Empire Deli & Restaurant

Bf surprised me by dropping by our office on a weekday during lunch where we went straight to the nearby public square.  We make it to a point that if we eat out, we should try something that we don't usually have at home or at work.  And along came Empire Deli & Restaurant.

I'm a big fan of western cuisine.  Sandwiches and pastas are my comfort food, so being in this place really delights me.

Normally, we ask for the best sellers before taking risks on ordering other dish.  So for the sandwich, we had Broadway Brisket (Php 240), and Mac & Cheese (Php 185) for the pasta.  We were told that the pasta dish is good for sharing.  Oh, you can choose a type of bread on their sandwiches and I opted for a ciabatta.

It didn't take long for our orders to be served.  Ten points for that.

As soon our plates arrived, I quickly took a bite (immediately after taking pictures) of their Broadway Brisket.  It was absolutely good!  I can't even stop salivating right at this moment thinking of how this sandwich tastes like.  It's kind of sweet but salty at the same time.  Truly delectable.  Though for the size, I think the sandwich is quite small.  But don't get me wrong, for a 5-8-inch-size sandwich, it is very filling.  The side salad is fresh but it only comes in small amount.  The fries was overcooked but I liked it toasted as it gives the crunch.  I just don't know if that's how they really prepare their fries or was it just an incident.  Nevertheless, I loved it.

Broadway Brisket (Php 240)

The mac and cheese was overwhelming.  We didn't expect it to be in this huge dish.  It smells funky because it's loaded with parmesan.  It's cheesy but it's not that creamy as I've expected it to be.  It has tomato sauce in it so I'm thinking it's more of a lasagna and not the regular mac and cheese.  Although it tastes good, but I'm not dying to have some of it next time.  We even hadn't ate half of it since it's so heavy, so I had it wrapped and shared it with my colleagues.

Mac and Cheese Php 240

Will definitely go back to this place.  A must-try!

Ramen Bar

July 21.

While I'm at work, my boyfriend called me around 10AM and asked me out to lunch.  Yes, it's my lunch time since I work 6am to 3pm.  We rarely have lunch together due to our tight schedule and that it will take him 30 minutes or less to go here in our office by cab since he's working at Ayala, Makati.  But today is an exception.  He's on leave and we're going to celebrate our seventh year together.  We have a planned date tonight, but this (him dropping by at lunch time) was a surprise.  But I'm stuck at work (even if I have nothing to do today..bummer), so I can only spend an hour and a half with him.

As we're strolling along Piazza, we thought of trying either Little Asia or Ramen Bar.  Little Asia was still closed at 10AM, so we opted to go try Ramen Bar instead.  The set menu is simple and there are only a number of dishes to choose from, which I think is way better than having too many choices that will leave you dubious picking the same entree you've had from other restaurants.  Or, most often than not, it sets your expectations higher if you went out of your comfort zone and sampling a new dish that will later disappoint you.  :p

photo by thestraydrifter

photo by thestraydrifter

I ordered Chicken Namban Rice Bowl (Php 185) while bf got R.B.S. #1 or Ramen Bar Special #1 (Php 380) and gyoza (which is not included on the menu.  Must be a new addition to RB).

It took about 5-7 minutes when our orders were served, which is a normal waiting time in case you didn't know.

R.B.S. #1 surely surprised us both.  With the big bowl of noodle soup in front of us, we didn't expect that it can be shared by two to three people.  We should've asked it earlier so that I should've not ordered the rice bowl dish.  Tsk.  Anyway, the soup surely is a winner!  I'm a very picky eater when eating out because I value the money spent on each meal.  So this is soo good that you should try it!  It's close to authentic.  They never used broth cube or powder that we normally have tasted on food chains and restaurants.  So that's a major plus!

(R.B.S. # 1) photo by thestraydrifter

The pork, ugh, it's so soft that it kind of like melts in your mouth!  And they put a generous amount of pork cutlets (but they're somewhat thick so it's much better), by the way.  So, definitely, I'm going to give 10 stars for this. 

Gyoza isn't what I expected.  It's much better!  I do think the meat doesn't have flour mixed in it which is waaaaaay good because most gyoza or meatballs turned into fried dumplings are mixed with flour, right?  So this is good.  I won't say it's the best since I'm not really a fan of gyozas, but definitely a try.  One gyoza is enough because (I think) it's around 2-3 inches in length and it's stuffed so it's kind of big and heavy.

(Gyoza) photo by thestraydrifter

The Chicken Namban Rice Bowl simply is a boneless deep fried coated chicken with tartar sauce.  It's good but I don't like the sauce.  The mayo overpowers the rest of the sauce ingredients.  I can't even figure out what the green chopped leaves are.  I could only taste mayo, a hint of wasabi and toasted sesame seeds.  Out of 10 stars, I would only give this a five.

photo by thestraydrifter

As for the dessert, which is the first thing I always look forward to before ordering a meal, we're about to try their tempura ice cream but it wasn't available.  So we had our dessert at YoSwirls instead, since it's Thursday and it's 50% off (Here in YoSwirls McKinley Hill, Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays are 50% off).

So if you're going to try out Ramen Bar, basing from its name, go for the ramen.