restaurant review – Page 51 – Jellybeans in the City

Three ways Alegria Cozinha Moderna & Sangria Bar in BGC is your next happy place

Describe your “happy place.”

Is it a place where you can sit back and relax after a busy workday? Is it a place where you can comfortably hang out with friends and catch up over good food and drinks? Is it a place where you can be adventurous and explore the tastes of new and exotic cuisines?

Well, Alegria Cozinha Moderna & Sangria Bar could just be your new happy place.

The Spanish word “alegria” translates to “joy, cheer, happiness.”

These are what Alegria Conzinha Moderna & Sangria Bar hopes to bring out in every diner that walks through its doors.

Together with my foodie friends from #WeLoveToEatPH, I attended a Bloggers Night held here and discovered the ways in which Alegria can be our happy place.

Here’s how:

One: It’s within easy reach.

Located in the bustling and cosmopolitan Bonifacio Global City, Alegria is easily accessible to office workers and residents of Taguig and Makati. Here, you can meet up with friends for a meal or a drink or two as you while away the worst of the rush hour.

Two: It has a vibrant and colorful vibe that will lift your spirits.

The countries that make up Latin America are characterized by a dynamic culture influenced by customs of indigenous people, the European colonizers as well as those of African and Asian countries that came into contact with Latin America.

This resulted to a culture marked with liveliness and color, which mark Alegria’s premises, from the colorful murals on the walls to the lively beat of the music played in the background.

Here, you and your friends can groove to the festive Latin beat as you dine and shake off the day’s worries.

Three: It highlights the fresh and exotic flavors that make Latin cuisine so unique.

The same vibrancy, color and artistry also characterize Alegria’s dishes which we were able to sample, which included:

Pescado (Php165). Fish, pasilla relish, with a smoky flavor from charred pineapple and corn, and red cabbage to be wrapped tortilla frijol.

Agua Chile de Infladita (Php265). Shrimp, Chile watee, charred pineapple and corn, cilantro chutney placed inside inflated tortillas, resulting into an explosion of flavor with each bite.

Feijoada (Php395). A savory dish of grilled bacon gordita and black bean stew, farofa, edamame, sausage with fruity accents from burnt oranges and smoked grapes.

Fricase de Pollo. Tender and flavorful braised chicken, sofrito, morita, hoja aguacate, potatoes and cilantro served over rice.

Carne de Gaucho (Php1,865). Also known as “the Argentine Asado,” this dish made of 500G USDA prime grade rib eye steak served with corn and zucchini asada, garlic confit served with chimichurri and Pasilla barbecue sauce. Each bite of the perfectly grilled meat is just so tender and buttery.

Cayo (Php205). St. Louis Avocado Ice Cream under an inverted cajeta cona on a bed of muscovado crumble and kiwi slices.

Along with the delicious food, we also enjoyed Alegria’s drinks such as:

Tropical. A refreshing berry-flavored mocktail perfect for those who want to enjoy the night without having to imbibe alcohol.

Basic Sangrias (Php325 each). Sangrias are festive drinks traditionally made with wine, chopped fruit and rhum or brandy. These may be called basic sangrias but there is nothing basic about them in terms of taste or appearance.

Verde (Php300). A refreshing sangria made of white wine, rhum, apple, kiwi and cucumber.

Litchi (Php320). An exotic sangria made of white wine, vodka, eiderflower and flavored with lychee.

Between the happy vibes, delicious food and refreshing drinks here, Alegria sure seems poised to be our new happy place!

Thanks to Denise Liao and the crew of Alegria for the warm welcome and fabulous meal, and to Ojie of PiggingOutOnSundays for extending the invitation!

Spend your after-office hours at Alegria and take advantage of its Happy Hour 5+1 beer promo! Buy five Heinekens or Coronas from 3pm to 7pm on Mondays to Saturdays and get your sixth beer free.

