MARUGAME UDON: A PLACE 'UDON' WANNA MISS!

DISCLAIMER: We judge based on our own criteria!

Now that finals are almost over, a little pick me up won't harm anyone! Are you a fan of japanese food, but is tired of the usual ramen? Why not try some udon? Don't worry folks, we know a place!

Marugame Udon!

At UGF SM North Edsa Main, there you'll find Marugame Udon! As you come nearer to the place, you'll smell the faint aroma of their miso soup or broths which are bound to get your grumbling tummy's attention! You'll be captivated by their interior design which are mostly wood elements, which is quite common for a japanese theme. But what will get you more riled up is the beautiful counter that adorns half of the shop that makes you feel as if you've  been transported to Japan! 

The Marugame's counter/kitchen

Side dishes to choose from

A good thing about the restaurant is that you can't get a table if you haven't ordered anything yet, as families have to line up to the counter first to order their food before they can get a table. When their tables are full, the staff will cut off the line for a while until tables can be made available for the next customers since they have a few tables available. The restaurant is a bit small, but is very elegant on it's own, with their japanese accents and decorations. The water and condiments is self-service, and every table is adorned with a wooden holder for your utensils and wooden chopsticks! The place doesn't have their own bathroom, so you'll have to use the mall 's restrooms which is a little inconvenient for some customers.

Customers are lined and made to serve one by one at the counter, they order their dishes from the chefs or get a number for their order as they prepare it. You can also choose some add-ons from the counter, that are lined up with their names and prices for each piece! There are choices like veggie and shrimp tempuras, veggie and chicken karaages, pork tonkatsus, and a variety of onigiris! We had a tonkatsu to share, along with our gyudon and kamaage udon! At the end of the line is the cashier, and can finally enjoy your japanese food. 

The add-ons

Marugame Udon menu

People think that their food isn't really filling based on the size of their bowls, but you'll be surprised at how filling they really are! They serve a generous amount of meat in their bowls and and a good amount of rice. They also have a counter ready for your condiments or dashi, it also includes  diced spring onions, and ginger to cleanse your palette. They provide service water and ice as well, but you can also avail tea for an additional price.

For the price of 400.00php this is definitely a place worth trying if you want good quality service and great japanese food!

THE ALLEY CLOVERLEAF: NEW YORK, NEW YORK!

DISCLAIMER: We judge based on our own criteria!

When we first stumbled upon the soft-opening announcement by The Alley via FB, which offered a 50% off on the original price upon the 2 days before their grand opening, we immediately cleared the date in order to try and review this well known buffet by Vikings! We have already tried the The Alley at UP Town Center, but we wanted to know what could possibly be a difference between the two. We were able to get seats for lunch on time, but when we came in we were still too tired due to lack of sleep. So we opted for some coffee before we get our judgment game going!

Some desserts for the little lady

The Alley by Vikings is located at 2F Ayala Malls Cloverleaf, Balintawak! You can easily spot the mall from the lrt, which also provides a shuttle for you near the station for the price of 5php. Very convenient for commuters. They have a parking lot for car owners of course since it's a mall. When we first entered the buffet establishment, we first noticed it had a high ceiling which made us think it had a 2nd floor for more tables. But the reason for it was because they had a New York theme going on that made the place a little more real with their decorations (lamp posts, neon signs, back alley new york wall decor), it was remarkable because it had a sense of uniqueness.

Very New Yorkish!

Overall, the ambience was great! Regarding their dining tables, you'll be surprised at how much they can accommodate with so many tables they have provided! The place could hold at least 120 pax, with a vast array of tables for 2, 4, 6 up to 12 people per table. The tables for 2 are all in the same area, while couched dining areas are found near the windows and at the middle. We had a nice spot for 4 by the back so we had some privacy and space from all the wandering people. Their bathroom is also a plus because it has a bidet, and complete with tissue paper and soap. They have a janitor assigned there so it's always spotless even with so many people.

Dining area near the entrance

Tables for 2 are separated by a divider and positioned diagonally

The middle dining area from our seats

The food varied from Filipino, Japanese, American, and Chinese food, which all had stalls of their own. This was the most challenging for us because the lines for each booth can get very long! Which often results with the chefs rushing to get orders out, they will provide you with an electronic number card but it is often useless. A good reason we had coffee first was so we can wait for the crowds to thin out, waiting in line can take the fun out of eating. 

The seafood booth

Chinese food

Pastas and Filipino food!

Japanese food

Now, time to judge the food. The first thing we ordered was the steaks! It had the shortest line, we first noticed they have a small menu for you to distinguish what meat they had available today! 

