Adventures of the Travelling Georgina: Kapitolyo, Pasig (Part 2)

Soft shell crab burger, artisan sausage, bacon fries, shrimp tacos… These were just some of the delicious grub we ate during our Kapitolyo Food Adventure. We were able to visit 9 restaurants/food stalls in the area in our 3 days stay but that is just scraping the surface of this interesting and exciting foodie destination. I think one need more than a month’s worth of meals to try everything Kapitolyo has to offer.

Gastro Park

On our first night, we decided to head over Gastro Park at 1^st street which was about 10-15 minutes leisurely walk from Privato Hotel. Thank goodness it was chilly that night so I did not arrive at our destination drenched in sweat.

Gastro Park is Kapitolyo’s first outdoor food park composed of 15 vendors serving a variety of fare to satisfy any cravings one might have. It was quite hard to choose what to have that night! If only, our stomach can handle them all!

Thank you Google Maps for guiding us in to finding this place!

This jeepney which serves as Para: Filipino Sandwich Bar's food stall will greet you upon entering Gastro Park. They serve unique burgers like the Double Adobo J had chosen. 

Just left of Para is Tokyo Tempura where I ordered my Tempura Bucket and Bacon Fries. 

Our dinner: Double Adobo Burger (180 Php) which is composed of shredded chicken adobo, pork adobo floss, fried egg, crunchy garlic flakes, and homemade green mango atchara. This comes with kamote chips.
Tempura Bucket (105 Php)  which consists of  9 perfectly battered shrimps.
Bacon Fries (150 Php). When I ordered this I thought I'll be getting french fries with bacon toppings so I was surprised to see battered bacon served with a cheese dip.  They do literally mean bacon fries which made our dinner very sinful to our waistline. 

For refreshments, the three of us shared this Raspberry Bowl by Chamba Juice (85 Php) from Surfries. Don't worry my little Queen B, no fish was harmed in the making of our drink.

Estancia Mall and Spice & Cleaver

A few weeks before our anniversary, we visited J’s aunt Mama Bec. She gifted our little Queen B some cash and asked us to buy her a new blouse. Since we didn’t find one we like enough to buy at the SM mall nearby our home, we decided to check out the shops at Estancia Mall.

Known as Pasig’s urban style sanctuary, Estancia Mall is home to various brands that will make any shopaholic excited to visit this place. It is located at Capitol Commons, Meralco Avenue cor. Shaw Blvd and is open daily from 10 AM to 10 PM. It is just 5 minutes walk from Privato Hotel.

Our little Queen B won't let go of the shopping bag. I think she is well aware that its content is for her. Thanks again Mama Bec. 

Estancia Mall also offers great dining choices. The restaurants in the mall are a mix of new and well-known establishments. J let me decide on where to have our lunch and according to several blogs I have read I opted for Spice & Cleaver.

Spice & Cleaver’s main selling point is their artisanal sausages. Unfortunately, I just based my order on another blogger’s recommendation. The blogger enjoyed The Mexican which is a sausage flavoured with cilantro, sun dried tomatoes, and chilli. It is served with sauerkraut and mashed potato. My mind zeroed in on the cilantro which I really like and didn’t notice the chilli in the description. I literally felt heat coming out of my ears after every bite which happens when I eat really spicy dishes. Even J deemed it too spicy for his taste.

The Mexican (280 Php for 1 pc/ 480 Php for 2 pcs). Sundried pork sausage with cilantro, sundried tomato, and chili. Served with mashed potato and sauerkraut. 

Thankfully, the generous servings of mashed potato and sauerkraut helped us into finishing the sausage as we really don’t like wasting food.  It is our first time to taste sauerkraut which is finely chopped cabbage fermented with lactic acid and of German origin. For me, it is quite similar to our local atchara but mushier.

J ordered the Fish and Chips which tasted just fine, not really outstanding. As for our little Queen B, she feasted on the cheerios and biscuits we brought with us as she doesn’t like the assortment of breads that came with the Bread Basket we got for her.

Fish and Chips (499 Php). Beer battered fish with hand cut fries and cilantro cream sauce. 

Bread Basket (180 Php). Combination of baguette, focaccia, and pretzel. I love the herbed butter it comes with!

Even though we didn’t enjoy our meal which I am totally to blame for, I will still recommend trying out Spice & Cleaver. I’m sure spicy food lovers will have a wonderful time with The Mexican. Their staff also deserves compliment especially one lady server who keep refilling my water. I wouldn’t survive that meal without you. 

Kapitolyo Food Crawl

A common dilemma when dining out with friends is deciding where to eat. Every one’s taste and preference (sometimes, also budget and dietary requirements) must be considered. For me, a great solution to this problem is to do a food crawl. According to www.urbandictionary.com, a Food Crawl is a multi-stop investigation of the best restaurants, meals, or specific item on the menu.