Alegria Conzinha Moderna & Sangria Bar is located at Fourth Floor, Uniqlo Building, C3 Annex, 7th Avenue corner 30th Street, Bonifacio High Street, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, open Mondays to Saturdays from 11am to 3pm. For inquiries and reservations, call +63 945 2647828.

Disclosure: Together with other foodies, I attended a foodie meet-up held in this restaurant. All the food items mentioned here were served to allow us to sample the fare and were not paid for by the attendees, including myself.

Food trippin’ nearby at Buffalo Swing, Caniogan

Though a proud Pasiguena, I admit that the incessant traffic jams in and around my city do sometimes get to me. These nuisances get in the way of so much: errands, appointments and, of course, foodie adventures. So whenever possible, to lessen the travel time and the frustration that comes with navigating the metro’s streets, I do try to find nearby places to indulge my food cravings.

Fortunately, Pasig City already has a lot to offer in terms of foodie destinations.

One such place is Buffalo Swing Cafe, a small eatery along Sixto Antonio Avenue that specializes in American comfort food: flavored chicken wings, pizzas and pastas. Owned and operated by Ingrid Mediarito, it is co-located with her baking supplies store named Ingrid’s.

Ingrid has long recognized the need to address the Pasiguenos’ need for affordable and easily accessible dining choices which led to her making her cafe’s food available to locals via delivery. A while back, in fact, when I was so busy running errands one Saturday that I didn’t have time to prepare food for my family’s dinner, I just ordered some wings and pizza from Buffalo Swing Cafe via Honestbee.

Honestbee has since stopped its operations in the country (oh, Honestbee, you are sorely missed!) but another delivery option is now available: via Zomato.

However, for this blog post, let me tell you more about my actual experience visiting Buffalo Swing Cafe together with fellow foodies from #WeLoveToEatPH and #SaanSaPH where we enjoyed its freshly made comfort food:

Pizzas

All Cheese (Php300). Made with four kinds of cheese: cheddar, mozzarella, parmesan and cream cheese and flavored with garlic. Wonderfully cheesy!

Meat Overload (Php320). A carnivore’s dream on a pizza crust: pepperoni, Hungarian sausages, breakfast sausage and beef toppings and topped with caramelized onions.

Pastas

Aligue Cream (Php180). A decadent cream-based pasta flavored with aligue (crab fat).

Bacon Tomato (Php160). Flavored with tomatoes and savory bacon, this pasta has the slightly sweet taste that kids love.

Spanish Sardines and Olives (Php160). Slightly spicy pasta dish made with Spanish-style sardines.

Wings

These flavorful chicken wings, cooked to crunchy and juicy goodness, are priced at:

Php155 (5 pieces, one flavor)
Php300 (10 pieces, one flavor)
Php585 (20 pieces, two flavors)
Php1150 (40 pieces, two flavors)

These wings go so well with the resto’s pizzas and pastas, but they’re also great on their own. I’d love to have some delivered the next time there’s a big movie on TV so I can have something yummy to munch on while I’m indulging my inner couch potato.

Buttered Parmesan.

Spicy Salted Egg.

Salt and Pepper.

Sweet and Spicy.

Flamin’ Lemon.

Honey Soy Sesame.

American BBQ.

For dessert, we had Luleepops (Php20), a real treat for me since this is the first time I’ve tasted an avocado-flavored iced candy.

And we chased away the heat from some of the spicy chicken pieces with refreshing Lemonades (Php40 each) and a sweetly decadent Rootbeer Float (Php100) made with A&W Rootbeer.

So whether you’re a local or a dayo (visitor) from another city, check out Buffalo Swing Cafe for tasty, tummy-filling comfort food.

Many thanks to Ingrid and the staff of Buffalo Swing Cafe for the warm welcome and the yummy eats!

Buffalo Swing Cafe is located at 363 Dr. Sixto Antonio Avenue, Caniogan, Pasig City, open Mondays to Saturdays from 11am to 9pm and Sundays from 5pm to 9pm. For inquiries or reservations, call +63 922 8864381.

No time to drop by Buffalo Swing Cafe? Order your food via Zomato! Just click on the link below.

