For us who grew up enjoying savory dishes and sweet desserts, the mere mention of healthful food gives us this impression of bland, sacrificial eating. And we think this is normal since our brains and bodies were mostly programmed to relish anything with salt or sugar. However, through this blog and our desire to be healthier, we’ve started to go out of our ways to discover more nourishing yet flavorful food, and we found one of the must-go places for health buffs: Sugarleaf Organic Market and Cafe.
We were invited for lunch in Sugarleaf at their Medicard Lifestyle Center branch in Makati. It was the first time we felt genuinely excited to learn more about how to eat well… and smarter. 🙂 That nutritious lunch forever changed our perceptions of what healthful food tastes like. Thanks to Angelo “Jello” Narciso Songco, co-owner of Sugarleaf, who shared with us his passion for healthful eating.
We are well aware that by just changing your diet, you can drastically improve your health. Food can be medicine, or our poison. But, we’re not here to preach about health since we love bacon, desserts and chocolates. 😀 We just want to share this with you so you know your options. 🙂
When it comes to healthful food, we usually think we have to compromise flavor – this has been instilled in us, not just here in the Philippines, but everywhere in the world. We have this impression that only food products and dishes that have actual sugar, pork fats / oils, and salt can be tasty. We have learned over the years that there are other more healthful alternatives.
Sugarleaf Organic Market
On the first floor of Sugarleaf’s Makati branch, they have a store where they sell all sorts of organic and healthful food products.
They’ve got organic fresh produce and homemade salad dressings / vinaigrette for you.
And they also have Goody Kefir (made from fermented milk) products, cold cuts (turkey, etc).
And ICE CREAM…?! They make use of Kefir, which is a cultured milk product, same like yogurt. They both have the same tarty, tangy taste, but kefir has a more watery consistency. They’re both good sources of probiotics, and based on research, kefir contains three times more of these over yogurt. So this ice cream is definitely good for you.
We didn’t get to try this Peanut Butter and Jelly flavor of Jello’s Coco Kefir Ice Cream, but we were served two other flavors. Read on. 😉
Sugarleaf’s Nourishing Dishes, Milkshakes and Healing Juices
First up were the sandwiches and the Goody wraps, starting with the Turkey Waldorf Sandwich (Php 208). It’s a classic salad made into a sandwich (we first had Waldorf salad at Oh My Gulay in Baguio), with gluten-free turkey with Bifidus (probiotics), red apple, celery, toasted cashew, then dressed with their mayo (with kefir) in a raisin cinnamon bagel.
Their Iberico Joselito Belota Chorizo Sandwich (Php 228) is prepared with a low-cholesterol Spanish pork sausage that’s mildly spiced with paprika, with olive oil-lime toast, with lettuce and alfalfa sprouts.
We also got to try their Smoked Salmon and Dill sandwich (Php 268).
Sugarleaf also serves these delicious wraps made with authentic Goody Kefir dressing, organic lettuce and cucumber, with your choice of fillings, all rolled in a soft wheat tortilla. Everyone at our table enjoyed each of these Goody Wraps, including the Crabstick & Mango Goody Wrap.
We were also served their Smoked Fish and Chicken Goody Wraps (both priced at Php 238). They serve these chilled and you can even order party trays of these Goody Wraps for your parties or get-together.
Next is Sugarleaf’s Garden Greens Salad (Php 238), with organic greens and root vegetables such as lettuce, beet root, carrots, cucumber and red radish, making this salad oh-so colorful and pleasing to the eye. They say we eat with our eyes first, so this definitely made us look forward to tasting it. They served it with three different dressings: blueberry, passion fruit and lemon balm. I loved all of them, but I’m a big fan of the first two.
Next up was their homemade pasta. They prepared for us their fettuccini with pesto (freshly made – Php 128) and then topped with mangoes (Php 148).
I was a little wary that I might not like this pasta, so I took a small serving first. How was it? I almost finished the whole plate all by myself. 😀 Who would think a beetroot fettuccini would taste this good?! Oh, did I say it’s made with organic, healthful ingredients?!? 😀 Yum!
For our beverage, we were offered a taste of their milkshake smoothies. We both loved the two flavors they served us: Organic Soya-chia Choco-Banana (P150) and the Goody Kefir-chia Mixed Berry (P150). 🙂 Mmmmmmmm.. Ken even finished off my glass of the berry while I was taking photos of the other dishes. Pfft. 😀
Angelo and the Sugarleaf team also showed us how they prepare their healing juices. They don’t add water, sugar or ice to these juices, so they’re purely extracts from the organic ingredients they use.
They served us the juice made from malunggay, lemongrass and pineapple. Ken and I took a small sip, before we decided to tip it. 😀 Not really our cup of tea (no pun intended), but it was nevertheless a pleasing experience.
We thought we’ll end our lunch without tasting any of their vegan ice cream. Well, imagine our glee when they started serving us bowls of Jello’s Vegan ice cream in Cherry Pistachio and Vanilla Bean flavors. We all wanted seconds! 😀
Sugarleaf Menu
Sugarleaf also sells other desserts like pies, Cashew sans rival, cookies, biscotti, and cakes, plus they have an Organic-All-You-Can (Php 400 per person) special, so make sure you check their menu below.
 
We had an absolutely memorable dining experience at Sugarleaf, especially because of Angelo who shared with us some awakening tidbits on eating healthily. You can truly feel the genuine passion in his voice, without sounding preachy. 🙂
Sugarleaf not only offers organic and healthful food products, but they also hold workshops for those who want to learn more on how they can start eating well. Check out the links below for more information.
Sugarleaf
- G-2/F, Medicard Lifestyle Center, 51 Paseo de Roxas cor. Sen. Gil Puyat Ave., Makati City
Contact #: (02) 812-7323- G/F Health Cube Building, 226 Wilson Street, West Greenhills, San Juan
Contact #: (02) 385-0387- Website: http://www.sugarleafph.com
- Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/SugarleafPH
- Twitter: @Sugarleafers