donut – Jellybeans in the City

Sweet take-home from Randy’s Donuts, Robinsons Magnolia

When the news hit that the iconic Los Angeles-based donut shop will be coming to Philippine shores, it set the metro’s foodies all abuzz.

This donut shop, of course, is Randy’s Donuts.

Foodies who are also well-versed in the Marvel Cinematic Universe will also recognize its distinctive giant rooftop donut signage as the site where Iron Man was having his breakdown before his conversation with Nick Fury and Black Widow.

The opening of its first and second Philippine branches in BGC’s Uptown Parade and Pasay’s S Maison respectively were met with long lines of enthusiastic donut aficionados.

There is little wonder then, that its third branch in Robinsons Magnolia was also greeted with the same excitement. After all, donut lovers will always appreciate more convenient ways to get their sweet fix.

Randy’s Donuts is known worldwide for its large and fluffy donuts, available in forty classic (Php105 each), deluxe (Php120) and fancy (Php120) flavors.

Fortunately for us Pinoys, The Bistro Group, the people behind well-loved restaurant brands in the Philippines such as TGI Fridays, Buffalo Wild Wings, Denny’s and Hard Rock Cafe, saw fit to bring this iconic donut to our shores.

During a shopping trip at Robinsons Magnolia, my daughter #ExhibitA and I gamely lined up at the Randy’s Donuts store to bring home a box of our preferred sweet treats. These include:

Glazed Raised.

Maple Raised.

Chocolate Raised.

Pink Raised with Sprinkles.

Nutella Raised.

Raspberry Jelly Filled.

Strawberry Jelly Filled.

With such confections awaiting us at Randy’s Donuts, it won’t be long until we’re craving for another sweet fix, am I right?

And guess what! I still have lots more of Randy’s Donut flavors left to try!

This Randy’s Donuts is located at the Ground Floor, Robinsons Magnolia, Aurora Blvd, corner Doña Hemady St, New Manila, Quezon City, Metro Manila.

Other branches are located at:

Taguig: Uptown Parade BGC, Bonifacio High Street South BGC
Pasay: S Maison Seaside Boulevard
Paranaque: Okada Manila Entertainment City

For more updates, follow Randy’s Donuts on Facebook and Instagram.

Happy weekend at Molly’s Donuts & Brunch Cafe

I always look forward to the weekend (who doesn’t?). Aside from giving me a welcome break from the daily grind, it’s also a chance to take things slow and spend time with my loved ones.

This particular Saturday, I decided to indulge my daughter #ExhibitA once again when she said she wanted some donuts from Molly’s Donuts & Brunch Cafe.

And being the indulgent mom that I am (as well as a foodie who loves discovering new places to eat in), I decided to treat her to brunch there as well.

I was happy to discover that this new cafe located in Pioneer Centre is managed by the same group that runs Mad Mark’s Creamery, one of my favorite haunts for steak and ice cream.

Molly’s Donuts & Brunch Cafe offers quite a different gustatory experience to the metro’s foodies: artisanal fluffy brioche donuts and specialty coffee created in “pursuit of the noblest art of making people happy.” Plus, with a well-curated selection of pasta dishes and sandwiches and a quaint, industrial yet neat and comfy decor, it’s all set to become a favorite brunch venue for the titas of the city (like me!).

On my brunch date with #ExhibitA, we tried out tasty selections from its menu such as:

Chick ‘n Pops (Php185). A mixture of crispy chicken skin and juicy bits of buttermilk fried chicken served with barbecue sauce and Molly’s Special Sauce.

Guanciale & Mushroom Pasta (Php245). Al dente linguini tossed in a cream sauce with bacon bits and shiitake mushrooms.

Yangnyeom Chicken Bun (Php215). Buttermilk fried chicken coated in homemade yangnyeom sauce encased with onions, tomatoes and lettuce in fluffy brioche buns.

Fluffy Donut Ala Mode (Php165). Our choice of fluffy donut (Roasted Brown Butter) and homemade ice cream (Madagascar Vanilla Bean).

We partnered these dishes with our orders of refreshing handcrafted beverage: Iced Spanish Latte (Php125), made with an espresso shot, homemade spice blend, homemade scratch caramel and steamed milk, and Iced Uji Matcha Latte (Php135), made with whisked matcha from Uji, Japan and steamed milk.