Three reasons to have your Sunday brunch at Sultan Mediterranean Grill, Makati

I believe that Sunday mornings are a time to be lazy in the sense that you deserve some downtime after each hectic work week. It is a time to wake up a bit late (catching up on some zzz’s you cut short Monday to Friday by having to get up at the crack of dawn to make it to work on time), take a stress-free drive along the city’s streets (with only a bit of light traffic, thankfully!) and meet up with friends to catch up over a tasty meal.

That’s what I did last Sunday together with my foodie friends from #SaanSaPH and #WeLoveToEatPH.

The venue for this lovely get-together? Sultan Mediterranean Grill in Salcedo Village.

And here are three reasons why you should hold a similar Sunday brunch here.

One: It’s a hidden gem in the heart of Makati

You would think that the Makati area is always a hotbed of frenetic activity but come weekends, it is actually quite laid-back and quiet, perfect for the titas who just want to have a catch up with friends while enjoying a tasty meal.

This restaurant is located in one of the old buildings along one of the side streets from Paseo de Roxas which, sans the weekday office crowd, is free from traffic jams and has lots of available parking space.

The resto itself, which opened in 2010, has a cozy hole-in-the-wall quality. Walls lined with white subway tiles are accented by Middle Eastern-style artworks and spice shelves. The seating area can accommodate thirty people so if you want to hold an intimate family party here, you’d be right on the mark.

Two: It takes you on a journey through the deliciously complex flavors of Mediterranean cuisine

You know that basic and blah flavors will not do for you, especially not for your Sunday brunch, right?

Well, Sultan Mediterranean Grill brings you exciting flavors through exotic dishes that will tease your tastebuds while sating your appetite.

The resto’s menu is comprised of the flavorfully diverse dishes from countries spanned by the Ottoman empire. This cuisine is influenced by impact of the Mediterranean Sea to the region’s climate, agriculture and history, giving rise to food centered around oil (from olives), bread (from wheat) and wine (from grapes) with many influences from nearby European countries such as Spain and Italy.

For our Sunday brunch, Sultan Mediterranean Grill laid out a feast of its bestsellers which included:

Wild Mushroom Soup (Php150). A creamy and hearty soup made from scratch with porcini, shiitake and button mushroom. It has a rich and earthy flavor and it got us all excited for the rest of dishes.

Combination of 3 Dips (Php330). Freshly made pita bread carefully wrapped in cloth to be dipped into hummus (made from blended chickpeas, olive oil, tahini, lemon and garlic, muhammara (a subtly sweet dip with smoky undertones made from roasted red peppers) and baba ghanouj (the classic Middle Eastern dip made from roasted eggplants blended with olive oil and spices). The pita bread were warm, soft, slightly chewy and perfectly frame the flavors of the dips.

Grilled Vegetable Salad (Php280). Crisp lettuce tossed with grilled beef, eggplants, zucchini, pumpkin, corn, bell pepper and onions and served with homemade tarragon dressing. If you don’t often eat vegetables, try this and the smokey flavor of the veggies will help you develop a new appreciation for plant-based food.

Vitamin Boost (Php280). A salad of mixed lettuce, grilled chicken, quinoa, mango, orange slices, cranberries, onions, cucumber and walnuts and served with orange cranberry dressing. I just love the mixture of fresh and fruity flavors in this salad.

Beryani Rice (Php100 for solo | Php250 for family). A classic Persian rice dish flavored with special herbs and spices.

Beef Shawarma (Php160). Sultan’s signature shawarma makes use of the resto’s secret blend of seasoning that helps to tenderize the beef prior to grilling. Served with cucumbers, tomatoes and onions and packed inside a warm pita, it is already a meal by itself or a welcome addition to our feast.

The Sultan’s Kabab Platter (Php625). A combination of any four of Sultan’s kababs and skewers, ours consist of chicken kabab, beef kabab, lamb kabab and beef koobideh. Made from imported meats, these kababs are flavorful and juicy, well-complemented by the beryani rice or by any of the dips then wrapped in a piece of pita bread.

