MAGINHAWA STREET: The Ultimate Food Trip (Day 1)

SINCE IT'S MY LAST day at work last week, some of my closest friends celebrated with me as I give thanks to "G" for all the great opportunities He had given me.  

Also, my beau finally gave in to my request! That's why on the evening of May 29, 2015 (Friday), our group headed north and visited the famous food street: Maginhawa Street :)

THE FAMOUS FOOD STREET :)

In this post, I'll try my best to provide a reliable guide to all the foodies out there who haven't visited this place yet :)

LET'S START!

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Initially, we had no plans regarding our destination. What we know is that Maginhawa st. is located in QC and that's it. We left in Cavite at around 7 pm riding a jeepney bound to Baclaran. When we got there, we rode a bus going to Lawton, then from Lawton we jumped into another bus bound to Fairview. We got off at East Ave then took another jeepney, which drop us off at Philcoa. There, we fetched a tricycle that took us to Maginhawa st. 

It was close to a nightmare :( But we just laughed about it when we arrived in our destination! yeah!

AT TAFT AVE. I'm worried because it's almost 9 pm and I'm so hungry :(

But if you're planning to go there, it's just as simple as this: Ride a bus, van or jeepney bound to Taft / Lawton (Riding a bus is cheaper and convenient). From there, ride a bus going to Fairview, tell the conductor to drop you off at Philcoa. From Philcoa, just ride a red tricycle and it will take you to Maginhawa st. In total, the fare would be less than a hundred pesos only. 

And now you're off to explore!

Maginhawa St. is now becoming very popular because it's like a one-stop shop for foodies and gastronomes. You can find different stores and restos offering a variety of food stuff that will left you drooling and with empty pockets! 

Here's the MAP that we used in exploring Maginhawa Street :)

We arrived at around 10 pm, so basically we were so hungry that time! -__- Deciding on the first resto was really hard, but we finally agreed on having pizza first :)

Our first stop, FRIULI TRATTORIA 

Based on Google: Friuli is a historic region in SW Europe and Trattoria means a quaint restaurant or eatery :)

It's like a typical place, the interiors won't really impress you. But the pizza, OMG I didn't expect it to be that good! The price is just right, reasonable, and the taste of the pizzas are close to perfection :)

The Menu.

We ordered two 10-inch pizzas, Margherita and Viva Vinezia, and two pitchers of Iced tea---all for P 530.00 only. Since we're eight in our group, we got a slice of each pizza and paid only P 67.00 :)

Looks simple but tastes awesome!

We stayed only for a couple of minutes, then we proceed to our next food stop.

Our second stop, STREAT FOOD PARK

Let's Eat at the strEAT!

Mostly students and young adults invaded the place, enjoying their food and having a great time. The place is quite overwhelming, a lot of great stuff can be found inside. From sandwiches, to pastas and even milkshakes, they have them all here!

The stores utilized container vans. Some are actual food trucks tho :)

A lot people are enjoying their great time here :)

The foods are definitely yummy but the prices of some items here will make you think twice.

Whoever made this, is simply awesome :)

What caught my eye is this store called The Lost Bread. I become interested with their menu and ordered my own cake shake---The Carnival :) 

Next time, I'll try their 18+ milkshakes! I want the Fruit Loose ^_^

Take a break from your usual frappe and milk tea and try these milkshakes!

I super enjoyed the unique presentation of their products :)

White cotton candy + Caramel popcorn :)

DOUGHFEE. Doughnut + Coffee

We don't really eat that much at the food park. Some of us ordered rice meals, while some preferred cheese balls only. Me, I just stick with my delicious milkshake :)

A place where vandalism is allowed...

Hot yummy cheese balls :)

It's almost 11 pm, so we went our way through the growing crowd and out of the park.

Our third stop, THE ISCREAMIST

I think we're inside Dexter's Laboratory...

Actually, the store is already closed when we arrived at its doorstep. But good thing the owner heard our pleas and let us all in. 

It looks like a mad scientist's laboratory tho. They offer several unique flavors of ice cream, like nutella and banana cream pie. The ice cream, whichever flavor it is, costs P 163.00, single serving only. But there's a twist---they are served with liquid nitrogen :)

My friend, Gilbert, enjoyed doing his own magic trick here.

What fascinated us was their best-seller, Dragon's Breath S'mores.

A cup of liquid nitrogen please!

For only P 60.00, you'll get four s'mores sticks and a cup of liquid nitrogen. So what's the catch? You need to dip the s'mores into the liquid nitrogen for seven seconds, then immediately place it inside your mouth. Time to play! you can now pretend to be a dragon, breathing-out smoke :)

Who doesn't love s'mores? :)

It was really an enjoyable experience! And with that adrenaline, we left the store hoping to find another good place. But as we went outside, almost all the stores were already closed, even the food park, which is supposed to be open until 2 am, has only few stores left open. 

We're like: "Bitin naman"! 

So after a few arguments, we unanimously decided to look for a place where we could rest and just continue our food quest the following morning. 

I hope it's HUGE inside :)

We settled for this transient hostel, situated along Maginhawa St., near Nuezca Cafe.

Feeling royalty with those violet velvety couches ^_^

We got three rooms and paid only P 300.00 each. It's quite a great deal 'coz we enjoyed relaxing in an air conditioned room, hot & cold shower and comfy beds.  

However, we have a big dilemma: we don't have extra clothes and toiletries with us! oh no! -_- I know what you're thinking, gross!!! Good thing there's a convenient store near the area and I'm a girl scout as always, I have my dependable vanity kit with me that time, that's why I'm quite relieved. 

**(will have another blog post about tips on how to survive an overnight gala ^_^)**

I've got the key!

So we got into our rooms and rested. It was a good night sleep :)

The Girls' room

The rooms that we got don't have its own comfort room... So we need to share with the other guests.

Praise them 'coz they have hot & cold shower :)

The Boys' room (1)

The Boys' room (2)

The following morning, we had our coffees (for free!) and waited until 10 am (most of the stores opens at this time) before we continue our food quest :)

By the way, the rooms that we availed don't have television, but luckily, the air condition unit at one of the boys' rooms failed. They were transferred to a bigger room, with TV! yey!

Chillin' while watching Nickelodeon :)

TO BE CONTINUED...