Tweetup to the Max

Here is a preview of what's to come. If anything in this photo interest you then keep on reading. If you're not going to continue then you don't know what you're missing.

I went to a tweetup (#tweetuptothemax) at Max's Restaurant aka Max's of Manila. It was organized by my twitter friends, Alfonso (@msgfonz) and Mike (@chopstickhero). Luckily out of a group of 13, Alfonso was Filipino so he took care of the ordering. He did one helluva job too.

This was my very first time eating Filipino food so I had no clue what to expect nor knew what was what. Too busy chatting that I honestly don't know what the names of each dishes were. Luckily there's foodspotting. If you don't know what it is maybe you shouldn't know because now I'm addicted to this site. Basically it's a site that displays pictures taken by diners at restaurants. Both Alfonso and Mike are on foodspotting as well but believe me you will end up being green with envy when you look at their pix. I'm always drooling when I scroll through their latest eats which seems like practically every single day.

For our starter, we had the lumpiang shanghai which to me were pretty much spring rolls. It was crunchy and the filling on the inside was yummy. I'm not sure what was inside but it was goooood. I ate quite a bit of this while we were waiting for a few people. Sorry guys I just couldn't wait I was hungry:(

Then all the food came out all at once. Of course so did all our cameras and phones.

Here was the pancit bihon which was rice noodles with shrimp, veggies, chicken and pork. It were oodles and oodles of joy.

Next was the chicken adobo. Flavorful juicy chicken. Just nom nom nom.

The bowl with the beautiful yellow color is the kare kare which was a stew with veggies and meat swimming in a pool of peanut sauce. All I can say is yummy in my tummy.

Here was a veggie dish called pinakbet. It was bursting with flavors.

Here was the crispy pata and crispy it was. The pork leg was mouthwatering.

A popular dish was the whole fried chicken. Crispy tasty skin and the meat was yummy. For fried chicken you would expect some parts to be dry but the pieces I had were not dry at all. Very tasty. Almost better than KFC. The big difference was this chicken wasn't greasy. Also I did not get that disgusted feeling you would get after eating fried food.

Now the one that stole everyone's breath away or at least it did to me, the halo-halo special. With 8 cameras popping out I was surprised the dessert didn't turn into a milkshake after the amount of time we all spent taking turns taking pictures. Isn't this eye catching or what? Sooo pretty looking with all the vibrant colors and cute little umbrellas. Who wouldn't want this for dessert?

It was made up of shaved ice, taro ice cream, flan, jelly, rice crispies and coconut milk. Perfect end to a wonderful evening. I think I should have ordered one for myself it was just too good to share.

Now this was surprising. When the bill came the waitress had 13 individual bills printed up. That was the first time I have ever seen that. Very accommodating staff at Max's. The most expensive item was the fried chicken at $3.46 lol. We all had a good laugh looking at the bill. It also even included gratuity. Well the staff deserved it since they were very friendly and attentive.

I had an amazing time with @lu_amy, @ugogurl, @manley, @momswhorun, @mgip, @chrisunagi, @msgfonz, @chopstickhero, @suilatieu, @hiimwarren and @thecheapmonk. All very interesting tweeps. Also want to thank Alfonso for organizing an outstanding feast for everyone. I can now say that I've had authentic Filipino cuisine and I like it. I also want to thank the staff at Max for dealing with a very noisy and hungry group. We were almost the last ones there. Wished they didn't close so early. Think I would have ordered the dessert again but just for me to eat hehe. Yeah I'm a pig.

If you never tried Filipino food before then I highly recommend starting at Max's Restaurant. It's actually a very popular chain in the Philippines with over 30 different locations. But be sure to make reservations since the place is bustling with people. Don't be fooled by the exterior nor the plaza it's located in the interior of the restaurant will make you believe you stepped into a whole different place.

TOTAL BILL $22 per person...EAT HERE NEXT!!!

Max's Restaurant

1520 Steeles Ave. West, Unit 121

(Steeles & Dufferin)