Valentine's 2014 at Cafe 1771

I never fancied myself as a romantic. Although I do love rom-coms. I also used to write killer love letters (for others mostly) and may have penned tens of poems through the years. But I do think it's just the 'artist' in me trying to express myself on a common topic which is romance.

However, I do like doing things for people that I care for. I don't do it everytime, but I try to do them when it matters.

During our first decade of being together, Valentine's always meant sending flowers to Chea. The last few years however, found me passing on the flowers, and just having dates. Ever since getting married, we had to sacrifice a few things to make our finances work. So instead of splurging on flowers, we spent the money on dinner.

Those times, we just decide on which restaurant to go to after we meet up after work. With all the restaurants in Metro Manila, you won't run out of places to have dinner. This year, however, I wanted to pick a fancy restaurant for our Valentine's date. And since the fancy ones might be fully booked during that date, I decided to pick one and make a reservation in advance.

I'm not as up to date when it comes to restaurants as compared to Chea. So I played it safe by choosing Cafe 1771. It's a known fancy restaurant in Ortigas. And since it's not in Makati, we won't worry too much about the Valentine's Day traffic.

So about two weeks from Valentine's Day 2014, I placed a call to Cafe 1771 in El Pueblo and made a reservation. They asked for my name, number and email address so they can send me the menu.

They also asked me which time I'd like to reserve as they had two batches: 6pm and 8pm. I chose the latter as Chea would be coming from Makati and being the second batch we wouldn't be in a hurry to finish our dinner.

I got the email later in the day, and found them to be a bit pricey. The menu was different from their regular fare, which are actually affordable, so it kinda surprised me. With their prices for Valentine's, I could afford some of the more expensive eat-all-you-can restos in town. But then again, i don't think a buffet dinner is what you'd call romantic.

A few days before February 14, I got a call from Cafe 1771 confirming the reservations. And I got a text again on the day itself regarding a 15-minute waiting period, or they'd give away our table.

I was anxious the entire day of the 14th, hoping Chea would like my choice of Cafe 1771. I told her the previous day that I made a reservation for dinner but didn't tell her where we'd have it. So it's a surprise.

A quarter to 8pm, I headed to Cafe 1771 as Chea was still at Pioneer, so I could make it in time and they wouldn't give away our seats. I arrived a few minutes before 8pm, checked in with the receptionist. They got my name wrong, fortunately, no one came along having the same misspelled name.

I got ushered to the second floor, which was the Wine Bar. I waited for Chea for a few minutes. She then texted me saying she was looking for somewhere to park. I replied and asked her to meet me in front of Cafe 1771.

I went down and saw her getting of her car parked beside McDonald's El Pueblo. I went to her, and walked her back up to our table at the Wine Bar. Our seat was at the center of the usually closed off area of the Wine Bar. Since they were expecting a lot of patrons, they opened up the area for diners.

Most of the tables were taken by couples, although some were taken up by groups. I actually felt under dressed with my long sleeved button up shirt and jeans as some of the guys wore coats. Good thing one or two guys, who looked like college students, only had cotton tees and jeans, so I guess I'm doing ok.

The lights were dim, and they had candles on the table, so the ambiance was pretty nice. Most of the diners were drinking wine, but Chea and I never really got into wine drinking so we went with water and a fruit shake.

Chea ordered the tiger prawns while I ordered the lamb. Both cost more than 1,000 pesos each but they were among the cheapest in the menu.

We waited for a while so we chatted. There was a girl playing the guitar by the windowsill and she was pretty good. I wish I could play the guitar that well.

A bit later, the food came. And they were delightful. I won't say that they're worth every peso, but they're good enough that you'd forget the expenses while you're savoring each bite.

The tiger prawns were big and tasted great. The lamb was all meat. I never liked some of the lamb dishes I ate before since they're often fatty. But this one kinda erases all my previous bad impressions.

Chea ordered a dessert, which actually came with a promo. They take instant pictures of you and you get to keep the picture. At least we didn't have to ask somebody to take a picture of us with our phone anymore.

Damnit. The image keeps getting flipped.

We were finished in a little over an hour. So after paying the bills, we went home.

Happy 39th Anniversary Mama and Papa! A dinner at Nuezca Cafe

March 1, 2014 is the 39th anniversary of my parents. We didn't have anything planned, so I was thinking of just having dinner somewhere with my parents.

