Panciteria Lido

One of our favorite Chinese restaurants along West Ave., QC is the Panciteria Lido. Lido boasts of a pancit recipe that dates back to the Commonwealth period. Uh-hum, we just had to try that. It's called 'chami' but it's really like a pancit lomi minus the soup. It's delicious .... taste like ... pancit, what else :-) Not really eathshakingly delicious, but better than most of the pancits we've tasted.

And since Andy and I are both tofu lovers, we can't resist the mapo tofu. But the mapo tofu we're accustomed to is the spicy type - Lido's version is bland to our taste. (We had to mix the mapo tofu with soy sauce and chili sauce to get the taste we're looking for).

The fish fillet in soy sauce is Geof's favorite (as expected). To be fair, it was soft and tasty. The sauce is salty and sweet - very similar to the taste of oyster sauce, but I guess the leeks is what creates the distinct taste.

The resto also boast of the pork/chicken asado that we have yet to taste. And also the kuapao accompanied with pork.

For dessert, we tried the mango-like cake that really looks yummy in the menu-picture. To my dismay, it was just a refrigerator cake that I ususaly prepare at home.

But in all, Lido remains one of our fave Chinese resto this side of town.

Panciteria Lido is located at the Westlife Arcade, West Ave., QC. Food price is between P150 - P300.

Geof's Food Humor

Our son, Geoffrey loves to read the humor sections like Laughter the Best Medicine, All in a Day's Work, etc. of the Reader's Digest. So Sometimes, he invents his own funny and corny jokes. Here are two of his original jokes which are related to food.

Joke No. 1. Along Katipunan Ave. infront of Ateneo and Mirriam, you will observe vendors selling Japanese corn. Probably Geof was reminded by the Japanese corn being sold near his school, so one day he asked us a witty question.

Geof: Mommy, do you know what the Japanese corn said to the American corn when they met one sunny day?

Mommy: Hmmmm. What?
Geof: Cornichiwa!
Joke No. 2: Geof' and his little sister, Julia love eating Nestle's Koko Krunch. They eat them like chips and sometimes mixed with milk. One morning, during breakfast, Geof suddenly asked a question.

Geof: Mommy, do you know who killed Koko Krunch?
Mommy: Hmmmm.... the hunters? ???
Geof: Nope!
Mommy: Hmmm. Who?
Geof: The CEREAL Killer!

The photo shows Julia in shades. She loves Koko Krunch cereals. I guess she is the Cereal Killer. And the babies? - they looked so cute and innocent. How would you suspect that they killed Koko Krunch? This is a mission for Cerelac Holmes. (This one's mine)

A Taste of Singapore

I was intrigued by the comment of Anthony Bourdain when, as a judge in Top Chef, he declared to the contestant who prepared a dish in the "quickfire" challenge (that is, food prepared in either 15 or 30 mins), "I am very serious with my Laksa." I had to look it up: what is a "laksa?"

To my delight, Laksa is among the specialty dish prepared in a new restaurant in Timog called Nasi Lemak. The resto is owned by a Malaysian married to a Filipina. A restaurateur for many years in Malaysia (according to him), he decided to put up the resto in Manila because he noticed that most of our food have artificial flavorings. He wanted to offer an alternative resto that serves authentic Singaporean food without the additives.

We have visited this resto twice, and have not been dissappointed. The signature appetizer, Kueh Pai Ti (Prawns, root vegetables. Chinese lumpia in a crispy shell. ) is similar to a fried dumpling, but tastes a lot better. The satay pork and chicken are also very tasty, and I love the sauce! The rotti (which is like a pita bread but has the consistency of a croissant) is soft and chewy, and really goes well with the peanut sauce.

And of course, my new fave, the Laksa! Now I know why Anthony Bourdain is serious about his Laksa! It is a soupy concoction of coconut milk, lemon grass, tiger shrimps, basil leaves, togue, squid balls, and topped with egg slices. The taste is a little similar to Thai's tom yang but milder. Because it is not too spicy and has a tinge of sweetness, you feel like you can't get enough while eating it. Yum!!

Nasi Lemak, located at the Thompson's Square (corner T. Morato and A. Roces Ave., QC), prides itself of authentic Singaporean food without MSG.

UPDATES: Nasi Lemak has moved to Robinson's Galleria, Ortigas Center.

A Tribute to Cory

We pay tribute to our beloved president, Corazon "Cory" Aquino. We support her advocacies of promoting people empowerment, peace and human rights. We admire her moral leadership and her sincere service to the people.

We paid our final respects to our great leader and mother of the nation during the wake and funeral procession. Here are images of our tribute to Tita Cory.

Paalam at Maraming Salamat.

Ituloy ang Laban ni CORY!