Papa John's: Open Rice Eat's A Date Event

Marianne was talking about this "Eat's A Date" Event on OpenRice where you'll be able to eat free in a restaurant but you have to blog about the ambiance, service and of course the food. She posted about the said event on our FB group then we (Marianne, Odessa, Christian and Mickaela) decided to go. At first we thought that you can't join the event if you don't have an OpenRice account or blog but you can.

Event: Eat's A Date
Price: Free
Service Charge: Free
Location: 102 Jupiter St., Makati City
Website
Facebook Fan Page

I already ate here before at the UM Mall at Taft where we had the Tuesday Unli Pizza Promo.
The event started at around 6:30pm where Khaezel (organizer) oriented us on what to do on our blogs. We also introduced ourselves to each other and we were able to meet premiere food bloggers.

Place/Ambiance and Service

The place was fine and clean. It was hot on my sit (near the kitchen) and I was sweating. The service was slightly bad because the water refills were slow. The manager gave a little info on the food we were eating which is a good thing.

They also showed us how they make their pizza. It was AMAZING! (haha) Kuya was kneading, turning, rolling, twisting the dough until its shaped into a circle then he puts the toppings and other flavorings.

Food

Fisherman's Catch

Super Papa's

Chicken Bacon Ranch

Butter Dip & Chili The pizza could be in thick or thin crust. The pizza also had a butter dip and chili. The butter dip was delicious. The chili was Papa John's way of making the pizza spicy. The Fisherman's Catch pizza used garlic sauce instead of tomato sauce. It had squids and shrimps on it. I liked Chicken Bacon Ranch more. Super Papa's was Papa John's best seller pizza.

Seafood Carbonara

Meatballs Bolognaise

Diablo Burst Of the three pastas the one that I enjoyed was the Diablo Burst. It had a tolerable spicy taste at first but it disappears. It was very delicious. The Seafood carbonara taste the typical carbonara but instead of meat you have shrimp and squid.

Italian Sodas-Green Apple, Passion Fruit, Pink Grapefruit

Onion Rings, Wedges, Chicken Strips The sides include three dips which are tomato, mayonnaise and bbq sauce. Typical sides, I enjoyed the chicken strips with the bbq sauce.

Chef's Salad This salad had a sour cream sauce included. The sourness of the sauce makes the salad delicious.

Chocolate Cake and Ice Cream The cake and Ice cream was ok.

Freebies After we ate we were given freebies which includes an eco bag, GC of 1 JR Papa Pasta or Pizza and a coke, Notebook and Pen. Yey! Papa John's was very generous to us.

Group Picture with Fellow OpenRicers and Bloggers Overall the experience was fun. Thank you Papa John's and OpenRice for the event.

Ambiance:4/5
Cleanliness:5/5
Service:3/5
Food:4/5

Banchetto Megatent

At last! I was able to eat at Banchetto. I was craving to eat here since last year. Everytime I look at their fan page, I get hungry (haha).

Banchetto has 4 branches in Libis, Ortigas, Mandaluyong and SM Cubao. You could find their locations on their website and fan page. We went to the Banchetto Megatent which is in Ortigas (we walked from SM Megamall to Banchetto haha). We invited a lot of friends but they didn't come.

Date: 1-7-12
Promo: None
Price: P110 + P75 + P250 + P40 +60
Service Charge: None
Location: MERALCO AVENUE,(between Renaissance Towers and the Department of Education building) Pasig City, Philippines
Website
Facebook Fan Page

The place was huge. There were plenty of tents and food stalls. Almost everyone have their own cars (pity us haha). There were plenty of stalls from which you can choose. You need to find first a table before eating. There were pizzas, pasta, lechon, bbq, cakes, etc. Sbarro was also there on Banchetto. We decided to split first and just meet later.

Me, Deus and Edd bought kebab here. There were combo meals were there was a kebab, mashed potato and pasta for P110 or P125.

We bought our drinks here. They used fresh fruits on their shakes. I bought mango and watermelon, Edd bought mango and carrot and Deus bought mango shake.

