Late Night Snacking at 8 Street Bites Restaurant

Right after watching the 6:30pm screening of Maleficent at SM Manila last Friday, my mom, my two sisters and I had a late snack at 8 Street Bites Restaurant, also on the fourth level. It’s fairly new, serves American-Mexican fast food and we had never eaten there until that night.


the restaurant's facade...


and interior

We were supposed to get only snack items from the menu but mom wanted to try the chicken tenders that happened to be a rice meal. And so she did. She shared that with my sister Nyam who got an order of fries to pair with the chicken tenders. They both thought it was good. An order had five chunky pieces. The chicken was deep-fried, crispy on the outside but the meat retained its juices somehow. The sauce that came with it was honey mustard and tasted yummy, too. I knew because I had a bite of the chicken with it. Haha.


Chicken Tender Bites, P148


Nyam's fries, P28

My sister Jodie and I, on the other hand, shared Freeway Nachos (P98) and a Banoffee Pie (P58). The nacho sauce was delicious but tasted like it came straight from the can. (Not that it was a bad thing, just saying.) It had a few kidney beans and meat. There were fresh tomatoes, onions, sour cream and cheese sauce on top, too.



This banofee pie satisfied my sweeth tooth. It was pretty basic but I liked the thick cream a lot.



with my sister Jodie

For the small food servings, I thought the prices were just right. The service was a bit slow during our visit and I guess the staff felt that, too. We ended up getting a complimentary dessert in the form of a pana cotta which had a good balance of creaminess and sweetness.



I’d love to go back to this resto and try the other items soon. :)

8 Street Bites Restaurant
4/F SM City Manila
Natividad Lopez St.
Ermita, Manila
(+632) 585-4211


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We Love Todd English Food Hall!

Todd English Food Hall was still in soft-opening when we dined there last Valor Day (April 9th). It's like a big food court (albeit very posh, well-lit and well-ventilated) with nine cooking stations that make the atmosphere so festive and alive. The restaurant sits on a 900sqm space. It was really huge, I initially thought people were just exaggerating.



After waiting to be ushered inside (there was a long queue, I tell you), we got seated to the bar area. We didn't mind so long as we got to eat because we were starving already. If I remembered correctly, we waited for almost 45 minutes. Haha.



Just like when dealing with newly-opened restos, we played safe and ordered food based on the crowd favorites. The hubby, my SIL Albie and I shared all the food so we could taste everything.



Todd English Slider, P390. The three sliders were gone in seconds! They were that good. The patties alone were bursting with flavors. And no extenders, whatsoever. The buns were soft, had a nice texture and not crumbly. The other fillings were lightly-seasoned, perhaps the chef didn't want them to overpower the patties which were the star of the show.



Fig and Prosciutto, P530. The flatbread pizza had sticky-sweet fig jam and salty prosciutto as toppings. These two ingredients work so well and the pungent gorgonzola cheese made it all the more appetizing. It's the ultimate sweet-salty treat anyone will love and in my case, crave for on a regular day.




a tiny fire grill was provided to warm the meat or cook it further



U.S. Hanger Steak, P590. I asked the beef to be cooked medium-well. It turned out to be succulent, tasty and tender enough. The sides of potato wedges and veggies I didn't touch but based on my companions, they were okay. The bone marrow was tasty, too, but I found nothing special to it. I loved how Todd English was generous in their food servings. Like this beef, for instance, which had a big slab sliced into three chunky pieces. More food always equates to happier tummy!



The OMG Dessert (P420) was insanely good. The chocolate-y goodness was evident in the photo, isn't it? It had chocolate ice cream, chocolate cereals, chocolate sauce and chocolate bits. I sensed some Milo in it, too. I treasured every bite of it and momentarily wished I had it all for myself. Haha.



