Saturday, March 29, 2008

Heny Sison's Cafe S. Benedetto

I saw the Cafe while looking at the cooking classes offered by Heny Sison's Cooking School. The first thing that caught my eyes were the cakes on display. My belief was that their cakes must be good since they're from Heny Sison, who taught baking for a living.


**Cafe Benedetto sells cakes by the whole, slice or single (mini version)


Right off the bat, I wanted to try the Creme Brulee Cake P75, which I was later told was also their best seller.


I ordered it to go since I just had dinner at kublai's Rock & almost finished an entire Polly's Chocolate Cake.


The Creme Brulee Cake is a sandwich of chiffon cake & cream with custard and caramelized sugar on top.The custard is just right, not too sweet. It is reminiscent of a brazo de mercedes only better. It is a type of cake that I would love to have over & over.



Just as I thought that my next meal there would happen after a week or so, I was wrong.

I was there the next day with my mother. For lunch, we had Fish & Chips P220 and Salmon in Vodka Cream Sauce & Caviar Pasta P185.


The Fish & Chips is made of battered cream dory fillet, served with fries & 2 kinds of dips. My mother is a rice-addict that she had it with rice instead.

The fish tastes fresh & just lightly battered. The 2 dips were herb mayo-mustard & spiced vinegar. We both preferred the mayo-mustard over the vinegar.


The Salmon in Vodka Cream Sauce with Caviar Pasta comes with toasted buttered foccacia bread.


The pasta is sooo good. It's creamy but not nauseatingly rich. Good combination & choice of ingredients. The foccacia is also good. I can't wait to have it again.

Since there's always room for dessert, we ordered Ensaymada P30 and Strawberry Cheesecake P75/slice.


They warmed up the ensaymada, to the point where the buttercream is dripping on the sides & the cheese slowly melting.

It is good, better than Eurobake's.


The Strawberry Cheesecake is similar to a japanese cheesecake but thicker in taste. Since I love japanese cheesecake over the western cheesecake, I like Benedetto's version but only third to Uno & Coffee Bean.

And as if eating there wasn't good enough, we went back later in the afternoon to have food to go.

We bought 2 orders of Spaghetti with Wild Mushroom Cream Sauce P180 and an order again of the Salmon Pasta. We also bought Pistachio Macaroon P25, Malunggay Pandesal P66/12pcs, Whole Wheat Pandesal P50 and Raisin Bread P50/4pcs.


The Raisin Bread tastes creamy & sweet. No need to add any more spread 'coz it tastes good on its own.


The Malunggay Pandesal tastes & smells of malunggay but devoid of its slightly bitter taste.



The Spaghetti with Wild Mushroom Cream Sauce was not as tasty & creamy as the salmon pasta or was it because they crammed that huge amount of pasta in such a small container, thus draining most of its sauce?

I recommend that you refrain from having your pasta to go or bringing your own container until the time they change theirs or you won't be able to enjoy it to its absolute potential.


The Pistachio Macaroon for me is not worthy of its price, it's too plain-tasting.

I suggest that they add more to their main dish repertoire, 'coz they only have 3 choices as of present, iberian chicken, salpicao & fish & chips. They should also change their take-out container to something bigger.

Overall, they serve delicious food, from pasta to cakes and the service is fast and friendly.


Happy Eating!

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

hellllo


hello

Thursday, March 20, 2008

No better time to eat Kozui's Anmitsu than TODAY!!!


I really can't get over how good it (Anmitsu) tastes. If I could have it every day, I will. Especially now that it's hot & humid outside.

The way I eat this, is first eating the green tea ice cream ('coz I don't like melted ice cream), then mixing all the remaining ingredients with the ice. It fells like having 2 desserts instead of just one.


Happy Eating!

Cyma's Chicken Gyro

After having snack at Kozui & buying cakes to go at Uno, it's time for dinner at Cyma in Trinoma.

I have eaten at their other branches but it's my first time at the Trinoma branch. It's also my first time to try their Chicken Gyro P140.


Cyma's Chicken Gyro is made up of chicken, tomatoes, red onions, tzatziki (cucumber, garlic & Greek yogurt dip), wrapped in whole wheat pita bread.


It is tasty and filling. A balanced meal in itself, with the fiber in the whole wheat pita bread, the protein in the chicken, the vitamins in the veggies and the fats & dairy in the yogurt.

The tzatziki is creamy & tangy, the vegetables are fresh, crunchy & well-seasoned, the pita bread is just lightly toasted and the chicken has a smoky-grilled flavor to it.

It's obvious that they don't scrimp on ingredients and definitely worthy of its P140 price.


By the way, the sauce that accompanies the gyro is lethal, so a little goes a long way.


Happy Eating!

Uno Tart & Cakes

Though I didn't like their custard pudding, I'm still willing to give them another chance & sample their other cakes.

