SOHAiesta - The 1st ever Food Banchetto and Bazaar

Everyone is invited to join the 1st ever Food Banchetto and Bazaar dubbed as SOHAiesta organized by OLOPSC Alumni Batch 1996 in cooperation with Society of OLOPSC High school Alumni ( SOHA ) at OLOPSC DC Arcadia Gen Ordonez St. on Oct. 23 and 24 at 5 pm onwards.

Your favorite Marikina Restaurants like Crepeman, Mad Mustard, Kanzen Sushi and Cripy Doki will be joining the event. And not to be outdone, your kids get their share of fun... A Trick or Treat costume party from 5pm - 6pm. Also enjoy and listen to acoustic performers to liven up the night. 

For more details, call 3308756997 or 997-7777

See you all there!

Directions to OLOPSC DC Arcadia Gen Ordonez St., Marikina City.

Lilac Food Fest 2015 Amidst the Typhoon

Despite rainy weather caused by Typhoon Lando, the 2015 Lilac Foodfest proved to be a successful one last October 17, 2015 with people dropping by to sample different cuisines and types of food offered.

Similar to popular Food street destinations such as Maginhawa in Quezon City and Kapitolyo in Pasig City, Lilac Street in SSS Village, Marikina City is slowly becoming another food street with various non-food chain restaurants and cafes each worth visiting and checking out.

[PHOTO] Meat Section at the Marikina Public Market

The meat section at the Marikina Public Market is just behind the fruit stands across Mercury Drug.  On a busy day, this is filled with meat vendors selling various meat products.

Hap Chan Tea House Now Open

newly opened Hap Chan restaurant, Oct. 2010

A new branch of the popular Chinese restaurant chain Hap Chan opens in Marikina.  The new branch, which opened last October is located at the ground floor of the newly built Sunrise Building along Gil Fernando Ave.

Hap Chan started out as a small tea house in Manila and served only mami, lugao and dimsum.  In 1999, Hap Chan began to expand and franchise its restaurant chain.  Now it offers a wide

Sunrise Bldg under construction Sept. 2010

 range of popular Chinese cuisine such as spare ribs with tausi sauce, seafood hotpot, birthday noodles, mixed meat noodles, yang chow fried rice, shrimp dumpling, shark's fin dumpling, hakaw, sauted beef with broccoli flower, suckling pig cold cut, roast pigeon, braised crab with ginger and onion, shrimp balls, swahe, steamed lapu-lapu with soy sauce, steamed egg with dry scallop, patatim, lechon kawali and many more.

Hap Chan Marikina City branch is located at the ground floor of the Sunrise Building along Gil Fernando Ave. near Banco de Oro. Parking is available in front of the building.

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The White Hat Italian Frozen Yogurt at SM Marikina

Love yogurt? Do you travel all the way to SM North or Mall of Asia just to get your White Hat fix? Look no further, Marikenyos! The White Hat is here to serve us at our very own SM Marikina :)

White Hat fan that I am, I've been visiting this yogurt place frequently for the past few months. I honestly don't know why it only occurred to me just now to blog it :P Anyway, my husband and I (he's also a yogurt fan!) used to brave the traffic and drive all the way to SM North EDSA or Mall of Asia just to have our White Hat fix. It's really great that this yummy yogurt is now just a stone throw's away!

The White Hat Italian Frozen Yogurt kiosk at SM Marikina opened last December, a Yuletide treat to the Ondoy-stricken mall. It's located at the second floor right across the entrance to the Department Store. You can't miss it :) The kiosk offers all the popular White Hat toppings like fruits, candies, Kitkat (my favorite!), homemade brownies and cheesecake. They also have green tea-flavored yogurt available at this branch.

Happy healthy eating! :)

Ano Hanap Mo ?

I saw this small canteen near the corner of Katipunan and Gen. Ordonez Ave.  It's a joint called "Ano Hanap Mo?" (What are you looking for ?)

