Chocolates and Candies Archives - Page 3 of 5

Top Picks at 2nd Ultimate Taste Test in Rockwell

If there’s one day we allow ourselves to completely indulge on good food, it’s at the Ultimate Taste Test. This time is no different. Upon seeing the lineup of food purveyors that will be presenting their new products for the coming holidays, we couldn’t wait to be there.

Sadly, Ken couldn’t come because he had to work, so I invited a long-time friend of mine to join me. He’s a food lover too and we both genuinely enjoyed the experience together. Thanks, Alex! 🙂

Since I came from work, I wanted to take a few winks before I went to Rockwell. We finally started our UTT food trip at around 3pm and we finished past 6pm. Take note that we didn’t get to taste everything. Some of the purveyors there are already familiar, so we chose to head on over to the new ones that piqued our interest the most. Plus, the fact that we were already too full at 30+ food items tasted, we just had to skip some.

Just like before, it was hard to pick our (mine and my friend’s) top favorites since there were many standouts, but the decision on who makes it here was all on me. 😉 In no particular order, here are our top favorites from the 2nd Ultimate Taste Test in Rockwell:

Bayani Brew Iced Teas

Since there’s only one beverage at the event that we absolutely loved (except for the beer, of course), I’m putting Bayani Brew on top of our list. Dubbed as Filipino iced tea, their line of products are made of nutritious, local ingredients from Gawad Kalinga Enchanted Farm in Bulacan. Their section at the UTT was mostly crowded because they were very enthusiastic in telling people about their products. And it’s good to see that many were genuinely interested, including us. 🙂

We were given a taste of 2 of their iced tea flavors. The original variant was a combination of calamansi, lemongrass and pandan. It has this refreshing aroma, and as soon as I took a sip, the exciting combination wanted me to drink some more.

The other flavor was Purple Leaf, brewed from sweet potato, purple leaf tops and lemongrass. What made this iced tea pink was the talbos ng kamote extract. It changes color after brewing, as we were told, thus, staying true to Bayani Brew’s promise of no artificial colors or flavors. If you like your iced tea with an extra dash of sweetness, you’d definitely love this one.

Ron Dizon, the Social Enterprise Head of Bayani Brew, said that they haven’t officially launched Bayani Brew yet, but the price is Php 35 per bottle when they become more readily available here in Metro Manila.

There’s one thing that Ron said that resonated in me – the fact that foreigners are more aware about the hard work of our very own Filipino farmers and the abundance of quality local ingredients that we have available. The beautiful lady pictured above is French, and she was very eager to tell us about the product and what they do, which is just amazing. That’s why we appreciate events like the Ultimate Taste Test where those businesses who can’t go on full-blast marketing are given a chance to let us know that they exist or what they have to offer.

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One Night of Foodgasm

A few weeks ago, Ken and I were invited to be blogger judges at Foodgasm, a food tasting event and competition that was organized by UP Economics Society. Having been a supporter of up and coming food entrepreneurs, we were excited to see who’ll be there. We went home glad that all but two of the participants were completely new discoveries to us.

The event was held at Mercato Centrale, tent area. The venue was a little tight considering the number of foodies who were there to partake on what the food purveyors had to offer. I believe the a/c wasn’t on, so we were hot and sweaty by the end of the event, which I’m sure wasn’t part of the Foodgasm concept. 😉 We think that’s something they can improve on next time around. Still, it was a successful event. 🙂

Before we tell you our favorites, we’d like to congratulate Blue Toque for winning that night. Everyone, including us, loved The Ultimate, their mouth-watering multi-layer cake. Keep it up, Blue Toque! 🙂

Now, let’s get on with our top 5. This list was based on the collective mind of me, Ken and our 2 food trip buddies that night – Ken’s friend, who is also a budding chef, Marge and our nanay. There were a total of 17 participating food businesses and only 5 made it to our list. There were some that almost made it and we’ll share them with you later on this post. For now, rightfully so, the spotlight is on our TOP 5:

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Cafe Jeepney : Buffet in Intercontinental Manila

Being a group-buying site frequent shopper, I actively check various deals sites to find out if they have anything new that I’d be interested to purchase. Since I haven’t bought anything from Deal Grocer yet since the 3rd quarter of last year, I decided to buy 2 half-priced vouchers for Cafe Jeepney’s banquet buffet that they were offering. I’ve done my research and I’ve read fellow food lovers enjoying their buffet spread, so I had some set expectations already.

