Food-scapades at Robinsons Magnolia
MILLIE: It’s been a while since Karla and I went malling and usually, it’s just to have a bite or to watch a movie, not to go shopping unless we really need to buy something. Recently, we have been frequenting Robinson’s Magnolia due to its proximity to home and parking is not a big hassle there, especially when Karla has to drive. Although I don’t really enjoy food courts, the layout at RM is unique. It does not look and feel like a food court, it’s not overly crowded and the chairs are comfortable designer chairs and not the usual food court seats you can’t even relax in. It’s fully air-conditioned and the exhaust system is good so you don’t get smelly.
The first time we came, my brother Ray wanted to eat at Yabu but it was peak hour and no tables were available. On another occasion, Karla and I were lucky enough to grab a table for four, big enough to house all our orders!
KARLA: I was a big katsudon and tonkatsu fan. When I was in grade school, The Plaza used to handle the food operations at the Asian Development Bank. Since it was right beside my school, St. Pedro Poveda College, formerly known as Poveda Learning Center, mom would occasionally have food sent to me for lunch. My favorites were pork kabayaki and tonkatsu. My jealous classmates would hover and salivate upon seeing my freshly cooked baon. Some friends would ask if they could trade food. Ashamed to say no, I would always oblige but would eat really fast before word got around that I had masarap na baon. Undoubtedly, lunch was my most favorite subject.
Every time mom would ask me what Yabu was all about, I’d simply say, it’s katsu, like breaded pork chop. But somehow she would never be in the mood to try it out. In her mind she was probably thinking, “But that’s just breaded pork chop!†until I finally convinced her to try it. We made sure to come by on a weekday at around 8:30 p.m. to skip the dinner rush hour. As we sat down and looked at the menu, I could still feel mom’s doubts as to whether we were going to have a good meal or not. Mom ordered the US Rosu pork curry, salmon and creamy crab, while I had the ever-so-simple 90-gram Rosu and tried the Menchi, which is a mix of ground pork and beef filled with cream cheese. As soon as we ordered, the server laid down two bowls with mixed sesame seeds and a pestle on our table. So I started grinding my bowl while mom was not amused at the idea that she had to grind her own sesame seeds for the sauce. She tried pounding her bowl of sesame but I could tell that she wasn’t pleased. So I gave her my bowl instead. Later on she came to realize that it was actually a good idea to engage the customers in the process to keep them entertained and craving. One bite into her katsu, Mom’s face lit up and she said that they were serving good quality. The pork was tasty, fresh and did not have that weird pork smell. I was surprised that she finished her curry sauce and even commented that both the rice and the pork are premium quality yet the price is very affordable.
MILLIE: Two levels up from the food court, which one can access conveniently via an elevator or escalator, is an al fresco area on street level where one finds more restaurants and the Magnolia Flavor House, which reminded me of the old Magnolia ice cream parlor that I used to frequent as a kid for sundaes and banana splits.
Karla and I were craving for Hainanese chicken rice so we went for lunch to Tao Yuan, one of our favorite restos, but we learned they had something new so we ended up ordering the buttermilk crab, which was delightful. I only wish they had served us a bigger crab! We also had cabbage with diced preserved meat and dried shrimp, which we found rather tasty and could not resist eating with a bowl of steamed white rice. Dessert of the day is always given free to all diners and we each had a cup of chilled mango sago, making up for the baked egg tarts we ordered that never came.
KARLA: Next door to Tao Yuan is Thai Bistro from the same group who brought us Silk. Being Thai food fans, we of course, were excited to try it out. Mom loved the pink pomelo salad with shrimps and the crispy catfish with green mango salad, her must-haves whenever we go Thai. Another one of Mom’s favorites is the prawn fresh rolls. We also had the khao khulp kapi or bagoong rice and the traditional chicken pandan (the server thoughtfully peeled off the pandan leaves for us). I would definitely go back for the phad Thai, Thai iced tea and takhoo Thai for dessert. The takhoo is a pudding usually with sago, corn kernels, or sometimes water chestnuts topped with coconut cream.
MILLIE: One day we felt like eating pasta but Karla was not in the mood to cook and we were in the area, rushing to go to a meeting, so we went to La Terrazza. We shared an order of creamy fettuccini with porcini mushrooms and truffle oil topped with thinly sliced prosciutto. Unfortunately, although known for good desserts, they had none to offer, so we went next door to Tully’s for coffee. I had an espresso con panna and it was so good, I ordered a second cup.
Another day, we were in the mood for pancit lomi so we went to Classic Savory and discovered new dishes had been introduced, like mouthwatering crispy patatim! It’s crispy because it’s not soaked but rather nestled in the sauce! We tried other new dishes like the golden-fried tofu cubes with honey garlic sauce and the pancit sotanghon with tendons, chicken and shiitake mushrooms, which was an instant favorite. I almost finished off the whole platter.
As we exit the food court, there is always one final stop: at Dairy Queen for a dilly bar. When Karla was a little girl we would always pass by the original Dairy Queen store along Buendia to buy a dilly bar and we would fight for who got to bite the dilly’s nose off! Karla always won, of course, but only because she had to pay me with a dozen kisses and an Eskimo’s kiss!
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