My Monday Tummy Workout

Last Monday night, in lieu of my usual gym workout, I had my tummy worked out instead. And what a way to start my week just when I promised myself to really start monitoring my diet! But for friendship’s sake (cheers Alex!) and for love of good food, I gave my taste buds a well-deserved break from tuna wheat bread sandwiches and prunes and apples.

Alex, my friend and former law school classmate who is in town for a break from his foreign posting in China and yours truly started our journey to good food with a tasty dinner at Café Mediterranean. Being his first time there, I recommended beef kebabs with buttered rice while I had lamb kebabs to savor and enjoy. Both the beef and lamb kebabs were juicy and tasty, unlike some kebabs that are either dry or gummy. Their garlic sauce was one of the best I had and the primary reason I keep coming back. As always, I would smother my kebabs with garlic sauce with a mouthful of their buttered rice (the Moroccan rice pilaf is also must try!) Beware though if you’re with a date you’re trying to impress. Go easy on the garlic sauce lest you want to make your date literally stay away from you! In my case, Alex is a good friend, through good and garlic breath times! You should also try their Grilled Chicken Mediterranean Style which is also an excellent dish for a first time visitor. Their gyros are also very good, very reminiscent of those shawarma fad days when I was still in college. I had to take a bite of their heavenly thinly sliced chocolate dessert with nuts on it, whose name slipped off my mind. It is semi-sweet so it is highly recommended for people who are dark or semi-sweet chocoholics like me!

For the next stop of our palatable journey, we went to Via Mare’s Oyster Bar in Greenbelt 3. I love oysters so much that when I went to Bacolod and Iloilo, I was eating oysters five times a day! But when in Manila and I am craving for baked oysters, Via Mare is definitely the place to indulge. We ordered Five Kinds of Oysters and a bottle of their house wine, Santa Helena, a Chilean white wine which superbly blended with the oysters. Yummy, I can still remember the taste and feel of the oysters melting in my mouth. Oysters Rockefeller is definitely my favorite! The spirit has probably taken some effect that Alex and I were giggly and bubbly mid-way during dinner part 2, which is a welcome mood to start off a busy week ahead.

Café Breton was the next stop for dessert. We first had Funstastyc Crepe, a crepe with banana, nutella spread, vanilla ice cream and flaming rum. Deliciously sinful but definitely worth it that Alex wanted another crepe! We ordered Peche Mode next, which is filled with peaches and chocolate syrup, cream, vanilla ice cream and Grand Marnier. It was so good I was tempted to order a third round of crepes. But the better and healthier part of me stopped me from committing another sin. Though it was originally planned to go to Dome for some Peppermint Tea to cap off the evening, both our tummies were full and our tipsy heads told us it is time to head for home and get enough rest for the next working day.

But the best part of this food journey was entirely not the food and ambiance alone. It was the conversation and the thought that you are nurturing not just your body but your soul as well because you are with a friend, a good friend at that! The conversation about our respective careers, our personal plans, our non-existent love life and our secret aspirations has made this food journey satisfying for both the body and soul - a very wonderful experience indeed!

In as much as I would want to go food tripping again, I gotta head for the gym! I have been trying to burn those calories from Monday’s dinner since yesterday and I know I am just halfway through.

See you next Wednesday!

CaRPe dIeM!!!