L&S Spotted along Rue Bourbon Passing a Good Time!

Lettuce Says,

When couples go on a staycation within Makati City, one panics for searching a great place for dinner. In the case of Lettuce and Sunrise, that one's me! (Always!) After scourging google, I came up with Rue Bourbon Bar and Restaurant in Salcedo Village.

Rue des Bourbon, French for Bourbon Street is the main inspiration of this bar and restaurant owned by celebrity Jodi Sta. Maria. I love "The Originals" tv series which is in a mardi gras setting of New Orleans. This is one of the major tourist destination in Louisiana where the bars and pubs lined at Bourbon Street snoozed in daytime and came to life by sunset to an all night drinking and partying through great music and southern food.

Yours truly being a part of Makati's workforce, I very well know how to abuse our bodies and minds during the daytime, then long for some alcohol fuel after office hours. Sometimes, you just got to grab a beer and quietly chat with your colleagues and friends away from the hustle and bustle of the metro. Little did I know there is someplace like this within the city! 

We went to Rue Bourbon on a Saturday night. The surroundings were quiet and only a few tables were occupied with mostly foreigners. The warm lights greeted us as we go over their menu. 

They have a second floor with lounge chairs and tables great for groups.

Chandelier Love

Their extensive list includes steaks, ribs, cajun sea bass, blackened fish which instantly piqued our interest. They also have pasta, burgers, and sandwiches. And of course, they have a wild array of cocktails and beers. Finally, we decided to load on meat and sample their bestsellers.

Bourbon Barbeque Ribs (Solo PhP295)

Hickory barbeque glazed tender pork ribs with choice of dirty mashed potato or jambalaya rice. 

The sauce was great and flavorful but the meat itself was quite dry and tough. Hope they can improve this to a fall-of-the-bone version.

The mashed potato deserves a close up photo. This was very chunky which I liked which didn't need a lot of gravy.

Rue's Roasted Angus Beef (PhP420)

A special Angus Beef belly cooked to perfection served with hash brown and buttered veggies.

At this point, we came to realized that the ribs and roast beef shared the same sweet demi glazed sauce. The hickory sauce certainly blended well with this than the pork ribs. The beef had a strip of fat and tender ligaments that I enjoyed to my preference.

To accompany our meats, I ordered this hard ass...

Caramel Big Ass Beer

This bad boy received a lot of mixed reviews online, but for me a liter of this caramel flavored beer made me soo happy that night. I love how the slight bitterness of the beer was tamed by the sweetness of the caramel. Girls would definitely love this! I will drag the peeps at work just for this golden fluid and to try some some of their wild exploding fireworks cocktails and gunpowder drinks. Hmm got you interested, right? :)

How Big Was Thee Beer?

Ze Sleepy Husband Who Drank 3 Gulps and Left Everything to Ze Wife

Lettuce and Sunrise successfully emptied Rue Bourbon's plates and big ass mug!

It's your turn to try Rue Bourbon guys and tag us with your empty plates as #myemptyplates it is that simple! :)

My Empty PLates

Remember Rule No. 1: No Leftovers

Rue Bourbon Salcedo Village
@ruebourbonph
Ground Floor Aguirre Bldg.
108 HV Dela Costa cor. Tordesillas St., Salcedo Village, Makati City
Opening Hours: 11am-2pm; 5pm-2am (Mon-Thurs), 6pm-2am (Fri-Sat), Closed on Sundays
PhP 500 per pax

*All articles and photos posted are owned by LettuceandSunrise and should not be copied and/or used without prior written authorization from us. You can always SHARE our posts with the applicable trackback by putting the corresponding links. We will also do this ethical act for other people's posts, websites, and photos that we want to share on this blog. This is a personal blog. Like a diary or journal, all the views, insights, and opinions written here are solely based on our own point of views and belong to ours alone and not of the companies we are part of. Information may not be accurate and may only be applicable at the exact time and situation we experienced it. We will not liable for any errors in this information or any losses or damages arising from its display or use.

Follow Lettuce and Sunrise of My Empty PLates! 

Lettuce Goes on a Diet and on a Food Trip

Lettuce Goes on a Diet Week 2 and 3

Lettuce Says,

End of Week 1 Weigh In: 68 kg

No more detailed meal by meal account, guys. Why? Because at the start of Week 2, I was starting to get depressed. I felt though I was soo deprived and malnourished while I was working my ass off at the office. But still, I continued with my diet from last week, see Lettuce Goes on a Diet Week 1, for a couple of days more.

My colleagues (the other biggest loser contenders) and I decided to eat something fresh and nice for lunch, so we visited our executive lounge within our office building.

Pumpkin Soup

Creamy pumpkin soup filled my grumbling stomach.

