What Weighs 500 pounds and flies? : Buffalo Wings and Things Ortigas Home Depot

I have a thing for people who have a thing for buffalo wings.

The best friend loves her wings with a siding of fries. She orders them mild and eats it with her fingers. Her favorite way to wash it down is with a tall, cold glass of Vodka 7. The vodka must be Absolut Kurant of course.

The boyfriend on the other hand, loves his wings extra spicy. And although he loves fries with a passion, rice seems to be his carbohydrate of choice when taming these flaming pieces of meat. He then chases it all down with ice cold beer.

That brings us to one of our favorite places for wings - Buffalo Wings and Things at the Ortigas Home Depot.






The wings here are perfection. I've visited on a rainy night, a balmy night, an afternoon, a crowded weekend, a laid back Monday and yet the wings remain consistently big, juicy, crunchy, tasty, and filling. The sauce is salty and tangy and will cling on to your lips like a kiss. And depending on the variant you order, things can get pretty hot pretty fast.




But as brave as me and my boyfriend claim to be, we have yet to gamble on an order of their Nuclear and Armageddon wings. For now at least, we settle for the delicious and nasty burn of their Firehouse Classic, preferably a pound of it.
(I wonder, has anyone been brave enough to try either of the above? How was it?)




Right up there with the chicken is my favorite NY Dirty Rice or what I call Burrito Rice. It is the perfect chaser for every crunchy bite of your wing.


Buffalo Wings and Things have other things on their menu. Like hotdog sandwiches and quesadillas. But they supremely pale in comparison to the specialty. They are, as the restaurant name itself implies, mere things. Garnishes to the Buffalo king.




What weighs 500 pounds and flies? In awhile, me. I'm flying off to Ortigas right now in fact. HAPPY FRIDAY!

Worth the Wait: Krazy Garlic Greenbelt 5

I have waited for Krazy Garlic to open the day I saw the boarded walls in Greenbelt 5 bannering its imminent coming. Whenever I got the chance, I'd peek to see if it were finally open.

On the day I found out that it was in fact open, I was a pauper. My wallet was hooked up on life support as it painfully held on to the promise of sweldo day. The kind and wise thing to do of course was to let my wallet fully recover but I am not really known for my self-control. So, cruelly I suppose, I kidnapped the boyfriend and the already ailing wallet for a weekend feast.








There is one thing that should be said early:
The food is not as garlicky as I imagined.

I guess for those wary that Krazy Garlic may be overwhelming, this will assuage their fears. For those like me who expect clove mountains everywhere - it's a bit of a let down. But only momentarily.

Because once you get past the fact that vampires may be able to live through this restaurant's dishes...you realize that you are in the presence of really good, really hefty food.

For our lunch, we ordered garlic bread, Hara Kiri Fried Rice, and their Grilled Porkchops.

The garlic bread is basically toasted french bread that was drenched in butter and topped with chopped garlic. And though I loved the crunch of the bread, I could have done with less butter.




The Hara Kiri, on the other hand, was lovely. The rice was hot and there were so many bits and pieces in it that it was basically an entree. I loved how each spoonful would have octopus and bacon and chili in it. Yum!



The Grilled Porkchops were also a great choice. Each slab was big and meaty and devoid of unnecessary fat. And the chops' glaze gave it a sweet-salty-garlicky kick. I loved the roasted whole garlic that came with the dish, allowing me to kind of ice my meat with self-mashed garlic cloves. The pork on the rice was perfect sinful happiness.





And the best thing about this belly busting meal? We were lucky enough to dine on the day their VP for Operations, Mr. Bob Santos, was around. Because for some weird and inexplicable (yet totally welcome) reason, he gave us free dessert!


He recommended the apple tart ala mode which he claimed to be his favorite and of course, the boyfriend and I very readily agreed to give it a taste.




The apples on the tart were aptly tart and it played with the cinnamon well. It reminds me of warm cider. The apples were a lovely contrast to the cold, sweet, and milky vanilla ice cream it was served with. The loveliest part of the dish though, was the base. I loved the flaky bread and its nutty undertones. It gave the dessert its needed solidity. It's a dessert I would've gladly paid for.


