I Love Kozui

I have been at Kozui's countless of times but it was only last Father's Day that I was able to eat there with my family.

As usual I raved about how good their Anmitsu P168 is, so it is just appropriate that we ordered a lot of it. We also ordered the Karaage Chicken Vegetable Wrap P148, Takoyaki P98, Whole Baguette of Crisp Chicken Vegetable Sandwich P178 and Minsed Spinach Soup.

The minsed spinach soup was very light but also very tasty.


The Karaage Chicken is made up of deep fried breaded boneless chicken, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, onions and a dollop of Japanese black sesame dressing wrapped in grilled pita bread.


The dressing was really good and also well-seasoned. This is something that you'll want to have over and over and still not be satisfied.

The Whole Baguette of Crisp Chicken Vegetable Sandwich has onions, tomatoes, lettuce, crispy breaded chicken and Japanese black sesame dressing on a baguette.

This sandwich is good but not as good as the karaage chicken.

The Special Takoyaki is made of fresh pan grilled tako balls flavored with generous chunks of ebi, ika and negi (squid, shrimp and Asian leeks), topped with Japanese mayo and sprinkled with nori wrapper & bonito flakes on top. It is served with their special takoyaki sauce.




The Anmitsu is made of shaved ice, topped with green tea jelly, dango balls, sweet azuki beans, taro jam and my favorite, green tea ice cream. The anmitsu has choices of mango, melon, strawberry and taro anmitsu. My fave is and will always be the taro anmitsu.

I can't seem to get enough of it. Its color and taste are both very appealing. Plus their green tea ice cream is really something. It's one of the reasons why their anmitsu is so good. I wonder if they also sell it by the gallon, 'coz I'll definitely buy one.

The anmitsu and the special takoyaki are their best sellers and I think they have every reason to be.

Happy Eating!

KOZUI
258 B. Tomas Morato corner Scout Fernandez,
Quezon City
Tel No: 413-2705






Kozui ha s

Cafe Ysabel

I have always wanted to eat at Cafe Ysabel, but it’s too far from where I live + I’m afraid of commuting there alone, that route is very scary.

So when I saw the different Sans Rivals of Cafe Ysabel being sold at the SM supermarket, I immediately bought one Choco Sans Rival P93 to try.



Back at home, I took it out of its container and scrutinized its every layer before taking a bite.


It is made up of layers of cashew nut meringue, chocolate butter cream and chocolate chips.


Though I’m not that fond of sans rival, I like Cafe Ysabel’s version. It has 2 of what I like in a dessert, nuts and chocolate. The butter cream was also not nauseatingly rich, it was very light. As a matter of fact, I finished the entire container in just one sitting and still didn't feel full.

Happy Eating!

Pacific Lounge

Just last week I have read and watched about their infamous Mango Tart. I can’t confined my curiosity for long, good thing I have money to spare and a willing friend to tag along.

The Pacific Lounge is located at the 21st floor of Pan Pacific Manila.

We had a blast looking at the surroundings as we ascend from floor to floor. Though at one point I got the chills =)

It was only when we were seated and given the menu, have I known of its price. The Mango Tart sells for P325 + vat + service charge. I was thinking of backing out ‘coz I find that to be too expensive for a tart. But my friend said that that’s the price we have to pay if we really want to try it. So we did and even ordered a Pacific Salad P290 to go with it.

While waiting for our orders, we were given 2 types of bread with butter.
The breads were Whole Wheat Poppy Seed and a Soft Bun.


The poppy was messy to eat and was very rubbery. I had a hard time biting thru it.


The soft bun on the other hand was creamy and delicious. It was complemented by the sweet and buttery taste of the Elle & Vire French Butter. Such a perfect combination. The butter was really good. I hope to find one outside to buy.

Then came the Pacific Salad. Lettuce leaves with tomatoes, pomelo and candied walnuts, drizzled with a honey balsamic vinaigrette and topped with herb bread stick.


Eventhough it was good, its size was too little/few for its price. You can have so much more salad with that amount.


Next and last to come was the Mango Tart. It ‘s made of crusty phyllo dough with cream and caramel and topped with fresh mango slices.
The tart was refreshing and light. You can eat a lot of it and still not feel full.


