Skippy’s Bar and Grill: Ripper Tucker, I Reckon!

If you bludgers want to bog in and get some Ozzie grog and footy, Skippy’s (The Forum, BGC) is the boozer for you.

It’s a spiffy joint for earbashing, billiards and booze. There’s a roo on the wall too—so give it a burl why don’t ya?

Seriously, Skippy’s Bar and Grill located at the Forum BGC is the dinky-di (real thing) if you are looking for Aussie grub and drinks. It’s the place you go to after work to unwind, grab a pint, watch a game or just get the billiard table humming. It’s at the GF of The Forum, BGC, so if you want to run on the grass or just get some sun, you’re at the right place!

What’s ripper about Skippy’s is that they’ve got nightly bands too on a rotating basis, so if you’re tired of balls and bar fights, you can just chill or sing along (if they let them blokes). The place is practically adorned with Australian relics, road signs and whatnot, it’s like taking a dive Down Under, and that’s even before the grub came.

Skippy’s Bar and Grill specializes in Australian food, which I knew nothing about beforehand. I had imagined skewered roos or beer battered vegemite—or anything with vegemite for that matter—but they’ve got the usual fares, like pizza, salad and meats with some Australian flare—deep fried, heavily battered and big on breakfast!

If you’re big on drinks, Skippy’s menu will also not disappoint. It probably allots a half its menu pages on drinks, cocktails and liquor. Non alcoholic drinkers (like me!) will go crazy too over the choices on fresh fruit shakes and juices.

Personally, that freshly squeezed lemon juice was just so “Good onya” it went well with the deep fried fares.

Skippy’s is not just a bar with a billiard table; its TV screens are dedicated to showing sports shows, including the World Cup. Did I say World Cup?

Indeed the bar intends to stay open during the wee hours to show the 2014 World Cup because there are a lot of fans, and heck, a lot of them who are already sick of streaming and eating just popcorn!

 

But back to the food. As mentioned, Skippy’s has this whole barrage of Aussie food and snacks, it’s not just a footy affair. It’s got breakfast, salad and even rice meals; craving of any sort, including lamb or tapa, is guaranteed to be solved.

Here’s a quick peek on the roster (in no particular order):

Breakfast platters for the hungry!

Big Breakfast has 2 eggs, bacon, sausage, baked beans, tomato, mushrooms, hash brown, toasted bread, and butter. Basic Breakfast is, well, a subset of the big one, as it depends on your appetite. Not limited to mornings.

 

Drinks Galore! Too many to mention but personally, as a boring drinker (aka non alcoholic), the fruit and juice selection is sufficiently well stocked.

The Greens are in. Part vegetarians and dieters have something to rejoice about with the salad selections.

Skippy’s Salad – Fresh lettuce, veggies with egg, grilled chicken and cheese, served with homemade dressing.

Green Salad – Fresh lettuce mixed with assorted green vegetables and tossed with cheese, ham and egg, served with home made dressing.

Spicy Chook Fingers – Coated breast chicken fillet fingers. Best served hot and eaten with… your fingers!

Potato Scallops – Such wondrous deep fried spud creation. Golden crisp and sprinkled with sea salt, it’ll be your number one spud serving!

Chicken Parmigiana – Tender cheese and crumbed chicken are topped with homemade tomato sauce and grated cheese. This one was a winner since it combined all that cheese and chicken goodness with chunky fries–comfort food variety!

Here’s more to feast your eyes on:

Shawarma Pizza

Aussie Burger

Shepherd’s Pie – Homemade pie from fresh ground lamb and vegetable, oven baked

Dim Sims

Baby Back Ribs 

Sirloin Steak

It’s a lot to bog in, yeah?

Give Skippy’s a burl and while at it poke some balls or chill with the band. It’s a sport bar for real, right in the middle of BGC–with a live band inside and grass outside, so it’s got all the elements of fun and frolic.

If, like me, you insist on having Vegemite Sanger (Sandwich) on the menu, you can make suggestions in their FB page or Instagram account.

I reckon, with Skippy’s own set of sanger, desserts and whatnot, you’d forget about Vegemite entirely. I sure did.

 

The Village Tavern: That Scrummy Supper

The Village Tavern is perhaps the closest thing to an Irish pub that I would find in this life—unless I manage to sneak into someone’s luggage to the United Kingdom, an idea I find rather feasible given my size. I have always envisioned the authentic pub as brick-layered, partly rustic, showing the occasional football game with screaming-jostling abound. A leprechaun or Ron Weasley might make a surprise visit but other than that, mugs clicking are the staple.