Overall, Krazy Garlic was definitely worth the wait and worth the wallet-suicidal-mission visit.

Next time, I'm trying the Crema Catalana. I'm quite curious to find out how creme brulee with garlic tastes like.

Sweet Endings: Gelatissimo Greenbelt 5

A confession: I am not an ice cream girl. My dessert of choice will always be cake.
That doesn't mean I don't enjoy the occasional cone, only that - unlike the common generalization made about women - I cannot see myself ever finishing a pint.

The closest I've come to it, however, was during my first visit to Gelatissimo in Greenbelt 5. My friends and I had just eaten a healthy dinner of salad and cheese and we decided we deserved something sinful. And what could be more sinful than 3 scoops of gelato on a cold and rainy night?

Gelatissimo tempts you from the moment you enter with a freezer-ful of colorful gelato.






There are the usual favorites (Chocolate and Strawberry) and a few more unusual flavors (guava, chili chocolate, green apple and pineapple). I took advantage of the free taste and sampled the Guava, Choco Liquer and the Green Apple.

The Guava was refreshing and extremely faithful to the fruit. It was only slightly sweet and it had a residual tang. I almost expected to feel seeds on my tongue.



The Green Apple was less like the real fruit and more like candy. It reminded me of gummy bears and Hi-C. It wasn't bad. It was just a bit too kiddy for me. I bet my two-year-old brother would have a field day with it.




The Choco Liquer was just awesome. You could feel the alcohol heating up your throat as your tongue gets coated in very rich dark chocolate. Yummy! But a bit scary for someone who needed to drive home.

In the end, 2 of my friends and I decided to share Pistachio, Chocolate Truffle and American Chocolate. While my other friend got herself a cup of Chocolate Sorbet.

The American Chocolate was really good. It was milky and silky and sweet. It will remind you of American chocolate bars. The Chocolate Truffle is a slightly less sweet version of American Chocolate. It's denser on the tongue so its taste lingers longer.
The best of our 3 scoop lot was the Pistachio (and this is from a girl who doesn't really like pistachios) if only because it is very brave and liberal with the pistachio flavor. It is not vanilla with pistachio. No, this ice cream is unwaveringly PISTACHIO. As if the nuts were frozen then blended until they reached ice-cream consistency.





My friend's Chocolate Sorbet was my personal favorite. It's chocolate without any dairy added so the choclate tastes very potent and very dark. In fact, during the long weekend I came back to Gelatissimo and got my very own scoop.




No, I couldn't bring myself to finish the whole humongous scoop by myself but it's one of the best half-cones I've eaten so far. YUM!

One More Week To Go: Tropezz Catering

It has been I think almost a week since my last post and I have been eating pre-packed meals from Tropezz Catering since then.

It sounds sad but, I can assure you, it is not. The pre-packed Southbeach Meals of Tropezz are far yummier than my usual fast food/ 711 run. Case in point, yesterday's lunch was a bowlful of crunchy lettuce housing 4 fat juicy shrimps swimming in what I think was a lemon butter vinaigrette. Or take last Saturday's dinner which was a tender chicken breast topped with a herbed parmagiana sauce and served with blanched asparagus.

In fact, today's dinner is something I'm really looking forward to (and yes I am aware that it is just 10:45am as I am writing this). From what I can tell it's braised pork ribs served with a cauliflower, asparagus and zucchini stir-fry. I stared at it for a good minute before putting it in the company ref, wondering if 10am was too early for dinner. (I don't have pictures now but I promise to post some before I devour it later. EDIT: Pictures posted! :D)











The thing I like best about this whole pre-packed deal is that I have no clue what the menu is and I only get to find out on the day of the delivery. And I find that exciting. It sure beats the monotony of choosing between Rice Meal A or B. And really, how often can I say that my baon was prepared by a chef.

Ang tagaaaal naman mag lunch!



Tropezz Catering can be contacted at 09178392630; Prices vary according to desired menu and delivery arrangement.