Kanto Freestyle

Kanto tayo! Kanto means corner, but for my office mates and I it means food trip! A resto that serves breakfast all day everyday.

A house converted into a restaurant...

I've learned about Kanto Freestyle Breakfast mid last year when one team from my department were raving about eating pancakes at this place called Kanto. So I was like, Kanto what? Not only were they talking about the place but they even brought in a lot of leftover pancakes, what a lucky day. Free food! So I got to taste blueberry pancakes, it was a yummy 3 layered pancakes topped with blueberries. It was okay, but when I found out about the price, it was only P80 or P90. How cheap is that? Okay, I guess semi affordable sounds better. So we definitely have to go there! Months passed, we've made plans about going there but all those planning only remained as, yes, plans. LOL! But just a few weeks ago it finally happened and I was so excited!!!

We finally made it! After burning tons of calories from the fun run, we are here to gain those calories back. LOL!

Busy looking at the menu.

Right after the fun run in BGC, we rushed to Kanto in Kapitolyo this branch is particularly close to our office. I was super hungry when we got there, so i browsed the menu fast and requested for my order to be served right away. LOL! And yup, they were fast and they were also very nice too.

They have two other branches, in Libis, Q.C. and in Mandaluyong, and another branch somewhere near DLSU Taft. Okay so let's get to the food. At first, I thought they only served pancakes cause that's all I ever hear. Pancakes, pancakes, pancakes. Blueberries, mixed berries, strawberries, chocnut, cookies and cream and more. Boy was I happy to find out that they have more than just pancakes. Let's get to the menu, shall we?

Coffee with a dash of cinnamon @ P25... Breakfast wouldn't be complete without a cuppa coffee.

Spanish sardines tempura @ P90

This spanish sardines tempura was my order. Spanish sardines with tempura style breading, I really like this food, with or without the breading. This was actually the first time I have ever tried something like this and, nope I wasn't disappointed.

Pork belly @ P90

Who wouldn't want to eat this?? Irresistible, crispy and tasty, Elaine can vouch for that. Haha!

Vigan Longaniza @ P65.

  I just thought it was super small, and that it wasn't worth ordering. But my office mate said it was okay , the tomatoes were perfect it had pesto on it. 

Crispy buttered, garlic chicken. This really wasn't on the menu, probably new I think it also costs about P90. 

Pancakes with Chocnut Ganache @ P80. You get free pancakes if you come there on your birthday

Tocino

My fave, Deep Fried OREO!!! Oh soooo yummy! Also try deep fried cloud, cloud 9 with breading. I got excited when I saw it, forgot to take a snap. P50

Happy tummy!

Pictures below were only taken there 2 days ago. We got there at 8:00 AM, and we were on the waiting slot, number 5 on the queue to be exact. They have recently decided to go full blast and are now open 24 hours. So I'm pretty sure it's overwhelming for them, good thing tho the customers were all waiting patiently.

While waiting to be seated, tambay tambay nalang muna sa kanto.

Before and after.

 Photo above, waiting for the food to be served. I think it took them 35 mins to serve the food and most of our orders weren't available, like the Tuyo flakes with kesong puti which I have been dying to try. And the spanish sardines tempura style wasn't available too. And those were the only seafood on the menu which I can eat, good thing they have a tinapa ready. 

What we ate last Saturday. Spam, tinapa, clubhouse sandwich and crispy bacon.

We should try this sometimes... 

KANTOFIED!

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so have breakfast any time of the day. Get Kantofied like me!

For a complete list of the menu go here:

http://www.munchpunch.com/kanto-freestyle-breakfast-mandaluyong/menu

Better yet, follow them on facebook: 

https://www.facebook.com/kantofreestylebreakfast

Here are their addresses:

- 549 San Joaquin St. Brgy. Plainview Mandaluyong

- 6 Aquillina St. Cor Col Divino Sto. Niño Marikina

Sweet Ecstacy

Right after a short tour of Cubao Expo, we got hungry. It was already 8:00 P.M. by then and most of the shops were either closed or getting ready to close. So we decided to look for a decent place to eat. There are quite a few restos in Cubao Expo,  but this small red room caught our eyes. It was even being renovated at that time, still the facade of this small resto will make you look twice.

Yup, The Sweet Ecstacy! That's the name, so we became instantly curious. Why such name? Will it make us feel as if in a trance if we eat whatever is being served there? Or are they serving tons of sweets, sweets which I am crazy about. LOL! As mentioned they were being renovated so the first level was empty but, there read a sign that says Don't be alarmed, we are open. A sign which i thought was kinda catchy so we went in right away. I don't have the photo of the resto from the outside since it wasn't permissible, but here's a photo from the inside going up to the actual resto.

Okay, so as it turns out this place is a burger joint. So much for my excitement! They serve burgers, fries and milkshakes. My apologies for not having enough photos to support this write-up. We are not a burger crazy lot, but I'm sure the burgers are awesome. I was hoping for a veggie burger on their menu. Well, better luck next time. But here are some of the food we tried.

Burgers! Photo grabbed from their FB.

I don't remember what this is. But, it sure looks good. My 2 friends had this, I just ate the camote fries.

Camote fries, yum! Sweet and salty, the honey dip really complimented this root crop. ^_^

Chicken wings! Zesty, tangy taste. Yum Yum!

