First and foremost, Happy New Year dear readers! I can’t believe that its almost 3 years now and my blog is still going strong.

I am always on the look out for not only new places to try but good places to eat at. Although this might not be entirely be a new place it certainly is new to me. Yabu definitely excites me. With promises of deep fried pork or chicken with the Katsu sauce and authentic Japanese rice, I was eager to troop down to Megamall on a Saturday afternoon for this.

To be honest, Megamall usually doesn’t hold too much promise in terms of foodie finds. I mean c’mon the mall is a behemoth more suited towards shopping and designer brands.

But I’ve learned never to judge a location for what it might hold and I’ve surprised myself many times.

Actually, Megamall holds some of my favorite food places around the metro with it having one of the last El Pollo Loco branches that I can think of, and H.K. Choi for my chinese fix.

Here comes Yabu: The House of Katsu.

Boasting of highest quality ingredients, I was excited to try some of their best selling dishes to see what the craze was all about.

The staff was polite and accommodating even though the restaurant was full. Luckily there was a table right away and we didn’t have to wait.

Gisa was kind enough to accompany me on this hot saturday afternoon so as I won’t have to dine alone! Thanks again Gisa!

The table contained all the condiments but none of the traditional ones. We had sesame seed pig, the katsu sauce, japanese mayo and sesame seeds for the salad and vinaigrette.

We quickly ordered our appetizers. One order contains 2. You have to pick which 2 combination you wanted. We settled on the seaweed and tofu. It promptly appeared as we were starting to get into our conversation.

The tofu was high quality japanese tofu. It was supple and tasty. It didn’t taste as if it bland. It was really tasty.

The seaweed was altogether a story on its own. It was simply divine. Throughout the meal, Gisa kept going back to the seaweed. It was a bit sweet with just a subtle hint of tanginess. It really prepares you for the meal to come and luckily I wasn’t disappointed.

I tend to begin my articles about restaurants with items which are not really my favorites. But for this meal I didn’t know where to start. I mean seriously everything was really good. But let me attempt to begin.

I am not a huge fan of curry. In fact, I don’t really particularly like it. I’ve only liked  one curry so far in my travels, Singapore’s Beach Road Scissor Cut Curry rice. (search my blog and you’ll see!) But I have to admit, this came pretty close. (Nav’s Penang Curry also comes close) I enjoyed the Chicken cutlet deep fried and eaten with the soft sticky japanese rice. The curry was just right. I chose to go HOT but in reality it wasn’t spicy at all. It just had a little it of a spice to it but nothing to really scorch the palette.

The meals came in nice huge ceramic plates and I really appreciated eating with ceramic dishware as compared to plastic!

And now for the main course. I ordered the Kurobata or Pork Katsu. For those of you wondering what Katsu means, the word katsu, is an abbreviation of the word katsuretsu which means cutlet.

But before I indulge you with photos, one must prepare the Katsu Sauce. The restaurant will give you a bowl full of sesame seeds along with a pestel.

You basically ground the sesame seeds using the pestel until they are almost of powdery consistency.

The waiter mentioned that 2 scoops should be enough, but I like a lot of sauce on my rice and pork so I poured in more than 2 scoops! If you run out of the sesame seeds you can always add more via the PIG container on the table.

You should basically come up with something like this.

Finally my kurobota. This was one of the best Tonkatsu’s I have ever tasted. The pork meat was tender and flavorful. It was perfectly done but not over fried so much so that it lost its juicyness or that it was burnt. The coating was also just right as I didn’t feel that it was over coated so much so that it lost its taste.

Over all it was one of the best Tonkatsu meals I’ve ever tasted. Succulent pork. Authentic Japanese Rice. The sauce was amazing in itself. I really had an enjoyable time. The waiters were attentive and the manager was knowledgable about the items on the menu. If ever you are in megamall, I urge you to give Yabu a try! Definitely a great way to start my blogging year.

Thanks to Isay for the heads up on this resto!

Yabu: The House of Katsu

2nd Floor, The Atrium, SM Megamall

http://www.yabuhouseofkatsu.com/

So Jamba Juice finally opened in Manila and it took awhile considering how Americanized we are. The place was pretty new and in the nice part of Manila. Basically Jamba Juice serves up different kinds of smoothies with different “shots” for energy, immunity, etc. They combine different fruits and the franchise is actually quite famous in the US.

I love how if I’m not happy with my smoothie they will change it. I haven’t tried it though but I will definitely try to do it. I quickly asked the lady at the counter what their best seller was and was give Razmatazz. It was a combination of different berries but basically the predominant flavour was Raspberry. I’m not particularly fond of raspberry but it was ok.

I went for the smallest size which was 16oz.

To be honest, I don’t really know how to feel about my drink. I was a bit confused. I got energy shot to go with my drink. The fruits were fresh. None of the fruits tasted sour as if they weren’t ripe or anything.

It’s exactly like Fruit Magic but with the added branding of Jamba Juice. The 16 oz. cup cost P120

I can’t make any recommendation as of this posting because I don’t know enough about Jamba Juice. I’ll definitely try this again just to see if I really like it.

*on a side note, all photos taken with an iPhone 4 and I’m quite impressed with the results.

Its been getting colder lately. The wind smells a little different and you just know that Christmas season will soon be here! I love this kind of weather! You can wear those jackets that you’ve been keeping in your closet and those scarves that you bought but never knew when to use except when in another country. But before this turns into a fashion post, there are far more better things I love that comes with cooler weather. It makes sense now to drink warm drinks! Warm coffee being one of my favorites, but even more so Hot Chocolate. I mean c’mon, who doesn’t love hot chocolate?

The other week, I gave a talk about blogging and marketing at a recent convention (yes it’s because of my day job) and aside from actually meeting Bo Sanchez, (who spoke before me btw!) came a nice care package after. Inside the box were a lot of various food items and this can of Ghirardelli Hot Chocolate powder was in it. I decided to try it with my favorite milk, and I knew this was going to be a staple with me for a very long time!

Forgive the image quality. I only had my Oly EP-1 with standard kit lens for this. I just realized I just had to share this with people. I love how rich the chocolate was without being too sweet. I don’t like drinks that are all sweet and sugary. No taste at all. This was thick and full bodied chocolate drink!

I always keep this beside my desk in the office. You see our a/c has somewhat of grudge being stuck in a tropical country. As such, it tries to turn our office into a little antartica at times. But nothing like a warm cup of chocolate to help warm your soul.

Here’s how I do it. Really quick and easy!

Basically here’s what you need:

I use Harvey Fresh Full Cream Milk. Just because from my experience it tends to have a fuller body when mixed, beaten, blended, and you add things to it.

I then pop that baby in the microwave and heat the milk for 3-5 mins.

I like my milk warm and drinkable as compared to really piping hot just so I can really enjoy the full taste of the chocolate. Some people might enjoy it hotter, so just leave it a bit longer.

I then throw in my first TBSP of Ghrirardelli hot choco.

For some people this is enough. But I like my thick.

So for mine, I add another TBSP!

Give it a quick toss about and then its done!

I don’t know where you can buy this, so if anyone knows can you kindly leave a comment below and share with me! I want to stock up for Christmas!!!!

I’m a huge fan of breakfast. Not only do I think it’s the most important meal of the day, I think it’s also the best tasting. You cannot go wrong with any breakfast meal. From our traditional SILOGs (i.e. Tapsilog, Tocilog, Longsilog, Hotsilog, etc) to the more foreign continental bacon and eggs, pancakes, and waffles, to the more asian like Kaya Toast and Teh Tarik at the local Kopi Tiam, breakfast is really my favorite meal of the day. When I was in Singapore, I would adore the early morning walk to the local Kopi Tiam to get my fix of Kopi or Teh Tarik, Kaya toast, and soft boiled eggs. I ate this non-stop for the 2 weeks I was there. Yes I was indeed happy. When I was in Malaysia, I would wander off to the local Buharry or Mamak and order any kind of Mee they had and or Rojak or Roti and cold Milo and I was also happy. Now, why can’t we have something similar in Manila?

Flapjacks is indeed a breakfast place! Serving breakfast the whole day, along with other regular dishes, I appreciate that they have a branch open in Greenhills. After a quick run around the area, I would settle in to get my fix of Pancakes, Sausages, Bacon, and eggs. The thought alone would get me through my 5km run!

For today, since Flapjacks gave me a credit line to treat my readers, I tweeted over at @carlospalmaaa and @foodiemanila:

I was just wondering if someone would really show or would I really have to finish all the food by myself? Luckily a few readers showed up. *I asked if they wanted a photo on my site, but they were too shy to pose so no photos! but you know who you are!*

So instead, I’ll be posting the food they ate!

I ordered the continental breakfast because it had everything I wanted in a breakfast. Pancakes, Bacon, Eggs (sunny side up!) and Sausages! I ordered Orange Juice to wash down everything as well.

My breakfast was absolutely divine. Fluffy and light pancakes, well cooked eggs and sausage, and crispy bacon to boot! It also had a side of fruit consisting of pineapples and watermelons. This was a really heavy breakfast enough to tide me over for my photowalk that day over at Binondo. (Something I’d have to do again but this time for food!)

A reader ordered the Flapjacks Burger with Hashbrown.

According to the reader, the hashbrown was nicely cooked and not overly soaking in oil. The burger patty was full of beefy flavor. I guess she really enjoyed this meal.

Her friend ordered the chicken longsilog.

She really like the longsilog as well. It wasn’t greasy and wasn’t “malansa” at all. It tasted like the real pork counterpart and she quite enjoyed herself.

It was really nice having breakfast with some readers and talking about Food and Food adventures. I learned of a few restaurants that they apparently visited and was really good. I should really get to blogging again soon.

I hope to meet some of you guys soon!

Thanks to Flapjacks for helping me share this with my readers!

I’ve never been a big fan of cakes. It was something I enjoyed eating but somehow I never craved for it. Maybe because of the abundance of it during my childhood years was the culprit that I just lost all taste for it. We would have Sara Lee buttercake as dessert from dinner or one of the many remnants of cakes from Tita Heny’s bakeshop. She would bring a box load and ask us to sample the cakes and let her know which ones we liked best. Thus, cake was never something we were short off in the house. But aside from the many cakes we would have, my mom would also dabble occasionally from the traditional chiffon towards one of the best treats in the house strawberry shortcake. (Which I absolutely enjoy making as well!)

So imagine my pleasure when one of my readers decided to send over her very own cake creations. Tinka Zosa sent me an email asking if I would like to have some cake with her. And I mean c’mon who says no to cake? We exchanged a few emails and decided to meet one sunny Wednesday.

During my correspondence with Tinka, she briefly explained that her experience in baking started with learning the skills in CCA, Manila, Ms. Heny Sison and with Mr. Jun Florendo  and schools in America (Institute of Culinary Education , New York and  The Wilton Cake Decorating School , Illinois) . She also worked in hotels and resorts in America and Australia which helped her hone her skills and learn new techniques.

Reading her extensive background I was quite eager to really try out some of her creations and luckily she brought 2 of her best cakes with her, both of which were at least 8″ in diameter! I had lots to share with my officemates!

The first cake that I was eager to try was the Chocolate Mudslide. An 8″ chocolate chiffon cake covered in gooey chocolate sauce with a hint of caramel at the bottom.

This was a chocolate lovers dream cake! The chocolate was nice and thick and the relative viscosity of the sauce was quite thick.

See that tiny orchid looking flower on top? Yes. Its edible. Made from sugar, the artistry of the flower was impeccable.

Although I would have preferred if the chiffon was a bit more moist but it was fairly ok.

The other cake was something that was/is more familiar. It was a butter-rum cake covered in fondant icing with handmade flower icing.

Again the butter cake was really good.

The fondant was smooth and didn’t taste of sugar. It wasn’t too sweet which I thought was perfect because I prefer my cakes to be more sumptuous rather than sweet.

As I sliced the butter-rum cake you could see spots with in the butter cake which indicated the rum. What I liked about it was that every bite tasted of rum. It didn’t taste like she scrimped on the alcohol which was awesome.

Over all as you can tell from our pantry the cakes were all gone. It seemed like everyone loved Tinka’s cakes. I’m proud to report to Tita Heny that one of her students did well.

If you’d like to try Tinka’s cakes send her an email at amethystbakehouse@yahoo.com or send her an sms at 0927.917.8797

Science and Food has long been intertwined. From the very first man who decided to hold raw meat over an open flame gastronomy was born. Elements Gastrolounge seeks to mold together two things that the greenbelt area is known for, good food and good drinks. Drawing from the inspiration of a basement laboratory, the lounge offers your not-so-common barchow with a unique twist. The personality of the owners really shine through as each dish is signature and quite unique and equally good. But if you think Food is all they offer then you have to sit down and chillout for a few hours. As unique as the food was, the drinks were even more unique. Some of them served in test tubes with a test tube holder, some in beakers, truly sticking with the theme. Elements Gastrolounge is a place where you come for the food, but stay for the drinks.

Located where Bedspace used to be, the current bar transforms that particular nook into a more relaxed area, where one can head on over after a hard day’s work and have some good food, and even better drinks. They also offer the occasional acoustic night where one can actually jam with the band and just generally unwind. Cozy and quaint, the restaurant actually offers ambient lighting as one can dine in peace and serenity with friends and co-workers. With its pseudo-industrial design with open pipes, neon lighting, and wide open spaces, you will never feel cramped or crowded at Elements. The design actually helps in making the place feel more casual more relaxing, more cozy.

We naturally kicked off our lovely dinner with some bar-chow and some drinks.

We started off with some Mozza Croquettes – Deep fried mozzarella, potato and bacon croquettes with a tomato relish /salsa dip. This was quite nice as it wasn’t too mushy or too hard as some potato balls would go.

We also started off with 2 drinks. Red Iced Tea and Lychee Martini. The red iced tea was sublime. Brewed from real tea leaves, it wasn’t too sweet and it didn’t taste like it came out of a box or pouch. It also didn’t leave you with a strong after taste and it was really a great way to wash everything down.

The lychee martini was actually one of the best ones I’ve had. Not using the lychee syrup, the drink was perfectly dry tasting as it went down without a hitch and didn’t taste too sweet. I recommend this for those of you who loves martinis or lychee.

A platter of bar-chow was served next. California Spring Rolls – Crispy nori wrapped kani, mango, cucumber and tamago sans the rice and Sisig Taco – crispy lechon sisig in garlic aioli in soft taco were plated and served. Both were really good. The kani maki with the batter was absolutely awesome and I could imagine devouring a plate full of this.

The sisig taco was also really great. The sisg was decent on top of a soft taco shell it was actually bordering on a sisig quesadilla, and I know cheese goes well with sisig. Actually, anything goes well with sisig! (you guys remember the Sisig pizza?)

They also served us their version of chicken wings which they fondly called “The Bonchon Killer”. It actually tasted pretty close to Bonchon Chicken as it was double fried crispy chicken wings glazed in a thick sesame honey soy garlic sauce. It was basically candied chicken wings as they were a bit sweet and crunchy.

For the drink they served what they call the Breakfast Drink. It was yogurt drink with Banana liquor topped off with an olive and bacon. Like I mentioned, they didn’t do things traditionally. I was kinda iffy about drinks involving bacon, but then again how can you go wrong with bacon? Funny enough though, I ended up drinking this the whole night and it was somewhat a cross between a smoothie and alcohol. The drink was smooth and sweet accentuated with the saltiness of the bacon and olive.

They also served what they called a Two Timer. The flaming red shot for the girl, and the cool blue shot for the guy. I had a feeling we were going to get drunk by the end of the night. Must try when you drop by!

The other dishes they served us were:

Sakura Shrimp Pasta – vodka tomato cream based sauce with sakura shrimps and garlic. What I liked about this dish was the amount of shrimp that went into the pasta. They didn’t scrimp on the shrimp. *wink*

Beef Salpicao Kebab – Garlicky Beef Tenderloin grilled with Onions and Bell Peppers kebab style

The beef was tender and juicy. Each bite was flavorful. I wish they had a peanut satay sauce to go with it.

Teriyaki Burger

Surprise surprise, the burger had onion rings inside it!

Tenderloin Steak with Balsamic Vinegar

I never thought the two would go together but somehow they did. The steak was cooked just right and the meat was nice and tender. The aroma of the vinegar was awesome as it permeates the very smell of the beef.

Chocolate Cake – A chocolate martini

Detox – Cucumber, mango liqueur and gin,served in a beaker

Green Kryptonite – Chocolate mint shot served in a test tube

Over all it was a great place to hang out and relax after a long day. Come for the food, stay for the drinks, good music. Price range is somewhere in between Php 130 onwards, depending on how what you order. A bit lower than average GB prices in my opinion.

Thanks to King and Erika for inviting us over. It was still in its soft opening launch and they are still working out a lot of the kinks. But overall good service.

Also, happy hour is between 6-9PM where cocktails are buy one take one!

Elements Gastrolounge

3rd Floor, Greenbelt 3

Makati City, Philippines

Check out their Facebook Page here!

One of the perks of being a food blogger is when readers send over some of the stuff they make and let me try it. The other day, Lyschelle from Retox Ice Cream emailed me asking if I wanted to try out their concoctions of alcohol infused ice cream, and its ice cream, who would say no to ice cream. I quickly agreed and she had her partner send it over.

After the obligatory photoshoot of the packaging, I called over some officemates to partake of 6 different flavors they sent over. I didn’t know what to expect and was actually quite eager to try them all.

We quickly asked everyone who was “laway conscious” and luckily everyone said no. So we started passing around the pints of the different flavors. We also decided to skip on checking what was what and to trust our palettes to let us know what we were encountering.

I tasted Chocolate, Lychee, Watermelon, Irish Cream, Mocha, and Melon/Strawberry.

Each spoonful was full of flavor. The ice cream was creamy and didn’t taste too milky.

One pint was enough to make someone drunk. Just a few spoonfuls and I could feel my face start to turn red. The alcohol just made things a little bit better. Such a novel idea I thought.

All the flavors were actually quite good. But I loved the Lychee Sorbet. The concoction was light and refreshing. The sweetness of the lychee and you could barely taste the alcohol. (which was not a good thing because you tend to forget that it is indeed alcoholic!)

I think I finished more than half of the lychee sorbet.

My colleagues all enjoyed as well. Each one requesting if they could bring home a pint. This was a really great treat and I’m glad we were able to try it out. If you are looking for a novel gift, or maybe something to indulge and pamper yourself give Retox a try.

Retox Ice Cream

Contact them at retox.icecream@gmail.com

Call them at 212-1212 for delivery.

With the milk tea business growing and booming, a sudden growth of milk tea shops all over the metro has indeed sprouted up. Although some are exceptionally good, there are a bunch of those that make you even wonder why it’s even called milktea. Luckily Teatap at P.Guevarra cor. Wilson at San Juan is one of those places that you could somewhat call a real milktea place.

From the same owners of Kozui (the tea store over at Morato) comes the newest Milktea place. But this isn’t your run of the mill milk tea place, there was something quite distinct about Teatap that got me walking through their doors and ordering myself a tall cup of milktea.

I first heard about Teatap from my blogger friends Richard and Fran, both of which featured the store already on their respective blogs. But I brushed off the idea of “just another tea place”. Since I live near the place, I would pass by the place and my curiosity grew as I peered through their large windows and noticed how spacious it was inside.

There was definitely more to be discovered, I said to myself.

With a “starbucks” like counter that greets you as you enter, and an interior resembling that of White hat or some funky retro design I instantly liked how spacious and cold the interior was. This was the perfect chill out spot I surmised.

With a milieu of choices for tea, since they are from Kozui after all, I decided to try something totally different. Despite the familiar Okinawa and Hokkaido beckoning to be ordered, I settled on Formosa Milk Tea and Paris Rose Milk Tea. I suspended all judgement until after tasting. I didn’t want to become a milktea snob nor a milktea nazi after all.

While waiting for my order to come out, I took the time to let the decor and ambiance sink and in. I found myself thoroughly intoxicated by the simplicity and cleanliness of the lines and design of the place. Simple, clean, curvaceous lines were the motif of the place coupled with the occasional feline motif. The little clay cats that litter the tea place was a nice touch and I saw a couple of kids actually playing with them.

With catchy quotes about tea hanging on the walls, I felt myself slowly sliding into a more relaxed state as I enjoyed the quiet serenity of the relatively empty store.

There was a cute tip box as well. I didn’t mind putting my change into it just to watch the cat grab it!

I may have put in Php 10 worth of coins into this one just to watch the cute cat in the box take the coins one by one.

My name/number was called out and I claimed my drinks.

I quickly noticed the funny quotes on the plastic covering my drink. I asked if it was different for every drink and they said yes.

But onto the drinks.

I first tasted the Formosa Milk Tea and found that it had burnt tea taste and had a hint of bitterness. I really liked this tea and I was happy that I only got 50% sweetness. It went well with the pearls I got it with.

The Paris Rose on the other hand was a different story. I only had one sip of this drink. The milktea was really fragrant and the rose was really evident in each sip. If you are the type of person who likes these kinds of drinks then this one is definitely for you. I wasn’t good, nor was it bad. It might be an acquired taste. One that I haven’t yet to acquire.

Overall, I think the Formosa drink is for me. I really liked the strong tea taste it had. I will be back to try other drinks as they really had a lot of selections and different teas I haven’t seen anywhere else. Plus they sell Long Tsing Tsaa which is one of my favorite teas!

This is an ideal place to relax, chill, and hangout. With the addition of Kozui food like Takoyaki and really fast wifi, and its proximity to my house I might have just found a new place to blog at.

TeaTap Café
Ongpauco Sister’s Building
P. Guevarra cor. Wilson Sts.
(its at the G/F of the former spot of Singing Cooks and Waiters)

As most of you know (or do not know for that matter), it has been the ghost month this past few weeks. For the superstitious Chinese, there are different implications regarding the ghost month. But for the us looking in, it is quite fascinating. Usually falling during the Mid-Autumn festival, several different folklore is associated with Ghost month and the mid autumn festival as well as the tradition of eating/giving mooncakes during this period. Time for the Filipino to look into something quite different happening in my own backyard.

Here’s a short background:

Celebration of the Mid-Autumn Festival is strongly associated with the legend of Houyi and Chang’e, the Moon Goddess of Immortality. Tradition places these two figures from Chinese mythology at around 2200 BCE, during the reign of the legendary Emperor Yao, shortly after that of Huangdi. Unlike many lunar deities in other cultures who personify the moon, Chang’e simply lives on the moon but is not the moon per se.

There are many variants and adaptations of the legend of Chang’e that frequently contradict each other. However, most versions of the legend involve some variation of the following elements: Houyi, the Archer, an emperor, either benevolent or malevolent, and an elixir of life.

