We know, this is an uber late post. But, we still think it’s worth posting about our top picks for UTT 6. It’s better late than never, I guess. Stay tuned for our faves the last UTT 7 at Mercato. 🙂

We first told you about our experience at the Ultimate Taste Test in Rockwell. Now, let us share with you all the yummy food we had that day.

It took us a couple of days to finalize our top picks for the Ultimate Taste Test because we couldn’t agree on all of our choices. That’s what you get when you have 2 people (and siblings) with different tolerance to flavor intensities and with varying preferences. 😀 So, we agreed to not rank anything and just feature the ones we absolutely loved and those that were worth mentioning. 🙂

But, before we continue, please take note that we only got to taste what 38 out of 55 food suppliers have to offer.

Without further ado, in no particular order, here are our Top Picks for the Ultimate Taste Test 6.0 in Rockwell, starting with the sweet stuff…

 

 

Sweet Delights

 

Carmen’s Best and Holly’s Milk

Paco Magsaysay, the owner of Carmen’s Best Ice Cream and Holly’s Milk, was the very first food supplier who approached us. Even before we got to taste his products, we were totally convinced!

We first got to try the Salted Caramel and Coffee flavored ice cream (sorry, we didn’t get to take a photo of the actual product :D). And let us tell yah it was the creamiest ice cream we’ve ever had! We both nodded at each other in total agreement. 😀

Paco proudly continued on to tell us that their ice cream and milk are all fresh, even using this very catchy tagline “From Cow to Cone”. And you can truly taste the freshness from the milk and the ice cream. The flavors and creaminess of the spoonfuls of frozen delights served to us lingered in our mouths. 🙂

They don’t have this available in supermarkets yet so if you want to have a taste of their products, contact them to order:

Carmen’s Best
Contact info: 809-2042 or cb_icecream@yahoo.com
Carmen’s Best on Facebook

 

Holly’s Milk
Contact info: 813-1385 / Website: http://www.hollysmilk.com/ Holly’s Milk on Facebook

Update: They were the #1 pick by the UTT 6.0 foodies! 🙂 Congrats!

 

Buco Pie Martini by Chef’s Table

When we reached their side of the Rockwell Tent, we were already too full. But, hey, we still managed to finish off both our own servings of their Buco Pie Martini from Chef’s Table of celebrity Chef Bruce Lim.

It was oh-so-creamy and the soft texture with that slight crunch from the buco bits made it one of our instant favorites. Definitely something we’d love to serve friends and loved ones during holidays, especially this coming Christmas. 🙂

 

Chef’s Table by Chef Bruce Lim
Unit 106, G/F Infinity Tower, 10th Ave corner 25th St., BGC
Telephone: (02) 399-1888 / Website: www.chefstablemanila.com
Chef’s Table on Facebook

 

 

Baked by Anita

Most of the food purveyors in the UTT 6.0 were serving desserts / pastries. Because of the number of stalls serving cupcakes, it was very important that yours stand out.

It was actually our first time to have a taste of what Baked by Anita has to offer and we now know why her mini cupcakes are as popular among foodies.

We got to try two flavors of Anita’s cupcakes – Roasted Strawberry and Bacon n’ Maple. The balsamic vinegar mixed with the strawberry and butter cream was a unique combination to us. And when we got to taste the sweet and savory goodness of the bacon cupcake, we couldn’t help but comment that it’s one memorable cupcake experience. 🙂

Baked by Anita
Contact #: 0917-525-9740 / (02) 736-2877
Website: www.bakedbyanita.com
Facebook page: www.facebook.com/BakedbyAnita

 

 

My Pink Wasabi

We gotten to know Chef Anna of My Pink Wasabi when she joined our giveaway as one of our sponsors. Since then, we were excited to finally taste her Kashi Makis – rolled cakes shaped and designed to look like sushi – a truly unique idea in presenting desserts. 🙂

When we got to Rockwell, we first looked for her booth and wanted to grab a piece of her kashi makis, but we said we’ll do it later in an attempt to save the best for last ;). We saw people going to her and asking questions about her Kashi Makis. So, we decided to just go ahead and have a taste before we get too full from all the food or before Chef Anna runs out of samples for us. 😀

Though the serving wasn’t the actual size of what you’ll get when you buy from them, we couldn’t help but express how good it was quite loudly. 😀 And everyone else who came to their table had the same exact reaction. The creamy chocolate goodness is worth raving about that we’ve been craving for it.