This delish brunch date gave me and #ExhibitA the opportunity to have some time to ourselves, a bit of very welcome mother-daughter bonding.

The great thing is that the happy time didn’t stop when we left the cafe; we actually brought it home with us in the form of a dozen fluffy brioche donuts!

We decided to surprise our boys – Hubby and my son #ExhibitB – as well as our yaya with some delicious donut creations for merienda or even breakfast the next morning.

Molly’s Donuts — Uji Matcha Morihan (Php75).

While these goodies are best consumed immediately, they can be refrigerated and then heated in the microwave right before eating for that “fresh from the oven” taste and feel.

So, get ready to give yourself and your loved ones some happiness with these treats!

Molly’s Donuts & Brunch Cafe is located at Ground Floor, Pioneer Centre Supermarket, Pioneer Street corner United, Barangay Kapitolyo, Pasig City, open for dine-in, takeout or delivery daily from 10am to 8pm. For delivery and pre-order, visit mollys.pickup.ph.

Donut takeout from Krispy Kreme, SM Megamall

As some of you may have gathered from my previous blog posts, my kiddos are avid Krispy Kreme fans. Since the start of the quarantine, we have been relying on delivery services to get our hands on these donut treats.

However, when Hubby and I recently went shopping for school supplies at SM Megamall, our first visit to this mall since March, the opportunity to grab a box or two of Krispy Kreme donuts presented itself.

As required among all mall-based retail outlets, Krispy Kreme’s branch at SM Megamall adheres to safety and sanitation protocols such as requiring patrons to wear face masks and face shields, answer a contact-tracing questionnaire and sanitize hands prior to entering the store premises.

Dining in is no longer allowed, so unlike during my previous visits before the quarantine, there were no customers hanging out inside the store. In fact, only a handful of customers are allowed to be inside the store to maintain physical distancing.

All those restrictions are well worth following to keep ourselves safe. Plus, Hubby and I were still able to bring home a dozen Krispy Kreme donuts for the kiddos (which I paid for using GCash, again, to minimize physical contact).

I got a Box of 12 (Php425) which contains Krispy Kreme’s “light as a cloud, melt in your mouth, pillows of goodness” yeast-raised donuts. Since the fam fave is still the Original Glazed donut, the package included nine of those.

I just added a piece each of Red Velvet, New York Cheesecake and Kreme-filled with Gold Sprinkles for variety and to complete the dozen.

Needless to say, the kiddos were delighted with our pasalubong and the fam demolished the donuts in no time.

I’m glad that despite the pandemic and the restrictions brought about by the quarantine, we are still able to enjoy simple and delish delights such as these.

This Krispy Kreme branch is located at Upper Ground Floor, Building A, SM Megamall, Ortigas, Mandaluyong City.

To get your box of donuts, call +63 2 88879000, order online or via GrabFood.

Download the Grab App and get a discount on your first food order when you use my code: GRABJELLYBEANS.

Check out my reviews of other dessert shops in the metro:

Baked Donuts from Bake My Day, Libis

After a bout of food shopping at the nearest All Home Supermarket (the one in Libis), I espied upon its pastry shop near its exit.

I immediately thought of my kiddos keeping themselves quarantined at home. I know them to be great donut fanatics so I decided to treat them to a box of half-dozen donuts from Bake My Day, which costs only Php300.

Bake My Day is one of the newer retail brands under the Villar Group of Companies, which serves pastries freshly baked everyday. Its presence in the All Home premises proved to be quite convenient for me as I didn’t have to drive off to a separate pastry shop for some pasalubongs for my kids.

Upon biting into my donut (of course I get to have a piece!), I noticed some differences versus the usual donut. My almond on white chocolate glazed donut does not have the slightly crispy exterior nor the chewy interior I was expecting. It has a fluffy mouthfeel, sort of like biting into a muffin.

I had a facepalm moment when my daughter #ExhibitA blurted out the reason for the differences in texture: “Ma! Kasi Bake My Day nga!”

So apparently, the differences in texture I’ve been noting result from the donuts being baked as opposed to fried.

