Manila - Week 2 of Food

My second week in the Philippines went by in a blur of working and eating. The girls I was working with took me out to lunch every day, and I got to experience some very tasty food. First they took me to a place called "Army Navy", which reminded me a little bit of Chipotle, but they had a wider range of food. While Chipotle only does burritos, bowls and quesadillas, Army Navy does burgers, hot dogs and cheese steaks too.


Lhen, Kathleen and I waited at a table for our food to be ready.
I was going to order a burrito so I could do a Chipotle comparison, but they were having a Tuesday Taco special, so I ordered their chicken tacos, "freedom fries" and "LiberTea" (their own house blend tea). I did go back for dinner later that week too to try the burrito though. The food was AMAZING! Whatever seasoning they use in their meat is delicious, their fries are crispy and also delicious. Even their house blended tea was great. I know it's almost blasphemous to say, but I would pick Army Navy over Chipotle. If I ever go back to the Philippines I'll have to try their burger.


The next day for lunch they took me to a place called Dave's Tea House, which was a Chinese restaurant. I was a little wary after my experience at Big Buddha, but this place was really good. We ordered a beef stew type dish that Phil's family usually orders when we eat out in Chinatown, NY, wonton noodle soup, and dumplings. I have to say this restaurant could have held its own in NY Chinatown. I don't even think it was run by a Chinese person either, which was extra impressive. Lhen and I are getting ready to enjoy some good Chinese food.

Another day they took me to a Filipino restaurant (I don't remember the name). We ordered a dish called Sisig, which is beef, eggs and some other things served on a sizzling hot plate, and we also ordered a soup dish.


On my last day there we ventured outside of the mall-filled bubble around the office, and I discovered once you leave that part of town there are actually a lot of office buildings surrounding the area. It figures it would take me until my last day to venture outside the labyrinth of malls. We headed to a popular lunch destination called the Ayala Triangle. It's basically a triangular park area that has a row of restaurants along one side. It gets pretty crowded actually, and every restaurant has at least a 30 minute wait. Good thing the Filipino's are so laid back about time. We went to another Chinese restaurant for lunch this time - it wasn't as good as David's Tea House, but still pretty tasty (still better than Big Buddha!). I was too busy eating I forgot to take pictures of the food, so all you get is a picture of me and Kathleen on the edge of Ayala Triangle.