Cookies and cream milkshake and Choco mint milkshake. This is what made eating here memorable. LOL! Yup, definitely a must-try.

The other thing I liked about this place is the fast service and the artsy-fartsy ambiance. The walls are red on one side and white on the other, lots of pictures hung on the wall, colorful pictures from movies, from artists and I guess just some random catchy pics. The red couch was also comfy so it made staying there for a while, well, worthwhile.

I like the warm red walls, and the bright pictures hung up on them.

One for the road, last pic before leaving!

That's it! If you want to visit their resto, they are located in Cubao Expo. Or check out their facebook for more info. https://www.facebook.com/SweetXManila

Photo credits to Mack!

Cubao Expo

Among the list of places we wanted to visit was Cubao Expo, and we made that happen just a few weeks ago. Cubao Expo is located at the Araneta Center near Ali Mall, if I'm not mistaken this place was formerly known as Marikina Shoe Expo. There are lots of unique finds in every store, they don't only sell shoes like one would initially expect since it was once known as a shoe expo. But Cubao Expo has a whole lot to offer, from vintage stuff, collectibles, and unusual finds which my friends and I are always on a hunt for, there are also clothes, shoes, bags and stuff from the past and stuff from now. I have a very faint memory of the first time I visited this place, it wasn't fully developed back then, but I definitely remember that I enjoyed in the ukay-ukay shops.

What I like about it now, the place is now well lit and a few restos has been added and lot of people are now taking time to appreciate the place. For me, it's always a different feeling to take a trip down memory lane some people find comfort in going back to the past, I simply just feel happy seeing stuff that reminds me of my childhood. Most shops close early tho, or maybe we just came in a little late. Oh and some of the shops were closed then, and we found out that they have different rest days so there's a certain day that a shop would be close.

I was hoping to share loads of photos but the admin was very strict about taking pictures in the area, but we managed to take some stolen shots. My apologies.. Well we weren't aware that it was prohibited, pictures already taken so it's ours to keep. ;) Besides, we just wanted to share to friends and family how nice the place is. But, it was funny how the guards would make ninja moves on you and pop up behind your back saying "Bawal po mag-picture ma'am". Fine! Actually it was annoying cause we were super excited to be there. Good thing some of the shop owners were kind enough and allowed us to take some snaps of their uber lovely store.

                                                         MY BREATHING SPACE
                                                              Collectibles & Gifts
                                      www.facebook.com/mybreathingspacecollectiblesandgifts

This is my favorite shop, not only is the owner super friendly, but he allowed us to take pictures endlessly so we voraciously did. ;)

                                         

                                                                      Cars, old and new..                    

                                             

         Who doesn't love Audrey Hepburn? My breathing space has the largest Audrey Hepburn collection.

 It's the only shop that has mermaids! I hope you still have this piece the next time we visit.

                                                
                                                         Added one to my collection... ;)

Just look at that! If you love coke, then you'll definitely love it here.

This is actually a cool idea to display your mug collection. Don't ya think? 

A few more pics from the other shops...

Me want one!

Fash! This actually scares me. It's lovely but I don't want it in my house. What if it walks during night time? LOL!

Oldies but goodies!

Love the smell of books... Would've loved to go to THE READING ROOM, unfortunately they were closed the day we went there..

What a pose? ;)

Those glasses! Must be from the 70's!

PEZ galore! Had tons of these when I was a kid...

Me, Maries and Mack...

That's it for this trip! Will definitely come back to this place, it brought back a lot of childhood memories. The toys from the 80's, collectible items from 50's, 60's and 70's. If you want to take a trip down memory lane, then this is the place where you should be. 

Cubao Expo 

(The Old Marikina Shoe Expo)

Gen. Romulo Avenue

Araneta Center, Cubao, Q.C.

Photo Credits to Mack! ;)

Some Kind Of Wonderful

My friends and I are on a constant lookout for unusual, unique, out of the ordinary, quaint kind of restos. That's our goal for this year. Last month we were in Baguio City doing the same thing, check out my blog http://baguiocitytheplacetobe.blogspot.com/ for more info.

Okay, so this love month we decided to go out on a date just the 3 of us, Maries, Mack and I. We went to this quaint place called SKOW!

Some Kind Of Wonderful...
Just look at that facade! It's lovely!

Don't you just love the 80's? I know I do, I'm an 80's baby. ;)


More pics from the inside. Forgive me if I can't focus much on the menu, I get more excited about the place than the food being served. What a weirdo? LOL! Oh, except desserts, crazy about them.

Oh Dean!

Now who doesn't know this guy?

View Master, just like the old days. Mine was red...

One of my favorite movies from the 80's

Some Kind Of Wonderful movie poster. Do you think this is where they got the name of the cafe?

Kids and kids at heart will definitely like this place, just look at all those toys.

In here they serve Japanese, American and Italian dishes. Really, forgive me for not paying much attention on the menu. But below are the food we ordered. I just have to say, the food was great loved the cheese basil pizza very much!









So that's it! Well, not really. We had dessert after this.

BTW, photo credits to Mack!!!

If you want to visit their cafe, check out their Facebook page for more details.

They are located in Marikina City, Just right in front of St. Paul Parish

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Some-Kind-Of-Wonderful-SKOW/221932331202931