Weekend errands...Food Galore

La Lola Churreria 

I've stuffed my face again with enough food that can actually last me till the next weekend.

I had to be at the office last Saturday because I was skipping work Monday, so to reward myself for working over the weekend, me and Jill decided to brave the long lines of Pablo at Robinson's Place, Ermita.

It took us an hour to give our orders, which was actually one cheese tart per person, and another 45 minutes to actually get our orders.  We may be masters in long queues, but we found it too absurd to just stand there.

Pablo

Both of us were so hungry so Yabu's the perfect choice, with unlimited of everything...From rice to the cabbage to soup to its dessert.  

I ordered the Menchi Katsu Set...It's minced pork and cheese...what could go wrong with that?hehehe...

After filling our tummies with the goodness of Yabu, we went back to take our orders from Pablo.

Good thing i was full because it took me 3 hours to go home to Pampanga on a Saturday night.  Painful! Traffic really sucks the life out of me...

When I arrived home, mom prepared a mini-buffet for her "hard-working" daughter.  There's Kare-kare, Swam Mais (Corn soup), and Daing na Bangus.  Seriously, I'm not even sure how I was able to eat all of it.

Sunday, my sister had to fly to Ilocos in the afternoon so we had an early lunch.  Again, mom outdid herself.  However, it's all healthy food, like fried pork belly and ginisang labanos. (that's vegetables)

On Monday, the parentals decided to tag along to my whole day of running personal errands.  

So, i felt bad for dragging them everywhere, I decided we should have lunch at Ramen Nagi.  We ordered Black King, Butao and gyoza.  However, my uncle and his partner called and invited themselves for lunch.

Black King Ramen

I'm not sure how they seemed to still be hungry.  So we hopped in to the neighboring stall, which was J.Co Doughnuts...

Sorry I wasn't able to take a picture of the doughnuts and assorted coffee we ordered because honestly, I was really surprised how these senior citizens can eat more than I can...

I need some to start my cleansing diet after this weekend's stuffing!!!

Oh well, atleast I got to spend some quality time with my parentals...

Excited for Pablo's arrival

Pablo in Dotonbori (taken during my trip to Osaka)

On September 15, Pablo will open its first store in the Philippines, at Robinson's Place Ermita, Manila...

I am so looking forward to it... I've waited years for Pablo to finally make it to Manila...

I'm a sucker for cheesecake; but Pablo's cheesecake is worth every calorie it brings to the body...

It's soft, melt in your mouth gooey goodness can make you finish the whole thing in one go...

I was in Osaka, Japan when I had my first Pablo... I had to share it with my friends because, seriously, it's that good...

Pablo is named after the famous painter Pablo Picasso as its CEO Masamitsu Sakamoto would like to achieve a work of art when it comes to his cheesecakes...

There are two kinds of cheesecake at Pablo; rare and medium... Rare is when your cheesecake runs all over the place as soon as you slice into it; while the medium one is firmer... I seriously don't mind...I choose rare, I choose medium...

My friend Jill was teasing me that I'll probably line up as early as Thursday for its opening on Friday... I told her, I'm used to long queues...hehehe!!!

Pablo is being brought to us my the Sunyen Corporation... They plan to put up more Pablo branches in the coming months... Good thing they decided to open it first at Robinson's...it's near my work place... Trust me... Pablo is worth the long line and probably the added lbs...

When old friends meet...great food follows

photo credit: Chili's Facebook

The last time I met my college friends was like 2 years ago...One of them, Joan, was not even pregnant then with her first child, now she's pregnant with her second... When Candice said she wanted to meet us, we all agreed immediately... She's a very mobile girl, so when she says "Let's meet up", you grab that chance...

We all like to eat... So a much-anticipated meet up requires good food...we all decided Chili's is the choice... Greenbelt 5 was not exactly crowded on a Tuesday brunch, so it was easy finding a table...

Me and Candice were famished...so we immediately ordered Texas Cheese Fries and Calamari...

Calamari

Loved 'em Calamari... They're crisp, well-seasoned and that splash of lime, just brightened up its flavor...

Texas Cheese Fries

The cheese was kinda burnt on this one... but the fries were still good... It was definitely loaded with bacon...and yes, Bacon is always good...it's like one of the basic food groups...hehehe...yeah, next to nutella... I'm not sure what's so "texas" about it coz all I saw in our sizzling plate was burnt cheese and fries drowning in bacon...

Santa Fe Chicken Quesadilla

I'm not sure what's off with these quesadillas? I mean I ate at least two...that I'm sure of, but the taste was off... I couldn't figure out if the chicken was grilled coz the pita they used tasted like a thick version of a regular cracker... Like walang lasa...sorry...Im a fan of quesadillas, so this one was a total disappointment...

Cilantro Pesto Pasta-seared shrimp

Oh...this one...worth every calorie...good thing it's cilantro and pesto...hehehe!the cilantro and pesto side of it makes me forget the guilt that it's drowning it cream...but still, the seared shrimps were cooked to perfection...plump...and tasted fresh...not those that came from the freezer...well, I dont exactly expect that they came fresh off the market, but...yeah, you know that i'm trying to say...

Chicken and steak fajitas

Sorry...didn't really use the tortillas that came with it...Oh wait, I think Joan did...but she's pregnant so she had an excuse... We on the other hand, just paired it with whatever was on our plate... I ate mostly the caramelized onions...ssssooo good...and the green peppers, argh!!! just imagine, a piece of the well-cooked steak, with some caramelized onions and green bell peppers, one bite of perfection! oh...that hint of lemon, sealed the deal!

I wasn't able to take a picture of our dessert... Actually, it was Candice who wanted coffee, but Malou declined coz she said she already had a cup during breakfast...and me and Joan couldn't have one...so she decided to get skillet Chocolate cookie with vanilla ice cream... yep! with all that food, we still managed to squeeze in dessert...

That fresh from the over chocolate cookie was the perfect ending to our long-overdue meetup... So soft, moist...just the right amount of chocolate chips...

Eating at Chili's remind me of my time when I was with my extended family in New York... and now, it serves another purpose... Till our next food escapade... :)