Christmas 2025 grilling

We were once again hosts for our family Christmas lunch. And Christmas lunch will always involve grilled food. 

Pork barbecue and tuna belly

Close-up of the tuna belly

Pork barbecue with home made sauce used also for grilling

We acquired this grill back in 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic was already in decline. The first major use was during Christmas 2020 when we celebrated our survival from what was the probably the worst health scare of our lives.

We usually have grilled prawn and I always got these from my suki at the Antipolo Market.

Close-up of the prawns being grilled

The finished product - tender pork barbecue

Grilled tuna belly the way our family likes it.

We had a hearty lunch and celebrated life, love and health in 2025. Afterwards, we had our traditional photo shoot around our Christmas Tree. 

- 

Persian food delivery - Behrouz Persian Cuisine

We 'quietly' celebrated our 19th wedding anniversary early this week. As we were suddenly busy with work and errands, and we were still hesitant about going out for lunch or dinner, we decided to try ordering Persian food from Behrouz, which is a well-established and popular Persian cuisine restaurant. They had just opened a branch along Sumulong Highway, which we imagine had a nice overlooking view of Metro Manila. It is located along a stretch where there are a bunch of restaurants including the landmark Padi's Point. We learned that they had some nice meal set packages that can be delivered to your home and decided to try it out.

Naan, basmati rice and a dip made out of finely ground chickpeas and olive oil

Beef and chicken kebab off the skewers - the tomatoes and onions are also there

A couple of weeks ago, we finally got to lunch out after our condo turnover. We decided to eat at an Indian cuisine restaurant at Uptown Bonifacio. I still have to write about that but will be drafting and posting that article soon. There are some similarities between Indian and Persian food but the kebabs (usually associated with Turkish food) had a distinct taste, which I thought was Persian rather than Indian. I had enjoyed Persian food while I was studying in Japan as a close friend always brought some for sharing  during our lunches at the university. Thankfully, his wife was good at cooking and they shared with us their curries, kebabs and even sweets made out of pistachio and peanuts.

-

Jonie's Cebu

The last time we were in Cebu, we wanted to get a quick meal while on break from field surveys we were doing for a project in Consolacion. We came upon Jonie's, which we spotted a couple of times the previous day at a couple of malls where we ate at. Looking at the items they offered for meals, we decided to lunch at the restaurant.

Featured items in their menu are displayed outside the restaurant

Staff taking orders - note the self service sign? They will, however, bring your orders to your table.

Another panel showing short order items including spaghetti and halu-halo (for dessert)

Of course, fried chicken is on the menu

I wasn't able to get photos of what we ate. I guess we were too hungry and also had a lively talk about how our day going so far. What I can say was it was definitely better than fast food but just about the same with the better SM food court stalls. Nothing really special here but the presentation perhaps and a bit better environment (I dare not say ambiance). Price-wise, they are there and definitely affordable even to students. Will we go back there? Perhaps and if we didn't have other choices to eat at.

-

Comfort food: Yakiniku at home

I start February by writing about another guilty pleasure of ours - yakiniku. I first enjoyed eating Japanese style beef barbecue while residing in Japan in the 1990s. It was introduced to me by friends one lunch after going to church in Meguro back in February 1996 during my first trip to Japan. There was a nearby yakiniku place that offered unlimited rice (tabehodai gohan) to customers. It was popular among Filipinos, particularly us students who were mostly from the Tokyo Institute of Technology. I was a Visiting Scientist then and staying at Tokodai (now I think they prefer Tokyo Tech) for 35 days. I recall the restaurant was naturally warm (they did specialize in barbecue) and so was welcome to us due to the cold weather outside.

We still try to go to a yakiniku restaurant once in a while when in Japan and even here in Metro Manila. But what is usually available to us is the Korean version, which many say is the one adapted by the Japanese. Whichever was first, though, we enjoy this home version of barbecue over either a gas or electric stove using a grilling pan that's just right for the purpose.

We get our beef from a nearby supermarket where the staff can slice the sirloin or ribeye to the desired thickness. Of course, Kobe or Wagyu beef would be most preferable but these are uncommon in most supermarkets (what more in wet markets?) and are expensive. 

You can purchase your preferred dipping sauces from most supermarkets nowadays that have international sections. 

Those who are a bit discouraged by the Japanese on the labels need only to look at the back for a sticker showing a translation in English for the description of the sauce.

-

Barbecue Singaporean-style

When we met up with friends at Lau Pa Sat, we ordered barbecue from one of the hawkers so we could have some 'fuel' for the catching up and exchange of stories that night. There seemed to be a lot of choices based on the menu provided to us but when you scan the pages, you realise its basically chicken, beef, pork and an assortment of seafoods. They just appear to have many items because of the combinations (sets) that also mentioned the volume of food you get. We went for the chicken satay, pork barbecue and grilled prawns set to go with our individual purchases from the other food stalls at Lau Pa Sat.

Assortment of grilled food

There are many hawkers of grilled food that night and it appears that they are usually there only during the late afternoon to night time when there are a lot of people eating at Lau Pa Sat. It's easy to make an order as there are many hawkers going around with menus on hand. Cost-wise, there are many sets to select from and prices are very reasonable and won't hurt your pocket. Of course, it is better if you were a group so you can enjoy ordering and sharing more food. Chances are, if you are by yourself or a couple, you might best just get food from one of the many stalls at Lau Pa Sat. Of course, if you want to enjoy barbecue, you can probably opt for the smaller sets.

-