Banana Leaf

Banana Leaf has opened its branch in Greenbelt 3. It is the usual full fledged dining resto that offers a la carte orders, just like how this restaurant started in the old Greenbelt. However, I do miss the 4 kinds of mushroom specialty that it used to have and now visibly taken out from its menu.

Banana Leaf
An asian resto in contemporary design
A fusion of indian, thai & malay cuisine
Often referred to as Singaporean's own
Both spicy and sweet, you can't go wrong.
Borrowed curry flavor leaves the mouth wanting
With intense chili and spice, you know its thai
Complementing better with nan or roti channai.

The group decides on an easy diet
Some meat, some fish and veggie please
All agreed to try the roti but order some rice
Forgo a separate curry suace on the side
Pick instead a green or red curry dish
Never the beef but may the chicken thai
Just to break the monotony the last time we tried.

Indeed its harder to choose the fish
For we are constrained by our budget's purse
The sambal looked appetizing in pictures
Not knowing for sure what's coating its exterior.
Informed we were, it will take awhile
Considering that the fish gets fried
Polished in the oven it gets some better pride.

The veggie was a trick at first
Undecide between the water spinach
Versus the malay noble leaves
Getting adventurous we often missed badly
Half expecting the vianed that came our way
Sated we were, glad the noble veggie
Sauteed in garlic, indeed it was healthy.

We came too hungry, any food well done
The fish cracker - an on the house welcome
Consumed fast, we could have wanted more
Discouraged only, the next serving not free
Pondering on what our bill would be
No one budged to spend more on appetizer
As we often go over our Php150 buzzer

The sambal fish was a big hit
Despite the long wait, its crispy and sweet
A certain smell emanates from its skin
No wonder - it was shrimp paste within
We never knew just by the picture we viewed
For sure it was tasty like we envisioned
Any day, we knew, this fish will be consumed.

We came famished, we left satisfied
A meal not too expensive with Gentley's card
Glad there's promo,there's more discount
When divided, we cannot help but smile.

Cafe Bola

We went to Greenbelt 3 for lunch today. It was a easy choice as Gentley took us driving there. Feeling a little sick with flu like symptoms, I opted for some hot chicken soup meal, the sinampalokang manok (chicken in tamarind broth). The order was quite huge, I shared the soup with Maidette and Gentley. Mimi was happy with her adobo flakes, she didn't care to try out the soup any longer.

Cafe Bola is a mid-priced restaurant by Gaita Fores whose italian chain restaurant, Cibo, was more than popular with the high end market. Cafe Bola specializes in filipino cuisine with a twist, presenting the usual home cooked fare in a restaurant setting. It has its own unique clintele, although the diners have dwindled over the years.

We ordered the usual favorite starter, the bangus mouse (milkfish pate). The meat of the milkfist is cooked and spiced-up and processed into a pate like consistency. It is served chilled with freshly toasted bread slices. The group so loved this starter.

My chicken meal tasted good. The sourness of the tamarind was just enough, any discriminating pallet would have likely agreed with its taste. Chicken breast meat was so tender, it tasted sweet and juicy when chewed in the mouth. Slices of Okra, raddish, string beans, aubergrine and onions were in abundance. It melts my heart out and made me break a sweat or two as I gulped on the hot broth.

I paid Php280.00 or US$6.22 for my meal. That too bad, considering that I had some freshly squeezed local sweet orange frapped, to accompany my meal.