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We decided to try out the Midas Hotel's restaurant a few weeks ago. Partly due to curiosity, partly due to the desire for a hotel buffet eating binge. Getting a big discount coupon from an online outfit pretty much sealed the deal. At almost half off, why not give it a shot?

The hotel is located along Roxas Boulevard, near the intersection from EDSA. A good spot for tourists, as they can get a nice faceful of Manila Bay sunset daily (barring the weather that is). Parking is a bit of an issue; the outside parking spaces were all full by dinnertime. The inside was all sparkly and new, but it did feel a bit cramped for some reason. Probably because the building's a little on the petite side. There's a casino somewhere in the hotel, and a bunch of restaurants as well. We only got to try the Midas Cafe tonight, because that's where the buffet was.

We signed up our account on Zomato.com the same day we created a blogger account. We wanted to share our gustatory adventures with people and Zomato, with it's clean design, witty remarks, and the big picture of different food items, was our first choice. After a few months of using the site and the app, here's what we've got to say.

Continuing our shabu-shabu tour, here now is Ganso Shabuway (in Greenbelt 5). Back in the day, we always just passed by this place wondering what the food was like (then ending up getting drawn into the Pepper Lunch nearby). When we finally got the chance, I had a cold; had to wait for another visit to do a proper review :)

Think of the place as a more "high brow" version of Tong Yang, minus the buffet. You've got your soup base in the middle, and then you can order the stuff you dunk into said soup. You can choose between a spicy or a more plain soup, or both like we did. The plain flavor (I think it was seaweed based?) had a very light flavor to it. A little too light for us, which is why we preferred the spicier soup. It had a nice blend of chili and garlic flavor in it that really warms you up. I remember the first time we were here, even if I couldn't really taste the soup, I could feel some chili-induced pain on my tongue :D. Ganso Shabuway also has some chopped leeks, chopped garlic and chili sauce on the side, as well some Ponzu sauce (fancy Japanese word for toyo-mansi) and a creamy, almost peanut-buttery tasting sauce. A nice contrast between the two meat dipping sauces.

One rainy day we visited the famous Wrong Ramen at the Burgos Circle. We've heard plenty of buzz surrounding this place so we decided to finally give it a try.

The place is actually quite small (or cozy, as some people say). The upper floor was closed off that day so we could only see the first floor. There's space for about 6 people in front of the kitchen/counter area, plus maybe 3 or 4 more people along the windows. The tables have little wooden walls (a few inches tall) between each diner's area; kind of reminded me of taking an exam. There's a lot of quirky things going on in the store, take these salt and pepper shakers for instance. I'll leave it to you to find the other things in there, because there's a lot of things to see. The place really made me feel as if a young-ish yuppie/hipster designed the interior. And not to mention the menu (which has quite a bit of witty writing in it).

Katsu restaurants seem to be sprouting up everywhere nowadays. Happy days for us :). But for these eateries, it's getting harder and harder to stand out in the crowd. It'll take a certain "something more" for a katsu place to really leave it's mark. Enter one such place, Saboten. Located in the upscale confines of Serendra (in BGC), the place provides a neat and peaceful venue for a date or small gathering. They even have a pebble-lined walkway from the door to the first few tables - very Zen-like. Oh, and they serve real green tea! Not that rice tea stuff everybody else gives out - let's be honest, that rice tea tastes like the washings of a rice cooker that had loads of burnt rice on it.