Tokyo Cafe – Parfait for Dessert

This one’s a late post but still post worthy.  One of my favorite dessert place is Tokyo Cafe and for only 1 reason, which can be summed up in 1 word, “parfait”.

Although I haven’t had a lot of parfaits from other restaurants, in fact, the only other parfait I’ve tried is from UCC, but I can’t comment on that anymore because I already forgot the experience.   ^_^  I loved the curry!  But that’s another story.

About the Shop

You can find Tokyo Cafe at Mall of Asia’s ground level (Main Mall), near one of the 2 entrances facing the South Wing (where the department store is ).  Here’s the exact store location taken from Mall of Asia’s store locator.

Tokyo Cafe from MOA store locator. They also have a cool electronic, touch-screen store map on all entrances with SM MOA personnel ready to help you find your way in the mall.

Here's the entrance, shot from the 2nd floor.

Another view of the shop, this time with the displays and a small glimpse of the kitchen behind them. I love the food displays on Japanese restaurants. I think they're made from baked Polymer Clay, sculpted to look convincingly real! And they're also mouth watering! I wonder how they make the fruits glossy and look juicy, the beef look really moist and tasty!

Here's the view from inside, looking out. Congo Grill is just across Tokyo Cafe and you can see they're both right at the entrance of the mall. We've tried Congo Grill before too, but for blog purposes, we might try it again. I don't expect it to be a very pleasant experience though. But that's another story (again) ^_^;

There’s nothing really fancy inside the store.  I think it would be even better if they find a way to make the place look a little bigger.  Somehow, I feel it’s a little cramped, but there is enough space to walk around, going through tables.  But exactly just enough to walk around and the moment you don’t look where you’re going, you’ll be knocking other people’s food or elbows.  Maybe I’m exaggerating or maybe it’s just that I’ve always preferred spacious restaurants (with reference to my other posts).

When you enter, the kitchen will be on your left. Although you can see the kitchen, you won't be able to see what they're actually doing or how they're preparing the food because it's just way to high even when you're standing up. Just to add, the crew at the door, and sometimes everybody else, will greet you with a loud and enthusiastic "Konnichiwa!" when you enter.

Rotating the camera a couple of inches from the kitchen view, we get this. Let's call this the center view. There's a divider at the back where there are also several chairs and even lesser wiggle room than the main area where we are seated. But the lights are a little dimmer and it's more cozier. Good spot to choose when you plan to chat with friends or with family. It has the cafe ambience. The tables in the main area are a bit disarranged but that's because there's a photoshoot going on.

Photoshoot for a new dish? Maybe a new set of dishes? Yey! I can't wait for the new menu! I wonder what the new food looks like (or tastes like). Later, after their shoot, I saw them taking a plate back to the kitchen. I couldn't make out it if it's a rice dish, a dessert plate or anything at all. Sorry. I guess it'll just be a surprise for now. ^_^

All 3 pictures of the restaurant above show the whole place.  You can see how limited their space is but I guess it works out well for them.  There are tables and chairs outside too.   You’ll also notice that there’s a basket with blue table napkin on every table.  That’s where the regular utensils are.  Anything else needed for the dish, like the dessert spoons and knife will be given when the food is sent to the table.

Here's the basket upclose.

About the Parfait!

They have 5 different parfait flavors for 105php each, and I’ve tasted 4 of them already, but for this particular visit, we ordered Adzuki Parfait (red adzuki beans, vanilla and green tea ice cream plus whipped cream) and Choco Banana Parfait (of course banana slices, banana sauce, vanilla and chocolate ice cream and whipped cream with chocolate syrup).  Both of them sound yummy?  Well, they look yummy too and taste even yummier!  The flavor isn’t lacking, the sweetness isn’t overpowering, and I think the serving size is just enough to satisfy your parfait craving and finish the whole thing without making you feel too full.

Here's all 5 of the Parfait flavors.

Here's what Mario ordered (photo - menu version) and I've tasted this one from previous visits.

And here's what the Choco Banana Parfait looks like when it was sent to our table. Although the glass isn't as tall as the photo on the menu, it was still plenty enough to last a long stay in the cafe.

Here's what I ordered (photo - menu version).

And here’s what I got. Gomen (sorry), if the picture’s a little dark. Oh, notice the coaster? Yes, we love it. Almost everything has their logo – paper napkins, the envelope for the utensils, the burger wrappers – which I will post below).

