And the Panda Brings Me Food

When I saw this place, I couldn't help but try it during my weekly pedicure:





That's Panda Mein plain noodles (Php22.00) at Starmall Las Piñas. If you love instant pancit canton, this you'll love more since:



1) It's less unhealthy and it fits the budget.
2) Add 2 pesos you could make it soup
3) It goes with a variety of dimsum (add 8-10 pesos for dimsum of choice)4) There are a wide variety of sauces to choose and mix-and-match







Im complaining though that the servings are small that i could wolf it down in 15 minutes. Maybe I could get two orders during my really hungry days yes? It's quite popular already in my area and it's a shame that I only discovered it now. Well, better late than never.

Looks like I got a new I'm-bored-and-I-want-food favorite. :)

Mochi Is My Treat

Ever been to those old-fashioned ice cream parlors that bring back memories of our favorite ice cream treats like Chunky Monkey, Banana Split, Peach Melba, and sundaes in various flavors that we love?

After the family's annual New Year dinner, we went for ice cream at Magnolia Ice Cream House (it's located near SM Mall of Asia. I don't know the exact name of the location but it's in the line of Dampa-type restaurants and it's located right near Lydia's Lechon). While waiting for our order, I saw this display box:









The pop-art design caught my eye and so did the cute-sounding name. I asked if they had these in stock and they said yes, for Php10.00 each. Since I was intrigued at mochi balls having seen them in groceries abroad, I wanted to give this a try.

There were only two flavors available: Sesame and Ube so I ordered one of each. They came to me served in a little plate and each mochi ball was individually wrapped just like candy with the wrapper still cold.



Mochi = ice cream balls wrapped in glutinous rice





Here's the sesame variant, which reminded me of buchi without the seeds. The covering is just like espasol, down to the flour coating (or is it powdered sugar?). If you're a neat freak and will be snacking on this on the car, better have tissue ready to dust off any powder particles that fall (tip, thaw the mochi ball a bit before eating so the rice covering is chewy and the ice cream is soft enough)



The ube here, aside from the pretty purple color (to those who like purple) has more flavor than sesame, there's more sweetness to it.





The kids seem to like this more, I dunno, maybe it's sweeter?



The box also can be ordered to go, at Php100.00 for 10 pcs in a box (relatively the same price if you buy it individually) and yep, this can be chucked inside the freezer.




Oh while you're at the store and would want to enjoy a treat, I recommend the strawberry cheesecake. I ordered it saying it was their bestseller and I thought it would me really small when I got it. When I saw it, It's good enough for 3 people:

Ang laki chong!

Graham cracker butter layer, strawberry ice cream, cream cheese, and strawberry topping drizzled with little chocolate slabs and chocolate syrup. Three people to eat: yumyum. Two people: buuuurp. One person alone: Ultimate brain freeze and sugar high. Php180.00 for 3. Plus if you love PINK, this is for you.

Mochi balls, however, I don't know if they have this is the grocery. Magnolia Ice Cream Shop has this, but last checked, there was none at SM Hypermart. Anyone know where they may be at?

Thesugarbug's Spiral Experience

Spiral Restaurant at Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila is known to have the widest array of food choices available to mankind. If you're a foodie lover who loves good food and lots of it, then this is a total indulgence for you.

The sugarbug on one Saturday was surprised with a lunch at Spiral and of course, being the food lover that I am could not contain my happiness. I've been wanting to dine there since forever and do reviews about it.

So there, we drove to Sofitel (formerly known as Westin Philippine Plaza). When we got there, here's what I saw first:

Well whadya know? A spiral staircase! I was told that that's why it's called Spiral, but uhmm... could it be coincidence too? Plus the staircase is a good place to walk off what you eat. By the way, if you look at the architecture of Spiral, you'd notice its similarity to CCP, PICC, and NAIA. The reason? The architect is all the same - Leandro Locsin, so notice the ceiling, the columns, and everything would remind you of the airport.