Pork and Chicken Kebab with Mashed Potato and Mac N' Cheese(P110)
There was nothing special on this kebab, it taste good though (I should have ordered the hungarian haha). The mac n cheese was delicious but it was not warm. It would have been better if it was warm. Mashed potato was also ok.

Hungarian Bacon Wrapped Kebab with Mashed Potato and Mac N' Cheese (P125)
This was better than my kebab. It had sausages wrapped with bacon and also corn.

Mango and Watermelon Fruit Shake (P75)
This was my fruit shake. It was delicious and very healthy because it is made of fresh fruits. It also had tiny bits of mango and watermelon. The mango flavor over powers the whole taste.

Bibimbap
Odessa ordered bibimbap. I'm not really a fan of bibimbap so it taste ok to me.

We bought chicken isaw, pork isaw and betamax which cost P20 each for our second round. The price was quite expensive for me (haha). Taste great specially when mixed with the vinegar sauce.

We also tried the Amburger's Burger (sounds redundant haha).
According to Mark's father, the burger here is very delicious so we tried it out.

The patties were huged.

You can also have your patties in chicken breast buns like KFC's double down. It cost additional P100 or P120.

Amburger's Bacon Mushroom Melt P250
We had the burger sliced into four. The burger was delicious. It had mozzarella cheese on the inside and the patty was grilled. The patty was huge. You can taste the tenderness of the beef for every bite (just typing this make me hungry haha). It was one of the best burgers that I had tasted.

Odessa, Deus and Edd had their cakes which cost P80 each.

Instead of buying a cake I bought shawarma (P60).
It was OK. It had sliced cucumber, beef and onions on it.

Picture with Banchetto's Banner
Banchetto was a good food trip experience, though I spent a lot it was worth it. I was expecting a lot of variety of food but there were few that was new to my eyes. Odessa told me that Mercato was better. I'll judged that when we go there.

Rating: 4/5

Strawberry Cake - Tous Les Jours

Website
Facebook Fan Page

Strawberry Cake

A friend of Ate Melay gave this cake as a Christmas gift to Mama. At first I thought that this was a pillow (luckily i didn't punch it that time haha). A plastic knife and candles were included on the cake. My mom was very excited on the cake that she wanted to have pictures with it (haha) and she was moving will I was taking pictures (haha).

The cake was delicious. It was made entirely made of yogurt. I suggest that you should refrigerate the cake first to have a better taste of the cake and keep the cold because it tends to melt. The red and green color on top gave a sour taste. There were also real strawberries on the middle of the cake which was a good thing.

mama and Ate Melay

I'm not really a fan of cakes but this cake was good and unique. Yogurt lovers would love this cake.

Rating: 4/5

Peanut Butter Company

I got interersted in eating here because all their food has peanut butter on it specially their burger (I love burger haha). This also served as my treat to Odessa for the favor that she had done to me.

Date: I forgot
Promo: None
Price: P380
Service Charge: None
Location: G/F North Parking Bldg. SM Mall of Asia, Pasay City
Website
Facebook Fan Page

The place was small inside and it is self-service. They also have tables outside where you can eat.

I was with Deus, Bea and Odessa. I ordered PB Burger Sandwich (P185), Cold Asian Noodles (P135) and Box of Chips (P60?) without the sauce. Deus also ordered the PB Burger Sandwich and Classic Spaghetti (P135). Bea ordered Roast Beef Sandwich (half- P95?) and Odessa ordered Marshmallow Peanut Butter Sandwich (P135) and Curry Chicken Spaghetti (P?). You can order your pasta in half and whole orders.

