XO Kitchen's Special Chinese Comfort Food

XO Kitchen "a chinese delicacy" is a simplistic, almost hole-in-the-wall type, yet artistic and eye-catching Chinese restaurant that serves delicious home-cooked comfort Chinese favorites, passed on in the Tan family, along Jupiter street in Bel-air, Makati. Last week, my former adviser and fellow alumni Florencio Sebastian III (Mr. Sebs or Sebs, as we fondly call him) invited us to try out this restaurant he made and helped designed. As I was intrigued both by the looks of the restaurant and the food, of course, I accepted the invite :)

XO Kitchen's Menu: Ala Carte (Pork, Seafood, Beef/Mutton, Chicken/Pigeon), and Noodles/Soup Menu | Rice Meal (Pork, Seafood, Chicken, Beef), Dimsum, and Others Menu | Vegetables, Rice, Egg, Desserts, and Drinks Menu | New Dishes
From Buendia, we turned right at Makati Avenue, and took the left to Jupiter St. From there, it's to your right; it's easy to spot. At first look, you can see the well designed outside structure, that sure makes passersby curious about the restaurant. Since I don't really like to do the ordering for a bunch of people, and we were just invited, we asked Mr. Sebs to order for everyone. He got us these food, which he likes and are his personal favorites.


Fried Noodle with Seafood (Php 130) - You can still taste the crunchy to soft noodles, with really tasty sauce and generous serving of different kinds of seafood. | Seafood Fried Rice with Salted Fish (Php 120) - I'm not really fond of fried rice with fish, but this tasted well. The fish blended well with the rice and other ingredients put into the dish. I just hope that the serving size was bigger. In any case, two servings of the rice were enough for 5 adult men who had not had their breakfast at 11:30am. :))


Their dimsums are a must try! I haven't had the chance to try their Hakaw, which, in my personal opinion, should be the benchmark on how good the dimsum set of restaurants are (if you had to measure or compare). We had the Fried Shrimp Wonton (Php 85) and the Shrimp Kutchay Puff (Php 75). I would suggest you stick with the Fried Shrimp Wonton; or better yet, get the steamed Hakaw (Php 95), which I would say will taste great, based on the taste of the Fried Shrimp Wonton. Yummy. I crave. I crave!


The star of the show, well one of (because they're all good, I tell you!), is the Steamed Three (3) Kinds Egg (Php 100) - This dish is made up of chicken egg, duck egg and century egg. Can you imagine? It's soft, smooth, and melts in your mouth. The sauce can use some more kick for my taste, but it tasted great as it is.


If you're craving for some beef, I recommend that you try the XO Kitchen Beef Special (Php 230), which is made of premium soft beef with really tasty sauce and herbs in the dish. I also recommend that you get the Breaded Fish with Seaweed (Php 230). Although you can't really taste the seaweed in the fish (or that was just me?) this breaded fish dish is a winner. It comes with a tartar sauce to enhance the flavors.


For dessert, you can try the Black Gulaman (Php 50) or the Mantou or fried bread (Php 60) which comes with condensed milk dip. But I heard their Sesame Ball with Almond Milk is also a winner! :) The photos below are a) Mr. Sebs ordering our food b and c) interiors of the restaurant. I enjoyed my lunch, and I was very satisfied with the food. I will surely go back, maybe with friends or with my family! Nomnomnom! :)))

Newest Red Ribbon's Chocolate Fudge Cake

Red Ribbon whips up another comfort chocolate cake, the Chocolate Fudge Cake, made of a very moist chocolate pound cake, layered with luscious chocolate fudge filling and generously smothered with velvety chocolate icing. Chocolate overload overdose, I should say. But who doesn't love to pig out on Chocolates? :)

Red Ribbon's newest very chocolate-y concoction, the Chocolate Fudge Cake, is available in regular size for Php 460 and in junior size for only Php 275.