So, after a long & leisurely snack of Anmitsu at Kozui, I went by Uno and bought cakes to go.

I bought Lemon Tart P45, Cheesecake P59 & Chocolate Fallen Cake P55.



The Lemon Tart looks like an egg pie but with Saltine's lemon bar-in-taste filling. Unlike egg pie, its crust is darker & crunchier. While the filling, which tastes like Saltine's lemon bar, is creamy & tangy at the same time.


The Cheesecake is reminiscent of the Chicago Cheesecake of Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. Creamy & it melts in the mouth like the butter cake of Miss Desserts & Vargas. Although it has the same texture as CBTL's Chicago Cheesecake, Uno's version is tastier & cheaper.


The Chocolate Fallen Cake is sort of a deflated souffle cake. It is considered as one of their best sellers, together with the cheesecake. It is fudgy & has a smooth texture to the palate.

Overall, I enjoyed eating all that I've bought from Uno. I would definitely come back to hoard on these cakes next week & maybe try their brownies, carrot cake & creme brulee.


Happy Eating!

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Jack's Loft

Since my friend Anjean, doesn't like Malaysian food, we both agreed to dine at Jack's Loft instead.

Started by young entrepreneurs John Tiang Seng & Eric Cua of Pho Hoa Vietnamese Noodle restaurant. They said that the idea originated from the house loft of Tian Seng's cousin-in-law, Jack Johnston in Canada, where they would often hang out & have good food. --- from a newspaper article

They have a lot of food choices, from rice dishes to desserts.

For that day we ordered Chicken Stir-Fry, Blue Monkey, Fried Ice Cream & Chocolate Decadence.

The Chicken Stir-Fry P135 was reminiscent of a baked rice with chicken, vegetables & nuts.


It is buttery, creamy and very filling.

Blue Monkey Smoothie P128 is a combination of blueberry & banana.


It is not too sweet & has a strong blueberry flavor, it even overpowered the banana, thus making its taste unnoticeable.

Chocolate Decadence P125 is a chocolate cake with caramel and ganache.


The chocolate cake was not moist, but when paired with the caramel (which has a strong taste, almost toffee-like, which I love) & the ganache, can be good.

Their version of Fried Ice Cream P115 is just okay. Even my friend who had it at a Chinese resto in Spain said so.



The batter that coated the ice cream tasted like buchi, while the vanilla ice cream inside is not "Magnolia's vanilla ice cream" like in taste & texture. Which means, it is not creamy but very sweet.


The fried ice cream is topped with whipped cream & cherry and sits on top of shaved white & milk chocolate.

When you take it as a whole, it can be good & fun to eat. Warm pastry matched with frozen ice cream. You'll never stop wondering how they do it.

Happy Eating!

Banana Leaf Asian Cafe

I was out with my friend Anjean last Thursday at Robinsons Place. We (I, especially) were very hungry and we're thinking of a good resto to eat, when we passed by Banana Leaf at the Midtown Wing of Robinsons.

I have tried their Roti Dog a couple of months back, but not their best seller, Roti Canai & Curry Sauce.

Since I vowed to try all the restos of Midtown, I thought that that time was the best time to do so. But alas! my friend Anjean doesn't like Malaysian food =(

What to do in a situation like this? Just order it to go & dine wherever he wants to.


Roti Canai (pronounced "chanai" not "kanai") is a type of flat bread found in Malaysia.
Roti means bread in Hindu & Malay. While the term Canai is derived from "channa", a mixture of boiled chickpeas in a spicy gravy from Northern India, which it was traditionally served with.
---WIKIPEDIA



Banana Leaf's Roti Canai P78, was airy, soft, buttery & a little bit sweet. It's a cross between a pancake & a crepe, both in texture & taste. It also has a satiating smell emanating from it.

The Curry Sauce P30, on the other hand, has a strong Herby taste, though not spicy. It partners well with the roti canai.


An order of it is good for 2 or more roti canai, depending on how you dip it. As for me, I used my left-over sauce a s a dip for my tortilla bread & the rest I mixed with chicken chunks for an instant chicken curry.

It was said, that roti canai can also be taken with condensed milk, that I'm excited to try.

Happy Eating!

Wham Burger & all

Still unsatisfied with my Gorgonzola Burger craving. I ordered Wham Burger with Bleu Cheese (they don't have Gorgonzola =( ), as my movie theater food.


1/3 lb of grilled pure beef burger patty, with tomatoes, pickles, lettuce, cheddar cheese and an additional bleu cheese (it's as close to Gorgonzola cheese as I can get).

The first time I tried their burger, I wasn't that into it. I wasn't blown away by its taste. This time, I was able to appreciate it more.

The burger was big & juicy, with a smoky grilled flavor to it. The bleu cheese though, was unnoticeable. Maybe they put too little for that size of a burger.

