Phoenix Court, Bellevue Hotel

Yesterday was the 5th death anniversary of my Mom.  We truly miss her and we know she wanted us to celebrate in her name.  I think it is only in the Philippines where we celebrate the death anniversary of our loved ones.  We also went to Manila Memorial to say a few prayers. 

My Ate invited us for lunch at Phoenix Court in Bellevue Hotel, Alabang.  We had the dim sum all you can eat.

As usual, I only got my favorite dimsum and I did not eat anything fried.  When I gave my list to the waiter, he said I could not possibly finish all!!!!  Well ... I told him I could and just to serve everything.  But then, in the end he combined all our orders so there was no demarcation of ownership!!!



I am the only one who ordered chicken feet.



My family said EWWWW  hahahaha.  The first time I had it was when I wan in HK with Celina and Jing and her family.  Tito Ogot ordered probably all the dimsum in the restaurant we so could try them all.  He was the first one who introduced me to chicken feet.

I tried the steamed spareribs.



Steamed sio long pao



Shrimp wanton noodle soup.  The broth was very flavorful.



Baked Barbecue pastry.



Sharks fin dumplings.



Steamed scallops.  It arrived at our table smoking hot!  Hahahaha As you can see.



Hakao



Butch ordered the noodles...



and the sio pao.



Tita Portia had the ham suy kok.



Gilly ordered the crispy shrimp balls.



Others had the mango sago cream for dessert while I got the almond lychee.



I forgot to take a close up shot of the pork siomai but it was not my favorite. 

The dimsum was good but then we all felt sleepy after lunch!   There were still a lot of choices from the menu but we did not order anymore because we might not be able to finish.

If it is a choice between Phoenix or Lili .... Lili would win hands down, in my opinion.   My bench mark is the sio mai.  Whenever I eat dim sum in restaurants ... I always order sio mai, if it is good then the rest is also good.

Still ..  had a great time with my family and the food was all right.... it is worth your money especially if you have a huge appetite!

Happy Birthday, Mona!

This birthday lunch was a work in progress since several months ago.  Mona and I would always talk on the phone and discuss about our favorite food.  She said, she is turning 45, she wanted to have a party with her friends. 

We ordered  Lechon for the gang from Ping Ping.  We always use the magic password, we would look for Bong and say:  Mrs. Alonzo said to give us a nice little pig with lots of fat and crispy skin.  Also, we want extra chicharon giveaways.  TADA!!!  And magic it was......

The Lechon  was just enough for us and we even had left overs  ....



The chicharon was glistening in vetsin and salt!!!  YUM!!! hahahahaha



Mona served our favorite Fried Hito.



She bought pancit palabok from Little Quiapo in BF....  another yuummmmm.



The burong mangga was made with beer!!!   LOL  Jing thought it was Maggi Noodle soup.



 Salted eggs.



She asked me to make lumpiang ubod for her.



Tita Cena, the mom of Mona cooked Lengua with cream sauce. 



Tita Letty, (Mrs. Alonzo = Magic password) cooked Adobong alimango for Mona!!!!



I suppose this was the highlight of my lunch.  I could not decide if it was the lechon or the alimango.  The sauce was pure crab fat!!!!  Jing could not finish a teaspoonful of crab fat and she asked me if I wanted it,  I replied... do you want me to die!!!!



The alimango was to die for!!!!   Corry said when you eat the aligue, you will become closer to God!  Hahahahaha!  My friends really have a strange sense of humor.

The favorite dessert of Mona is Sansrival.

Sansrival from Dumaguete.





Sansrival from Mon who got it from Moms and Tinas.



Instead of the usual Buko Pandan, Mona experimented with White Salad - buko shreds, buko-lychee gelatin, nata de coco and cream.



Everybody was so full!!  I even asked Tita Cena for Lipitor... hahaha my dessert.



And we all took our blood pressure after lunch!!!  hahahaha  They thought I would have the highest score!!!   I never had a problem with my cholesterol nor bp... sugar is my waterloo.  Tita Letty was the winner, followed by Jing, then by Mon.

I recently posted about the Sparkle ( LOL  we pronounce it as SPARKOL) I have lost.  Mona was hoping and hoping that with her birthday lunch it will find its way back to into my voice and create a twinkle in my eyes.

What does this picture tell you?



Have I finally regained the Sparkle I have lost?

Thank you Mona for the delicious lunch!  Your friends love you and we all wish you turn another year sooner!!!  Hahahaha!  So we can eat again!



Happy Birthday, Mona!

Peking Duck Sotanghon Soup

It was the first time I brought home the carcass of a Peking Duck.  Tita Portia and I shared 1 whole duck a few days ago and the waiter gave us the bones.  We have eaten at Peking Garden a lot of times but never cared for it.

I experimented with Peking Duck Sotanghon soup yesterday because we had a meeting here in my house and my classmates said it was really so good!  I am very glad it turned out well and so easy to cook.

Peking  Duck Sotanghon Soup



1 carcass of Peking Duck
8 liters of water
1 T. rock salt
1 whole onion
10 peppercorn

Boil all the ingredients in a stock pot for one hour.  Set aside the broth and shred the duck meat.

garlic, chopped
onions, sliced
duck meat
reserved broth
mushrooms, tenga ng daga (soaked in hot water for an hour), shredded
carrots, julienned
125 grams sotanghon noodles, soaked in water for 15 minutes
Chinese cabbage, shredded
1 T. Maggi Sarap
1 t. msg (optional)
pepper and patis, to taste

browned garlic and chopped spring onions

Saute garlic and onions, then add the duck meat.  Pour in the broth and let it boil.  Add the mushrooms and carrots and simmer over low fire for 30 minutes.  Add the noodles, cabbage and the seasonings.  Garnish with garlic and spring onions.

