Johnny Chow in Resorts World

It was my first time to visit Resorts World near the airport last Saturday. I'm actually quite impressed. It looked quite posh and high end which made me look like my mother's alalay wearing old baggy jeans and trekking sandals.

Our agenda was dinner. We proceeded to the second floor where the restaurants were located. It took us a while to choose where to go since we really did not have any particular craving. I ruled out Filipino and New Orleans cuisine though.

The last two restos we had to choose between were Mr. Kurosawa (European-Japanese fusion) and Johnny Chow (Asian Fusion). I was actually more attracted with Mr. Kurosawa in terms of presentation of their menu and food photography. Johnny Chow's menu needed a lot of work in terms of lay-out and food photography but it won my brother and I out with its Coffee Spare Ribs and Lantau Island Tuna dishes.

I had some issues with the naming of their food which tried to have a theme but really did not make sense. For example, in the "Pork Dynasty" section, they had "Maggie Woo," "Broken Arrow" and "Sweet Sour Pork" dishes. So I was scratching my head wondering why they used actors, movies and the actual name of the dish in one food section. They even had Chuck Norris for fish. As to why the names were that way, I could not find any connection.

Their chairs had pop art faces on them, the waitresses were wearing colored wigs and the waiters had gelled hairstyles. It was actually what got me a bit hesitant to try the place. It was projecting itself as young and hip, but the audience seemed to be families. Judging from the full resto and the people waiting, one could guess that there must be something in Johnny Chow.

True enough, it did not disappoint. In fact, their food was a pleasant surprise as it was all absolutely delicious! All six of us enjoyed the food that we ordered.

Tropic Thunder was their version of fresh spring roll. The sweet sauce completed the taste of the appetizer.

Wu Mountain was also good. The tofu was really feathery soft and light and absorbed the sauce really well. I don't remember enjoying not-crispy tofu like I did Wu Mountain.

The Lantau Island tuna was one of the dishes on the menu which attracted me with its description. Seared tuna with mango salad. I imagined a regular sized tuna rather then the bite sized pieces that we received. Each order had eight mini-servings on top of mango ensalata. Eat everything all together to get the full flavor. Yum!

The other dish which attracted me was the Coffee Pork Spare Ribs with a side of kimchi. There were bits of coffee sago (tapioca) with the sauce.

It was to be paired with the kua pao. Indeed it was a good combination. The spare ribs tasted more like asado than coffee. It was actually quite sweet thus working with the siapao dough. It was good but not the best dish of the bunch.

The chicken we ordered, and which name I forget now, was really really good! The crispy fried Asian chicken was really crunchy. The crunch as well as the herbs worked well together. Not being a big fan of chicken, it was a bit of surprise that I consider this my favorite dish of the night.

The chicken worked quite well with the Johnny Chow fried rice, which is like your typical Yang Chow, except with more veggies.

Chuck Norris was salmon with buttered vegetables. It also came with lemon butter sauce. The salmon was really tender. The sauce was perfect for the salmon and the vegetables were very crunchy. Again I'm not a fan of beans, but Johnny Chow had me eating more than my usual share.

The last of our order was the salt and pepper spare ribs. It's best to remember to dip the pork in the vinegar because they weren't kidding with the salt and peppery taste. The vinegar gives it a balance for that perfect bite of meat and fat.

Overall, I was glad I got over the bad food photography and decided to be attracted to dish description and the number of people flocking the restaurant. It's a bit pricey but it's good for an occasional food treat.

The Collective at Malugay St.

It was one of those unplanned get-togethers. Jan and I were almost ready to go home when Nin sent a text inviting us to join her and Jerry at the Collective. Jan was planning to jog when we got home and I would do anything to get away from exercise. I convinced him that it would be raining when we got home and we would just be stuck in traffic for most of the night. He said yes and we were off.

The Collective is located in Malugay St., near the Avida Makati West Tower where we were waiting for our little studio unit to be ready soon. I would say the Collective was what I was most excited about living in the area, next to finally having our own place.

The gang went to the Outer Space gallery where they were having an exhibit of photos taken in airports. There was also a crude world map painted on the floor and this sign below.

If you leave an unwanted souvenir and place it in the map where you got it, you can get a free poster. The poster shows the heights of the world's mountains and depths of the world's rivers. It's an ingenious gimmick for an interactive installation art! Cool, huh?

We didn't get to leave any but I do plan to go back and find something from my stash to take part of this collective art! There were a few things others have left behind though.

My favorites were a Delftware ceramic Dutch house from Netherlands (I want to steal it to keep the one I have company!), an unopened Stolichnaya Vodka fro Russia (whu? If I drank alcohol, I would have finished that one up!) and a maple leaf from Canada (pretty!). There was also henna powder from India, a Buddha figurine from China and beauty contestant postcards from Thailand. The Africas and the Balkan states are still empty, so if you have been there, leave one for the map. It's on until October 30, 2011.

Above is a photo of a photo taken by the artist. Awesome "No Gizmos!" sign. It's so dated that it features: Gizmo the Gremlin, a radio, a walkie talkie, a beepr and a clunky mobile phone. I wonder if kids nowadays will get the Gizmo joke? :P

The "living room" area of the gallery was also a treasure of old books and classic items. Too bad they weren't selling because there were a few items I'd love to get hold of! This Luke Perry autobiography in Spanish is not one of them though. LOL.

Walking around the rest of the Collective, I found this gem of a bust. Hail Rene Requiestas! May he rest in piece.

From their last the Collective visit, Nin and Je were raving about Ritual, the resident organic store, and its variety of dark chocolate flavors. We got Dark Chocolate with calamansi and dark chocolate with green mango and salt. There were also other food items like salad dressings, coarse sea salt, organic rice and dark muscovado sugar. They also sold ketchup gasera, melon scraper, nescafe glasses and even a classic engineering notebook.

I can't wait to buy some of my groceries here when we move!

The plan was to have dinner in Wingman for some chicken wings but first we passed by Offbeat Cafe to have a taste of their nefarious Offbeat Burger which had a thick beef patty, bacon, cheese and friend egg sandwiched in between Krispy Kreme Donut!

We ate the chocolate and the Offbeat Burger at Wingman while waiting for our order. I loved the chocolate with green mango and salt. It was a nice mix of salty, tangy and bittersweet. The calamansi zest also added a slightly sweet sour zing to the chocolate.

We girls enjoyed the Offbeat burger. The patty was very juicy and its flavors burst. The donut gave that extra surprise of unexpected sweetness. The boys however preferred to have the regular bread with the beef. Typical. :P

In Wingman, we ordered lemon pepper and garlic parmesan chicken wings with extra bleu cheese dip as well as pulled pork. We were so excited to eat that I forgot to take a picture. Teehee. The food were all sooooo gooood. Really good! Definitely a must-try.

So we ended the night early, with soul food from the art and body food from a few restaurants. The sign from The Outer Space gallery says it all...