Cacao

I was told that their best seller is their Dark Chocolate Almond. I love dark chocolate so I definitely ordered 100 grams, but I also wanted to try their Milk Chocolate Toffee Almond. Good thing though that they allow mixes of nuts of the same price. So I ordered a mixed of those two for P99.00/100 grams.


Back at home, I tried first the dark chocolate almond.

It has a very strong chocolate taste that went perfectly-well with the almond nut. But it definitely killed my taste buds for the milk toffee that I ate after. I can't taste the milk chocolate nor the toffee anymore. The dark chocolate left a strong almost coffee taste in my mouth. It was only the next day that I tasted the milk toffee on its own. The combination wasn't that good though. The problem was with the toffee. It wasn't the toffee that I wanted nor the one that I am used to. Their toffee was more or less like sugar crystals.



Happy Eating!

CACAO
-Serendra, Taguig
-SM City North Edsa

Auntie Anne's Cinnamon Stix with Chocolate Dip

I shouldn't have ordered Cinnamon Stix (P50.00 with chocolate dip) since eating sugar like that, even when mixed with cinnamon made me queasy. Without the sugar though, the cinnamon stix were good - soft and sweet dipped on their good-quality chocolate.



Next time I would want to try their Almond Pretzel with Caramel Dip, their best seller I was told.

Happy Eating!

Go Greek Chicken Gyro

They were still on their dry-run when I happened to pass-by their stall at the Food Choices in Glorietta. I was supposed to have Plato Wrap's Chicken for a light dinner when I saw Go Greek. And for just a couple more peso I can get their Chicken Gyro/Shawarma instead.



Since I know that I wasn't that hungry that night, I didn't order their Chicken Gyro Platter -P195.00 (with Greek rice or potatoes, side salad and pita bread) and just chose Chicken Gyro/Shawarma for P95.00


Their gyro was sure-filled with roasted chicken. It was even overflowing with it. I was watching the cook fill my pita bread with the roasted chicken and I know that he put a lot of it in there.

Since chicken tend to be bland, some parts of the gyro were bland but made a WHOLE LOT BETTER by the yogurt garlic and chili sauces.

Their chili sauce wasn't as spicy as Cafe Mediterranean. In Go Greek an even amount of yogurt and chili sauce were still tolerable.

The Chicken Gyro can sure tide over your craving for something Greek and for P95, that sure was a very filling snack or medium-sized dinner(for me).



Happy Eating!

GO GREEK
Food Choices, Glorietta

Naked Juice Bar Chicken Gone Wild Sandwich

Chicken pesto, grilled bell pepper, tomato, cucumber and pesto mayo dressing on whole wheat bread for P80.00


It was a very filling P80-sandwich.

And when you do feel overwhelmed by the pesto mayo ( like what happened to me), the slices of cucumber in the sandwich served as palate cleansers too.

Happy Eating!

Starbucks Chocolate Muffin

What I only like in the muffin was the chunks of chocolate on top. If not for them I wouldn't be able to finish the entire muffin (thinking about it, I didn't finish the muffin. I ate just the chunks and my husband ate everything that's left).

It wasn't good at all. But it was very moist.



Happy Eating!

Starbucks Milk Chocolate Macadamia

Layers of chocolate cake, macadamia nut meringue and chocolate mousse coated with milk chocolate ganache and drizzled with caramel sauce for P110.00 a slice.

Since macadamia taste like a very fine hazelnut, the cake gave me a hazelnut vibe. At first I even thought that it was hazelnut in the cake and not macadamia. It was only after a couple of bites that I recognized the presence of macadamia. Because although it has the same taste as hazelnut, it was buttery thus glides smoothly in my mouth (the crushed nuts and not the meringue).


This cake was meant to be eaten leisurely or else you might be cloyed by its taste.

There were parts that I like ( macadamia nut meringue) and some that I don't . But overall I like the cake and would not mind ordering it again.

There's also a reason behind each layer. If not for the macadamia nut meringue, you might be cloyed by the richness of the chocolate mousse and the sweetness of the ganache and if not for the chocolate mousse and chocolate ganache, the macadamia nut meringue would be dry and the chocolate cake wouldn't be that enjoyable to eat.

Happy Eating!

Banana Leaf - Sambal

I wanted to eat the Roti Canai with Curry Sauce and an order of their Chicken Satay, while my husband wanted the Tilapia with Assam Sambal Sauce (P238.00) and the Stir Fried Mixed Vegetables with Salted Fish Thai Style (P138.00)

Since I know that we can't finish them all, I didn't order what I wanted and just ordered what my husband wanted.

The Tilapia although good, filleted and fried perfectly and goes oh so well with the sweet and spicy sambal sauce, was good only for one and not two people.


Since we asked for the Mixed Vegetables with less fish sauce, it now tasted just right. I also like the mixture of the vegetables used and how they were complemented by the fish sauce. What I don't like in the dish was that the vegetables weren't that cooked. It was so hard that I even choked on one of the vegetables.