Chea and I wanted to take Thirdy out for the day. My mom wanted to come along with my dad and visit my brother at the columbarium first before going to wherever we decided to drive off to.

I was thinking of somewhere were there were a few animals and fishes that Thirdy could look at. The first thing that popped into my mind was something like Bioresearch at the malls which I mentioned to Chea.

Since it was already nearing midday, my mom wanted us to have lunch at home and head out after that. So after lunch, Thirdy and I had a short nap and we woke up at about 2pm.

We then headed out to the Garden of the Divine Word columbarium. Chea told me she was thinking of heading to Tiendesitas since they had several pet shops there. I thought it was a brilliant idea since we haven't been there for years, except for the couple of times we dropped by Fun Ranch.

So after the trip to the columbarium, we headed straight to Tiendesitas. After arriving, we entered the building fronting SM Hypermarket. I don't remember this building being there before.

Turns out it's the new Tiendesitas Arcade which housed a bazaar. It has 3 levels of shopping, mostly apparels, a few furniture shops, and a few food stalls like the seems-to-be-everywhere Famous Belgian Waffles (I love their waffles).

My dad usually doesn't like to roam around malls so he opted to sit in one the few seats available on the ground floor. My mom went to the ATM while Chea, Tita Fe, Thirdy and I, decided to check out the stores in all 3 floors.

They have cute t-shirts

There were quite a number of shops selling clothes and I was sorely tempted with a particular shirt at The TShirt Project. It was being sold for 499 pesos. It looks fun to wear, but I'm turning 36 so I'm not sure if it's still appropriate for me.

I love the tv show so I love this shirt too.

There was another store selling authentic looking bags and accessories. They had several Michael Kors bags which they sold at around 8,000 pesos. So if you're not into ordering online or meeting online sellers for authentic (or not so authentic for some cases) bags sold at around 1,000 - 2,000 pesos less, you won't go wrong with this particular shop since they have a physical store you can go back to.

After that, we went back down, and found my dad all by his lonesome reading something on his tablet. He said my mom went around to buy something. So again, Chea, Tita Fe, Thirdy and I went out of the Arcade into the open area of Tiendesitas which housed the food establishments.

Having dinner here entered my mind. But it was hot and everything looked cramped compared to the first few years of Tiendesitas when the tables looked well spaced. So I banished the idea and we headed straight to the pet shops.

All of the pet shops were now occupied. Most of the shops were selling dogs and cats. Personally, I've been wanting to get a mini schnauzer, a chow chow, or a chinese sharpei, in that order. Maybe someday. There were only a couple which sold fishes. I was in the lookout for a ready made aquarium since I've been wanting to have one at home. I was thinking of getting a small one to start me off, and just get a custom setup a few years down the line.

There were a lot of pet owners there too, so we saw a lot of pets being groomed. Thirdy seemed to have enjoyed himself seeing all the pets. After a few minutes of looking around, we then headed to Fun Ranch.

It was a bit of a walk, with the other half of Tiendesitas (the one fronting Fun Ranch) undergoing renovation. Based on the tarpaulins covering the place, they're setting up a bigger space for the pet shops.

Eerily quiet. Just kidding.

Where are the rulers?

We got to Fun Ranch at a little past 5:20pm. It seemed pretty empty, with only a few kids and parents around. The center area which used to be packed with parents wanting to get some rest, only had about two families there.

Just a few people here.

You can rent this place for your parties

Chea and Tita Fe changed Thirdy's diapers first at their comfort rooms. We then headed towards the Playdium hoping to have Thirdy run around for a few minutes.

Thirdy after the diaper change.

When we got there, it was pretty full. All of the seats for the guardians outside the play area was taken. And the play area itself looked pretty packed. I'm actually concerned about sending my two year old boy in there. Looks like a battlefield.

Checking out the playdium.

There wasn't any signage regarding the rates so Chea had to ask one of the employees. She said that the shortest was 1 hour. I said that was too long, since we were planning to start dinner at 6 pm. The lady then said we could try half an hour. Again, I felt that it was a bit too long as it was really late. I felt 15 minutes would be enough for Thirdy at that time of the day. Unfortunately, they didn't offer 15 minute rates.