I think it's a good cake, with a lot of potential. If you ask me, I think it's a little bit disappointing. After tasting Chocolat's Death by Tablea, my standards for the perfect comfort chocolate cake were raised by a couple of notches up there. The chocolate used to concoct this dessert may be the culprit? What do you think? :))

Discounted Hotel Room Rates and Food at One Tagaytay Place Hotel

One Tagaytay Place Hotel Suites and Tower Lounge and Steak Bar is offering discount coupons for those who will stay in the hotel and avail food at the restaurant. "Avail 40% off on room/suite rack rates (inclusive of breakfast)*" and "Avail 20% discount on food (cash basis only)". These coupons are redeemable until December 15, 2010. *Advanced reservation required for room discounts. All you have to do is print these discount coupons and fill them out. Enjoy discounted rates at your stay at One Tagaytay Place Hotel and Tower Lounge Steak Bar, only in Tagaytay City, Philippines.

Tower Lounge and Steak Bar at One Tagaytay Place Hotel

Tower Lounge and Steak Bar is one of the two dining options (aside from Azalea the lobby restaurant and bar) located at the 3rd floor of the One Tagaytay Place Hotel Suites in Barrio Sungay, Tagaytay City. We were treated to a scrumptious meal, which you can see below. Tower Lounge and Steak Bar is really known for its very delicious and tasty steaks, and signature drinks. They have a live band you can sing along to every Friday. The restaurant opens from 6pm to 1am daily. (Check out the menu here, and the bar list here)
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For starters, we were served a spicy Onion Soup. It was spicy, a little bit more than what's normally served, but I like it that way. I can taste the onions and some croutons with the soup, which is good, because I like to taste and feel my food. Then came the Salad, Tagaytay greens with some cucumber, tomatoes, cheese and croutons. The thousand island dressing was not for me. It would have been better with some sweet-spicy Asian dressing or Caesar, but everything else was fresh and perfect.


One of their bestsellers, is the rolled pizza. It's made of thin crust pie with the veggies and the mozzarella cheese rolled to a perfect bite. Don't forget to add their original sweet and spicy sauce which will make it taste even better. The star of the night was the steak, of course! I ordered a medium rib-eye steak, which exploded with satisfying flavor and taste, even without all those sauces (as some Steakhouses usually do, to infuse more flavor to their steaks, and make them more tasty). It's a must try when you visit the place! :)


Tower Lounge is in fact, also a bar, therefore it serves drinks. As a customary welcome drink, they serve you with a Bacardi infused concoction that will surely warm you up. You can also opt to try their "5 Tower of Power", one of the Tower Lounge signature drinks (photo below).


Another bestseller in their drinks selection is the "Green Minded," selling at Php 380 per pitcher. It's one of the alternative drinks I would recommend if you are not into the hard drinks. It is good for unwinding with a group of friends.


They also have delicious desserts. We were given an option if we wanted the Tiramisu or fried ice cream in tempura batter. I love how rich the Tiramisu was, and the fried Tempura Ice Cream won me over. :)


Tower Lounge and Steak Bar is an idyllic place to chill out with friends and have dinner not just because of its great food and drinks, but also because of the atmosphere and ambiance of the alfresco dining area at night. I am certain that you will love the place.

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Creating memories at One Tagaytay Place
Enjoying Tagaytay at One Tagaytay Place Hotel Suites

Enjoying Tagaytay at One Tagaytay Place Hotel Suites

Tagaytay has been one of the more popular and favorite destinations of both Filipinos and foreigners because of its breathtaking view, food finds, and the cool climate. Not to mention, it is just situated around 1-2 hours drive south of Metro Manila, the capital of the Philippines. I recall vividly of our short impromptu trips to Tagaytay from school, when my college friends and I feel like escaping from the hustle and bustle of school and the metro. We would just enjoy the view, and the food, of course!

Just recently, I came from One Tagaytay Place Hotel Suites in Barrio Sungay, Tagaytay City. We were invited by Tower Lounge Steak Bar, one of the dining places in One Tagaytay Place Hotel. From Sta. Rosa or Greenfields South Luzon Expressway (SLEX) exit, you turn left (going to Picnic Grove and Tagaytay Highlands) once you reach the junction in Tagaytay. One Tagaytay Place is, less than 800 meters from the junction, to your left.

One Tagaytay Place Hotel boasts of its Penthouse suites. This is the one-bedroom Penthouse Suite which is good for 4 persons.
One Tagaytay Place is a 10-storey hotel with 115 Deluxe guestrooms and suites, and 5 Penthouse Premiere Suites with one to three bedrooms. Rates start at the lowest Php 5,800 (for the Deluxe Rooms) to Php 18,000 (for the 3 Bedroom Penthouse Suite, good for 6 persons with maid's quarters). They have a promo price for the Penthouse Suites right now, so do check them out! :)

AVAIL OF THE 40% OFF DISCOUNT COUPONS ON RATES & 20% OFF ON FOOD!