They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Plus they have some thirst quenchers like mais con yelo, halo-halo and shakes to beat off the summer heat.  

What's kinda interesting that fries is listed below the desserts and shakes on the menu as if it were part of dessert.  The place is small with one parking space in front of it but there are several parking slots just across the street.  

O ano ? Ano hanap mo ?

Krung Thai - Thai Cuisine in Marikina

I didn't know there was a Thai restraurant in Marikina till some friends told me about it.  What's even worse is that I've been passing through the street where it's located for the past 13 years whenever I get down from a jeep and walk towards the tricycle stands heading home.  So, me together with my blogger friends finally got to try it out. 

Krung Thai is a small Thai restaurant located in the heart of Bayan, Sta Elena in Marikina City.  It's at the corner of a building where part of the palengke meat and fruit section is but it does not in any way look like it's beside a market.   They recently celebrated their 13th anniversary last Feb 19, 2009.  How could I have lived in Marikina and not known this place for 13 years ?

We went there in the evening to have dinner.  While we were there, families came in to dine and suddenly filled the place.  

Despite its small area, the interior is decorated reminiscent of Thai culture from the paintings on the walls and lamps to the tablecloth.  Their menu is a combination of Thai and mixed foods.  Most of their dishes include combination of vegetables like beef in oyster sauce, sweet and sour fish, catfish with mango salad, Thai Panang chicken curry, spicy squid salad, and fried mixed vegetables with pork or bagoong rice.  We had spring rolls as our appetizer then proceeded to order pork satay and pad thai.   Pork satay was served in a set of 5 sticks while pad thai was a huge serving of noodles with shrimps.  We also tried their Thai style iced tea which was a very tall glass which contents may had been equivalent to 2 regular glasses.  Our friends ordered a heap of crab rice and soup which was good for sharing.  

I'm not into Thai nor spicy food but it was worth trying out something that escaped my eyes all these years.

Their generous servings are moderately priced so spending much is not a problem.  If you'd like to sample Thai food at an afforable price, try Krung Thai.  

Krung Thai is open from 9am-9pm daily and is located at the Marikina Public Market M Cruz corner W.C. Paz, Sta Elena Marikina City.  You can also reach them at telephone numbers 646-2005 or 681-7696 and mobile at 0927 792-0587.

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Madison Avenue

Just across Pan de Amerikana bakery in Marikina Heights is a new restaurant called Madison Avenue. It has nothing to do with where its located cause it's along Gen. Ordonez St. This cozy restaurant recently opened in January 2009 and serves from 7am to 10pm.  Entering the restuarant, you'd have the impression that it's an enclosed area due to the grills on each side and the huge hut-like top,  but it's actually an open-air area.   The chandelier lighting, figurines and decorations make the place a homey one, as if you were just beside a mansion's veranda.

There are some nipa huts at the back and a 2nd floor for functions.  Also, when you enter, there is an enclosed sqare room which seems to cater to after-meals as the cookie jar and a ref with some desserts were situated. 

Their food groups comprise of breakfast favorites (tocilog, tapsilog,  longsilog and daingsilog), tasty sandwiches (chicken sandwich and grilled cheese sandwich), pastas (baked macaroni, chicken fusille and carbonara), sizzling specials (sizzling porkchop, taningue, bangus, tilapia and devilled hotdogs), merienda (pancit bihon, canton, guisado) and grilled dishes (pork bbq, chicken bbq and grilled liempo).

I ordered the sizzling porkchop which includes a cup of rice, soup and softdrinks.  As the name suggested, my order was served in a sizzling plate with beans and grazy poured over the porkchop.  The serving is just enough to satisfy an empty stomach.  The bottled softdrink though is served in a 240ml bottle, so you may need additional drinks if you're the thirsty type.  The dishes are moderately priced so it won't be costly to try any entree on the menu.

Overall, I find the place cozy and gives you the feeling of dining at home, but a much bigger home.  

Try it out when you pass by Marikina Heights.