Saint Gabbie's Choco Mud Cake

I have read about this cake from the femalenetwork forum. They said that it was cheap and delicious. A combination that is lethal.

I have looked around for it a couple of times but weren't able to find it until recently. It is inside Metro Gaisano Mall (Market Market), I forgot what floor.


Their Choco Mud Cake is their best seller, but since I also like white chocolate, I chose the Choco Mud Cake with Belgian White Chocolate P45.


It is made of a very moist and fudgy chocolate cake, enveloped by a chocolate ganache and drizzled with white chocolate on top.


It's as close to a Polly's chocolate cake as you can get.


Happy Eating!

Conti's Peach Walnut Torte

My mind was set on ordering the Turtle Cake of Conti's, but the staff was very insistent with the Peach Walnut Torte P85/slice. She said that I would regret not ordering it. So, just to shut her off and not think about it anymore, I bought a slice to try at home.


The Peach Walnut Torte is made of alternating layers of meringue, peaches, cream and nuts (cashews and walnuts).


It is similar to their infamous Mango Bravo sans the chocolate.

And since I love any dessert with cream and nuts in it, I like this cake. My only gripe, as with their other cakes with cream (except the Mango Bravo), the cream was nauseatingly rich.

Happy Eating!

CONTI'S
Unit 1C-17 Serendra Piazza,
Bonifacio High Street,
Bonifacio Global City, Taguig
Tel Nos : 856-2352/901-3486/856-2353

Mezzaluna's Date & Toffee Pudding, a slice of heaven

I went at Serendra last Monday to get my Genki Umbrella from Anton of Our Awesome Planet. And after taking out food from Chelsea and Conti's, it was now time for dessert at Mezzaluna.

I have long been wanting to try their best seller dessert of Date & Toffee Pudding with Butterscotch Sauce and Vanilla Bean Ice Cream P160 but it was only then that I had the chance.


The pudding is made of a moist sponge cake with chopped dates and covered in butterscotch and toffee sauce.

It was very, very good. Everything from the pudding to the sauce and down to the cone was good.


The pudding has a very rich taste with lots of dates in it. It was complemented by the strong flavor of the butterscotch sauce.

Not to be left behind was the vanilla bean ice cream sitting on top of a freshly made cone. The cone has a milky taste to it and tasted even better when dipped on the butterscotch sauce.

I was really bowled over by the date & toffee pudding that not only would I have it again and again and again but I'm already thinking of what dessert to try next (maybe their key lime pie or how about their tiramisu? =p ).

Happy Eating!

Mezzaluna
11th Street G/F, Serendra
Commercial Complex,
Bonifacio Global City,
Taguig, Metro Manila

French Baker

For a pre-dinner snack, we (my family & I) ate at French Baker in SM Bicutan last Sunday.

We ordered Lasagna P125, Spicy Seafood Pasta P185, Real Chocolate Brownie P42, Pain Au Chocolait P49 and Coffee Custard Bun P42.


The lasagna's noodles were so thick and soggy, it felt like we were eating bread pudding instead of a lasagna. The only consolation with the pasta was the melted cheese on top.

For the spicy seafood pasta, we chose to have it with their fresh pasta whole wheat fettuccini. This was better than the lasagna in taste, but still not spicy as its name connotes, the serving was also small and the price's a little bit expensive.


The pasta has just few pieces of shrimps, the noodles were so thick, it felt like there's something hidden inside it. It was also weird eating it, with those fat noodles that looked like it was genetically made.

And now with the pastries.

The pain au chocolait is similar to a croissant but with 2 chocolate logs inside. It was buttery and sweet, and with more than enough chocolate to go around.


The real chocolate brownie is a brownie frosted with chocolate. The taste was just okay, nothing to get excited about.


Their coffee custard bun has a mocha-flavored custard inside. It was good and also better than the kopi bun of kopi roti according to my sister.


Overall, with just 2 pastas, 4 pastries and 4 drinks, we paid more than P700. Quite expensive for just that amount and taste of food.

Happy Eating!

A Take-Out Meal

I was at Greenbelt yesterday and was really hoping to try Cascada's Crab Cake. Since it wasn't available, I just bought an order of Roasted Potatoes with Bacon, Sour Cream & Chives P80, also from Cascada in Greenbelt to try.


The potatoes were glistening in butter, mixed in with chives and topped with sour cream & bacon.


It tasted and looked liked a baked potato with sour cream & bacon except that it was cut in wedges. Be sure to have a piece of every thing in every bite for a more satisfying taste & experience.

To complete my dinner, I ordered the P99 Rodeo Cheeseburger Meal of Burger King.


***Sprite Light not included***
It has rodeo cheeseburger, a regular serving of fries or onion rings, a regular drink and brownie ala mode for dessert.

The Rodeo Cheeseburger is made of BK's flame-broiled beef patty, topped with melted cheese and onion rings on a sesame seed bun with BBQ sauce spread.