For value for money, the Wham Burger beats Brothers because of its size & price. In the area of taste, Brothers is slightly higher than Wham.

A few days later, still craving for a Gorgonzola Burger & still haven't gone to Bizu for it. I thought of the Gorgonzola sauce of Piadina.

Why not just buy a burger from Wham and paired it with the Gorgonzola sauce of Piadina? Great idea.


For it all I spent less than P150, compared to what I could have spent if I bought it from Bizu. I had a savings of more or less P200, not bad right?

It's better than the Wham Burger with Bleu Cheese that I had a few days earlier, plus there's a lot of extra sauce left for dipping.

At last, I'm free from my Gorgonzola burger craving!!!


Happy Eating!

Monday, March 17, 2008

Mickey's Deli

While being lost at Jupiter St. in Makati, I passed by this delicatessen. Hoping to see Gorgonzola cheese inside, I decided to come in & take a look.

The delicatessen is divided into 3 areas. The deli counter, the l'artizan bread shop & the cafe/restaurant.

They have a number of home-made and imported (from all over Europe)cheese, sausages, Bacon, salamis, hams & meatloaf in their deli counter - but no Gorgonzola cheese that day =(

At their L'artizan bread shop, they serve rustic euro-style bread ranging from sourdough to muffins. They have free taste of their breads, so you can pick what you like before buying. Their croissant is sweet, soft & crunchy, all at the same time. While the whole wheat sourdough was too dry for my taste.

They serve lunch & dinner at their restaurant, with specialties like bavarian meatloaf & pizzas right off the open wood-fire grill. But since I just had my lunch then, I opted to buy just 3 kinds of sausages from their deli to try at home.

I bought an order each of Nuremberger Bratwurst Pork Sausage (dubbed as their World Famous Sausage), Chili Beef & Beef with Cheese.


Back at home, I tried cooking the nuremberger first, the way a guest at Martha Stewart Living did, sauteed with garlic & onions. Since I don't have any herb on hand, I just added bell pepper to the dish & paired it with my version of home fries.


The nuremberger is good and well-seasoned, but not as tasty as the chili & garlic sausage of Delimondo by the Jaka Group.

A few days after cooking the nuremberger, I cooked the chili beef sausage. I removed the sausage from its casing & stir-fried it with mushrooms, onions, garlic & bell pepper. I also sprinkled a couple of pinches of chili flakes to it.


The sausage was just mildly spicy, almost like a hot dog in taste. Comparing it to Delimondo's chili & garlic, mickey's chili beef tastes bland.


I just have to wait & see how the beef with cheese sausage would taste and I'll get back to you.

Happy Eating!

Amici's Dolci

After having my Master Burger at Sango, just a few minutes walk is Amici Don Bosco. It was there that I had my desserts.

I ordered Vanilla with Nuts Gelato P45/scoop.


It's just vanilla gelato but with assorted nuts (pecans & almonds) incorporated in it.

There's no granular texture in it that's present in their Nocciola (Hazelnut) Gelato, which I happened to like. It's also not creamy like the vanilla ice cream of Magnolia.

It's not something that I would order again, though I love nuts & it is considered to be one of their best sellers.

For take-out I ordered their Profiteroles P60/2pcs. I chose 1 of each flavors (bianco & nero).


Bianco & Nero mean White & Black in Italian. Profiterole or cream puff (US) is a baked choux pastry, filled with a sweet filling like whipped & pastry cream.

Amici's bianco (cream infused with vanilla flavor) is in between light & rich. Not something that you can eat a lot of. The nero (chocolate coated)is good. The puff pastry, the filling and the coating are all good.

But what I realized after eating both, was that, it is best for profiteroles to be smaller, in that way you'll be able to enjoy its taste & not get nauseated for eating too much.


Happy Eating!

Saturday, March 15, 2008

Ruby Tuesday at last!

Ruby Tuesday at last. It's my third time here but my first time to eat.

The first time, they're still closed and won't be opening until later that night and with limited products, 'coz they're on their soft opening. The second time, they're closed for their US Franchisor's inspection. And this time, the third time, was their opening day.

Ruby Tuesday is an American casual dining restaurant chain named after the Rolling Stone's song of the same name - Wikipedia


For my orders, I had their Fresh Salad Bar, Buffalo Chicken Burger & Loaded Baked Potato.

They have a variety of salads at their Fresh Salad Bar. From potato salad to fresh garden salad with different toppings and dressings.

Since you can only fill up your plate once, a bigger plate would be great instead of the medium-sized plate they gave me.


I stuffed my plate with potato, macaroni & pasta salad, as well as, some lettuce leaves, chickpeas, peanuts, baby corn, croutons, tomatoes, pickled onions and bleu cheese dressing. It was all good, especially the potato salad and peanuts. The croutons though, were salty.

