Review: Nomnomnom Happy Place

If he's not rushing to go home after church, Manong Ralph treats me to a sumptuous lunch. He's been doing this since he started working a couple of weeks ago. Having been a student himself, he knows that my weekly allowance runs quite low on weekends. I don't know how much he makes, and he refuses to divulge the said information, because I might just ask him to buy me a two-door refrigerator.

Most of the time he lets me decide where we'd spend lunch. The thing with me is that while I think of myself as adventurous in terms of trying out food choices, I'm not adventurous enough. My choices are limited. I'm loyal to the good places I had been to, and I'm not the type to look for new places for the sake of experience. I tend to believe reviews from word-of-mouth. Only last night did I try to search the internet for the restaurant reviews in major areas of Metro Manila.

"So where do you want to eat?" he asked.

I whipped up my notebook. "Nomnomnom Happy Food. I looked for reviews online. It's along 1 Tomas Morato cor E. Rodriguez Ave. Besides Shell Gas Station. That's very near the church," I said. And we were on our way.

We found this charming place. It was 11:30 am when we got there. The restaurant opens at 12 noon apparently, but the kind lady let us in anyway.

Inside we saw these frames on the white wall. The place felt homey.

I only see Manong once or twice a week. I live in Manila, while he prefers to keep his Quezon City apartment, living with friends whom I, too, consider practically as family.

We had ravioli as appetizer. Inside was kangkong admixed with a generous amount of cheese.

I ordered Tofu, part of my resolve to eat healthier meals, something that only occurred to me after watching the Super Size Me (2010) documentary by Morgan Spurlock. I especially liked the aftertaste.

Manong had Lime Chicken with Alfredo Sauce. He let me have a big slice. The sourness was just right, and the chicken was soft and tender.

For dessert we had the macaroons and green tea with mint. I was inspired to order this because of an article by Mr. London Street. The tea—forgive the analogy—tasted a lot like toothpaste . . . but I don't know, everything just tasted heavenly. This is what I like about mixing and matching food: you'll be surprised at how the combination tastes like. Like ketchup and soy sauce. Or peanut butter and Cheeze Whiz. But maybe that's just me.

All in all, I enjoyed the dining experience here. There was room for quiet conversation. The service was quick. The ambiance was similar to English or Greek countryside. The entire staff was accommodating. The place was accessible by commuting. The price was also just right.

Total cost of the meal: around Php 500.00. I'll definitely have a second visit because something good always happens here—at least according to this signage. Neat typography, by the way. 

Praise be to God who gave the wonderful culinary gift to the chefs and owners of this small restaurant.