Atheista -

I know a lot has been said about certain food establishments that participated during the much anticipated and much ballyhooed TriNoMa Blogger Food Tour. Though I agree that certain people could’ve been nicer to bloggers, I somehow feel bad about potentially harming the reputation of a restaurant because of one lousy employee. Having been brought up by family built on the financial rewards of providing good food, I feel a little bit of empathy towards establishments that joined the project with good intentions. Of course, I only speak for myself and I respect what ever plan of action other bloggers have chosen to take.

This entry will feature the restaurants who served the best food and gave the most inviting atmosphere for bloggers to enjoy what they have to offer. I must remind you though that due to time constraints and gastric limitations, I was not able to visit all of the participating restaurants.

Aside from tasting the food, I also looked at the menus of most of the participating restaurants to see if the taste was in fact commensurate to the rate it was being sold for. It was also a good gauge on whether or not it was worth returning to any of the participating restaurants – you know, when I actually have to pay for the food.

So here’s the honor roll, in random order:

 

HAIKU – 3rd Level

Haiku got the ball rolling for me and they seemed very prepared with their signature dish – Sashimi Salad. The vibe inside the restaurant betrays the Zen minimalist philosophy that most Japanese restaurants exude. Instead of the muted shades of white and black, Haiku features rich hues of wood and bold patterns on the wall and ceiling. Despite these departures, the place still gives off a very Japanese feel. I don’t really know how that works, but once you’re in the premises you immediately feel that you’ll be served with good Japanese grub.

Understandably, my carnivorous self was not too thrilled with the dish that they served. The Sashimi Salad (See picture – P240) consists of the usual leafy greens, unidentified meat and more unidentified crunchy things laced with dressing. Two strips of tuna sashimi also accompany the salad base on a star-shaped platter. The plating is nice, but come on, can we get anything edible?

The other people seemed to have loved it so I guess it’s safe to assume that dining in Haiku would be an enjoyable and pleasurable experience for your regular leaf-eater.

 

Bubba Gump – 4th Level

Again, on an interesting note, I DON’T EAT SHRIMP. What tided Bubba Gump over for this picky eater is 1) their cordial and perky crew and 2) their amazing flavored lemonade. Ok, I don’t eat fruits too so it’s safe to assume that their lemonade was probably artificially-flavored. Who wants yucky natural goodness anyway? If you want it natural, then go suck milk out of a cow’s teat for all I care.

Minor beef with this restaurant: Assuming that the restaurant lifted it’s name from the movie, the name Bubba Gump makes no sense. Bubba and Forrest are NOT blood relatives and Bubba’s full name in the movie was actually Benjamin Buford Blue. So unless Bubba and Forrest got married in the Netherlands, Bubba Gump never existed in the plot. Boo. Oversight! Never mind, it’s just me being retarded… in a good way.

 

Mann Hann – 1st Level

These guys were prepared! The crew laid the food out on one table and the bloggers could easily taste their dishes while they readily answered whatever questions were directed their way. Finally, a restaurant with artery-clogging servings of pork! I wasn’t so thrilled with their suggested serving style though. They wanted us to wrap the pork in leaves before eating them.

Let me just say that’s that the grossest thing I’ve ever heard. Pork is meat. Pork is edible. Leaves aren’t. Can you even believe these people?!

I’ve eaten at Mann Hann before – while entertaining a guest from the US — and I think it showcases the best of what Filipino-Chinese cuisine has to offer. It’s a nice introduction for visitors from foreign lands and it could also serve as a nice reminder regarding the finest of Pinoy food.

 

Oki-Oki - 1st Level

Oki-Oki served an entire spread with drinks included. As the name would suggest, the restaurant is a upscaled version of mainstream Japanese restaurants like Yoshinoya and Tokyo Tokyo. Instead of further pushing Japanese dishes to the mainstream – like how Tokyo Tokyo glorifies breaded pork chop to Tonkatsu — Oki Oki pushes the envelope by putting an eclectic and sometimes unthinkable twist to traditional Japanese food.

No dish exemplifies this bold approach more than their best-selling Crazy Maki. They added a good amount of crunchy puffs and crab stick shreds to the usual maki to produce a more interesting texture and flavor. The price tag of 290 for 6 pieces could prove to be prohibitive, but based on taste, the Crazy Maki was up there with the best dishes I tried out that afternoon.