The Buffalo Chicken Burger P365, was from their hand-crafted burger selection.


Tender chicken breast, golden fried, tossed in spicy buffalo sauce & topped with melted Swiss cheese and garnished with garlic mayo. It comes on a toasted golden bun with side of piping-hot fries and bleu cheese dressing.

I ordered the burger mild, since I don't want my first dining experience there, ruined by a burnt tongue.


Their mild version was already spicier than KFC's Zinger. The chicken was lightly breaded & golden brown in color. While, the bun was buttery, crusty & soft, all at the same time.

The burger was BIG, good for sharing, as the server said.

Even though, all were cooked accordingly, I find their burger slightly bland even with the bleu cheese. Maybe, they should have used a different type of cheese for a stronger flavor or added more sauce.

I still prefer the Texas Cajun Chicken Sandwich of Bubba Gump. It's juicier and saucier. Ruby's Buffalo Chicken was a little bit dry.

Instead of fries, I opted for their Loaded Baked Potato for an additional P30.


It's a baked potato with cheese, bacon, sour cream & butter.

It's very good. All the toppings complemented one another. I would love to have more sour cream, though.

And since I finished the entire meal, which was good for 2-3 people all by my lonesome. I didn't have the appetite for dessert (really? that's a first) at that moment, that is.

Happy Eating!

Sango's Master Burger

It is one of the most blogged about burger joint/resto.

They're known for their Master Burger P173, a beef burger patty with onions, pickle relish, tomatoes and meat sauce on a bun.


You can opt to make it spicy by adding P12.

Since I love spicy food, I was ready to order it special spicy, but the cashier told me to try it spicy next time and have it plain for now. Just to have a taste of it in its purest form. So, plain it is. And since they don't have combo meals with their burgers, I added a small order of French Fries at P50.


Meat eaters and lovers would enjoy this burger. Because aside from the beef patty, it also has meat sauce on top. Yummy but messy to eat.

The fries are big & thick. As big as KFC's fries but thicker. And since there's a lot of meat sauce drippings on my wrapper. I scooped it with my big, fat fries. It's like you're eating chili fries.

To cap it off, an order of soda for easy digestion.

Happy Eating!

Amici, Uno & Cibo

I was out last Tuesday craving for something with Gorgonzola.

I thought of Amici's Gorgonzola pizza. I also heard that they have a new branch in the Morato area. In the building formerly occupied by CPK and across UNO.

Wanting to hit as many birds as I can with one stone, so to speak, I decided to drop by Amici Tomas Morato.

At the counter, I can't contain my excitement over the pizza. Unfortunately, I was told that it was already phased-out. I thought it was only at that branch, but after calling the Don Bosco branch, it was also out of their menu.

Disappointed, I scanned their menu for something to catch my eyes. Nothing did at that time, So I decided to have dinner somewhere else and just have my dessert there.

I ordered Sans rival Gelato P50/scoop, their new gelato flavor.


It has a good buttery taste, but somehow too rich for me. I still think that Nocciola is still their best gelato.

Since Uno was just across it, I came by and bought a Custard Pudding P40 to go.


Custard Pudding is a dessert made of bread, egg, milk & occasionally with nuts.

I didn't like Uno's version of the pudding. There was no added flavor to it. It was too plain and bland. The crusty side of the pudding was not good, only the middle part's tolerable, where the custard was concentrated.

For dinner I decided on Cibo in Trinoma. They have a panini with Gorgonzola there, that's why.

I ordered Zola Panini P173, a vegetarian panini of whole wheat Tuscan bread, Gorgonzola, goat cheese, Parmesan, fontina & spinach.


It is their best seller vegetarian panini. It's delicious, it taste like ravioli because of the assorted cheeses and the spinach in it.

An order comes with home made potato chips & their own mayonnaise. I like the taste of their mayo, it's creamy & well-seasoned, like a Japanese mayonnaise.



Also, while waiting for your order, they'll give you a complimentary serving of potato chips with mayo.


I wanted to order their Mango Panna Cotta for dessert, but since I already had a lot beforehand, maybe some other time =(


Happy Eating!

Butterfinger Creme Pie

A friend of mine recommended this, the next day I bought one to try.

Stuffed as I was after eating 5 kinds of desserts that day, I was still able to squeeze it in.

It was released by Burger King US for The Simpson's movie. It is a pie similar to their Hershey's Sundae Pie but topped with butterfinger pieces - wikipedia



Burger King's Butterfinger Creme Pie P75, is made up of three layers. Cornflakes crust, cream cheese mixture and the butterfinger pieces on top.


At first you'll like the taste but somewhere in between you'll feel nauseous because of too much cream and too thin crust.

There's too little of the crust to break the richness of the cream and the sweetness of the butterfinger pieces. It is also quite expensive for its size.

Happy Eating!
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