celebraTINg exisTENce: Maginhawa Street

This is located at YMCA hotel in front of Sacred Heart Church, Makati but they also have a branch in Maginhawa Street, Quezon City.

To give you a brief history of the restaurant, the word Galli is a combination of the owners' surnames Garcia and Villongco.

Please excuse the pictures. Haha!

Tin was late (again)
Don't be like Tin.
Always anticipate the hellish traffic jams.

So there, I came in late thus they were already eating when I arrived. But these pictures I have here would still work. :))

Their paella is only made if there's an order to ensure the freshness and the taste so be prepared to wait for 45 minutes but you can also order in advanced. But, if you decide to wait then I assure you that this is going to be worth it. Uy, walang hugot. Masarap kasi talaga.

Beef Salpicao

Unfortunately, this wasn't that remarkable for me but they only use beef tenderloins so it's not surprising that this was tender.

Shrimp Gambas

Not only because I am shrimp biased but this one was my favorite of all the viand I had for that night. You know how bad I am at describing food but this one's really really really good that I took the last piece. HAHAHA. Alam mo naman nagkakahiyaan sa last piece diba? E you could really taste how fresh the shrimps are so huhu obviously, I wasn't able to resist.
Nga pala, they only use sugpo for this one.

I love that they always make sure they're only cooking the finest ingredients yet still manage to make everything reasonably-priced.

Chicken Al Ajillo

Bet with rice! If I were to rank the viands I had that night, this comes in second to the shrimp gambas.

Galli Village Cafe may be a small restaurant in Makati but the pictures and paintings there are big things. Hehe.

All the decorations found are remembrances and souvenirs from the owners' previous travels in several countries.These pictures undoubtedly added a different feel to the restaurant - and even made the place much closer to the heart hehe. Of course, more inspiration for us who have been bitten by the travel bug.

I wasn't able to take pictures of the entire place but there are a lot more decorations, travel magazines even.

Btw, you may reserve the whole area for small celebrations or family gatherings.

Thank you, Ms. Christine for having me again and Aldous for organizing this event. :))

Aozora Japanese Cafe + Bistro, Tagaytay link: here.

1 Comments

0 Comments

Why so lost, bread?

Another Maginhawa food find.

I have a loooooot of backlogs from there (not only from there pala haha!). Naipon na since July. Aigooo. I still have Artsy Cafe, Rojo's Baked Chicken, and North Wing Manila.

Anyhow,

We went there on a Saturday night and the StrEat was full of diners it was crazy. We formed our line and after around 20 minutes, they posted a sign that they're going to have the ice cream machine rest. We obviously had no choice. Hope they find a solution for this though. Sayang oras.

Since we really wanted to know why was this so hyped, we decided to return and fortunately the line was still short when we arrived at the StrEat.

We found #thelostbread. Bakit ba naman kasi 'yon nawala? Hahaha! 😂 @thelostbread_ #milkshake #maginhawa #strEAT #swissmissed #thecampfire 😋

A photo posted by Tin Gallemaso (@xtintina) on Aug 29, 2015 at 6:09am PDT

Ito na nga 'yon.

After all the wait and several inconveniences, we got to order our drinks and true enough, plus sa presentation because even if we didn't get to order The Carnival (the milkshake that has cotton candy on top), Swissmissed and The Campfire were also Instagram-worthy.

Wala sa picture 'yung order ko actually. I got Spiked Cookie for variety's sake and it was a wrong decision - what you usually get for ordering just for the sake of ordering is something you won't like. It was good though nothing really special. I also found the milkshake too sweet but the main reason why I wasn't able to finish my drink is because it has coffee. HAHAHA. My fault talaga for ordering a drink with coffee when I know that I can only drink a few sips of it. K. Fine. Aamin na. The Baileys got me. Ang angas kaya pag sa 18+ drinks category ka nag-order. Hahaha. Charot lang! You can hardly taste the Baileys dahil kaunti lang naman.

For a drink with Baileys, it's still Superduck Teahouse's Baileys Milk Tea.

Will try it there again only when the Carnival with cotton candy is available. Otherwise, it will (always) be matcha bingsu from Magpie Cafe.

As much as possible, refrain from going there during weekends because it is too crowded. Pero if you're after the crowd, edi go. Madali lang naman akong kausap. ;)

0 Comments

Maginhawa Street in Teacher's Village is the street of first to nth rounds if you know what I mean. It feels incomplete if you're only visiting one out of the several restaurants there. Or usual, baka ako lang 'to.

Here's my rounds one and two, Tornado Peri-Peri Chicken and Sancho Churreria Manila. 10 weeks ago na pala! My golly.