About the Other Orders

Aside from parfait, Mario decided to order one of their burgers, the must-try Gyoza Burger (150php), and I ordered their summer special, Peach latte (99php).

I love it when the restaurants say "Must Try" and it actually turns out to be a good meal to order. Here's the Gyoza Burger from the menu...

The burger turned out exactly (well, almost) as the menu photo! Amazing! Even the plate! The photo didn't have the burger wrapper but that's fine, as long as the food is exactly as it was advertized. Not like some other restaurants or fastfood chains. ^_^

One of the other thing we love in Tokyo Cafe is their Peach Iced Tea! It's absolutely perfect (at least for me and Mario). It's not too sweet and you can still taste the tea-ness of the drink. That's why I ordered this just to see if I'll be amazed by this new mix.

Here it is! It looks beautiful but the taste is ok. I didn't fall in love with it but it's not bad. I guess the combination of peach and coffee/mocha flavor doesn't work for me. I like the presentation though.

Here's a trivia at the back of the Peach Latte table-top ad.

And here it is again... The kawaii (cute) coaster!

We love Tokyo Tokyo and we hope to sample the other dishes soon!  But we’ll definitely be back for the parfait!

Wonderful menu with lots of mouth watering pictures! We'll be back!

I love Tokyo Cafe!

Azul – Spanish and Filipino Dishes + Unlimited Rice!

We were hungry, it’s past mall hours (10PM) and we only had an hour left before the 11PM Harry Potter Cinema 1 movie starts. Our life saver… Azul.  We liked our first trip so we returned the next day (this time, armed with a camera and more time in our hands).

About the Store

Azul is located at the 2nd floor of MOA’s Entertainment Mall, near IMAX (North Parking).  True to its name (“Azul” – Spanish for “Blue”), the place is full of blue colored accessories (napkins, lights, art works, wall paint and tablecloths).  The blueness of the place seems to be more noticeable at night because of the blue lights but at day time, it’s not as ‘blue’.

Here's daytime Azul view from inside facing the mall. I wasn't able to adjust the camera settings so the colors don't show that well. The chairs and tables are brown (and cream for the sofa) while the tablecloth is bluegreen with a skyblue glass vase.

Here's the place at night (our First Visit). Behind me are the glass doors. Hard to figure out but you'll notice the "CLOSE/OPEN" sign. Outside are more tables and chairs if you want to enjoy the food with a good view of Manila Bay and the MOA fountain.

Red marks the exact location of Azul (2nd Level). You can click on this picture if you want to find other stalls using this map. Thank goodness MOA has an online map!

Here's how it looks from outside. You can check on their menu before entering (menu stand at the left).

One thing that’s very odd is how they used the round tables and placed them together to form a set that’s supposed to be good for 4 people.  I think it was a waste of space and also spells “accident about to happen”.  You’ll know what I mean when you see the pictures.

Here's how the normal set looks like where 2 square tables are placed side by side to form a rectangular table good for 4. No fuzz, no space wasted and very safe.

Here's the other table set where 2 round tables are placed side by side so that 4 people can eat together. Look at how the tablecloth falls into the spaces between the tables. Just not the best table arrangement.

They also used really big spoons that you’ll have to put extra effort to open your mouth really big to eat one spoonful.

We used Mario's finger to be our scale but I think we should have used something generic instead. Well, anyway, Mario stands 6'3" (if I'm not mistaken) and he has really long fingers. Even though the spoon is slightly closer to the camera than the finger, you can still imagine how unusually big the spoon is. It was slightly uncomfortable eating with it.

Unlimited Rice and Service

We got a wonderful surprise during our first visit when we learned that they offer unlimited rice.  Yes, it’s Tokyo Tokyo style!  We didn’t know that at first so we tried to order for extra rice (that’s how hungry we were that Saturday night).

The service was great!  They were fast and very accommodating.  I believe it was the store manager, she offered to take our picture together (Mario and I).

Yey! It's really rare to have us both in the picture!

About the Food

Since we were in a hurry on the first visit, we forgot to take pictures of the food.  Plus the fact that we only had a cellphone camera with us, the night photos won’t come out good.  But just for review purposes, we ordered Torta Española and Pork Sisig.