A couple of weeks ago, we got to taste My Pink Wasabi’s Kashi Maki again and this time, we had more flavors available to us. It was an unforgettable dessert experience so we’re planning on buying the 16-piece bento box for our full feature here. Here’s a photo teaser:

My Pink Wasabi

Contact #: 0947-865-8634, 0906-210-2966 / Order through City Delivery: 87878
Website: www.mypinkwasabi.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/MyPinkWasabi.pastries

 

 

Cupcake Boutique by Klar Joseph

Cupcake Boutique’s presentation was so inviting. Cupcakes all lined up, teasing you to finally grab one and take a bite or two.

They were offering three flavors at the UTT – Red Velvet, Diplomat (Valrhona) and Green Tea. Though we were pleased by the dark chocolate flavor of the Diplomat, we picked the Red Velvet as our fave. The green tea cupcake was a little too subtle in its tea infusion, but it was as moist as the other two.

Cupcake Boutique by Klar Joseph
Contact #: (02) 633-9954, 0917-533-5527 / Website: www.thespoonisflat.com
Email: klarjo@gmail.com

 

 

Theo & Philo Chocolates

Ever since we saw them featured on a fellow foodie blog, we’ve been looking forward to sampling a bar of Theo & Philo chocolates. First, they’re very proud to be the only bean to bar chocolate makers in the Philippines. Being chocolate lovers, we wanted to know how genuinely true this is and how different it’ll be to taste a locally made bar of chocolates.

Our verdict? We loved all of their chocolates we got to try – Dark Chocolate with Siling Labuyo (Ken’s favorite), Dark Chocolate with Green Mango & Salt (oohhh what a stunningly mix of flavors!), 70% Dark Chocolate (Mhel’s fave) and Dark Chocolate with Calamansi. There were a couple more flavors available, but we didn’t want to overwhelm ourselves with too much chocolate so we skipped some.

The packaging of Theo & Philo chocolates is also very noteworthy. It bears the colors and symbols of the Philippines, a true showing of their Pinoy pride and that they’re using locally grown cocoa. We support them in this cause and we hope more chocolate lovers will appreciate the unique flavors they have to offer.

Theo & Philo Chocolates
Contact #: 0920-4315650 / Website: www.theoandphilo.com
E-mail: hello@theoandphilo.com

 

 

Mochiko

Raves from fellow foodies all over the web have resulted to our anticipation of finally tasting Mochiko’s mochi ice cream ball flavors. And when we met Nowie, he introduced us to their Cookie Dough mochi.

After waiting for the ice cream filling to thaw a little, we excitedly bit into it and fell in love with the texture and flavors of the sticky mochi, cold and not-too-sweet FIC ice cream and the cookie bits. 🙂

We’re looking forward to trying more flavors very soon when we visit Mercato Centrale again. 🙂

Oh, they get plus points for their fun booth. Nowie took a photo of us, which is what we use now on our author box. 🙂

Mochiko
Contact #: 0917-831-0624, 0999-884-0624
Email: hellomochiko@mochikomochi.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/mochikomochi

 

 

Merry Moo

Merry Moo is known for using fresh local dairy and offering fun and yummy ice cream flavors so we were looking forward to trying their latest flavor during UTT in Rockwell – Brown Bread.

The toasted bread bits and hint of cinnamon was a delightful combination. We also got to try the Lemon Meringue. We loved both and we’re really looking forward to other flavors Merry Moo will be coming up next (stay tuned for our UTT 7.0 post where their Quezo de Bola with Fiesta Ham was a top favorite!).

Merry Moo Ice Creamery
Email: merrymoo@ymail.com
Contact #: 0917-528-9590

 

 

Empire French Macarons

One of our favorite desserts is undoubtedly French macarons. We love the chewy and crispy texture, and how one can come up with different flavors that will make this pastry a yummy ending to a meal.

So, when we saw this colorful display of French macarons by Empire, we couldn’t wait to sample what they have to offer. We were given a chance to pick 2 flavors. Luckily, we got to pick 4 flavors (2 each) so we tried their Triple Chocolate, Salted Caramel, Pistachio and Chili Chocolate.

Some may say that their French macarons were too sweet. We say this will be perfect with a cup of tea or black coffee. 🙂

Empire French Macaron
Contact #: 0917-886-1190 / Website: www.empiremacaron.com
Email: georgia@empiremacaron.com

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Savory Pleasures

 

Gourmet Keso

Our family are cheese lovers and one of our favorites is goat cheese. When we saw this table of cheeses served on crackers at GK Enchanted Farm Gourmet Keso, we couldn’t resist.

We loved their Chevre with cashew, truffle oil and salt, and the other one with garlic and fresh herbs. A lot of the other foodies coming up to their tables were all curious too about what Gourmet Keso is all about.