This is a long overdue post. We dined here in December last year, but they’ve had their famous buffet for decades, so I don’t think there’ll be a lot of changes you can expect, except some of the dishes that were available during our visit might not be the same ones you’ll get when you dine in.

Cafe Jeepney is located inside the Intercontinental Manila in Makati, right beside Ascott Manila and across Glorietta 4. When you come in the front entrance, they’re on the right side. You’d see this:

As soon as you enter, you’d be welcomed by this cozy, well-lit dining area, with high walls and plenty of decors.

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About Guilty Pleasures

Guilty pleasures – these can be food, activities or anything that gives you so much pleasure that you don’t mind the guilt you feel right after. Guilty pleasures are usually kept secret from others probably because you want to maintain a certain image, you simply don’t want anyone judging you for giving in to temptations or it’s just plain embarrassing to admit.

Though we enjoy discovering new restaurants or cooking up unique dishes, we have a list of food and drinks that we can’t simply get enough of. We always come back to them because nothing else can give us the same level of satisfaction. They’re our comfort food, so no matter what others may say about how unhealthy they can be, we felt that it’s about time we share with you our own guilty pleasures to hopefully entice you into admitting what you always crave for. 😉

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MHEL: I was one of the many people who were saddened upon learning that A&W stores stopped their operations here in the Philippines years ago. Imagine my joy when I found out that leading grocery stores still sell A&W rootbeer in cans. I blogged about that here. And every so often, I bring home at least 2 cans of A&W rootbeer to enjoy at home (I actually have a can currently chilling in our refrigerator). The intense rootbeer flavors and its frothiness can never be surpassed by any other rootbeer brands, and I know a lot of you would agree with me. 🙂

KEN: What’s not to love aboutÂ Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups? Reese’s combines the two best things in the world – chocolate and peanut butter! I have tried countless times to make my own version at home, but nothing really beats the original. These peanut butter cups, covered in their bright orange wrappers, are, hands down, the best candy in the world!

MHEL: I LOVE cheesecakes, but since I had a taste of Ken’s version of Blueberry Cheesecake (New York style), I can’t get enough of it. I think we’ve had it numerous times over the past year. He doesn’t complain though ’cause I’m always the one buying the ingredients. 😀 Plus, he’s addicted to cheesecakes too. It’s the best Blueberry Cheesecake I’ve ever tasted, and I share this opinion with a lot of fellow foodies. 🙂

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J.CO Donuts : Now in SM Mall of Asia

Oh, you know how much we love J.CO Donuts. We’ve blogged about them here before the opening of J.CO’s first branch in the Philippines. We also featured their J.Pop bite-sized donuts, which we absolutely adore. They’re definitely one of our top favorites from the past year. 🙂

Their first branch is in SM Megamall at The Strip. ~~This Thursday, May 24th,~~Â (update!) On May 28th, Monday next week,Â J.CO Donuts & Coffee is opening their SECOND branch in SM Mall of Asia! We know that’s definitely good news for all you foodies who are from the South or Manila area. 🙂

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A Sweet, Sweet Ending at Parvati (Take 2)

After a VERY disappointing dinner at a diner somewhere, we quickly decided that we needed something to make up for the lousy meal we just had. Since my BFF Tina and our nanay havenâ€™t been to ParvatiÂ yet, there we went.

We posted about Parvati before. Itâ€™s indeed a one stop dessert shop and they help home-based bakers market their products without worrying about opening their own stores. When we went there the first time, the place only had a few tables. When we returned, more seats are available to diners.

They also had a few additional items on their menu, particularly their beverages. We were excited to try different goodies so we ended up with four (4) dessert variations.

Letâ€™s start off with what we had for drinks. Ken ordered the Hot White Chocolate (Php 100). Itâ€™s made of Belgian white chocolate buttons and is very rich. Not really suitable with desserts, but we still enjoyed this.

My nanay and I both ordered their Honey Apple Iced Tea (Php 90). Nothing really surprising. It was refreshing and subtly sweet nonetheless (I ended up with 2 photos to use up the full width of our content space â€“ nag-explain?! 😉 ).

Tina ordered the mouth-watering Cafe Mocha with Caramel Candied Cashews (Php 100). It had vanilla ice cream, caramel sauce, whipped cream and candied cashews â€“ a killer combination! Ken regretted not ordering this instead of his hot cup of white choco. 😀

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Parvati : Your One Stop Desserts Shop

When Ken and I thought of coming up with a monthly theme for our blog, the first thing that came to mind is desserts month. And the first store we wanted to visit was, of course, Parvati in Trinoma, a one-stop desserts shop.