From French, Japanese, Italian, Chinese, Korean, Filipino, Indian, and a truckload of desserts, Spiral had it all... it was impossible for me to try every single dish, so I tried a selection of dishes. As I learned, I opted for water as my staple drink and to forego rice (although I had a little bit of paella, which I could not resist)

An ice mountain of crabs, shrimps, and oysters.

Hey dork, you pry the meat from the shell!

I could not resist the sushi, which they served fresh and slice in front of you. The salads were crisp and fresh. I indulged on crabs and shrimps and the grillery, which they gave me a choice of lamb, fish, poultry, or tiger prawns. I opted for grilled salmon head, which they grilled into melt-in-the-mouth flaky goodness.

They also had a pasta bar where you could customize your own pasta from their choices of sauces and fillings. Here's my take on tomato-base pasta with sundried tomatoes, olives, mushrooms, and capers (dang I forgot to add shrimp!)

After my round of dimsum and grill, I took a rest from eating and ordered a cup of tea. Then, the server approached us and asked us if we would like anything because the buffet would close by 2:30. Thesugarbug just had to run and get her most favorite part of all - DESSERT!

Desserts were cuplets of various cakes and pastries including tiramisu, chocolate creme brullee, christmas pudding, freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies, candies, fruits, and the highlight of my day were two chocolate fountains, one white and one milk, both I didn't skip and I dipped 2 marshmallow skewers and a mango slice each.

Plus I made my own sundae:

Chocolate droplets on strawberry ice cream (made from scratch!) with a PINK marshmallow, and red and white gummy bears.

Feature beauty: Strawberry Panna Cotta with champagne jelly. Of course the magic word "champagne" made me grab the treat. I love the balance of the sweet-tart of the strawberry with the flavor of champagne. Very sexy!

The almost-two hour meal was capped off with another round of tea and 10 minutes of rest since both our tummies were distended from eating. But sure, it was definitely worth it! So much fun and so much food. Plus... guess who I saw?

Stanley Ong and his adorable baby girl, Naima!

I recommend Spiral for food lovers and who would want to indulge once in a while. It's definitely a mind-boggling gastronomical experience you would surely enjoy. I recommend too, not to miss out the chocolate fountain! :) Yumm yumm yumm!

Yum Yum At Bistro Filipino

At the 7,100 Tastes event at Bistro Filipino, I had the pleasure of dining in style fusion Filipino food. That means... our own native Pinoy food gets a sossy twist:

Take my appetizer of a spicy sisig basket with a shot of quail egg:

And these shots of soup to warm my tummy

From L to R:

Adobo Shiitake Mushroom Puree Topped with Creamy Garlic Foam Drizzled with White Truffle Oil

Oven Roasted Pumpkin and Eggplant Pure Garnishes with Crispy Okra (that wasn't grossly textured..take note!), and a Dollop of Shrimp Paste Cream

Beef Consomme Garnished with Fresh Corn, Carrots, and Potato Croquette Stuffed with Beef and Cabbage

My personal favorite is the adobo shiitake mushroom puree, having that interesting meat taste and it not being too heavy. The pumpkin and eggplant soup had a similar taste to pakbet. The shrimp paste (bagoong in our native terms) is actually made from scratch and they don't get the prebottled ones. They make it fresh using the freshest alamang they find in the market.

For my dose of salad veggies I had Mesclun Salad Tossed in Dijon Shrimp Paste Vinaigrette topped with Dried, Green, and Ripe Mangoes, Tomatoes, and Cashew Crusted Kesong Puti

Mangoes go well with bagoong, which they incorporated to the vinaigrette, which was quite spicy. I asked what gave its spicy flavor, and according to Chef Laudico, this was due to the Dijon mustard. The kesong puti was very firm and the nutty flavor made it more interesting.

Just as we were about to be served the main course, we were given an Intermezzo course, which was supposed to prepare us for the main course by cleansing the palate. Here we had a shot of Tamarind Granite, which was good ol' sampaloc juice frozen and thawed to a slushy consistency that is quite refreshing. Think sampaloc juice without the sugar. Just one shot.