Torta Española, is tortang talong (eggplant) with cheeze (Parmesan, if I remember it correctly).  We loved this but maybe not because it’s cooked in a special way, but just because we both love eggplant cooked as ‘torta’.  This was the hit for the night.  I hope to visit them again for this dish and post pictures once I do.

The Pork Sisig, according to Mario, wasn’t salty enough.  It was a good thing for me though, because you just have to request for soysauce and season to taste.  I’m a sucker for Pork Sisig so this was still ok for me.

On our 2nd visit we tried something different, Binagoongang Baboy with Gata and Bicol Express (the version with pork – I know some versions are all veggies).

The sauce of the Binagoongang Baboy with Gata was good.  We ended up scraping off the remaining sauce from the sizzling plate.  We just wished there were a lot more sauce though.  As for the pork, oh my…  The slices were huge but they’re mostly pork fat…  Bad idea to order this dish if you don’t eat pork fat, because half would just go to waste.  The dish was served on sizzling plate with 3 slices of fried eggplant.

Here's the Binagoongang Baboy with Gata. Despite the chillies, the dish wasn't spicy. Notice how big the pork slices are?

A closer look reveals what you're really getting from that huge chunk of pork. I know I shouldn't complain since pork is pork so we should have expected it to be fatty. But because the cuts are so big, you can't help but notice that half of it is fat. I wish they had cut the pork smaller.

Bye Bye, Sauce!

The Bicol Express was ordinary.  Nothing much to say but I like the fact that they kept the red chili uncrushed and just let the customer mix it in the dish if they want it extra spicy.  Without the red chili, it wasn’t hot at all.  That might be a little disappointing for those who are expecting a kick from this dish.

Here's the Bicol Express.

Bowl in the middle has the unilimited rice!!! That's the main attraction.

Mario was there...

I was there...

Tadaaaaa! It's the first time this pair was photographed for this blog. ^_^ This is my "all-tied-up" boots.

Mandarin Wok – A Great Accidental Find

We started our search for Don Henrico’s during one of our MOA nights when we noticed that we’ve had enough window shopping and that our tummies were grumbling. Our DH (Don Henrico’s) craving lead to a tiring walk that seemed like the Bataan Death March to us at that time. We were at South Parking area of the Mall-of-Asia when the kind security informed us that DH is at the North Parking Area! Our urge won over our tired feet and grumbling tummies, and we headed on to DH, only to find out, there aren’t any available seats (waiting list).

On the way to DH, we passed by an orange restaurant which had a big area behind the entrance. All the chairs and tables were placed on the right side (facing their doors), leaving the front of the counter station bare. Only a few families were dining inside, but food seemed ok (based on the menu offered at the store front and on their huge tarpaulins. We gave it a try… loved it and came back a 2nd time, this time with my brother, Mark.

About the Store

The time we went there, the aircondining was ok, not really super cold but good enough.  The place is huge but they have not optimized the use of the space since a big part of the restaurant is empty.  I don’t know if the place becomes full during peak hours (lunch and dinner).  We love the abundance of couches!!!  And they have their own restroom.

Here's me with my brother and behind us, you can see that the front part of the store is really empty. No tables, no chairs, except for further back and the right side. The vacant space is big enough for dance rehearsals of a hiphop crew! ^_^;

Here's me (again) and Mario. A view of the door and behind the glass (and the tarpaulins) is the counter... and the big empty space.

About the Food

The food is actually the biggest reason why it was such a great find for us.  We ordered the same dishes we got during our first visit.  Yes, that’s how good these 2 dishes were and we weren’t in the mood to experiment.  Well, we did want to try the Mandarin Orange Chicken (on both visits) but it wasn’t available (on both visits ^_^).  It’s one of their bestsellers that get sold out during lunch time, the crew explained to us.

Our Orders

Mario ordered Popiah ‘aka’ Fresh Lumpia for 60 PHP and the Sweet and Sour Pork (he loves sweet dishes) for 125 PHP.

I ordered the Baked Chicken Rice for me and my brother for 195 PHP.  It’s big enough to share with another person, and there’s no problem with sharing since they provide each table with plates.  Everyone can just dig in and take their share.

Popiah – Fresh Lumpia

I’m not a Fresh Lumpia fan but I think this is ok and it’s a little different from the traditional Philippine Fresh Lumpia since there were ingredients I didn’t recognize.   According to Mario, he likes it because the sauce is good and the serving is big.

