What's Cooking in Tomas Morato this March 2016

New malls, shopping centers, hotels, and recreation areas that house many restaurants and food joints may rise all over Manila with each passing year, but Tomas Morato Avenue in Quezon City as a popular and must-visit dining destination is here to stay. And not getting left behind, Tomas Morato welcomes six talk-of-the-town-restaurants recently, all ready to embrace every foodie, food nerd, gourmand, or gastronome, or any of us who is just plain hungry for good food.

Check out the list below and see which tickles your interest or make your taste buds say “please, let’s eat there already!”

MR. GRAHAM'S SANDWICH SHOP

Mr. Graham’s Sandwich Shop had its official grand opening last August 9, 2015 but just this week, they released their latest offering, The Salmwich. This newbie but biggie sandwich has lemon-buttered ‪salmon‬, Mr. Graham's signature Aioli base, and cream cheese and topped with tomatoes, capers, and alfalfa sprouts. The Cebuano sandwich, made of lechon, ham, cheddar cheese, aioli, pickled green, and yellow mango in two pieces of pan cubano, is their signature dish. The sandwich comes in two sizes, the Sandwich (PhP290) and the Manwich (PhP490). Mr. Graham’s Sandwich Shop is located beside Mrs. Graham’s Macaron Café, its sister-company which opened in 2013 and serves macarons, milkshakes, and coffee - a perfect dessert place to go to after enjoying Mr. Graham's big sandwiches, chips, and coleslaw.

EIGHTEEN BISTRO

This Continental Restaurant is the third in the three-restaurant row inside Scout Rallos St. Every 18th of the month, the Bistro serves five cocktails at PhP18 for diners who order a small plate (Pasta or Risotto) or main dish (such as Beef Bourguignon and Roasted Pork Belly) worth at least PhP250.00. Smoothies, shakes, and other non-alcoholic beverages are also available.

THE DAILY GRIND

The Daily Grind is another must-visit new beer and burger place in the Tomas Morato area. Burgers are priced at PhP240 and up while the Premium Angus Burger costs PhP355. Sample main dishes are chicken steak (PhP210), Grilled Chicken Paella (PhP235), Gambas (PhP310), and Baked Salmon (PhP410). Other offerings are tapas/starter, sandwiches, pastas, salads, soups, and desserts.

ALAB BY CHEF TATUNG

If you are looking for a restaurant that has a burning mission, Alab by Chef Tatung is for you. The restaurant’s name itself “alab” is a Tagalog word which means blaze. It is a Filipino restaurant that aims to serve not only well-known, classic, and authentic Filipino food, but also those quite unknown Filipino dishes that are definitely worth-discovering and trying. Usual to Filipino restaurants, Alab serves lumpiang ubod, sisig, inasal na manok, kare-kare, and sinigang na baka. Unique offerings include the Pianggang (grilled chicken with coconut milk and Tausug spices) at PhP270, Penuneng (dinuguang longgasino) at PhP150, and the Poqui-poqui Ala Alab (grilled eggplants with tomato, vigan sausage, eggs, and kesong puti) at PhP160.

LIMBAGA 77 CAFE RESTAURANT

Another new proudly Filipino restaurant along near Tomas Morato, whose building is actually an old house built in 1950s, is Limbaga 77. It serves truly Filipino comfort foods such as Kare-kare (PhP577), Pochero (PhP477), Estofado (PhP377), Chicken Pork Adobo (PhP377), Crispy Pata (PhP577), Pork Sisig (PhP377), Bangus sa Mustasa (PhP377), and Pinakbet (PhP377) among others. Limbaga 77 also offers unique salads and desserts using Filipino ingredients. Examples are the Pinoy Salad that comes with mixed red and green cabbages with mongo sprouts, ripe mango and jam, rabbit fish (danggit), nuts, and sesame oil and, for dessert, the Ube Sans Rival Cake and the Pastillas Polvoron Cake, both mini 4” cakes at PhP277 each.

IKIGAI KAKIGORI CAFE

A very refreshing stop in Tomas Morato for summer is the Ikigai Kakigori Café which opened in late 2015. Kakigori means Japanese shaved ice dessert, so expect really cool desserts similar to Filipino’s halo-halo, but with different kinds of syrup and toppings. Kakigori’s bestseller is the Kuromitsu Kakigori (PhP180 to PhP240) which is described as the most classic Japanese dessert in their offerings. It has brown sugar syrup, green tea ice cream, red beans, and more green tea. For kids, a popular choice is the Chocolate Kakigori (Php170 to PhP230) made of vanilla-flavored ice cream, ice choco milk, fudge brownies and Oreo dustings. Their latest offering especially prepared for the summer is the Ichigo (strawberry) Kakigori (PhP210).