The Village Tavern in BGC offers a different perspective to the classic pub theme, elevating the experience to high end, grandiose American, gastronomic experience. Perhaps relying entirely on the word Tavern is a misnomer worth welcoming, since focus on meticulously prepared food will find greater appreciation in a hunger stricken place like Manila. The meticulously prepared food also has a price, a bit too much of it. Let’s just say Ron Weasley would go all “Blimey!” once he reads the menu and might have to skimp on Butterbeer for a week.

The serving size ought to make up for the costly meals, but for those served for the solitary diner, best to credit presentation and restaurant lighting as contributing factors to the food cost.

The Tavern Nachos are the usual kind, glammed up a bit with monterey jack, cheddar, salsa, sour cream. Being the resident vegetarian, the beef was requested to be placed on the side—to which they obliged. There is nothing absolutely special to say about the nachos, since nachos are always exemplary unless topped with Kraft cheese, so as a default appetizer, nothing beats nachos. Except anything with mozzarella.

The Onion Rings are probably the cheapest item in the menu, probably because they were more batter than onion. As an inexpensive siding, they were hmmm-kay. As a person allergic to oil, grease or trans fat, stay away.

The Jalapeno Poppers are said to be the bestselling items in the menu, frequently favored by food bloggers or anyone who loves to get creamed and spiced up at the same time. Unfortunately, the bacon prevented me from digging in, but with the sour cream cheese and fried presence, these poppers find it impossible to be everyone’s favorite. Again I’d be bound to ditch this over something with mozzarella, or the nachos for that matter—and the meat eaters will agree.

Another strange and fatty concoction of Chorizo and Cheese – not mine.

The Flash Fried Calamari was a dash of seafood splendor. Albeit a small serving, the bite size pieces found themselves all over my salad and plate. They were cute to look at and left a lasting memory in my palate. They also disappeared in a jiffy – like a flash someone ate ’em all!

What I am grateful for is salad. Anywhere I go, salad is normally the safest choice. Having seen the Chicken Thai Salad served about 4 times since I got to The Village Tavern, it warranted an order – just for me! Maybe it was the towering greens or the wonton strips or the Asian allure. For me, it was the curiosity. A bit on the sweet side, but with cabbage, edamame and delectable chicken strips, this was worth the rare caloric fest.

The Black Pizza is sadly not mine. Topped with meat and pepperoni, I can only stare and sniff. My, my, the black crust alone was drool-worthy so I needed a bite, at the very least! Look at those herbs; they were calling out to me!

Good thing there was a meatless niche and graciously sliced for me. Ah yes, this cheesy chunk of black pizza was fantastic, chewy and teary-eyed yummy all throughout. Being a crust hater, this is one of those rare occasions I happily finished the crust. It was a mind boggling crus-terrific slice. I wish there will be vegetarian or seafood options for this one!

The angel hair Mussels Cappellini is exotically named and brandished on a soup bowl. The pesto-white wine sauce complements the mussels but others, like myself, may find it on the sea-salty side. Perhaps my parmesan was uncalled for, or my palate is just unfamiliar with Chilean mussels, which is strongly the case. Pardon the seafood deficiency since my most extensive background hails from the overly bland cream dory. Overall though, the angel hair and soupy texture lighten the saline rush and we get a pure mussels madness—with all that iodine and zinc, we should be getting smarter, awright?

I Instagrammed my Double Decker Cheesecake, labeling it as death, or a welcome to it as such. Though double in layers, it could perhaps feed a family, a large one for that matter. The layers of Chocolate and Cheesecake make you forget that you are in a watering hole where drinks and friends are the reason for convening; with this giant slice in front of you, only the cheesecake matters. It’s brick of a cheesecake will make you forget even your BFFs, guaranteed a near sleepless night and will make you wish you didn’t order those jalapeno poppers instead.

Trying to personify vegetarian in the dessert arena, ordering the Very Best Carrot Cake was imperative! The cream cheese icing was a tad too much after having a creamy salad, but a dollop here and there could be spared.

That St. Barths Chocolate Torte at the background was not to be messed with. Sweet through and through and only with the vanilla ice cream to counter the sugar kick, this was the devil in disguise. Good and evil on a plate. You ought to consider confessing after this uber-sweet-treat.

If there’s a reason to go back to the Village Tavern, it’s to eat all those blasted desserts. Big enough to feed a village—so that’s where the reference comes from, mate!

Travel Series: Drink Up

Going by the title of “tourist” just recently spawned grand ideas that can even outdo the delusional’s mind. While there were too many to mention, I do remember concocting strange plans such as travel blog, buffet series and spring fling. Blimey, what was I thinking?