Beef tenderloin, pork steak, or salisbury steak

I had asked for the beef tenderloin and Salisbury steak, which came with some steamed vegetables and mashed potatoes with some delicious pepper gravy. When we ate the steaks, we first noticed it was incredibly bland! It was just steak cooked without any seasoning, which was very disappointing! We had asked for some salt and pepper, but they didn't provide us any. If it weren't for the gravy, the steaks would've been a very bad way to start the meal. We went out again for a seasoned meal, and was greatly met with the pasta! They provided a small menu and display of the pasta dishes so you'll have an idea of the dish if you didn't know the fancy kinds. The bestseller there was the lasagna, which will not disappoint! If you're parched you could always refill your drink at the drink station located near the bar, which they also provide beer on tap. They have wine, but has a separate price, but they have a cocktail of the day that you can drink over and over again! 

The bar is the biggest booth

Customers are free to eat at the bar

The longest line we experienced was at the japanese food booth, which was because of the delectable sashimi! The sushi was also stressful because they always had to refill it after 2 to 3 people. It took us 15 mins at least just to get some sahimi and california maki. My partner really loved the chinese food, most especially the bean curd which was also always out of stock! But be sure to try all of their offerings because you wouldn't want to miss anything. They had a few selections for desserts, mostly cakes, and berry  or chocolate mousses, which is a perfect pair for their wide selection of coffee, but they have tea if you would rather prefer that like us. We wouldn't want to spoil some of their surprising booths so it would be better if you checked it out yourself! They have a lunch and dinner service which you can attend via reservation or walk-in!

ADULT RATE:

Adult Weekday Lunch: 688 (+5% service charge)
Adult Weekday Dinner: 888 (+5% service charge)
Adult Weekends/Holiday Lunch & Dinner: 888 (+5% service charge)

KIDS RATE:

Kids below 3 ft: FREE

Kids 3 ft - 4 ft Weekday Lunch: 188 (+5% service charge)
Kids 3 ft - 4 ft Weekday Dinner: 288 (+5% service charge)
Kids 3 ft - 4 ft Weekends/Holiday Lunch & Dinner: 288 (+5% service charge)

Kids 4 ft - 4 ft 4.6" Weekday Lunch: 388 (+5% service charge)
Kids 4 ft - 4 ft 4.6" Weekday Dinner: 588 (+5% service charge)
Kids 4 ft - 4 ft 4.6" Weekends/Holiday Lunch & Dinner: 588 (+5% service charge)

NEW RADIMI: A VERY AFFORDABLE AND DELICIOUS GETAWAY

DISCLAIMER: We judge based on our own criteria!

Looking for an affordable place to eat has always been a burden on us, especially when you're craving for some samgyupsal! Another worth-it samgyupsal was what we had this sunny day, which we call our "home court"! We've been eating at this establishment for 2 years now and it has not failed us in quality! (Yet.) But we haven't been able to review the place, so when the opportunity came, we did. 

New Radimi entrance decorated with so many tarps

New Radimi is a Korean Restaurant situated at #2015 Mabini Street Malate Manila. Beside Ambassador Hotel. The place mostly has wood elements for that authentic Korean feel, with a grill on each wooden table. They had tables for up to 4 people, long tables up to 8 people for large groups. The place is spacious enough for easy moving while the buffet tables are by the back near the kitchen. The only problem that customers might face with the grill is that they don't have an exhaust for the smoke, so things might get a little cloudy when the place gets a full house. The grill is also hard to manage when it comes to the accumulated oil in the grill. You'll have to lift the side of the grill to pour out the oil through the small hole at the side of the grill, and a little caution, some sparks (of oil) may fly.

The place holds up to 50 people

The grill with some sample side dishes

The bathroom is near the kitchen, with a divider separating the bathroom from the kitchen. The bathroom's space is a little small, enough for just the toilet and a trash can. There's no sink or mirrors inside, there's also no bidet or buckets with a pail for use. You'll have to ask the staff for some tissue. It's a real downer of you ask us, but we came for the food nevertheless. The staff were friendly and accommodating, but like ninjas, as soon as they come they tend to disappear as well. You'll have to shout a little to catch their attention, especially during the morning when there are less customers. When we ate there, we were the only customers until lunch time. But if you're a regular like us, you'll get to appreciate the silence.

