Food Review: Kettle Restaurant

Hello guys, so I'm back with another food review. This time, we're cruising to the East Wing of Shangri-La Mall in Mandaluyong. 

The restaurant I'm talking about is at the 5th level of the mall. It's a new addition to Shangri-La's growing restaurant circle.  Ever since the new wing opened, I've been to like 3-4 places already, but today we are going to talk about the place called Kettle.

So, I was like the owner must have loved his "takure"  the tagalog word for a kettle. A little bit skeptic to try it out as I felt like its just a typical American restaurant that if I was given a chance to choose I'd prefer a different cuisine (most likely, Japanese).  

I'm lucky enough that I have a grandmother who can guide my taste buds along the way and of course, this is her recommendation. By the way, its me and my brother King's first time.

Epic pose there ate!

The restaurant looks like a typical American inspired dining place.  A nice relaxing and cozy feel. It also feels like a modern chill place.

Last Sunday, I wasn't able to eat lunch so I'm really looking forward to a big meal. First appetizer, we saw this literally in a nearby table and we were like, yess!!!!

This is the Pork and Potato strips. It's that thin sliced shoestring looking fries cooked perfectly with fried pork belly bits (chunks) and fried herbs. Definitely not greasy and matched with a red bell pepper aioli - truffle oil. Price for this is php 330, not bad as it has a big serving. What else could I say with this yummy goodness!!! This alone is enough and that sauce was just heaven garlicky mayonnaise and truffle loving goodness!

Rueben is next in our list, this is a sandwich on a honey cat bread and house made corned beef, braised cabbage with havarti and fontina cheese. This costs php 489 plus you have the option to upgrade your regular fries to sweet potato fries.

What's my take on this sandwich, I give it a thumbs up.  My grandma is a big fan of this sandwich and when I hear its name its always a blah to me as it defines sauerkraut and beef.  But this sandwich changed my thinking about Reuben.  This is just a good balance of good meat (corned beef, not the one's in the can okay?!) 

My turn to pick out the next sandwich, Shrimp Po' Boy.  Some may ask what's po' boy, now what I have learned in watching all of those cooking shows that po' boy is a short term used for Poor Boy's sandwich. Surely, here in the Philippines it's not a poor boy's sandwichas it costs php 419 per order.  

Taste wise, I like the freshness and crunchiness of the shrimps (breaded Cajun shrimps). You'd know that they are all our with ingredients and I like that.  You don't hide it under the breadcrumbs lol. I love the cheese shavings and the bread is fresh (Ciabatta Roll).  I'm kind of so so on the Remoulade sauce as I'm not really a fan of mustard and dill pickles to which it was explained to me compliments the sandwich.

Another look at my Po' Boy Shrimp Sandwich

Last dish, Angus Roast Beef for my brother dear. It's an open faced sandwich with caramelized onions; havarti and cheddar cheese, sweet banana peppers and gravy. The meat is good the mixture of the cheese and the sauce indicates good eats to me.

By the way, the food was served on top of a chopping board like plate with parchment or wax paper and served with potato fries in a bowl (again, that can be upgraded to sweet potato). I liked their lemon iced tea too. Overall, if you are looking for a meal that is heavy but will not make you feel overly full, its a good place to go to.  The serving is big so a not so big eater can order a sandwich, fries and maybe soup and then share.

My grandmother, brother and me shared the 3 sandwiches we ordered and I didn't even finish mine. I had to take it out.  The service is quite slow though, I'm not so sure if it's just for that day or what.

Mama and the manager also shared that the chicken meal is a best seller even Jessica Soho featured it in her show (a local news celebrity). Definitely, my first time in this place is a good one. I'd give a recommendation for this place and its good to enjoy with family or friends too.

Just a side note, probably on my next visit i'll order that Truffle Gorgonzola pasta.  

I hope this review is a helpful and informative.  Let me know what other things you'd like me to try and any suggestions for my blog.

Follow Kettle in their social media accounts at:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/kettleph
Instagram: instagram.com/kettlerestaurant 

xoxo

Julienne

Ogetsu Hime - Japanese Restaurant

I almost forgot to blog about this place called Ogetsu Hime. I was here last April after my brother's 8 hour long college graduation rights. And yes, 8 hours for 200 students. Goodness! Anyways, as I'm in the mood of writing, I feel it's still good to share to you my visit from this place. So let's start, shall we...

