Malcolm's Place

The Makati area has been a constant favorite of mine. Aside from the trendy stores and mini parks, there's also a lot of good restaurants and cafes in the vicinity. From those in the mall and more so outside, and one of them is Malcolm's Place.

These past few weeks have been a hunt for the best Angus and Wagyu burger. From Chelsea, Myron's, Zuni and now joining in the Wagyu wagon is Malcolm's Place.


I have long wanted to try their Wagyu Burger, it was only heightened by a recent must-try article of Lucy Gomez on the Philippine Star. She wrote Malcolm's Wagyu Burger and Wagyu Wasabi Steak Sandwich as must-try.

Since I was just gonna try one, I asked for the server's recommendation. She recommended the Wagyu Burger P300.


Malcolm's Wagyu Burger is thick grilled wagyu burger patty on top of a bun with vegetables. It is served with thick-cut fries.

The wagyu patty was thick and juicy but not well-seasoned. The bread didn't help either in adding flavor. It's even a little bit dry. And the potatoes were more like sweet potatoes in taste.

But overall, the wagyu burger was good, though still not as good as Myron's. I also noticed when I read their menu online of a special dressing in their burger that wasn't present in mine. I don't know if it has anything to do with the not so good taste of my burger.

After my orders were placed, they served me a plate of Wanton Chips with Herb Mayonnaise. It's a good appetizer, the chips were not at all oily and salty but were creamy and a little bit sweet. The herb mayonnaise was sooo good I even used it as a dip for my fries.


And since I always have dessert after every meal, I ordered another recommendation and also a best seller, the Apple Crumble ala Mode P135.


It is an apple pie with crumbled dough instead of a dough cover on top. It was not too sweet, even with the ice cream on top, but nevertheless a filling dessert. The chocolate sauce was reminiscent of a brown cow chocolate syrup in taste. The apple mixture was soft and tender with a strong cinnamon taste.

Overall, I liked the food at Malcolm's Place. Their service was fast and their staff were friendly and attentive. I wouldn't mind coming back but not that soon.

Happy Eating!


Malcolm's Place
108 H.V. dela Costa St.,
Salcedo Village, Makati
Tel No. 840-5881

Vanilla Bean Cafe

On the way to Malcolm's Place, I passed by Vanilla Bean Cafe. The name rang a bell since I just read about it from dessertcomesfirst.

The cafe offers a variety of cakes and bars. They also have selections of soups, salads, sandwiches, pastas and entrees for dining customers.

Since I forgot what's good to have there, I just asked the server for their best seller. She pointed at the Cream Cheese Turtle Cake P95 from the display case.


The Cream Cheese Turtle Cake has pecans, chocolate ganache and caramel sauce on top of a moist chocolate cake with cream cheese filling.


As I bite through it, I was wondering where's the cream cheese, then my fork got hold of it at the bottom part of the cake, and I was in pure bliss.

It is a very sweet, chocolatey, creamy and tart cake. One that I want to have every day.

I can't wait to try their White Chocolate Cheesecake, Dulce de Leche Chocolate Cake and Chocolate Truffle Cake soon.

Happy Eating!

Petra & Pilar, Again...

Back for the nth time at Petra & Pilar and afraid of not being able to try their San Moreno Cake P130, I reserved one in advance.

San Moreno Cake is made-up of layers of sponge cake with chocolate mousse & whipped cream in between and topped with caramelized custard.



It is a very light and not too sweet cake. I love the "brulee" on top. It added crunch aside from sweetness. It is also similar to the Creme Brulee Cake of Cafe S. Benedetto of Heny Sison in taste.

It is best eaten chilled since the mousse melts easily. The chocolate mousse in the cake was also the best chocolate mousse I've had so far.

I just hope that they'll make their other pastries available every day and not randomly.


Here's an inside glimpse of the deli section of Petra & Pilar.





Happy Eating!

Petra & Pilar
2111 Don Chino Roces Avenue, Makati City
Telephone Number: 887-516

A Paseo Experience

While out yesterday, I passed by Paseo Center in Makati, where I saw Pasto Cafe.

I was supposed to eat at their El Pueblo branch a few weeks back, but they're closed from 3pm-6pm. Fortunately, their Paseo branch's open all day.


Since they're known for their desserts (which I was told were made by TRIO), I wanted to try one. But as luck would have it, there's no delivery yet of cakes. They only have Verona (a cake made of graham crust, fresh mangoes and cream) & Panna Cotta (Italian cream custard topped with seasonal fruits).

Not intrigued by both desserts, I settled for a pizza order of half Tutta Carne and half Bianca for P265.


The Pizza Bianca is a pesto-based pizza with clams, mussels and shrimps.

I liked the combination of ingredients, they were also perfectly seasoned. Nutty & cheesy pesto sauce and fresh-tasting seafood.

The first time I had a pesto pizza & I liked it a lot. Just the aroma of the pesto can make one hungry.

The Tutta Carne is an all-meat pizza of Italian sausage, smoked ham & pepperoni.

This one, I wasn't that fond of. The sauce tasted of canned sauce, not of freshly made one. Both the smoked ham & pepperoni were bland-tasting. While the Italian sausage, was reminiscent of a pork sisig in taste.

Both pizza flavors were on a very thin & crispy crust, almost paper-thin.

For dessert, I went downstairs for the Caramel Crunch P60 of Claudette's.


Layers of sponge cake & butter cream with caramel syrup and crushed meringue on top.

It was surprisingly light, not too sweet, just the once in a while interjection of the richness of the butter cream.

An okay dessert, one that I wouldn't mind having again & again.

Not yet satisfied with the Caramel Crunch, I went to Sugarhouse in Glorietta and bought a package of Caramel Crunch P120 (what a coincidence).


Unlike Claudette's, Sugarhouse's Caramel Crunch is a candy, made of sugar and milk, broken into chunks.

The color is very appealing, almost golden. While the taste, it's very sweet, like that of a flower icing. So a little goes a long way.

Happy Eating!

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!