I thumbed down the idea, so Chea decided to take Thirdy for a ride at the Carousel. Fortunately, Thirdy enjoyed the short ride. I think it was about 5 minutes long. Thirdy was waving at the crowd as the carousel turned.

Thirdy enjoying himself.

After that, we walked back to the Arcade and met up with my parents. We decided to go to Nuezca Cafe on Maginhawa Street in QC as my mom looked it up on the internet after learning about it in a TV show.

We arrived at the place at a little before 7pm so it was just perfect for dinner. It's easy to miss, as we pass by the area quite often and I never really notice it.

The menu.

The restaurant is on top of an elevated area so you have to climb a few steps to get to it. The signage outside is also a bit higher than your normal view from inside a car so you might miss it.

There is no dedicated parking, so you'll have to park along the street. The length of the establishment can squeeze in about 3 cars, front to end. After that you'd either park across the street, or double park beside the first set of cars.

Once up the stairs, there's an outdoor garden, with about three sets of tables. Inside the restaurant, there's about 6 or so tables on the first floor. I didn't notice if there's a second floor though.

Yep. Looks like they have a second floor.

The bigger table outside was already filled by a group of people, while inside there was one that's occupied by a couple.

Thirdy looking all mean.

We sat at the window, beside the kitchen. On the far end from where we were sitting was the bar with the TV mounted near the ceiling.

The kitchen.

The bar.

Looking at the menu, it looked a bit on the inexpensive range in prices. Most of the orders were around 200 pesos, with a few near 300 pesos. But, if you decide to order their Rice toppings, you'd be glad to know that those cost around 95 pesos only.

We ordered the Laing (190 pesos), Crispy Tawilis (90 pesos), Chicken Sisig (250), Sinigang na Salmon (240 pesos), and the Organic Bacon Carbonara (195 pesos). We ordered rice (4pcs at 45 pesos each), avocado shake (110 pesos) for Thirdy, and a bottomless iced tea for me (75 pesos).

Avocado shake.

My iced tea came first along with the avocado shake. So the next few minutes, we tried feeding Thirdy the avocado. He was interested with the first few spoonfuls but ignored the rest after.

Laing Love

Four servings of rice in one bowl.

The laing then came along with the rice and the Crispy Tawilis. Since I was hungry, I started eating already.

The rice was pretty good. It was soft and easy to chew. The laing was pretty great. If you didn't crush the big green chili (Siling Mahaba), it's not that spicy at all. It had chunks of something in there, which might be taro or something else. Still, it was pretty great.

The not so crispy tawilis.

The crispy tawilis wasn't really crispy. It was covered slightly with some batter, so there wasn't really any crisp to it. The dip was good. It was sweeter than it was sour. Still, since the tawilis is small, you wouldn't really be happy about it especially if you're hungry.

The menu didn't say sizzling, so take it's word for it!

The chicken sisig was creamy and a bit spicy. It had chopped chilis in it, both red and green. Also, the plate wasn't scorching hot, as there wasn't any sizzle, and the raw egg on top of it, didn't cook quickly enough even when it touched the plate directly. It's probably to prevent the chicken from getting burnt and cause smoke. The chicken was soft, and the dish was creamy.

Sinigang na Salmon na hindi maasim.

As for the sinigang Salmon, it had about one salmon head, split into two. Not too much meat in there. The soup was thick, but it wasn't that sour. It actually tasted bitter. So I wouldn't recommend that.

Carbonara.

The carbonara was ok. It came with what looked like focaccia although I might be mistaken. The carbonara had bacon in it, which didn't look fried. It looked like it was cooked along with the sauce, as it was pale white and wasn't crunchy. It was soft and felt like it had more fat than meat.

My mom paid for the dinner after. Her complaint was despite that 3 of us were senior citizens, the total discount was only about 50 pesos. Even if you don't count the carbonara (which was Chea's), the iced tea, the avocado shake, and one of the rice, then total everything that's left, and divide that by 5 (there was 5 of us), and then multiply that by 3 (the seniors), the total should still be around 80 pesos.

Some restaurants would just total everything and apply the discount on the total bill and not bother with trying to divvy everything up.

Anyway, if you want to have a quiet dinner without a big crowd, and want to be a bit far from the usual busy places, this is a good place to go to. But personally, I don't think I'd go out of my way to go here to have a meal.