Here's the Popiah. The sauce is usually served in a ceramic container (left of the popiah) but you can also request for the sauce that's still in the squeeze bottle for more saucy goodness. ^_^

Here's how it looks just a few seconds after it's delivered to our table. ^_^; See how different it is from the Philippine version of Fresh Lumpia?

Sweet and Sour Pork

My regret is that having to eat Baked Chicken Rice makes me so full that I only was able to taste a little bit of this dish.  But I bet Mario was glad he didn’t need to share because he finished the whole dish by himself in no time.  I’ll probably order this dish next time and compare it to the Sweet and Sour Pork of North Park.

May I present, the Sweet and Sour Pork! You can almost taste the sauce in this picture!

Baked Chicken Rice

This will probably be the reason I’ll keep coming back to their store for years!  Mario isn’t a fan of anything that tastes too tomato-ey (he prefers Pinoy style sweet spaghetti over Italian style), but I am!  This dish is super cheesy with generous chicken breast fillet (yes, no bones to worry about!) and is super satisfying!  My brother loved it as well!  We were scraping off the burnt cheese that got stuck to the ceramic bowl.  It’s so yummy I finished the whole dish (meant for 2) by myself during our first visit.

The chicken is underneath all those cheese!!!

You won't need to fight over the chicken because there are 4 half chicken breasts (if I counted correctly). Each one is positioned on each quadrant (hahahha using math to explain food)!

To finish off everything, we ordered a hot pot of Jasmine tea.

Here’s a shot of some parts of the menu.  Notice how super affordable the drinks are?  Considering we were dining in a restaurant in a mall.

Here's where the Popiah is listed.

Yey! My favorite! Baked Chicken Rice!

We hope to try the Mandarin Orange Chicken next time....

HUWHAT!?! Drinks for as low as 25 PHP?!

Continuation of Beverage & Dessert menu

My brother gave it a thumbs up. If I could, I'd given it 3 thumbs up!

Umm... The evidence of good food is a clean plate.

Wedding Preparations = Inactive Blogging

We’ve been so busy with all the preparations and as proof, my room has been transformed to a cramped workshop/officespace.  I’ll update this post with pictures once I get the time to stop and click away…

We’ve been really relax about the preparations and have just started to feel the pressure.  We’re doing a lot of our wedding stuff ourselves — invitation, wedding favors, gifts, table numbers, and all the other small details.

I’ll start blogging actively again after the wedding (I promise)!

Enjoy life for now, everyone!

French Baker – Daily Bargain

I’ve always heard about the end-of-day sale that most bakeshops and some food court/arcade shops do when it’s nearing the mall’s closing time, but I’ve never really taken advantage of it until recently.

Mario and I have always been late night mallers and we really tend to over-stay mostly due to taking the last movie sched on the list.  Oftentimes we’d see the long queue at French Baker wondering what it was for.  I thought people were probably just meeting up folks there and made FB (French Baker) their landmark.  I know that guess is off so I also thought it was because of the end-of-day sale (EOD sale) but I set that thought aside since I didn’t expect people to start to line-up a few minutes past 9PM for an EOD sale at 10PM.

One time, when we didn’t have any movie to watch but just wanted to stay inside the mall, we decided to fall in line.  The first experience paved way to many more nights of EOD sales.  Yes, here’s how we always get our half-priced supply of raisin breads!  I personally haven’t tried the raisin breads (I’m not a bread person), but folks at home love bread so much that a whole big loaf of raisin bread lasts for only 1 or 2 days max.

How to be part of the sale

French Bakers at different locations have different guidelines for the EOD sale, I only know about the guidelines for SM Sucat and SM Mall of Asia.

SM Sucat

The mall closes at 9PM (hypermart is open until 10PM) and they start distributing numbers at around 8PM (or you can get this at the counter at the bakery side of the shop).  After getting a number, you can just return around 20-15mins before 9PM to get ready for the big discount.

They’ll let a few people in at a time so that it won’t be too crowded and also, the ones who are inside won’t have to fight it off over any last stock item.

