February 2019 – Page 4 – Jellybeans in the City

Japanese family food feast at Sumo Sam, Gateway Mall

While on our family staycation at Novotel Manila Araneta Center, the family decided to venture out to the nearby Gateway Mall for dinner.

Our original choice turned out to be already permanently closed; so Hubby scoured the area and opted for Sumo Sam.

The restaurant’s menu states that its origins can be traced back to the fanciful story of Sumo Sam, a legendary fighter and lover of good Japanese food who was dropped by a flock of cranes at the foot of Mount Fuji and raised by local sumo wrestlers as their own.

Having grown in skill and renown (as well as in appetite), he met the beauteous Miyuki whose village was cursed by the evil lord Aiku. He volunteered to fight the evil lord that night of the full moon. Before his battle, Miyuki served him food he never tasted before, and he felt himself getting stronger.

That night, he battled for his life and his newfound love for Miyuki and emerged the victor.

The restaurant’s offerings allows its diners to relive the feast that Miyuki set before Sumo Sam which helped to strengthen him for battle.

For our dinner during our staycation, our feasted with fresh and filling Japanese food, prepared and served in Sumo Sam’s signature whimsical style, which include:

Tuna Sashimi (Php298) and Salmon Sashimi (Php298). Mainstays on our table every time we eat at a Japanese resto, these whet our appetite for more.

Dynamite Roll (Php288). A burst of flavor from the tuna and creamy spicy mayo amidst the usual vinegared rice.

Tonkatsu Set (Php398). My kids’ staple: a sizeable cut of hire (pork tenderloin), battered and fried to a golden brown color and served with rice, shredded cabbage and soup.

Steak Combo (Php898). Hubby ordered for himself a juicy slab of prime rib eye grilled to medium doneness and accompanied by grilled salmon, a fresh house salad, miso soup, Japanese Fried Rice and three pieces of California Maki.

Chirashidon (Php399). I have developed a taste for this dish of sticky white rice topped with beautiful cuts of seafood; a tasty and filling alternative to my usual go-to meat dishes.

I found our Japanese family food feast here to be quite satisfying. Our orders were served promptly by the attentive servers and we were situated quite comfortably at our table amidst the brightly colored Asian and Western fusion decor of the restaurant.

This Sumo Sam branch is located at the Upper Ground Floor, Gateway Mall, Araneta Center, Cubao City, open Sundays to Thursdays from 10am to 9pm and Fridays to Saturdays from 10am to 10pm. For inquiries and reservations, call +63 2 3510760 or +63 917 5938399.

Other branches are located at:

Level 3, Greenbelt 3, Ayala Center, Makati (open Sundays to Thursdays from 11am to 10pm and Fridays to Saturdays from 11am to 11pm; Tel No: +63 2 9030847)

Level 2, Power Plant Mall, Rockwell Makati City (open daily from 11am to 10pm: Tel No.: +63 2 7296292 or +63 2 8957532)

Level 6, Shangri-la Plaza, Ortigas, Mandaluyong City (open Sundays to Thursdays from 11am to 9pm and Fridays to Saturdays from 11am to 10pm; Tel No.: +63 2 6375704)

Third Floor, Robinsons Magnolia, New Manila, Quezon City (open Mondays to Thursdays from 11am to 9pm and Fridays to Sundays from 10am 10pm; Tel No.: +63 2 6254293, +63 2 6546813, or +63 917 4327272)

Second Floor, The Block, SM City North EDSA, Bago Bantay, Quezon City (open Sundays to Thursdays from 10am to 9pm and Fridays to Saturdays from 10am to 10pm; Tel No.: +63 2 3557714)

Melo Foods’ Dreamcake-style Chocolate Cake is a sweet surprise

I’m seldom lucky enough to win games of chance but when I came across Melo Foods‘ giveaway contest on Facebook involving its Dreamcake-style Chocolate Cake, I knew I just had to try my luck.

And wouldn’t you know it; a few weeks’ later, I received a notification on Facebook that I won!

Tin can chocolate cakes such as this are making the rounds in social media, and no wonder: these are deliciously decadent and great to give to friends and family as gifts or as your contribution to the office potluck party.

Melo Foods’ Dreamstyle Chocolate Cake is composed of five layers of pure chocolate goodness. At the very bottom is the moist chocolate cake, the base of the whole confection. The next layer is a thick chocolate ganache – a rich mixture of cream and chocolate ordinarily used for icing and glazing cakes. Then comes the chocolate pudding topped by a shard of chocolate dusted with cocoa powder. Melo Foods’ recipe makes use of Dutch processed chocolates and Hersheys chocolates, giving the cake a premium taste.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t go to Melo Foods’ designated pick-up place at Robinsons Fairview. However, the people at Melo’s were kind enough to arrange to have it delivered by Lalamove so long as I shoulder the delivery costs (which I am more than willing to do… actually, I’m willing to do a lot for chocolate, hehehe!)

