Aside from the clean and cozy rooms, Lotus Garden Hotel also boasts of its in-house restaurant and sports bar where guests can enjoy Filipino delicacies while unwinding and relaxing over a variety of drinks.

The Cilantro Restaurant provides guests with a fine dining pleasure while savoring a choice of Filipino dishes. Our accommodation at the Lotus Garden Hotel comes with a breakfast buffet for two per overnight stay. And since we booked the room for 3 days and 2 nights, we got to have breakfast buffet at the Cilantro Restaurant for two days! :D


The buffet opens at six in the morning. Breakfast stubs are claimed at the reception.  On our first breakfast, we arrived a little after nine and so we had to wait a little for seats to be vacated.  On our second breakfast, we came in earlier around 8 am and got the liberty to choose our seats. :D

Aside from the gym and spa, and the resort's relaxing ambience, Valentino Resort and Spa also has their own restaurant.



The rest of the group already had their share of the dining experience at the resort's restaurant over lunch, but Mark and I just had to skip having lunch with them since we brought our own food. :)

Come dinner time, Marwin suggested that we go out since they already had their lunch at Valentino's restaurant.  Unfortunately, aside from a kambingan, there wasn't any restaurant nearby, so we just went back to the resort's restaurant.

While waiting for our food. Galit galit? :p

Mark was on a diet and was prepping up for a competition, so he just ordered their grilled chicken.  Mark and I were both expecting a char-grilled chicken, but the chicken looked like it was fried.  I guess it was grilled using a turbo broiler.  The dish had a generous serving of chicken breast and it also came with a garlic mashed potato and sautéed bean sprouts.  Mark enjoyed his dish and was captured by the taste of the mashed potato that he ordered another serving for take out. :)

Grilled Chicken with Garlic Mashed Potato and Sautéed Bean Sprouts

I was on a meal plan that time and was only allowed to take in vegetables for dinner, plus whey protein, so I just settled for their chopseuy.  Another generous serving, the dish also had some kikiam and pork slices in it which I just had to set aside. :p  I was also very keen in setting aside the sauce because I was actually allowed to have only raw veggies, or steamed/boiled at the least. :p

Chopseuy

I wasn't able to jot down the price but as far as I remember, Mark and I only paid less than Php 500 for our dinner (which included 4 bottled waters).

Our accommodation includes free breakfast, American and Filipino breakfast were the ones I remembered, which also come with a choice of coffee, hot chocolate, or juice.

Mark had coffee while I chose to have the hot chocolate.  I guess it was a bad choice for me.  The hot chocolate was just, uhmm, too sweet. It actually tasted like chocolate syrup (like the ones used in pancakes) placed in hot water.

Hot Chocolate

Everyone who ordered coffee was raving about how good it was, so when one of the servers gladly obliged when Marwin had his cup refilled and asked who else wanted a refill, I immediately asked Mark to get a refill for me. :p

My meal plan doesn't really allow me to have liquids other than water or fresh orange juice, but since I already deviated from my meal plan by having hot chocolate and coffee,  I thought that I might as well indulge in Valentino's Filipino breakfast! :p The Filipino breakfast comes with a choice of tapang taal, daing na bangus, tocino, or longganisa; plus scrambled or sunny-side-up egg and steamed or fried rice.

Filipino Breakfast: Tapang Taal, Fried Rice, and Sunny-Side-Up Egg

Mark and I both chose the tapang taal.  The tapa wasn't like the ones that I got used to but it was just delicious!  It actually looked and tasted like the Filipino version of Beef Steak, or Bistek Tagalog as what we all know of.  Although I was really enjoying the dish, my stomach just didn't want to take in that much food, so I was able to finish only half of my plate.  The other half was devoured by Mark.

Filipino Breakfast: Tapang Taal, Fried Rice, and Scrambled Egg

He must have been very hungry that time that he got another order of the Tapang Taal meal, making him finish a total of 2 and a half meals!

All of us had a good dining experience at Valentino.  Aside from the good food, their customer service is also commendable.  There was this one staff who never failed to greet us each time we were in the restaurant.  Most of them were also very accommodating especially with our (mine and Mark's) requests and numerous questions regarding their menu. :p

With food that are both palate- and budget-friendly partnered with good customer service, I guess I can just forget about the glitches in the resort's accommodation and that middle-aged lady. :p  Over-all, I can say that I enjoyed my stay at Valentino. :)

VALENTINO RESORT AND SPA
Barangay Pinagtung-ulan,
San Jose, Batangas

 

After my MOA adventure with Mark, we headed to Robinsons Place to meet with his mom for dinner.

After going to and from every floor of the Midtown Wing in search for a place to dine, we finally agreed in trying out Bistro Ravioli. We were all first timers, so Mark and I just took charge of the orders. Ravioli was not in our choices that time, maybe because of our bad experience on raviolis at Spaghetti Factory. But I still remember how much I loved Red Coconut's ravioli though. :p

Now back to the orders. :p Mark's mom wanted to have chicken for dinner and was insisting that we get the Diablo wings, but being not so much into spicy food, Mark just ordered their herb chicken. The dish comes in 3 chicken wings fried to perfection with fries and gravy. The dish may look ordinary but the chicken wings were just flavorful and large too. I enjoyed munching on the chicken wing even without the gravy.

Herb Chicken - Php 235.00

Mark wanted some pasta and was looking at the pasta choices when he asked me what to get. We both went adventurous that day and opted for the Chicken Pesto Spaghetti. The pesto spaghetti was just like any other pesto, what made this dish stand out was the grilled chicken. The generous amount of grilled chicken chunks were juicy and tender to the bite and were made more delectable by the tomato salsa...perfect match for the pesto. Mark and I both loved this dish. The dish also comes with garlic toasts.

