My Maginhawa Hits for A Satisfied, Happier Tummy!

I don’t know when my fascination to discover new places to eat started. I just know that whenever my friends or cousins would ask me to go out with them, I’m usually the pa-bibo one who always suggests places to eat. And usually, I will google for restaurants that are not found in the mall, but in the streets where it is unlikely to find a picture-worthy restaurant. And Maginhawa Street in Quezon City is one of my favorite go-to-places whenever I go on a food trip with family and friends.

Maginhawa Street is actually no longer an unfamiliar name for foodies. It is a residential area that is just a walking distance from Philcoa in Quezon City. This street and its neighboring roads are known for hole-in-the-wall restaurants and houses which were turned into restaurants. Students from nearby universities such as University of the Philippines, Ateneo de Manila University, and Miriam College usually frequent this street for the number of indie restaurants, cafes, kiosks, and dessert places you can find in this strip.

And because it is one of my happy places, I’ve already tried some of the restaurants here with some of my favorite people in the world:-) Here’s giving you some suggestions on where to eat when in Maginhawa Street:

1. Pipino 

-This is a vegetarian restaurant owned and operated by the same people behind Pino Restaurant — that is why it is also located in the same building as Pino. What I like about Pipino is that you can eat a whole plate without feeling really bloated since they offer healthy food.

What we tried: 

• Garlic Noodles with broccoli, walnut and parmesan cheese. It’s like Aglio Olio with a little twist. *
• Creamy Pesto with Wasabi onion rings *
• Vanilla Graham Ice Cream *
• Pipino Shake *

Veggie Date with my friend, PA

Munching Budget: P200-300 per person

Address: 39 Malingap Street, Teachers Village, Quezon City
Telephone No: 4411773

2. Ally’s All Day Breakfast

-Ally’s is small breakfast place in Malingap Street which offers really yummy pancakes, waffles and other all-time brekky goodies. What’s famous about Ally’s is their create-your-own-pancake item in the menu wherein you can choose on a number of yummy ways to make your pancake the way you like it.

What we tried: 

• Ferrero Rocher Pancrepe (P170) *
• Cadbury Pancrepe (P150) *
• Toblerone Pancrepe (P150) *
• Lucban Longanisa meal (P160)
• Bagnet Liempo meal (P270) *
• Sweet Pork Tocino meal (P130)

Muching Budget: P200-300 per person

Address: 50 Malingap Street, Sikatuna Village, Quezon City

Telephone #: 0906-444-3878

Big appetite date with my cousins 🙂

spending time with Lessie

3. Friuli Trattoria 

-A restaurant that offers comfort Italian food at an affordable price. The place is not really big enough but it is one of the restaurants in the strip that is usually full. Well, why not? Their pizza and pasta is really yummy — at par with the taste that other Italian posh restos are offering at a very wallet-friendly price.

What we tried:

• Pizza Margherita (P190) *
• Classic Pepperoni Pizza (P205)
• Barbecue Chicken (P240) *
• Angel Hair Puttanesca (P140)
• Penne in Smoked Sausage Sauce (P155) *
• Spaghetti Carbonara (P140)

Munching Budget: P200-300 per person (Pizza and pasta are good for sharing)

Address: 79-A Maginhawa Street, Teachers Village, Quezon City

Telephone #: 4341416

Extension of the big appetite date with the cousins 🙂

Catching Up with Vannah and Joni 🙂

4. The Breakfast Table

– Another restaurant that offers breakfast goodies and added some more appetizing flavors in the menu is the Breakfast Table. What I like about this place is its quirky ambiance–that kind of interiors you can see in Pinterest. I love the blue and white color combination of the place and how they made use of old denims as part of the table set-up.

What we tried:

• Binagoongan Omurice (P185) – 2 eggs, crispy pork binagoongan, garlic rice and petite salad *
• Adobo Omurice (P175) – 2 eggs, roasted adobo chunks, garlic rice, petite salad
• EGGS TBT Eggs Benedict – (P195) – 2 poached eggs, tinapa flakes, pinoy hollandaise, challah and petite salad *

Munching Budget: P200-300 per person

Address: Ground Floor, Maginhawa Building, 189 Maginhawa Corner Makadios Street, Sikatuna Village, Quezon City

Telephone #: 4333597

Clingy 3 date with Jhen and Rhona 🙂

5. A Taste of Heaven 

-If you are craving for milkshakes, you should head on to A Taste of Heaven. Here you can find a wide variety of milkshake flavors you can choose from — Speculous Cookie Butter, Salted Caramel, Peach Banana, S’mores Banana Split, Bubblegum, and many others. They also have some pica-pica in their menu for you and your friends to munch on and balance the taste like the fries, chilly wings, frankfurters, and burgers. The place is relatively small and could only fit approximately 10 guests inside.

