Updated: My Ultimate Food List (Takeout / Delivery)

This Ultimate Food List is a list of good food I’ve discovered mostly during quarantine 🙂

The list is ongoing and will be updated when I discover new food! This list will be my own reference as well to order from in the future.

So, here’s my ULTIMATE FOOD LIST 2020-2021!

KAREN MNL’S ULTIMATE FOOD LIST

REALLY GOOD, AS IN “WOW!”

• Pipo’s Kitchen Cheesy Beef Baked Macaroni – I did not make pansin the Baked Salmon and the Lengua that were also served because all I wanted to eat was this baked macaroni!!! Everyone agreed that we will be ordering this again for the next birthday at home.
• La Brazorria de Lasevil Brazo de Remedios Brazo de Mercedes – I think this is the best brazo de mercedes I’ve ever tried!!! The yema filling is soooo buttery! And unlike many of the brazos available now that use stabilizers and gelatin to stabilize their meringues, La Brazorria’s still retained the original texture I’m familiar with
• Mango Grill Cassava Cake – this is the ultimate cassava cake!!! So soft, with extra cheesy topping! This is the one! Never fails to impress anyone who likes cassava cake.
• Alimango House Chavacano Curry Crab – this was my favorite flavor – I literally got some rice so I could mop up the remaining sauce! The Crab Beehoon was also good and was preferred by the other people at home, but I liked the curry better.

VERY GOOD

• Vizco’s Strawberry Shortcake – this is the famous strawberry shortcake from Baguio, but they have people selling the cakes in Manila
• Bizu Truffle Cream Conchiglie (Truffle Shell Pasta) – always one of my favorites when it’s served at events, but I can’t seem to find it on their current online menu. Have been looking for a “dupe” but can’t find any yet.
• Tokyo Milk Cheese Factory Salt & Camembert and Honey & Gorgonzola Cookies – P60 per small cookie but just close your eyes at the price (pikit mata nalang) because they are heavenly

GOOD

• Estrel’s Caramel Cake – if I can’t think of any new hyped cake I’d like to try, this is the one I usually end up requesting for my birthday. Simple but delicious 🙂 all I taste are good ingredients
• Conti’s Baked Salmon – still one of the family’s favorites
• CandishhhBakes Focaccia – my favorite is the caramelized onion & feta
• Otter Breads 16-hr sourdough – Best toasted! I’m in love with the crunch of their bread when I toast them. Best paired with my sweet homemade Cheese Pimiento.
• Mango Grill Truffle Cream Cheese – uses real truffle paste! You can use it as a cracker spread or as a pasta cream sauce, just add to freshly boiled spaghetti! If it’s too thick, adjust by adding a bit of the pasta cooking water.
• Creamybakes by Melody Egg Tarts – better than the brand from Macau, which was amazing when it first came out in Manila more than a decade ago but has gone downhill
• Frankie’s Wings – already a fave even before lockdown. Always & forever my pick at the Mega Food Hall! My favorite flavors are Honey Garlic and Honey Mustard.
• Muy Hong Fresh Lumpia – There are specialty fresh lumpia IG sellers that became popular during quarantine but we just never got around to ordering them and always ended up buying from Muy Hong because it was easier. Of the easily available fresh lumpias, Muy Hong’s is the tastiest with lots of fresh garlic and some seaweed, peanut sugar & cilantro, although I wish they would put more seaweed and peanut sugar and give extra sauce (bitin sa sauce). Muy Hong’s are P150 per lumpia vs. P100 of the competitors (sometimes P170 for 2 lumpias). We should really try those other fresh lumpia IG sellers one of these days to see if they are worth the hype. I don’t know why they are supposed to be closed?! But we just bought fresh lumpia from them last Sunday (takeout).
• True Boss Fruit Enzyme Vinegar Drinks – they might be weird for some people, but I really like them! My favorite is the Grape Aloe, but for most people, I recommend the Peach Mango Pine (tastes like Peach Mango Pie). My sister used to hate the Grape Aloe for being so sour, but after trying it the second time, it ended up as her favorite, as well. It’s either you develop a taste for it or it might have been because she ate something very sweet before drinking the Grape Aloe so it tasted extra sour.
• Rosie’s Dessert Nook – nothing fancy, simple but can’t deny they’re good Brownie Bites & Banana Choco Loaf. I personally prefer a wetter, butter-er, fudgier brownie, but the family really likes these 🙂
• Cake Shop by Iko’s Ube Cheese Pandesal – I’m including this in the list because this is the only Ube Cheese Pandesal that met my expectations, so far. It’s not WOW levels, but it’s good. The bread is not too sweet and hindi lasang tinapay (I mean this in a good way, that the bread isn’t “bready”) but the reason it is on the list is because it is generous with the ube and cheese filling. There’s a big chunk of cheese and a good amount of ube halaya, hindi tinipid. It’s very heavy for a pandesal with filling. I think this is much better eaten after a quick toast in the oven toaster 🙂