Braised Lamb Shanks (Php625). Juicy lamb shanks stewed and braised in mixture of herbs and spices for three hours before being served with buttery Basmati rice. The meat is so tender, it literally falls off the bone!

Fruit Yogurt Shakes (Php115 each). Fresh fruit blended with yogurt, adding a bit of tartness that complement the sweetness. Mine is the Mixed Berry shake which blends blueberries, blackberries and strawberries into a refreshing drink that goes well with Sultan’s signature dishes.

Three: A Mediterranean food is good for you

Mediterranean cuisine’s predilection for vegetables, fruit, whole grains and the use of healthy fats from olive oil make Mediterranean dishes quite healthy. Dining on these exotic fare gives you the double benefit of great taste and good health. However, as with everything else in life, moderation is key.

So this Sunday, make Sultan Mediterranean Grill the setting for your brunch with friends or family (or both!) to enjoy great flavors in cozy and quiet surroundings.

Many thanks to Ms. Remy and the crew of Sultan Mediterranean Grill for the warm welcome and the delicious meal!

Sultan Mediterranean Grill is located at Valero Plaza Condominium, San Agustin Street, Salced Village, Makati City, open daily from 11am to 10pm. For inquiries and reservations, call +63 2 8944900.

Other branches may be found at:

Victoria Plaza, 1 Brixton Street, Kapitolyo, Pasig City
The Corner Market, Second Floor, The Podium, ADB Avenue, Ortigas, Mandaluyong

Check out my reviews of other restaurants serving Mediterranean dishes:

Got my Tiger Sugar hassle-free, thanks to LalaFood

Tiger Sugar has been in the country since last year but I haven’t been able to have a taste of this much lauded milk tea brand. The long lines when its first stores opened as well as my busy schedule precluded me from going out to get myself a cup or two.

Until now, that is.

I recently downloaded the LalaFood app which opened up a world of possibilities when it comes to food choices. Whether I’m at home, at work or out with friends, I can satisfy my cravings just by having my food delivered to me.

I’m on a mission to taste milk teas with cheese foam topping (yeah, milk tea plus cheese, can anything be yummier?). One particularly hectic day at the office, I decided to order a Brown Sugar Boba + Pearl with Cream Mousse (Php120) through the LalaFood app which I recently downloaded on my phone.

Tiger Sugar is famous for its brown sugar boba milk drink which is easily identifiable thanks to the “tiger stripes” along the sides of the cup. These come from the brown sugar in which the boba are cooked, giving the pearls a more intense caramelized flavor.

My drink, for instance, was made by lining the cup with brown sugar syrup, dropping the bobas at the bottom of the cup, adding fresh milk and topping the drink with the non-salty cream mousse.

Tiger Sugar usually advises buyers of this to shake the cup 15 times to make sure that the brown sugar is well distributed in the drink and to cool the still warm boba so they achieve that signature chewy texture.

I think the trip from the Tiger Sugar branch in Trinoma to my office in Tomas Morato may have already shaken my drink up as the brown sugar stripes were already faint by the time my drink arrived no more than 40 minutes after I placed my order.

The milk drink was creamy and refreshing, made even richer by the cream mousse, with the chewy bobas adding some bite and texture to each sip.

If I’m not careful, I just might find myself just keying in my orders for my foodie adventures soon! (I can really get used to the convenience that LalaFood brings!)

Want to give in to your food craving without having to leave your home or the office? Download the LalaFood app on Google Play or App Store today. Use my code BEINGJMR53 and get a free delivery coupon.

This Tiger Sugar branch is located at Food Choices, Second Floor, Trinoma Mall, Bagong Pag-asa, Quezon City, open daily from 10am to 9pm.

Other branches are located at:

Quezon City: Eastwood Mall, Robinsons Galleria, SM North EDSA
Mandaluyong: SM Megamall
Taguig: Bonifacio High Street
Makati: Glorietta 4
Pasay: SM Mall of Asia
Las Pinas: SM Southmall

Check out my reviews of other milk tea joints:

Fresh juices at Pure Nectar, Katipunan

Feel like making a healthy change?

At Pure Nectar, the offshoot of popular mall juice stand Fruit Magic, you can get yourself fresh juices made through contemporary cold-pressed juicing. This method makes use of hydraulic presses to extract juice from fruits and vegetables.

Most of its branches are located in mall foodcourts but the branch in Loyola Heights may be considered free-standing, being easily accessible from the street. Aside from Pure Nectar’s drinks, this store also offers healthy meals such as rice bowls and tacos.

After having lunch with my fellow bloggers at 47East’s Discovery Cafe, I dropped by this Pure Nectar branch a few meters away to take advantage of a Booky Buy One Get One deal which gave me two bottles of Pure Nectar’s Cold Brew Cashew Latte for only Php120.

These drinks are made with cold brew coffee and cashew nut milk and light sweetening syrup. Since the coffee is cold-brewed, it has lower acidity than regular coffee, perfect for those suffering from acid reflux. This energizing drink is also a good antioxidant. The taste and mouthfeel of the cashew nut milk are new, and quite welcome, experiences for me.

As luck would have it, the store has in-store promos which also provides Buy One Get One deals on other drink variants. I got two bottles of Buko Pandan for only Php60.

Made from coconut milk, pandan extract and light sweetening syrup, this drink is good for those fighting bad cholesterol.

Being only lightly sweetened, it took me some time to acclimate my sweetness-conditioned palate to both drinks. For those who are already into juice cleanses, these drinks would probably be quite sweet already.

Since the juices contain no additives or preservatives, these were sensitive to heat and sunlight. As soon as I got home, I immediately placed them in the refrigerator. They only keep for up to three days in the fridge but, as my son developed a liking for the Buko Pandan juice, they were soon consumed.

If you’re exploring ways to eat healthy and get more nutrients into your system, do check out Pure Nectar’s juices. Juice cleanse sets for as low as Php1,240 are also available. More details on these are available at Pure Nectar’s website.

This Pure Nectar branch is located at Ground Floor, MQI Building, Rosa Alvero Street corner Esteban Abada Street, Loyola Heights, Quezon City, open Mondays to Saturdays from 8am to 9pm, and Sundays from 9am to 8pm.

Other branches (some shared with Fruit Magic) are located at:

Foodcourt, SM Megamall Building A, Ortigas, Mandaluyong City
SM Supermarket, SM Megamall Building B, Ortigas, Mandaluyong City
Food Forum, Shangri-la Plaza, Ortigas, Mandaluyong City
Third Floor, V-Mall, Greenhills Shopping Center, Greenhills, San Juan
Second Floor, Forum Robinsons Mall, Pioneer Street, Buayang Bato, Mandaluyong City
Food on Four, SM Aura Premier, C5 Road corner 26th Street, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig
Food District Signatures on Fifth, One Bonifacio High Street, 5th Avenue, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig
Food Choices, Market! Market!, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig
Ground Floor, Venice Grand Canal Mall, McKinley Hill, Taguig
Food Choices, Third Floor, Glorietta 4, Glorietta Complex, Makati City
Robinsons Supermarket, One Capitol Hills Drive, Old Balara, Quezon City
Shopwise Commonwealth, Commonwealth Avenue, Holy Spirit, Quezon City
Second Floor, Landmark Trinoma Complex, EDSA, Quezon City

Food Choices, Landmark Trinoma Complex, EDSA, Quezon City

Level 4, Terminal 3, Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Pasay City
Main Mall, SM Mall of Asia, MOA Complex, Pasay City
Food Court, Alabang Town Center, Alabang, Muntinlupa

Off-site work and good eats at 47East’s Discovery Cafe, Katipunan

Coworking spaces give freelancers or telecommuting employees environments conducive to both solitary and collaborative work.

