Review:Ramen Tei

My beau was craving some Japanese food (again) so I decided to look for one in Festival Mall that we haven't tried yet.
I discovered Ramen Tei through the Festival Mall website and suggested that we check it out.
First off, I have to say that when we saw the restaurant we had second thoughts about whether we should enter or not.
Only one table was occupied and it really didn't offer much ambiance.
But because I was too lazy and hungry to go look for another place, we decided to go for it.
I apologize for the not so decent pictures.
The place had minimal lighting and I didn't want to use flash 'coz it might bother the people in the other table.







The place had minimal decorations and didn't really offer the "Japanese restaurant vibe". I think there were only four people on staff that day (Thursday afternoon).The place had minimal decorations and didn't really offer the "Japanese restaurant vibe". I think there were only four people on staff that day (Thursday afternoon).






The first thing I noticed was how long the menu was. There were 807 choices including the drinks! (3 weren't available)





Beau commented that the menu was like a karaoke song list.





It took us a long time to choose our order and in the end we chose the set meal. Beau ordered the Sashimi Teishyoku (mixed sashimi) and I had the Ebi Tempura Teishyoku (batter fried prawns). Both meals included miso soup, potato salad, rice, mixed vegetables and a slice of ripe mango for dessert.





Ebi Tempura Teishyoku (310php)





Sashimi Teishyoku (310php)


I have to admit, the food tasted a lot better than I expected. The vegetables were freshly cooked and the potato salad was yum! Tempura always tastes the same for me although I do like the consistency of the batter that they used. It was a good deal for 310 pesos each and we were really full after the meal.


Pros:
-friendly staff
-good food
-privacy (we were the only people left after the people from the other table were finished)
-reasonably priced


Cons:
-air conditioning was a bit too warm for my liking
-the miso soup was a bit bland
-poor ambiance
-ants!


Overall, I'd still like to go back to the place although Beau didn't want to return because ants bit him. Oh how ants love my Beau. ^_^

Review:Kanin Club @ Paseo de Santa Rosa

My boyfriend and I decided to eat at Kanin Club for our 6th anniversary.
The food was really good although there were a lot of people so we weren't able to enjoy the ambiance that much..
We arrived during the peak lunch period so we were lucky to get seats.
We ordered the aligue rice, their famous crispy dinuguan (which I adored) and the Tom Yum Goong. I wanted to try more but seeing as there were only two of us, it seemed wasteful.








The Ambiance (score 8/10)
-I loved the whole Filipino feeling the restaurant had. There were stained glass near the doors
and the tables were made of wood and had capiz windows under the glass. Folk songs were also being played in the background. Now if only the employee uniforms matched the theme...








Aligue Rice-119php (score:4/10)
-it seemed a bit too bland for my taste. It was like colored white rice and nothing more.








Crispy Dinuguan-209php (score:9/10)
-I've read much about this dish and I wasn't disappointed. I loved this. I usually don't eat diniguan unless I know what's in it but this was definitely an exception to the rule. My only complaint is that most of the pieces were too big and not really bite size. And of course, the crispness tends to go away after a few minutes.







Tom Yum Goong-292php (score:8/10)
-I liked this one a lot too. It was like a spicy-minty seafood sinigang. There was a candle under the serving bowl so it was kept deliciously warm. I was a bit disappointed though because it only had one big shrimp in it and the rest was mussels and squid. I only eat shrimp. ^_^




Pros:

-Good food
-Reasonably priced
-Fast service (the place was packed!)



Cons:

-Small area
-Airconditioning wasn't that cool
-Tacky paintings (in my opinion)



Overall Rating: 8/10
-It's a good place to go to if you want to have a good meal with your family or friends.
I don't recommend it for first dates though. The ambiance isn't really romantic and there's too much people.