One version of the legend states that Houyi was an immortal and Chang’e was a beautiful young girl, working in the palace of the Jade Emperor (the Emperor of Heaven, 玉帝 pinyin:Yùdì) as an attendant to the Queen Mother of the West (the Jade Emperor’s wife). Houyi aroused the jealousy of the other immortals, who then slandered him before the Jade Emperor. Houyi and his wife, Chang’e, were subsequently banished from heaven. They were forced to live on Earth. Houyi had to hunt to survive and became a skilled and famous archer.

At that time, there were ten suns, in the form of three-legged birds, residing in a mulberry tree in the eastern sea. Each day one of the sun birds would have to travel around the world on a carriage, driven by Xihe, the ‘mother’ of the suns. One day, all ten of the suns circled together, causing the Earth to burn. Emperor Yao, the Emperor of China, commanded Houyi to use his archery skill to shoot down all but one of the suns. Upon completion of his task, the Emperor rewarded Houyi with a pill that granted eternal life. Emperor Yao advised Houyi not to swallow the pill immediately but instead to prepare himself by praying and fasting for a year before taking it. Houyi took the pill home and hid it under a rafter. One day, Houyi was summoned away again by Emperor Yao. During her husband’s absence, Chang’e, noticed a white beam of light beckoning from the rafters, and discovered the pill. Chang’e swallowed it and immediately found that she could fly. Houyi returned home, realizing what had happened he began to reprimand his wife. Chang’e escaped by flying out the window into the sky.

There is a folk tale about the overthrow of Mongol rule facilitated by messages smuggled in moon cakes.

Mooncakes were used as a medium by the Ming revolutionaries in their espionage effort to secretly distribute letters to overthrow the Mongolian rulers of China in the Yuan dynasty. The idea is said to be conceived by Zhu Yuanzhang (朱元璋) and his advisor Liu Bowen (劉伯溫), who circulated a rumor that a deadly plague was spreading, and the only way to prevent it was to eat special mooncakes. This prompted the quick distribution of mooncakes, which were used to hide a secret message coordinating the Han Chinese revolt on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month.

Another method of hiding the message was printed in the surface of mooncakes as a simple puzzle or mosaic. To read the encrypted message, each of the four mooncakes packaged together must be cut into four parts each. The 16 pieces of mooncake, must then be pieced together in such a fashion that the secret messages can be read. The pieces of mooncake are then eaten to destroy the message.

Houyi pursued her halfway across the heavens but was forced to return to Earth because of strong winds. Chang’e reached the moon, where she coughed up part of the pill. Chang’e commanded the hare that lived on the moon to make another pill. Chang’e would then be able to return to Earth and her husband.

The legend states that the hare is still pounding herbs, trying to make the pill. Houyi built himself a palace in the sun, representing “Yang” (the male principle), in contrast to Chang’e's home on the moon which represents “Yin” (the female principle). Once a year, on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, Houyi visits his wife. That is the reason why the moon is very full and beautiful on that night.
*source Wikipedia

But enough about the history. Today to celebrate the end of ghost month as well as to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival we had some mooncakes. I’ve had mooncakes before, so this time I wanted something quite different. Someone brought me Snowskin Mooncakes from Hong Kong.

For this experience, I had 3 kinds of Mooncakes on my plate.

Chocolate Pearls and Pandan Flavoured White Bean Paste

The taste was quite different. It somewhat resembled mochi but the flavors were really rich and bursting with flavor. The crackle of the chocolate pearls was a nice touch. I wouldn’t mind having this again.

Sesame and Mung Bean Paste

This resembled something a little bit like the traditional mooncake. The toasted sesame seeds were really prominent and really tasteful. Reminded me of the a black sesame mochi.

Mango and Mung Bean Paste

My favorite by far. Instead of the usual salted egg in the middle, this one had a mango core. The sweet and acidic center was a welcome surprise to the rich and full taste of the mung bean.

Quite a different experience for me and enjoyed every single bite! Till the next mooncake festival guys!

