Michi Photostory

Since we only stayed for 2 days and 1 night we only tried 3 restaurants for our lunch, dinner, and breakfast. 

After our Heritage Tour, we immediately went to Kusina ni Nanay Maria for our lunch. This is where we ate our lunch too when we had our Day Trip at Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar but now, they have a separate venue for day-trippers. 

I was a little bit sad because the menu has changed already, akala ko kasi maoorder ko yung dating kinain namin. Hehehe! Kusina ni Nanay Maria offers Filipino dishes that are good for singles and families. For family combos, they offer 4 sets that are good for 4 persons but we are a group of 6 so we decided to order, a la carte na lang. 

There are only few options, we ordered Lechon Carajay PHP710, Kare-Kare PHP780, Pinakbet PHP490, Laing PHP380, Rice PHP75 per cup, and Softdrink in Can PHP125. 

We waited for more than 30 minutes before our food was served and I was surprised when I saw the serving, konti lang pala so I was thinking kung kakasya ba sa amin. Buti nagkasya naman. We were satisfied with the taste of the food but we were shocked that their version of Laing is different, walang gata? 

For our dinner, we are choosing between Cafe del Rio or La Bella Teodora but we chose the latter because it is near. We just finished watching the Cultural Show at Paseo de Escolta, so malayo ang Cafe del Rio. 

La Bella Teodora is named after Teodora Alonzo because it is beside Casa Biňan. This restaurant serves Italian food like brick-oven pizzas, pasta, grilled meat, and seafood. There is also an acoustic band here where you can also request a song.

Browsing the menu is hard, madilim kasi yung restaurant so we need to use our phone flashlight pa para lang makita namin. The rate of the food is more expensive compared to Kusina ni Maria, good thing na mahina kami kumain kapag dinner. Just like the quote “Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper” 

We ordered Margherita Pizza PHP630, Insalata Mista PHP450, Carbonara PHP695, Braciola Di Maiale PHP850, and Azimut Sparkling Wine PHP965. While waiting for our food, they served complimentary bread. 

It was already past seven so I really appreciate their fast service, mas mabilis ang serving ng food dito.

But I was a little bit disappointed with the Braciola Di Maiale because according to the menu “Grilled Pork Chops with Italian Herbs and homemade Mashed Potatoes”. So in my mind, 2 pieces of pork chops just like the pork chops that I ordered at Apartment 1B, 2 pieces of porkchops na magkapatong. But I was wrong because there is only one pork chop so the PHP850 is good for one person lang pala. 

The buffet breakfast starts at 7AM pero wala pa 7AM ang dami ng tao sa labas ng Binondo Hall. I overheard other guests na sobrang late daw ng 7AM breakfast, hindi sanay ang mga working people and senior citizens. I am not surprised because the breakfast time was also too late for us na sanay sa 5:30AM breakfast especially since I have a student na maaga pumapasok. 

Anyway, the door was opened at exactly 7AM so the guests were all happy. I was excited about the buffet breakfast but unfortunately, the options are very limited. Imagine for the main viands, tuyo and sweet longganisa lang ang options. 

Enumerating the buffet spread during our trip. 

Fruits 

Salad 

Homemade Potatoes 

Plain Rice 

Pansit Bihon 

Tuyo 

Sweet Longganisa 

Congee 

Lomi Soup 

Waffles 

Scrambled Egg 

Sunny Side Up Egg 

Boiled Egg 

Bread 

Biko 

Lansong Mais 

Puto Cheese 

Melon Juice 

Watermelon Juice 

Coffee 

I am thankful for the scrambled egg and sunny side up egg, may naulam ako. So if you plan to go here, don’t expect too much sa buffet breakfast. Nabusog naman ako sa kakanin.