First of all, I wondered what does Ogetsu Hime means, so I was able to find something on their official Facebook page, it says the food goddess. Maybe that's why I felt like one after dining there. Anyways, they described the restaurant like dining in front of the food goddess. It showcases the refinements of sushi and mastery of teppan (the flat surface where chef's cook in front of you "teppanyaki style").

Here in the Philippines, it's rare to find a Japanese restaurant that really defines the culinary traditions of Japan. For me, Japanese cuisine is not just the amount of food serving but mostly for its freshness and presentation.  I always believe that sometimes we really need to eat with our eyes. That sounds odd, right. Well, I am just in awe when I see food that's good to look at and that makes my heart melt when eating it. :)

Let me continue then, this restaurant I visited is situated in Taguig (SM Aura 5th level) in particular. As my brother's graduation happened in Samsung Hall it's just one level down to the the place. 

I don't usually just pick a restaurant and say yes let's try, because I also do have a budget. I find the place very high end feeling (maybe because of the sushi bar near the entrance) and there were teppanyaki stoves around. But since it's already passed 8 o'clock in the evening, I said why not, we are celebrating something.

I opened the menu, there were sets and all that but I'm most excited on the sushi bar. I let my parents and brother take the lead on the entree'. They chose the U.S. Tenderloin and Japanese Oysters and then we had Japanese fried rice. Then a couple of sushi and sashimi's.

This is my mom's favorite, Maguro Tuna (raw yellowfin tuna), c'mon just by looking at it, you'd know by now it's fresh. And mind you, even if it's only a few slices, it's thick cuts. I'm impressed with the serving as they didn't try to cut it thin or what not. Taste wise, you know a good fish if it melts like butter. For php 275.00 its not bad. OMG i'm drooling. 

Uni Temaki (hand rolled sushi), this kind of sushi looks like ice cream cones, that you finish in 1-2 bites. Uni means sea urchin, my brother loves this so much, so do I. It's also has a fresh velvet taste, its a mixture of sweet and salty taste of sea, if that makes sense. This is for php 95.00 per serving.

 My personal choice was the Rainbow Batera. The menu explains that it's a batera sushi roll molded with Tuna (Maguro), Ika (Squid), Kani (Crabstick), Shime Saba (vinegared mackerel), and Ebi (flavored shrimps) with an assortment of Ogetsu Hime sauces. Though I prefer a hint more vinegar on the rice, I love this mixed sushi platter I got. You get to really see what the place has to offer. The cost for this is php 240. It's already a meal for me.

Shake Maki. The word Shake means salmon, this restaurant picks the freshest and yummy Norweigan Salmon to roll in rice and black sesame seeds with wasabi and pickled ginger. I love sashimi/sushi anything in the sushi bar. :) This cost php 285.00.

Last for the sushi bar is the Uni Sashimi, it's sea urchin sashimi. So loove, I can't even more describe how it taste but my palette loves it. I don't remember the price i think it's around 200php per order.

This is the Spicy Maguro Roll.  It's a mariinated soy sesame tuna, crispy tempura bits, spicy kochukaru mayonnaise rolled in black and yellow ebiko with roasted sesame dressing.

For 285.00 pesos, this is a great sushi, the taste is mouthwatering and just right. This made my night before eating the main menu.

Chajan Moriawase is the mixed fried rice, it has eggs, pork, shrimps and veggies. My mom said, this is already a meal for her, such a sucker for yummy Japanese rice. Per serving it's php 100.00, that's a good deal.

This is part of the Ogetsu beef we ordered, it's the U.S. tenderloin, if i'm not mistaken it's around php pesos. per order. It's good though i'm not too fond of it. I lean more on the sushi bar just like what I mentioned earlier.

I just want to quickly mention that the Japanese oysters compared to the one's we have here in the Philippines are big and a little bit more salty in taste but I liked it.

 Overall, I was satisfied with the restaurant, though I would say it was expensive for 4 persons but it's all worth a try. I highly recommend you guys to try this out if you are looking for something that is authentic Japanese and if you would like to experience the food of the Japanese Gods. :)

I hope you enjoy my review, see ya all next time.. 

xoxo,
Julienne