dekaphobe.com | Food, Travel, and Lifestyle Blog

Note: This branch is already closed. 



I met up with a good friend who is currently in the country for a month-long vacation and he gave me a dinner treat to Holy Cow.


Holy Cow is a cowboy-themed American restaurant that serves delicious steaks and other comfort food that we've come to love. It currently has three locations around the metro.

My friends and I recently headed out to one of the must-try restaurants along Maginhawa Street: Crazy Katsu.

It was a busy Saturday night for Crazy Katsu, which is a really small katsuretsu place, that our group was seated at the alfresco area. The resto offers mainly Katsu dishes and other specials.

I recently read about a new product called Techni-Ice, a sheet made of dehydrated polymer that can be used in more ways than one. :)

How would I like to use Techni-Ice? Let me count the ways:

1. For easy peasy transport of uncooked food

I've always been curious about Chocolat ever since a friend told me it's really good. PLUS it was included in Spot.ph's Top Ten Chocolate Cakes in Manila so I suggested that my friends and I meet up at this hidden cake store in Katipunan area.

Chocolat offers signature chocolate cakes and other specialty cakes. The place is a small shop that could only seat 10 persons. Customers usually drop by to buy cakes for takeaway.

Note: This restaurant is already closed. 



I was recently invited by Openrice to try this Filipino restaurant set to make our local cuisine world-class: Cafe de Bonifacio.


Cafe de Bonifacio, named after Gat Andres Bonifacio, opened less than a year ago and serves traditional Filipino dishes with a twist. As mentioned by Mr. Freddie Wenceslao, one of the owners, they want to bring Filipino cuisine to the international food scene. With the help of Chef Ojie Reloj, I bet they are bound to succeed. 

As much as I wanted to read 4 books like last March, I wasn't since "Angelology" took me 2 weeks to finish (whew!). If you're into mysteries, I recommend that you read these books.

Here are my April books:

12. Daddy's Little Girl by Mary Higgins Clark

Seven-year-old Ellie was the key witness when her fifteen-year-old sister Andrea was murdered near their home. Rob Westerfield, a teenage brat from a rich family and Andrea's secret date, was arrested and jailed for more than 20 years. Andrea's death brought rift to the family that Ellie's parents divorced after a few years and her mom died an alcoholic.

After 20 years in jail, Rob Westerfield files for parole and tries to pinpoint Paul Stroebel, an admirer of Andrea during that time, as the killer. As an investigative reporter, Ellie also discovers Will Nebels, a neighborhood handyman as a possible suspect.

Note: This location is already closed. 



The PEx Gluttony Society went Mexicano this time at Hermanos Taco Shop. It is a small restaurant beside a Petron gas station that offers authentic Mexican food (it helps that one of the owners is Mexican).

The place is very simple, with walls adorned with pictures of Mexican ingredients and an elaborate wall design made of chopped wood. There's also a photo wall of celebrities who visited the restaurant.

Note: This location is already closed. 

It's been a while since I've had a frozen yogurt so I was really happy when my friends and I met up for a quick snack at The White Hat. The White Hat offers authentic Italian frozen yogurt. It's also one of my top choices for froyo. 
I usually create my own whenever I'm at The White Hat, but since my friends are ordering Hat combos, I ordered one too. Hat Combos are a combination of three toppings named after a type of hat.

Note: This location is already closed. 


I've been visiting Papa John's since it opened more than a year ago. I still have a photo of the first Papa John's pizza on my phone (if you meet me, you can ask me to show you this). Finally, I made a review of my Papa (no, not my father. haha)

Papa John's Pizza is the 3rd largest pizza chain in the world. Established more than 25 years ago, it offers freshly-made pizzas and other delicious dishes. A Papa John's experience would not be complete if you will not try their Special Garlic Dipping Sauce. Believe me, you'll love it.

It's been almost a year since I've mentioned here that I can't wait for The Avengers, and finally, it has arrived!

Having watched Thor and Captain America last year, I promised that I'll watch it on its first day, but I ended up getting sick (and wasn't able to attend Mike Chan's event too).

The movie begins with Loki, Thor's adopted brother, who went to Earth to get the Tesseract a cube with immeasurable power. With Loki moving freely, Nick Fury realizes the "Avengers Initiative", which is an assembly of superheroes who can protect the world from extreme danger.

Weeks before Chili's Big Mouth Burger Day, my friends and I were already ecstatic. Unfortunately, we missed it. I guess we should read posters more carefully. :) We pushed through with our lunch at Chili's anyway.

Chili's is a Tex-Mex restaurant that originated in the US and has been in the country for 14 years. Currently with 4 locations around the metro, Chili's is a great hang-out place for foodies who want authentic American and Mexican specialties.

I'm sure you also got hooked with the DOT tourism slogan: It's More Fun in the Philippines. Most of you (myself included) had fun creating your own memes, as I posted my own memes in this blog. :)

There's no stopping the meme craze! Globe partnered with the Department of Tourism to further spread the beauty of the Philippines.


Love making your own #itsmorefuninthephilippines memes? Submit it to fb.me/globeph to get a chance to win a Nokia Lumia 610 WEEKLY!

 Definitely Filipinos!

Upload your own fun video inviting the world to come and visit all 7,107 islands of the Philippines!

Make your video exciting and unique by doing something crazy and showing everyone your fun and wacky side!

Weekly prizes (4 Nokia Lumia 610s) and a 3-day family vacation package in Boracay awaits the best submissions and the chance to be included in a global invitation video that will be shown worldwide!

Check out the sample video and remember to have fun!

I've passed by their stall a few months ago and made a mental promise to try it the next time I visit, and finally, I got to bring home some goodies from Hungry Pac.
I've read so many raves about Hungry Pac chocolate cake that got me so curious. Thankfully, I found their stall at SM Mall of Asia. 

Note: This location is already closed. 



I got really excited when I learned from friends that the "Clucking Soon" sign I've been seeing for the past few months has finally opened. Though my friends weren't that prepared, I dragged them to Clucky's for lunch.

Like Bon Chon and Manang's Chicken, Clucky's also serve soy garlic chicken. Aside from the chicken, they also have Bulgogi and Kimchi meals (which I have to try soon).

A European food bazaar? Cool! :)

From May to August, experience the best of Italian food and European dining in Manila as Megaworld launches The Venetian Market at Venice Piazza, McKinley Hill. Be transported to a ristorante in Rome, the vineyards of Tuscany or to the markets of Rialto along the Grand Canal as you shop, wine and dine on European and Italian delicacies and gourmet creations.

If you're a food entrepreneur, join the Venetian experience! 

Note: This location is already closed. 


I was again invited by Openrice to try this newest hangout place in Promenade Greenhills called Cafe Publico. I've read about the delicious gelatos Cafe Publico has to offer, and it was too bad I didn't buy the group deal when it was offered a few months ago.





Entering Cafe Publico is like time traveling to an old European cafe, every part of the resto--from the walls to the ceilings--is well-detailed. What caught my attention was the giant chess table and the sorbetero cart. Aside from the giant chess table, other board games like Monopoly and Scrabble are free to use.

Creating your own unique and yummy ice cream options is one thing you may do at an online cooking school. Sprinkles and chocolate sauce may be considered more traditional ice cream toppings, but if you're looking for something more interesting try one (or more) of our unique and yummy ice cream toppings.

Sauces Sauces are a great way to add flavor to your ice cream. Strawberry and raspberry sauces are more traditional, fruit sauces but there are some different, contemporary fruit sauces to try. Most of the sauces are simply made by reducing a mixture of sugar and fruit. Try adding flavored liquors or juice for a different twist. Other classics like hot fudge sauce can be given a unique twist. Some sauces to try include –

Note: This location is already closed. 



It's been months since I've had a lechon (I think my last lechon was December) so my friend and I got ourselves a cholesterol treat at ElarZ Lechon.



ElarZ Lechon is from the same family who brought us Elar's Lechon, which has been serving delicious lechon for around 40 years. ElarZ currently has 4 locations around Metro Manila. My friend and I went to their Greenhills branch.