Their samgyupsal consists of 3 types of marinated pork, Galbi, Spicy, and Herbs, and an unseasoned one. We didn't get to take a picture since we were too busy eating, but we personally liked the unseasoned one and the spicy pork! It's not too spicy and has a rich flavor for you to enjoy. They will provide you with tongs and scissors for the meat, and allow you to enjoy their buffet tables filled with side dishes and entrees. What's good about this establishment is that you get to make your own bibimbap! They have a wide array of side dishes for you to choose from, and we would recommend you try them all, especially the tofu and sweet potatoes which is our personal favorite. But we were informed that their side dishes changed every week depending the availability of the ingredients, so enjoy what you get!

Bibimbap ingredients

Bibimbap, soup, and rice station

The delicious side dishes!

If you want to pair that samgyupsal with some good ol' ramyun, they offer it for only 50PHP. The ramyun was too spicy for us so we didn't get to enjoy it that much, they also have some cheese for your dipping pleasure! But sadly, rather than offering it for unlimited dipping, they offer it for 50PHP per serving, which was way too few for 2 massive eaters like us. We hope they offer it as unlimited as well because we were really heartbroken by it. 

That's how few the cheese per serving is.

If you're full from all that samgyupsal goodness, they also sell ice cream for dessert, which are Melona and Samanco. A real winner was that they also had green tea flavored Samanco! The only thing we didn't like was that they don't serve you with that much care, the staff merely assembles the table for you, gives you the pork and then leaves you. So if you don't or didn't get informed on their upgrades via their facebook page, you'll have no chance of finding out they have new offers! We had to ask the staff if they served different flavored meats or had cheese before they entertained the idea. That was upsetting because we had already ate their twice before we realized they offered those! But overall, it was an enjoyable stay and the food was delicious especially for 300PHP! We still consider it our home court! 

Promotions: From 12-Midnight To 12-Noon 

299 Per Head/ Unlimited Korean BBQ With Buffet

Regular Rate: From 12-Noon To 12-Midnight

350 Per Head/ Unlimited Korean BBQ With Buffet

✔️PWD   20% 

✔️Senior 20%

✔️ Kid's From Age 1y/o To 4y/o Is FREE

✔️Kid's  From Age 5y/o To 9y/o Is (175.) Per Head!

We Are Accepting Reservations at least 5 And Up

Cash Basis Only.

TONG YANG PLUS: AN OLD FAVORITE WORTH TRYING!

DISCLAIMER: We judge based on our own criteria!

Tired of the usual samgyupsal and side dishes? Sometimes we get tired of the usual and just want to try something new! But why not try an old favorite that's worth your money? But today, we're craving for some Chinese cuisine. In comes Tong Yang Plus! A new branch has recently opened in SM North Edsa, so we grabbed the opportunity to try it out! 

Tong Yang Plus at SM North Edsa 3F The Block

Tong Yang Plus is located at 3F The Block, SM North Edsa. A caution to parents, in front of Tong Yang stands Toy Kingdom and Play and Explore, so you better hold you kids close or you can let them play at the kiddie play room while you wait. Parking is definitely no problem since the restaurant is situated inside the mall. You can park at the 4th floor of the Main Parking by the Block entry so you'll arrive at Tong Yang faster! The ambience of SM North's Tong Yang is still fresh and clean since it just recently opened, the tables aren't cramped, with enough space to walk around for your food! There are couched tables for some major comfort, but the chairs are mostly wooden. The walls are decorated with window-styled mirrors, and paintings. You'll be confused though on what their theme really is since it's supposed to be a Chinese buffet but the decors are mostly American. A lush and well decorated entry way will greet you as you enter, and the first thing you'll notice is that the grilling and shabu shabu ingredients are situated in the middle for easy access! Thumbs up for not getting lost!

The meat and veggies hall

Dining Area

The quality of the food is excellent! Especially the meat, which you have to order from the grill counter, cards with the available meat is displayed for you to choose which meat you'd like to grill. The assortment of the choices is marvelous since you have so many options to choose from for your grill and shabu shabu, this includes different kinds of noodles, vegetables, mushrooms, seafood, dumplings, and meat!

Vegetables and Mushrooms galore

Your dose of pig innards

Seafood choices

The "special" choices of meat

The japanese section

There are some entrees you can eat like the different kinds of tempuras and also different kinds of fried rice. There's also a Japanese section for your usual dose of sushi. There are also some drinks available, including beer on tap! Each table has 4 small electric stoves for each person for the soup, and a large grill in the middle. The waiter will ask you for your own soup preference for your shabu shabu: 

"We chose Laksa and Seafood!"

