The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf = My Alarm Clock

December 01, 2010 – The day started early for me. I woke up at 5 o’clock in the morning to prepare breakfast for my family since my mom burned her hand. Then I went to school together with my boyfriend at 7am and waited for him to finish his class ‘til 9 o’clock. I felt sleepy because I woke up too early. I wanted to have coffee to keep me awake for the day and so we went to The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf in Eastwood. I ordered a small cup of hot brewed Hazelnut Coffee and my boyfriend ordered Ice Blended Pure Caramel. We also got a slice of Pistachio Sansrival to go with our drinks.

                           Pistachio Sansrival - Php135

I like sans rival even from way back before but since this one is made with Pistachio nuts instead of Cashew nuts, I liked it even better. Pistachio Sans rival is made of layers of buttercream and meringue and then sprinkled with lots of chopped toasted Pistachio Nuts. 

 The cake is appears scrumptious because the ingredients used are of high quality especially the buttercream (where you can easily notice if it is not made with premium butter). They used top quality butter that makes it creamy and provides the melt-in-the-mouth sensation. The meringue is well-made as well since it was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside but it would have been better if there are some bits of nuts mixed into the meringue before baking to add an extra crunch into it.

After finishing the cake and my coffee, I felt alive and awake at last!

My Rating:

     Pistachio Sansrival     8/10

Address:

     Eastwood City, beside A. Shop

The Sweet Kiss of Chocolates

November 30, 2010 – My sister, who is a freshman in UP, and I have been planning to try Chocolate Kiss Café which is found in “Bahay ng Alumni” that is very popular among students in UP. Since we both have long break time, my Boyfriend and I went to UP and met up with my sister. We then headed towards Chocolate Kiss and had our lunch there. I must say that their food tastes mediocre.

Devil’s Food Cake – Php70

After having our lunch, we ordered a slice of their specialty Devil’s Food Cake and a serving of Texas Square Sundae. My sister said that the Devil’s Food Cake is popular among most of her classmates, and my boyfriend claimed that it was his favourite when his Mom would take him to Chocolate Kiss. I got curious of what kind of cake is that Devil’s Food Cake but the moment I tasted it, I became a little disappointed since it was not able to keep up to my expectations. The cake was named as such because of the spikes formed by the icing. It is basically a chocolate cake with chocolate filling and an icing. Not only that there is nothing out-of-the-ordinary with this cake, it is also very dry and lacks the chocolate taste. To tell you the truth, I don’t really know why many people admire it.

                        Texas Square Sundae – Php115

Texas Square Sundae is composed of a generous slice of fudgy brownie, stick-o, a scoop of vanilla ice cream, and chocolate sauce. The fudgy brownie, as what it was described in the menu, that they used in the Texas Square Sundae was the same mixture with the one used in the Devil’s Food Cake. In short, it was also dry (not a hint of being fudgy) and was not chocolatey, although the ice cream and the chocolate sauce made it a little better.

Chocolate Kiss’ food offerings were not bad but not good as well. They were satisfying and the pricing is somewhat affordable.

 

My Rating:

     Devil’s Food Cake – 5/10

     Texas Square Sundae – 5/10

Address:

     2^nd Floor Bahay ng Alumni, UP Diliman, Quezon City

Stopping at Nothing when it comes to DESSERT!

November 29, 2010 – I went to Sweet Craft, a place where you can find anything you need for baking, to buy the chocolate that I need for making truffles (which will be given to my professor in Computer 1 as a souvenir for my presentation).

After buying all the ingredients I need, we stopped at Charlie’s to grab our lunch. I and my boyfriend both had Black Angus Burgers with Fries. They were very satisfying. We ordered a Turtle Pie for dessert but unfortunately, it was out of stock. But then we didn’t stop at that, we’ve got to have dessert! Beside Charlie’s stands Cab Café wherein we bought a slice of Strawberry Shortcake for dessert.

Strawberry Shortcake is made of 4 layers of shortcake (a sweet crumbly biscuit that is leavened by baking soda and/or baking powder), whipped cream, and strawberry jam. Cab café's version of strawberry shortcake does not taste like strawberry shortcake at all. It lacks the strawberry flavor since there is more whipped cream than strawberry jam.  In fact, Everything in the cake tastes dull. I also don't like the texture and the flavor of their whipped cream because it is made of commercialized cream that does not melt in room temperature.