No. I am not a pro-blogger. I do not make a living purely from my blogs. I have been blessed with enough readership to be considered somewhat influential, but I still blog about food and restaurants because of my mad love for eating and food. Therefore as much as I can, I watch what I eat. No I don’t count calories. My pants and belt would attest to that. I watch what I eat in terms of its yummy-ness! If there’s one thing I’ve learned throughout this journey to food nirvana, is that make every bite worth it. Don’t get me wrong, not everything expensive is good, and vice-versa. I still love my Chickenjoy. I still love my occasional isaw. You would actually catch me ordering the occasional ice scramble should a vendor be passing by.

Being saddled with a desk job, lunch everyday is a constant test to one’s tastebuds and wallets. Trying to find the best place to eat for the best price is sometimes an oxymoron that one cannot just achieve. But the other day, a group called ALMOST GOURMET, sent over food. PREPARED FOOD!

Food came in these plastic containers and what impressed me the most was the timeliness of the arrival. It was exactly lunch time when the delivery arrived and lo-and-behold the food was still hot/warm when the delivery guy handed it over. Plus points for me!

I started my office degustation of Almost Gourmet with the salad. It was a Melon & Mango salad with yogurt dressing.(Php 110.00) I think this was meant to be served slightly chilled. I quickly dunked the yogurt dressing in a tub of ice to quickly chill and before I consume the salad.

The grapes, and mangoes were ripe and sweet. I wish the melon was a bit more sweet but it was ok I guess. I don’t usually eat salads because I relegate them to Rabbit food, but salads with lots of toppings I really enjoy. I enjoyed this. The yogurt was light and complimented the sweetness of the mangoes and grapes.

I quickly picked off the fruits with the occasional greens but I was eyeing something else. The serving was easily good for 2.

I quickly opened the next container to find that it had Pork sirloin steak with mushroom gravy and mashed potatoes. (Php 125.00)

There were a lot of pieces! Already cut up, I think there were more than 10 pieces all in all! The mashed potatoes had a hint of cilantro or thyme or basil in it. It didn’t taste like it was made out of the box. Kudos to them for this. The sirloin steak was really flavorful and the meat tender. For Php 125.00 well worth it, in my opinion. I wish it came with garlic rice though.

Since I already started nom-ing the steak, I just had to open the Paella Mixta. (Php 130.00) I was surprised to see a lemon wedge, 2 pieces of shrimp, mussels and clams, and a chicken leg, all mixed into the orange rice. Just to let you guys know, my standards for Paella are quite high. No one has really come close to the Paella of my Mom and my Grandmother. The burnt rice at the bottom of the paellera, and the almost risotto like consistency of the rice mixed in with the perfect shade of orange and the smell and flavor of the seafood all concealed in this rice dish, is just something one has to experience before one can discern what a good paella is. Blame it on our Spanish roots.

Almost Gourmet’s paella was actually not bad! Nothing spectacular so much so as I would describe it as the best paella in Manila, but it could compete with other bigger brands and much more costly ones. For Php 130.00 it was quite good. I would actually order it over anything else I could order if I wanted Paella.

It had the distinct Paella taste that not everyone gets right, and the abundant seafood also is a huge huge plus. No skimping on ingredients here, red bell peppers and cooked just right is what makes this dish stands out.

Once I opened one food box, I just kept going. I finally attacked the Baked Ziti w/ Meat Sauce. (Php 115.00) I was half expecting baked ziti with the typical spaghetti sauce, Sweet and tomato based.

But one bite and I realized it was nothing like that. Rich in tomatoes and thickened with just the right amount of cheese, the baked ziti surprised me the most. Little pieces of sausage or chorizo, actually made the dish a lot more interesting than it already was. I think I managed to finish the entire dish by myself despite eating everything else. Topped with a generous helping of parmesan and meat sauce, I enjoyed this dish throughly.

An overall great opportunity to try some good food delivered at my door step. A very very awesome alternative to the daily fast food or baon or foodcourt food available to me. I will definitely be trying out more stuff from their menu. Gourmet food for a non-Gourmet Tab!

Almost Gourmet