Well, everyday I learn something new!

That said, the almond donut I had was suitably sweet, perfect as a dessert after dinner with the kids.

And since they wiped out the remaining five donuts before the day is through, I’d say they liked them too.

This Bake My Day branch is located at All Home Supermarket, Libis, Quezon City. For orders and inquiries, call +63 999 8611174.

Other branches are located at:

Vista Mall Taguig
Vista Mall Global South
Starmall Alabang
Evia Lifestyle Center

Check out my reviews of other dessert shops in the metro:

J.CO Donuts, SM Megamall

I just love donuts! Those little circles of sweetness and joy never fail to perk up my mood.

That’s why I took advantage of a business meeting in Megamall to drop by one of my favorite donut shops.

J.CO Donuts, a donut brand that hails from Indonesia, continues the trend of offering premium donuts that feature fluffy dough and imaginative toppings.

Take my donuts for example:

J.Club Cheezy Rich (Php45). A donut sandwich that’s made of donut plus cheese, how heavenly can this get?

Alcapone (Php42). I’ve always liked the contrasting textures of the crunchy sliced almonds and the soft airy donut.

And, as if things couldn’t get sweeter, I got a free sugar-glazed donut, thanks to an ongoing promo. Sweet!

Hot Mocha Espresso (Php115). My donuts are best enjoyed with something hot and sweet so I got this mocha espresso for a dose of caffeine with some chocolatey notes.

This J.Co Donuts branch is located at the Upper Ground Floor (outside Building B), SM Megamall, Ortigas Center, Mandaluyong City.

Other branches may be found at:

Las Pinas: SM Southmall
Makati: Paseo Center Salcedo Village, Glorietta 2
Manila: HP Village Square Malate, UN Avenue corner Roxas Boulevard, Lucky Chinatown Mall
Muntinlupa: Alabang Town Center
Paranaque: SM City Bicutan, SM City BF Paranaque
Pasay: DoubleDragon Plaza MOA, Blue Bay Walk MOA, North Wing MOA
Pasig: SM City East Ortigas
Quezon City: Eastwood Ave Libis, Robinsons Galleria, SM City Cubao, Shopwise Araneta, Trinoma Mall, UP Town Center, Tomas Morato Avenue, SM City North EDSA, SM City Fairview, Ayala Fairview Terraces
San Juan: Promenade Greenhills
Taguig: Park Triangle BGC, Market! Market! BGC

Check out my reviews of other dessert shops in the metro:

Everyday’s a good day for ice cream at Sundays by Merry Moo, The Podium

What’s the simplest pleasure that you can picture yourself freely indulging in come the long hot summer?

For me, it’s ice cream, of course!

The icy yet velvety creamy feel of it on my tongue and the bursts of sweetness on my tastebuds combine to bring back memories of my childhood’s enjoyable summers, slurping this cool treat.

Well, with Sundays, Merry Moo’s first in-line ice cream store at the Corner Market Food Hall in the Podium, I won’t have to venture far to have a taste of my favorite ice cream flavors, and more.

Merry Moo made a name for itself with its artisanal and premium ice cream. Believing that happy cows make great dairy, it sources its milk from dairy farmers in Laguna whose herds are given expansive pastures to graze and roam freely. Since its dairy is non-UHT (Ultra Heat Treated), its milk and cream retain their flavors and nutritional content.

To guarantee freshness, Merry Moo’s ice cream is churned in small batches using fresh and locally sourced ingredients to produce yummy icy desserts that bring smiles to the faces of those who taste them.

Together with my fellow foodies, I was able to taste some of its new flavors which are:

Bananarama. Brown sugar is added to Cavendish bananas which are then oven-roasted. Afterwards, the mixture is blitzed, added to fresh milk and cream, then allowed to steep overnight to let the flavors intensify before being placed in the ice cream batch freezer. Chocolate cookie chunks are then added to the churned ice cream.

Spanish Bread and Doughnut. Curiously, these two flavors come from the baked products that inspired them. To infuse the ice cream base with these flavors, the breads are blitzed then added to the milk and cream base. The mixture is allowed to steep overnight then placed in the batch freezer. More chunks of Spanish bread or doughnuts are then added to the churned ice cream.

