•{Breakfast ☀ For ☀ Lunch}•

I've been holding off on the corned beef craving, as the one on hand is not fresh but canned. Being that, it is not healthy, as per Mother. But the Pure Foods corned beef in the pantry was beckoning, relentless. So I gave up the pretense of control and gave in to the temptation. 

We had left over mais (or maize in the Western front), so I decided to make garlic rice too. I used butter instead of oil. Took a small portion off the block, just enough for the the melting butter to touch base with the frying pan's surface.

Chopped up garlic, lots of 'em. I'm the kind who can't get enough of garlic, bad breath can be managed. Heh. I was going to use some in the corned beef anyway.

This is my favorite part, sautéing the garlic. I looooove the smell of sautéed garlic, a whiff of it will make my belly churn in hunger.

Then I put in the crumbled mais. To keep the granules from sticking to each other, one needs to hold the turner straight down onto the pile of rice and mix.

This is not the way to hold the turner.

Now the corned beef. You can see there's some purple in it, that's the chopped up onions. And I didn't forget the rest of the garlic either. I used the same pan that I used for the garlic rice and didn't add any more oil. Doing so would have been too much.

I was too frisky with my meal -- took a spoonful before taking a shot of the once perfect plate.

Craving satisfied.

•{À La Last Supper}•

[Breaking this into two parts.]

On a Tuesday, I met up with Jelian and Mike for lunch. It was exclusive, just for us three, with one common denominator: an impending doom. And though we had doom looming over our heads, we managed to have a good time at Café Old Cul-De-Sac.

We each ordered different dishes, that way we could try out three of their entrées. Mike had the chicken curry,

Waiting for his curry.

Hail, the chicken curry.

I had the osso bucco

Osso bucco.

Me, with my top matching their table cloth.

while Jelian ordered their pork chops in white mushroom sauce.

And to sum it all up:
a.) place is quaint but not cozy;
I have a thing for fancy knicky-knacks. The pieces I loved the most at the café was this clock:

"Bouquet of Memories From the Heart."

and their fireplace, of which I wasn't able to get a picture. We went there after Valentine's Day so the place looked like it was still hung over from the Hallmark occasion.

b.) service was below par;

The waiters were glued to the boob tube showing this movie with KC Conception and Richard Gutierrez. I am not the kind who wants to be waited on while eating, I can't enjoy my food that way. I do think waiters should be attentive. The place is small, twenty diners would make the café cramped, yet it required us to call out for their attention for something we needed. You do not want to be loud in a place so small.

c.) food was good; and

Osso bucco (is Italian, translated "bone with a hole") was unheard of for me, so I was excited to try it. True to the raves it's been getting, it was delight to my palate. The meat was just right -- soft and tender, retaining its whole piece. It tasted very much like our kaldereta, might be a move on the café's chef to give it a touch of Filipino. Chicken curry was rich with the flavorful spice. In this section, an exception must be made for the pork chops in white mushroom sauce. Jelian wasn't so impressed with it as the meat was hard to chew. If not for that, I thought the sauce was right on the spot -- creamy, but not trumping the distinct taste of mushroom.

What we unanimously loved was their pumpkin soup.

d.) conversation was overflowing what with our wavelengths a'jibing.