One major turn-off for the grill is that the longer you grill food, the oil accumulates and eventually becomes a deep-frying grill. They just replace the parchment paper in the middle, so the oil still remains in the grill. A little technique is to ditch the butter they provide the grill with. Let the pork sweat that oil for you!

We already had it changed twice

The dessert bar was kind of disappointing for me since I'm a huge sweet tooth, there were at least 3 variants of panacotta, mousses ,and brownies to choose from, and there was ice cream (magnolia) and halo halo available. No cakes! The sadness. 

Similar to Viking's desserts

Ice cream Bar

We didn't get to check the bathroom if it was a 10/10, but we have good faith that it's clean and has a bidet. Our overall experience was great since the waiters, as well as the managers, were very attentive! We had no hard time to ask for grill changes or asking for more soup, they try to take all the empty plates off your table as well. We can't say about how fast they do refills though, there weren't much guests since it was a Tuesday. We would recommend this for seafood lovers and shabu shabu lovers as well because you get to brew your own pot of goodness! Some branches might have had some bad reviews, but the SM North Edsa Branch is worth going to!

1 - lowest, 5-highest

ADULT RATE

Adult Weekday Lunch - 588

Adult Weekday Dinner - 688

Saturday, Sunday and Holiday - 688

KIDS RATE

Kids Below 3ft - FREE

Kids 3ft to 4ft - 188

Kids 4ft to 4’6 ft - 388

SENIOR CITIZEN RATE

60-74 y/o - 20% special discount

75 y/o and above - 50% special discount

WING BITES: UNLIMITED WINGS AND RICE

Wing Bites in 2F Torre De Santo Tomas

DISCLAIMER: We judge based on our own criteria!

The unli-chicken wings craze is still very much alive when it comes to students who are on a tight budget. Especially if it's PHP 215 for unlimited wings and rice and with over 9 flavors to choose from! Wing Bites is a good place to satisfy this chicken wing craving! They also have a PHP 299 deal for unli wings and rice with bottomless iced tea. Sweet! Lucky for them, we were craving for the delicious taste of deep-fried wings today.

Wing Bites shares their space with Sbarro

Wing Bites is located 2F THE ONE, Torre De Santo Tomas, España, Sampaloc, Manila. They had no available parking areas around the building as it was inside a dormitory for students, but it is an easy location to commute to as it stands in front of UST along España! Jeepneys (going to Kalaw, Pier 15, Quiapo from north, and SM Fairview, Welcome Rotonda, Project 2-3, Project 6, and Project 8 from south), uvs, and buses are accessible in order to commute to Torre De Sa to Tomas. The space was a little small especially if you're accommodating a lot of hungry students, the setting was like a food court since it was an open dining area, but they have some long tables set-up near their stall which makes it easy for their staff to cater to your hungry needs. You have to pay for the deal upon ordering, and we had to pay fast because students were coming in quick, and it takes a while for them to cook and serve the chicken. Their staff is very attentive when it comes to your customer needs, they quickly gave us our own pair of plastic gloves and our bone bucket, the rice was served after shortly as well but we had to wait for a couple of minutes for the chicken wings. Their staff was accomadating so we had no trouble asking for our next batch! 

Dining Area for Wing Bites

The real reason we came here was for the highlight of their menu, the chicken wings! 

From Left to right: Blazing Hot, Classic Buffalo, Sweet Sriracha, Honey BBQ

For your PHP 215 deal, it's affordable for the common unli-chicken wings and rice, what's great about ish they had 9 flavors to choose from: 
- Blazing Hot
- Classic Buffalo
- Honey BBQ
- Mango Rojo
- Parmigiano
- Maple Mustard
- Soda Pop
- Sweet Sriracha

- The Zing

We didn't get to try all of them, but the Classic Buffalo and Sweet Sriracha was a favorite. The Sweet Sriracha wasn't too spicy, while the Blazing Hot stood up to its name! They didn't coat the wings with the sauce like others usually do, they just poured it over the chicken which made the flavor unevenly spread on the wings. For most, they put the wings on a tray like in the picture, which made the sauces kind of mixing in together. 

NOTE: the Honey BBQ has a watery sauce so it will get mixed with the other flavors.

The wings weren't too small and had a good crunch on them when you bite into it! It wasn't really greasy as well! That's a plus point! But one thing we noticed was that the chicken seemed to have a few unplucked hairs (or feathers) on them, which kind of turned us off, but nevertheless, the wings were tasty fine! The coating on the chicken wasn't too thick and the wings weren't dry, so when you bite it you still get a juicy flavor on it that satisfies the taste buds. Wing Bites truly is an affordable find especially for students!