By the next day, my Dreamcake-style Chocolate Cake was delivered to my office. And since at the time, the holidays were nearing and we all deserved a little bit of sweetness, I shared my cake with my officemates.

First of all, I love the way the chocolate shard crackled when I broke it with a spoon. Also, the layers are distinct from each other in taste and appearance but come together in one very tasty confection.

Thanks to Melo Foods for making my holidays even sweeter!

This cake fills a 6″ x 2″ tin can and sells for Php350. To order, send a private message to Melo Foods via its Facebook Page or contact +63 923 1068534.

Check out my reviews of other Chocolate Dreamcakes here:

Sweet Kiss

Kitycups

Holy Shawarma brings an affordable yet authentic taste of the Middle East to Marikina

Remember that scene at the end of the Avengers movie when Tony Stark suddenly had a craving for shawarma? One of the most iconic moments from the movie is the after-credits scene which shows the superheroes munching on some shawarma in a store which miraculously stayed open despite the chaos of Battle of New York.

After biting into the juicy and smokey meat wraps at Holy Shawarma, you would understand why.

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Shawarmas were derived from the Turkish doner kabap, a way of roasting stacked slices of marinated meat and cutting off pieces as they cook. It is served sandwiched inside a piece of flatbread along with hummus, tahini and sometimes fried potato strips, or piled high on a plate accompanied by tabbouleh and slices of tomatoes and cucumber topped with yogurt.

The name shawarma is the Arabic version of the Turkish word cervirme which means “turning.” This refers to the meat turning on a rotisserie; today, shawarma stores in the country use a motorized spit to slowly turn the stack of beef or chicken pieces against a heat source, evenly roasting the outer layer which are then sliced off.

Normally, you can enjoy this savory delicacy in food courts and tiangges but now, denizens of the beautiful city of Marikina can enjoy their meat wraps in relative comfort in the newly opened restaurant Holy Shawarma.

Owner Mon Tolentino shares that the store’s name is akin to an expression of joy or surprise which he hopes to elicit from his patrons with his food; something like “Holy Shawarma, that’s so good!”

Together with fellow foodies and bloggers, I was invited to visit this store and sample its offerings. Our group of nine bloggers settled ourselves in the store’s seating area and got ready to get our fill of the shawarma and other Middle Eastern delicacies.

We were welcomed by the glorious aroma of roasting meat as the store’s crew bustled about to prepare our food.

For starters, we snacked on some French Fries (Php25/plate) and Dynamite Wraps (Php65/plate). The fries are crisp and not-too-salty; I may have single-handedly polished off a plate of these. I had a bout of anxiety prior to biting into the Dynamite Wraps – large green chili peppers stuffed with ground beef and cheese – but it turned out to be quite tasty; the spiciness of the chili peppers framed the flavors of the cheese and meat quite well.

Afterwards, we feasted Beef Kebabs (Php200/plate) and Chicken Kebabs (Php180/plate) which were well-complemented by the buttery Shawarma Rice (Php120/plate).

The real stars of the show, of course, are the meat wraps: Beef Shawarma (Php80/piece) and Chicken Shawarma (Php80/piece). Those savory slivers of meat are wrapped in warm pita bread together with sliced tomatoes, onions and cucumbers, a strip of cheese and drizzled with garlic sauce and hot sauce. Each bite into these wraps was like going on a magic carpet ride: the warm flavors trigger feelings of comfort to the soul.

We washed down these strong-flavored food with refreshing Mango Shake (Php80/glass).

So, if you’re a superhero done vanquishing a frightful foe, or just a regular Joe looking for a filling snack, drop by Holy Shawarma for some holy-shawarma-that’s-so-good and affordable food.

Thanks to Holy Shawarma for having us and to Marikina Foodies for extending the invite!

Want to bring a friend over? Enjoy beef or chicken shawarma food for two along with iced tea for only Php165!

Going solo? Why not go for a Shawarma Meal of composed of Shawarma on a plate with buttered rice together with iced tea for only Php110.

Holy Shawarma is located at 113 Gil Fernando Street corner Mayor Chanyungco Avenue, Santa Elena, Marikina City, open Tuesdays to Thursdays from 2pm to 10pm and Fridays to Sundays from 3pm to 12 midnight.

Disclosure: Together with other food bloggers, I was invited to attend a foodie meetup held at this restaurant. Food items mentioned here were served to allow us to sample the fare and were not paid for by the attendees, including myself.