A Life Full of Meaning will Take Some Time to Hatch (Our 2013 and Review of Hatch 22)

Lettuce Says,

Celebrating the first year of our marriage, Christmas, and the turnover of the Old to the New Year, Sunrise and I have decided to just keep it low-key and celebrate these events at home with intimate meals and simple gatherings with each other and with our families.

Long post ahead! I guess I really missed this!

2013 was an exciting year for us, a whirlwind of excitement and challenges. We underwent a lot of changes in our lives, as individuals and as a couple. To share with you, here are the top milestones of Lettuce and Sunrise.


1.) It was a first time that we ventured into a business partnership that thought us a lot of raw and head-on learnings with the high's and low's of a small business. Please visit our spa Banahaw Heals Spa San Vicente, whenever you find yourself in Binan, Laguna!

Banahaw Heals Spa San Vicente

2.) Lettuce, yours truly, got promoted! (Yey!) I am currently loving my career at one of the most employee-appreciative companies in the Philippines. As some of you who are close to me may know, I literally and figuratively paved my own way, the exciting way to finish college even though I studied in UP Diliman, which is supposedly providing a subsidized education which some people like me sadly still can't afford. I went to all the nitty-gritty of asking money from relatives, pancit canton meals, tutoring stints and various call center jobs. All these things With God's guidance, I graduated and passed the board exam. I have worked for a government institution then onto a private surveying company which eventually made me a very stressed, under-paid, and unhappy person. One of my prayers through the Pink Sisters in Tagaytay (See: Wedding Proposal and Pink Sisters) was to get a great paying job with some nice and honest people around me. So, here I am now! (Intrigued? Nasa Ayala Triangle kami :) Our bosses are very inspiring people as well) :)

3.) The birth of TravelnStories, our travel blog and newborn travel marketing business of Sunrise's. Please do check it out!

Kayangan Cove, Coron, Philippines

4.) Change of Residence from Binan...to Makati! This has got to be the start of our journey as a married couple. Aside from being very close now to my work (what a big change and relief!, no more half an hour walking, one-hour line at the Ayala Terminal and two-hour traffic jam going home everyday!), Sunrise is now more reachable to and from his clients, lots of business opportunities (praying hard for the some great ones! If you are an Angel Investor out there, please! call us now na! :)), and we have (hopefully) extra time for other things to do like visit these hole-in-the-wall foodie spots around the Metro, and yes more blogging time! Hurray for My Empty Plates!

Make It Makati Model si Sisterette Avi

We also had our fair share of challenging times, regarding family and finances, just like other normal couple. The only difference I believe was that we got through everything together with hands held and looked up to God for guidance.

Before I babbled everything here and make a comedic telenovela out of our lives, let's get down to hatching our first review of the year.

For our first year anniversary, we just planned to have a meal somewhere quiet for some comfort food eating. The holiday celebs with our North and South families (Sunrise from Binan, Laguna, whereas Lettuce is from Malolos, Bulacan) and our own new year's eve celeb had made a dent in our expenses (hahaha) so our supposedly trip abroad has been rescheduled to hopefully this new year. This actually proves that we had matured in terms of planning and setting priorities since we are living the marriage now.

I was craving for some all day brekkie type of meal that day. Sunrise suggested Ihop since we (still!) haven't tried it yet, I offered Cafe Ilang-ilang because we have a 50% off voucher that is expiring real soon. But since we were both such lazy pants after snoozing til 1pm, we opt to visit Rockwell instead. Then, I remembered Hatch 22 Cafe and Bakery at the Powerplant Mall!

The restaurant is located right beside the open parking lot, near Starbucks. From inside the mall, there is an entrance on the upper ground level, near the expensive watches stores.

Hatch 22 Cafe and Bakery

The interiors has this rough and friendly vibe, perfect for a late lunch date.

Chalk prints, log chairs, unfinished patterns, unpainted walls, and original paintings of the co-owners, Heussaffs made it more interesting. And with floor-to-ceiling glass walls to boot, somehow inspires the New York vibe.