It has just the right level of sweetness, crunchiness and creaminess. All ingredients complemented each other well. Even if it’s bigger than usual tarts, I personally think it’s only good for one person, especially to dessert lovers.



And since we also paid for the ambiance. We enjoyed savoring every minute of it.

It was soooooooo good up there. The view can really calm you down, especially of the Manila Bay area, and the clouds looked uniformedly-fluffy. It’s just sad that we were not able to see the sun set and the view of the Manila skyline at night, which the staff said were a sight to behold. Well, maybe next time.




Happy Eating!

PACIFIC LOUNGE
Pan Pacific Manila
M. Adriatico cor. Malvar Sts.
Malate, Manila
Telephone No: 536-0788

Baker's Passion

Baker's Passion is a new bakeshop/restaurant at the Midtown Wing of Robinsons Place Manila.

Some of their breads are similar to Breadtalk’s. And apart from the bakery at front, they also have a dine-in section where they serve pastas, pizzas, paninis, soups and rice meals, that I would want to try someday soon.


Just to try it out I bought Breakfast at Tiffany’s P39, Paris Hilton, Miss Sandy Choco P10, The Puff P13 and the Golden Egg Roll P59.

The Breakfast at Tiffany’s is a pudding-like bread with chocolate chips, raisins and banana essence.


It is similar to a certain bread sold at corner bakeries in taste. And also is not your usual wet pudding but somewhat of a drier, dense version.


Paris Hilton is an ensaymada-like loaf in texture and taste, with cheese and chocolate.


It was soft, cheesy and fluffy.


The Puff is a miniature plain cream puff. The custard was good. The puff though better than Conti’s was still not as soft and creamy as Tinapayan’s version.




Miss Sandy Choco is a mini chocolate sponge cake with chocolate custard filling.
The custard and the sponge cake were both good. I also love that it has a very light taste.




The Golden Egg Roll kinda grows on you. I like it at first bite, then not on the second and third, then love it from the fourth onwards.


It is made up of white bread with barbecued floss, rolled on a thin layer of omelette, then stuffed with pork floss on both ends.


I love that it tasted sweet and creamy. I would love to have it again.

Of all that I have purchased and tried from Baker’s, 2 products stood out from the rest, the Golden Egg Roll and the Miss Sandy Choco. Those 2 I would definitely purchase again.

Happy Eating!

BAKER’S PASSION
L2 Tastebuds, Robinsons Place Mall
Manila

The Old Spaghetti House

Us girls (my mother, sister & I) went to Robinson's Place last week to watch the movie The Happening of Mark Wahlberg. But before that, we had our merienda at The Old Spaghetti House.

We all had the same order, the Golden Crusted Chicken, Ham & Cheese Crepe with Angel Hair Pomodoro P135 from their Pasta Meals selection. I had my pasta changed to Chicken & Mushroom with Garlic Cream Sauce for an additional of more or less P70.


The Chicken and Mushroom pasta is just your usual cream sauce pasta but with lots of chicken and mushrooms.

The Chicken, Ham & Cheese Crepe is a crepe with chicken, ham & cheese fillings, that is breaded then fried. It is served with a gravy sauce.



It was perfectly-seasoned and just lightly breaded.

For dessert we had the Colossal Chocolate Chip Cookie Ala Mode P120. It is a big and warm chocolate chip cookie on a skillet, serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and drizzled with chocolate sauce.


The cookie though bigger than normal cookies was thin, but nevertheless moist and chewy. The chocolate sauce was good too. An order for me, is just good for one.

TOSH food were just okay, nothing extraordinary.

Happy Eating!

THE OLD SPAGHETTI HOUSE (TOSH)
3rd Floor, Midtown Wing, Robinson's Place,
Ermita, Manila

Dinner at Friday's

My friend and I met for dinner at Trinoma last week. We were supposed to dine at Madison Grill but as luck would have it, they needed to close the resto that day for a possible gas leak =( We agreed on dining at Friday's instead.

