Desserts / Ice Cream Archives - Page 6 of 12

A Memorable Dinner at Cafe 1771

After months of planning and waiting for just the right time to officially kick off The Burp Society, we finally did it at Cafe 1771, a very posh cafe in El Pueblo. It was one night of almost unadulterated fun with our newfound foodie friends over scrumptious food at a gorgeously designed restaurant.

Photos taken from their Facebook page.

It was meant to be. The Chateau Group invited us and The Burp Society (TBS) over for dinner and drinks at WineBar 1771 to introduce us to what they have to offer. With my growing love for wine, I was excited, plus the fact that it’s going to be TBS’ very first meet-up. However, since the date we chose was very close to the holidays, only the private room in Cafe 1771’s The Lounge was available. Still, our anticipation never wavered. Besides, we’ve heard only raves about the restaurant from fellow food bloggers.

Cafe 1771 is a member of the Chateau 1771 Group of Restaurants that includes Chateau 1771 in Greenbelt 5, Sentro 1771 in Greenbelt 3 and Serendra, and Sidebar in El Pueblo. I’ve heard about their restaurant concepts before, but it was my first time to finally dine in one of them. It was a wonderful introduction and I can’t wait to go back.

We had a huge spread of deliciously unique food from Cafe 1771 that night, so I’ll be writing about the meet-up in a separate post. But, more details would be on The Burp Society’s site.

Cafe 1771 is located in El Pueblo along ADB Avenue in Ortigas. It’s easy to find them because of the Colonial-themed facade that’s painted white, with tints of black on their windows.

At night, the restaurant looks like a newly-constructed Colonial house, with almost an eery feel that I was tempted to use vignette effects on the photos I took. 😀

As soon as you enter, you’ll immediately feel welcomed by everyone at Cafe 1771. The interiors made me wish I can take photos with my eyes. Everywhere you look, you’ll find something strikingly vibrant and beautiful. Boy, we were all camera-crazy that night! Even the restrooms were eloquently designed. No, I didn’t take a photo inside, but it was only because I left my phone and camera at the table. 😀

Cafe 1771 The Whimsy and The Lounge

The restaurant is divided into two areas – The Whimsy and The Lounge – each offering a dining experience unique from the other. WineBar 1771 is located on the third floor.

For diners who are looking for a more casual breakfast, lunch or dinner, there’s The Whimsy. It’s the area that you see first as soon as you enter Cafe 1771.

It’s brightly lit and as you look around, you’ll agree that the name was fancifully appropriate. Shades of pink and blue are on chairs and the walls, playfully setting the mood to a fun meal.

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Bizu Patisserie Delighftul Holiday Gift Sets

It’s that time of the year again when people are specially sweet and giving towards others. For many, finding the perfect holiday gift may be an issue. But, with Bizu Patisserie holiday gift sets, you can’t go wrong. 🙂

Bizu Patisserie is a French-inspired pastry shop where one can indulge in exquisite breads, pastries and even savory treats. We’ve written about them before when they celebrated their tenth year, and have visited them a couple of times after and we can attest to how they live up to their motto, “A taste of Joie de Vivre” (joy of living).

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FREE Gelato at Gelatissimo : Join Club Gelato!

To celebrate Gelatissimo Philippines‘ fourth anniversary / birthday, they are offering ALL Club Gelato members FREE gelato on November 18, 2012, from 11am to 6pm. We’ve featured Gelatissimo here before – our first gelato experience. Now, they’re our favorite gelato go-to place, so we’re sure you’re going to enjoy their gelato too. 🙂

How can you get FREE gelato?

All you have to do is join Gelatissimo’s Club GelatoÂ (click to be directed to the site)Â and you should receive a voucher through email. Print that voucher and present it on November 18th at any of the Gelatissimo branches listed below, from 11am to 6pm, and get ONE FREE SINGLE CUP or CONE gelato.

Only one (1) voucher per person and this can’t be used with any other offers / promos. Also, make sure you bring an ID ’cause they might ask for it to verify your membership, probably. I’m pretty sure tons of people will troop to Gelatissimo for this, so just to be safe, prepare an ID. 🙂

Read our review of Gelatissimo in Trinoma.

Gelatissimo Branches:

Ayala Centre CebuÂ – Stall G-100, Garden Level â€˜The Terracesâ€™, Ayala Centre Cebu, Cebu Business Park, Archbishop Reyes Avenue, Cebu City 6000
Greenbelt 5Â – Space 2-045 Second Floor, Greenbelt 5 Ayala Center Makati, Metro Manilla 1200
Serendra PiazzaÂ – Serendra, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig 1630
SM City CebuÂ – Ctr 106, Upper Ground Level, SM City Cebu, North Reclamation Area, Barangay Mabolo, Cebu City 6000
SM NorthwingÂ – Upperground Level, SM City North Wing North Reclamation Area Cebu 6000 +63 922 8834 605
TriNomaÂ – Level 4, Epifanio de los Santos Avenue, cnr North Avenue Quezon City 1100 +63 2 915 9777

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Quench Your Thirst with J.CO Beverages + New Donuts to Love!

