Manila (food) trip: Oh my Yoshinoya beef bowl!

This was probably my most unforgettable food trip when I dropped by Manila last weekend. How can I forget it if I had my daily servings of their gyudon for three straight days! It is how I love their beef bowl.

The first time I had this beef bowl years ago, I instantly loved it. Those thinly sliced beef cooked in simple concoction eaten with soy sauce (Kikkoman -nothing else) and their signature 7 spices ... now Im getting hungry. It's always a large beef bowl for me and nothing else. I think I can eat two bowls in just one seating maybe even three! It's an addiction I never wanted to be "cured" - lol.

A closer look at their gyudon reveals how thinly sliced they are and almost seem like boiled bacon. I often finish my bowl of Yoshinoya gyudon with still half of the beef remaining then I savour every last bite of it.

Here's my first first beef bowl last week when I had an unplanned early dinner at SM North EDSA. I was looking for the Starbucks branch where I was supposed to meet a former colleague when I saw this Japanese fastfood. It was no turning back by then. A large beef bowl with their apple iced tea!

The next day, I reminisced my first beef bowl when I had lunch getting the same order when I visited Yoshinoya for the first time. Yup, I trooped to SM Megamall and order a large beef bowl with green iced tea. It seemed liked only yesterday ...

And finally hours before my flight back to Iloilo, I was "based" at SM Mall of Asia. I had to go around the humongous mall looking for the branch when it was actually right up front. Again another large beef bowl but this time red iced tea. I was in a dilemma then whether to bring some 2-3 orders of just beef (sans the rice) but knowing the long hours of travel would affect the taste, I sadly said goodbye to the idea. So sad that I made up for it by ordering an extra rice for my remaining beef - lol.

So next time, I'll be back in the big city, it'll be another Yoshinoya beef bowl adventure. Maybe this time, 3 bowls in a day! Oh my Yoshinoya!

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Found in almost all occasions like fiesta, birthdays, reunions and others, Ilonggos really love valenciana because most if not all have grown accustomed of having it in special gatherings at home. A complete " go, grow and glow " dish because it has the carbohydrates, protein and vitamins and minerals in just one spoonful, Valenciana is really an " occasional dish ". Here's the recipe for Valenciana

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Calda Pizza means “hot pizza” in Italian and had its beginnings in Lahug, Cebu City in January 2008. Conceived by a Cebu-based couple, Bernard and Frances Therese Palang, the pizza chain started with a capital of PhP 400,000. But prior this venture, Bernard worked in the family-owned furniture business while Frances heads a chemical repackaging business. With success already in the bag after only the first year, they eventually ventured out of Cebu and opened their first branch in Quezon City. They sacrificed their respective jobs to concentrate in their new business. Frances’ attention is devoted with the administration and commissary works while Bernard is in charge of marketing, expansion and franchise expansion as well as the daily operations of company owned branches. Now more than three years later, it has taken the country by storm as around 35 branches have opened nationwide. NOW IN ILOILO But Ilonggos need not to travel out as Calda Pizza recently opened its first bra...

FLAVOURS OF ILOILO

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