The Foodinista: Noodles

Terraz, Makati (Chinese New Year Pay Day Buffet!)

Monday, March 12, 2018

It's been a long time since I've joined an eat up. Time is flying so fast I just haven't had a breather the past few months. I got so caught up with work and my private life that I rarely even go out and eat out! So when I was invited to this small gathering and I had a few time to spare, I just had to say yes to my Team Kaladkarin fam. Buffet pa! Bawi bawi din pag may time

Street View from Terraz Window

Terraz is a casual and approachable dining space featuring modern comfort cuisine within the city’s renowned LEED accredited high-rise – the Zuellig building. Simply prepared and top-quality dishes are available for lunch and cocktails with tapas and sangrias at hand as an ideal conclusion to one’s busy cosmopolitan schedule. With delightful hospitality and a relaxed atmosphere, Terraz is the perfect place to hold social events, corporate meetings, family snacks and even romantic dinners.

Terraz is a restaurant owned by Raintree Group located in Zuellig Building Makati.
Ms. Michelle Magtoto of Raintree Restaurants was the one who accommodated and assisted us the whole day. I love her presence. She's so nice, a little quiet and shy. She's very easy to talk to and we've even made chika after dinner! Lol!

I never knew a restaurant in Zuellig Building even exists cause I've always known it to be a corporate office so I actually got lost navigating for it. There's a slightly intimidating vibe upon entrance cause everyone was wearing corporate attires and it's been a long time since I've worn a corporate outfit so I felt a little out of place. Haha!

Most of the customers are employees of the building cause Terraz also caters to offices on ordinary days. Most diners are business people and professionals that ads to the intimidating and sossy vibe. The place is quiet and the mood is very calming as compared to your usual buffet restaurants where a most people are actively chatting, laughing, shouting sometimes even with kids running around; Terraz has a hotel-vibe stress-free ambiance, so it's a good affordable place for lunch meetings and corporate gatherings.

Terraz can accommodate private meetings and events. They have seasonal or themed buffet twice a month depending on the occasion that will be celebrated or unique concepts they want to incorporate in the buffet. The place can accommodate about 70 people and has a cozy vibe, TBH medyo tita-ish ang feels for me cause of the warm lighting and couches. It's an ideal place for cocktails nights and mini reunions.

This month they're celebrating the Chinese New Year so this event is called the Chinese New Year Pay Day Buffet. Next month it'll be the Seafood Pay Day Buffet!

Buffet Price: P588 (Chinese New Year Pay Day Buffet)
Regular Buffet Rate: P520

Side Note: There's a musician playing violin to add to the cozy ambiance pero na off ako cause when I entered cause he was playing Hayaan Mo Sila by Ex Batallion

BWAHAHAHA

️I gave him a chance cause the music line up changed after that song!

TOP PICKS

Minced Beef with Crabmeat Soup

Braised Yellow Noodles

I just had to eat the noodles cause in Chinese it's tradition for us to eat noodles during occasions as it is believe that it'll give us long life. It's a little dry at first try but when the tray was replaced by a new batch it tasted good!

Pecking Duck

Pork Ribs with Special Sauce

Fried Rice

Assorted Dimsum

THE BEST! Can't count how many times I went back for the Siomai! I was eating Siomai the whole night. Grabe lang, legit. Akala ko lasang master siomai lang, but nooo it tasted so authentic and even the other dimsums. Ineffortan, hindi parang binili lang na frozen dimsum tapos ini-steam. Quality siya!

Fried Siopao (No Photo)
YUM! Not a fan of siopao, I don't actually eat siopao pero but this one is good. I thought it was a custard bun at first bite hahaha! It's a lil oily but it is super good! The filling is packed and isn't too sweet for my liking.

Mango Passion Fruit Juice

I love the variety of cocktail drinks they offer! ANG SARAP NITO! To be honest, most of the food for me were just normal. Maybe cause I'm Chinese? Parang parati ko na siya kinakain so ang hirap na i-judge kung masarap ba or hindi and one of the things na hindi ko talaga nakalimutan would be this drink! Ang sarap besh! So refreshing, sana pwedeng dalhin sa beach. The sweet x sour combo is just perfect pang-alis umay!

Buchi

Others that were available in the buffet.
Sweet and Sour Fish
Sauteed Chicken, Snow Peas black fungus with water chestnuts
Peking Duck
Singaporean fried noodles
Steamed Salmon Tail And Head with Special Sauce
Hoisin Chicken
Chicken Lemon Pineapple Cucumber
Pork Ribs with Special Sauce
Almond Jelly and Mango Pudding

Mango Sago

Thank you for having me Team Kaladkarin & Raintree Restaurants! What a memorable night!

Asado

Charlie's Wanton Special, Mandaluyong

Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Charlie's Wanton Special is a Hole-In-The-Wall Chinese Restaurant in Mandaluyong. It reminds me a lot of Hap Chan and Mann Hann but this one is more straight forward and cheap! It's like an air-conditioned canteen pina-level up! The set up is not fancy at all, just your typical no-frills chinese restaurant from the outside. They have a lot of parking space in front of the restaurant and I was surprised that it still gets full during weekdays.

According to my boyfriend who lives in San Juan, it's a popular Chinese restaurant since he was a kid. It often gets jamp-packed and it's popular among the residents in the area. On my first visit I wasn't able to try their Siomai so I tried their Fish Fillet Taosi instead for P185. Their serving is pretty big and can be good for 2 people already. There's nothing distinct about the taste so I won't review it anymore.

Fish Fillet Taosi (Photo Taken from my Zomato Account)

I went to Charlie's three times just to have a taste of their famous Siomai. Unfortunately every time I go there it's already out of stock! So if you really want to try it make sure you drop by on a lunch time on weekdays and weekends. Ubusan daw talaga, that's how legit it is!

Beef Wanton Mami P185 - Regular

The Beef Wanton Mami is probably the most worthy one that we ordered. It is super worth it because of the serving and the taste reminds me a lot of Pares. AUTHENTIC CHINESE PARES. The beef was tender and tasty. The broth was beefy and aromatic. The noodles were hand-pulled, I can't believe i'm only paying P185 for this. It is really good!

Charlie's Siomai

Ta-Da!
Charlie's Siomai - one of the most hyped hole-in-the-wall Siomai's in town so I was happy to finally be able to try it. It's priced at P82 per order for three big pieces. The meat is really tender and it tasted like authentic pork and not the usual processed ones. It's freaking huge as compared to siomai stalls in malls. Though I won't give it a 5 out of 5 stars cause I think there's something lacking on the flavor of the meat but in terms of texture and authenticity, it is something i'd recommend to everyone!

Charlie's Asado Rice

Aside from the Siomai, my boyfriend insisted in ordering the Asado Rice for sharing. I really wanted a rice topping so this was the perfect meal to satisfy my craving.

THIS IS THE BEST ASADO RICE I have ever tried. The sauce is overflowing and I was surprised that it wasn't too flavorful or nakaka-umay. I just love how the meat was tender and just the perfect viand to the sauce rice. MUST TRY for rice-lovers like me!