What's for dinner? Let's ask Lolo Dad. :)

My husband and I went out for dinner to celebrate his nth birthday last week. We haven't tried Lolo Dad's Cafe yet, located along the stretch of Quirino Avenue, Malate, Manila, and we've been curious to try it out for the longest time. His birthday seemed like the perfect opportunity to do so, and we did just that.

A cozy little restaurant along Quirino Avenue.

Since we were first-timers, we had to ask for recommendations. We can't not sample the house specialties, can we?

We decided on some soup in lieu of appetizers. Per our waiter's recommendation, we had their double espresso of mushroom and tomato soup. As you can see from the photo below, it's called double espresso because of how it is served - in dainty coffee cups. :) 

Tuna Pasta in Olive Oil

I tried this recipe last Holy Week, because Archie and I were craving for pasta but couldn't eat meat, it being holy days of obligation and all. This dish is easy to prepare, very cheap and of course, good for your health especially your heart. Here's the recipe. :)

TUNA PASTA IN OLIVE OIL

Ingredients:

1/2 k or 400 grams spaghetti noodles
1/4 cup olive oil
2-4 heads garlic, chopped
3-5 tomatoes, seeded and julienned
2 cans tuna, drained

Directions:

1. Pre-cook pasta until al dente. Drain and set aside.
2. Heat oil in a pan in medium-high heat. Saute garlic until fragrant. Careful not to burn them!
3. Add tomatoes and cook until tender.
4. Mix in the tuna and continue cooking until heated through.
5. Season with salt and pepper.
6. To serve, mix in with the pasta and toss together.

If you don't have a measuring cup, you can just use 3-4 rounds of olive oil on your pan. As for the tuna, you can buy the tuna flakes (like Century Tuna), either in brine or vegetable oil. Be sure to leave just a teeny bit of the brine or oil so that the flavor of the tuna will be retained. Or, if you want your pasta a little bit spicy, you can also use Spanish-flavored canned tuna.

Enjoy! :)

Tokyo Cafe

This was our second time to visit the restaurant in Mall of Asia, and as per usual, we love what we had.

Their two-piece Hamburg Steak (really just your ol' familiar hamburger steak) with gravy is of course a delight. Archie had this before but with demi glace sauce, which is also good. The patties are not as thick as I'd like, but juicy and tender nonetheless. Trademarks of a worthy hamburger.



We also had their Pescatore, which is essentially seafood pasta with tomatoes and olive oil. It had a generous amount of clams and shrimps in it, and the tomato sauce wasn't too sour (some people like the Italian-style sour sauces... I like mine tempered).



Down it all with peach iced tea, and we're good to go! Price is reasonable and the wait staff are courteous, too, so we'll definitely be going back to this place.

Next time, we'll try the crepes. ;-)