#danielaeats: japanese in shanghai

I know, not another Jap experience. But this I have to share because it's one of my most favourite Jap experiences to date! Surprisingly, it was in Shangai, China. On the night of our last shoot day, our Chinese friend Ted wanted to treat us out to a good dinner. My friends and I were craving Jap so he took us to the best Jap place he knew in Shanghai. It turned out to be closed by the time we got there, so instead he took us to another one, outside of the mall in a more hidden, unexpected place. 

Truth is, I don't know the name of the place, and of several other places I went to in Shanghai because everything was in Chinese and barely anyone spoke English (really, I don't know how we would've survived without Ted). It was a bit hard going around without having prepared translated words in Chinese characters on our phones so that we could simply show it to people and they would lead us the right away.

This second place, according to Ted, was "not as good" as the first one we were suppose to eat in, but still was good Jap. It looked like a sports bar turned Japanese resto because of all the Japanese signs and lantern designs. People there were mostly having drinks and watching The Beatles being projected on a white screen.

Grilled Brie cheese. SINFUL. We had two orders of this because it was freakin amazing! The star of our meal.

Ted did the honour of ordering. He requested for some of his favourite dishes in that restaurant, and soon enough it became our favourites too. We had extra orders of fresh Salmon Sashimi, Gyoza, some soup, different meats on sticks, vegetables, and a few other Japanese dishes that we've never tried before. We were even served some cocktails which we all shared just to get a taste. Interesting flavours, some fruity with a bit of alcohol. But I still got my Yamazaki.

And we were happily stuffed. Extra stuffed because the meal was a heavy one with all that cheese and mashed potato. It was all too good that we made sure to have a bite of everything we were served. The fish was fresh and came in big slices, the meat was perfectly cooked and seasoned just right so as not to overpower any of the other dishes, and the serving sizes were good for sharing. The winner of that meal though was the grilled Brie cheese on a stick. It was so sinful yet so delicious, with the natural goodness of Brie cheese, slightly warmed on the grill leaving hints of flavour from it. YUMMY. To think this wasn't the best Jap restaurant made me extra curious about the restaurant we were really suppose to eat in!

I have yet to try real authentic Japanese food from Japan, but I have to say this is one of the best Jap experiences I've had (except of course for that Matsusaka beef from Mecha Uma, that one's incomparable). This August I'll be heading there actually, and i'm finally going to get a taste of legit Jap food from Japanese heaven!

Until next time #danielaeats!

#danielaeats: mecha uma

Scallops on kropek -- which Chef Bruce made using the rest of the scallop parts

Tanigue fish on Monggo. The ultimate favorite!

Eel liver on rice

Three out of the ten absolutely amazing dishes we had at Mecha Uma.

I took a shot of almost all the dishes we had but the lighting (and maybe my phone camera) just didn't do justice to the beauty of it all. So here are the "best" ones I'm willing to share.

Anton and I were able to enjoy the ten course meal thanks to Nicky, who had ten seats at the bar care of Chef Bruce Ricketts since Nicky directed his video for Madrid Fusion Manila.

Everyone that joined us that night went to Mecha Uma expecting to be mind blown after all the hype it's been getting. Indeed, it did not disappoint. Every single dish we tried there was out of this world amazing that we wished we had a second round each. It's really crazy how such small dishes could be so technical and hold all that flavour and texture. Unfortunately, they were all really small that I was still hungry after the ten dishes. The dishes were all too good that my plates were wiped clean by the time the waiter got it. It's a shame though that I wasn't able to take note of everything the dishes were made of and take better photos, but luckily Sarie, who also joined us that night, was able to properly capture the plates and note down the magic that went on behind the bar. Check out her post on Mecha Uma here.

If you're expecting it to be like Sensei Sushi because it's also Japanese cuisine, it's not. It far beyond what Sensei is (which I also enjoyed, by the way), and it's not the type of meal Chef Bruce could just have someone else prepare. All ten course meals at the bar are done by him, and can only be served when he's around.

In case you plan on trying this out, Mecha Uma does their ten course meal only from Friday to Monday, twice in one night (6PM and 8PM). The menu is unpredictable, and if you decide to return a week or two after your first try, you might be served something else depending on the availability of ingredients (the more reason we should return!). You may also opt to walk in and order a la carte, but i'm not so sure about the menu they have for that.

Try it out! It's located on the ground floor of the RCBC Savings Bank Corporate Tower, 25th corner 26th, BGC.

Until next time #danielaeats!

#danielaeats: sushi to go in taiwan

One thing I was shocked about during my visit to Taiwan was the number of Japanese restaurants around. You could find one at every corner, sometimes serving good quality, pricey Japanese food, or low end decent ones. Being the Jap lover that I am, this thrilled me, and I couldn't resist the more affordable sushi and sashimi that I had maybe three or four meals while I was there. One of the Jap stores we visited was at the train station. It was a sushi to go kind of place with no chairs, just a big cooler with packed sushi and a counter to pay.

I had a difficult time trying to decide which one to get because I just wanted the basic salmon and tuna sushi. But after going through the whole cooler, I saw that we actually had the option to choose exactly what we wanted.

Packed little sushi! So cute. It was just 10 Taiwanese dollars for each, that's about Php 15.



Since this is on the more affordable side of Jap food, you can't expect excellent quality. It was decent though, and is still much better than the cheap Japanese we have here in the Philippines, so I was satisfied. Most of their cheap Japanese food are actually okay (well, those that I ate in), so I'd say it's safe to munch on them while taking a break from your shopping spree. How I wish we had a sushi to go place here!