"Sparkle"

I was talking with my friend Jing last week, she said... "Lia, I do not hear a sparkle in your voice!" and we were talking about food!   I am afraid I have lost my "Sparkle"  and I can not seem to find it!!!  Usually, I become so animated and excited when I am talking about my favorite subject.  It could not be that I was not eating my favorite food in the world!

Last weekend, I attended Tita Tess' birthday party with a whole Lechon!



That should have brought a sparkle to my voice.  But it did not.

I also went to Catherine's surprise birthday party.



We commissioned our friend, Chef Rainbow Hackett of Chef's Galley to cook dinner for us.

We had our favorite salad with sugar free mango dressing.


Eggplant Parmigiana


A whole platter of Beef Salpicao!  YUM!


Sugar free dessert







... and 3 Coffee Ganache for the birthday girl.


The food was delicious .... but I still could not find my "sparkle".

Just this Saturday, my family and I celebrated in advance the 5th death anniversary of my Mom.


I went all the way to Quezon Avenue to buy Elar's Lechon.

My sister requested fresh lumpiang ubod with home made wrapper.


Gilly's favorite Nilagang Baka with sweet corn.




Very plain soup because they only like the broth.. nobody eats the vegetables nor the meat!

It boggles my mind because that is the only thing she likes to eat with rice.... all the time!  Broth and rice!

My brother loves plain steamed Suahe Shrimps.


Our dessert was just Magnolia Guimaras Mangoes and Cream ice cream.

Imagine that ... 2 Lechons in a week and still .... no "sparkle".

Tita Portia invited me to lunch today, she asked where I wanted to eat.  I answered: Peking Garden!  We shared a whole duck.




Got this picture from my file because I forgot my camera.  What is wonderful about Peking Garden is, it looks the same way all the time.  And taste too!

LOL  we finished it!  There was some left over  minced duck which I had for dinner.  We also ordered Sauteed Shanghai Shrimps.

With all those delicious food I should be jumping up and down in excitement.  What happened to me???   This is exactly what the doctors want me to feel ....  ... devoid of feelings when I am eating... not to equate joy and happiness with food.

This is a good thing, right???  I have to refocus my energy.  Thank goodness I still have another source of happiness... which is... Boracay!

But... I am still wondering ... where has my sparkle gone?

Dimsum at Passion Restaurant

Tita Portia and I tried the Dimsum eat-all-you-can at Passion Restaurant, Resortsworld.  Most of the people we know have tried it and we wanted to know if it was any good.

The difference between Lili and Passion is that, there are more selections of dimsum at Lili and in Passion, aside from the dimsum, you can also order small servings of hot sauteed dishes.

Upon taking a seat, the server will give you a checklist and you can just tick the boxes of the food you want, there is also a set up of steamed dimsum in the buffet area.

Dimsum eat-all-you-can Menu:

Steamed Giant Dumplings with Shrimps

Steamed Sio Mai Pork Dumplings with Shrimps



Steamed Glutinous Rice Dumpling with Abalone

Steamed Fresh Scallop Dumplings with Sharks Fin



Steamed Bean Curd Skin Roll with Mixed Mushrooms

Steamed Barbecued Pork Buns



Steamed Pork Buns with Cabbage

Steamed Spare Ribs with Black Sauce



Sauteed Turnip cake with X.O. Sauce



Deep Fried Ham Shui Kok



Deep Fried Taro Puff



Deep Fried Wanton

Steamed Chicken Feet with X.O. Sauce



Fresh Shrimp in Crispy Net Spring Roll



Fresh Shrimp and Spinach Dumpling

Szechuan Spicy Dumpling



Chao Chow Dumpling

Special Lauso Pao

Sauteed & Congee, Noodle & Rice

Chicken and Mushroom Congee

Fried Noodle with Soya Sauce Hong Kong Style

Shrimp and Onion Fried rice with Asado

Wok Fried Romaine Lettuce

Braised Fish Fillet with Salted Preserved Vegetables

Sweet and Sour Pork with Fresh Fruits

Steamed Fish with Garlic Sauce

Wok Fried Shrimp with Black Bean Sauce X.O.



Wok Fried Pork Face Meat with X.O. Sauce

Stir Fry Chicken Cutlets in Kung Pao Style

Dessert

Deep Fried Stuffed Sesame Balls with Lotus Paste

Chilled Almond Jelly with Mixed Fruits

Sweetened Taro Puree with Tapioca

We did not order everything, just ate what we wanted.  It would have been nice to try some of the sauteed and hot dishes like Sweet and Sour Pork, Braised or Steamed Fish but the servings were good for 2-3 persons.  My Tita Portia and I can not and do not eat a huge meal but we eat often, so an eat all you can is not exactly for us.  It just gives us more choices.

We have yet to try the dimsum buffet at Phoenix Court, Bellevue Hotel and I think Jasmine at Renaissance Hotel also offers it.

I thought I was going to start my diet this September and exercise regimen.  But I thought wrong.  I really, really want to get on the healthy bandwagon but I am still having a difficult time.  I need more inspiration!!!  Soon....