LZM Restaurant Lutong Bahay Specialties

We've passed by LZM Restaurant several times but never really stepped into it until a few months ago.  We were heading to Tagaytay for a family weekend getaway and stopped over at Solenad for lunch.  It was barely 12 noon and there was a waiting list already.

Zong

The first and only time I've eaten at Zong was in the Fort branch years ago.  It was around Christmas time and there were "carollers".  Aside from the lovely entertainment, The Malaysian Style String Beans was the only thing I remember from that meal.  So when we had lunch in Sta. Rosa a couple of weeks ago, this was the first thing we decided on.  The vegetables were so crisp and the spices were just heavenly.  We want to recreate this at home but we can't pinpoint the exact spices used. 

Malaysian Style String Beans P328

Laguna Food Trip Part 3: Rose & Grace Restaurant

After lunch at Patis Tito and dessert at Si Christina in San Pablo City, we headed to Paseo de Sta Rosa for some shopping.  In every out of town trip, we try to eat at restaurants that don't have branches in Manila.  We drove around Nuvali and Solenad but ended up in Rose & Grace across Paseo de Sta Rosa.

There was a steady stream of customers when we were there.  It was a Sunday night on a long weekend.  

We went up to the canteen style setting and ordered our food from the servers who later delivered them to our table.

Laguna Food Trip Part 2: Si Christina Gateau Sans Rival

After circling the general area where Si Christina Gateau Sans Rival was supposed to be, we finally found the cozy cafe across the market.  Our group of 10 filled up the shop which could squeeze in maybe 15 diners at a time.

We ordered up a storm of desserts, hot chocolate and coffee.  We instructed the servers to give us one of each dessert item that was available.  First up, were the Frozen Brazo which came in original, strawberry and ube.  I only tried the original flavor which was just ok for me.  The rest of the gang enjoyed the Frozen Brazo and took a few pieces home.  Good thing we had a small cooler with us.

Laguna Food Trip Part 1: Patis Tito Garden Cafe

We had another impromptu celebration for lola by going on a Laguna food trip the Sunday after her real birthday.  We trooped to Patis Tito Garden Cafe for lunch where we met none other than Ms. Patis Tesoro herself.  She spent a couple of minutes chatting with us and even posed for some souveneir photos.

Patis Tito Garden Cafe

My sister convinced my dad to drive all the way to San Pablo Laguna for her birthday lunch last September.  She's been to Patis Tito Garden Cafe once or twice because of work.  At that time the place was still called Kusina Salud.  She enjoyed the food so much that she wanted to share the experience with us.

We reached the restaurant at around 1pm.  Our stomachs were already grumbling since we skipped out on breakfast.  We immediately scanned the menu and gave our choices to the waiter.

We dug into our Ensaladang Pako as soon as we were done taking photos.  It was fresh and crisp.  I loved the cheese and the crunchy bits that were sprinkled on top.

Ensaladang Pako P190
classic pako salad with tomato slices, onion tossed in patis kalamansi dressing topped with shredded salted red egg and cheese 

Industry Restaurant & Bar

Although we were blessed with great weather and clear blue skies, we spent most of the trip indoors playing monopoly deal and mahjong and eating our hearts out.

Paseo de Sta. Rosa was our last stop for this road trip.   Our main objective was to check out the area where Debenhams and Marks & Spencer are located.  For dinner, we decided on Industry Restaurant & Bar since they don't have branches anywhere else.