Mingxuan

Rating: Not great
Meal: Dinner for 3
Price: 475 yen
Payment: Cash only probably
Dishes: Glutinous rice dimsum, "special" fried rice, preserved vegetable meat pie rice dish
English Menu: Yes
Smoking: No

We ended up back at the Jazz Residence to eat dinner and decided to try a Chinese restaurant a bit removed from the rest of the mall.  Turns out it was more of a fast food style place and we weren't very hungry so we didn't order much.

I guess we shouldn't have bothered as none of us (with the exception of my son) liked our dishes at all.  I was going to rate it an Ok, but by the end of it we were all in agreement it was substandard.

Cafe Mediterranean

Rating: Very good
Meal: Lunch for 3
Price:  2017 php
Payment: Credit cards accepted
Dishes: falafel, tabouleh, moutabel, pesto feta pine nut pizza, shish tawouk, lamb tikka, syrian vegeterian kibbeh, sweet and salty laban (lassi on the menu)
English Menu: Yes
Smoking: No

We decided to watch a movie that was showing at the Rockwell Power Plant mall which is pretty nearby.  We scouted the place out and had lunch at Cafe Mediterranean, an arabic food restaurant with many of our favorite dishes from the Gulf area on the menu.  We weren't expecting much but we were blown away by the flavors and quality of the food.  The service was also great, with the staff looking like they really enjoyed what they were doing.

tabouleh and moutabel

We ordered an array of our favorites:  falafel, moutabel, tabouleh, shish tawouk, and lamb tikka.  In addition we tried a pesto feta pine nut pizza for my son and they had a special Syrian food recipe in remembrance of the troubles there currently that we ordered a delicious vegetarian fried kibbeh.  Everything was out of this world and whole experience was just a hair under an Excellent (but of course we've had so much Arabic food that we know it can be a bit better).  Certainly better than anything we've had in Japan and way, way cheaper.

falafel

I highly recommend trying the spot out if you're in the Makati area and looking for some good Arabic food.  Definitely the best meal we've had so far this trip.

vegetarian kibbeh

Shish tawouk

Lamb tikka

Feta, pesto and pine nut pizza

Kuya J

Rating: Very good
Meal: Dinner for 3
Price:  1145 php
Payment: Credit cards accepted
Dishes: BBQ chicken quarter, bicol express, adobong pusit, lumpia, chorizo rice, two small garlic rice
English Menu: Yes
Smoking: No

Ate tonight at another restaurant in the Jazz SM complex:  Kuya J, a nicer, mid-price take on Filipino food.  The staff was very friendly and informed us it would take 15 to 20 minutes to cook our food, so they aren't just spooning warmed over dishes in the back one hopes.

Conveniently all in one place

The food arrived, and plenty of it in about 15 minutes as advertised.  We were very pleased with everything but the adobong pusit as the squid was a bit chewier than I like and usually it gets tender in this dish...perhaps with more cooking time.  Anyway, we really liked their lumpia as it had plenty of ground meat inside, and the bicol express (a coconut milk dish with pork).  The BBQ chicken was great too and the rice was just fine.

Overall a very good experience indeed.  This is the kind of place I really wish we had in Yokosuka in opposition to all the nasty bar type places.

Darwin's Dimsum Hongkong Special

Rating: Very good
Meal: Dinner for 3
Price:  1132 php
Payment: Cash only (probably)
Dishes: Lots of dimsum dishes
English Menu: Yes
Smoking: No

By the time we arrived in Manila and checked into our apartment it was quite late and we were falling asleep on our feet.  We needed some food though so we popped in at a plain looking dimsum joint in the mall below us.  Darwin's Dimsum was open, but only for takeout, so we ordered up a storm and took our heavy bags back home with us.  Forgot about the portion size differences!

So much food!

After unloading the food on the table we scarfed it and had some left over for breakfast the next day.  Definitely not "delicate" dimsum, the portions were big and bold, quite hearty and delicious.  Tasted great to us and if we have the time I'd love to sit down and try other stuff on the menu some time.

Setagaya

Rating: Very good
Meal: Lunch for 3
Price:  4000 yen
Payment: Cash only
Dishes: Chicken shio ramen, Setagaya special shio ramen, Setagaya special tonkotsu ramen, fried tofu, menma platter
English Menu: Yes
Smoking: No

We left from Haneda for Manila the other day and were there with time to grab some lunch.  Setagaya is a ramen restaurant that I've seen lines at most times we've been there so we hadn't tried it yet.  We decided to give it a shot.  After a while awkwardly standing in line, some people came up and jumped to the front of the line, bought tickets, and then formed a second line.  We read the posted sign closer and it said "buy your ticket first, then stand in line".  So that's why there was always a line!

Deep fried tofu (there were 4 pieces total)

Now that we understood we bought our food tickets, stood in line and waited to be seated.  The lunch crowed was just thinning out so it took a while one of the 3 tables to open up.  Eventually we got our ramen, all of which was quite good.  The shio broth had a definite hint of bonito in it, and the tonkotsu was milky white with hakata style noodles. 

Menma platter

All 3 of us enjoyed it thoroughly, but I'm not sure I would wait in line again unless I was alone.

Special shio

Chicken shio

Tonkotsu

Namaste

Rating: Very good
Meal: Lunch for 3
Price:  3400 yen
Payment: Credit cards accepted
Dishes: Gapao rice, butter chicken set, keema set, 1 piece chicken tikka, 2 piece garlic chicken tikka
English Menu: Yes
Smoking: Yes

 
After church last week we walked one block north and found a little Indian restaurant.  I asked the waiter and they are Nepalese (naturally) but we were overall pleasantly surprised by the food.  They had some Thai dishes on the menu too, one of which I decided to order, the gapao fried rice.

 
All of us enjoyed our dishes, and the naan was surprisingly not as as sweet as it typically is in Japan.  Also, they had no problem making me a salt lassi, which is always a plus.  They aren't quite to "real indian" but we were happy with the food and looking forward to coming back, which pretty much always rates a Very Good from me.

Karyu

Rating: Very good
Meal: Lunch for 3
Price:  6415 yen
Payment: Cash only
Dishes: All you can eat...lots of dishes
English Menu: Yes
Smoking:Yes

After church last Sunday my wife and son and I decided to drive over to Yokohama to find something to eat.  We ended up in the vicinity of Chinatown, so we decided to take a gamble and see what we could find.  Last time we ate at a "fancy" dimsum place that we were a bit disappointed with.  This time we found a cheap looking place with dimsum on the menu that offered a reasonable "all you can eat" special.


Basically you just order off of the menu whatever you wish, and they bring it.  Order more if you like.  Rinse and repeat until stuffed.

The food wasn't the best I've had, but it wasn't bad for Japanese Chinese food and certainly closer to what we are used to than what we usually encounter.  We all had plenty to eat and were overall quite pleased by the experience.  I think we'd gladly go back there if given the option. 

As usual with multi dish meals, here are the pictures in one list:

Suehiro

Rating: Not great
Meal:Lunch for 2
Price: 2800 yen
Payment: Cash only
Dishes: Two teishoku sets
English Menu: No
Smoking: Yes

Nothing much to write about here, just a typical Japanese Chinese restaurant my wife and I tried.  Not very good...not really looking to return.