You can also enjoy sundown (or even as sunrise as early as 7am, they won't judge! :) ) cocktail drinks by this strip of a bar, or take-away some breads and pastries for mom!

Shall we empty thy plates?

Bread Basket (Php 270)

The smell of bread inside the restaurant was something you simply cannot resist! So we ordered these warm goodies, Bread Basket 1 in the menu, which contains Butter Brioche, Cheddar Milk Biscuits, Cranberry and Walnut, Dark Rye, Jalapeno, and Cheddar Bread with bacon jam and apple pie butter.

French Onion Soup

We also ordered Soup and Salad (Php295), which came with half portion of any salad and soup of the day.

Sunrise devoured the French Onion Soup as if he was dehydrated! I'm not exactly a fan of anything with onion overload, but a sip of this had me coming back for more spoonfuls bursting of salty goodness with a hint of fresh sweetness from caramelized onion simmered on beefy broth. This was a great companion of those fellows in the bread basket.

Falafel Salad

Something took me by surprise that day, I fell in love with this healthy beauty. The colors were strong and dark as well as the flavors that inspires me to go on a salad diet. If only Hatch 22 can deliver me this and its sister greens everyday for free i will gladly take a break from those worldly meats and sweets. 

Falafel salad is a tossed heaven of mixed salad greens, golden falafel (Falafel is a deep-fried ball or patty made from ground chickpeas, fava beans, or both according to Mr. Wikipedia), goat cheese, tomatoes cucumbers, olives, red beets, orange slices, and lemon oil dressing. Try forkfuls of different combi of the enumerated happy ingredients and be ready to be surprised, this salad definitely tasted like a salad flown from NY to MNL via a time machine.

Lettuce's main dish, Crispy Corned Beef. Yes, I can be boring like that.

Crispy Corned Beef (Php380)

But by the simple looks of it, I became excited as this plate was served in front of me. Believe it or not but before we ate our mains, Sunrise and I felt close to full already. Hahaha  their breads are really tummy-filling creatures. The spiced up crispy Delimondo corned beef (mas pina-sosyal sa Purefoods brand) came with extreme garlic rice, crunchy egg and seared tomatoes drizzled with spiced honey vinegar. The dish is some sort of a letdown, the combination of the garlic rice which is in itself not-that-extreme, sosyal corned beef, and egg made it a little bit hard to swallow because the dynamics are all dry. It should have been better if the egg was served sunny-side up and climbed another level higher of that garlicky kick.

Let's see what Sunrise got this time.

Cassoulet (P640)

As soon as this wonder Cassoulet had arrived, the aroma filled our table (and my dress as well :) ), this slow cooked casserole with pork hock (yummy pork joints), sausage, smoked bacon, roast chicken, white beans and warm toasts. If you have limited stomach space, I suggest you order this meal by itself because it is also a tummy-filling monster! But a loving monster on which you can taste the whole effort of who made this dish. The pork was oh-so-tender type that the bone is as tender you can eat it as well. I can picture a homey mama making this white-bean casserole with French origins, throwing all the love into a pot of gold. A winner in our books.

As for the drinks, we only tried their iced tea which was super bland and tasted watered down. Maybe their cocktails were way better.

We had successfully EMPTIED Hatch 22's PLATES! You should too!

Hope you can share to us your own emptied plates as well by hashtagging #myemptyplates or uploading your photos in our facebook fan page.

(Clap clap naman kayo jan!) :) Well, we had some of the breads for take-away (hanep maka carbo loading ang resto na ito :) )

I would have liked to try their desserts but our brimming stomachs won over. We almost covered all the GLAs (gross leasable area hahaha jargon ng mga taga malls) of the whole mall just to burn some of the calories away. Suddenly, a live acoustic string band was playing "A Thousand Years", awww what a sweet coincidence, that was one of our wedding songs. And! they are actually great for wedding receptions. To show our thanks here's a free ad for you guys! :)

Thanks Soulful Mood Strings!