J and I have never done a food crawl before so our Kapitolyo Food Crawl is certainly a new experience for us as a couple. They say that one of the secrets to a happy marriage is finding new experiences, new things, or new hobbies to do together. This certainly counts as one because even weeks after our food crawl we are still raving about it and can’t wait to do another one!

Joining us in this food crawl is our good friend and our little Queen B’s godparent Joseph a.k.a. Mandy. He lives nearby and weekends are his cheat days so we couldn’t ask for a more perfect companion.

Georgina's very fit and always perfectly dressed Ninong Mandy.

Most of the restaurants in our Kapitolyo Food Crawl were recommendations from Spot.ph's 10 New Restaurants to Try in Kapitolyo. To our surprise, these restaurants can all be found in Unit 16 on United Street which makes our journey easier.

First Stop: Bourbon BBQ Beef Kabobs at Diner on 16^th

First groufie of the night while waiting for our order. 

Bourbon BBQ Beef Kabobs (230 Php). J's favorite of all the delish food we tried that evening. So tender (Georgina effortlessly ate and enjoyed her share and she only have 8 teeth.) and flavorful! Best eaten with rice though as we are in a food crawl we opted to limit our carbs intake.

Diner on 16th's Menu

2nd half of Diner on 16th's menu

A few weeks before, Mandy met up with Anne, a former student of ours who now resides in Canada. The shirt is her pasalubong to our little Queen B. Thanks Anne for your thoughtfulness! 

Second Stop: Tempura Shrimp Taco at Taco Vengo

Nice recycling concept. Turning a container van into a restaurant. 

Tempura Shrimp Taco (125 Php per piece). Soft tacos, crunchy veggies, pork floss, and perfectly cooked shrimp.   I wish we ordered 3 pieces, one for each of us.  My portion is so bitin for me which is why I forgot to give some to our little Queen B!

Taco Vengo's Menu. They also serve various local craft beers. 

Third Stop: Soft Shell Crab Burger at Crunchy Crab

Soft Shell Crab Burger (265 Php). Soft-shell crab is a culinary term for crabs which have recently molted their exoskeleton and are still soft, according to Wikipedia. Turning it into a burger is a genius idea! Very flavorful and I love their mango-tomato-onion salsa which I have my own version. Georgina didn't like the crab but she ate the top bun all by herself.

Crunchy Crab Menu. I want to try their crab bucket next time. 

Second half of Crunchy Crab's menu. 

Fourth Stop: Ang Pinakamakisig na Sisig sa Balat ng Lupa at Anu’man Kitchen + Pub

Anu'man Kitchen + Pub prides itself as an LGBT friendly restaurant.  

Ang Pinakamakisig na Sisig sa Balat ng Lupa (200 Php). This is good but we honestly had better. Only the adults ate this since it is a little spicy. 

Anu'man Kitchen + Pub's Menu. I like the cool and funny names of their dishes. 

Fifth Stop: Fudge Liquid Cheesecake at Mad Mark’s Creamery and Good Eats

After our sisig at Anu’man Kitchen + Pub, we also checked out No Reservations which is located at the 2F of Unit 16 United Street. It offers modern Asian cuisine. Sadly, our tummies are already craving for something sweet and their choices of dessert are limited so we decided to find another place.

In our list of restaurants to try, Kitchen Diaries Café, located at 11 East Capitol Drive, is the suggested go-to place for desserts. According to Spot.ph it is very tricky to find and, alas, we didn’t see it but through our search for it we were led to another gem in this part of the metro; Mad Mark’s Creamery and Good Eats.

This well-known establishment in Kapitolyo was brimming with customers. We actually have to wait in line for a table. Our wait was long enough that I was able to rock our little Queen B to sleep and it also took some time for our order of Liquid Fudge Cheesecake to arrive. 

Liquid Fudge Cheesecake (175 Php). Pie + Cream Cheese Filling  + Ganache + Honest Ice Cream. One word to describe this concoction: Heavenly! Our long wait is definitely worth it! 

Our little Queen B promptly woke up after taking this groufie. I guess she doesn't want to miss dessert. She actually had the last bite. 

Mad Mark's Menu

2nd page of Mad Mark's Menu

The Dessert Page of Mad Mark's Menu

While waiting, I can’t help but notice the plates of other deliciousness coming out of Mad Mark’s kitchen and vow to come back for those. There is no doubt in my mind why people are raving about this place. Servings are generous, plating gorgeous and the meals are all affordable. So please, pretty please owners of Mad Mark’s open a branch in the South soon. 

Sixth Stop: Cocktails at Verona Roof Deck Bar

To cap off our wonderful evening, we went back to Privato Hotel’s Verona Roof Deck Bar for some cocktails and dazzling skyline view. 

Last groufie of the night. Thanks again Mandy for your entertaining company. 

And this ends our adventures in Kapitolyo, Pasig. There is so much more  to discover in this part of the metro and we can't wait to go back. Maybe this could be a yearly thing!

Till my next adventure. #xoxo - Georgina Blair

#xoxo