BUDGET

• Bert’s Pares House QC Pares Canton – the QC branch is the only one that has this item. Masarap! I think it was P200? Just recently, I tried ordering their regular pares from the N. Domingo branch that was nearer our house and it just wasn’t as good. The one from QC was much more aromatic (they use the beef pares to make the Pares Canton).
• Buffalo Wings N Things – Sweet Smoked Chipotle and Truffle Parmesan are my favorite flavors 🙂 This is more about the sauces than the actual flavor of the chicken, although I like how crunchy they make the chicken skin 😀
• Wendy’s Double or Triple patty burgers (with cheese / baconator / Dave’s etc… ) – when you have a serious beef burger attack but are on a budget 🙂 best eaten immediately while hot, not that great when delivered 🙁 Don’t expect it to look as big as the posters, but it’s still damn delicious.
• Black Scoop Strawberries & Cream – sometimes I get so tired of milk tea so I get this instead 🙂 Happy happy!!!
• Serenitea Taiwan Sausage / Macao Imperial Tea Taiwan Sausage – their Taiwanese sausages are just delicious. I actually prefer ordering the sausages more than the milk teas, hahaha. If you don’t like the garlic, just remove them from the sausages before eating.
• Juan Haribon Choco Loco – only P100 but it’s delicious, creamy and chocolatey. Tasted like its costs more than P100 so when I found out it was only P100, I was impressed 🙂

CANNED / BOTTLED / FROZEN

• Che Che’s Gourmet Tuyo Sweet & Spicy – so far, this was the best bottled tuyo I’ve used to make tuyo pasta with. I hardly had to do any additional seasoning, just minimal. You can actually get away with just opening a bottle, heating the contents, including the oil, in a pan, and adding cooked pasta (about 200-250g raw weight). This is the only flavor I have tried, so I want to try the other flavors, too 🙂 But it’s in Baguio so hassle to find a seller in Manila.
• Daddy Mikks Garlic Crunch – addictive! Saves the effort of having to fry your own garlic topping, and it’s really good, too! Great for topping arroz caldo, mami, bangus salpicao, etc… It’s the only bottled fried garlic I’ve tried that I actually want to eat on its own ?
• Dipasupil Longanisa – discovered this a few years ago, and it’s the best commercial (but also artisanal) longganisa I’ve ever tried. It is very flavorful but doesn’t taste like they put any extenders, enhancers, or anything — just good meat and a delicious blend of spices! Perfectly seasoned, nothing too overpowering, yet full of flavor. Chamba if you can find it at Landers.
• Wei Wei Cold Store soup balls – Sea Urchin balls, Crab Roe Bun, Cheese Fish Bun, Scallion Bun, Scallop Tempura, etc… if you’re not up to making a whole shabu-shabu set, just add a few of these when making your favorite instant seafood ramen and you’re good!
• Snake River Farms Wagyu – if you have to make steak at home, on a modest budget, and can’t be bothered to source your beef from all the confusing seller recommendations thrown at you. These are available at S&R.
• Reyes Barbecue Barbecue Marinade and Peanut Sauce – if we can’t get our chicken barbecue fix at favorite places, this is the next best thing. I like that I can use the chicken cuts that I want (all thighs, all drumsticks, or combo ? ). Clean and cut & slit your chicken as you prefer, then just marinate them in the ref with the marinade, at least 24 hours. That’s it. Then let it get to room temp before barbecuing away. Baste with the leftover marinade and a little oil. Serve with peanut sauce. Tastes exactly like our favorite chicken barbecue (actually, sometimes better because some branches can’t use charcoal)!

CLASSICS

Some things I haven’t tried in years and will have to try again to see if they’re still as good as I remember. Just putting on the list for reference.

• Becky’s Kitchen Crinkles & Prune Cake
• Choi Garden Roast Pigeon
• Muang Thai Green Chicken Curry – haven’t had this since Muang Thai moved from Banawe to faraway Diliman…
• Vargas Buttercake – this was the ultimate buttercake for me, but haven’t tried it recently
• Wolfgang’s Steakhouse Dry Aged Burger (it was P600 or P700+ for a burger but it was the best burger I’ve ever had in my life so far. Nothing beats dry aged beef!)