affordable – Jellybeans in the City

#YouButterBelieveIt: Butter Grill’s Cheese Rolls are your new favorite treat!

If you’re a fan of Pinoy-style pastries, you’ve probably heard of Cheese Rolls. These soft and fluffy bread rolls stuffed with cheese have been a favorite among Filipinos for years.

These yummy pastries are made using basically the same dough as another Filipino bakery classic: the ensaymada. The dough is soft, fluffy, and buttery, providing the perfect canvas for the sweet and salty combination of flavors that Cheese Rolls are known for. The cheese filling brings a pop of richness and saltiness in the middle of the sweet and pillowy bread.

The good news is that you may now get your cravings for Cheese Rolls satisfied at Butter Grill.

A perfect complement to Butter Grill’s hotplate specials

Butter Grill has become a trending food court destination, thanks to its delicious Pinoy Hotplate Specials. After enjoying its Butter Sliced Pork, Butter Sliced Beef, Mixed Seafood, Peppered Bangus, Beef Tendon, or Angus Burger Steak, finish off your meal with one of Butter Grill’s Cheese Rolls. The sweetness of the pastry and the savory flavors of the hotplate specials complement each other perfectly.

Buttergrill, The Landmark Supermart Foodcenter

Take home a sweet treat

Don’t have time to dine in? No problem. Butter Grill’s Cheese Rolls are also perfect for takeout. Grab a few pieces to enjoy for breakfast, merienda, or as a snack while binge-watching your favorite show on Netflix. Pair them with a mug of brewed coffee or hot chocolate for the ultimate indulgence.

Affordable and accessible

Butter Grill’s Cheese Rolls are also affordable, making them a great option for budget-conscious dessert lovers. Each piece costs only Php54.50, so you can indulge without breaking the bank.

Where to find Butter Grill’s Cheese Rolls

Ready to try Butter Grill’s Cheese Rolls for yourself? Head to the Butter Grill stall at The Landmark’s Supermart Foodcenter along Makati Avenue, Ayala Center, Makati City. Grab a few pieces and see what makes these Pinoy-style pastries so special. #YouDeserveButter when it comes to sweet treats, so go ahead and indulge yourself with Butter Grill’s Cheese Rolls.

Stay updated on its promos and offers by following Butter Grill on Facebook and Instagram.

Disclosure: Product samples were provided to facilitate this feature.

Check out my previous post about Butter Grill:

Enjoy delish Filipino hotplate your way at Butter Grill, The Landmark

Shop guilt-free: Home Credit ties up with SM Store to offer 0% interest and ₱300 Discount

Shopping has become a beloved pastime for many Filipinos. From buying birthday gifts to preparing for a new school year, Filipinos love to shop for various reasons. And of course, they love to get a good deal. This is where Home Credit Philippines and SM Store come in to provide Filipinos with the most affordable option in making their dream purchases come true.

The Partnership: Home Credit Philippines and SM Store

Home Credit Philippines, the shopping partner of every Filipino, has partnered with SM Store, the country’s largest department store chain. This partnership provides customers with a 0% interest offer, allowing them to enjoy ₱300 off their purchase with no processing fee when paying through Home Credit. With this partnership, Home Credit and SM Store have taken away the guilt from shopping through their buy now, pay later magic.

Shop in Four Easy Payments

Do you have something that you have always wanted to buy? Home Credit’s partnership with SM Store now allows you to buy the products you want in four easy payments with a discount of ₱300 and no processing fee. This is certainly an affordable option to achieve your ultimate shopping goals!

Shop for All Seasons

Shopping is not only made affordable, but also flexible. With SM Store’s 0% interest offer and no processing fee through Home Credit, you can get a variety of products anytime at any season. From cosmetics to apparel, stationeries, travel essentials, home improvements, and a whole lot more, you can now be a trendsetter guilt-free!

Shop Now and Worry Less!

Drop by the nearest SM Store in your area and achieve your ultimate shopping goals guilt-free through Home Credit. Shop now and worry less with Home Credit Philippines and SM Store.

Home Credit Philippines is a financing company duly licensed and supervised by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

Don’t miss out on updates from Home Credit Philippines. Visit their official website www.homecredit.ph and Follow them on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok accounts. You can download the My Home Credit App on Google Play to catch the latest promos and see what’s new in the Marketplace.

Details provided in a recent press release.

Affordable lunch at Komoro Japanese Dining, SM Megamall

While securing school supplies at SM Megamall last weekend, Hubby and I decided to have lunch at one of our old haunts here: Komoro Soba, now renamed to Komoro Japanese Dining.

