I usually keep up with the newest restaurants and food trends through Pepper.ph. And yes, that's how I first knew about Red Onion Cafe. Around late November, this Taiwanese restaurant was featured along with "an opportunity to dine for free." I am certainly no food expert and I'm only guided by the principle "Always try something new" when choosing restaurants to dine in. Taiwanese cuisine and anything that's free sounds good so I thought, it wouldn't hurt to try, right?

Long story short, I won. Haha. I got in touch with Mr. Wen-Szu Lin to make the arrangements on when I could visit.

I went there with a couple of friends (Muffet, Ian and Bell) last Wednesday since I would be out for the weekend. It was also our first time visiting UP Town Center. It was a little far from our usual Katipunan foodtrips but it was worth the trip. We really got excited when we saw a branch of IHOP and Ba Noi's, and there was so many new restaurants to try! Hehe. I have a feeling we will be frequenting UP Town in the following weeks.

As soon as we got there, I introduced myself; saying I was one of the Pepper.ph winners and showed them my ID card that I coincidentally just removed from being clipped on my right pocket.


There was this huge wall covered with a photo of different spices usually used in Asian cooking. I remember asking my father when I was young why he prefers red onions over white ones. He told me it's because red onions are more flavorful. I guess it's one of things that make Asian cuisines different from others.


Eventhough their 39 Spices Beef Noodle was a house specialty, we decided to skip it because we just felt it was a rice kind of morning.

Wen-Szu also came up to us and introduced himself. He was such a pleasant guy! He talked to us for a few minutes before excusing himself.

On the table:

Vegetable Handmade Dumplings (8 pcs.) - PhP 138

Ian picked this one because he likes vegetables and healthy food. Good thing that he chose steamed dumplings because I find the fried ones a tad bit difficult to eat and sometimes the flavor gets lost. Well, I was really surprised when I took a bite because it was very nice and chewy and the flavor was really good. I honestly didn't expect that from a vegetable dumpling!

Stir-fried Beef with Leeks - PhP 328