It’s been ages since I last had a proper day out with friends. Last Sunday, though, I finally had a chance to catch up with two of my best-est friends over lunch at Greenbelt 3. My friend Jaye had vouchers to Dillingers that were about to expire so the place was an obvious choice for us.

Dillingers 1903 Steak and Brew (Greenbelt 3) is a pub style restaurant that serves mainly American dishes. The interior screamed “masculine” with it’s leather couches, bar set up, and flat screen TVs tuned in to different sport channels. I felt slightly out of place in my girly outfit but I was there at lunch so the crowd was mostly families having lunch.

Looking at the menu, I was surprised to find that they offered very affordable meals averaging between PHP150 to PHP400. The steaks, of course, were much more expensive but you don’t have to order that when you’re on a budget. The other options in the menu were just as good and our PHP1,000 voucher went a long way.

We ordered a selection of dishes to be shared among three people. It was inevitable that we ordered their buffalo wings as this was one of their more popular dishes. For me though, I found this to be quite a disappointment. It didn’t taste like much of anything. In short, I found it too bland. A bit more spice and flavor would done the trick!

On the other hand, this spicy tuna pasta had the spiciness lacking in the buffalo wings. The tuna was so good in itself that my friend Jaye ended up eating the pasta and tuna with rice. It was that type of meal that went well with rice. Well, at least for us Filipinos. I’m sure people from other countries (and continents, most especially) are cringing at the thought. I know my boyfriend would say something about Asians loving their rice too much. Haha 🙂

Speaking of rice, this plate of grilled pork chops came with it. The meat was perfectly grilled and charred. It was juicy and flavorful just the way I liked it. You know how grilled pork chops are sometimes too dry and difficult to chew? These weren’t. I wish I knew the trick to grilling chops this one.

My favorite dish among the ones we had is this salmon with mashed potato dish. It’s the kind of dish that makes you feel good about eating it because it’s light yet filling at the same time. The salmon was perfectly cooked and juicy. Eating it was such a delightful experience. Plus I don’t know what was in the mashed potato but we were addicted to it. We couldn’t stop ourselves from digging into the mash. 😀

Now this roast beef sandwich didn’t get as much item. It was more because by the time we got to it, we only had room left for the fries. The fries came with a cheesy dip that was really good so we finished the entire thing. The sandwich, though, was delegated to the take away bag. 🙂

After that very satisfying meal, Biel, Jaye, and I were on a hunt for the perfect dessert. Jaye suggested coffee because that’s usually how people cap off a meal but since I wasn’t a coffee drinker, I was pushing for an ice cream place. Thankfully, we found both options at Cafe Ti-Amo – a gelato-serving cafe at Greenbelt 5.

They had several gelato flavors from which we can choose from so I had a hard time deciding. In the end, I went for milk and cheese because I like a similarly flavored ice cream from Sebastian’s. Because I was greedy, I thought of getting a medium-sized cup. Little did I know that medium already had plenty of ice cream in it. A small cup would have served me just fine, really.

The interesting thing about this ice cream was although you get the expected milky and sweet taste, you also get hints of musty bleu cheese! Some people might not like that but I appreciated it because it was different. The mustiness added more dimension to the flavor. 🙂

Meanwhile, my friends each got an order of affogato. It’s a drink that usually involves a scoop of vanilla ice cream with a shot of espresso. At Cafe Ti-Amo, you can choose your own gelato flavor. It was my first time seeing this concept (ignorant, I know!) so I was very, very amused and fascinated.

I thought it was a clever way to have your coffee and gelato at the same time! It was a very practical set-up, in my opinion.

After such an indulgent meal, we spent the rest of the day tirelessly walking around the Greenbelt complex, popping into the different shops whenever we saw something that interested us. I must say window shopping is the best form of exercise for me. Who wouldn’t lose weight after walking aimlessly for hours? To be fair, we did brisk walk so it did count as exercise. 🙂

By the way, I shall be in Puerto Galera tomorrow and probably most of Saturday so I might be quiet online. Please take care of my blog while I’m gone! I would love you all for that! 🙂

Thank God It’s Friday! Hello, weekend! xxx

P.S. If you find any typos, do forgive me. I’m rushing this post at 3A.M. My brain cells are screaming at me to go sleep 😀