Stawberry Shortcake - Php85 per slice



For me, the best desserts are made with the best ingredients. This cake was apparently made with average, if not bad, quality ingredients which makes the result also an average or even below average. I think they are trying to cut down on cost to be able to get more profit from their cakes but it wouldn't work because they cannot make a good dessert that people will want forever if they are using bad ingredients. If they want to gain money, they should work on pleasing their customer's palate first, not cutting back on them.

My Rating:

     Strawberry Shortcake - 2/10

Address:

     18 East Capitol Drive, Kapitolyo Pasig

     Tel. No. 634-0152

A Gourmet Dessert

November 28, 2010 – We went to Tagaytay to be able to break-in our two weeks-old car. When we got there, it was time for lunch and so we decided to eat at Säntis Delicatessen which is known for their premium steaks.

We ordered one serving of Caesar Salad, Arugula and Shrimp Salad, Pasta Arrabiatta, Minute Steak, and Rib-eye Steak with Mushroom Sauce. We wanted to make our lunch complete with dessert and so we ordered Praline Croquantine Timbale. Praline is a cooked mixture of sugar, nuts, and vanilla, often ground to a paste for use as a pastry. In this dessert, the hazelnut praline is mixed with the mousse mixture and then poured onto a timbale (a pastry mold in which something is baked or formed) to create a tower of hazelnut praline mousse.  

Praline Croquantine Timbale  – Php260

The plated dessert is composed of the timbale of dense mousse with lots of hazelnut bits in it and coated with croquantine (small pieces of wafers that resembles waffle cone texture and taste which is usually used in gourmet chocolates, truffles, or any desserts needing crunch) as the main element, whole jammed strawberry and slices of mangoes on the side, and strawberry sauce.

The mousse was served straight from the chiller, making it almost as cold as ice cream. The croquantine and the bits of nuts that made up the praline are the ones giving the crunch as well as the flavour into the mousse. This dessert is very refreshing especially with the fresh fruits eaten with it, but then the mango is a little too sour that it covers up the light flavour of the mousse. Next time, they should make sure that fruits are in good condition because they are also part of the dessert. If it’s just “pwede na”, then the dessert will completely be deemed as such.

The whole family loved it (except for the sour mango)!

My Rating:

     Praline Croquantine Timbale     8/10

Hot + Cold + Crunchy + Soft = Tempura Ice Cream

November 27, 2010 – It is a Saturday but still we have our class, *sigh*. Our first class ended early, that is why we decided to eat our lunch in Eastwood. We went to Ramen Bar because my boyfriend really loves their ramen and their Tempura Ice Cream, which is the one and only dessert that they offer.

We ordered one large bowl of ramen for us to share, one serving of Chahan (Japanese fried rice), together with Chasyu (Sliced Pork). And of course for our dessert, we ordered 2 servings of Tempura Ice Cream.

This dessert is very interesting since we all know that Tempura is a Japanese cooking style that requires the ingredient (whatever it is that you want to make tempura out of) to be dipped in a batter and then deep fried. How will you deep fry an ice cream? Quite thought-provoking and attention-grabbing, right? I was quite amazed myself because for an ice cream to have been fried, I was expecting a plate full of melted ice cream on it but I was a little impressed by its presentation. No drop of melted ice cream was on the plate and it does not melt as fast as you would expect it.

For further definition of the structure of Tempura Ice cream, it is created with: tempura batter, choux pastry (the same pastry that is used to make cream puffs and éclairs), scoops of vanilla ice cream, and chocolate sauce and stick-o as accompaniments.

Ramen Bar’s Tempura Ice Cream – Php120

To answer the question of how it is fried; first, they will have to preheat the oil so that the temperature will be reached right after they are done preparing what is to be fried. They cut the top of the baked choux pastry so much so that they can put a scoop of well-frozen ice cream in it. They cover it with the cut part as though they haven’t removed it and then dip it into the tempura batter. Right after dipping it into the batter, it goes straight to the hot oil, hot to the point that it will instantly cook the batter in one second, and then they will remove it instantly.

The reason why the ice cream is not melted is because the tempura ice cream was shocked into a hot oil in the least possible time, which makes it unable to penetrate the inside of the choux pastry. When you put something into very hot oil, the tendency is for it to cook from the outside to the inside, making the food crispy outside and soft inside. In this case, the only element of the dessert that needs to be cooked is the batter which is very fast to cook making it possible to be removed from the oil before the heat will even penetrate the choux pastry.