What we tried: 

• Butterfinger Milkshake (P85) *
• Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Milkshake (P85) *
• Speculous Cookie Butter milkshake (P130) *
• Freedom Chips (P55) *

Munching Budget: P100-200

Address: 71 Maginhawa Street, UP Village, Diliman, Quezon City

Milkshake goodness:-)

6. Artsy Cafe

-Another dainty restaurant you can find in Maginhawa Street which serves rice meals, pasta, sandwiches, coffee and desserts. Their art wall is an impressive  factor of the place plus their porch area really gives off that relaxing, coffee-by-the-garden-side-kind of feeling.

What we tried:

• Chicken Parmigiana (P15o)
• Baby Back Ribs (P360) *
• Lengua (P180)
• Tuna Melt sandwich (P120)
• Iced Butterscotch Coffee (P120) *
• Benguet Brewed Coffee (P120)

Munching Budget: P200-300 per person

Address: 36 Maginhawa Street, Diliman, Quezon CityPhilippines

Telephone #: 4349487

Year-ender Cousins’ Date

7. Leona Art Cafe

-This laid-back artsy restaurant offers really tasty and cheesy pizza at an affordable price. The place looks kinda old which added to the artsy vibe of the restaurant. They have a fixed promo of P499 for three kinds of pizza but the Three Cheese and the Pepperoni are a staple so you will only choose the third one. I’d say it is already enough for 6-10 people since you can enjoy three types of pizza for only P499. When I went out with my cousins (we were 6), we only paid P75 each for the three types of pizza we indulged ourselves on:-)

Munching Budget: P75-100/person if in a group

Address: 45 Matimtiman Street, Teachers Village, Quezon City

Telephone #: 9297490

Pepperoni Pizza

Three-Cheese Pizza

8. The Baker’s Table

This is a small dessert place where you can buy cakes which are very Pinoy in taste such as the Milo Mousse Cake, the MikMik Cake, HawHaw Cake, Butterball Cake, Viva Caramel Cake, and even Puto Bumbong Cake. You can even go on a nostalgia talk with your friends or family while munching on the sweets since the tastes of the cakes could really remind you of your childhood days. When I went here with my cousins, we just ordered 4 variants of cakes and just shared with each other so we can all have a taste of the different cake flavors.

What we tried:

• Milo Mousse Cake (P120/slice) *
• Butterball Cake (P110/slice) *
• Mikmik Cake (P110/slice)
• Puto Bumbong Cake (P120/slice) *

Munching Budget: P120-P150 per person

Address: 880B Maginhawa Street, Quezon City

Telephone #: 0917-5766001, 4337543

Milo Mousse Cake

Puto Bumbong Cake

MikMik Cake

Butterball Cake

9. Breakfast and Pies

Another restaurant owned by the people behind Pino and Pipino, Breakfast and Pies serve unique breakfast dishes, home-made pies, gourmet waffles, and fresh bread. You may also want to avail of their 50% off promo on their breads during closing hours (which me and my sister!). We got 10 pieces of cheese rolls for only P15/each. Their Mombana Hot Chocolate is really for the win! It tastes like Chuckie choco drink, but only made hot.

What we tried: 

• Mombana Hot Chocolate (P75) *
• Malongo Coffee (P75) *
• Cheese Rolls (P30/piece) *

Munching Budget: P100-200

Address: 39 Malingap Street,Teachers Village, Quezon City

Telephone #: 4411773

10. The Porch by Casa Verde

One of my favorites in this side of the city, The Porch by Casa Verde serves American home-style comfort food like ribs, steaks, hamburgers, pastas, sandwiches and desserts at a budget-friendly prices. Dining in their porch area gives me that feeling like I’m really in a country-side American house. Their single serve of ribs is already good for sharing for 2-3 people.

What we tried:

• Brian’s Ribs (P250, single order) *
• Tenderloin Tips and Eggs (P198) *
• Best Sampler (P328) – bacon & cheese, potato skins, fried cheese and buffalo wings *
• Caramel Macchiato Ice Cake (P218) *
• Lauren’s Lava cake (P188) *

Munching Budget: P250-400 per person

Address: 113 Anonas Extension, Sikatuna Village, Quezon City

Telephone #: 9527178

The Fam-bam 🙂

Brian’s Ribs

Caramel Macchiato Ice Cake

Lauren’s Lava

I only put here ten restaurants but there are still many restos worth trying in Maginhawa Street. Indeed, this street is food haven! 😀

Still Not A Vegetarian But I’m Loving Pipino!

We’ve been told about the goodness and benefits of eating vegetables since our Kindergarten days. As a preschool teacher, I also tell my little kiddos to eat vegetables and I even tell them animated stories like there are germs trying to embrace our bodies to make us sick and these vegetables are like weapons which try to fight and shove those germs away. Perhaps I was very good at telling these stories to them that they all looked interested in vegetables and when I asked them if they are going to eat vegetables na, they all answered me with a crisp “YES!” Although I don’t really take that “yes” as a guarantee since I’ve also been a kid before and I also told my teacher that I will eat vegetables but still ended up throwing up when my Papa would try to force me to eat tofu, okra, eggplant, and ampalaya. BUT still I hope my students would really eat vegetables!

