Lugang Cafe

My love affair with Xiao Long Bao (steamed soup dumplings) started a decade ago on a trip to Singapore.  People were raving about Din Tai Fung's amazing Xiao Long Bao and I just had to try them out for myself.  Let me tell you, the moment I put that entire soupy dumpling in my mouth and the entire contents burst inside, I knew.  I will be eating this forever.  Over the years, I've tried numerous versions of Xiao Long Bao in different restaurants here and abroad, but nothing compared to my first encounter.  As they say, you'll always remember your first. *wink* 

If it's your first time trying out the Xiao Long Bao, let me share to you the secrets of what makes a good Xiao Long Bao.  First, let's start with the wrapper.  The wrapper must be extremely thin, but not so thin as to puncture the dumpling.  Then, the number of folds must be equal in size.  After that, there must always be soup inside when you bit into the dumpling.  I've tried bad ones that had no soup and I tell you, it makes a huge difference.

Ok done with the short 411 on what makes a good Xiao Long Bao.  Now let's move on.  There's good news and bad news, and I'll start with the bad.  The bad news is that Din Tai Fung is only available in our neighboring Asian countries (Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, etc).  But the good news is, there's a pretty good alternative to Din Tai Fung here in our country!  Any guesses?  If you say Lugang Cafe, then you're wrong.  Kidding!  Of course it's Lugang Cafe!  And as good as good news goes, I have another one:  for this month of June, they're having their "Feast All You Can" promo!  Yes, you've read that right!  Not only can you savor the goodness of authentic Xiao Long Bao, you can also consume as much as you can!  They actually had this promo last May, and I'm so glad they decided to extend the promo this June!

List of promo items

Rules!

Ok ok, enough with the blabbing, here's what we had:

Steamed Angled Loofah with Shrimp Xiao Long Bao

Pork Wontons in Spicy Chili Oil

Steamed Vegetable and Pork Dumplings

Steamed Vegetarian Dumplings with Truffle Oil

Steamed Chicken Xiao Long Bao

Steamed Kimchi Xiao Long Bao

Steamed Pork Xiao Long Bao

Steamed Crab Roe and Pork Xiao Long Bao

And since the promo allows one order of house specialty for each person, and there's three of us, here's what we had:

Hainan Boneless Chicken

Wasabi Mayonnaise Prawns

Sate Beef with Spinach

Nom nom nom... so good!  Another great thing is that they don't scrimp on their ingredients even if it's a promo.  You get the exact same great tasting Xiao Long Baos that you'd normally order ala carte.  Must have eaten something like 2 dozen pieces of those during the meal (oops!).  But trust me when I say they're really delicious!  Service was a bit slow though, and sometimes they mix up our orders but who cares right?  4.5 out of 5 stars!

Hungry yet?  No problem!  Go book yourself, your family and your friends a table at Lugang Cafe and start popping those mini pieces of heaven in your mouth!  Remember, promo is only good for this month of June.  So if I were you, I'd go there now.  Yes, NOW.  Stop reading! GO!!!

Lugang Cafe is at 116 Connecticut St. Greenhills, San Juan

Outfit of the Week: Sugar and Spice

Sugar: Floral Top.  Spice:  Leatherette Skirt.  Still dreaming about this ensemble that I put together during Independence Day.  I've had this skirt since April but just couldn't figure out what to pair it with.  I'm such a sucker for anything and everything leather, so when I saw this in the racks, I knew I just had to have it.  It was marked down at 60% off too!  What a great steal!  Monki is such a great brand.  It's not your typical clothing store.  Notice their clothing is quite eccentric, something out of the norm but just as awesome.  See my other Monki outfit posts here and here.  Oh how I wish Monki would open a store here soon so that I don't have to fly out every time I get a Monki craving!

Top:  Regatta
Skirt:  Monki
Bag:  Bottega Veneta
Shoes:  Jeffrey Campbell

Romulo Cafe

Last weekend, the family had a visitor from China.  We wanted to let her try Filipino dishes, but wanted something not so casual either.  My mom remembered having a good meal at Romulo Cafe some years before, so we decided to have our lunch there.  It's been quite some time (read: years) since we ate in Romulo Cafe, hence, we forgot about all the dishes that were good there.  So whatever we read or saw that looked appetizing, we ordered it!  LOL.  

Here's what we had:

Boneless Crispy Pata

The skin was crispy but the meat was a bit tough.

Prawns in Aligue Sauce

No aligue taste at all.  And the prawns tasted like the frozen kind.

Flying Tilapia with 3 sauces

Quite tender, and I loved the presentation!

Seafood Kare-Kare

Not bad, but nothing special either.  It could use a bit more peanut.

Bagoong Rice

Again, could use a bit more bagoong.

Stuffed Crab Shell with Coconut Meat

The dish itself was interesting enough, but it was salty. Really salty.

Tinolang Manok

Also on the salty side.

Pancit Puti

Didn't like this one at all.  It was dry and although I know it's meant to have no sauce at all, it feels like something is lacking. (yes, the sauce!)

Suman Latik

Quite good; crunchy outer layer with soft, chewy insides.  Mixing it with the coco jam is pure genius.

Pineapple Turon

The pineapple was juicy, but since I'm old school, I prefer banana turon over the pineapple ones.

Buko Pandan

Meh.  This was bad.  My friend could make better buko pandan than Romulo's version, and free too!  So why pay for bad ones?  Do NOT try it.  

Again, it's been some years since we ate in Romulo Cafe and we didn't expect that things have gone downhill since then.  There was not one memorable dish.  Everything is just so-so or really salty.  1 out of 5 stars.  One more thing, I remembered them having an awesome chocolate dessert before, but when I asked for it, the server said that they already took it off the list.  Why oh why?!

