Azure Cafe

I went to Azure Cafe by my lonesome today. Mimi has been busy and Eric, who was visiting us and processing his clearance, was not also ready to take lunch yet.

I ordered Chicken Relleno, one of the lunch of the day. It's basically, chicken with stuffings where ground pork, and chicken meat are mixed together with bread crumbs, onions, pepper and carrots. When it is served, some mushroom gravy is poured on top to enhance its flavor. The lunch of the day included a cup of rice, sauteed vegetables composed of baguio beans and carrots and a dessert, a banana cake.

The Chicken Relleno was quite good and tasty. Chunks of chicken, the white meat portion remained intact and cooked soft and flavorful. The accompanying vegetables were cooked medium rare thereby keeping the crunchiness of the carrots and beans. While browsing through todays newspaper and having my lunch, Mimi and Eric followed me in Azure. They ordered their lunch and came to sit with me in one corner of the cafe.

The banana cake was not as good as I thought it should be. It was plain and dry. It could be saved if some cream or icing where drizzled on top of it. But, why should I complain, it was a freebie with the lunch menu.

Mimi talked about her bitchiness with Jimmy, our company driver, last Friday when Jimmy failed to give back to Mimi her car keys. Jimmy was already in Bulacan when he realized he got Mimi's car key with him. He called to tell Mimi and if its possible to drive her car to her place the following day instead. Mimi refused to take Jimmy's offer and asked Jimmy to come back to the office right away to return her key. Poor Jimmy!

Eric talked about his new job and its new challenges which he found quite interesting. He also related to us, which of our employees are currently active in searching for opportunities outside so we have a good heads up who are in danger of giving their resignation letters soon.

We ended our lunch while I pay Php210.00 or US$4.66, with a can of soda to accompany my lunch meal.

Delifrance

God is so good and He is faithful always! That I realy believed.

We came from a follow-up check-up today with our Endocrinologist, Dr. Jimmy Aragon. After waiting for some time, we got to talk to the doctor at around 11am. On Thursdays, we were informed, that Dr. Aragon have a usual meeting which gets him to be late for his clinic schedule.

Anyways, the best of good news. The OGTT test proved that my wife did not have gestational diabetes. However, it was decided that we still have to go through a healthier diet and set an appointment with the dietician. At the end of the month, Dr. Aragon would like to redo through a simplier test, the sugar level of mommy. And we still have 1 question that remained unanswered, what causes the high-normal amiotic fluid in the baby's womb? That question will be probed further by our OB-Gynecologist, Dr. Arlene Bravo-Ricarte. And we have a set appointment on Saturday to eliminate other possible causes, aside from our usual pre-natal check-up.

It was a bit earlier before noon and we decided to have lunch together. We strolled the length of Legaspi Street from the Makati Med's side to look for an interesting restaurant. It seemed like the italian resto that Lani wanted to try was on the other side and we're not too eager to walk further, we settled for Delifrance instead. Delifrance offers salads, pastas, gourmet sandwiches and an assortment of breads and pastries. Its offerings are quite delectable and yummy but on the mid-section on the price bar.

Lani opted for the Ceasar salad with chicken (isn't this her fare in yesterday's lunch?) and I choose the Spaghetti Bolognese with meat balls. Though Delifrance is quite known for good food, its quality can vary from good to bad accross its franchise stores. I wastn't to happy with my pasta.

First, the pasta was cold. I know, they re-heat the pasta sauce, but this just wasn't passed through the microwave for much longer to emulate freshly cooked dish. Second, the french bread brushed with garlic was not toasted to perfection, it was cold as the store counter. In fairness though, the taste was better than ordinary fast food fare but I could have more parmesan cheese to spread to enhance further its flavor. The store crew wasn't as attentive to what customers' requested such that my pleadings for additional cheese was lost to oblivion. I was too happy and in the mood, I dare not complain. I don't want to spoil my fun zone with crappy food and service. What save the day was the order of four seasons juice drink. Well, if the store can mess up a ready to drink vendo juice, it can't last a season but close down.

I paid Php230 for my meal or US$5.11. Not to expensive but I wasn't as satisfied for the value I paid with the quality I got. Franchise stores can really either make or break the success of the whole Delifrance system. I don't think I would be too excited to visit another Delifrance shop anytime soon.