SM Mall of Asia

French Baker - Mall of Asia

The mall closes at 10PM so you’ll have to line-up around 9:30PM (or earlier!).  One time at 9PM, we didn’t see any line yet so we opted to do our groceries first and just come back after.  After 30 mins, we came back to be number 14 and 15 (these aren’t so good numbers).  Even if Mario is my companion, he will still have to get a number if he wants to go inside the shop.  This is actually a good policy to prevent scheming people who pretend to be a companion of any person in front the of the line and hence get in ahead despite being last to arrive.  I can imagine that probably happened in the past, giving birth to this policy.

Just before the mall closes, the guard distributes the numbers to the people.

MALL OF ASIA: The line starts at the border of French Baker and ChowKing.

The best numbers are below 10, since people have a tendency to take everything they see and who knows how they’ll consume the things they buy!  I overheard a French Baker crew informed a customer when she was asked, that their products can last for 1 week.  Not sure if those need to be in the fridge to last a week but in our house, that doesn’t really matter.  My brother alone can eat the whole loaf in one sitting (or half of the loaf) and that’s the truth!

We got numbers 14 and 15 but there are still a lot of people lining up outside. We prefer the MOA branch since they have more products.

Favorite Breads

The first items we grab once we get inside are Baguette, Raisin Bread (loaf) and Flour Tortilla.  We would get the Egg Rolls but that’s never available at closing, not even ’till the afternoon.  Those are really good!  The rest of the products, we just grab what catches our interest.  One bread for the trip home!

This is me with 2 loaves of Raisin Bread and a Baguette. Imagine getting these big raisin loaves for half of 98php (their original price if I can remeber it correctly).

Here are the other products we got (right tray only): Tortilla Flour, Brownie bar, Coffee Bun + the loaves of raisin bread.

Too bad Mr. Number 30, there's almost nothing left for you.

See you on the next half off sale!

Zing Juice – Think Green? Drink Green!

It was so long since the last time we went “malling” at Glorietta.  Mall of Asia is so nearby that we never had the need to travel far to Makati for our window shopping urges.  It’s because of some wedding shopping errand that we found ourselves driving to Makati and walking towards the escalator of the Glorietta basement parking.

Many things have stayed the same and there were also some changes in Glorietta.  I welcome the changes since the old Glorietta has become boring to us.  There were new shops, renovations left and right and new buildings.  One of the new shops (new to us at least but we don’t know how long it has been there) is Zing Juice.  One of the many juice bars who promise healthy drinks.  The thing that intrigued us was the big poster on Wheatgrass juice (or shot).  I’ve seen these grassy thingies being sold in tradeshows or conventions but was never interested on what these were and what they are for.

This is how the bar looks like. There's just a small window where you can place your orders and can also watch while the wheatgrass juice is being extracted.

About the Wheatgrass

Taking it from the poster, it’s got a lot more Calcium than your average milk, more Carotene than Spinach, a load more Vitamin C and B and Chlorophyll??  Anyway, that’s just 1 shot (1oz) of the drink.

Yes, something green that ain't naughty... ^_^ it's healthy! Yep! We get it already!

About the Price and the Taste

We didn’t dare do the shot so we just bought the drink which will help satisfy our thirst as well.  The drink (small size) costs 115php if I remember it correctly, while the shot costs 85php.  The juice drink version is combined with pineapple (not available at that time so they used greenapple instead), the wheatgrass and another ingredient that I forgot about.  By the way, wheatgrass juice or shots aren’t the only ones they have on their shop.  Like the rest of the healthy juice bars out there, they have fruit shakes/juices and another of the less popular flavors, Ginger.

You can see the actual wheatgrass and the machine they use to extract or squeeze out the healthy juices from the greenies.

Mario didn’t like it at all.  He never was a fruit guy and always wanted everything sweet, the wheatgrass drink wasn’t.  It was, Zingy! to be honest.  The hints of greenapple is there, and the weird grassy taste (how did I know what grass taste like!?).  I drank it all up because it was ok to me and also because I was thinking, “this is healthy!”.

Foamy green drink is the wheatgrass plus green apple plus something else.

Overall

I’d like to try the shot next time but to everyone else, here’s a little reminder on how much is enough for this healthy drink:

Usage (from Wiki)

The average dosage taken by consumers of wheatgrass is 3.5 grams (powder or tablets). Some also have a fresh-squeezed 30 ml shot once daily or for more therapeutic benefits a higher dose up to 2–4 oz taken 1-3 times per day on an empty stomach and before meals. For detoxification, some users may increase their intake to 3–4 times per day. It should be noted that consumers with a poor diet may experience nausea on high dosages of wheatgrass.