Pomelo Salad

For the first time, I was craving for some greens, the gourmet pomelo salad was really refreshing and unique. Tossed lettuce, tomatoes and pomelo with salted egg and raspberry dressing was soo good I emptied my plate! Too bad here in the Philippines, healthy food is really expensive and hard to find in fast foods and foodcourts. 

To cap our meal, our group ordered 2 desserts which we split into five.

I got to eat the cheesecake only and it was soo good, I fell off my chair. The red velvet cake got nothing special on it.

All in all, the lunch was well worth its peso value. I felt really full until dinner time.

Here's a quick rundown and snapshots of my meals and side food trips during Week 2 and 3:

Lettuce's Usual Brekkie:

Kellogg's Twinkies afloat Cowhead Lite

Fitnesse Fruit and Nut Cereals with Cowhead Lite

Quaker Oat with Nescafe Cappuccino

Walter's Wheat Bread with Spam and Nesvita

For lunch I usually eat these:

Adobo with Potato Marbles

Fried Bangus with Mango
Wheat Bread and Ginisang Toge
Chicken and Ginataang Langka

Dinner time, with these:

Tilapia with Ginataang Gulay
Pinakbet
Bean Sprouts with Baby Corn
Beef Noodles from Chowking

Pork Nilaga cooked by Sunrise to soothe my depressions (sweet right? but fattening. hehe) ;)

Yes, I was this bad, although I didn't went beyond my 1200cal per day (with the right portioning), my sodium and sugar intake was way way high.

Well, how could you resist if on your way home, you pass by a lot of people buying barbeque and isaw!

This is located near Campos Rueda Building along Urban Avenue, San Lorenzo, Makati City

Pancit ng taga Malabon

Being trapped in landmark foodcourt with a grumbling stomach, I gave in to my craving for pancit malabon, and holy pancit! my tastebuds and stomach were singing with joy. I've eaten this about a thousand times already, but this particular night, it was like the first time again. Yes, being on a low cal diet somehow resets and clears my palate. Every bite and morsel tasted great! I got to appreciate the simple dishes, one bite at a time, sometimes with my eyes closed. See? This post is not depressing althroughout!

Foodie Snacks: 

Patricia's Pizza from Cash and Carry Makati, Affordable Pizza on The Go

This is the embodiment of a healthy snack:

Pinkberry

Freshly whirled peach yogurt with all natural fruit toppings of strawberry and blueberries!
I'll post a separate entry for these two :)

I cried by the middle of week 3, (seriously?) yes this was serious! I went to a somewhat hormonal fit of anger that made Sunrise really mad, so he made sure that from then on I eat a proper meal. He always packed some boiled eggs for my baon. I turned my back to logging my calories and started eating either fish or chicken during lunch and dinner as shown above. Made me happy of sorts but made me sick at the sight or smell of chicken.

Week 3 ended with a weekend Pansol getaway with Sunrise's relatives. His titas and titos were superb cooks, so I gave in to a cheat weekend. Imagine this, I ate a lot of inihaw na liempo, binagoongang baboy, and pork ribs caldereta without rice. 

I also had a few and then some cheat bites of chocolates.

End of Week 2 and Week3 Weigh In: 68 kg,

#ayannangabasinasabiko, yes I somehow plateaud (if that's the right term and tense :) ), well that was expected but this made me really depressed but nonetheless eager to win this challenge!!!

One big feat: NO RICE from start

Letz go sago! (*ooops sudden craving of sago gulaman aargh!)

So, what do you think guys? Will I win the Biggest Loser at the office? Stay tuned for my last post for Lettuce Goes on a Diet! ;)

Share your emptyplates now! Hashtag #myemptyplates peeps.

January 2nd and 3rd week 2014
Lettuce Goes on A Diet

Normal Working Days, Makati City, Philippines

PhP 0-200 per day (tipid diba? :) )

*All articles and photos posted are owned by LettuceandSunrise and should not be copied and/or used without prior written authorization from us. You can always SHARE our posts with the applicable trackback by putting the corresponding links. We will also do this ethical act for other people's posts, websites, and photos that we want to share on this blog. This is a personal blog. Like a diary or journal, all the views, insights, and opinions written here are solely based on our own point of views and belong to ours alone and not of the companies we are part of. Information may not be accurate and may only be applicable at the exact time and situation we experienced it. We will not liable for any errors in this information or any losses or damages arising from its display or use.

Pre-Valentines Spanish Lunch Buffet at Alba Restorante Espanol

Lettuce Says,

It's February gals and guys! I know a lot of us are now searching for romantic and brilliant ideas on how to celebrate Valentines day with our lovey doves, family, or even with our single friends.  Here's a surefire hit and date-worthy restaurant for people who have cravings for some delectable spanish dishes and a tight budget, Alba Ristorante Espanol. They serve lunch and dinner buffets, and luckily I got vouchers to treat Sunrise and MIL (mother-in-law)!