I love this dessert because it is very creatively done and because they were able to combine hot and cold, and soft and crispy into one dessert. But the taste is actually a mediocre since the vanilla ice cream, which is not homemade and can be bought in any supermarket, is the one that gives the dessert its flavour.

My Rating:

     Tempura Ice Cream     8/10

Address:

     Eastwood City (in the middle of Cookbook Kitchen and O’sonho), Libis, QC

From Worst to Mediocre...

November 26, 2010 – After being disappointed with what we had at Bake and Churn, we looked for something better to have as dessert after dinner. We saw a recently opened shop named Bean and Baker and bought a slice of Chocolate Blackout Cake. Their specialty is Blueberry Streusel Cheesecake but I didn’t want to have that because I myself can make it well.

  Chocolate Blackout Cake – Php110

The Chocolate Blackout Cake is composed of an approximately 2 by 2 slice of chocolate cake with rich chocolate icing on top, sprinkled with small bits of sliced brownies with some nuts on it, and finally drizzled with chocolate and caramel fudge.

The base of the cake lacks moisture but the sweetness is just right. The chocolate icing adds a little moisture into the cake and it put in additional chocolate flavour as well. The brownie pieces on top were unnoticeable once you pop the cake in your mouth, in short, it is just a decoration. The fudge topping adds sweetness into the cake and makes it somewhat gooey.

Overall, the Chocolate Blackout Cake was alright but it is just an average cake. There is no element in the cake that will make one go back to the store and buy another piece of it.

My Rating:

     Chocolate Blackout Cake - 4/10

Address:

     SM Supercenter Pasig, Frontera Verde, C5, Brgy. Ugong, Pasig City

The Worst Cake I Have Ever Tasted!!!

November 26, 2010 – I had an unexpected craving for food today! I really wanted to eat Putanesca. My Mom will not be able to cook our dinner since she’ll be accompanying my little brother to buy toys as a reward for being second honor in school, and for that reason I was tasked to cook something for dinner. Of course I chose to cook Putanesca.

After our class, my boyfriend escorted me to SM Supercenter Pasig to buy the ingredients that I’ll need for the Putanesca. After shopping, my boyfriend went to ACE Hardware to buy some materials for his project while I was just sitting somewhere in the food court. When he went out the store, he saw that stall named Bake and Churn and asked me if I want to try it. Well I said yes of course since it sounds kind of interesting to have a cake and an ice cream put together.



French Chocolate - Php60 per slice



We went to the stall and asked for their specialty and the storekeeper said that it is the French Chocolate. Therefore we ordered a slice of French Chocolate and ate it right away. Me and my boyfriend were both disappointed with the ice cream cake. Considering that it is their specialty, it should have been very good but it turned out to be the other way around. The cake was very dry since it has been frozen (the moisture was lost) and there is nothing French about the chocolate that they used. Even the ice cream does not taste well. For me, it is better to have a dirty ice cream that Manong Sorbetero sells on the street.

When I visit a store for the first time, I often ask what their specialty is and I usually order that because if they say that it is their specialty then it is the best that they have to offer... It is what they are good at doing. Having said that, I don’t think I’ll be going to that stall ever again because if their specialty tastes that bad, I don’t expect the others to be tasting better. 

My Rating:

     French Chocolate – 1/10 (merely for its existence)

Address:

     Food Court, SM Supercenter Pasig, Frontera Verde, C5, Brgy. Ugong, Pasig City

The Red Palace...

November 25, 2010 – I have two classes today, one at 9am and the other at 4:30pm. I have 6 hours in between to do anything I want. And since my boyfriend had to buy something from the mall, we ended up shopping at SM Taytay with my Mom.

Seaweeds and Century Egg

After a lot of walking, we finally get to eat lunch at a Chinese seafood restaurant called Red Palace. We ordered a serving of Seaweeds and Century Egg, Squid Salt and Pepper, Lechon Macau, and a platter of Yang Chow Fried Rice. The seaweeds are lacking a little flavour into it but the rest tastes good especially the squid.
   

Squid Salt and Pepper

  

Yang Chow Fried Rice



   

   

Lechon Macau

 

To end our lunch, we had a serving of Mango Pudding which is basically mango gelatine but this one has two layers; one layer is opaque since it is mixed with some milk or something that makes it creamy, and the other one is transparent which is because it is essentially just mango-flavoured gelatine. There is also some fresh mango bits incorporated in the pudding that adds flavour into it.