Deluxe Room with twin beds, LCD flat screen TV, and a private balcony
Rooms are all fully air-conditioned, with secured electronic lock systems, and are furnished with an LCD flat screen TV, electronic room safe, minibar, coffee and tea making facilities, private balconies, IDD/NDD telephone facilities, DVD player and microwave oven (upon request), and free Wi-Fi Internet access.


A 1-Bedroom Suite complete with a foyer, private balcony, queen-sized bed, LCD Flat Screen TV. It's so nice and comfy, I can imagine this to be my own flat. I wish!:)
One Tagaytay Place boasts of its all day dining restaurant called the Azalea, which offers daily ala carte specialties. It also has a dining room for up to 10 people in case you need to use it for private meetings over a meal. Another dining and chill-out place is the alfresco Tower Lounge and Steak Bar, opens from 6pm to 1am daily.


The hotel also has other facilities that would make your stay more comfortable and enjoyable. It has an adult and kiddie swimming pool located at the 9th floor, a fitness center and game room, a Spa (which is open until 12am), a business center, some function rooms, a delicacies and souvenir shop, plus a viewing deck at the rooftop. You could clearly see and enjoy the scenic view of the Taal lake and its surroundings.



Photos # 2,3,5,6,8,9,10,11,13 and 14 are shots by Lost Tsinelas. You can view his post about One Tagaytay Place Hotel here.

Ateneo's Gretchen Ho on what student-athletes should be

My cousin, Ateneo de Manila University's Lady Eagle Gretchen Ho is featured on the front page of Manila Bulletin's Students & Campuses, Schools, Colleges and Universities (p.G1), together with UP Diliman's Nico Ibaviosa, on what student-athletes should be, and being more than just all brawns. Grab a copy of today's issue of Manila Builletin :)

Starbucks VIA Ready Brew Instant Coffee debuts in the Philippines

Finally, the Starbucks VIA Ready Brew will be available in all Starbucks branches in the Philippines starting tomorrow, September 15. Earlier today, Rustans Coffee Corporation, led by its President and COO Noey Lopez, unveiled to media its newest product, the Starbucks VIA Ready Brew, Starbucks' latest instant coffee innovation that replicates the body and flavor of Starbucks coffee in an instant form.

Rustans Coffee Corporation President and Chief Operating Officer Mr. Noey Lopez, Starbucks Coffee Company Vice President for Marketing Ms. Samie Barr, Starbucks Coffee Company President for Asia Pacific Region Mr. Cos LaPorta, and Rustans Coffee Corporation CEO Eduardo Lopez, Jr. unveiling the newest Starbucks VIA Ready Brew at their 6750 Makati branch today.

After the unveiling of the newest Starbucks VIA Ready Brew, we were asked to take the Coffee Challenge. We were given two cups labeled A and B, and we had to determine which one had the VIA Ready Brew, and which one was freshly brewed. The answer was Cup B. You can see the oil from the freshly brewed coffee beans in Cup A, while the one with VIA Ready Brew doesn't have that. The taste and the smell, at first, was almost the same, but if you have very discriminate taste buds you would instantly know the difference. There is still difference in taste, and a little difference in the smell. Either way, I can say that this is the only instant coffee I have ever tasted which almost exactly tastes like brewed coffee, and hats off to that! :)


The Philippines is the third country in the world, outside North America, that will offer Starbucks VIA Ready Brew. It is made up of 100% natural roasted arabica coffee in an instant and micro ground form that is rich in flavor and aroma and full bodied just like a fresh-brewed cup of Starbucks coffee. Now, you can enjoy Starbucks coffee anytime anywhere!


Starbucks VIA Ready Brew (Italian Roast and Columbia) will be available at Php 130 for a pack of 3 and Php 450 for a box of 12, while Starbucks VIA Ready Brew Decaf Italian Roast will be available at Php 130 for a pack of 3 and Php 470 for a box of 12. Basically, a cup of coffee would cost you around 38-43 pesos.