With the growing number of home bakers in the country today (oh we canâ€™t be thankful enough! :D), getting their products out there can be a challenge considering the logistics of opening their own store. This is where Parvati comes in, providing a venue for talented pastry makers to showcase their homemade creations in one roof.

It was August last year when we first went to Parvati at the Mindanao lobby of Trinoma (I know, this is a very late post that has been sitting in the drafts folder for months). Upon walking in, we were welcomed with a smile and were directed to check their selections of pastries posted on this line of chillers / refrigerators located at one corner of the store. We were in dessert heaven! 😀

Based on the information on their Facebook page, Parvati features 40 best-selling desserts from 27 different home bakers. They have various cakes, cookies, cheesecakes (love, love, love), revel bars, pudding, cupcakes, pies, brownies, etc. If youâ€™ve got a sweet tooth like we do, I tell yah, youâ€™d probably spend a long time choosing what to order. We wanted to try everything, but we know we HAD to limit ourselves to just three. 😀

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J.CO Donuts and Coffee Philippines

A few days before Christmas, we were surprised with these three boxes of delights from J.CO Donuts and Coffee. This popular donuts and coffee brand that has satisfied the tastebuds of foodies in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and China is finally here in the Philippines! And I canâ€™t wait to show you whatâ€™s inside these boxes.

To give you a brief background on J.CO Donuts and Coffee, they opened their first store in Jakarta, Indonesia in 2005. Since then, they have opened over 100 branches across Malaysia, Singapore and just recently, in Shanghai, China. Our fellow Pinoy foodies who have travelled to these countries and got to taste of their premium donuts are for sure happy about this exciting news.

You might be thinking, oh, itâ€™s another donut shop and cafe. We thought so too, not having the slightest idea of how good their donuts were. So, we were pleasantly surprised with what was revealed to us when we opened these boxes.

First are these almond-covered donuts they call Al Capone. These are J.COâ€™s best seller and their signature flavor.

The donut is covered with white Belgian chocolate and then topped quite generously with almond slivers. Iâ€™m not a fan of nuts on my food, but Iâ€™m starting to really get used to it. I mean, how can I not enjoy these donuts?

The donut itself is soft to the bite (all of them were!) and the crunch from the almonds gave them a very interesting texture. It was my first time to taste such a delectable piece of donut so I looked forward to trying out the rest of their flavors.

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F Restaurant : A Flavorful Feast at BGC

It was the first day of December last year (sounded like a really long time ago eh?), we were headed to Bonifacio Global City in Taguig. It was a very familiar place to me since I used to work there at ePLDT Ventus so now, I always look forward to any opportunity that brings me to this same place where I spent two years working. This time though, the whole BGC is populated with more establishments everywhere you look and itâ€™ll take some time before we can try all the restaurants here.

The reason why we were at BGC : we were invited to dine at F Restaurant on the fifth floor of Best Western Premier F1 Hotel, the first hotel in the area and is located (strategically perhaps) in front of St. Lukeâ€™s Medical Center. Just by the sound of the name of the hotel where the resto is located, youâ€™d know our expectations were set high. 🙂

As soon as we entered, we were welcomed with a very festive scene â€“ beside two tall Christmas trees is this house made of candies, marshmallows, and other goodies. I began to understand Hansel and Gretel. 😉

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Gelatissimo Christmas of Chocolate Buy One Take One Promo : Until January 8th only!

I know, itâ€™s December and the cool breeze we get now even in the afternoon might not put you in the mood for anything iced or cold, but I just got to tell you a promo Gelatissimo is offering to anyone whoâ€™s subscribed to their newsletter â€“ a free scoop of their featured gelato for every scoop you buy.

Currently, you can avail of their buy one, take one promo on their 16 chocolate gelato flavors with their Christmas of Chocolate promo. Take note that this is only available until January 8th!

These are the 16 chocolate flavors you can choose from: Veronese Chocolate, Chocolate Fondant, Chocolate Sorbet, Belgian Chocolate, White Chocolate, Chocolate Truffle, Black Forest, Milk Chocolate, Chocolate Almond, Chocolate Orange, Chocolate Ganache, Chocolate Rum Cake, Chilli Chocolate and Sugar-free Chocolate.

You MUST present the voucher that they send out to their newsletter subscribers for you to avail of this. Simply go to the Gelatissimo website and click on the register link under â€œJoin our Mailing Listâ€ on the right. If youâ€™ve already subscribed and havenâ€™t received the voucher yet, leave your email below and weâ€™ll forward it to you. 😉

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