We gushed and told you how much we love J.CO donuts. It’s not just about how yummy their donuts are, but it’s more on the creativity behind each flavor they offer. So, it was not surprising that they’re maintaining this level of uniqueness with their beverage concoctions. J.CO Donuts and Coffee is here to prove that, truly, they’re not your usual donut place. 🙂

Excited to try their beverages and the other donut flavors I haven’t tasted yet, my nanay and I trooped to their nearest branch – Trinoma. There was a long line of people inside, which, quite frankly, discouraged me. There were about 15 people in front of me and it took about 45 minutes to an hour before I finally got my turn. Everyone was ordering like 2-3 dozens each! 😀

Sadly, many of the donut flavors and the beverages I wanted initially were no longer available when I got to the counter. So, I opted to order their Iced Thai Tea. Good thing I was able to convince my nanay to try the Cafe Avocado. I wanted the Cappuccino Avocado, but for some reason, it wasn’t available.

Anyway, if you think that the combination of avocado, coffee and chocolate is plain weird, you’d be surprised. It was delightful! Made me wish they were still serving Cappuccino Avocado when we were there ’cause I’m sure it’ll have a more intense kick of avocado. We’ll come back next time for that, probably on a weekday when there’s a shorter queue.

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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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Binulo Restaurant : A Foodie Haven in Pampanga

Pampanga is dubbed as the Culinary Capital of the Philippines. No doubt about it, they truly deserve the title for every time I hear “Pampanga,” two of their most popular fare always come to mind – pork sisig and, my ultimate favorite, pork tocino. But stopping over at Binulo Restaurant in Clark, Pampanga for dinner after our short stay in Baguio proved that Capampangan cuisine has more delectable food to offer.

Binulo Restaurant is a single-storey establishment, but yet it’s quite roomy, and the tables are adequately spaced, providing guests more room for movement. The name of the restaurant is actually taken after a cooking method of the native Aeta, which uses bamboo or “bulo” as the cooking vessel for their food.

The first thing that landed on our table was a basket of Pititian with Atchara (Php 185). It’s the Kapampangan (or Capampangan) version of chicharon or fried pork rinds (if you love Cebu’s chicharon from Carcar, you will definitely love this too!), and it is served with vinegar and green papaya relish or atsara.

Usually at home, chicharon and vinegar would be more than enough for me, but coupling it with papaya relish added an interestingly sweet and tangy note that made it harder for me to resist stuffing myself full, leaving almost no space for the rest of our meal. 😀

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Indulge in Vermont Classic Frozen Custard by FIC

The weather might be gloomy and it might not be the best time to enjoy anything cold, but you can’t deny the fact that when you’re stuck at home with family or friends, nothing beats a movie or TV series marathon with your favorite comfort food. And Fruits in Ice Cream has something new and delightful for all of us: Vermont Classic Frozen Custard, their latest dessert creation.

Frozen Custard?

FIC is the first to introduce this frozen custard treat to the Philippines. You might be wondering how it’s different from ice cream. Frozen custard is actually the same as ice cream except it has a higher concentration of egg yolks and is churned more slowly, making this dessert richer and more indulgent. When you see French ice cream on a menu, that’s another name for frozen custard. (Oh, and Ken has a recipe that doesn’t require an ice cream maker) 🙂

When FIC sent over a cup each of their Vermont Classic Frozen Custard base flavors, we were pleasantly surprised to see everything else that came with the package. Aside from the 3 varieties – French Vanilla, Brownie Batter and Cheesecake – we got an assortment of toppings and a recipe card.

Ken and I tasted each of the flavors first before we combined the toppings based on the recipes, and we literally had a hard time figuring out which one’s our favorite ’cause they’re all darn yummy! Usually, I’d go for anything chocolicious, but the tanginess of the cheesecake flavor and the creamy goodness of the French vanilla was too irresistible. The Brownie Batter still ended up as my top favorite because it has this slight bitterness to it that I love about dark chocolate. 🙂

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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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Haagen-Dazs Up to 50% OFF Sale + Must-Try Local Ice Cream

Last week of June, we wrote about Haagen-Dazs closing all their Philippines stores. To cap off their stay here, they are holding a massive “clearance” sale. You can now buy Haagen-Dazs ice cream for UP TO 50% OFF (note that not all products are sold at half off)!

Here are the participating stores and supermarkets nationwide (Metro Manila, Baguio, Pampanga, Tarlac, Pangasinan, Cebu, Bacolod, Davao, CDO, Gensan, etc) that are selling Haagen-Dazs ice cream at half off (click image to view a larger version):

The promo will end on September 15, 2012, so you still have 2 months to grab all the Haagen-Dazs ice cream you can get before they finally say goodbye to the PH. We’re planning on checking the Haagen-Dazs products and their sale prices at S&R and Landmark Trinoma to see if they’re worth the fuzz. If you can give us feedback, let us know at the comments section.

NOTE: This promo was posted on Haagen-Dazs Philippines’ official Facebook page.

Like what we’ve said before, we’re not completely saddened by this news about Haagen-Dazs stopping their sales here since there are a ton of other selections available to us Pinoys that are much cheaper and even uniquely ours. We’ve got artisan ice cream makers who produce high quality frozen products at various numbingly delightful flavors, so don’t fret. 🙂

Last time, we told you about the other ice cream brands you can continue to enjoy like Magnum and other Selecta products, Magnolia, Nestle, and even Arcee Dairy (wait for our upcoming ice cream series!). Now, let’s share with you our favorite artisan ice cream makers:

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