Army Navy's Querida Mia Verde and Charlie Bravo Querida Mia

Someone asked me the criteria I use in selecting what to feature. This stumped for a while, but basically I feature only meals that I enjoy, no matter what the restaurant or outlet. I'm not a snob, and for proof, here's Exhibit A. For today I'll be featuring a resto chain that has been consistently good, Army Navy. I love their quesadillas. Lately I've been ordering these two:

The stellar vegetarian Querida Mia Verde. Eating this deludes me into thinking I'm gaining nary an ounce.

I also love the Charlie Bravo Querida Mia, and open-faced quesadilla topped with cheese and bacon. I love this because it combines two of my fave things: soft taco and bacon.

Army Navy Burger and Burrito
Space 13 Solenad 2, Nuvali
Santa Rosa, Laguna
(63) 049 302-0130

Buffalo's Wings N' Things for Pulled Pork Nachos and Honey Barbecue Buffalo Wings

Confession: if this wasn't recommended by my colleague, I wouldn't given this place a second glance. If you're a big group looking for tasty, cheap grub for sharing, this place is for you. We ordered the pulled pork nachos, and the serving was was hefty and generous, the toppings sweet, savory, and tasty, and just enough for the a group of five or so.

We also had a sampler of the buffalo wings: garlic Parmesan, honey barbecue, and the jalapeno and cheddar. 

The buffalo wings were tasty, but we were partial to the honey barbecue variant. The sweetly coated chicken goes well with blue cheese dip, which deserves an entry all to itself. 

Buffalo's Wings N' Things
Solenad 2 Nuvali
Tagaytay Road cor Nuvali Boulevard
Santa Rosa City, Laguna

Laguna's Purple Oven for Soft Cinnamon Rolls, Apple Crumble and Choco Banana Walnut Loaves

There are many ways to go to Tagaytay, and one of the faster ones allows you a stop at Soledad 2, where one branch of Purple Oven is located. A colleague mention that the bakeshop supplies pastries to a well-known coffee chain, and that got me hooked. In particular, the soft cinnamon rolls came well-recommended. Let's juts say it's one heavenly specimen of cinnamon. It was creamy, pillow-soft, and to die for. Some say it's a tad sweet, but it's just right with unsweetened tea or black coffee. I was sorry when I ate it all.

I also brought home two loaves--one was the apple crumble loaf. Again, it was just right, perfect with coffee. I love the cinnamony sweet apple crumble and the soft dough.

Naturally greedy, I also bought the choco banana walnut loaf. I let it sit in the ref for a week, yet it retained its moisture. Who could resist a slice of  banana bread filled with melt-in-your hands chocolate chips, perfect with tea?

For my next visit I have my eyes set on the crinkles.

The Purple Oven
Solenad 2
Tagaytay Road cor Nuvali Boulevard
Santa Rosa, Laguna

Laguna's Kanin Club for Crispy Liempo and Aligue Rice

First, let me share with you that I'm writing this while doing intermittent fasting, meaning I eat only within eight hours a day, which ended at 3 pm, and now five hours have passed. I'm feeling quite lightheaded, but I need to shoulder on, since I've been remiss with this blog, and to make up for weeks of no posts I'm sharing with you a wonderful dinner we had at the Sta. Rosa branch of Kanin Club.

I've heard of this Filipino casual dining chain before, but I haven't tried it, until a colleague suddenly had an urge to eat it's version of crispy dinuguan. It took us quite a few missed turns before we found the branch at Nuvali, and was I glad it was teeming with people. A packed restaurant is always a good sign.

For starters, we tried the bacon-cut liempo that tastes like freshly popped chicharon. It goes well with the rich aligue rice and you could cut the richness when dipped in spicy sauce.

"the crispy liempo-light and crunchy belly strips ready for dipping in three kinds of sauces"

"aligue rice--fried rice sauteed in crab fat"

The liempo-aligue rice combo for me was already a winner. Definitely this is one reason I'd be back

To appease the craving of my officemate, we ordered the crispy dinuguan. It was interesting texturally, reminding me of the version we tasted at La Preciosa.  I love the sour, salty, and crunch mix.

"crispy dinuguan--pork deep-fried to a crisp then set in a semi-dry stew of pork blood"

We also ordered the seafood karekare, which was rich and flavorful, even without the accompanying shrimp paste. The squid (always a fave!) was buttery-smooth, and the sauce was made with real peanuts.

"seafood kare-kare--squid, muscles, shrimp, and vegetables cooked in peanut/anatto sauce"

If you're one big group craving for flavorful Filipino dishes, Kanin Club is for you.

Kanin Club
Paseo de Sta. Rosa
Sta. Rosa, Laguna
(+63) 049 544-0332

Laguna's Nila's Special Puto Biñan

My friend brought this to the office one day, and it was so good. It was cheesy, moist, subtly sweet. Having grown up in Pangasinan eating Calasiao puto, I know that cheese and puto goes well together.

The curiously named puto is steamed rice cake common in the Philippines. There are many varieties of puto, some of them I have featured before. In Calasiao, the puto is small, moist, and sweetish, and usually comes plain without any toppings. The Biñan variety is the size of a plate and can handily feed 5 people. 

Biñan is a city in Laguna located south of Manila. It is said that the best-known makers of this variety is located in the barangay of San Vicente. Pictured below is Nila's Special Puto Biñan. You can reach them at (+63) 49 511-6094. I'm not sure if there's an outlet in Manila--my friend sources hers from Laguna.