I forced him to smile for this photo. ^_^

Le Gourmet – Former Yum Yum Tree!

Mario insisted we stop over this restaurant when we were at Makati doing some wedding stuff hunting.  Le Gourmet, which was formerly known Yum Yum Tree!, is located inside Rustan’s grocery (right at the entrance).  If you’re coming inside, it’s on the left side.

Here's a view of the entrance from inside the restaurant. Right across the street outside is the new Glorietta 5.

About the Shop

Mario said he used to dine a lot in this restaurant back when it was still called Yum Yum Tree! (YYT).  He actually forgot what it was called before so we asked one of the servers.  The shop is properly lit yet still relaxing to the eyes.  The ambiance was great despite being at the entrance of a busy grocery and we were there on a Sunday, so you could just imagine people buzzing in and out.

There’s enough space to move around and while waiting for your order (or after you eat).  Should you deside to buy some sausage links, cheese or any spice for your home cooked meals, you can look around and shop.

Sausage links here and other meat products... I haven't had a chance to walk around to see what they're selling from upclose. I'll update this post once I do have more pictures on our next dining experience.

The freezer on the right of the picture holds the cheese selections and the shelves at the center have the spices and all the bottled stuff. ^_^

About the Food

Upon receiving the menu, he immediately looked for the prices of the dishes as he continued to brag about how inexpensive they were but very tasty while we were window shopping at Glorietta 5.  When he found the Pinoy meals section, he said their prices haven’t changed.  He pointed to dishes that cost 150php on the average.  I think those were ok as long as the serving size is good for 2 people.

He ordered Lumpiang Shanghai + plain rice and I ordered Sinigang na Baboy which already comes with free rice.  For drinks, we had Peach Iced Tea since we wanted to compare how their Peach Ice Tea tasted against Tokyo Cafe’s.

This is the Lumpiang Shanghai and it was really good! You know that most of the times people would complain that some lumpia's are all wrapper and no meat? Well, this one's the opposite! ^_^

Sinigang!!! One of my favorite dishes! I loved how salty it was! It was just right for me and I didn't need to add fish sauce (patis). A lot of people (like Mario) probably wouldn't like it because, admittedly, it was a little too salty for restaurant standards, but I loved it! Maybe they had a little accident in the Kitchen resulting to a salty batch? Who cares! ^_^

The serving size was good.  Both Sinigang and Lumpia were enough to feed 2 people without the bloated feeling (for us, at least).  ^_^  Knowing our tummies could probably hold more food than the average human being sometimes, so the serving, for others, would probably be too big.  For us, it was enough that we satisfied our hunger but didn’t feel over-stuffed.

I was happy Mario insisted we have dinner here and I would want to go back again to try their cheese platter!!!  YUMMY!

Le Gourmet (Yum Yum Tree!)

Roti Mum – Another Coffee Bun Experience

We always pass by their shop whenever we park at MOA’s South Parking area and as a mocha lover, I always wanted to try their Coffee Bun (that’s the only item they sell there, I think).  And there it was, another day at MOA, parked at South Parking, another chance to try their Coffee Bun!

About Their Shop

We didn’t have a lot of photo opportunities so allow me to just give you a description of the place (and there’s really not a lot to describe).

The shop doesn’t have any table where you can eat your coffee buns, so it’s really a shop where you can buy something to eat while “malling” or something to take home.  Take-home buns area probably what they’re trying to go for since there were a lot of boxes stacked and ready to be filled in by buns!  Behind the counter, you’ll see the huge ovens and beside them are the freshly baked coffee buns.

Since they didn’t have tables, we ate our Coffee Buns at The White Hat which is just a few steps from their shop.

About the Price and the Buns

It’s priced higher than Kopi Roti at 50php for the ordinary Coffee Bun and 55php for the Chocolate Coffee Bun.  That’s a bit of a turnoff because from where we were standing, I could already see how the buns looked like and they don’t seem to be worth that much.  Anyway, we ordered 1 of each (Coffee Bun for me and Chocolate Coffee Bun for Mario).

