Sumo Sam, The Sumo Master of Deception

*jonokuchi (序の口) is The lowest division of Sumo Wrestlers, Sam must be one.

**To Sumo Sam and to the ones who still enjoy eating there, this is your wake up call.

Imagine being held hostage, your kidnappers asking for a huge ransom. As you gulp down your food, measly in terms of both quality and quantity, you feel a profound sense of bitterness since you know you’ll be surrendering wads of your hard-earned cash to criminals who can’t even feed you a decent meal. If you’re having difficulty imagining the scenario, I have a suggestion that will help: Have a meal at Sumo Sam. The experience is no different. 

PINOnterya

Saturday night brought us to Pino, a new Filipino restaurant along Jupiter St. The place gave me a vibe similar to that of Café Romulo, one of my favorite "new" Filipino restaurants around. 

An Impostor of the Other: An NWE Special

Sizzlin' Pepper Steak and Pepper Lunch, here in Manila, have almost entirely the same restaurant concept. It’s not hard to assume that these two are just sides of the same coin, just like I did. But after getting to try both, I was convinced otherwise. I really enjoyed only one of these two. And the other? Not Worth Eat. Which one of them? Read to find out. 

I present to you my thoughts on these two restaurants and which of the two, I believe, is Not Worth Eat in my very first
NWE Versus Feature... Enjoy!

North Park Goes South

Price, almost every time, dictates taste and quantity. It is unfair to expect 5-star-quality food from a medium-priced restaurant. However, the dishes from North Park, while affordable, are just unimaginably bad. My family used to be regulars at the place, and for some reason I forgot, we stopped eating there. Well, the night my friends and I decided to get something to eat there served as my disastrous reminder. 

Johnny Rockets

We decided to have our Sunday afternoon snack at Johnny Rockets at the New Eastwood Mall. The mall has a rather interesting weekend market, which is kind of what brought us there. I had heard mixed reviews about this place, and I thought that it was about time I gave it a try. And as usual, I came with the mindset “no expectations, no disappointments”. 

Thousand Cranes

A random Gong Cha craving brought me and my date to Thousand Cranes at the New Eastwood Mall, what I believe is the “Mecca” of Not Worth Eat Restaurants. We were considering having dinner at Cibo until I felt something terrible in my stomach that made me want to have hot soup for dinner. And where else to get hot soup than in a hot pot restaurant, right? WRONG. Our quick decision led only to disappointed palates and hungry wallets.

Ramen Bad

Ramen shops are everywhere; it's the trend these days, just like those froyo, macaroon, and smokeless-grilling places. With a number of Ramen shops around, there will obviously be good ones and not so good ones. Ramen Bar is one of the latter.

Big Bad Terrible Wolf

Big Bad Wolf at the Fairways Tower at the Fort was our choice for our “Saturdate” night. I had heard and read quite a number of positive raves for this place, which kind of had me expecting a lot from this place. Thank god there was Chez Karine at Serendra for their very luscious pudding that truly saved our gastronomically disappointing dinner date.

State of the Nation: BBQ Republic

"BBQ REPUBIC"

   
    I really feel excited trying out a new place to eat at. BBQ Republic is a newly opened restaurant along Wilson St in San Juan specializing in BBQ items grilled with their "rotating griller". I've tried this restaurant a couple of times with friends and family and at all occassions I felt disappointed. 

Disgus-TEA-ng

TeaTap Cafe, Wilson cor. P. Guevarra St.
San Juan, Metro Manila, Philippines

         The design of TeaTap Cafe is nothing but homey. It sparks a sense of nostalgia that brings me back in my college days wherein I used to study for my exams there, hang out with friends, and as far as I remember we even brought our own cards (Monopoly Deal) and board games to play there! My friends and I used to spend hours and hours on a regular basis but all for the wrong reasons. Wrong as it may seem, I am very willing to pay the price of around Php 100 for every drink and not even think about ordering food as long as I get to hang out in their cozy café. Numerous times I have been there on weeknights and see them packed and I credit it to the place’s laid back feel. However, how the interiors reflect the place does not mean that it goes the same with their food and drinks. I have a really good feeling that people who stay there, just like me (used to), pay for the silence, the added productivity, the elimination of distractions when studying at home but never the food or the milk tea.

What to Expect

      This is how my blog will work. Just like any other food blog, I will be talking about a restaurant, their dishes, rate them as honestly as possible with my own rating system using an unappetizing dish icon,  , a symbol to show how awful my restaurant experience is with the following:

                                    - I will come back but i will need a ton of convincing.

              - Only if someone is celebrating something, but why there?