None of it was accomplished though, thanks to the lazy old me.

Going back to my old habits of being hungry and famished, thoughts that filled my head were always centered on food. However, to stir things up a bit and to at least pretend that I exerted some effort into cooking up something new, I’ve decided on a beverage oriented post.

Being a water person, this may not be as extensive as, say, a wine connoisseur’s blog, but still, these drinks quenched my thirst, made my day and deserve a special bulletin, so cheers!

In a side trip to Taiwan,I felt obliged to take a sip of milk tea and pay homage to the East.

Casa Mila Cafe, Taoyuan Airport

While the concept of the Earl Grey Milk Tea is far from foreign for us Filipinos, this one was a bit on the “fastfood” side since I spied a teabag at the bottom of my cup. No brewing of tea leaves or sinkers of some sort. Just plain tea with milk and syrup to go with the sandwiches perhaps. Still, the flavor was excellent, straightforward, and something I can easily replicate at home, if the craving arises.

Boba Time, Puente Hills Mall

Mocha Green Tea Smoothie and Almond Milk Tea

Moving on and finally reaching the West Coast, I learned that milk tea joints are not as popular in the US as they are in Asia. Whenever I said “milk tea” people just gave me a blank stare, but when I saw Boba Time at the mall, I had to exclaim, “So you do have milk tea in the States!” Still, people misunderstood my perfectly English statement and called it Boba Time. Just that. So whenever I referred to milk tea, I said Boba Time and then people smiled, as if it was the only Asian beverage place ever created.

Boba Time is a local mall favorite, among the youth perhaps since they don’t have the adjustable sugar level settings that adults love. For about $2 to $4 for a cup, it’s probably more expensive that the Philippine milk tea, but then again, I don’t trust my math.

When asked if I wanted “Boba” in my smoothie, the immediate answer was, “Of course!” I imagined the popping boba in the local joints and expected the US variety to be just as delectable. Lost in translation was the key to my disappointment as the hyped up boba turned out to just be the typical pearls. Oh well, at least the drink was superbly creamy and tea-lightful! (So good I bought it again, but this time no more boring boba.)

I saw Quickly at a nearby establishment. Yes, the Quickly we grew up with but with much better beverage pictures. While I didn’t have the time to try it, I once again screamed, “You have Quickly here!” Blank faces.

“It’s just like Boba Time!”

“Oh wow! Really?”

Nobody tried it though.

Boba Time, Puente Hills Mall

Acai Supercharger and Peach Perfection (Berry Fulfilling not in photo)

Who can forget Jamba Juice? Certainly not me, never mind if the menu is almost the same locally, except for some veggie juices, light smoothies, coffee, tea and frozen yogurt (available in tart, chocolate – which I didn’t get to try because my toenails were already turning blue – not a good sign).

I’d have thrown a tomato at them if the smoothies tasted way different from the Philippine counterpart, but no, they tasted just the same. Good to know that our Manila franchise maintains the consistency and quality of Jamba Juice, and the local blokes are a lot friendlier too. Except that in the US, they serve the beverages in styro cups in an effort to show their concern for Mother Earth. Oh and they take way longer to melt, which they can thank their geography for.

The Berry Fulfilling promises 1/3 the calorie content of the original smoothies with the same amount of fruit. A bit on the frothy side, they probably skipped the juice or yogurt. Next time though, I wouldn’t mind ingesting more calories for that creamier texture. Wait, what next time? Must be the jet lag talking.

Lastly, a trip to the grocery piqued my curiosity and finished off my spare change, as it became a quest to try out at least a vitamin water brand. I ended up with snacks for an army and these 2 drinks.

Vitamin Drinks from Target, with Ben and Jerry’s stealing a pose

While not really a vitamin water advocate, the vitamins and “other” mineral content are certainly legendary, to my satisfaction since I did run out of multivitamins. The flavors are much more grand sounding and always favor combos (like Acai strawberry or lemon blackberry – I’m making these up but they really do these fruity combos). Fuze also has L-Carnitine, so I packed it to Vegas in the hopes of helping with the diet that never was. It probably didn’t do much for its cause, but I did learn to save more the next time around, and never ever forget my vitamins again.

All in all, the drinks were superbly enjoyable and quite an adventure on their own. In the midst of a cold weather though, time is best spent dining on real solid food. Warm, crisp and crunchy.

Coming up next are desserts and salad – which should be more gratifying, the very reason why the word “diet” should never exist and why I live to eat. Ciao!