When Changing Plans is a Good Thing

Ron and I decided to move our weekend plans around and go on a brunch date a couple of weekends ago. We tried a new place (to us!) called Cafe Maji. I've been wanting to visit a place with this kind of interior for so long and even though it took us a year and a half to discover, this one is only 0.6 miles away from our house.

The drinks were amazing, however, the bulgogi quesadilla was a little meh. I'll try a sandwich or the banana nutella waffle next time. My iced espresso was super strong, I had to ask for milk--this is a good thing though! As you can see, presentation of everything was very pretty and did it's job of making the food appetizing. The free wifi is a plus even though we did not use it. We'll definitely be back!

And now some blog love:
Hey Sabrina Faith | Zipped Blog | Becoming Adorrable | A Dash of Details

Linking up with:
September Farm | Meet at the Barre | All the Joys

SushiStop [Pasadena, CA]

We've walked by SushiStop a lot of number of times before as we walked up and down Colorado Blvd in Old Town Pasadena. Ron and I LOVE that town. There are always cute dogs, nice people, Zara and Urban Outfitters. Oh and great food choices. They have everything from cheap to too-expensive-for-us. One starving afternoon weekend, we decided to give SushiStop a try and man were we happy we did! With plates starting at $2.75 each, we and our pockets couldn't pass up the place!

Our tummies were about to explode towards the end of the meal, Ron's was worse but I was seriously pretty stuffed! We're a big fan of places where you are able to try a number of different things without having to break the bank and without ending up with a week's worth of meals from leftovers.

Will I come back to this place? Definitely but we'll remember to try another roll instead of ordering a rice bowl.

^Eel Avocado

^Tempura Udon Pt. 1

^Tempura Udon Pt. 2

^Crunch California Roll

^Volcano Roll

^Dynamite Roll

^Baked Salmon Roll

^Chicken Teriyaki Bowl

The Honeymoon Cafe [Houston, TX]

I have found my new favorite breakfast place there’s one catch though—it’s in Houston! On our way to getting lost further in downtown Houston in search of a place to brunch, we found this French café and decided to try it. The named sounded familiar then I remembered bookmarking it on Yelp under my to-try list in Houston. The place did not disappoint. Everything was delicious and the quaint ambiance made the place perfect for my last meal with J and C in Houston...for now.

I see C!

Breakfast BLT with a sunny side up egg that I ate with a knife and a fork.

French Toast. J ordered this one and it tasted like one of my most favorite Filipino desserts, saba con yelo. It was spectacular.

Smoked Salmon with Poached Egg. This was equally as yummy as it looks. 

C's cup of joe. 

Find them on Yelp here!

Phil's BBQ (II)

If you follow me on Instagram and/or Twitter, you might have seen that we went to San Diego this past weekend. Ever since we've tried Phil's BBQ back in summer, we made a promise to ourselves that it will be our first stop every time we visit. Phil's BBQ has a taste I truly crave and I don't think anything else can satisfy my craving for it. We didn't get our hungry eyes take over our order decisions this time so we got a Beefy Rib and Chicken combo and a Beefy Rib Tickler. As expected, the meat was almost off the bone and chewing became an option. Haha!

(Click to Enlarge)

Beef Tickler: coleslaw, 2 colossal onion rings, french fries and one beef rib.

Beefy Rib and Chicken Combo: a choice of two small sides or one large side, two beefy ribs and  chicken.

We spent less than $30 for all of this and that includes a drink. I would have ordered a side of onion rings but I am pretty sure we won't finish the entire order.

Pasadena Playhouse District

Here's an area we definitely want to explore more...particularly the restaurants around it. #foodieforlife! Hahaha! After lunch at Urth Caffe, we walked around the block (quite literally) and walked by some places that I would love to try.

We will most likely be back. :)

Foodie Adventures: MILK

It appears like I have forgotten to post these marvelous photos. Marvelous because I took them, edited them and mainly because it is all about food. On a more relevant note, like I said on Instagram, I take whatever I said back. MILK is an awesome place. You can find it in Central LA, only a few miles from LACMA...and across the street from Buzzfeed and Blick Art Store.

Attack.

Banana Dulce De Leche Ice Cream

Chocolate Chip Cookie with Walnuts

The Grasshopper: Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Macaron

Phil's BBQ, San Diego CA

Being second in line is not bad when you're in line for Phil's. We got there at around 10:30am and we were the second group in line. We did not mind the wait at all because we all heard it from other people and now we're saying it too: IT'S WORTH THE WAIT.

The restaurant has a "fastfood system" and with that I mean you would order from the counter and wait for your order to be ready. I'm pretty sure the meats have been in the BBQ hours and hours prior so they'd be easy to prepare.

Photo Cred: Mika

The taste was in the other side of the restaurant spectrum from fast foods though. I got the Beefy Bone and Chicken with a fresh corn on the cob and it was amazing. Like, seriously. The meat was falling off the bone--that goes for both the beef rib and the chicken. I practically pulled the chicken bone out of the leg and showed it to my cousins...who were all as amazed as me. Haha!

Photo Cred: Mika

626 Night Market 2014

Here we are again. My super favorite Night Market is back! This year, we promised to try new things instead of going back to the old ones, except for the stinky tofu and Ron's sugar cane juice! Please excuse the pictures if they're not up to the usual level of clarity, my iPhone's camera is slowly giving out on me. But on the plus side, they don't look too bad! :)

Popping Fishballs

This intrigued me, and I am so happy that Ron ordered food from this place. This place had 4 kinds of popping fishballs; crab eggs, shrimp roe, meat and caviar. I loved everything and this was my favorite out of everything we tried that night.

Squid Roe

Here's the deal, they put a cleaned and cut open squid in a batter and deep-fry it. One order is $5 and Ron and I needed the help of my family, my cousin and our friend to finish it. Haha! It was delicious, and for $5 it was worth a try. The fried batter was perfectly crispy that I would honestly eat it even without the squid...if only it were not made mostly of empty calories.

Green Cube's Stinky Tofu

Unlike last year, this year's deep fried stinky tofu had a more fermented taste to it.The after-taste is much stronger this year. I still enjoyed it though, and their huge serving is such a great value especially when you have friends who are interested in trying that stinky food that you like so much.

Mango Smoothie

I cannot remember what the name of the business is but their smoothie is unique to me because dude, it has beans and mangoes on top. The smoothie under the beans and magoes is made of ice, water, milk and sugar. It tasted like Filipino Halo-Halo but not exactly. Oh, and I also got a scrumptious little pudding for ordering a drink!

Pork Belly Nation

Ron tried this and because I saw the fatty part, I did not want to try it. He said that the meat part was very tender and you won't have to struggle cutting it with your teeth. LOL Will he recommend others to try it? Yes is his answer to that question.

The Paella Artisan

I ordered the Seafood Paella. It did not have the taste I was expecting but it was still great. It had a gumbo-ish taste to it that I thought was good. Ron was not a fan but our friend who finished it for me (because I was so full already haha) loved it.