With the concept of the “workplace” continuously evolving, coworking spaces like 47East in Loyola Heights provide workers on-the-go with a quiet and comfortable place to work as well as basic services to ensure productivity even when they’re away from their offices.

Aside from these, 47East has something more to offer. With its in-house restaurant, Discovery Cafe, 47East also provides its visitors with tasty dishes to fuel them as they hustle through their workday.

Together with my fellow bloggers, I visited Discovery Cafe to taste some of its signature offerings, all freshly made in its open-style kitchen.

Seafood Pasta. Fresh clams sauteed with garlic in oil, and sprinkled with parmesan cheese.

Chili Cheese Dog Flatbread. Large links of cheesy frankfurters doused in chili con carne and baked on top of a flatbread.

Porkchop with Creamy Mushroom. For those who can’t do without their rice meals, this dish combines a piece of pan-fried porkchop, buttered vegetables and gravy with a cup of steamed rice.

Chocolate Chip Cookies. Something sweet to end the meal, these chewy and chocolatey treats are best after being dunked in a cup of vanilla milk!

With these tasty dishes and more available at 47East’s Discovery Cafe, you can work with a full tummy!

Do your best work and get your best ideas here! Sign up for a 1-year membership for only Php500 for individuals and students and Php1,000 for teams.

Day passes for members are priced at Php400 for individuals, Php150 for students and Php900 for teams.

Membership entitles you to the following during your stay:

Unlimited coffee, tea or water
Wi-Fi access
Mail collection
Discounts on 47East events
Printing, photocopying and scanning services

Non-members are charged Php100 per hour of stay.

Discovery Cafe at 47East is located ar 47 Esteban Street, Loyola Heights, Quezon City, open Mondays to Fridays from 8am to 8pm, and Saturdays from 9am to 6pm. For inquiries and reservations, call +63 2 8660415.

Disclosure: Together with other food bloggers, I attended a foodie meet-up held in this restaurant. All the 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 another coworking space / study lounge I’ve visited: Quarks and Quills, Banawe

Fun and fresh flavors at Juice Cubi, SM MOA

Just when you thought that all possibilities for tea drinks have been thoroughly exhausted, here comes a tea brand from Macao with something new up its sleeve.

Juice Cubi began its Philippine invasion at its first branch at SM Ecoland in Davao, and just this week, established its presence in Metro Manila by opening its store at the SM MOA Complex.

Juice Cubi definitely has a fun and fresh take on tea drinking. From its pastel-themed and highly Instagrammable store accented with its alien mascot Cubi, to the cute and reusable tumblers and cups its drinks and served in, to the drinks themselves, which usually have visual or taste elements that tickle the senses.

During its Media Day, Juice Cubi treated attendees to its pretty and refreshing drinks; there’s really something for everyone. No matter the mood or the craving, Juice Cubi allows you to express yourself in every cup!

Just take a look at some of the drinks I was able to sample during the event:

Starry Night (Php160). Inspired by Vincent Van Gogh’s masterpiece, this drink that turns from blue to purple has starry edible glitters.

Lady in Red (Php160). A tribute to femmes fatale everywhere, this drink has the strong heady taste that excites and thrills.

Ocean Breeze (Php150). A drink for those who yearn for the sea, its white layer approximates wind-blown clouds racing across the blue waves.

Dark Knight (Php160). Feel like a caped crusader? This boldly flavored drink is the one for you!

Caramel Cheese Milk Tea (Php120). Juice Cubi’s signature milk tea topped with a foamy layer of caramel cheese.

Cubi Special Milk Tea (Php140). What makes this drink so special? Is it the subtle sweetness that’s pleasantly light on the tongue? Is it the slight tartness from the layers of yogurt? Or is it the fact that despite its name, this drink does not actually contain milk? You decide.

Juice Cubi is definitely a welcome addition to the tea and beverage shops in the metro. More than ever, exciting choices for refreshing drinks abound and I just couldn’t be happier!

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to stay long enough to sample the other flavors. But hey, that’s what the next visits are for. 🙂

Many thanks to the management and crew of Juice Cubi for having us and for the wonderful drinks!

