5-3-12: Peanut butter never tasted this good

Last Thursday, I met up with a couple of my favorite friends and hanged out at Mall of Asia. I came in earliest so I roamed around for a little while to find my favorite make-up brands only to disappoint myself and not find the exact things I was looking for. Oh well, I think I just have to scout Etude House and The Face Shop's Alabang branches. Well anyway, I met up with Krantzl first as she was out early. We had Chatime teas as we shopped for bags, make-ups, cookwares, books, and as we waited for Hanny. :)

Krantzl's order: Japanese Sakura Sencha Tea (photo courtesy of Krantzl Narte)

I ordered Chatime's Matcha Red Bean Milk Tea while Krantzl's was Japanese Sakura Sencha Tea. Mine was an okay drink but I didn't like it that much - it was too sweet for my taste plus I can no longer taste the flavor of green tea. I guess the red beans' sweetness plus the sugar overpowered it. Now let's go to Krantzl's drink. Haha I'm so sorry but I really have to be blunt about this: it was disgusting. I don't even know what to compare it to. Even I was surprised Krantz was able to finish it. Never again, Krantz, never again. Hehehe

Shopping with Krantz. I bought Kikay stuff and she bought cookwares!
One very dedicated food-analyst-in-the-making, indeed. :)

We were initially at Fully Booked and I was weighing options as to which John Green
book I'm going to buy but since I cannot decide, I dropped the idea. As we were
looking for a place to eat at, we passed by booksale and whoala! Look what I got! :)

As we were roaming around the mall looking for the best place to eat at, we stopped
by Auntie Anne's and Krantz treated us to this delightful pretzel. Best snack to ease our
hunger from all the walking.

After literally hours of walking, we finally have decided to try out an Indo-Malay-Thai restaurant: Martabak Cafe. We were not sure of what to expect of the dishes. I have tasted Thai dishes before but haven't eaten any Indonesian or Malaysian dishes; so I guess the thought of experiencing something new excited me and I must say, it has been the best decision of the night.  ☺

Lovely wall accents at Martabak Cafe 

Chicken Satay

Kway Teow Goreng

Tahu Isih

I'm used to the peanut flavor in Thai dishes but I didn't expect that peanut butter is also one of the main ingredients on Indonesian and Malaysian dishes. Among the things we ordered, I must say the Kway Teow Goreng was my favorite. It has the right amount of sweetness, saltiness and sourness (from the lemon in place of our very own Kalamansi ☺). The chicken Satay was not so bad, either also delicious. It was served with peanut butter sauce and was braised with its special sauce as well which I think was the best part of the dish. And the last (and least favorite) is the Tahu Isih - a stuffed fried tofu with peanut butter sauce. Although the tofu was cooked well, I just didn't like the flavors of the dish all-together. Add the texture of the tofu inside, eck! Sorry, I'm not a big tofu fan to begin with. I prefer it crunchy and deep fried. But all in all, the experience was great. I really enjoyed our dinner and the food was really delicious and cheap! Best bargain of the night, indeed. :)

The Lovely RND's (L-R): Krantz, moi and Hanny at Martabak Cafe

Meet my two friends: Hanny and Krantz - two of my best buds in College. I really missed these two. I used to do lots of things with Hanny most esp. and it was so much fun to talk with them about everything! Until next time, dearies. I am betting this is one of the many more dinner dates to come. ♥