Yogurt. Hacienda Macalauan in Laguna, Merry Moo’s dairy supplier, also produces Greek yogurt. This is used to infuse Merry Moo’s milk and cream base, resulting in ice cream that is a little more tart but still yummy.

My scoops of these decadent treats were served on a crunchy waffle bowl, sprinkled with my chosen toppings: Horlicks, a sweetened malt-based powder, and buttered pecans.

The ice cream flavors sure are unusual, but call to mind tastes and textures that are near and dear to us. Who hasn’t whiled away a lazy afternoon munching on warm buttery Spanish bread, or added bananas to ice cream to for added fruity sweetness? Who hasn’t been caught in the recent frozen yogurt craze?

What I love most about Merry Moo’s ice cream is the thought and care that goes into the creation of each flavor. I plan to drop by one of its stalls soon to taste more of its flavors like Avocado and Salted Chocolate.

A scoop of Merry Moo’s premium ice cream flavors sells for Php115 while one of gourmet flavor sells at Php135. Add Php15 to drizzle your preferred sauce on it or add your favorite toppings for an additional Php20.

Want Merry Moo at your party? Have a scooping station for as low Php8,500, good for 100 servings.

For the mumshies out there: Did you know that through its partnership with Mommy Treats, Merry Moo produces the country’s first and only lactation ice cream? At only Php450/pint, enjoy flavors such as Dark Chocolate, Sea Salt Caramel and Match Green Tea packed with milk boosters to improve your milk supply.

Sundays by Merry Moo is located at the The Corner Market, Second Floor, The Podium, ADB Avenue, Ortigas, Mandaluyong City, open daily from 11am to 10pm.

Disclosure: Together with other foodies, I was invited to join 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.

Check out my reviews of other dessert places:

The Max’s Group brings All You Can Wednesdays this June

Take your fill of all your favorite food this June with the Max’s Group’s All You Can Wednesdays promo.

The largest casual dining restaurant group in the Philippines, the Max’s Group will have eight of its well-known brands offer their best-selling products which you can eat all you want for only Php349 per brand, such as:

Fried Chicken at Max’s
Tacos at Pancake House
Pizza at Yellow Cab
Coffee and Doughnuts at Krispy Kreme
Beef Belly Strips at Sizzlin’ Steak
Ebi Tempura at Teriyaki Boy
Krispy Sisig at Dencio’s
Smoothies at Jamba Juice

View this post on Instagram

Wednesdays in June just got a little more filling with the Max’s Group’s All You Can Wednesdays Promo. From 2pm to closing time, enjoy unlimited chicken at @maxschicken, coffee and doughnuts at @krispykremeph, beef belly strips at @sizzlinsteak, ebi tempura at @teriyakiboy_ph, tacos at @pancakehouseph, crispy sisig at @denciosph or smoothies ar @jambajuiceph for only Php349! Which resto will you be visiting this Wednesday? #MaxsGroupAYCWednesdays #foodpromo #lamonfest #lamongalore #eatallyoucan #allyoucaneat #unlieating

A post shared by Jellybeans in the City (@beingjellybeans) on Jun 4, 2018 at 3:30pm PDT

Click on the links above for more details.

This promo is available across 600 stores nationwide.

For tips on how to survive and make the most out of an eat-all-you-can scenario, check out my blog post here.

Check out my reviews of previous dining experiences at Max Group restaurants:

Sweetly Snacking at J. CO Donuts

One of the latest stores to open in SM City East Ortigas is J. CO Donuts and Coffee. You won’t be able to miss it; it’s facade will greet you as soon as you get through the main entrance. The resto is quite spacious with both high tables suitable for working and comfy sofas for talking with friends. Aside from the seats inside the store, additional seats are also available outside near the escalator. You will also find some merchandise for sale such as branded mugs and tumblers if you’re inclined to bring home a souvenir.

The donut variant I usually end up ordering is the AlCapone (see that clever wordplay? That happens a lot with J. CO). The soft-bite donut is dipped into creamy Belgian white chocolate then topped with roasted almond slices.

My daughter (and my usual companion during my snacking expeditions) prefers Heaven Berry: a donut dipped into strawberry cream with a garnish of white chocolate swirl.