Happy Eating!

Mister Kabab

A few days after our Arya experience, we (my husband and I) plus a couple of friends had an early dawn snack at Mister Kabab in West Avenue.

Although it was my first time there I already know what I would order - their Chicken Special Kabab with Pita Bread (P133.00)


The structure of the meal was similar to Arya's. I also ate it the same way as I did Arya's Koobideh.

They ( Arya's and Mister Kabab) were almost the same but Arya's definitely superior in everything (taste and presentation).

Happy Eating!

Arya

Using the GC I won at ToT's Goodie Giveaway, my husband and I dined at Arya in Robinsons Place Ermita.


We ordered what ToT recommended in her site, Beef Koobideh (skewers of ground beef seasoned with spices and onions) for my husband and Mourgh koobideh (skewers of ground chicken seasoned with spices and onions )for me. Since we wanted it to be lighter, we had it with pita bread instead of basmati or jasmine rice.


BEEF KOOBIDEH P355.00

MOURGH KOOBIDEH P355.00

We also asked the server to prepare the tomato salad for us.


- peeled the grilled tomatoes, topped it with garlic yogurt and chili sauce then mashed


You might mistaken the mourgh koobideh with its yellowish color for something with curry or curry flavored, but it didn't have that taste. What it tasted though was indescribable but great, nonetheless. My husband told me that his beef koobideh too was delicious. He also said that this was a rare dining experience where he doesn't have any complaints, with the food nor the service.

Here's how we ate the koobideh:
- we opened the pita pockets, stuffed the koobideh inside, filled it with tomato salad and added huge amounts of garlic yogurt and chili sauce. YUM!!!

For dessert I chose Lucy Torres' favorite, the Fig Orange Cake (P175.00).


I was hesitant to order it at first but when my husband told me of a dessert he had in Miami of a fig cinnamon pudding with grated orange zest and vanilla ice cream, it made me curious of Arya's version of the Fig Orange Cake.


When it was served I had the first bite (of course). It was sooo good warm. It was indeed like a bread pudding but was nutty and sweet and just utterly divine.

Happy Eating!

ARYA
2nd Floor, Robinsons Place Ermita
Manila

Bay Cakes 3 Chocolate Surprise

Chocolate cupcake with home-made caramel filling topped with dark chocolate and white chocolate ganache then sprinkled with white chocolate chips for P65 a piece at Parvati in Trinoma.


A staff told me that the toques represent how much the customers like the different desserts. Since almost all that has 3 toques I have already tried, I was now ready to try those with just two toques. I started with Bay Cakes 3 Chocolate Surprise.

Well, both the dark chocolate ganache and the cupcake base were just okay, what I don't like was the white chocolate ganache, it tasted different.

Personally I think it was not worthy of my P65.

Happy Eating!

Fish & Co

A friend suggested that I try Fish & Co's Just For Me Fish and Chips. I have already tried it and their New York Fish and Chips, but the regular size. She said that it was affordable and filling when I was doubting its size.

So when we met up for dinner we ordered one each of the Just For Me Fish and Chips and shared on their Prawns Fettuccini in Home Made Chili Cream Sauce (P535.00)



- Fettuccini tossed with tiger prawns in homemade chili cream sauce

I found the Prawns Fettuccini so expensive. The sauce too wasn't able to coat the entire pasta dish so it wasn't that tasty. But it did have enough prawns in it which were cooked evenly. Still, I prefer CPK's Garlic Cream Pasta and Mushroom Ravioli over it.




I don't have any problem nor complaint with their Just For Me Fish and Chips though. They were indeed affordable and filling for one. It was a blessing that they thought of offering their Fish and Chips in this size and price, especially to solo diners.

Happy Eating!

Blushing Cupcakes

I passed by them on my way home. They were along the Sky Garden in SM the Block.

I asked for their best sellers and were told that they are Carrot and Red Velvet. Since I was not in the mood for a Carrot Cupcake, I just bought the Red Velvet (P33.00) plus their Frosted White Chocolate (P27.00)


Both didn't taste of chocolate or if they do, just a little. The icing of the Frosted White Chocolate was similar in taste to Costa Brava's White Birthday Cake but of inferior quality. While the Red Velvet's icing was the sweet type and not the cream cheese one. The cupcake base was also dense, almost dry.



Happy Eating!

Sumo Sam

I have eaten quite a lot at their other branches but it was my first time at their newly-opened branch in Trinoma. It was also my friend's first time ever to eat at Sumo Sam.

Since my friend doesn't like sushi, I didn't order my favorite Crunchy Tuna Roll. We just had Japanese Fried Rice, Chicken Tempura, Ika Fry and Bacon Kani.





Everything was okay, except the Chicken Tempura. The fries in it were soggy, too soggy that after only a bite, we didn't anymore dared touch it. I'm also disappointed with the Chicken Tempura itself. It doesn't have the crispness that I remembered and like the fries it was also soggy.

Happy Eating!