Me with PB Burger and Cold Asian Noodles

Deus with PB Burger and Classic Spaghetti

Odessa with Marshmallow Peanut Butter Sandwich and Curry Chicken Spaghetti

Bea with Roast Beef Sandwich

The burger was great. It's not the typical type of burger because it had peanut butter on it which is a new taste. The patty was also grilled and there were also vegetables. The Cold Asian Noodles was indeed cold and nobody wanted to eat it (haha). It had vegetables on it and the sauce was thick. I didn't liked it because it was cold. I should have ordered the Classic Spaghetti or Fish Diablo Pasta. The Classic Spaghetti was delicious. The sauce had peanut butter on it which gave a new taste of spaghetti. The marshmallow peanut butter was also OK and it will mess your face because of the melted marshmallow. The Curry Chicken spaghetti and Roast Beef Sandwich were also OK.

Group picture before eating (Me, Deus, Odessa and Bea)

You can also buy peanut butter jams on their store.

Overall I enjoyed the food. I didn't expect that adding peanut butter on burgers and pastas will turn out to be great.

Photos courtesy of Odessa Galicia

Rating: 4/5

elarZ Pambansang Lechon - Eat All You Can P99

I already ate here alone before on my OJT times at Makati. I was alone because no one wants to accompany me because they were saving their money. I ate at the De La Rosa Street, Makati Branch. At that time I ordered 1/4 Lechon (P170) and two rice. The lechon was very delicious and new. The skin was crunchy. They also served soup with the meal.

Second Time

I saw this promo on their FB fan page (you need to add him first) and I thought that this is a must eat promo. You can enjoy Paksiw na Lechon, Crispy Lechon, and Rice-All-You-Can for only P99 pesos (isn't great?). This promo is only available on Thursdays and Fridays from 5pm to 9pm. So I invited Paulo, Joseph and Deus. We thought that we will not be able to see this branch but luckily we found it. They were telling me that they will punch me and never again accompany me when I invite them to a food trip (haha).

Date: 11-11-11
Promo: Eat All You Can
Price: P99
Service Charge: None
Location: Annapolis Street, Greenhills, San Juan City
Website
Facebook Fan Page

The branch at Annapolis is not air conditioned unlike in the Dela Rosa branch. I can say that the Dela Rosa branch is much better when it comes to the place.

You can see from this picture from the arrows how the Crispy Lechon, Lechon Paksiw and Rice is served. It is self-service, they will just give you a plate then your ready to eat.

I didn't had a good picture because we were very hungry that time. The crispy lechon was fried and tough (makunat). The lechon paksiw taste good, just like a typical lechon paksiw. I was telling them that the lechon used was from last week (haha). You don't expect them to serve newly cooked lechon for the price of P99. The rice was newly cooked. They also served lechon sauce which is a mixture of vinegar and spices. You can also ask for additional rounds of soups if you want. We also bought pinipig ice cream on sticks (P25). We were disappointed because the pinipig was not crunchy :(.

After eating

Group Picture (Deus, Me, Joseph - Paulo took the shot)

Overall we got full and our P99 was sulit.

Rating: 3/5

Johnny Rockets

First Time
My friend, Dancel, told me that the fries are unlimited and the burger is delicious on Johnny Rocket, so it got my interest. It was my first time going to Eastwood and I almost got lost (haha). We were supposed to eat at Sambokojin but I was late because of the overtime on my OJT.

Date: I forgot
Promo: None
Price: P285 + P245 + 10% SC
Service Charge: 10% SC (not sure)
Location: Ground Floor Eastwood Mall Veranda Libis Quezon City
Website
Facebook Fan Page

The place was very vintage looking. The tiles were checkered black and white. You will feel that you were in the 70's or 80's time. The music were all 70's to 80's like Dancing Queen. There was also a jukebox where you can play and select a song by putting a peso. The waiters and waitresses dance on a certain time interval with different dance moves.

We (I, Odessa and Justin) ordered The Original Burger (P285) and Burger Steak (P245). Norman ordered Chicken Tenders (P300+). The lady already served us fries while waiting for our order. We were also asked how our burgers will be grilled. We said well done.

The Original

Burger Steak w/ Odessa
The burger steak was OK. It was served with corn and rice. The Original Burger was delicious. The patties were grilled but they were still reddish and Odessa didn't like it. She was saying that it was under cook but it isn't. Justin didn't even ate his burger because he was too full on the burger steak alone so he just take it out. We even take out fries (lucky haha). Norman was also full on his meal.

