Mogwai

Mogwai was it for Friday night last week. Good friend from China came home to do pamamanhikan to his fiancee's parents in the province.



Onigiri


Before going to Cubao Shoe Expo, went to Kozui, a green tea place along Tomas Morato where I collected a pack of shelled pumpkin seeds and cheese hopia from Sonya's Garden. I was made to try Onigiri, a snack made of Japanese rice (yes, I was forced to eat rice with my Roast Green Tea Latte with soya milk) shaped into a triangle. It had bits of tuna and some salty japanese sprinkles and had a nori strip at the bottom. It will be part of the pastry display of the store soon. I imagine this to be effective in lining one's stomach before drinking. It will actually go well with beer, I imagine, because it is rice and fish (which you can conveniently bite into like a piece of bread--not that i eat bread with beer).




(Mogwai images by pro photographer Nicky Sering)

Anyway, Mogwai is a place (restaurant-bar with a theater or screening room on the second floor) owned by Erik Matti and Lyle Sacris. It's a cozy place and we always choose to meet here now that everyone has outgrown (or simply find it not sulit to go to) Sarah's and Molo's. Beer is affordable here. But what I do like are the lava cakes, both dark and white (P90 a piece), the Alamid cofffee, and a plate of spaghetti with fish fillet smothered with achovies.

It was packed that night. While waiting to be seated, I asked my friend what he was going to bring for the parents and if it was lechon? His answer, as usually, was funny that I am actually "all for it" for its novelty. He said he was bringing boxes of Krispy Kreme. Hahaha

Plato Platina

Check Out: Plato Platina
Location: Blue Wave, along Macapagal Ave., Pasay City
How to get there: Car/cab but if you're saving your cash for the good food and wine, take MRT, get off at Taft Ave. Station. Go down the stairs. Ride a jeepney to MOA and get off Petron Station. When I do ride a jeep, I sit infront (where I feel safer) so I can tell the driver to stop at Petron. You can also amuse yourself when he barks "MUWAH! MUWAH! MUWAH! to throngs of people coming down or from the mall. From Petron, you can walk to Plato Platina which is already visible from here.

If you love paella and would want something different, order the Paella Nero. Really tasty sticky rice with black squid ink and hefty chunks of meats, vegetables and seafood. If you're on a diet (trying to cut calories from food to make way for the wine), order the Three Season Salad or the PESCE DI ZAFFERANO IN PATATA CON PESTO or just ask for the "grilled fish with vegetables and white wine sauce" or simply "grilled fish." The pizzas are GREAT (really thin, crispy crust)!

This is also one place to have a lava cake which is baked upon order and served with Fiorgelato (yes, lovely ice cream).

I suggest you get wine to go with the nice meal. With an extensive wine list (I think all the decent wine producing countries are represented here), you might get intimidated with the wine/bar list. But don't be. All of them were personally picked by one of the owners who is a self-confessed wine fan. If you're not sure what to get, just ask the waiter to recommend. The bottle in the photo is good.

SML (P60++) is available should you want beer with pizza.

So since this is not a "new place" for me, I am writing about this book that I had a chance to read the first few pages of (inside the mood lighted Plato) while waiting for the owner of the book to finish her meeting. It's called "Thick Face, Black Heart" by Ching-Ning Chu. Very interesting non-fiction. It describes "Thick Face" as the shield that protects one's self-esteem from bad opinions of others while the "Black Heart" repsents ruthlessness which it is not necessarily evil (the author went on to illustrate the latter point with examples that made me agree that being ruthless is not necessarily bad). But I should really read first AS Byatt's "The Virgin in the Garden." Anybody got a copy?