One thing when you're the person who's kain ng kain is there's a tendency that the people you're with rely on you in choosing where to eat. They're like, "Ikaw, ikaw naman maraming alam na kakainan." I appreciate that but like what I am always saying, it's tough to be the one deciding because what tastes good for me may not taste good for them. At! Excuse me, ayoko lang kasi ng paulit-ulit kaya parang ang dami ko ng nakainan pero hindi po talaga ako kain ng kain. Wag niyo na ipilit na ganun ako... charot. :)))

The usual scenario when it's an unplanned Maginhawa food trip is we walk along the street without an idea on where we are going to eat. Tingin lang and then pag may recall 'yung resto, okay na dun.

Will be back, #tornadoperiperichicken 😋 #maginhawa #food.

A photo posted by Tin Gallemaso (@xtintina) on Aug 30, 2015 at 4:03am PDT

We were only supposed to cross the street pero sinalubong na kami ng staff nila. Haha! I haven't tried eating here as well kaya sige, dito na lang din.

I don't know what Peri-Peri was. All I know is I have a low tolerance for spicy food so I ordered the original variant. Oh, I learned that peri means pepper.

The chicken was grilled perfectly - tender and not too burnt but I had friends who were disappointed during their visit 'cause they were served dry and bland chicken daw kaya idk. The sauce tasted new to me that I don't even know how to describe it (as if this is something new). I liked it though there's a slight hint of star anise. Never liked star anise in my food buti na lang kaunti lang.

The place was small and it was kind of hot inside. If I return there, I'd sit at the tables outside.

For dessert, it was Sancho Churreria Manila.

We liked the #chocolate dip a lot.😋 #sancho #churros #maginhawa @sanchochurreriamnl

A photo posted by Tin Gallemaso (@xtintina) on Aug 31, 2015 at 9:09pm PDT

P 88.00

A friend recommended Sancho to me before saying that they're well-known for their churrros con chocolate so when we passed by their restaurant, dun na lang.

For the price and taste, this is definitely a steal. I captioned in my Instagram post that I liked the chocolate dip a lot because it's bittersweet. I like the taste but I hope it has a thicker consistency.

One similarity of these restaurants is their social media presence. They both replied to my Instagram posts and Peri-Peri take pictures of all their diners and post them in their Facebook account.

0 Comments

I have been frequenting Maginhawa street the past months.

Posts about Rojo's, The Lost Bread, Peri-Peri Tornado Chicken, Sancho, Artsy Cafe, North Wing are to follow. <3 Just posting this in honor of the last two pictures I posted in Instagram before my phone broke. Hehehe na huhuhu three days ago. This is to hoping that I'll be able claim my phone tomorrow afternoon! Huhuhu. Please namannnn. Hirap ng walang phone.

ANYWAYYYYYYYY. :)

Dyan, may forever talaga. 😂 #녹차, #nokcha, #greentea, #matcha = love.

A photo posted by Tin Gallemaso (@xtintina) on Oct 13, 2015 at 7:45am PDT

They wanted round two I suggested that we transfer to Magpie Cafe in the StrEAT (we were from North Wing Manila) since I saw that they serve shakes there.

I was also meaning to order a shake but then I saw from the menu that they had Bingsu and I also noticed that the green tea was named "Nokcha" instead of "Matcha" Then it came to me that I probably entered a Korean Cafe and guess what? Magpie, indeed, is a Korean cafe. It's written outside, I wasn't just paying attention as usual. Focused sa matcha, ganern?? :))

Nok in Korean Language means green and Cha is tea.

Dahil always on the look out for anything #matcha, nanlaki mata ko nung makita kong may #nokcha #greentea. Dun ko lang na-realize na Korean cafe pala kasi. #magbasakasi hehe #bingsu #magpie #maginhawa #strEAT

A photo posted by Tin Gallemaso (@xtintina) on Oct 13, 2015 at 7:54am PDT

P 150.00

Magpie Cafe's version of Nokcha Bingsu is different from BGC's Cafe Seolhwa because the shaved ice is made from milk unlike the latter that the shaved ice was made with green tea. The good thing is Magpie Cafe's version is something that is more adjusted to Filipino palate 'cause not only is it made from milk, they also provided extra serving of condensed milk which you can add to your bingsu if you still find it bland.

Aside from the scoop of nokcha ice cream, this bingsu had injeolmi cubes, whipped cream, sliced almonds, and red beans toppings. Okay na sa P 150.00 kasi malaki rin ang serving.

Overall, this is something that will be enjoyed by those who love the grassy and potent taste of matcha because of the ice cream and yet will also be enjoyed by those who prefer a milder taste because they can just mix the ice cream and the snow ice together.

Plus points that Maginhawa street is waaaaaay nearer to me than BGC. Glad that I have found a new place where I can satisfy my green tea and bingsu

cravings.

Go on a weekday if possible because the strEAT gets too crowded during weekends.