Odessa w/ the coupons and free mug
We also danced (I really sucked at that dancing) with the waiters because they will give you a coupon of free unlimited drinks which will be valid on your next visit. It had an expiration of 1 month. We also asked about the freebies. Our bill was P2000+ and luckily they gave us a mug. We decided to give it to Odessa since she was the only girl? (haha).

Group Picture (Norman, Odessa, Justin, Me)
Photos courtesy of Ma. Odessa Galicia

Second Time
Edd and I decided to eat at Johnny Rockets because the free coupons (unli drinks) were going to expire. Odessa, Norman weren't able to come because they were busy so they just gave it to Edd. Justin was supposed to follow us but there was a misunderstanding on the branch. He thought that we were going to the Eastwood Branch (which is near his home) but we went to the Tomas Morato Branch because it is nearer from Mapua.

Date: 11-4-11
Promo: None
Price: P395 + 10% SC
Service Charge: 10% SC (not sure)
Location: No. 205, JR 1 Building, Tomas Morato Ave, beside CKB Center Bldg., Barangay Laging Handa, Quezon City

Outside

The branch at Tomas Morato was better than on Eastwood. The place was bigger and well lighted.

Coupon w/ Edd
I ordered the Bacon Cheddar Single (P395) and Edd ordered St. Louis (P395). We were asked if we want to upgrade our fries to onion rings (add P50) and we said yes. We also presented our coupons for the unli drinks. Edd had coke and I had lemonade. We just exchange drinks time after time (haha).

Jukebox w/ Edd

Freebies
While waiting for our food, we roamed around the restaurant. We took a picture of the jukebox and the freebies. Edd inserted a peso on the jukebox but nothing happened. You should put the peso on the mini jukebox beside your table.

Fries

Onion Rings

Ketchup presented by the waiter

Lemonade

Bacon Cheddar Single

St. Louis w/ Edd
The onion rings were OK. The lemonade was neat. It would have been better if it was sweeter. The Bacon Cheddar Single was delicious though the bun taste like mold or there was something wrong with my taste buds? (haha). Edd said that his burger was delicious. We didn't shared our burger because it looks the same (haha).

We were supposed to have a picture with this lady, unluckily he already changed her clothes and left because her shift was done :( (haha).

The speed of the their internet connection was very fast that Edd even played DotA in Garena and I uploaded the picture right away on Facebook. You can see in this picture the mini Jukebox I'm talking about which is indicated by the red arrow.

Before Leaving
Third Time

I saw this contest on Johnny Rocket's FB fan page. I was disappointed because we didn't have a wacky photo when we ate the first time. I told Odessa, Justin and Norman to just submit a photo because we might won. Luckily there were only five entries and three will be chosen. Then we won! (haha). So we decided to claim the GCs and eat at the same time. Justin asked us if it's ok to take P1000 worth of GC because he will treat his brother. We said ok.

Date: I forgot
Promo: GCs
Price: FREE
Location: Ground Floor Eastwood Mall Veranda Libis Quezon City

Winning Entry

P3000 worth GCs
Norman and I ordered Rocket Double (P495). Justin ordered The Original (P285) and Rockets Wings (forgot the price). Odessa ordered Bacon Cheddar Single with additional mushroom.

Rocket Double

The Original

Bacon Cheddar Single w/ Odessa

Rocket Wings
We asked our patties to be cooked in super well done. The rocket double was huge it had two patties. It was delicious. The rockets wings was small yet spicy. It had a mayonnaise sauce with it and served with rice.

I had my picture with Ate. She looks like RR

Group picture (Norman, Odessa, Justin and Me)
Overall the Johnny Rockets experience was fun. I was able to taste a different kind of burger. I can say that it is one of the best burgers that I had tasted. The unlimited fries was good and most of the time you will get full because of this.

Rating: 4/5