Chicken Pesto Spaghetti - Php 370.00

Another hit was the Italian Sausage and Bacon pizza. The 12-inch thin crust pizza was brick-oven-baked, making it more delectable. The crust was crispy yet still managed to be soft and chewy on the inside. It also had a spicy kick because of the chili flakes.

Italian Sausage and Bacon Pizza - Php 365.00

For the spicy food lovers, like Tita Juliet's friend who were with us, this will surely be an eye candy. :p

Habanero Pepper Sauce and Chili Flakes

We all enjoyed our dinner. Aside from the good food, the service is also commendable. Our first time at Bistro Ravioli will definitely not be our last! :)

BISTRO RAVIOLI, Robinsons Place - Manila
Midtown Wing, Robinsons Place,
Pedro Gil cor. Adriatico St., Ermita
Manila, Metro Manila
Philippines
(02)523-7565

Mark celebrated his 27th birthday last February 7. Days before his special day, I was already thinking of places to go for his birthday celebration. He actually told me that he also wanted it to be some sort of an adventure just like what we had during my birthday. Since our schedules didn't permit an out of town trip, we had no choice but to settle for the places here in the Metro. Good thing I remembered Pan de Amerikana, the first and only chess-themed restaurant in the Philippines, which was once featured in a local magazine show.

I immediately thought that Mark would love to visit and dine in this restaurant because, as not everyone may know, aside from being into bodybuilding, Mark also is an expert in chess. :) He was a chess varsity player during his high school and college days and he also competed and won in the UAAP (University Athletic Association of the Philippines) chess competitions.

After a 20-minute cab ride from the Gateway Mall, we arrived at Pan de Amerikana in Marikina just in time for breakfast. Seeing photos of the restaurant already got me excited, more so when I saw the real thing! :D I was amazed with the life-sized Netherland windmill which was really moving! I wasn't able to take a photo of it though, so here's one that I got from the net. :)

Photo taken from crumb-trails.com

Mark and I posing at the bench near the entrance of Pan de Amerikana

Aside from the beautiful facade, Pan de Amerikana also takes pride of its garden-themed interior. This is what welcomed us as we entered. :)


The restaurant is a pay-as-you-order type. The photo below is their cashier and ordering area. Aside from their menu, our attention was also caught by the pictures on the bricks which showcase the celebrities, politicians, and big people who have already been to the restaurant.

Cashier and Ordering area

We placed our orders and then roamed around while waiting for our food. :)

This is where they do the grilling.

Dining Area

There is also a dining area with tables having built in tournament-size chess boards. Tournament-size chess pieces may be requested at the cashier area for free. :)

Dining Area/Chess Area

We chose a table near the giant chess board. The jumbo-sized plastic chess pieces were about 3 and a half feet high and were imported from New York City.


Mark and I played chess while waiting for our food. And being the chess expert that he is, after a few moves, he won the game through check mate! I played pretty well though because I was able to capture some of his chess pieces. :p

Check mate!

Our orders were served and so we went back to our table to eat. It was still early for lunch so we just ordered light food for breakfast. Mark must have eaten breakfast at home, so he just ordered a chicken sandwich. I was a little hungry so I got one tuna sandwich and arroz caldo with egg. :)

Their sandwiches come in what Pan de Amerikana is famous for--the 1950's pan de sal. There's no denying that the mega-sized wheat pan de sal was delectable. But Mark and I both agreed that their tuna and chicken fillings tasted like the instant spreads that can be bought in grocery stores.

Tuna Sandwich and Chicken Sandwich - Php 25.00 each

Their arroz caldo was okay but not something to crave for. I enjoyed it though, especially when I dip my pan de sal into the hot porridge (I'm kinda Barbaric sometimes, you know!) :p.

Arroz Caldo with Egg - Php 35.00

Melon Shake and Watermelon Shake - Php 30.00 each

Mark must have gotten hungry over our chess match haha! So he ordered baked macaroni after he finished his sandwich. I got to try a spoonful of it and didn't really like it. I love the generous amount of cheese though. :p

Baked Macaroni - Php 65.00

Mark and I both finished our dishes but didn't enjoy that much. Maybe we should try Pan de Amerikana's specialties next time. :)

After our breakfast, we continued to check the place out. Right next to our table was a glass cabinet with different chess pieces. What I liked the most was the Star Wars Chess set.

Star Wars Chess Set

Aside from the garden ambience, we also felt like we were inside a museum as we roamed around. A mixture of Filipino, European, and Italian cultures was very evident in the restaurant's interior. Everything is but a lovely work of art!


You can also see different paintings hanging all over the place, which reminded me of my very talented cousin. :)



Another attraction is the hammock and the tree house with hanging bridge.


Though we never really enjoyed the food, we really had fun seeing all the works of art. Thank God the birthday boy enjoyed our first time at Pan de Amerikana :) I also loved that the the staff was not restrictive when it comes to diners enjoying the facilities and roaming around the whole restaurant.

If you want to taste authentic 1950's pan de sal, dine in a garden setting, play chess for free, or see life-sized wind driven Netherland windmill...Pan de Amerikana is the place to be! We will definitely come back and try their specialties! :)

More photos HERE :)

PAN DE AMERIKANA, Marikina
92 Ordonez St., Marikina City
Metro Manila, Philippines
(+632) 475-2398, +63917-5308824
pandeamerikana.multiply.com