Authentic Lebanese Fare at Meshwe

My cousin Ate Essel has been craving for Lebanese food so she drove all the way from Pampanga with her three sons to satisfy this. Lucky for me, she invited me to try the Lebanese fare at Meshwe.

Meshwe is located at Z Compound 33 Malingap Street, Teacher’s Village Quezon City that serves authentic Lebanese dishes and other Middle Eastern fare. They are open from 3:00 pm to 10:00 pm

Z Compound by the way is like an open food court. There are many food stalls that offer different cuisines so I’m sure there is something that would tickle your palate.

Here’s what we had:

Chicken Tenders with Rice - Chicken Tenders, Bukhari Rice, tomato slices served with yogurt mint sauce and chili garlic sauce

Meshwe Platter - Pita chips, Sambousak and Arabic Fries with three types of dipping sauce: garlic sauce, harissa and chili garlic

Chicken Shawarma Rice - Chicken Shawarma, Bukhari Rice, tomato slices served with yogurt mint sauce and spicy tomato salsa

Beef Shawarma Platter - Pita bread, Arabic fries, Beef Shawarma, tomato slices served with yogurt mint sauce and tahini

Everything tastes delicious. I especially liked the garlic sauce and the yogurt mint sauce. Now I don't know if the dishes served were really authentic because it was my first time to try Lebanese food. If this is how good Lebanese food are then I can't wait to try other Lebanese dishes.

Leona's Art Restaurant

Leona’s Art Restaurant offers Mexican Italian dishes. It is located at # 45 Matimtiman Street Quezon City.  This restaurant is not easy to find since it is not found along Maginhawa Street and their signage outside the restaurant is not that big and visible. We’re glad that the tricycle driver who brought us to Leona was familiar with the restaurant. We just told the driver that we wanted to eat at the restaurant that offers pizza all you can promo.

The place is small which is similar to most of the restaurants in the Maginhawa area. It can sit 20 to 30 people.  There are also some tables and chairs outside the restaurant but we opted to dine it because it was a hot summer night. I like the homey and cozy feel of this restaurant.

My siblings wanted to try the pizza all you can promo of Leona’s; sadly it ended a few days before our visit. We wanted to really have the pizza all you can promo because we wanted to know how many pizza slices we can eat. Hehehe. Sobrang takaw. The food attendant then offered their other promo which was the 3 pizza promo for 499 – 14’’ three cheese pizza, pepperoni pizza and  a choice of any of their other pizza.

So we had the 3 pizza promo. For our third pizza we ordered the ham and mushroom pizza.  Aside from our pizza order we also had the roasted chicken promo for 499 – roasted chicken with its salsa and gravy sauce, Mexican rice and a pitcher of Coke.

Everything served to us was delicious. But I like the three cheese pizza the most because I love cheese. It was cheesy and crunchy.  With the roasted chicken I hope they can cut down on the herbs they put into it because a few hours after our dinner I can still taste the herb.

The waitresses at Leona’s were attentive to us and they offered to take our group pictures when they saw us clicking the camera.

I would love to go back to Leona's and try the other dishes in their menu.

Burger Project at Maginhawa Quezon City

While waiting for our orders to be served at Sancho Churreria my cousins and I went to Burger Project which was just adjacent to Sancho

.

At Burger Project you can customize your burger – what type of bun, patty and toppings for your burger.  But they also offer different designer burgers if you don’t want to make your own burger. Their designer burgers are on their menu board.

I just hope that Burger Project is a little bigger. It can accommodate around 20 to 30 persons. I think it could get really crowded during weekends.

To create your own bigger, you are given a piece of paper which contains all the choices available for your burger and then just tick the ingredients of the burger that you fancy.

My burger is nothing fancy – I wanted it to be 100% beef patty on a sesame seed bun with bleu cheese, sun dried tomatoes, lettuce with Burger Project's special sauce. The total bill for my burger is P205.00

Since we were dining at Sanchos’ we opted to have our burgers for takeout.

Unwrapping my burger – it is bigger in size compared to fast food burgers, the patty is thick and flavorful. I love my burger but I would remove the sun dried tomatoes next time because it is a little sour for my taste.

I’ll definitely be back at Burger Project but this time I’ll try their designer burgers plus their shakes and onion rings.

Burger Project is located at 122 Maginhawa Street Teacher's Village, Quezon City. Open daily from 11 am to 12 mn.

Sancho Churreria at Maginhawa Quezon City

My cousins treated me to a post birthday celebration a day after my natal day. They have been intrigued about the pictures I've uploaded to Facebook about my food trips along Maginhawa so they've decided that we dine in one of the restaurants in this area.

It was decided that we try the food at Sancho Churreria which specializes in Spanish Cuisine.

Sancho is a charming place. It maybe small but I like the interiors - the orange couch, the table top made from tiles, the large glass panels for the entrance and the display of cakes and other desserts at the front of the restaurant.

For dinner we had the following:

Calamares al Ajillo - P185.00

Paella Grande - P390. The servers informed us that we have to wait for 10 minutes for this order

Torilla de Patata (Spanish Omelette) - P185 - my least favorite since it's a little bland for my taste

Spanish Beefstew- P210.00 The meat is tender and its oozing with flavor. One of my favorites

Churros con Chocolate - P85.00 Their specialty

But my favorite is the Brazo Mercedes P40 per slice which I forgot to take a picture of.  It has the right amount of sweetness and it is light and taste heavenly.

Their desserts are not that expensive

Eclair and Creampuffs at P30 per piece
Double Chocolate Cake at P70 per slice
Blueberry Cheesecake at 110 per slice
Strawberry Cheesecake at P110 per slice

Everything tasted yummy. Everything got almost wipe out before I got the chance to take pictures because we were really hungry:)

Sancho Churreria Manila is located at 122 Maginhawa Street Teacher's Village, Quezon City. Their number is 4365539.


Thank you to my  lovely cousins who came all the way from Pampanga to celebrate my birthday with me. Sa uulitin:)

Maginhawa Food Trip: Parrillada Grill

Just barely a week after having a dinner date with my boyfriend at Via Antonella and Gayuma ni Maria, we were back at the Maginhawa food strip.

This time we had lunch at Parrillada Grill with my boyfriend's sister and nephew.  We came from a medical check-up at Saint Luke's and Ate (my boyfriend's sister) wanted something to eat that is not from Jollibee, Mc Donald's and other fast food joint.  Boyfriend and I suggested that we go to Maginhawa Street and look for a place that would be interesting to eat.

We were supposed to eat at Bowl and Brew but because there was no available parking space this did not push through.  We were really hungry so when we saw the restaurants near Makadios Street we decided that will eat in one of those.

Parrillada Grill is one of the new restaurants along Maginhawa Street.  The restaurant opened in September 15, 2013.

The restaurant has a very homey feel.  I liked the couch by the wall and the colorful throw pillows on it.

Their menu consists of grilled dishes, Pinoy favorite viands and other well-loved comfort foods.  The servers were very polite and attentive.

This is what we ordered:

Chicken Fingers

Seafood Pasta

Tinumis

Mediterranean Ribs 

I was not able to get the individual price of each of the dish that we had but everything in the menu was affordable.  Everything we had taste delicious.

So if ever you are in the Maginhawa area don't forget to give Parrillada Grill a try!

Fine Dining at Via Antonella

For our anniversary date, my boyfriend and I had dinner at Via Antonella.

Via Antonella is located at 189 Maginhawa Street corner Makadios Street Sikatuna Village, Quezon City. If you are coming from Anonas, take a right turn on V. Luna Road where SaveMore Supermarket is located and then straight ahead and turn left on the first corner; it is a few blocks to your right.

The restaurant look simple yet elegant.  It has high ceiling that gives a very airy feel to the place. The place is really cozy.

The food servers were very attentive and the waiter that was assigned to get our order gave us suggestions on what to order.  The service was very fast.  We don't have to wait too long for our orders.

For starters, we had Cream of Shiitake and Leeks Soup which was served with Garlic Bread.  It was pureed shiitake that was sauteed in butter and leeks and simmered in chicken stock and cream.  The taste of the soup was bland but the garlic bread was good.

Cream of Shiitake and Leeks Soup P125.00

My boyfriend had Lamb Caldereta.  This dish was really superb.  The meat was tender and the sauce was really good.  The serving was huge and a cup of rice that went with it was not enough.  Sobrang malasa kaya bagay sa maraming kanin.

Lamb Caldereta P235.00

I had Wagyu Burger Steak.  So this was grilled burger steak made from Wagyu beef and then it had mushroom gravy sauce.  There was nothing really special about my order.  The mushroom gravy sauce was okay.

Wagyu Burger Steak P235.00

We both ordered their House Blend Tea for our drinks.  The tea was okay.

House Blend Tea P68.00

What I liked about the food is that the serving was huge and that it was price just right.

Would I be coming back to Via Antonella?  Definitely, I'll be back to have their Lamb Caldereta and try their other best sellers.

Bewitched at Gayuma Ni Maria

My boyfriend and I were already full from our anniversary dinner at Via Antonella,  but I couldn't miss the chance to see what Gayuma ni Maria was all about.

We went there on a Monday night and there were not so many patrons at that time.  There were only three couples including us.

The restaurant had this shabby chic interior.

Since we ate dinner already, I asked for their desserts.  There were only two desserts available at that time which was their Twisted Pavlova and Beat Sex Any Day cakes.  And I ordered both plus their Darjeeling tea.

While waiting for our food, we went over to their naughty nook which sells sex toys. hehehe.

We opted to eat at their outdoor dining area. It had low tables and cushions to sit on.

The Twisted Pavlova was a meringue dessert. It has peaches and grapes as toppings. The cake is light and fluffy, and it has the right amount of sweetness. I really loved it.

Twisted Pavlova - P95.00

The Beat Sex Any Day Cake is too sweet for my liking.  But I bet chocolate lovers will definitely like this chocolate cake with chocolate syrup.

Beat Sex Any Day - P95.00

Too bad we weren't able to order their dishes. I would love to try their naughty sounding dishes like - Threesome, Nilasing ni Eba si Adan, Tuliro, Secret Lovers, Lover's Delight, etc.

But we'll definitely be back to try out the said dishes.


Gayuma ni Maria is located at 124 V. Luna Extension Sikatuna Village Quezon City.  If you are coming from Anonas, turn right to the first street adjacent to Savemore Supermarket.  It is on the same side as Savemore and a few blocks away from Savemore.