             - STAY AWAY AT ALL COSTS

   After each entry, I will rate, using this symbol,,the price level, restaurant ambiance, service and more importantly how the food is overall with the following:

 

                                                    - It's actually pretty good 

 

                                             - Satisfactory

                                     - A bit of adjustments would do the trick

                             - Was there any planning done here?

                     - Pray to St. Jude, it's a hopeless case

I will also present at least 3 places which you are better off eating at instead and rate it using stars with the following:

                     - So-so Alternative, but still way way better. 

                -A very good place to eat at instead

  - Best Possible Alternative, prepare for an awesome dining experience.

 

Everything in this blog is based on my opinion and mine alone. I hope that all you readers would respect my opinion as much as I would respect yours. This blog is a bridge from a dream to a very possible reality. With regards to the restaurant scene here in Manila, my dream is to have a multitude of choices to choose from during family bonding on weekends, get together with friends, a typical Saturday date night, special occasions or when we entertain our guests. I want Saturdays and Sundays not to be enough to try new places. It is really about time for the restaurant scene to step up here in Manila. I am here to help.

To share, here are some of the restaurants I really enjoy eating at so you can have a feel of how my palette is (I hope you agree with me):

        Japanese:

Yabu (SM Megamall,  Robinson's Magnolia)

Mangetsu (Jupiter Ave.)

Kikufuji (Little Tokyo)

Kimpura (Greenhills)

        Filipino:

                   Fely J’s (Greenbelt 5)

                   Café Juanita (Bgy. Kapitolyo)

                   Ka Lui (Puerto Princesa, Palawan)

                   21 Restaurant (Bacolod City)

        Chinese:

Summer Palace (Edsa Shang-rila Hotel)

Choi Garden (Annapolis St.)

Hai Kang Seafood Restaurant (Wilson St.)

Tao Yuan (Malate)

         Italian:

                   Aria (The Fort, Station 2 Boracay)

                   Va Bene (EDSA cor. Pasay Rd.)

         Thai:

                   Mango Tree (The Fort)

         Western:

                   Friday’s (Eastwood City)

                   Charlie’s Burger (Bgy. Kapitolyo)

                   Nolita (The Fort)                              

         Brunch:

                   Apartment 1B (Rockwell)

         Dessert:

 The Cake Club by Diamond Hotel (The Fort)

 High and Mighty Pie @ Chili's (Greenhills)

                   Bar Dolci (Burgos Circle)

Not Worth Eat: A guide on which restaurants NOT to try

There are quite a lot of food blogs coming out nowadays. I myself read them to know about new places I could try out during the weekends, confirm how I feel about a certain restaurant or sometimes just to let time pass in an entertaining way. Food blogs usually speak of how awesome restaurants are, how certain dishes of this place are far better than their competition’s or how they would raise their “two thumbs” for this and that new discovery.

What I don’t like about such food blogs though is that they usually only talk about how gastronomically delightful restaurants’ dishes are. Are those blogs realistic? I doubt it. Are there really that many "good-blog-review" worthy restaurants here? It’s practically common knowledge that many (if not most) bloggers are getting paid in cash or in coupons to deliver good reviews for eateries. That’s terrible! Why are these bloggers even blogging!

Bloggers like these should instead try landing jobs in ad agencies where they can gain materially from their writing. Blogging shouldn’t be a business; it’s a medium through which people can respect and share opinions, not a way to get free meals for your friends and family.

I offer my blog as an alternative. Obviously, it’s not for money-making. No one would actually pay not to be on my blog, and besides, they wouldn't know who I am. I’ve chosen to keep this blog anonymous mainly because I think the harassment I’ll attract for writing negative stuff about certain restaurants won’t be worth it. So why write a blog like this at all?

One, I LOVE to eat! Over the years, I think I’ve developed a palate capable of distinguishing good food from bad. Two, I love to try new places. I like the fact that restaurant concepts from abroad are making their way here be it through international franchises or similar-themed eateries opening at the Fort, Greenbelt or wherever. Three, I hate it when restaurants serve subpar food at par prices, which is better known to me as a “highway robbery”. It really sucks to see profit-driven fake restaurateurs who are easily blinded by the fame and fortune of the business and forget the true key factors to opening a good restaurant: food, environment, service and cost.

Everyone in the food business should know that a good bang for their customer’s buck means more return customers, which in turn means more profit. Entrepreneurs who do not believe in this are, ironically, now my primary source of strength for writing this blog. Because of them, I’m now excited not only to be awed by a restaurant but also to be disappointed by it.

So I present to you Not Worth Eat: A guide on which restaurants NOT to try. Happy reading, and prepare to be de-appetized! Don't tell me I didn't warn you…