Until next time #danielaeats!

#danielaeats: cafe voila, the second time around

My first time here was last December 12 for the anniversary dinner. The restaurant was just a few weeks (maybe a month) old, so it was pretty empty and the menu, limited in its dishes. If i'm not mistaken it might've still been on its soft opening. Anton and I ordered a Salmon salad for our starter (which we enjoyed a lot), and steak for our main.

This time around we, along with other friends, were invited to dine at Cafe Voila to celebrate the birthday of one of our most wonderful friends (and also the daughter of the owner of the restaurant), Carla.

We wanted to try a bunch of dishes so we agreed on having Carla do the orders for sharing. I'm not so familiar with the menu names of the dishes we were served, but of course every dish that landed on the table was just delicious. Scroll through to get a glimpse!

For starters: basic tomato, cheese and olives in olive oil. 

I got a Margarita for my drink. It was good but had way more alcohol in it than I expected. I thought I'd be needing another one but this drink lasted me the whole meal, and also got me a bit woozy.  

This was the same salad I got last December. It had salmon, mushroom, cheese and that good Japanese sesame dressing we're all crazy about.  

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to try this dish. I was only able to get a few shots of it before it was attacked by everyone in the table. 

This prime rib was delicious! Although I wish it was a tad bit softer, it was still good nonetheless. 

This shrimp came in the same mini griller that chicken up there arrived in. I only got a piece but I enjoyed it very much because it had all sort of flavours in it. If only I got to try the rice it came with. My friends loved it.

Salmon Eggs Benedict. To be honest, I think this is just the second eggs Benedict I've had. Ever. So I'm not quite sure about how awesome eggs Benedict should taste. I had a bite of this in the middle of all the strong flavours from the different dishes, so this didn't stand out for me that much. We also had one with ham in it but I wasn't able to get a piece.

Their Pad Thai, though. Definitely one of the dishes you should order when visiting this place! 

I just realised while looking at this shot that I didn't get to snap and taste the chicken pandan. There was just too much going on that I missed out on some dishes!

The meal ended with some coffee and the most delicious Apple Crumble Cheesecake I've ever tasted! Sorry for not having a photo, but it was just too delicious that I forgot to take a photo of it. Another dessert we were able to try was the Caramel Cheesecake, which was also super good!  

I absolutely love visiting this place not only because of the good food but also because it is so. freakin. beautiful. Carla's mom designed the place herself, and the style is a mix of their house and a bit of Flotsam and Jetsam in La Union (which is owned by Carla's sister). From the interiors and furniture to the small details, like placemats, pillow cases, signs, glasses, mugs. Everything is so well thought of that every inch of that place gets you marvelling and snapping away the whole time you're there. A lot of their pieces in the restaurant are hand picked from Bali, so you can just imagine the colourful prints and intricate patterns. It's also so homey (especially during December when the Christmas decors are up), so it's the perfect place to visit and enjoy the cold Tagaytay weather.

It has now become a must-visit for a lot of people in Tagaytay (the place was packed when we went and could no longer accommodate some customers), so I suggest you reserve ahead of time especially if you're going on the weekend. I promise it won't disappoint!

Until next time #danielaeats!

the crossroads of should and must

I don't know where you are in your life right now, but whether you're loving the work you're doing, trapped in your day job, lost and searching for something you're unsure of, I think this is a book worth reading to help you continue your journey or reevaluate the path you're in. It's a beautiful, beautiful book that stemmed from an article of pure honesty to oneself and courage.

I read The Crossroads of Should and Must online and found out that Elle Luna wrote a book after the amazing feedback she got from it. So I bought it that same day and it's now one of my favourites. And I'd like to share it with you.

nike women's run

Last May 9, Nike held its first all womens run in Manila. To join, you had to sign up in pairs. So when my sister decided to sign up, she asked me if I could be her partner for the run. Initially it was a no for me. I've been running for about five years now, but I wouldn't really call myself a runner. It's my cardio when I gym so I'm usually on a treadmill, and on days that I can't gym, I run around the village. I guess for me it was just more of a relaxing thing to do, my time away from the world, so once I plug in those earphones I zone out from reality. It was always at the back of my head to join a run because I knew I could, it was just the effort to prepare for it that sort of stood in the way (aka lessening the drinking, sleeping earlier, doing more 10ks).

Last May I decided to commit and sign up. The run was limited to only 10k, for women, and was held in Filinvest (another plus! close to my area).

It was a pretty awesome first run for me. I didn't reach my usual time and really struggled during the uphills, but I refused to walk and pushed myself to finish. In 58:59. I was the 245th!

- The registration was P900, and upon signing up you get a shirt. Once you finish, you get a shirt as well. And if you're part of the top 500 of the 9000 runners, you get another shirt! Being the freebee lover that I am, I was ecstatic when I was handed my third shirt. So I went home that day with three awesome Nike shirts which I now use to gym.
- Free braiding station! Of course my sister and I couldn't resist. We had to get our hairs braided and in unplanned matching braid styles. After we changed into our new Nike shirts we were twinning the rest of the night.
- There was a dome in the parking lot where they flashed the day's runners and their times, and some inspiring Nike videos, a DJ at the top floor, extra NTC classes after the run and a photo booth. Pretty cool!

Now that I finally experienced a run, I'm a bit more open to joining more in the future.
But only if my knees will cooperate!