in total. not bad at all for the amount of servings and we even had to take some home. I really like their binagoongan rice the most!

I ended the night with White Hat Frozen Yogurt near our place. Brownies and Banana Slices in Caramel sauce. OOMF!

So yeah that's about it! I haven't really had anything new since for some reason I'm actually working.

But I promise to post something nice soon.

Happy Eating!

xx

Boracay Diaries

Last year, yes last year.. no actually last month last year. =) we all went to Boracay for some QT and Relaxation for 5 days. I really don't want to go into details but it was one heck of a vacation. Just a few stills from our everyday lounging,drinking,dancing,partying,eating and other crazy stuff! It was really a week to remember before Christmas :)

Roku

There is a new (or maybe not) establishment inside NAIA T3. I can't remember if Roku has been there for quite a while or what. But I have been seeing their billboard in Katipunan and I always wanted to try it.

So before getting on a plane bound to Boracay, we had a quick lunch at Roku.

For some reason and I don't know why the heck I am missing the shot of the seafood ramen for Je which is totally yummy! Its a huge bowl of  seafood ramen! I think I'm going to try their ramen again.

Jelly got Tonkatsu. Generous portions too! tastes a ok. I just like the idea of putting black sesame seeds on their rice.

BB got chicken katsu which we shared/ Huge bowl too with a generous amount of rice and chicken.

Another close up.

Sorry for the not so descriptive entry. I am going to blog real soon :) I promise!

Happy Eating!

xx

Rub

Hi guys! Did you know I was meaning to make a blog entry after a night out with my girls? But heck something happened with blogger not allowing me to post pictures. The solution? I left my blog alone for a month or so and look! I can now post pictures! :)

So moving on, I had a date night with my grade school friends (yeah you read that right! We are still oh so tight! since we practically grew up since kinder!) We had dinner first at Rub in Morato before getting drunk at Central. The place is relatively small and would fit around 20 people I guess up and down and including the outside tables. You will know that they serve good ribs when a small place like this queues outside and that includes us girls.

We were able to get a table after 30 minutes or so. The counter has this cute chalkboard menu apart from the table menu.

Stairs leading to the 2nd floor.

I wanted to order a lot! Prices are pretty much reasonable.

I wanted some fish and chips. It arrived in a huge basket (i underestimated once again the servings) I love their mayo/garlic dip! It goes well with the fish and fries.

Here comes the main course. We shared over a Family Brunch of Ribs with 3 side dishes. We were all laughing because our choices made us full really fast because of the potatoes. We had fries of course from the fish and chips, some mashed potatoes and potato salad.

The 2 huge slabs of ribs were very succulent, and very drool worthy! everything went well including the bbq sauce that comes with it. The sauce has a mix of tanginess, sweetness and spiciness which went heavenly with the ribs.

To end the meal, we had Wicked Oreos to die for. Wicked Oreos are deep fried battered like pancake mix oreo cookies drizzled with chocolate syrup and topped with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Our total bill? about 1k-ish and it was worth it. It you are around Timog area, make sure to drop by Rub beside Serenity! :)

Happy Eating!

xx

I Cook! : Palapa

 This is not exactly cook. But this is more of  pounding all the ingredients together. I made Palapa for the first time. If you've been around Quiapo and around the muslim area, you will see plastic bottles (similar to the peanut butter) being sold for 100php each. A mixture of Sakurab (some type of onion), ginger and chili mashed up together forming the best ingredient and side dish that would compliment any viand.

Honestly, I've been a sucker for chili sauce, like you know those dried chili then cooked in oil and oh my oh my it goes with everything. When I tasted this years ago It also became part of my staple food =)). I have been doing Maranao dishes for quite some time since it has also become my soul food. 

We had a couple of Sakurab left and I decided to give it a test in making Palapa. I mean it looks easy to do so I gave it a try. It took me 3 hours of cleaning and pounding all the ingredients.

So here's what you need.

Some Sakurab.

BB said this is only planted in Marawi. I was wondering why. I have been searching for a tagalog/english name for this but can't find any.

Red and Green Chili

Some ginger (not in the picture) and Salt.

What to do:

Clean and cut the Sakurab, Chili and Ginger.

I use scissors to cut the leafy part of the sakurab and remove the first skin and clean the "bulb" part. That's what you need. the bulb end.

 Combine Sakurab, green and red (your choice) chilis and ginger(not too much) and POUND POUND POUND!!! until it looks shredded or so.

Add Salt according to taste and POUND POUND POUND.... Great exercise! =)

And here is the finished product. This also becomes an ingredient on all Maranao dishes to add that spicy kick. I love this with scrambled eggs and the Chicken I make.

Happy eating! 

xx

SaladBox : Review

 Hi Guys! I was supposed to do my review but I was swamped with reports and deadlines to meet. So anyway as promised and as I am in my WEEKEND mode :) Here it is! My first box from Saladbox!

I made a post about saladbox before. Basically it is a subscription box. Each box contains sample or full size items that you can enjoy straight to your doorstep! The boxes are 500php a month but costs less depending on the subscription. I got renewal / monthly subscription to test it for a few months. There has been a number of beauty boxes popping in the Philippines like crazy. One in particular is GlamourBox which I also want to out try soon.

So anyway, my much awaited box came this Wed. I was at work and my mom texted me that a box came. When I got home, I went straight to opening it.

Behold, a very minty green box. I find it very sophisticated but rather small.

I have been watching some unboxing videos in youtube from different countries and this is quite smaller as I have expected. But again,big things also come in small packages! :)

Opening the box, I can already smell something nice. It's like entering a store  and the smell of wrappers and scents gives you a feeling of shopping in the mall. When I opened the box, a card sits on top of the white parchment.

Under the top cover shows a neatly looking logo.

Tadaaaan!!! here are the items cradled in pink paper. 

 If you are wondering what's on the back, it gives you detailed information about the products included in the box.

Tadaaan! First item, Sakura Foam Hand Sanitizer!

Reminds me of the Etude House Bubble Hair Coloring kit.

Peeking at the bottom of the bottle, its just liquid.

And once you give it a pump, bubbles come out!

Smells really nice too! I honestly think I'll use this over alcohol :)

While others got a charcoal soap, I received pillow mist in Relaxing Mint.

I love going to spa and I love Mint and this can be very relaxing. I would love to use this on my pillow and on long travels. This came in full size by the way!

Next, Ive got 2 Virginia Olsen Mineral Eyeshadow. I was really happy with the Plum but not really sure with the Gold Bars. But again very happy since I would love to try more mineral makeups.

Up close on Gold shimmering eyeshadow.

Plum - Lovin shade

Lightly swatched. Not bad. Just glittery for me.

Black Beauty Shampoo.

I'd love to try this brand. My grandmums send us bottles of Mane and Tail.

Let's see how this will go with my hair. :)

I forgot to take a picture of the last one which is a room spray of fig and spiced tea. I have to say I'm not a fan of it.  What I also noticed is that not all of the boxes are giving the same items. I was hoping of getting the soap by the way. They also mentioned that there is like a beauty profile but I haven't seen anything on the site. So I'm kinda afraid that they maybe sending me cosmetics that may not compliment my skin color/undertone.

Overall, (in  my own opinion) I have expected more considering that this is their first box. More cosmetics, because that's what most of the subscribers want. But I'm happy with the pillow mist. =))

I'm still giving it another try.

Until the next SaladBox!

xx