Nostalgia Dining Lounge at Oakwood Hotel, Ortigas

Nostalgia Dining Lounge is the new revamped version of Oakroom Restaurant at Oakwood Premier-Joy Nostalg Center in Ortigas. Launched February of this year, Nostalgia Dining Lounger still aims to be food enthusiast's best bet as one of the Best Restaurants in Manila. With its rebirth, the restaurant is sporting a new look that is suggestive of old days gone by mixed with modern sophistication - best fit for a fine dining restaurant that represents one of the Best Hotels / Apartment Services known in the country.

Staying true to the name Nostalgia, Executive Chef Jerome Cartailler bring forth his beloved family recipes from France since way back alongside the usual crowd favorites during the time when Nostalgia is still Oakroom.

I have always loved Oakroom Restaurant at Oakwood. If you are a regular reader of YedyLicious, you know the countless times I have blogged about it. I even hosted couple of giveaways. So, when I heard that they recently made a revamped to further better serve their patrons, I was so excited. Right after my trip to Palawan, I went directly to Nostalgia to check out its new look and other offerings.

KFC Philippines Double Down Dog #KFCDoubleDownDog

I was at KFC Antipolo branch the other day to grab some quick snack while doing some errands when I noticed from their menu that they are offering the KFC Double Down Dog. I have heard and seen advertisement of Double Down Dog from TV, Facebook, Twitter, and on Instagram for weeks now but with the tag "Limited Offer."  I also heard that only select KFC branches carry this new product. Since I was out-of-town most of the time, I somehow ditched the idea to race against time just to try it. 

But curiosity got the better off me when several friends sent me SMS asking my opinion about the Double Down Dog - theirs are mixed reactions. So, I have checked few KFC provincial branches while on some trips to no avail. Little did I know, I could have this KFC Double Down Dog at the branch near my home.

Just like the KFC Original Double Down, the Double Down Dog variant boasts of KFC's famed fried chicken but in fillet form. Right smack in the middle of the taco-shaped fillet is a piece of regular size Tender Juicy Chick N' Cheese Hotdog topped sloppily with what I think was a sandwich spread. 

Mang Inasal Palabok

Recent hankering for delicious merienda which is nowhere near mediocre led me into trying out Mang Inasal’s newest product, the Mang Inasal Palabok. Advertisement plastered at the front door of Mang Inasal branches I have visited recently features the enticing Filipino’s favorite dish.

So instead of the usual grilled chicken served with unlimited rice, I opted for Mang Inasal Palabok one time to see if it indeed worthy of the tagline. Growing up in a household where Filipino dishes such as palabok and the likes are serve every merienda after having siesta, I pretty much have a strong grip on what kind of palabok that will make me happy. Mang Inasal’s  Palabok did not disappoint.

Its bright orange sauce which is known for a palabok dish is generously laden on top of the thin glass noodle which transparency made the contrast between the orange hue and the green color of plate attractive.  

A French Lunch at Brasserie CiÇou

It was a leisurely lunch that lasted for roughly five hours. With a restaurant as beautiful as Brasserie CiÇou that dishes out French cuisine reflecting the genius of chef Cyrille Soenen, such occurrence is sometimes inevitable. 

With the parade of edible beauty translated in each plated food, the long stretch of time will never matter. Instead, you will hold on to each passing minute with eager anticipation for the next beauty to come while dreading the end of such funfair of a feast.

As with all things in life, good experiences are meant to be savored, not rushed.

With a lot of restaurants within Greenhills area, Brasserie CiÇou is one of those restaurants, if not the only one, which any food aficionado smart enough to appreciate what good food is would not mind spending half a day to. 

Texas Embassy Burger and Fish & Chips Restaurant in Antipolo City [Antipolo Food Trip Series]

I just came from glorious days of food tripping in Palawan and already I am talking about this restaurant in Antipolo City named Texas Embassy Burger and Fish & Chips I have come across with last night. Pardon the excitement, ever since I moved back in this town, one of my personal dilemmas is that there are not a lot of restaurants around I could write about save for the usual fast food chains we also have in Manila.

I bumped into some, yes. Yet, only few have given me the driving force to face my laptop and write about the experience. But I guess it is too early to tell, I am still in the process of reacquainting myself with Antipolo City and its restaurant scene, hence the Antipolo Food Trip series you will be seeing here at YedyLicious from time to time. We will just see how will this pan out.

My goal is to look for restaurants, locally owned if possible, which would give me the reason to just stay within the town and ditch the idea of braving the traffic along Ortigas Ext. and Libis-Santolan area (via Sumulong Highway) whenever I am craving for a full restaurant experience. Just like Tipulo Restaurant which I have written before.

Juggernut Premium Almond Butter and Cashew Butter Spreads

The timing couldn’t be more apt. I was browsing for an easy almond butter recipe when a proposal to try Juggernut Premium Almond and Cashew Spreads came. For a while I have been searching for a good and healthy alternative to peanut butter because truth be told, I am not big on peanut butter. 

There, I said it. I am not big on peanut butter.

I find it quite amusing sometimes that whenever I drop this statement, some people would look at me as if I just told them matter-of-factly that I’m a vegan – they refuse to believe me. All. The. Freaking. Time.

It may have something to do with my appearance suggestive of a person who smears peanut butter on everything she gobbles down. Or it could be because peanut butter is one of those ultimate food for foodies so perfect just like bacon it warrants its own religion. Regardless that the former reasoning weighs heavily, the truth is, I always choose almond or cashew butter over peanut butter in a heartbeat.