Nolita

The new Bonifacio High Street Central offers a breathtaking al fresco view of the Fort. Numerous restaurants line up this area, and Nolita is one that deserves much recognition. Upon its opening, we  saw Twitter reviews raving about the authentic New York style pizzas they serve, so we knew we just had to try it. Nolita is another restaurant haven created by James Patrick Santos who is also behind the success of Borough located in Podium. It's no wonder that Nolita and Borough offer the same vibe and are very reminiscent of each other.

Everything here is self-service so get ready to meet a little inconvenience. If you order a lot, you would have to bring all of those yourself to your chosen table. This was one of the few disappointments we experienced here. The pizza is sold per slice usually at Php200 and up. Seeing just how pricey the slices are, we were ready to dig in to amazing authentic New York style pizza.

The first that caught our eye was the Spinach and Artichoke pizza (Php 220) which we knew we just had to order. It was really good and had the perfect balance of flavors. We loved the fact that the artichoke was served in chunks, which made us want to gobble it all up. One downside though is the amount of oil in the pizza which is probably enough to cause a heart attack.

The second one we ordered was the Chicken Parmesan Pizza (Php 230) which was just as good. The chicken chunks were a treat to eat and they were very generous with their serving.

We were just very unhappy with the price of the pizzas since it seemed a little bit too expensive for the serving itself. The taste of the pizza is a big thumbs up but it still remains overpriced for a mere slice. It's not very sulit when you come and eat with your barkada, because upon computation, two slices of Nolita pizzas can equate to one big box from another pizza chain. Although quality remains very good, Nolita should be more realistic when it comes to their prices.

What's even better than pizza? The combination of beer and pizza! A good bottle of San Mig Light will greatly compliment your meal.

These are the interesting interiors of Nolita. We really loved their decorations.

The steps on how to order and eat your Nolita pizza:

All in all, we enjoyed our Nolita experience and we encourage everyone to head here to satisfy their New York style pizza cravings! Let us know how your experience goes! :) Happy summer!

Battle of the Chicken Wings: Chicken Charlie

We are buffalo wings addict and are always in search for the next best buffalo wings place! We've heard a lot about this place called Chicken Charlie but never got around to trying it when lo and behold, we were situated in the Greenhills area and grabbed the chance! The visual design of the place was somewhat like Bon Chon, with red being their prominent colors but the taste is anything but! 

We ordered the soy garlic combo of 3 drumsticks and 4 wings. The first thing that we noticed was how hard texture of the skin was which was also crispy. It resembled a tempura batter once it was solidified. The unique texture of Chicken Charlie's wings makes the skin non-greasy. It seemed as if there was no oil, as compared to the usual buffalo wings that are drenched with it. The chicken meat itself was next to boring, since it offered no striking feature whatsoever. It tasted like an ordinary meat that you can cook at home.

The greatest disappointment was when we bit into one drumstick and discovered that there was still blood left from the chicken! Imagine our horror. We suggest that they check the quality of their chicken first before serving it to customers because mistakes like that can really discredit their restaurant. This experience has left us with the conclusion that we will never dine there ever again! There are many other chicken wings restaurants in the metro that offer better quality just like Sunrise Buckets, which we greatly recommend! This one falls as a mere drop in the chicken wings bucket, unremarkable and disappointing. The rumors are false! Chicken Charlie really isn't that amazing.

Now, off to another chicken wings adventure...

Mad Mark's Man Sandwich + Frozen D

Battle of the Chicken Wings: Flaming Wings

The newest branch of Flaming Wings recently opened at the Bellitudo Lifestyle Boutique in 79 Katipunan Street, White Plains, Quezon City. It was their dry run when we visited but the service was actually really good. The staff were very friendly and accommodating. They always served the food with such huge smiles on their faces.

This is the Chicken Tenders meal which we ordered in Original sauce with Honey-Mustard dip. Although the skin of the chicken was crispy and yummy on the outside, the meat of the chicken itself was bland and under seasoned. The only saving grace of their chicken tenders was their honey-mustard dip which gave it the flavor it lacked. The rice that was served was also very cold and we were very disappointed with its quality. They did not even bother heating the rice again.

We also ordered the Buffalo Wings with the Mild N' Sweet sauce that covered the chicken wings. The dip we ordered alongside with the wings was the Wasabi Mayo. There are 4 choices for their sauce namely Mild N' Sweet, Wild, Smokey BBQ and Original while for their dips there are 6 namely Honey-Mustard, Blue Cheese, Wasabi Mayo, Aioli, Ranch, Balsamic Mayo. The wings were crispy on the outside just the way we liked it! When you order their wings, it comes with both the wing part and the drumette which makes the servings relatively huge for affordable prices. 

For dessert, we got their famous Wicked Oreos which is trade-marked by the owner who started Flaming Wings. It is definitely heaven in your mouth. The combination of the hot "Oreo fritter" and cold vanilla ice cream blended perfectly well once you take a bite out of it. It was also a very innovative way of using pancake batter and incorporating it with Oreos and ice cream.

Overall, the chicken wings in Flaming Wings are yummy while their chicken tenders were very disappointing and normal. Their Wicked Oreos, on the other hand, is what sets it apart from other restaurants. It was an average eating experience.

We're on the second contender in the Battle of the Chicken Wings! Once we complete all 5 chicken wing restaurants, we will be evaluating which one gave the best overall experience. If you have any suggestions as to which restaurants we should try, leave us a comment!

Happy reading.... and eating!