Romulo Cafe is at 32 Sct. Tuason St. (cor. Sct. Lazcano St.) Quezon City

Summer 2013 End of Season Sale is here!

...and just like that, it's already half of 2013.  But before we start complaining about how time flies and where did the first part of 2013 go, here's something to cheer us all up.  Our four most favorite letters: SALE.  Yes, it's that time of the year again, ladies and gentlemen.  Time to whip out your credit cards and troop over to the malls!  While not all brands are on sale yet, here are a few to get you started:

Crossings is at Glorietta, TriNoma, Quezon Ave and Shangri-La Mall

It's the End-Of-Season Sale at Rustan's!

June 12 to June 28, 2013 at all Rustan's Department Stores

PLUS PRIVILEGED PERKS AND OFFERS FOR
CITIBANK CREDIT CARD AND FSP2 CARDHOLDERS

JUNE 12
Independence Day, 8am-10am
EARLY BIRD PREVIEW
Present your Citibank or FSP2 Cards at the door and gain
exclusive access before opening to the public.

JUNE 12-JUNE 16
5-DAY SALE MARATHONEnjoy 10% discount on regular non-sale items and
5% discount on X non-sale items.

Rustan's is at Ayala Center Ayala Avenue Makati City  
Shangri-la Plaza Mall EDSA corner Shaw Boulevard Mandaluyong City
Alabang Town Center Alabang Muntinlupa City
Gateway Mall Araneta Center Cubao, Quezon City
Ayala Center, Bohol Avenue Cebu City

Adora is at 2/F Greenbelt 5 Ayala Center, Makati City

I'm still waiting for a few more brands to go on sale two or three weeks from now.  But for now, I'm sure these brands are enough to get you started :)  Happy shopping!

Outfit of the Week: Camouflage

It's no secret that the camouflage trend is hot right now.  Different designers ranging from high end (Valentino) to high street and local brands have come up with their own camouflage prints.  And yes, I'm riding on the camouflage trend in this outfit.  Can you believe that the pants are actually from the men's section of Cotton On?  I bought it a few months back when most brands still haven't come out with their versions, so when I saw it, I just had to get it!  It fit perfectly too.  Score!  

And here's a closer look at my shoes and bag.   Love the skull detail on my flats and the embossed detail of the bag!  It's the small details that count!

Top:  Forever 21

Pants:  Cotton On

Bag:  Gucci

Shoes:  S&H

Topshop/Topman Robinsons Magnolia Now Open!

Topshop, one of my favorite high street brands, is now open in Robinsons Magnolia!  I can still remember back in my college days when Topshop first opened in Robinsons Place Manila.  I would make good use of my breaks and troop over there to shop, almost always ending up bringing something back to class.  My friends would only shake their heads and label me a shopaholic.   Ah, memories.  Fast forward more than a decade and a dozen or so stores later, Topshop still hasn't failed to amaze me.  If only money grew on trees, then I'd be a happy camper and just live inside the store!

Ok ok I'll stop reminiscing and dreaming, on to the reason for this post!  Yesterday was the day Topshop/Topman Magnolia opened its stores to the public.  They had quite a number of promotions too, like Php500 coupon for the first 50 customers in queue, free tote bag for every Php1500 worth of purchase, cocktails and a DJ.  Cool huh?  Sadly I arrived a bit late and wasn't able to get one of those coupons, but congratulations to those who did!

Snapped a couple (ok, a LOT) of photos to share to you guys, here they are!

Storefront.  I hear this is THE biggest store to date!

What greets you at the entrance

Topshop Section:

The Topshop section.  The store is wayyyy deep!

They also have a whole petite section

Undies and shoes.  Check out that shoe wall!

Topman Section:

The Fitting Room:

Love this picture wall!

I'm in love with the color of the fitting room wall.  And check out the sofas!  Perfect for patient boyfriends waiting for their girl to dress up!

And here are some of my picks from the pieces that I saw:

Leopard print shift dress

Cap-sleeves lace dress

Peach floral organza dress

Floral jumper

Cropped top with matching skirt

Beaded dress

Leaf print jumpsuit

Digital print skirt

Lace fringe top

Aaaaah!  Seeing these pieces again made me want to rush over to Robinsons Magnolia two days in a row!  What are you waiting for?  Go give them a visit and be amazed too!  Happy shopping!

Topshop is in  Robinsons's Magnolia, TriNoma, Robinsons Galleria, The Podium, Shangri-la Plaza Mall, Robinsons Midtown Ermita (New Wing), Alabang Town Center Mall, Greenbelt 3, Power Plant Mall, Bonifacio High Street and Ayala Center Cebu

Topman is in Robinson's Magnolia, Robinsons Galleria, Robinsons Place Ermita, Power Plant Mall, Greenbelt 3, TriNoma, Alabang Town Center, SM Mall of Asia and The Podium

Outfit of the Week: It's That Shirtdress... Again.

Remember how much I raved about shirtdresses on this post?  Well, here's another version of it!  For a polished look, the best way to do it is to belt a shirtdress.  But there are days when you just want to wear it as is and not feel constrained.  Tip:  When choosing a shirtdress, make sure it's a bit loose.  You don't want buttons popping or your flesh showing when you sit down.  The one I have on here is waaaay loose, but that's how I like it!  What to do so that it doesn't look like you just threw on your pajamas?  Simple, accessorize, accessorize, accessorize!  A simple necklace and a bracelet would surely do the trick; heck, it could even make you look party-ready!  All you have to do is work it, baby!  I have a couple more of these sitting in my closet, so do expect more of these shirtdress posts because I really, really am in love with them!

Dress:  Monki
Bag:  Chanel
Shoes:  Call it Spring
Necklace:  Una Rosa
Bracelet:  Ever New