When we got our buns, we were a bit disappointed.  They don’t look as yummy and as puffy as the ones in Kopi Roti.  The coffee bun didn’t seem to have the outer crust that would crumble upon biting.  The center part of the chocolate bun “caved in”.  We thought that the chocolate buns would have chocolate filling, it turns out, it would just be chocolate crust (our bad for not asking).

Top - Coffee Bun / Bottom - Chocolate Coffee Bun. Mario was excited to check if there's chocolate filling so he took a bite before we took this photo.

About the Taste

I was really looking forward to eating my first Roti Mum Coffee Bun after tasting the wonderful buns at Kopi Roti, but this experience can’t compare to that.  As Mario described it, it tasted as though we were eating ordinary bread (that cost 50php)…

Overall

I don’t know if we bought buns of a not-s0-good batch or it was because we were eating the buns with frozen yogurt, that’s why it didn’t taste special…  I don’t think we’ll try their buns again (unless we happen to pass by and see a good batch of buns coming out from the oven).

The White Hat – Frozen Yogurt

We’ve had White Hat’s frozen yogurt several times in the past, aslo in SM Mall of Asia (2nd floor Entertainment Hall near South Parking).  If you’re getting off the parking elevator on the 2nd floor, you’ll see the strategically placed White Hat standee that really makes you want to check the place out even though you had not originally planned to go there.

I remember the first time we had White Hat frozen yogurt was when we just recovered from flu and we desperately needed to go out of the house after being isolated for a week!

Since they just opened, they took pictures of their first customers and we were one of them. Here's our picture taken from their website (http://www.thewhitehat.com.ph). We were wearing caps 'coz we needed to hide how awfully sick we looked that day... ^_^ and how sick we felt... We really needed the frozen yogurt...

About the Store

They don’t have seats inside the shop where it’s air-conditioned so you have no choice but to eat outside.  I’m not a fan of eating/drinking outside, whether it’s a cafe, lunch, merienda…  Well, maybe sometimes when the air is cool, that’s ok…  Luckily, the air is cool that day.

Here's the shop from the outside. That's Mario... ^_^ Note to self, buy a good camera after the wedding.

About the Prices

You can order a regular sized cup for 85php and a large size for 115php (if my memory serves me right).  We usually just get the regular cup.  For the topping, there are a lot to choose from and my favorites are the hazel nuts and choco drops!  If you decide to just have 1 topping, that’s 20php on top of the basic yogurt price, if 2 toppings that’s 35php and if 4, that’s 45php.

I think if there’s an Amici Gelato nearby for 50php, we wouldn’t be getting frozen yogurt.  ^_^  Of course, Gelato and Frozen Yogurt are 2 different things.  I think for the Frozen Yogurt industry, 85php + 20php for 1 topping is average cost.

Here are our orders. Mine is on the left, Hazel Nuts and Choco Drops. Mario's white hat is on the right (he had some already that's why it looks like that) Oreo and Sweet Mango.

Yep! 98% Fat Free! That's what it says on the table!

Well, you might be wondering why it's called "The White Hat"... Here you go!

And yes, I was there with my boots!

Frozen Yogurt... I like!

The UST Experiment

It was just one of those days when we had nothing to do and nowhere to go…  We usually visited Divisoria just for the heck of it and we’re always sure that we’re going to find something we “need” there, but we wanted to visit a different thrift empire…  Alas!  Quiapo came to mind, but without good a nice spot to park the car, I suggested parking at UST which gave me the opportunity to visit my Alma Mater.

Mario at The Arch of the Century

I think it says that Jose Rizal was an alumni of the Royal Pontifical University of Santo Tomas Manila back in 1877.

And on 2011, UST will be celebrating its 400th year!

The old parking lot has become a multi-deck parking building with different stalls of dine it fastfood restaurants, treats, various merchandise shops, etc.  The old parking lot back when I was still a lean college student is nothing like the new building that I’m already calling a mini-mall!

The popular restaurants you can find there are Tokyo-Tokyo, KFC and Reyes BBQ (these are all found on the 2nd floor).  I have yet to explore the 1st floor and I’ll update this blog once I do.

During our visit, we had lunch at SR Thai which is in the Dapitan area outside the campus, and Cerealicious which is located at the 2nd floor of the parking building.

Click on the pictures to learn more about our experiences.

Cerealicious!

SR Thai!