We ordered Jack Daniel's Grilled Chicken P325, Fried Mozzarella P225 and Mini Chocolate Mint with Oreos P85 for dessert.

The JD's Grilled Chicken is 2 pieces of grilled chicken with Jack Daniel's sauce, cheddar mashed potatoes and corn on the cob. With that, we added an extra order of Breaded Shrimps for P85.


The chicken were grilled till tender, the sauce was sweet (just the way I like it, but my friend didn't) and the mashed potatoes were good, tart and creamy all at the same time. The shrimps were just okay.


The Fried Mozzarella is 6 pieces of breaded then fried mozzarella cheese with marinara sauce.


It was good, aside from being perfectly-seasoned. I would love to have this dish again.


From their new menu, came the dessert minis. They're 5 kinds of miniature desserts served in shot glasses.

I had the Chocolate Mint with Oreos. It is a mint-flavored chocolate mousse with crushed oreos on top.


The mousse was not satiny-smooth but rather thick and sticky, good thing there were oreos on top.

Happy Eating!

FRIDAY'S
M4 Level, Trinoma Mall, Q.C.
Telephone Nos: 901-5626/943-2163

Conti's

I was out with my family last father's day. And for dinner we agreed at Conti's, since most of them haven't eaten there yet.

We each have our own orders but still took a bite out of each other's plates, in short we got to try every one's orders.

My order of Chicken ala Kiev P195 is 2 pieces of stuffed chicken with butter and spinach fillings. It is topped with cream sauce and comes with garlic rice and vegetables.


The chicken was soft and tender with the butter oozing out of it in every bite. The rice was perfectly-seasoned as well.


The Chicken Roulade P180 is another stuffed chicken dish but with cheese fillings. An order comes with mushroom rice risotto.


The chicken was also perfectly-cooked, with the mushroom cream sauce adding another layer of flavor to the dish. The risotto rice, although a little drier than most risottos, complemented the chicken roulade's taste.

The Baked Prawns P295 is 3 pieces of butterflied prawns with melted cheese on top. It comes with crab salad and Japanese fried rice.


The prawns are buttery, creamy, tart and salty all at the same time. The accompanying crab salad was reminiscent of a coleslaw but with added crab meat. The Japanese fried rice has a strong but flavorful taste.

The Fish and Chips P195 is served with lemon butter sauce.


The fish were soft and creamy while the fries were just okay.

The Pastel de Lengua P210 is like a pot pie because it is covered with a pastry dough on top.


It is also different from other lenguas because it is tender and not rubbery. I didn't even have to chew it since it just melted in my mouth. The paella rice was tangy and flavorful from the tomato sauce it was soaked in.

The Roast Pork Loin P165 tasted like lechon kawali but softer in texture. It comes with vegetables and garlic rice.


And with all the meat we ate, I tried to incorporate a little bit of vegetables in my meal by ordering Mango Royale Salad P70 (solo).


Lettuce leaves topped with mango royale dressing and chunks of mangoes.

It is sweet, tangy, creamy, light and refreshing all at the same time. I love how it tasted and would love to order it again. Btw, their dinner rolls were also good, soft, fluffy and creamy.

For desserts we ordered Turtle Pie P80/slice and Mango Bravo P85.

The mango bravo is the cake that made them famous. It is layers of meringue, sponge cake, nuts, chocolate, mangoes and cream, phew! that's a lot.


It is a light and not too sweet dessert.

But what bowled me over and made me order another one to go, was the turtle pie.


It is layers of cookie crust, chocolate, toffee, toffee cream and chocolate mousse, with nuts and whipped cream on top.


It will satisfy all the true blue chocoholics, with all its layers of flavor and sweetness.

For take home, we bought a small box of Cream Puff P100/15 pieces. It is miniature puffs with vanilla and chocolate toppings.


The vanilla and chocolate toppings and also the custard fillings were all good, but the pastry/puff was really dry. It reminded me of the Tee-Up of Monde, but this was drier and harder.


As a proof, the small box we bought was still inside the ref, half-eaten. That's rare in a household of dessert lovers.

Happy Eating!


CONTI'S
P1 Level, Trinoma Edsa
Telephone Nos.: 796-3283/943-1665