Juice Cubi is located at Ground Floor, NU Tower, Coral Way Avenue corner Seaside Boulevard, Mall of Asia Complex, Pasay City.

Check out my reviews of other milk tea joints:

Roasted brown sugar + cheese cream at Chachago, Tomas Morato

And the invasion of the Taiwanese milk tea brands continue with another one setting up shops in the country: Chachago.

I first heard of this brand when my boss insisted on dropping by its nearby shop along Tomas Morato after out lunch out.

This branch is basically suited for take outs and not really hanging out. It occupies a small space in Pares Retiro with a small and cramped sitting area where you can wait for your drink.

Chachago offers a brown sugar series of drinks which is quite on-trend right now. These usually have milk as its base with its pearl sinkers and sides of the cup doused in rich brown sugar syrup (hence those “tiger” stripes). To enjoy this drink with a good balance of flavors, you have to shake the cup to distribute the brown sugar syrup into the milk.

Now, aside from the brown sugar syrup, my interest actually lies in the cheese cream that accompanies some of its drinks. It is a l layer of salty-sweet cream cheese whipped to a light and foamy consistency. I’ve always been a fan of cream cheese so when cheese cream started appearing on beverages, I just knew I had to have it.

I’ve tried two of Chachago’s brown sugar drinks with cheese foam:

Roasted Brown Sugar Cacao with Salted Cheese Cream (Php140).

Roasted Brown Sugar Tea with Salted Cheese Cream (Php120)

I think the cheese cream works a lot better in the tea-based drink rather in the chocolate-based drink. In the cacao beverage, both the flavor of dark chocolate and that of the cheese cream are too strong to complement each other.

At some point, when I’ve weaned myself away from my cheese cream addiction, I might try more of Chachago’s offerings.

This Chachago branch is located at Pares Retiro, 205 Tomas Morato Ave, Diliman, Quezon City. For inquiries and bulk orders, call +63 2 7172050.

Other branches are located at:

Scout Tobias, Quezon City
N. Domingo Street, Quezon City
Banawe, Quezon City
Katipunan, Quezon City
Kapitolyo, Pasig
Barangka, Mandaluyong
Fisher Mall, Malabon
BF Homes, Paranaque
Xavier Street, San Juan

Check out my reviews of other milk tea joints:

Union of cuisines at Four in Love BBQ Hotpot Buffet, SM Manila

Good food and good company come together in this newly opened restaurant at SM City Manila called Four in Love.

A joint venture of four restaurateurs formerly based in Singapore and Thailand, this new dining venue seeks to introduce new and exciting food concepts to the Pinoy foodie while still offering familiar items.

Here, diners can give in to their cravings for four Asian cuisines, all at the same place and at the same time:

Korean samgyeopsal and Japanese yakiniku share the space on the table’s built-in grill.

Japanese shabu-shabu and Chinese hotpot have pride of place in the hotpot area

Thai mookata combines the grilling and hotpot in one crafty cooking method.

Together with my foodie friends from #WeLoveToEatPH, I joined in on the resto’s opening day celebrations. There, we found some old favorites and new appealing tastes as we explored all that Four in Love has to offer.

Four in Love is designed for groups with tables that can seat as few as two people to as many as ten, interacting and eating together, with all the action centered on the meats, seafood and vegetables being cooked right on the table. The place is frenetic with activity, with servers hurrying to and fro to deliver refill requests.

Diners can choose from three tasty and filling meal sets for their beyond unli-meat-ed food adventure:

Harmony Set (Php399/person). Plain, sweet and spicy pork slices.

Wealth Set (Php599/person). Plain, sweet and spicy pork slices; plain, sweet and spicy beef chuck: plain, sweet and spicy chicken thighs: pork belly, beef rib eye, squid, mussels, salmon belly, shrimps and Korean spicy noodles.