Five years ago, when our offices are both located in the Ortigas area, this Japanese restaurant was our go-to place for affordable teishoku.

These are Japanese meal sets comprised of white rice, miso soup, tsukemono (pickled fruit or vegetable) and your choice of viand. While the rice serves the purpose of being filling, the miso soup provides the comforts of umami, while the tsukemono helps to cleanse the palate and counterbalance flavorful viand.

Komoro’s version of the teishoku is adapted to Filipino taste by replacing the tsukemono with seasonal fruit which almost serves the same function.

Mixed Tempura Teishoku (Php139). Shrimp, chicken and vegetable pieces dipped in batter and served with tempura sauce.

Tonkatsu Teishoku (Php147). A juicy piece of pork cutlet breaded and deep-fried to a golden brown and served with shredded cabbage, a salad and tart katsu sauce.

Prior to eating our teishoku, we shared a serving of Zaru Soba (Php98), chilled buckwheat noodles served with a light dipping sauce called tsuyu to whet our appetite.

It was a quick tasty meal to fuel us for a bout quarantine shopping.

This Komoro Japanese Dining branch is located at Upper Ground Floor, Building A, SM Megamall, Ortigas, Mandaluyong City,

Another mall-based branchbia located at Lower Ground Floor, SM City Southmall, Alabang-Zapote Road, Almanza, Las Piñas City.

Komoro also delivers Japanese Bento meal sets in Makati and BGC. To order, call +63 2 9858240 or +63 917 5870809 or message Komoro Bento on Facebook.

Check out my reviews of other Japanese restaurants:

Comfort-snackin’ with 616 Burger

If the past few months of quarantine has taught me anything, it is that we need every bit of comfort we can get.

These are not normal times and we are not operating at our usual capacity. Therefore, we need to treasure what sources of joy or contentment we have.

Personally, I take comfort in good food. When I feel overwhelmed during a busy workday or in the midst of mounting house chores, a bite into something delicious will soon set me – and the world – to rights.

To you, my dear foodies, I’m happy to share my discovery of a new source of comfort: 616 Burger.

This passion project of twenty-two-year-old recent UST grad Alyanna Manuel started off as her quarantine pastime and side hustle. Building on her family’s experiences in running food businesses, and her own love for cooking, she started whipping up her favorite comfort food and offering them online at affordable prices. Her menu items consist of familiar snack items that are leveled up by way of ingredients and preparation to satisfy the palate of discriminating foodies.

The Crunchy Bacon Burger (Php160), for instance, is made with pure beef burger patty flavored by six spices and well complemented by the smokey bacon, slices of fresh veggies and its garlic mayo sauce inside a freshly baked bun. Crunchy bits of Piknik add some interesting texture to every bite of this juicy burger.

The burger’s trusty sidekick, the Cheesy Overload Fries (Php85), on the other hand, has a crispier texture than other fries due to its light breading. The sauteed ground beef and cheese sauce added some heartiness to this side dish.

If you still can’t get enough of cheese, then grab a Cheese Quesadilla (Php110), buttery toasted soft tortillas encasing high quality cheese.

Snacking on these gave me and the kiddos a happy respite in an otherwise crazy day.

To get your hands on these comforting snack items, message 616 Burger on Facebook or Instagram or fill out the online order form. Cashless payments via GCash, Paymaya and BPI are accepted. 616 Burger’s snack items can be delivered from Don Enrique Heights in Quezon City to anywhere in Metro Manila.

Disclosure: Product samples were provided to facilitate an honest review.

Check out my blog posts on other small enterprises and startups in the food business:

Family’s Intro to Fat Fook at Robinsons Galleria

When you’re planning where to eat for the family’s Saturdate, and you consider the varied tastes and preferences of your family members, sometimes you just need to put your foot down, dictate where you want to eat and hope it pays off.

And sometimes, it does.

The fam’s lunch took place at the newly opened Fat Fook at Robinsons Galleria. It’s one of two existing branches in the Metro Manila, with the other one located in SM City North EDSA.

This branch is situated in the recently renovated wing of Robinsons Galleria, where a lot of new and trendy restos are expected to open.

The place is quite spacious, warmly lit and can accommodate 40 or so people. Similar to its SM North branch, it features porcelain bowls as part of its decor: this time, the bowls cover one wall, adding a quirky yet elegant Asian element to the resto’s interior.

