Chowking chow down

Toby's been craving for Chowking these past few days and has been requesting that we have lunch there during one of our dates. And so, on our latest visit to Sta. Lucia, we made a trip to Chowking for a fill of their lauriats.

Their lauriat meal is a combination of 5 different delicacies, it’s like a Chinese version of the Japanese bento. A typical Chowking Lauriat consists of pansit, siomai/gyoza, their signature Chicharap crackers, a roll of buchi, and any of the available main dish you desire (chicken, pork, fish, shanghai, and beef brocolli). Served with a cup of yang chow fried rice, this is certainly a treat for the hungry.

Toby's Shanghai Lauriat (135php/meal)

My Breaded Pork Lauriat (135php/meal)

It was actually my first time to try their single feast meal and I was amply satisfied with their food. The variety of eats in my plate made my meal more enjoyable and interesting. However, because of Toby’s dismay from their shanghai rolls, he said that Chowking's quality of food has been going down bit by bit. Luckily their lauriat meals are saving them from their degrading food quality issues.

Also, another concern that we had was their poor customer service. It took them almost half an hour to serve our meals which was irritating considering that we were scheduled to watch Hunger Games after having lunch. Toby had to make 3 follow up calls to the waiters, which I found all to be inefficient and very disorganized, before our orders were dish upped.

All in all, I guess Chowking is good enough for their affordable and filling meals but definitely not for a commendable dining experience.

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H.I.D? Not quite

Since most of my friends know how much I love burgers, they suggested that we try at H.I.D (Healthy Irresistible Delicious) Burgers, a recently established burger joint just around our district that serves healthy gourmet burgers and chicken tenders. However, my friends and I never really had the chance to visit the place since most of us were busy with college. And so, it was up to me and my ever hungry boyfriend to sample their so called "healthy" burgers.


Situated within Pheonix Gasoline Station along Imelda Ave., the place wasn't really that appealing. I didn't like the fact that the diner was an open area considering its location. However, I do commend that their place was well kept and that it was inviting regardless of their very simple layout.

Food wise, they didn't really had much to offer. Their menu had several burgers listed but some of their burgers are the same, only a condiment more than the other. Out of their 12 selections, none of which caught my attention. And so, we decided to just order their basic H.I.D Cheese Burgers.

H.I.D Cheese Burger (90php/burger)

Served in pan de sal buns, their burgers were actually quite good despite their small size. It was juicy and its patty seemed authentic enough.

Toby taking a huge bite on his puny burger

Overall, I wasn't really that impress with H.I.D. Burgers. Was it really healthy as they say? I don't know. I wasn't able to feel that it was. I thought their food was okay, nothing different. But it was a good experience to have tried their burgers and I still did enjoyed our stay. Kudos to H.I.D!



H.I.D. Burgers
Phoenix Gas Station, Imelda Ave.,
Cainta Rizal

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The Unhappy Lemon

Happy Lemon, Greenhills branch

Months ago, a lot of my friends have been enthused about a Hongkong franchise called Happy Lemon in Promenade. And since Toby's office is just near Greenhills, we decided to give it a try after his work.

Despite their modern and cozy interiors, the place was quite small and crowded. And since it's near Promenade's entry point, there were a lot of rowdy passers by which made the place a bit more annoying. Disappointingly, I didn't find their space that welcoming. However, for the sake of experience, we still did stay at Happy Lemon. We sat outside their shop, smoked cigarettes while we consume our milk teas.


Toby and I had an order of Milk Tea with Black Pearl Sago and Milk Tea with Oreo Cookies & Cream, both priced at 100php.

The price was a tad bit high considering their serving sizes were small. At first, I wondered why the price difference between the regular and large was only 10php but then I noticed that their cups didn't have that much of a difference. The taste was good but nothing I'd crave over. The "twist" didn't really made an impact on me. Overall, the experience was okay. Not something I would recommend for a second go though.

Toby, happier than the lemon

Happy Lemon
G/F Promenade, Greenhills
San Juan, Metro Manila

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