 

Fish & Co. – 4th Level

I’m a big fan of Fish & Co. so you could definitely expect to pig out on Fish & Chips if it’s on the house. A serving costs close to 500 pesos, but the taste the consistency of the fish will definitely keep you craving for more. The fries aren’ half bad either!

 

T.G.I. Fridays - 4th Level

Now this is interesting. TGIF has been my birthday-treat-for-friends-venue of choice for quite some time now so I’m really accustomed to eating their food. They decided to play it safe by serving their trademark Buffalo Wings, but I would’ve really appreciated it if they stepped outside the box and went with a more exciting entree. All things being equal though, the food still tasted terrific.

 

Other articles about the food tour! (lifted from AJ‘s blog)

1. Bakla Goes to the Trinoma Blogger Food Tour
2. Bakla and His Cabalen TriNoMa Experience
3. Live Blogging During the Trinoma Food Tour
4. Restaurants at Trinoma
5. Trinoma: Blogger Food Tour
6. PHOTOS from the Trinoma Blogger Food Tour
7. TriNoma Blogger Food Tour @ PinoyFood
8. Speed Eating at the Trinoma Blogger Food Tour
9. Of Little Buzz and Big Blunders
10. Byahilo Goes to the Trinoma Blogger Food tour
11. Laszlo’s pics of the Food Tour
12. Food Trip Field Trip at the Trinoma Food Tour for Bloggers!
13. The Trinoma Bloggers’ Pig-Out (Part 1 of 3)
14. Trinoma Blogger Food Tour!
15. Trinoma Blogger Food Tour: Bubbagump
16. Trinoma Blogger Food Tour: Haiku
17. Trinoma Blogger Food Tour: The Madison Grill
18. Trinoma Blogger Food Tour: Prologue
19. Blogger Food Tour
20. Trinoma Blogger Food Tour: TGIFriday’s
21. Trinoma Blogger Food Tour
22. Trinoma Blogger Food Tour: Conti’s Pastry Shop and Restaurant
23. The Great Trinoma Food Tour as told by her
24. TriNoma Blogger Food Tour I
25. Trinoma Blogger Food Tour: Epilogue
26. Trinoma Blogger Food Tour
27. Bloggers’ Food Tour At Trinoma
28. *Burp*
29. Trinoma Food Tour Special: Foods, Fun and Friends
30. EAT! THE PSYCHO WAY 2!
31. Eat! The Psycho Way!
32. Trinoma Food Blogger’s Tour – We Stuffed Our Faces Off!
33. Bloggers Food Marathon @ Trinoma
34. My first food tour experience
35. TriNoma Blogger Food Tour
36. that trinoma food tour thing.
37. The Great Trinoma Food Tour as told by him
38. Trinoma Blogger Food Tour, et. al.
39. The Trinoma Bloggers’ Pig-Out (Part 2 of 3)
40. Pinoy Blogosphere Weekend Recap (01/13/08)
41. The Trinoma Bloggers’ Pig-Out (Part 3 of 3)
42. TriNoma Blogger Food Tour: The Beginning
43. Blog Event Alert! Trinoma’s Blogger Food Tour – PinoyBlogoSphere …
44. Trinoma Blogger’s Food Tour
45. We love Trinoma Video Spoof
46. Renzie Recommends: Cyma Greek Taverna at TriNoma
47. TriNoma Blogger Food Tour: Speed Eating and Reviews, 3rd Level
48. Episode 28: We Love Trinoma! (A Video Spoof)
49. Trinoma Bloggers’ Food Tour gets fritzified
50. TriNoma Blogger Food Tour: Speed Eating and Reviews, 3rd Level
51. TriNoma Blogger’s Food Tour
52. Food Tourist
53. Trinoma Food Tour Special: Reviews
54. Trinoma Food Tour Special: Foods, Fun and Friends

 

Bookmark at:
StumbleUpon | Digg | Del.icio.us | Dzone | Newsvine | Spurl | Simpy | Furl | Reddit | Yahoo! MyWeb

Viewed 11045 times by 3601 viewers