If there's one thing that Mark missed a lot (aside from me of course haha) during his stay in the Middle East, it's definitely our food. Aside from the fact that he's on a diet since he needs to maintain a healthy body for his profession, Mark doesn't really know how to cook 'real' food. Well at least he knows how to cook hard boiled eggs haha!

Last week, Mark asked me out on a "Fridate" at Movie Stars Cafe in SM Mall of Asia. I love receiving invites from Mark but I actually wasn't excited when I knew that we were going to SM MOA. I'm from Antipolo while Mark is from Caloocan, so meeting halfway at Quezon City has always been our practice for our weekend dates. Okay I'll admit, I just hate having to drive around busy streets, stroll around crowded malls, and most especially having to ride a public transportation while braving the traffic and the crowd! :p

Mark has been raving about how cool the place seems when he saw it online. When I checked it, I also got excited and so I just tried to let go of the brat in me and gave in to his invite! :D It is very rare that Mark and I go out on dates outside Quezon City, but whenever we do, Mark makes sure that we go to places that are worth our effort and time. Plus, Mark and I both seemed to have built a penchant for themed restaurants and hotels, like Pan De Amerikana and Segara Villas and Suites, and Movie Stars Cafe is a great addition to the list. :p

We were half an hour early for the cafe's opening so we both agreed to just have our lunch at SM MOA, go watch some movie, and just get back to the cafe afterwards. After watching OZ The Great and Powerful, we headed to the Movie Stars Cafe along Seaside Boulevard, which is a few walks away from the mall.


Mark and I were already delighted, like little kids, right when we saw the logo of the restaurant from afar.

Date of visit: September 18, 2011

The boyfriend is back! I can now get to post about food other than my daddy's specialties! Haha!

He actually came home two weeks ago and we spent most of the time together. We've been dining in a lot of restaurants for the past few weeks and it's just now that I got the time to write about our very first food trip together, after 1 year and a month of being apart. :)

After hearing mass last Sunday, September 18, and after having lunch with my family, I headed next to Mark's house at Caloocan to fetch his mom. We then went straight to the airport to catch Mark's arrival at 4:25PM. We were caught up in traffic and got a little late so Mark was already at the waiting area when we arrived. Mark was so hungry and requested that we have our dinner at the seaside restaurants in Macapagal boulevard.

We arrived at the area after around a 15-minute drive. We headed immediately to the wet market to shop for our food. Mark wanted to have fish so his mom bought a kilo of blue marlin steak slices. She also bought a kilo of clams, a kilo of squid, 2 kilo of prawns.

We went around the area to look for a restaurant who can cook for us and we ended up at Aling Tonya's.

with Mark and his mom while waiting for our food

We had all our seafood cooked and then our seafood feast began. :) The clam soup was served first. This dish was just like my dad's. The soup was really yummy and the clams were cooked just right. A perfect starter for our hungry stomachs.

Clam Soup

Seashells: Sinabawan - Php 120.00 (1 kilo), Php 80.00 (1/2 kilo)

Mark was still conscious about his figure so he decided to have his fish grilled. Mark started devouring it the moment it was served. This dish was so delish!

Grilled Blue Marlin

Fish: Inihaw - Php 120.00 (1 kilo), Php 80.00 (1/2 kilo)

The squids were made into Calamares. There's nothing really special with this dish. I commend Aling Tonya's though because the calamares were tender. The dish also came with a mayo-garlic dip.

Calamares

Squid: Calamares - Php 180.00 (1 kilo), Php 120.00 (1/2 kilo)

A kilo of prawns were made into Shrimp Tempura and the other kilo was cooked in butter with garlic. The grilled fish and tempura were what I ate the most because I just had my braces adjusted. I so love the shrimp tempura! The dip that came with it made the dish more delectable.

Shrimp Tempura

Shrimp: Tempura - Php 250.00 (1 kilo), Php 180.00 (1/2 kilo)

This next dish was also okay. The shrimps were a little overcooked though because it was hard to peel off the shells.

Shrimps in Butter with Garlic

Sugpo/Hipon/Swahe: Php 180.00 (1 kilo), Php 140.00 (1/2 kilo)

Overall, we enjoyed our seafood feast. The fish and tempura were a hit for us.

Here's our seafood feast! Another set of these dishes were also on the other side of our table :p

But of course, we weren't able to consume everything so we had the left overs wrapped.

Mark with his uncle and cousin

Mark's mom must have missed his son so much that she ordered a lot of food! She even got this chocolate cake for his baby boy. :) We then went to Duty Free Fiesta Mall to shop for some stuff and chocolates.

Hizon's Chocolate Cake

Welcome home Mark! I'm really glad that you're back! :D

ALING TONYA'S
Seaside Macapagal, D. Macapagal Blvd.
Pasay City, Metro Manila
Philippines
(02) 556-1782