You see, I don’t really have a long-standing love affair with vegetables. It was only when I hit my mid 20s that I started appreciating the taste of some vegetables. And I repeat: SOME –because I’m still not in good terms with okra, talong, ampalaya and kalabasa 😀 But at least I’m proud to say that I’m already enjoying the taste of chopsuey and some veggie salads now, which means, I’m already on the road to healthy living now!

Anyway, last Tuesday night (January 15), I met up with one of my dear friends PA for some long overdue catching up, after my night class in UP. Since I’ve been hearing some raves about the famous holes in the wall in Maginhawa street in Teachers Village, I asked PA if we could try one of the restos there which is owned by Patty Laurel’s friend —Pipino Vegetarian Resto. It was the first time that I pass by that Maginhawa street that’s why we had some difficulty finding Pipino Restaurant. Plus, PA and I were so full of chikas and we were so engrossed with the good lineup of restaurants along Maginhawa street that we forgot to tell the cab driver the exact address of Pipino. 

This veggie resto is actually located along Malingap street, second floor of the beige building where Pino Resto and Bar is. You actually have to enter the gate on the right side of the building and turn left and you will see a staircase. Go up that stairs and you will find Pipino Vegetarian Resto.

The resto might look really good on pictures I found online but it’s actually nicer when you get there and see it for yourself.

Okay, since I seemed to love every details of this place, I might as well just list them down here:

1. I love the white interiors and the eclectic designs inside.

2. I love the faded red brick wall with the longest cork community board I’ve ever seen.

portion of that brick wall. photo courtesy of Project 30.

3. I love the cream wooden bench tables. It gave me a feeling like I was eating in a park while enjoying the happy morning breeze.

photo courtesy of Pipino’s facebook page.

4. I love the tall white windows. I have a special fancy for pieces that gives off a country-side feel that the tall white windows inside Pipino are also so charming for me.

See the tall white windows? photo courtesy of Pipino Facebook page.

5. I love the large blackboard on the other side of the wall (across the brick wall) where the add-ons to the menu were handwritten in colored chalks.

6. I also love their wooden flooring!

7. I love the “Promises for the Planet” doodles posted on the resto’s refrigerator.

photo courtesy of http://jonettevalenciano.com

8. I love that the handwritten stuff on the counter window which looked like it was written using crayons.

photo courtesy of http://jonettevalenciano.com

9. I love the staff. They’re sooo warm and accommodating and they were very nice to us when we were dining there. A big thumbs up for the service.

10. I love this cute staircase-like shelf where the pastries for sale are placed.

11. I love the Pipino shake that PA ordered. It tasted sooo natural and very refreshing!

12. I love my order – Garlic noodles with broccoli with walnut and Parmesan cheese. It’s like the Vietnamese Pasta of The Old Spaghetti House, only that it’s topped with broccoli and it’s a lot drier than TOSH’. I love that it’s not oily and that the noodles weren’t sticky.

This photo doesn’t look appetizing,though, but it’s sure is yummy!

I also tried their dairy-free homemade Vanilla Graham IceCream, but it didn’t create too much appeal to my palette since I love sweeter desserts the most.

13. I love PA’s order — Creamy Pesto with Wasabi onion rings. We both had a taste of each other’s food.

14. I love their comfort room. I also have a little fancy for clean restrooms. Pipino’s restroom looked well maintained. It just so happened that I wasn’t able to bring my phone with me when I went to the restroom that I wasn’t able to take a shot of it.

15. I love the ambiance inside the place. It’s very cozy and comfy. I think this would also be a perfect place if you want to throw intimate birthday parties or small group activities. The place invokes creativity and artistry like you would want to get your crafts from your wooden box and start creating some handcrafted stuff. This is also a great place for writers who would want to get inspiration from outside his/her writing spot and observe the people and things outside. There’s peace and stillness in the place. I think that just by looking at the chairs placed near the brick wall could already give inspiration to a creative writer to weave words about waiting or hope or lost love or even finding love. There are a lot of stories you can create just by letting your eyes wander inside this very cute vegetarian restaurant.

And for that, I’d say Pipino is already included in my jar of favorite places! 😀

By the way, what I love most about this first experience with Pipino’s that I got to try it with one of my best friends. That Pipino date was the first time I got to see him again after a year –a year! We didn’t even know it’s already been a year since we last saw each other. And as PA said, perhaps we didn’t feel that time apart since we’re so comfortable with each other that when we saw each other again, we shared kwentos like as if we’ve just talked over a cup of coffee two days ago. And for that, cheers to our friendship!

How to go to Pipino:

If you’re commuting, you can ride a tricycle in parked beside Ministop in Philcoa and tell the driver to bring you to Malingap street. I think the fare’s only P9/person.

Other ways? photo below (courtesy of Pipino website)