Fat Fook offers authentic Taiwanese food. The dishes we sampled include:

Tofu with Century Egg and Pork Floss (Php198). The soft-chilled tofu was creamy and mild, and together with the century egg, the pork floss and the sweet-salty sauce, it brings a nice contrast of flavors and textures.
Taiwan Style Fried Rice (Php258). Served in a small pan, the rice is fried with a salty brown sauce and accompanied by bits of green onion and lots of savory-sweet chorizo pieces. It provides an interesting complement to the other dishes we ordered.
Taiwan Beef Noodles (Php258). Tender braised beef slices accompanied by hand-pulled noodles in a sour-and-slightly-spicy broth.
Fat Fook Chicken Chop (Php238). Juicy and tender chicken breasts coated with batter and breading, a quick hit with my baby boy!
Garlic Pork Spare Ribs (Php298). A safe bet, given that the fam has tasted this before in Chinese restos.

With all our orders, the bill amounted to just a little over Php1,500, so our Fat Fook sojourn is definitely among the more affordable of our food adventures.

I found this experience a good way to introduce the kids to new cuisines and food influences, which helps them develop a more adventurous yet discerning palate. For myself, I welcome any opportunity to go off the beaten path when it comes to food choices.

Given its affordability and fresh tastes offered, Fat Fook is among the restaurants I won’t mind returning to.

Check out my review of Fat Fook’s other branch at SM North EDSA.

This post contains affiliate links.

Want to try cooking Taiwanese dishes at home? Check out these books at Amazon.com!

The Food of Taiwan: Recipes from the Beautiful Island. Acclaimed author Cathy Erway offers an insider’s look at Taiwanese cooking—from home-style dishes to authentic street food.

Home-Style Taiwanese Cooking. This book by Taiwanese chef and food blogger, Tsung-Yun Wan, will inspire home cooks to make these authentic Taiwanese dishes part of their own cooking repertoire.

Taiwanese Cookbook: Food from The Streets of Taiwan. Author Carla Hale gives easy tips and recipes that will help readers prepare authentic Taiwanese dishes for their family and friends.

Want to try some recipes today? There’s no need to leave home to shop for ingredients. With Honestbee, just order your groceries online and you’ll get them delivered right at your doorstep at your preferred time. Sign up using this referral link and get Php500 off for a minimum spend of Php2,500. You can download the Honestbee app on iTunes or Google Play.

If you’re in the US and an Amazon Prime member, sign up for a free trial of Amazon Fresh to get your groceries delivered to you.

Budget-friendly Rice Toppings at Hong Kong Roasting, Tomas Morato

My officemate and I were looking for somewhere to have a quick lunch so we could get on with the rest of our tasks for the day.

After scouring the lunch options at nearby M Place, we decided upon Hong Kong Roasting, attracted by the budget-friendly rice topping options and the assurance of the restaurant manager that the food will be served immediately.

We ordered:

Soy Chicken Rice Topping (Php155).

Cantonese Chicken Rice Topping (Php155).

Both are versions of the Chinese steamed chicken dish, one just features darker skin than the other due to addition of soy sauce. They were accompanied by chili and ginger sauces which we found a bit too mild.

Still, it was a quick, affordable and fuss-free lunch, and another item was added to our group’s lunch options.

This Hong Kong Roasting branch is located at M Place, Panay Avenue, South Triangle, Quezon City, open daily from 10am to 10pm.

Other branches are located at:

Tower C, Sea Residences, Sunrise Corner Pearl Drive, Mall of Asia Complex (MOA), Pasay City (open daily from 8am to 12:30am)
SM Mezza Residences, Aurora Boulevard Corner Araneta Avenue, Santa Mesa, Quezon City (open daily from 10am to 9pm)

This post contains affiliate links.

Check out my reviews of other Chinese restaurants:

Want to learn more about Chinese cuisine? Check out these books on Amazon.com!

If you’re in the US and an Amazon Prime member, sign up for a free trial of Amazon Fresh to get your groceries delivered to you.

Affordable Asian flavors Hainanese Delights, Eastwood

Hainan cuisine is derived from the cooking styles of the people of the Hainan Province in China which is lighter, less oily and more mildly seasoned than those of mainland China.

Hainanese Chicken Rice, in particular, is based on the well-known Hainan dish Wenchang Chicken, but has been adopted and considered the national dish in Singapore. It is traditionally prepared by poaching a whole chicken at sub-boiling temperatures , with some of the resulting stock combined with ginger, garlic and other aromatics used to cook the accompanying rice, producing a yellowish, flavorful and oily rice. It is usually served with three dipping sauces: a spicy red chili sauce, a dark soy sauce, and freshly ground ginger.