We support any effort to promote our locally available ingredients and knowing that this savory cheese comes from Gawad Kalinga, providing livelihood to fellow Filipinos, makes us all the more proud and we wish them continued success. 🙂

Gourmet Keso from GK Enchanted Farm
GK Enchanted Farm, Barangay Encanto, Angat, Bulacan
Contact #: 0917-819-4522
Email: xilca.alvarez@gmail.com

 

 

Casa San Luis

When we first passed by Casa San Luis’ table, we only took photos and didn’t pay much attention to them. But, thankfully we decided to go back to their table to try their Smoked Bangus Quiche.

Casa San Luis boasts of French and Pinoy cuisine fusion. And it was pretty evident that they’re proud to make use of one of the staple seafoods in our country – milkfish or bangus.

The Bangus Quiche had this tinapa flavor of milkfish that we enjoy even back at home here in Malabon where there’s an abundant supply of this fish. This quiche was the last thing we tried and we’re glad we did before we left Rockwell. We wished we tasted their Adobo Quiche too.

Casa San Luis
Contact #: 0916-644-8522
Email: casasanluispastries@gmail.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/casasanluispastries

 

 

Flying Chef

We are a fan of anything that combines sweet and savory flavors of different ingredients. One of the more popular fusions of these flavor profiles is mixing chocolate with something salty. This was exactly the satisfaction we got from Flying Chef’s Chocolate and Bacon Empanada.

They actually had us taste their Ham and Cheese empanada too, but it was the chocolate and bacon combination that threw our taste buds into a frenzy. In fact, when we met a couple of foodie bloggers we know, we kept asking them if they’ve already tried it. 😀

The Flying Chef
9 B. Soliven Ave. II, Loyola Grand Villas, Quezon City
Contact #: (02)399-0282, 0929-588-2055 / Website: www.casaempanada.com
Email: info@casaempanada.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/casaempanada

 

 

Tina Pie’s Outlet

There was a long queue of people at Tina Pie’s Outlet when we first passed by their booth. So, we had to come back like 3 times before we decided to quit thinking people will stop lining up to have a taste of the savory bites they have to offer.

Tina served us her tarts in 3 flavors – Shiitake with Swiss Gruyere, Prawns in Aligue and Chicken with Chorizo. They were all deliciously, addictively good, no wonder people flock her booth and has been widely popular amongst foodies. Even after we walked off to check the other booths, we can’t help but exchange comments on how much we loved the tarts.

Tina’s Pie Outlet
Email: savourypies@gmail.com / Website: savourypies.multiply.com
Contact #: 0917-831-0925
Facebook: www.facebook.com/tinaspieoutlet

 

 

Daims Sausages

Mhel: When we were first discussing about our faves, Ken couldn’t stop making sure we have Daim’s Deli Farm sausages on our list. He raved about their Wasabi sausages. He’s into spicy food so he tried what they claimed as the hottest of them all. He loved it! I didn’t dare attempt to taste it though so I stuck with their Vienna and wasabi-flavored sausages with the lowest hotness level.

Daims Deli Farm
Contact #: 0917-809-9533 /
Email: marlyn_salvador@yahoo.com

 

 

Big Daddy Jay’s

The smoky, sweet and tender BBQ ribs from Big Daddy Jay’s All American BBQ were definitely among our favorites.

We saw them slicing off the meat and you can clearly see how juicy and tender they were. Good thing we were early and so they were nice and warm when we got there. It’s the kind of comfort food we’d enjoy with a bottle or two of ice-cold beer.

Big Daddy Jay’s
Contact #: 0920-908-8435
Facebook: www.facebook.com/BigDaddyJayBBQ

 

 

Luigi’s

One of the savory dishes that people were raving about during the UTT was Luigi’s Phillychanga and Cordon Bleu. Though we thought the latter was a bit dry, they made up for it with the Phillychanga. It was very tasty and quite crunchy too. 🙂

Luigi’s
Email: luigimuhlach@yahoo.com
Contact #: 0917-514-8444
Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Luigis/239564812728249

 

 

El Kapitan Spiced Chai

Mhel: Last but definitely not the least is El Kapitan’s Spiced Chai. Since Ken is more familiar with the spices, he took the challenge to guess all the five (5) spices mixed in the tea. He got 4 right – cinnamon, anise, nutmeg and ginger; he missed clove.

We enjoyed how all the spices mixed well to give you that flavorful tea fix. Definitely a must-try for tea lovers and those who are thinking of switching from coffee to tea. 🙂

No photo sorry. Forgot to take a photo ‘cause we were busy identifying the spices. 😀

El Kapitan Food Enterprise
Contact #: (02)740-2884 to 86, (02) 740-3248 to 51
Email: tradetycoon@live.com

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That’s it for our top picks for the Ultimate Taste Test 6.0 in Rockwell. Stay tuned for our UTT 7.0 faves! 🙂

Thanks, Spanky of Juice.ph and Anton Diaz (Our Awesome Planet) for the invites!