Because of the pandemic, I have yearned to travel again as I miss eating food from different places and cultures. Thank goodness, I have learned about James & Daughters. They serve comfort food from around the globe that you'll surely enjoy. 

If you're looking for flavored wings at Grub Hub, then St. Mick's Wing Bar is the place to go. Their must-try is The Naked Chicken: No rubs, no sauce, seasoned and deep fried into perfection. A new favorite, however, is their Salted Egg Wings: Salted egg with curry leaves, Singapore style. Yum!

What I love about Yzzy Eats is their BFLC. That's Bacon Fried Like Chicken. Slices of fresh, uncured bacon seasoned with their special mix of herbs and spices, dredged, then deep fried just like chicken. It's crispy bacon with a good amount of saltiness and chicken breading. 

Zomato together with Citibank is giving out amazing offers to Citi Credit Card and Citibank Visa Debit Card holders.  (For more details, see: Citibank Dining Program) Offer is valid until September 15, 2016.

Big Kahuna just started out this year (2016) which aims to provide new flavors to the public at reasonable prices, themed as a Hawaiian fast casual grub.

Started in 2015, Soul Potato is an International comfort food place that specializes in mashed potatoes, offering familiar flavors with their own style and twist.

Chef Juno Ang and Matet De Leon, whose both husbands are chefs, are good friends and loved the idea of different potato dishes as well as serving different cuisines in one place. They then decided to put up Soul Potato here in Pioneer St Market to explore dishes that would appeal to all markets. The dream was to offer proper culinary cooked food, delicious with big servings and of course, an affordable price range.

There's this new Japanese restaurant in Makati City which serves unlimited ebi tempura and tonkatsu. They also serve other Japanese dishes a la carte and they are absolutely good! Sharing my Big Jap experience here. 

Located at the third floor of Eastwood Mall, Libis, Quezon City, this branch of Mesa had just opened recently. 

Last Christmas season, our food bloggers' group had our dinner at Mesa Eastwood together with one of Mesa's owners, Mr. Eric Dee, who gave us a warm welcome and was enthusiastic to allow us to try Mesa's best sellers and most recommended dishes. Thanks, Eric! 

Here are the dishes that we had: 

Drinks

Mango Shake and Kamias Shake. I'm a mango shake lover and their mango shake is perfect. Tastes just right, fresh, not under or overripe, not too sweet nor bland. As for the kamias shake, I am not fond of eating kamias but their kamias is worth a try. Tastes sour as expected, but is actually good. It's also worth having because you seldom get to see kamias on the menu even on other Filipino restaurants. 

Appetizer

Tinapa Roll. Surprisingly, their tinapa roll did not taste salty as how I perceived a tinapa dish to be. Generous in filling with a crunchy wrap. Works well with a secret sauce recipe called sauce number 5. 

Hito Flakes on Spoon. Crispy pulled catfish with mango salad. The flakes and sour taste of the mango with some spice give a good contrast of flavors. The catfish and green mango works well as a Filipino appetizer.

Salad

Tofu Salad. Soft bean curd topped with century egg and shrimp. Their tofu is very soft, like Japanese tofu. I love how they came up with the idea of combining tofu, shrimp, and century egg. It was really good that I managed to eat much of this. 

Crispchon

Filipinos love lechon especially when the skin is crispy. Mesa's crispchon is definitely something that they can be very proud of. The piglet is six weeks old and is massaged and marinated in milk before cooked. 

Crispchon is served in two ways: served with pandan crepes, wansoy, cucumber, leeks garnishes, and a choice of three sauces (Rikki's Choice, Garlic Mayo, Sweet Chili, Spicy Pork Liver, Wansoy Infused, Curry Mustard); and tossed in chili garlic.

Crispchon (First Way). The crispy skin is sliced off then rolled into the pandan crepe with wansoy, cucumber, leeks garnishes. Top it off with your sauce of choice. My personal favorite is the spicy pork liver.

Crispchon (Second Way). The remaining meat is then cooked in garlic. One plate is cooked in plain garlic while the other, with chili. Tastes really good and addicting for a Filipino, but I would not recommend this to those with high blood pressure. 

Vegetable

Sigarilyas. Winged beans tossed in coconut milk with shrimp. The sigarilyas tastes fresh, not much shrimp were added. Tastes good.

Laing 2 Ways. Taro leaves, pork, shrimp paste and coconut cream topped with adobo flakes, served original and crispy. The adobo flakes are a good complement to the laing. Most laings that I have tried from other restos are quite salty so I don't get to eat much, but this one isn't. It's delicious. 

Rice

Duck Basil Fried Rice. Stir fried rice with duck flakes, chili, and basil. This dish was inspired by Eric's favorite dish at the King of Thai in San Francisco. Tastes a bit spicy but good.

Baby Squid

Baby Squid in Olive Oil. Sauteed in olive oil and seasoned with garlic and laurel. This is my friend's favorite dish whenever we would dine at Mesa. The baby squid are soft but I find this one salty, though. Nothing to worry about the amount of oil because it's olive.

Meat

Garlic Chicken. Chicken tossed in honey and garlic glazed. Honey garlic chicken is one of my favorite Chinese dishes that I often cook at home. I was really happy when I found out that they have it here at Mesa. Their garlic chicken's recipe is an original by the owner's grandmother. Really delicious. The crispy breading, with the taste of garlics and that sweet honey is indulging. 

Crispy Boneless Tilapia. Served with four sauces, the crispy boneless tilapia is something you could continue to munch on. Tasty and crispy as crackers, you'll be surprised on how good this one is.

River Shrimp (Swahe) on the Rocks. I was amazed on how this was perfectly cooked. Check out my instagram video below:

Soup

Chicken Binakol. Chicken simmered in broth with young coconut and green papaya. Tastes good and the chicken is also well cooked. 

This is how our table looked like and we really had a good and hearty meal that night. 

Mandatory groupie. Thank you Aldous (Blog: Aldous Ate the World) for the invite. Special thanks to Eric as well, for your time, effort in explaining the dishes to us, and the wonderful dinner. 

Weekend get-together with co-foodies has brought us to try out a Mediterranean restaurant in Salcedo. 

Working in Manila could be very stressful especially due to the traffic problem that we have been experiencing lately. It's about time that we unwind with our friends and pass the time at a good bar on a weekend. Last week, we decided to try Rue Bourbon (Salcedo Branch).