 

Mango Pudding - Php80



 The pudding is served cold with evaporated milk and a slice of cherry on top as garnish. It was a very simple dessert yet it was very appropriate to our heavy and oily lunch because the flavour of the pudding was very fresh and light.



My Rating:

     Mango Pudding – 6/10

Address:

     Ground Floor, SM Taytay



My Encounter with a Heavenly Chocolate Cake!

November 24, 2010 – My class for this day starts late in the afternoon and so I have a lot of free time on hand. In the morning, I was working on some project of mine and then when my mom drove my sister to school after lunch, my boyfriend and I decided to go to Eastwood to find something good to eat for dessert and also to buy some materials for his project to be able to maximize our free time.

We have already tried dining in UCC Park Café for about two or three times and the experiences were great since they serve tasty and filling dishes but we are yet to try their cake offerings. Since we want something excellent for dessert, we went to UCC and choose among their lip-smacking selection of cakes. It took us several minutes to decide on what to have until we ended up ordering their Midnight Decadence served with Vanilla ice cream and it turned out to be the right decision.

 



Midnight Decadence - Php205++



  

  Midnight Decadence is composed of layers of super moist chocolate cake and chocolate filling served warm with caramel sauce on top. The cake is also accompanied with a scoop of vanilla ice cream which is great when eaten together with the warm cake. Although there is no variety of textures, the excitement factor still comes in due to the play in temperature; the combination of warm and cold. Another thing that makes Midnight Decadence superior than any other chocolate cake is that it is extremely chocolatey, very moist, and super gooey, yet it is not so sweet that you can eat as much as you want (although it can make your belly grow bigger if you eat too much of course).

This is how our plate looked like after enjoying the cake

I am not really fond of chocolate cakes but this one is truly awesome. It is the best chocolate cake that I have ever tasted so far (I’ll keep you posted on the next ones). My boyfriend loved it very much as well; it was love at first bite for him and he wants to have a taste of it again on our next visit. Another favourite!

My Rating:

     Midnight Decadence – 9/10

Address:

     Ground Floor 1800 Eastwood City

Mikedee's Chocolate Balls...

November 23, 2010 – We were required to go to BIR Quezon City for a project in school. I went there together with my boyfriend and my group mates. Unfortunately, our request has been rejected after all that we’ve been through, going up and down the stairs looking for the right person to talk to. Right after our business in BIR, I asked my boyfriend to get us something to eat because my tummy was really grumbling so hard. So we stopped at UP-Ayala Techno Hub once again and went to Mikedee’s Restaurant and Bar. I didn’t want to eat something oily and heavy  because I feel that I’m gonna throw-up if I do thus I just ordered a platter of BBQ Chopped Chicken Salad with Ranch Dressing while my boyfriend had a Black Angus Burger with Fries. The salad was very tasty and delicious that I gained back my appetite after having my first 4 or 5 bites. In fact, I almost finish the whole platter but I did share some with my boyfriend of course.



Chocolate Balls served in
Chilled Cocktail Glass - Php65 (5 pieces)



After having my appetite back to normal, my boyfriend ordered something for dessert. Since Mikedee’s is an American style restaurant, all they have for dessert are chocolate balls and ice creams. We ordered two servings of Chocolate Balls (5 pieces each) but then we were not able to finish even one serving so we just took it home. As the name implies, chocolate balls are chocolate formed into balls with a strawberry center and rolled in desiccated coconut. It is like a chocolate truffle but then the chocolate does not melt in your mouth which denotes that the chocolate is not of high quality. The strawberry center does not really contribute to the taste since the amount is very minimal. Lastly, I am not into the desiccated coconut so I really didn’t appreciate it.

My Rating:

     Chocolate Balls     3/10

Address:

     UP-Ayala Techno Hub, Quezon City

THREE desserts after ONE meal...

November 22, 2010 – I had a long Monday with my mom, my sister, and my boyfriend. We went to Quezon Avenue to look for a book, available only at C&E Book Shop, that my sister is required to buy. I haven’t been in that area before and so everything is unfamiliar with me. Beside the Book Store stands a Café, Gourmet Restaurant, and Bakeshop named Dolcelatte.

Since it was new to my sight, I went inside to look for something nice to try and saw an array of beautifully decorated cakes. We have plans on where to eat for lunch so I just rummaged around their cake offerings. As usual, I asked for their specialty and the waiter said that the cheesecakes are their best sellers. But I didn’t want to have a cheesecake that is why I chose to buy one mini Opera Torte, because I got curious with its name, one slice of Dulce de Leche, which my boyfriend picked, and one Toffee Banana, which is chosen by my mom. We just ordered it for take-out and ate it after having our lunch in Kanin Club located at UP-Ayala Land Techno Hub. 



Opera Torte - Php 120



The Opera Torte is composed of three layers of Chocolate Ganache (a glaze, icing, or filling for pastries made from chocolate and cream), Mocha Buttercream, and the cake layer. It is designed with a butterfly-shaped chocolate on top and fenced with hardened chocolate. What’s interesting about this cake is that there are some bits of cassava (I think) mixed with the cake layer that adds flavour and a chunky texture to the cake. When you bite into the cake, you can taste its chocolatiness and its creaminess, but then the combination is just right due to the cassava bits that hold back the sweetness.



Dulce de Leche - Php 110/slice



The Dulce de Leche cake is quite simple. It’s basically a chiffon cake filled and coated with Dulce de leche and then sprinkled with toasted almond flakes. For yema lovers, this will be a hit as much as it became one with my boyfriend. But for me, this cake is just too plain. The sweetness is countered by the plain chiffon cake but then it was too dry that it leaves no impact in my taste buds. I would rather eat the Dulce de Leche with tasty bread than  to have it with a dry chiffon cake.

Toffee Banana - Php 120

Last but not the least is the Toffee Banana which is just like a banoffee pie. There is a crust made of graham crumbs, drizzled generously with chocolate and caramel sauce, layered with slices of lakatan banana and then topped with dollops of whipped cream and finished with milk and white chocolate shavings on top. Many bakeshops are serving banoffee pies and I must say that there is nothing special with Dolcelatte’s version. In fact, the one offered in Starbucks is a lot better than theirs. 

Overall, I did not find anything amazing or out of the ordinary with the cakes that I’ve had but then it was worth trying.  I like the restaurant setting though and I am looking forward to dining there since they offer fresh pasta dishes in their menu (I am also a huge fan of pastas). Yum Yum!!!

My Rating:

     Opera Torte          5/10

     Dulce de Leche     5/10

     Toffee Banana       6/10  


Address:

     1616 Quezon Ave. South Triangle

     Quezon City, Metro Manila

     (02) 425-0313 loc 109 to 110

  

Toblerone Overload without Toblerone? Huh???

November 19, 2010 – I, together with my sister, brother, my mom, and my boyfriend went out together after school and ate an early dinner at banapple. We were not able to have dessert in banapple because we needed to go back home as soon as we’ve finished our meal. A minute away from banapple, I saw a store named Cake to go and we stopped there to be able to try it out. I asked for their specialty and bought a slice for take-out. All the cakes look delicious but then I wanted to try their best-seller first which is the Toblerone Overload.

As implied by its name, I was expecting Toblerone Overload to have lots of Toblerone® pieces in it but I was upset to find nothing at all. The cake is basically a two-toned mousse, a milk chocolate and a white chocolate layer, with a crust made of crushed cookies and then topped with some fine chocolate cake crumbs that melt in your mouth. Why is it called Toblerone Overload when there is no hint of Toblerone® in it? I don’t really know, maybe because the taste was inspired by Toblerone® chocolate. In essence, they simply tried to imitate the flavour of the Toblerone® chocolate and the sad part is that they did it poorly.  The cake is too creamy and too sweet and there is nothing to neutralize it, making it very much nakakauta. Every layer of the cake is so soft and airy that it instantly melts once you pop it in your mouth. I find this cake really boring because as I have said in my previous post about Conti’s Mango Bravo, a cake without an assortment of texture and flavour is really bland and uninteresting. In fact, that slice of cake is still not finished yet up to now because I just had two or three tiny bites and I don’t plan to have another taste of it anymore.

It’s better for me to just buy a piece of Toblerone® in the supermarket than to go back to that store and buy a Toblerone Overload.

My Rating:
     Toblerone Overload   2/10


Contact Numbers (for Delivery Services):
     San Juan - 4142585 / 0922-890 2253
     Timog - 3325309 / 0922-893 2253
     Banawe - 4105714 / 0922-844 2253
     Katipunan - 4381513 / 0922-891 2253
     Paranaque - 8253257 / 0922-8 2253 68
     Don Antonio - 3516288 / 0922-8 2253 63