We had two main courses (wheee!) The seafood course was one that I enjoyed, which was Lapu-lapu and prawns in coco-lambanog sauce, coriander, asparagus, and fennel cherry tomato sofrito brown rice with sun-dried mangoes served warm on a warm plate. The fish was flaky and practically melted in the mouth. I love how the shrimp had already been pre-peeled to avoid any wa-poise hipon-peeling incidents.

The meat course was Crusted Wagyu Beef Filled Cashew-Humba Sauce with vegetable barbecue (cookied in the way Inasal cooks used to do it) and sweet potato mash. The beef was cooked to medium doneness but it could be requested to be cooked according to your liking.

To prepare us for the dessert of mango canonigo (a dessert similar to brazo de mercedes,which was egg white + caramel and mangoes) and pili sansrival, we were given a cheese course, with a sweet-salty flavor to prep us up. THe kesong puti was firm enough not to crumble to pieces, something I'm quite particular about

Finally dessert! And for wine, I chose mango wine, which was sweet with a bit of kick. YummM!1!!

Yum Yum Yum!

Once upon a time, I was in Ayala Avenue quite early for a meeting so I went for a Krispy kreme Breakfast!

Krispy Kreme Original Glazed+Whipped Cream + Fruit Bowl

Php 120.00 available only at Krispy Kremes Ayala

Yum Yum Yum! The donut and whipped cream is sinful but the fruit balanced it out. Me Love Much! How is it if it's to go? I like it better dine-in, the atmosphere is really good, not too crowded, not too cold. My only complaint is that they dont have a red light :(.

T'is The Season At Krispy Kremes

Krispy Kremes is up for the Holidays and it's not just because of their decor and cheery atmosphere....

Little Drummer Boy Drumroll please....

The Snowman Donuts are in town!

I just had one today @ Krispy Kremes Ayala along with my regular New York Cheesecake, which I always buy whenever I see a Krispy Kreme! Yum Yum Yum! And don't you think they look way better than fruitcake?

Empire Macarons

@ Rockwell last Saturday on my way to Rustan's grocery for a bit of errand-shopping, I spotted a row of bake sales with free samples so naturally, thesugarbug eyed the foodies and sampled the samples. :-) Among them, a colorful display caught my eye and after much deliberation, I bought some macarons from the Empire booth



shown here: mocha (spackled), strawberry (red), and pistachio (green)

A macaron actually

"is a traditional French pastry, made of egg whites, almond powder, icing sugar, and sugar."
[Text credits]

We see them in familiar coffee shops and I'm just glad a lot are making macarons nowadays. The price can get pretty steep at Php30.00 for a piece due to the difficulty in making them. As traditional macarons were sweet, dry, and crunchy, like your regular biscotti, this macaron and all other macarons are crunch and crisp on the outside but chewy inside intermixing with the icing/cream filling in between the two cookies. It's actually spelled macaron instead of macaroon, which is a totally different pastry (a dense cookie made out of coconut), and these two should never be interchanged

Although Empire participated in Rockwell, they can also be seen at the Saturday Salcedo market. They also pack macarons per dozen or for 10 pieces, which could be given as gifts. Aside from the regular flavors of chocolate, white chocolate, cookies and cream, lemon, strawberry, pistachio, classic (probably a vanilla flavor), mocha, chocolate peanut butter, cherry, and blueberry, they make premium flavors of caramel-pecan, rose ganache, triple chocolate, blueberry cheesecake, Irish creme, and Hazelnut Ganache (Php 35.00 per piece or Php400.00 per dozen).

They also make cheesecake balls which can be a quick sugar treat or a pasalubong for kids or a gift for your boss or a special friend who loves cheesecake. I'm a fan of the strawberry chocolate cheesecake ball, which is not too rich but they've got that chocolate.

I recommend the lemon flavor, which doesn't taste very tart and this is a perfect meal-ender. Not to mention the yellow color looks cute. Other favorites are strawberry, mocha, pistachio, and blueberry, which together look pretty good in a gift box.

To order and for more information, contact Empire at (02)4671995 and (0917)8861190.