As to listen for their next songs, we searched for a light sweet ending to our bongga meal earlier. On to Wooden Spoon! (Ugh! Yeah I have a pending post for Wooden Spoon, hope you can wait for it :) )

Mango-Ube Crepe

This crepe was amazing, instagram-worthy, pocket-friendly, and a foodie find! Imagine this,  chubby mango strips with ube ice cream enveloped snugly by a fluffy buko-pandan flavored crepe, drizzled with chocolate syrup and nuts (with garlic!!!) bits. This crepe screamed "This is a Daza recipe!"

What a fulfiling day for us (and for our tummies!), as our hearts reflected and celebrated the holidays, our first and unli future years with the simple joys of love. Happy Anniversary Sunrise! I love you! #alammoyan (hahahaha #watahashtag!)

#happy1stanniversary #lovelovelove

Ps. Hayaan nyo na ang pagka cheesy anniv naman eh :)

December 29, 2013
Hatch 22 Cafe and Bakery

Hatch 22 on Facebook
Ground Floor, Powerplant Mall, Rockwell, Makati City, Philippines

(+63 46 860 2699)
PhP 300-1000 per person

*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.

Contisfaction Experience: Conti's Bakeshop and Restaurant

Oct. 2012
Sunrise Says,

I saw a picture posted on facebook.com by my pretty cousin, Ate Rem Josue who celebrated her birthday yesterday (Happy birthday!!!) with her birthday cake, a Conti’s Mango Bravo cake. Where's my slice?

Look at the stare on the first photo. That is what I call indulgence after counting birthday after birthday. Don't worry ate, I won't say how old you are, but you're definitely older than me, lol.

Hahaha. The fourth picture is the reason why I asked her if I can use her photo. It's like declaring war to someone who touches the cake before her blowing the candle.

Ok, back to work Ate Rem, and you need to do some running after that celebration. HAPPY BIRTHDAY AGAIN AND MORE BLESSINGS FOR YOU. Don't forget my slice of cake. Lavyah!

I remembered having a conversation with Lettuce about having a picture of this cake. I started digging on my food load picture folder on our lappy. Tic toc tic toc… time past and Alaska won against TNT with JV Casio’s heroics  and no picture found. Good thing I got permission from Ate Rem to use her photo, Surprise!

The following are some photos of our many visits to Conti’s, may it be Trinoma Mall or Greenbelt. Next branches to visit, Nuvali and Alabang. Wow, imagine that, we’re currently residing in Laguna but we opted to go for far out Conti’s branches.

The latest set we had from Conti’s Greenbelt.

 Soup: Cream of Corn and Crab (Php80). 

I was looking at every strand of crab on the soup and could imagine fresh crabs and they don’t snap.

Bread: Triple Cheese Tuna (Php185). 

The new salty tuna bread in town. The good thing out of this bread is that I really saw the quality of service from their crew. I’d like to mention one of their waiters, Herald, who always replenishes our glasses with water and did not wait for us to complain about the saltiness of the tuna in the bread. He initiated getting our feedback since it was he who recommended the sandwhich to me. I was glad to hear that he was from Laguna too who used to serve for Conti’s Nuvali, one proud Lagunense he was. Hopefully this lad gets promoted soon since he has been with Conti’s for more than a year now.

Pasta: Angel Hair Puttanesca (Php 190.00)

Fresh tomato sauce, black olives, capers and a hint of anchovies in olive oil. Lettuce asked me to request for parmesan cheese and cracked pepper. She really did not like it, good thing is that I love pasta. 

Again, rule number one, no leftovers (but you can take it home).

Healthy Salads:  Mango Royale Salad (To Share Php 160.00 / Solo Php 90.00) 

Iceberg lettuce with fresh mango cubes tossed with special house dressing. One of the best salads I ever had because of its balanced mango sweetness and green crunch matching with perfect dressing.

