Next Door, Home Depot, Mandaluyong

Well this is just another chinese restaurant that has too spicy chili sauce. The price is reasonable I should say and they do serve cold beer with frozen glass. I would recommend that you try this out. It's simple and it's for the family. I should give this place a 3 to 3.5 only because I think chinese food is really quite oily. Also, chinese food seems to taste the same despite the name of the dish.

This place is really like North Park...

Almon Marina, Megamall

I like this place. I got a pumpkin soup at a very reasonable price of just Php 60, mango shake at Php 65 and a lamb kebab which I think cost about Php 170. This price was really pretty reasonable and very tasty. I would back of course. I give this small restaurant a 3.5 to 4.

The preparation of the food was pretty slow because there was really a lot of customers yesterday evening. I believe it was Valentine's Day.

So Almon Marina has a whole lot of food choices. Old/young, vegetarians/meat eaters, cake lovers would find this place quite satisfying. The food quality is great and considering the good price, I give a 4 out of 5. The food servers are taught well on customer service and they are quite polite.

I suggest you visit it. If ever I go back to Megamall, I'd really consider dropping by here.

Breadtalk, Megamall, Mandaluyong, Manila, Philippines

Breadtalk in Megamall is small compared to Breadtalk Singapore. Surprisingly, now they also serve cakes which are not technically bread but maybe they realized that Filipinos are such sweet-tooth people. They also serve fatty breads like sisig-filled ones. Their cashier was probably having her period when I bought some bread last week. She was quite grumpy :-)

Breadtalk is a fancy food. It's something I will not consider for a regular diet. It's made of white bread, albeit very soft, not very healthy. It's also not cheap. Each piece is around Php 40 to Php 50. Their serving size will not fill your stomach after a few hours work.

Breadtalk offers interesting designs and flavors that might be good for "pasalubong" or gifts... but they stand in close competition to closer alternatives like Donuts.

I'd give Breadtalk around 3, as they have an original concept of self-service in a restaurant. They appear clean and organized as well. Price is quite high and since it is a walk in store, there are no real amenities like a table where you can sit on while enjoying the bread. I'd visit again... but as I recall, last time (other than Jan 22, '08) I bought Breadtalk products was in 2004 when I was in Singapore.

Bubble Tea, Megamall, Edsa, Mandaluyong, Manila Philippines

Over-priced beef stew, flies, outside seating, small servings.
Need I say more?


I guess I do... I would give Bubble Tea credit for it's interesting concept. It's not quite original as I think it's just a modification of the once famous pearl drinks. Bubble tea sells drinks with pearls. They have tea drinks with pearls and fruit drinks with pearls. The cost per drink is quite expensive considering the small plastic glass they put your drink.

They serve meals like beef stew, chicken and cakes (as I remember). You can check out the pictures in blog for more info.

I don't recommend Bubble Tea because it gives me less food than what I think I paid for. The presentation is decent... clean utensils and nice plates. However, you would need to sit outside their store at the basement of Megamall. You'd have not much privacy as people walking around would see you.

I won't come back to this place. I just tried it out a bit. Really difficult to find a nice place that serves good value, healthy meals...

I am beginning to think that these days, eating healthy is quite expensive.

Mexicali, Megamall

How many minutes does it take to wrap a burrito? I went to Mexicali in Megamall, Mandaluyong to order a beef burrito for P125. Good enough price. In USA, I pay US$6-$7. The serving size however, was 60% less. I gave my order to the cashier. One beef burrito take out. I asked it to be sliced in half. She said sure. She charged me P131.25 They put tax. I asked my order to be served "to go" and inquired how long it will take. She said 5 minutes. So I sat for 5 minutes. I still didn't have my order. I went up to the counter and I saw 3 people "starting" to work on my burrito. I was surprised because there were only 3 tables occupied in this restaurant and I was one of them. So I watched the man make my burrito. He put some beans and rice to my burrito crust (whatever that's called) with utmost care. Then he got a strainer, poured ground beef to it, probably to drain the fat. Then he slowly put drained ground beef on top of the colored rice. Then he heated it in the microwave for 2 minutes. After heating in the microwave, he went to another counter section to add vegetables. I asked him not to put tomatoes because I can't eat tomatoes. Then he said OK. He was a bit anxious now that I have broken his routine. I asked if they can put the lettuce instead. He asked another helper and they obliged. Then they put grated cheddar cheese. That's it. They served it to me with nachos and tomatoes in a plate. I reminded them that my order was "to go" and that I don't like tomatoes. They said OK. I also asked them for the 2nd time to slice the burrito in half. From the time I ordered, it's now been 15 minutes that I was there. Finally, they gave me my order, in a Mexicali box. I opened it. Smelled ok. I saw the tomatoes! I guess life can't be perfect but at least I had my order. I liked the combination and the taste. However, this is not a meal I will have every week or every month. Probably good if I have Mexicali once a year... or if I get generous, once every 6 months.

It's not too healthy food for now. The price of P130 for a meal is reasonable but Mexicali has small service size so. The service is slow and unattentive.

So my rating here is 2

El Pollo Loco, Megamall

El Pollo Loco has a store around 120 sqm or so in Megamall, first floor, Bldg A, Mandaluyong. Majority of their dishes have chicken except the spaghetti with ground beef and the nachos. The prices seem reasonable for the chicken dishes and the chicken combos seemed reasonably sized.
However, I can't eat chicken because it is bad for my blood type. So I had to order spaghetti for P37 and nachos for P30. I was happy with the cheap price. I had ice tea but I forgot the exact price I paid for it.
Here's a detailed description of the meal I had:
1. Iced tea - small glass, full of ice, watery, sweet. My overall review - waste of money
2. Spaghetti - the noodles are creatively spread out the flat plate so it will look more than what it really is. The sauce is sweet, catered to Filipino taste. It wasn't appetizing but it was "good enough" because I was hungry and I missed my regular lunch hour by 45 mins already. If I weren't so hungry, I would not even eat it. Btw, I didn't finish it, I gave it to my bf after tasting it.
3. Nachos - this is probably the fattiest, oiliest nacho mixture I have ever had. The beef on it has very visible lard. The cheese is yucky. I didn't finish that at all. I am know for scraping every food at the table. My dad has taught us not to waste food. But my God, I will kill myself if I eat those nachos.
4. Chicken wrap - My bf ordered this. After one hour eating it, I asked my bf how it tasted. He said he doesn't remember. Though I remember a really thin piece of lettuce wrapped around the chicken. It was also small enough. It cost P52. The Max's lumpiang ubod is bigger than this chicken wrap by 100%.

Customer service - as you guessed... it's poor. I had to wave my hand more than 2 minutes before the waiter 1 meter in front of me "noticed" that I needed to follow up my order.

So this is my experience eating at El Pollo Loco. From a rating of 1 to 5. I give it 1. So their pricing might be ok for the chicken meals but I will not eat in El Pollo Loco again. It is not good for my health and I am not impressed.