While out shopping with Hubby in Eastwood Citywalk, we decided to have lunch at Hainanese Delights.

We eschewed the more traditional preparation of Hainanese Chicken and instead opted to each get a Hainan Fried Chicken (Php149) since we favor its crisper and more flavorful skin which we think goes better with the refillable Hainanese rice. We also shared an order of Eat the Heat (Php190), the spicy fried squid adding some kick to our meal.

It was pretty much a no-frills and no-fuss meal, with servers just prompt to serve the orders and nothing else. The restaurant itself is quite plain and bare, not a place you would think to linger in after finishing your meal.

Still, if all you’re after is an affordable taste of Asian flavors, then drop by this store and satisfy your craving.

This Hainanese Delights branch is located at the 2nd Floor, Eastwood Citywalk 2, Libis, Quezon City. Other branches may be found at:

Manila: Robinsons Place Manila in Ermita, Robinsons Otis in Paco
Quezon City: Robinsons Magnolia in New Manila, SM City Fairview in Novaliches, Waltermat North EDSA in Project 7, Robinsons Galleria in Ortigas, Robinsons Nova Market in Novaliches
Mandaluyong: Robinsons Forum along Pioneer, Starmall Asia along Shaw Boulevard
Las Pinas: Robinsons Las Pinas in Talon Uno

This post contains affiliate links.

Want to whip up Asian dishes at home? Check out these recipe books on Amazon.com.

101 Asian Dishes You Need to Cook Before You Die: Discover a New World of Flavors in Authentic Recipes

The Everything Easy Asian Cookbook: Includes Crab Rangoon, Pad Thai Shrimp, Quick and Easy Hot and Sour Soup, Beef with Broccoli, Coconut Rice…and Hundreds More!

Asian Kitchen

Want to try some recipes today? There’s no need to leave home to shop for ingredients. With Honestbee, just order your groceries online and you’ll get them delivered right at your doorstep at your preferred time. Use this referral link and get Php500 off for a minimum spend of Php2,500. You can download the Honestbee app on iTunes or Google Play.

If you’re in the US and an Amazon Prime member, sign up for a free trial of Amazon Fresh to get your groceries delivered to you.

Tempura Bowls at Hiro, SM East Ortigas

Hankering for some Japanese food but on a tight budget?

There’s a newly opened resto at SM East Ortigas serving various types of tempura bowls and more for as low as Php99.

Tempura is characterized by seafood or sliced vegetables coated with batter and deep-fried. Surprisingly, this dish apparently originated in Portugal (when the Portuguese introduced batter frying to Japan.

This cozy resto has a light and fun atmosphere with yellow decor, pine furniture and anime characters holding the tempura bowls depicted on the walls. Some of the food offerings are whimsically named as well. Among those my family and I have sampled include:

HiRO Tempura Bowl (Php99) – 1 prawn, 1 kani and vegetable tempura
Empress Bowl (Php129) – 1 prawn, 1 squid, 1 kani abd vegetable tempura
Sansa Seafood and Vegetable Bowl (Php179) – 2 prawns, 1 squid, 1 kani and vegetable tempura
Chicken Teriyaki Don (Php149)

Each tempura bowl comes with rice and a cup of miso soup. I also opted to Go Ninja, which gives me cabbage salad and a HiRo blend iced tea for an additional Php50.I found their prawn tempura a bit small (I’m tempted to call it shrimp tempura instead because of its size) but flavor is close to the offerings of pricier restos. (Note: Hubby disagrees with me, saying he can cook a better tempura). The kani seems a bit gummy, though, while the tempura sauce is thicker and less ginger-y than what I’m used to but still ok. The chicken teriyaki is tender and flavorful; my son wolfed it down as soon as it was served.HiRo Tempura Rice Bowls is still in its soft opening stage so there were some misses that can improve given time:

The first time I ate here, I wasn’t given an order number so the wait staff didn’t know where to serve my order.
They don’t have an automated POS yet so expect some lag as the cashier manually writes down your order and receipt (but you should always ask for a receipt, ok?)

Personally, I appreciate how this resto makes tempura and other Japanese dishes more affordable and accessible to more customers. It’s also a good way to introduce kids to Japanese cuisine without breaking the bank.I will return, especially when I want a quick and affordable tempura meal.