Eat, eat, eat: Katipunan Avenue

Mange Readers,

One of the great things about the place I'm renting is that it's very "walking" friendly.  The University is only a block away from "my place," and along Katipunan Avenue are bunches of restaurants/eateries/concessionaires ( serving sizes are the same as campus cafeteria, but prices are doubled ).  Originally, my intent was to at least eat at each restaurant; I only had two more restaurants left to complete the list but my budget ran out ( it's okay that I don't finish, because as I'm blogging this, there's a new food court, with new restaurants being built ).  Below are impressions:

Figlia- 4 Cheese on Chiaba? bread sprinkled with bits of ham is ok
Bo's Coffee- their pastries not as fresh/gummy, Green Tea Frappuccino so-so
The Tea Place- I heart their Iced Brown Sugar Milk Tea with pearls
KFC- typical fast food; I ate their chicken sandwich
Pancake House- Breakfast all day rox; pancakes not so bad; I had the yogurt with  Brazo de Mercedes? yummy
Tea-Ology- I heart their Amaretto Milk Tea Latte, Iced Caramel Milk Tea with Egg Pudding, and the Kyoto Matcha Green Tea Latte ( with sweetness level of 100% )
Hap Chan- tofu ok, meatball soup so-so, their notion of "Chilled/cold" Taho is room temperature, their Fried sweet "squash" only looks like a tiny squash but it's made of mochi/sticky sweet rice flour W/ red bean paste inside
Bacolood Chicken- it's so-so, the chicken breast was tiny, their mango/cilantro/vinegar/etc salad was interesting
The Old Spaghetti House- it rox, I like how they fused local flavors with international dishes: Tuna Alfredo, Thai Bagoong Pasta, California Maki Pizza, Matcha Green Tea Shake
Pizza Hut- the personal pizza was tiny, the chicken soup with pastry ( their take on chicken pot pies ) was ok
Gravy Fixx- the salisbury steak w/ sunny-side up egg and rice is ok
Red Buffalo Wings- rockin sweet chicken tenders served with wasabi mayo dip and rice
Sweet Inspiration- loved their pastries, regular/wheat pandisals, loaf bread, pandan shake, I like their coffee and cake special
Cerealicious- overpriced champorado, but awesome names for cereal treats with yogurt, nuts, fruit et. al.
Teriyaki Boy- salmon salad had too much dressing
Yellow Cab Pizza Co.- pistaschio ice cream rox, so is their squash soup ( with actual squash ), pizza so-so
Big, Better, Burgers- Fish Fillet burger rox
Seattle's Best Coffee- Avocado shake creamy, Chai Tea/Cherry/Almond/Caramel latte rox, macaroon cupcake rox
Kenny Rogers- very flavorful chicken, yogurt with kiwi/mixed fruit, the Protein Meal, the Fiber Meal, Norwegian Salmon so-so, pan-cotta/ fruit salad ok
Jollibee- soda floats, jolli spaghetti with yum, tuna pie, chicken sandwich
Greenwich Pizza- their thin crust pizza rox
Mushroom Burgers- mushrooms are their specialty, Chinese Halo-halo ok, Longanisa and rice
Starbucks- Green Tea Latte, Green Tea Frappuccino, Green Tea Latte with a Shot of Hazelnut, Cinnamon Swirl yummy
Tia Maria's Cantina- Seafood pasta, mango shake ok
Shakey's- Bianca Pizza, calamares, fish fillet, spaghetti with giant meatball ( more like tiny meatball ), vanilla/strawberry shake, salad so-so, I'm more impressed with thin crust pizza rather than the hand-tossed ones
McDonald's- chicken nuggets, fries, spaghetti, burger, chicken sandwich, their McCafe is surprisingly competitive: steamed milk with a shot of raspberry, nutty brazo, cappuccino, their Midnight Chocolate Cake is the bomb ( moist and creamy, flavorful yet not too coy )
Pan De Manila- their pastries and pandisals are so-so
Cravings- unlimited salad and soup with a main dish rox, unlimited coffee and cakes ( 4 levels, 4 choices as long as you finish each cake ) depends ( under renovations so not so visible )

Thus, my Top 2 would have to be Kenny Rogers and The Old Spaghetti House.  Nonetheless these foodies provided space for reflection, work, and chillin with new friends.