I liked the smoky flavor of the patty and the tanginess of the sauce, mixed in with the tartness of the cheese. An added bonus was the onion rings on top, which were perfectly seasoned and which I am beginning to love just now.

The Brownie ala Mode didn't taste nor look like a brownie but more of a molten/lava cake, with the choco fudge as the "lava".

And for all of these for just P99, you'll get more for your money.


Happy Eating!

CASCADA
2/F Greenbelt 3
Ayala Center, Makati

Shopwise Bakery

Sometimes you'll find something good in the strangest of places. Like what I found at Rustan's Supermarket Shangri-la & Gateway and also at Shopwise in Cubao.

What I'm writing about are their arrays of cakes & pastries, some of which I got to try , like their Opera Cake P22, Cake Rhum Balls P7 and Blueberry Muffin P15.50.





I first saw the Opera Cake at Rustan's Supermarket in Gateway. I bought one to try then proceeded to Trinoma, where I forgot it together with the rest of my purchases like the Gorgonzola Cheese from Mandarin Deli, at the Landmark Package Counter.


When I went back for it the next day it was still good, too good even. It was moist & chocolatey. This time though I just put it in the ref overnight. When I ate it the next day it was already dry. I guessed it does better stored at room temperature. So the rest of my opera cakes I just let sit at room temperature for a few minutes before eating.


The Opera cake is made of alternating layers of sponge cake, chocolate cake, butter cream and ganache, topped with whipped cream.

The Cake Rhum Balls are reminiscent of an ube halaya in texture and I know it may sound weird, but also in taste. It's soft and creamy. It is also not something that you'll want to leave long at a very hot and humid temperature. Actually it is best to store them in the chiller to firm.


It also looked cute, bigger than a munchkin, but not cake-like. It is soft and creamy and may actually melt not only in your mouth but also in your hand.


I bought a lot of these and am planning to buy some more.

Their Blueberry Muffin is soft & creamy even when stored in the freezer. There's also just enough blueberries in the muffin to go around.



Almost all of their cakes and pastries will last up to 5 days.

Happy Eating!

SHOPWISE
Araneta Center, Cubao

Cafe Ten Titas II

It was my second time this week at Gateway and also at Cafe Ten Titas. But this time I was able to try one of their main dishes.


I ordered their best seller, the Bangus Belly Ala Kiev P248.


It is 4 pieces of bangus belly with cheddar cheese and carrots fillings, dredged in breadcrumbs and then fried. It comes with a bacon-parsley cream sauce and a cup of rice.


It's something different, a take on the chicken ala kiev. It is creamy & cheesy. The bangus meat was melt-in-the-mouth creamy. The cream sauce was perfectly done too. It was neither too rich nor too salty.


Instead of rice, I had the roasted potato wedges with no additional charge.

The potatoes were reminiscent of the crispy fries of KFC in taste & in appearance.

For dessert I ordered another best seller, their Choco Turtle Cake P175 . Again I had mine with green tea for an additional P23.


It is a chocolate cake with a ganache filling, topped with a fudgy chocolate icing & coated with chopped walnuts.



Even though the cake was not as moist as Polly's, it was still good especially around the edges with the frosted icing and the nuts.



Happy Eating!

P.S. You can order their Roasted Potato Wedges separately for P65, with tartar and lemon butter sauces.

CAFE TEN TITAS
3rd Level Gateway Mall,
Cubao Quezon City

Go Nuts Donuts

Since there was no Opera Cake nor Choco Rhum Balls from Rustans for me to take home, I went back to basic and had donuts instead. I stayed away though from my usual orders of yummy vanilla and pastillas de leche from Go Nuts and ordered Strawberry Glaze Loop, Choc-O-Nut and Choco-hazelnut Stuffit.


Of all the 3 flavors I only liked the strawberry glaze loop. The glaze was proportionate to the donut and it was very tasty too. It was not cakey and it somehow melted in my mouth in my every bite.

The choc-o-nut was chokingly-dry. You'll need to have a glass of water on stand-by just in case you choke. While the choco-hazelnut stuffit didn't have that much stuffing nor did it taste like there's hazelnut in it.

Happy Eating!

Cafe Ten Titas

After the movies, it was time for an afternoon tea at Cafe Ten Titas (also in Gateway).

I saw a lot of re-invented pinoy dishes and desserts that I would love to try next time. Like their White Chocolate Champorado, Fish and Chips, Halo-Halo Crepe, Leche Flan Turon ala Mode, etc.

For that afternoon, I chose the Molten Lava Cake with Vanilla Ice Cream P170. Since all of their cakes come with either a cup of coffee or tea, I made mine with green tea and added P23.



Ten Tita's version of molten lava has the cake sprinkled with nuts and then frosted with a chocolate ganache.


The chocolate cake was moist with lots of chocolate "lava" inside and out.