Abundance Set (Php799/person). Plain, sweet and spicy pork slices; plain, sweet and spicy beef chuck: plain, sweet and spicy chicken thighs: pork belly, beef short plate, short ribs and rib eye; squid, mussels, salmon belly, tuna belly, shrimps, scallops and Korean spicy noodles.

(By the way, those Korean noodles sure are spicy!)

All sets come with unlimited refills of six hot dishes, cold dishes, fresh fruits and dessert. The Wealth and Abundance Sets also come with creamy mozzarella to be melted on the grill for dipping of the grilled meats.

Do try Four In Love’s dipping sauces (from Thai peanut sauce to Japanese shabu sauce and more), mixed and matched with herbs, chilis, aromatics and other condiments which will add new dimensions to your food. Not sure how to make your own sauce? Easy-piece-y! Just follow the guide provided at the sauce station.

If your group wants to taste some exotic soups through the hotpot steamboat, just add Php99 for one soup or Php159 for two soups for hotpot per table. To experience a mukata and shabu-shabu combo, just add Php99 per table. The mala soup, for instance, with its distinctly Sichuan flavor, is definitely a must-try!

Oh, and be sure to coat that mookata grill with some fat before grilling your meats so they won’t stick! Also, the juices from the grill will fall from the mookata straight into the boiling soup which will add more flavor to the broth.

All those bold and spicy flavors are sure to work up a thirst. Fortunately, you can just add Php39/person for free-flowing softdrinks!

You and your group can enjoy all these for two hours, more than enough time to eat your fill of your favorites. Be sure to finish off all your meats, though; leftovers will be charged Php300 per 100 grams.

So if ever you and the gang are in the mood for a four-in-one foodie adventure, just hie off to SM City Manila and have your meal at Four in Love! Take advantage of its Grand Opening promo and enjoy 20% discount on your food bill until October 7!

Many thanks to the management and crew of Four in Love for the warm welcome and the delicious and filling meal!

Four in Love is located at Unit 30, Lower Ground Floor, SM City Manila, Ermita, Manila, open daily from 10am to 9pm. For inquiries and reservations, call +63 2 2923095.

Hyped up lemonade at The Citrus Farm, SM East Ortigas

Did you know that lemonade appeared in written history through Egyptian accounts dated around 1000 AD? It was believed that lemons were introduced in this region through trade with Asia. The drink was made with lemons, dates and honey and was widely popular with the common folk.

Together with other citrus-based food and drinks, lemonade is touted as healthy due to its high concentration of vitamin C.

Today, it remains a popular drink with many restaurants offering it as part of their beverage menu.

Well, personally, I sometimes find lemonade a little too basic, you know?

Fortunately, there are lemonade bars such as The Citrus Farm that hypes up the humble lemonade into creatively appetizing concoctions. This store located in my neck of the woods, inside SM City East Ortigas, makes its lemonade drinks from freshly squeezed lemons everyday, giving thirsty mall-goers exciting twists to try. It even has some seats where customer can take a load off while they enjoy their drinks.

During a last-minute errand run at the mall one evening, my daughter #ExhibitA and I decided to pop by for dessert and a drink. My baby girl got a Mango Graham (Php95) while I ordered a Lemon Cheesecake (Php95), two drinks based on popular desserts.

We shared a slice of my baby girl’s favorite cake, Red Velvet, which is among the store’s non-drink offerings.

So if you find yourself thirsty after a bout of shopping, why not get yourself a refreshing lemonade drink? (Especially since you can have it hyped up into a dessert drink at The Citrus Farm.)

This branch of The Citrus Farm is located at Second Floor, SM City East Ortigas, Ortigas Avenue Extension, Bgy. Sta. Lucia, Pasig City, open daily from 10am to 9pm.

Other branches may be found at:

SM City Sta. Mesa, Quezon City
The Annex, SM City North EDSA, Quezon City
Entertainment Center, SM Mall of Asia, Pasay City
ScienceHub Tower 1, McKinley Hill, Taguig
One Corporate Center, Ortigas Center Pasig

Check out my reviews of other lemonade stores: