Menu Prices and Recommendations

Typical Components of a Pinoy Menu

alex — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 07:40:01 +0000

If you live in the Philippines, you’d notice this small, yet amusing, detail. It’s probably a must in almost any Pinoy restaurant, but these menu components sure shouts Pinoy in every little way. So if you’re eating in a posh establishment, and notice these parts in the Menu, then make a smile! You’re eating Pinoy cuisine. Let’s check out some of the typical components of a meal, that almost every Pinoy sees it as:

Sabaw…
…means soup. No matter where you eat in the Philippines, chances are, people would always ask or order for soup. As common appetizers to the full meal, soup helps build up an appetite. It may be as simple as something hot, with a few noodles here and there; or as grand as a seafood hotpot. Whether it may be, no meal – or menu, speaking restaurant talk – will be complete without a Sabaw dish.

Gulay…
…means vegetables. Funny as it sounds, but almost every single kid, regardless of culture or nation, always has their parents telling them to eat their veggies. With Filipino, it’s a must to complete your meal. Choices in this category may be the tossed salads, or the famous Chop Suey, a mixed vegetable dish that can very well serve as a main dish.

Ulam…
…roughly means meal. This can be subdivided into two, karne (meat) or isda (fish). As the main course, the ulam has to be filling. Pinoys normally go for flavorful dishes, from fried fishes to grilled delicacies.

Kanin…
…means rice. Rice is the staple food in the Philippines. It would just be wrong not having this dish. Rice can actually be cooked several ways, making it a delight to match in with almost any sort of cuisine. Enterprising food establishments actually offer several varieties of rice in their menus – from plain steamed ones, to those mixed in with various ingredients, such as fish and pork. There’s even rice deserts and pastries, to fit anyone’s taste buds!

Palamig…
…means desert. It’s a cool-off, in order to fully enjoy a typical Pinoy menu. A famous choice for this category is the Halo-Halo, a cool and refreshing drink of crushed ice, ice cream and several other sweet ingredients. Cakes are also in order, for all the Pinoy sweet-tooth’s out there.

Though not commonly shown or written in Filipino, these categories can actually be seen in almost any local food establishment. It was also even noticed that when Filipino families dine out, that they’d order something from each category, to get the full and best experience of eating out. It has also got to do with culture – the Philippines is a melting pot of different cultures and practices. There’s no way to experience the unique culture in just one dish! So if you’d want to enjoy the Philippines through the gastronomic highway, try asking food by using the typical Pinoy menu components. Hope you have a great meal!

Your Love Menu: 3 Dining Spots in Makati that’ll Spell Date Success

alex — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 06:33:39 +0000

Me and my girlfriend usually try to eat out at least once a week. It’s a great way for us to bond together, to spend more time with each other. It’s also a great way to reward ourselves for working hard over at our respective workplaces. But not any restaurant would do – we try to eat only at places that provide the best menus. So if you’re over in Makati, and are hoping to have a good time with your date, you might want to check out these places:

Grams Diner (Rockwell Makati)
It’s American Comfort Food, over at Grams Diner. Found just in posh Rockwell Powerplant, this cozy diner usually has Ateneo Law students as their primer patrons. On some days though, entire Harley Club members would park their hogs outside the diner, and chow down large servings of steak. Nevertheless, what’s great about Grams Diner is its diverse menu selection. Burgers of all varieties are available, assuring you you’ll never eat from a normal burger fastfood joint again. Their steaks are heavenly, with one serving enough to feed even the most burly of hotrod bikers. But to top off their menu, and my girlfriend’s favorite, are their milkshakes. Offering the perfect mix of ice cream and foam, it’s one of the best milkshakes ever in the Metro!

Omakase (Ayala Triangle Gardens)
If we’re feeling Japanese, then we head on over to Omakase. Situated in the refreshing Ayala Triangle Gardens, Omakase has the best in Japanese Maki. A suggested choice is the Dynamite Maki – you’d just need to taste it, for no words can describe the gastronomic delight that follows after you’ve taken a bite! If you’ve got money to spend, check out their menu choices of sushi platters – go for the party pack for the never-ending sushi delight!

Spaghetti Factory (Glorietta 5)
We actually didn’t expect much from this place. Luckily, we decided to take the risk and eat in here. And what a rewarding experience we’ve had! We went for a full-course meal, starting from baked oysters, Four Cheeses Ravioli Pasts (which is really good) and an Elizabeth pizza. The food and service is really good, that we plan to go back and check out the other menu offerings. Kudos as well to Rafael, the very professional waiter who was patient enough to serve us.

These are just some of our suggestion on having a great date night in Makati. These places surely have the best menus in town. We’re planning to explore other restaurants as well, but we’ll be sure to keep on coming back to these places again!

Tips in Creating Effective Designs for Your Menu

alex — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 07:15:18 +0000

A restaurant business is an exciting business venture than you can undertake. But setting up the business can really be tiring and would require your full commitment. There are a lot of things that you should look into in establishing a restaurant business. One of these is creating a menu design for your restaurant. This process usually comes after you were able to finalize your menu list or the specialty dishes that you will be serving your customers.

Your restaurant’s menu design is an image of the restaurant itself. How you create your menu should be well-thought of as much as the menu list that is written on it. That is why the menu descriptions, layouts and colors should perfectly reflect your restaurant’s concept or theme. This may sound really easy but you must keep in mind than an effective menu design requires more than just printing out a list of items. So, it is best to actually take time to really plan how your menu design will look like.

First of all, you need to choose the appropriate color scheme and font that would greatly reflect your restaurant theme. For instance, if you are opening a Mexican themed restaurant, you are expected to come up with a color scheme of vibrant colors that include red, turquoise, purple and green. Same goes for the font. If on the other hand, you are opening a sports bar or other less formal restaurants, you could incorporate a playful font to your menu design. However, keep your fonts to simple ones and avoid using fonts that are hard to read or are too small.

It is also important for you to break down your menu into sections. If you would look closely at restaurants’ menu, you will see that it is usually arranged sequentially, from appetizers, soups and salad, to the main entrees and desserts, and finally to the beverages. There are times that you when you can arrange dishes according to the primary ingredients that were used to cook them, the region where they came from, the style of cooking used and even the time of day when they are eaten. You may also choose to highlight special dishes by putting a star or a special insignia beside it to let customers know that these dishes are a house favorite or a specialty dish.

Furthermore, it would be better if you would incorporate photos in your menu design because most of the time, they help a dish sell better. You could use actual photos of the restaurant’s dishes, or if there are stock photos, you could also use them instead. However, be reminded that you should not use clip art type illustrations as these take away your menu design’s professional look.

Write descriptions for your menu based on the restaurant’s style. Never hesitate to explain what a particular dish is made of. You could also use ethnic names if they would fit your restaurant’s theme. Be sure to keep the description to a minimum although more formal restaurants require more extensive information regarding the dish preparation.

Your menu design is one of the many factors that you need to consider in establishing your restaurant and ensure your business’ success. You don’t have to be stressed about creating one but rather enjoy making your menu design. Follow these simple tips and you’ll surely be able to come up with a great menu design for your restaurant.

Slumber Party Menu

admin — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 06:21:34 +0000

Are you setting up a slumber party with your girlfriends? Are you ready to invite your friends to come over? In planning a slumber party or let’s say a ‘sleepover’, one thing is for sure you couldn’t miss out, the food! You don’t literally sleep in this kind of party with your friends. You tend to just enjoy the night with some chats or gossips, drinks and a bunch of food while doing all your lined up activities. If food will be out of the picture, the slumber party will turn out to be a disaster.

Don’t let your girlfriends hit the hay and make a blissful slumber party by setting up the perfect menu. To begin with, here are some of the slumber party food suggestions for you:

1. Pizza – Normally, you wouldn’t want to cook your food for the slumber party. To make your life easier, you can just contact your favorite pizza chain and order boxes of pizza that can satisfy your midnight appetite. Simply choose the pizza you want by visiting their website. That’s where you can check if they have special promos or pizza discount coupons to reduce expenses.

2. Nachos – Perfect with your choice of dip or even eat it plainly. You can even make variation of dips – cheese, beef, salsa, etc. A bag of nachos is good enough for the entire night of chitchats. In the nearest supermarket, you can grab your bags of nachos and even the dips to complete the snack.

3. Chips – In slumber parties, finger foods are the best. You wouldn’t want to mess up your room with stains and smelly dishes, right? So choose to get such foods like chips (corn chips or potato chips) and make it available throughout the night.

Remember, any slumber party will be way better with food. So before you hit the party, don’t forget to prepare your slumber party menu first.

Vegetarian Menu

admin — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 07:45:29 +0000

Are you a vegetarian? Do you prefer eating at home than in restaurants because it is hard to find vegetarian menus? When you are a vegetarian, you tend to be conscious of what you eat. There is a diet you follow. A vegetarian refrains from eating meat, too much sweets and other unhealthy foods. Because of this, you are having a hard time to select the dish to order when you are in a restaurant or fast food chain with your friends.

Don’t lose hope, get to enjoy what non-vegetarians enjoy. Several fast food chains and restaurants have a wide range of choices in their menu. Some of the fast food chains you can try are:

Papa John’s Pizza – Their Garden Fresh pizza is the best seller for vegetarians like you. As you take a bite to the cheesy vegetarian pizza, you would want to go and grab a slice of pizza every lunch break.
Wendy’s – If your friends decide to get burgers, you won’t be left out as you get to customize your own vegetarian burger or get the special BK Veggie Burger.
Subway – One of the favorite fast food chains of vegetarians. Subway aims to give satisfaction to your stomach through their healthy sandwiches. When you check their menu, it is a haven for vegetarians. Fresh ingredients, fresh vegetables and definitely delectable taste.

All of the fast food chains mentioned are not heavy for your budget as you can use coupons for all of them. Search for their discount coupons online and see how much you can save in purchasing your vegetarian meals.

Birthday Party Menu

admin — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 07:03:57 +0000

At the age of 21 and above, having a birthday party is not given so much attention anymore. Compared when people are younger during their teen years, they prepare so much for their party. When you get older, you just think of preparing a boring dinner with your close friends and family. For some, they choose to watch a movie or go out with friends. Your birthday is an occasion to be celebrated. It is yours alone. Unlike Valentine’s day, Christmas day, Thanksgiving day, you celebrate those occasions with the whole world. Birthday comes once a year and every year is precious to be celebrated. With that, having a birthday party is a must.

In case you are indecisive, don’t know what to do on your birthday, simple celebration is the way to go. A simple pizza party could be one option. All you need are the following: 1. Good music 2. Your close friends and family 3. A bunch of drinks 4. A venue (could be your house to avoid rental fee) 5. The food. Of course, the food is the most important part of this celebration. Choosing the menu for your birthday party is easy. Make sure you have pizza boxes on your list. Everyone loves pizza, so this dish is a must. You can use pizza coupons, if ever you want to save more cash. Also, add party favorites like spaghetti or any other pasta dish. According to old sayings, any noodle dish symbolizes long life. It’s a good entry for your menu list. Other dish on the menu could be ice cream or any dessert, barbecues or any meat for main entry and salad plus chips for starters.

But of course, a birthday will not be a birthday without a cake. So make sure your menu includes a cake and still blow the candle on your cake as a symbol that it is your birthday celebration.

Menus Prices – Ruby Tuesday Food Review

admin — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 14:37:55 +0000

What’s not to love about Ruby Tuesday?

What are you looking for in a restaurant? Isn’t it the ambiance, the freshness of food, the rich and unique taste, the price, and the customer service? For me, those characteristics are important for me when dining in a restaurant and luckily, I found all of them in one restaurant, in Ruby Tuesday. Ruby Tuesday menu includes fresh salads, premium sandwiches, appetizing ribs & platters, tender steaks & chickens, and a lot more. It’s seriously one of the best American restaurants you could try.

Upon choosing from the Ruby Tuesday menu, I had a hard time picking what food to eat. I wanted to order one dish from every page. Unfortunately, I couldn’t afford to eat everything up and fill up my stomach. It was a good thing the waiter was patiently standing beside me and waiting for my order. He also oriented me about the meals they serve. Ruby Tuesday really give good customer service. After a while, I finally decided what to order. For a starter, I chose to get their unlimited salad from their Endless Fresh Garden bar. Every ingredient seemed to be fresh and perfect for my first dish. For the main dish, I decided to get New Orleans Seafood, which is one of their specialties. It is made up of steamed fish topped with spicy sauteed shrimps and rich Parmesan sauce. This dish is definitely delectable and I felt like I want to order another plate of it. For my dessert, I tried Crannaple Crepes, which is made up of baked apples and cranberries with a touch of caramel sauce and syrup. I was really satisfied with what I ordered. After eating in Ruby Tuesday, I can’t stop telling my friends to eat with me the next time I visit. Even Ruby Tuesday menu prices didn’t disappoint me because the food was just right for its price.

Healthy Salad Menu: Affordable and Easily Prepared Salad Treats

admin — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 04:51:38 +0000

Now You Can Have a Healthy Salad Meal at an Affordable Price!

Salad is just more than just greens over a generous dose of dressings these days; you can enjoy a bowlful of your favorite salad at any time of the day. Do you want to treat yourself to a salad? You’ll be amazed on how easy it is to whip up a salad; Different salads have uniquely different flavors and textures along with a wide array of ingredients be it tuna salad with Dijon mustard or a Waldorf salad with crunchy walnuts. You can always pick the one that’s easy to make and palatable to your taste.

If you are really looking to some healthy eating that will take you no time to prepare then healthy salads is your choice. Sometimes you can just raid your fridge or kitchen cupboard for the available ingredients for your salad or just buy in your local grocery that are really dirt cheap and you won’t even have to shell out as much to eat healthy salad. Try any of this affordable and easy to prepare health salad treats:

Caesar Salad

A prominent name when it comes to salads, the Caesar salad is a good staple in any household table. Caesar’s salad is perfect with healthy grilled chicken or steak as add-ons, also with croutons to complement the romaine lettuce for a green lean healthy salad.

Broccoli Salad

Green is always in to keep healthy and prevent diseases, there’s nothing like broccoli to combat the big C (Cancer) with its anti cancer compounds and is recommended to be blanched in a minute or two to maintain its firmness. Serve it with copped bacon bits and raisins and mayonnaise.

Cucumber Salad

Enjoy the vinegary and crunchy taste that is refreshing; this is a favorite salad in family gatherings and a great topping in pita pockets. Always get fresh cucumbers and onions before making.

Antipasto Salad

Get a healthy dose of Italian cuisine like Antipasto salad; you’ll need cheese tortellinis and mozzarella for that cheesy blend. It won’t be complete without green peppers, tomatoes and chopped pepperoni then topped off with Italian dressing.

Seven Layer Salad

The name speaks for itself, seven layers of delicious healthy ingredients which are commonly peppers, tomatoes, onions, peas, carrots, radishes, and cucumbers. You can also substitute other vegetables of your liking then top it off with the dressing that you want.

Those are just a handful of healthy salad menu choices that you can make; you can easily search for the recipes online too with your search engine if you need to refresh your memory or search for alternative recipes that make it much easier for you.

Elementary School Lunch Menus

admin — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 09:01:01 +0000

Healthy Lunch Box Menus for Your School-Goer

Are you running out of ideas on what to prepare for your school-goer? Is your kid complaining about having the same food in his lunch box day in, day out? Give your child’s taste buds a spin with these twists on old elementary school lunch menus!

Creative Menus for Your Child

1. Peanut Butter Banana Bread Sandwich
Good, old peanut butter. It’s not only a brain-booster, it’s been the favorite mealtime snack of kids around the world for years! So, why don’t you change things up on this old favorite by using banana bread instead of the usual white or wheat? Don’t forget to add the jelly! Your kids will surely love this new PBJ!

2. Quesadillas
What do kids love more than cheese? So, give them something they’ll truly enjoy – quesadillas! To make it healthy, use whole wheat pita bread and low fat cheese. It’s a twist on the old grilled cheese sandwich!

3. Caramel Apples
What’s lunch without dessert? Indulge your child’s sweet tooth by baking some apple slices and drenching them in low fat caramel syrup. Yum!

Lunch will be a treat everyday with these great food menus! But don’t stop here. There are so many other healthy menu ideas, so get those creative juices by doing your research! Good luck!

Cookout Menus

admin — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 08:46:25 +0000

Cookout Ideas for Your Next Outdoor Party

Are you thinking of hosting a cookout? For me, nothing can be more fun than cooking outdoors. There’s something about cookouts that just bonds people together. Looking for cookout menus? Here’s a sample of what you can offer on when you’re feasting outdoors.

Ever since I was little, my parents would hold cookouts with our neighbors and family members out in our yard. I loved the smell of burgers on the grill. Now, with my own family, I try to host cookouts with friends at least twice a year.

Here’s a menu I love to serve:

Cookout Menus

Appetizers:
- Grilled zucchinis
- Grilled hash browns
- Breaded mozzarella and basil fingers

Main Course:
- Grilled Stuffed Burgers with Cheese
- Grilled Chicken fillets

Beverages:
- Punch (spiked for adults)
- Watermelon shake

Dessert:
- Grilled Smores
- Melon Salad

Inspired yet? If you need more ideas, look at cookbooks and other recipes online. Just think fresh and easy to make! Enjoy your cookout!