Set from previous visit to Conti’s Trinoma

I got a fine evidence of what it means to be really hungry. 

  The first empty plate of a Russian Potato Salad (Php 130.00) 

Sugar beets, potatoes, carrots and chicken chunks. We were laughing out loud when we saw this picture. We found no photo of the actual salad so If you need to see the actual, you can go to the Conti’s website (http://www.contis.ph) or go and order it for yourself.

Pasta: Lasagna (Kiddie: Php 110.00) (Regular: Php 210.00)

Wide lasagna noodles layered with bechamel sauce and oregano inspired meat sauce, topped and baked with mixed cheeses. I never miss ordering a lasagna when I see it on the menu. I call it the Garfield syndrome, because the fat feline loves this pasta. I love lasagna, the bad side of the Garfield syndrome is either you get too active or too lazy after eating, I prefer to take the nap. Oh, I need to say, I ordered this kiddie version since the first time I had the regular one at Conti’s and it was really overwhelming, this was just enough to satisfy my palate.

Seafood Entrées: Baked Prawns (Php 315.00) 

Black tiger prawns baked with special topping, served with crab salad and Japanese fried rice. I only had a quick taste of this since Lettuce had already eaten most of it.

We also had Conti's Baked Salmon (Php 355.00). 

We’ll be coming back for this again.

  Pork Entrées: Barbequed Spareribs (Php 210.00)

Tender and juicy slab of marinated pork spareribs coated in sweet barbeque sauce pan grilled to perfection. Served with Atchara and choice of java rice, plain rice, or garlic rice.

Molten Chocolate Cake ala mode (Php 185.00)      

A deliciously soft textured cake, with a smooth choco lava hidden inside. Topped with vanilla ice cream for your indulgence. Well, someone most likely finger licked after that doodle.    

What can I say? I need to put Conti’s on our best seller and I bet we would have another article for Conti’s.

Have you ever dined in Conti’s? Share your experience with everyone.

Source Credit: www.contis.ph 

Conti’s Bakeshop and Restaurant

Greenbelt. Trinoma. Alabang. Nuvali.

*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.

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Bag of Beans Tagaytay

Lettuce Says,

Whenever we go to Tagaytay, we never fail to drop by Bag of Beans in the afternoon. I had to remind Sunrise of the smell of freshly baked bread to sway him away from Starbucks, which is our usual hang-out and coffee place.

Here are what we always have.

Bottomless Kapeng Barako, PhP110

Look at that golden mine. I only got a refill once since my head is already ballooning from too much caffeine. Their milk is very light. I prefer mine thicker and creamy so I added it to the hot chocolate instead. 

Shepherd's Pie, PhP115

This is Sunrise's fave. With all that ground beef and mashed potato, we can't help but get some for take away. Just pop  it in the microwave and it stays as good as what they served here. This is seriously heavy on the tummy, a meal on itself.

Beef and Mushroom Pie, PhP120

Beefy goodness! Unlike other pies that have super thick crust, they never skimp on the filling.

Apple Pie Ala Mode, PhP145

The photo speaks for itself. Inside, cinnamon envelops the apple chunks well.

Lettuce Says,

Nov. 25, 2013

Wow, I badly miss Tagaytay after seeing this post by Lettuce. We would usually go there during weekends when our budget would permit us because it was just two jeepney ride away from Binan, Laguna. 

Bags of Beans would always stay fresh on my memory. Believe me, my brain still knows how those breads smelled. 

Please do drop by one of Bag of Beans if you are in Tagaytay. No we are not paid to promote them, but they are definitely worth promoting. (Sana mabasa nila! Ok na ako sa Free Shepherd's Pie and hot choco)

I'll be coming back. Soon.

Bag of Beans
3650 Aguinaldo Highway, Mendez Crossing West
Tagaytay City, Cavite Philippines
(046) 413-2724

 
2011

*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 and Like us: