Alright Philippines, I have a bone to pick with you. I have been here exactly one month to the day and it is obvious I am pretty in love with this country and the people that inhabit it, but I officially have a complaint.
I know you're prediction is that it will be about traffic. Nope, I'm actually getting used to that, well about as much as you can get used to it; acceptance is probably a better word. I am accepting the fact that traffic is apart of life here and I now no longer get in a car without a snack, water and a book. Life goes on, just a little bit slower sometimes.
So if it's not traffic, then what is it?
Hint: it's apart of your daily life, multiple times in a day.
Food. More importantly, nutrition. There is not a lot of it.
Greens, my body is craving vegetables. And not the sautéed ones doused in oil, fried and then dipped in cream. As delicious as those things are every now and again, I have hit my limit on consuming them on a daily basis.
And then today, upon multiple recommendations from fellow Americans, I found my new favorite restaurant: Green Pastures. Farm to table!! Love.
This place is heaven for green people like me. Salad bowls bigger than my face and filled with not just ice berg lettuce. Real, green, crunchy, fresh kale and romaine leaves. Gloriousness.
The most interesting part about this restaurant was not the menu itself, but the fact there was a wait list to get in to the restaurant. On a Tuesday afternoon at 1 pm.
Green Pastures is in the Shangri-La Mall in Ortigas (a GORGEOUS mall by the way), and there was hardly anyone there. But to eat at this place...a 30 minute wait.
That tells you one thing, people want MORE of this type of food!
So let's start a movement fellow Filipinos! And it starts with the color green; make your plate more colorful! I think I'll open a restaurant ;)
I know you're prediction is that it will be about traffic. Nope, I'm actually getting used to that, well about as much as you can get used to it; acceptance is probably a better word. I am accepting the fact that traffic is apart of life here and I now no longer get in a car without a snack, water and a book. Life goes on, just a little bit slower sometimes.
So if it's not traffic, then what is it?
Hint: it's apart of your daily life, multiple times in a day.
Food. More importantly, nutrition. There is not a lot of it.
Greens, my body is craving vegetables. And not the sautéed ones doused in oil, fried and then dipped in cream. As delicious as those things are every now and again, I have hit my limit on consuming them on a daily basis.
And then today, upon multiple recommendations from fellow Americans, I found my new favorite restaurant: Green Pastures. Farm to table!! Love.
.JPG) |
| I had the Detoxify Juice with the Farm House Salad: Shredded kale, chopped romaine, konbu roast chicken, malagos goat cheese, hard-boiled eggs, dinelli bacon, corn, avocado, grape tomatoes, honey mustard dill vinaigrette |
Green Pastures is in the Shangri-La Mall in Ortigas (a GORGEOUS mall by the way), and there was hardly anyone there. But to eat at this place...a 30 minute wait.
That tells you one thing, people want MORE of this type of food!
So let's start a movement fellow Filipinos! And it starts with the color green; make your plate more colorful! I think I'll open a restaurant ;)
.JPG) |
| Can't wait to go back and try more! |
We have many green-friendly restaurants in the city :) Off the top of my head: Juju Eats, Edgy Veggy, Cornee Tree Cafe, Wabi Sabi and Chimara in Makati; Greens and Pipino in Quezon City; Bodhi inside Megamall in Mandaluyong.
ReplyDeleteIf you have time, take a trip south to Sonya's Garden, which is located in Tagaytay, an hour or so away from Manila. They have great overnight packages that have include full plant-based meals and spa treatments.
The farm-to-table concept is relatively new in the country, but there are quite of few places cropping up (pun intended) such as Grace Park in Rockwell Makati.
If you have a weekend to spare, go up north. A lot of our greens are grown in mountainous provinces so they are readily available there. Destinations like Baguio and Sagada are popular and in that region.
Hope that helps. I agree, Green Pastures is awesome. If you need someone to take around to try these places, my friends and I would be more than happy to do so. :)