First things first, when you hear "buffet" you may be expecting a large spread just like the bigwig hotels or Dad's or Yakimix. Here in Alba, expect a selected array of spanish creations that are big in flavor, taste, and quality.

We had lunch reservations at their Alabang branch located inside Westgate. Their interiors were dimly lit and the tables were simply decorated with red and white tablecloths. They occupied two cozy floors, with a wall laden with bottles of wine.

Shall we start emptyin Alba's plates?

They have 3 buffet stations which were composed of the appetizers, mains, and desserts. The attentive waiters served some soup which is the, Sopa de Cebollas, onion soup.

The Appetizers

Appetizers

Ensalada Murciana

Ensalada Murciana, tossed salad of fresh lettuce, tomato, shrimp, and corn kernel with light mayo dressing.

Sardinas Picantes

Sardinas Picantes
This spicy spanish sardines became one of my favorites! We  even took some of the imported cans for take away. This has the authentic taste of spanish sardines which was not overly salty.

A trio tray servings of Albondigas de Pollo (chicken meatballs in cream and gravy), just ordinary chicken balls, Champignon al Ajillo (button mushrooms in olive oil, garlic and chili) which was very tasty, and Croquetas de Pescado, a fried meat ball, totally forgettable.

Toasted Bread with Pates

Toasted breads served with Liver Pate, Espinacas (spinach with feta cheese), and Pimientos pate. I loved the liver pate.

Cold cuts

Cold cuts selection in Spanish were Tabla Embutidos, these were Pamplona (cured spanish chorizo), Mortadela (bologna), and Salchichon (spanish style salami). The spices on the cold cuts are distinct and went well on their own or with some of the pates and bread.

The Main Dishes

Callos a la Madrilena

Callos a la Madrilena, stewed ox-tripe in rich tomato sauce. They cooked their callos right.

Pollo al Ajillo

Pollo al Ajillo, grilled chicken with pobre sauce.

Pasta con Setas

Menestre Legumbres

Menestre Legumbres, sauteed vegetables in light sauce. In buffets, I always skip the veggies, but since the spread was limited, I was able to squeeze some tummy space for these vibrant and seasoned veggies.

Lengua Sevillana

Lengua Sevillana, stewed ox-tongue with mushroom and olives in rich sherry brown sauce. MIL loved this a lot, the lengua was really soft and tender and the sauce definitely need some rice lovin.

Care for some crispy pata?

Crispy Pata

Cochinillo Asado

Cochinillo Asado, oven roasted suckling pig, with the right crisp of that golden color.

Paella Valenciana

The star of our lunch, the real deal, Paella Valenciana, Valencian rice dish with chicken, pork, seafood and vegetables. After tasting this paella, we were hands down to their home style spanish cooking. The paella alone was worth every peso of the buffet price. We could wolf down one paellera all to ourselves. Their recipe was outstanding from the meaty toppings down to the burnt bottom goodness. For us, this is the best paella in the Metro!

Glorious plate of mine!

Room for Desserts

Desserts

Canonigo

Canonigo, soft meringue cake with vanilla custard sauce. Brazo de Mercedes sent Sunrise to a different level. Yummy and not too sweet.

Canonigo

Pwede na pang date? :)

Rule No.1 NO LEFTOVERS

I salute Alba for having a no left over policy to conserve food and water and to avoid unnecessary spoilage. Please note that Php500 per table will be charged for left overs.

Hashtag #myemptyplates for all your emptied plates!!!

Alba Restaurante Español

Westgate, Filinvest Corporate City, Alabang, Muntinlupa City 

771.2178-79

38 Polaris St. Bel Air Makati City

896.6950-51, 890.4372 

Tomas Morato cor. Scout Lozano, QC

925.1912, 411.7052, 928.7129

Spanish Lunch Buffet

P650+ per head

Kids 4 feet and below: P325+

3 years old and below: free

Schedule:

11:30 am to 2:30 pm

Available Monday to Sunday in all outlets

Spanish Dinner Buffet

P695+ per head

Kids 4 feet and below: P348+

3 years old and below: free

Schedule:

6:00 to 10:30 pm

Monday to Sunday in Tomas Morato, QC branch

Saturdays and Sundays in Westgate, Alabang branch

Sundays in Polaris, Bel Air Makati Branch

*All articles and photos posted are owned by LettuceandSunrise and should not be copied and/or used without prior written authorization from us. You can always SHARE our posts with the applicable trackback by putting the corresponding links. We will also do this ethical act for other people's posts, websites, and photos that we want to share on this blog. This is a personal blog. Like a diary or journal, all the views, insights, and opinions written here are solely based on our own point of views and belong to ours alone and not of the companies we are part of. Information may not be accurate and may only be applicable at the exact time and situation we experienced it. We will not liable for any errors in this information or any losses or damages arising from its display or use.