Definitely, our first time at Todd English Food Hall won't be our last. We need to go back for the other must-try dishes! :)

Todd English Food Hall
5/F Sky Park
SM Aura Premier
McKinley Parkway, McKinley Hill
Taguig City

(+632) 621-4002


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Mr. Jones: Casual Dining, American Style

The groupon addict (and frugal) in me struck again. This time, the vouchers were for Mr. Jones in Greenbelt 5 Makati. I bought it for P500 and we got a total food value of P1,000 from the restaurant. We went on a Sunday night at around 7:00 p.m. I called the reservation in advance but found out they didn't accept reservations during weekends. You just show up there and if they have table, they give it to you. If in case they don't have, you get waitlisted and seated once a table gets empty. Sounds fair and decent, if you'll ask me.



The restaurant's theme is inspired by the 1960's contemporary American diner. It looked and felt vintage to me during our visit. There were only a few groups dining when we arrived, so we got seated immediately. I think I saw only six tables inside. The al fresco dining area had several tables and if it weren't very humid that night, we would've dined outside to better enjoy the ambience.



After browsing the menu, I settled for the Big Mama's Bacon Wrapped Meatloaf (P395) while Edwin hand-picked the popular US Ribcap "Tapa and Garlic Overload" (P295). For drinks, Edwin had their Bottled "Pop" (P95) which could be any soda: Coke, Sprite, Royal, etc. I, on the other hand, got from their line of "Diner" Milkshake and chose the Blueberry Granola Yogurt Slim Shake (P250) just because I saw the tag line "not as many calories" below it. Haha. Seriously, granola and yogurt were a healthy combination so, why not?

Mr. Jones' menu had a wide variety of American food. I spotted some salads, burgers, breakfast fares and entrees. They also had desserts and of course, wine and cocktail selections.

Our drinks arrived first. I sipped through my milkshake and liked its richness and the fact that it was not too sweet. It came in a tall glass with 1 piece of cherry on top. There was also another glass provided containing what could possibly be left over from the blender. Cool! Edwin's drink was presented in the form of a 355 ml. bottle of Coke with a glass filled with ice and a slice of lemon.







Our meals came a little more than 10 minutes after the drinks did. I was hungry already so I started eating right after taking some food photos for this blog using Edwin's iPhone 4. Our meals came in American size servings. I even felt intimidated by our big plates at first. I remember the same thing happened when we dined at TGI Friday's before, but that's a different story altogether.

I got two 1-inch thick meat loaves with sides of mashed potatoes and buttered baby carrots and French beans. The meat loaves were as real as it could get, very far from the canned meat loaf I was used to eating. The peppery gravy that went with it made the meat loaves more interesting to me, gastronomically speaking.


my Sunday dinner at Mr. Jones


thick and tasty meat loaves!

The taste of the meat loaves actually resembled that of a burger patty minus the full texture and the smokey flavor of the beef. The mashed potatoes were light and tasty and the veggies were crunchy and well-seasoned. It was a good meal but I got full instantly I had to share the rest with Edwin.



Edwin's Pinoy tapa-inspired meal was pretty good, too. It came with a cup of rice, vinegar dip, pickled papaya (atchara), two sunny-side up eggs and two orange wedges. I tried a few spoonfuls of the tapa and it was on the sweet-salty side. It was the kind that needed lotsa rice to balance the flavors. The garlic bits were crunchy and added flavor to the tapa. Edwin found his meal a bit overwhelming also but he managed to finish it off in the end.

One good thing noteworthy about Mr. Jones is the attentiveness of its service staff. They were not really friendly, just attentive to our needs and I appreciated that. I also liked it that the restaurant's menu gives a lot of choices to diners who would like to experience casual dining, American style in the cozy Greenbelt Makati. Watch out for a bigger and better Mr. Jones because they're currently working on expanding their space as evidenced by the banner hanging on the left side of the restaurant.



Food prices at Mr. Jones are a bit steep. Meals range from P295 up and that doesn't even include appetizers or drinks yet. I suggest allotting P500 per head. No worries, though, because you'd get what you'd pay for. And they have nice ambience and attentive staff so you're bound to get a good dining experience. Country music on the background, too. This could take you back to memory lane so be prepared to reminisce about your youth. Haha.



The people behind Mr. Jones are the same group that brought us Museum Cafe, Momo Cafe and Chelsea Market and Cafe.

Mr. Jones
Level 1, Greenbelt 5
Ayala Center, Makati

(+632) 501-3682
(+632) 501-3111


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