My 4th of Juy: Mongolian BBQ & Momo Cafe

I've got tons of things to be thankful for this year.  What better way to celebrate than by throwing a party!  My birthday was on July 4 but since it fell on a Monday, we held the party last Saturday instead.  I had a ball since I got to pig out while the people closest and dearest to my heart were happily munching away with me. Since most of our parties have themes, Yuri and I decided that this one should have a Mongolian barbecue spin on it. As you know, in one of my previous posts (O'Mai Khan), we are big fans of Mongolian buffets so we decided to give our guests the same experience. I was told to stay away from the planning this time, so this was really Yuri and my mom's gift to me.  They took care of everything!

We didn't want the party to feel too "catered", which is ironic since that's what we do on a daily basis. We wanted to keep it simple and self-service mostly so we just borrowed our best Mongolian BBQ cook, and another one of our staff members to pitch in with the service side.

My uber generous parents, who I dearly love, decided on their own that a Mongolian buffet wasn't enough. They surprised me with pritchon!!!  Pritchon or pritong lechon is simply deep fried suckling pig served Peking duck-style.  Chopped lechon is wrapped in pita bread together with slices of cucumber and spring onions.  The secret is always in the sauce and they had 7 types for us to choose from. 

I was ecstatic! I hung out by the pritchon station for quite a while and tried to get my fill before the bulk of my guests arrived.  LOL.  I wasn't going to miss out on this.  Nuh-uh.  Hell no.  Usually pritchons last for no more than 30 minutes in our parties.  People just seem to inhale them.  Can't blame them though because it's craaaaazzzy delicious!

Hubby (left) and I (middle) with the early birds!

 Our house was noisy, chaotic, and brimming with people, just how I like our parties to be.  I had a blast! :)

I was still on a high from the party so I didn't really mind if we skipped celebrating my birthday on the actual day.  Yuri would have none of that though, and told me to get dressed for a date.  I have to admit, I didn't really put up a protest.  In fact, I got dressed in record time!  How could I say no to a date?

We went to mass and then went to Momo Cafe for lunch.  I had a hard time choosing between my favorite restaurants, but in the end we went to Momo since it had been quite a while since we ate here.   

Once we were seated, I immediately flipped open the menu to my favorite page.

We quickly placed our orders and patiently waited for our scrumptious dishes to arrive.  While waiting, they customarily serve all their guests bread sticks with a tasty side of cheese pimiento spread.

Since the first time I ate here in 2010, there has only been one dish for me.  The pan roasted Norwegian salmon. *drools*

Pan Roasted Shiitake Mushroom Crusted Norwegian Salmon Php 425.00

It's perfect really.  I guess it really is a personal favorite of mine since I'm quite obsessed with most of the ingredients on this plate.  The oh-so-juicy-and-flaky hunk of salmon, the spinach cream risotto, and the teriyaki glaze go together like a dream.  Thanks Anj for introducing this to me!  This dish gives me the same glazed look and dopey smile I get when I'm given a huge emergency shot of benadryl for my allergies.  Everything just fades into the background.  If you don't believe me, ask Yuri.  He knows that talking to me in this state would be utterly useless since I'd be completely distracted.  Harhar.  I can't help it.

The salmon dish is really a big plate with at least 350 grams of quality salmon cooked to perfection.  I'd say that it's totally worth it for 'splurge days' like these.

Yuri decided to try a new dish at Momo and ordered some good ol' corn dogs.

A Bucket of Corn Dogs and 3 Dips Php 295.00

This is Yuri's brand of comfort food that's for sure.  He loved that they used real American hotdogs and a really thick and tasty pancake batter to coat it with.  It came with homemade coleslaw and three kinds of dips-- sweet and sour, hickory BBQ, and honey mustard.

Other dishes I'd highly recommend are the Sweet & Smoky BBQ Riblets (Php 450.00), the Slow Roasted U.S. Roast Beef Fingers (Php 495.00), and the MOMO Gourmet Salad (Php 295.00), which are all good for sharing.

I was planning to have dessert at some other  place since my favorite dessert at Momo Cafe was nowhere on the menu or on the dessert display up front.  I should've put more faith in my hubby because next thing I knew, the restaurant was suddenly playing a very classy version of the "happy birthday" song and our waitress was walking towards me with a slice of my favorite dessert topped with a lighted candle.  It was incredibly sweet!

The dessert in question, was the cookie dough cheesecake.  I don't really have a sweet tooth so I'm a fan of desserts that aren't too sweet and sugary.  This really does it for me.  It's a baked cheesecake with a cookie dough crust and drops of chocolate chip batter on top.  The cheesecake itself has a lemony flavor.  Yuri and I were both flabbergasted though when we saw our bill.  We used to pay Php 175.00 for a slice and now it was Php 275.00, which is quite ridiculous even if it was my favorite dessert there.  We didn't want to spoil the mood though.  It was my birthday date after all.

I thought my parents spoiled me unnecessarily before, but nobody has spoiled me quite like Yuri has.  You know how a little girl feels like when she's in a candy store and is told that she can pick out whatever she wants just for that day?  That's how I felt during this whole week... except I don't like candy all that much... but you guys get my drift.   Anyways, all I'm trying to say in my own clumsy way is THANK YOU!  Just in case I haven't said it enough. <3  



Address: G/F Eastwood Mall, E. Rodriguez Jr. Ave, Bagumbayan, Libis, Quezon City
Tel. #: 900-1006

(Disclaimer! The food quality here is awesome, but the service crew has their good days and bad days.  I personally prefer to go here on weekdays or during off-peak hours when the place isn't too full just to be on the safe side.)