Kimpura Greenbelt 5 opens this Christmas season

MANILA, Philippines - Kimpura opens at the fourth level of Greenbelt 5 (beside Peking Garden), Ayala Center, Makati City. For the holidays, Kimpura offers six innovative sushi dishes such as the Dragon Roll, a fresh take on unagi maki; Dynamite Roll with spicy tuna; Daikon Roll, fresh shrimp and salmon with spicy mayo and radish; Tempura Sha-ke Roll with salmon, spring onions and cucumber; the Spider Roll, tempura soft-shelled crab with unagi sauce, ebico, cucumber, crunches, and sesame seeds; and the Kyuri Roll, California roll with lettuce and cucumber wrap.

Kimpura has branches at the fourth floor, Greenbelt 5, Ayala Center, Makati City, 621-6791/93; Greenhills Shopping Center, San Juan City, 721-8816/69; and at the third floor, TriNoma Park, QC, 901-0803 and 901-0692.

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Bangkok streetfood and more at Thai Dara

Thai Dara Bangkok Street Food, along Granada St. in QC, fuses classic Thai dishes with new contemporary Bangkok street food. Yummy street food like pork satay, pork jerky, spring rolls, pad Thai, 4-Flavor (chicken) Lollipop, fillet BBQ chicken fillet, and pak boong (kangkong) is served alongside tom yum, green curry chicken, basil chicken, Panang curry beef, boat noodle soup, and more.

Thai Dara is open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and from 6 to 10 p.m. daily. It is open till 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays (closed for lunch on Mondays). Thai Dara is at 56 Granada St., barangay Valencia, QC.

For information, call 411-1156 or SMS 0918- 3654250.

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Nocciola Gateau at Cara Mia Gelateria

 Cara Mia Gelateria launches its line of premium cakes. Indulge in the Nocciola Gateau made of hazelnut cream cheese and rich dark chocolate in layers of crunchy meringue; Pistaccio Cioccolato, chiffon layered with pistachio filling topped with deep, dark chocolate; and the Tentazione, a rich Belgian chocolate icing on moist, dark chocolate cake. All Cara Mia cakes and gelato cakes are now available for pick-up or delivery. Just call 87-878.

Cara Mia has branches at Don Bosco, Makati; Bellagio Square in Tomas Morato, QC: Greenhills on Connecticut and Missouri, San Juan; the Atrium of SM Megamall, Mandaluyong City; The Annex, SM City North-EDSA; SM Southmall, Alabang Town Center, Robinsons Galleria, Robinsons Place Manila; and Ayala Triangle Gardens in Makati City.

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Quesadillas at Sweet Pea

 Chef Florabel Co opens Sweet Pea, a new concept restaurant, serving mainly American comfort food. Sweet Pea’s quesadillas come in four fillings such as tuna, cheese and peppers; spinach, bacon and mushroom, and beef and mushroom. Dip your quesadilla in guacamole, sour cream or salsa to add a little zing to your pre-dinner musings.

 Sweet Pea is at the ground floor, The Venice Piazza, McKinley Hill, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City, 659-3685.

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Adobong puso rice meal at Gerry’s Grill

Gerry’s Grill introduces a new classic dish — the adobong puso rice. The dish features rice and pork slices cooked adobo-style and wrapped in banana-leaves to give it a heart shape.

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A spiced up holiday feast at Peking Garden

Peking Garden offers its “Spiced Up Holiday Feast” with 20 hot dishes to perk up your Christmas dining. The restaurant’s chefs from Hong Kong have prepared set menus for the holidays. For P18,800+ (for 12 persons), diners get to savor four kinds of appetizer, shark’s fin with fish lip and golden mushroom soup, its famous Peking duck, lantern prawns with crispy vegetables, scrambled egg white with minced fish and dried scallops, braised whole baby abalone with mushrooms, deep-fried peppercorn crabs, fried rice with sweet corn and preserved olives, steamed supreme soup and pork dumplings. For dessert, there’s chilled almond jelly with fruit cocktails. Other set menus are available upon request.

Peking Garden is located at the third floor, TriNoma Park, QC, 901-0502, 901-0507; and at the fourth floor, Greenbelt 5, Phase 2, Ayala Center, Makati City, 729-0567, 729-0820. It is open daily for lunch and dinner.

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A feast of holiday flavors at Luk Yuen

This Christmas season, Luk Yuen has added new dishes. Try the stir-fried udon noodle with beef, creamy cheesy shrimp balls, crispy triple bites, Chiu Chow-style steamed pouched dumplings, and curried chicken cutlets. Luk Yuen offers group combo set menus. Good for eight to 10 persons, set menu 1 has 10 enticing lauriat dishes at P2,750 (P275 per head). Set menu 2 , which is good for six to eight persons, is feast with eight dishes at P2,000 (P250 per head),. Good for four to six persons, set menu 3 has seven dishes for only P1,140.

Luk Yuen has branches at Glorietta 5, Ayala Center, 856-5199/2081; Cash & Carry, 856-5778/5779; Greenhills Shopping Center, 721-2620/2685; SM Megamall B, 633-4396/1610; and Alabang Town Center, 772-4967/3028.

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Sinugba world queen at The Red Crab Alimango House

The Red Crab Alimango House offers it best-selling chili crab. Other must-try dishes include the Sinugba World Queen and King Seafood Platter. Also try the pinausukan steamed pla pla, live shrimps cooked in citrus boil, sinabawan bangus belly, sinigang sa bayabas, pinirito bacon-wrapped camaron rebosado, jum-bangus ala bistek, kare-kare, and crabs.

The Red Crab Alimango House has branches at 104 JSB Bldg., cornet Scout Delgado, Tomas Morato, QC, 412-4323 and 374-8406; the ground floor, Piazza Venice, McKinley Hill, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig, 403-8011; and second floor, Resorts World, Newport City, Pasay, 856-0087.

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Have a Mexi-Christmas at Tia Maria’s

Experience a Mexican Christmas celebration at Tia Maria’s until Dec. 31. Have a Merry Margarita and grab a bottomless glass of its signature drink for only P195. Tia Maria’s boasts Tia’s Sampler with pica-pica dishes like cheese flautas, taquito wedges, buffalo wings, quesadilla and nacho chips all in one plate.  The Surf ‘n’ Turf Grande, which is good for four to five persons, lets you enjoy its full slab of baby back ribs, calamares fritos and chicken inasal grande for P1,150. Tia Maria’s introduces its Fiesta Tower, which includes Tia’s Sampler and the Mexi Grill Grande with chicken inasal, grilled spareribs, pork bbq, grilled squid, and nacho chips. It also includes a choice of Mexican or plain rice plus 1.5 liter Coke or a pitcher of iced tea and/or orange.  The Grande Tower, which is good for six to eight persons, combines the Tia’s Sampler and the Surf ‘n’ Turf Grande with drinks and rice for only P2, 200.

Tia Maria has branches at Festival Supermall Alabang, 659-2832; SM Mall of Asia, 5561730; Katipunan, QC, 4262350; and De la Rosa Carpark 1 Makati City, 817-3478.