It was good though not as good as Cyma's version but better than Pizza Hut's Chocolate Lava and also Pepato's il Fiato.


I would love it more if it was made with a darker and much stronger chocolate.

Happy Eating!

What Happens with Taco Bell

I watched What Happens in Vegas at the Gateway Cinema and as usual, I needed something to munch on while watching.

Since Taco Bell was just below the cinema, I ordered Grilled Pork BBQ Burrito and Cheesy Fiesta Potatoes to go. Unfortunately, their fiesta potatoes were not available, so I just had their Nachos with Cheese Dip instead. All are part of their P39 promotion.


I have had their Beef Burrito before and didn't like it, but my sister said that the grilled pork BBQ was better, so I gave it a try.


The Grilled Pork BBQ Burrito is made up of flour tortilla with seasoned grilled pork BBQ chunks and yellow rice fillings.


The meat (grilled pork) was very tasty. But as a whole the burrito didn't taste the way I hoped it would. It needed some sauce like salsa, sour cream or cheese or maybe all of it in it.

Maybe I shouldn't be adventurous anymore with their burritos and stick with their tried and tested Grilled Chicken Soft Taco.

I was really hoping to taste their fiesta potatoes. I was craving for potato wedges for a month now. I was really disappointed that it wasn't available.

Good thing that their nachos were good. It was served hot, with that just-out-of-the-fryer crispiness and smell to it. It tasted the same as the Tostada Chips of Chili's, while the cheese dip tasted like Cheez Whiz.

It is a good alternative to the usual fries and onion rings and for P39, you'll get value for your money.

Unlike last week, this time I enjoyed both the movie and the food (well, except the burrito). I guessed you can't have it all, at least for now.

Happy Eating!

P.S. For the first time I ate Ginatang Negros (with grounded ube, thus the purplish color) inside the movie theater. The experience was unusual but good =)

Dome's Waffle & Chococcino

I was out last Saturday at Shangri-la Mall, for lunch I had the Roti with Ham & Cheese of Penang Hill and Pandan Juice.

It was raining hard, so a snack of something hot and comforting is a must.

I settled in one of the comfy couches of Dome Cafe, also in Shang, armed with new magazines to read and of course my orders of hot Chococcino P90 and comforting Banana Caramel Waffle P110 (single).


The Banana Caramel Waffle is topped with sliced bananas and drizzled with caramel sauce.

The waffle was soft and buttery, with crusty edges. The caramel sauce was very light.

I don't know if it was because there's no whipped cream on the banana caramel waffle of Dome, that I still prefer Starbucks' waffle with caramel sauce over it.

Starbucks' waffle, though smaller and without sliced bananas, were tastier, sweeter and has crispier edges, the same goes with their caramel sauce, except the crispier part =)Dome's caramel sauce was too light, it was bordering blandness.

Their chococcino is a hot chocolate drink in a cappuccino cup, topped with milk froth and dutch cocoa. It is served with a mini oatmeal cookie.

It is an okay hot chocolate with a twist drink.

When paired (the chococcino & banana caramel waffle), they complemented each other. No sweetness overload, unlike when you take it in other restos.

Happy Eating!

Riesen

My "candy of the moment".

Riesen is a dark chocolate candy with a toffee chocolate filling.


It is as gummy in texture as a tootsie roll but with a stronger, darker flavor. The toffee chocolate will literally melt in your mouth.

It is so good, I need to have - as many as my stomach can accommodate - every day.

Happy Eating!

Selecta's Moo Ice Cream Sandwich

While inside SM Supermarket, I saw a promo girl selling Selecta's new product, Moo's Ice Cream Sandwich P12.


It is 2 thin chocolate cookies with a vanilla ice cream filling.

It is as good as Dairy Queen's DQ Sandwich but for almost 1/3 of its price.

Happy Eating!

Movie House Snacks

I watched When Love Begins yesterday, armed with two new food to try, Burger King's Steakhouse Burger P135 (solo) and Jollibee's Pastillas Macapuno de Leche Ice CRaze P39.

Burger King's Steakhouse Burger is 100% flame-broiled Angus beef with lettuce, tomatoes, crispy onions, steak sauce and melted cheese on a corn dusted bun.


It has thin but juicy patty, tangy BBQ sauce and with crispy onions that resembled their onion rings in taste.

It is a good burger but would be better if they'll make the grill flavor more prominent like their other burgers.

And since there's always room for dessert (movie house or not), I had Jollibee's Pastillas Macapuno de Leche Ice Craze.


It is their version of halo-halo, but with limited ingredients like ube, red monggo beans, pastillas, macapuno and topped with soft-serve ice cream.


It is not as confusingly-sweet as the traditional halo-halo but is still good and cheap.

In the end, I didn't like the movie but I did like the food. I can't wait to have them again, hopefully soon =)

Happy Eating!