Dreaming of You

I met up with my yumyum monster gang one Saturday afternoon; albeit incomplete, we still pushed through with our initial plan of visiting this choco haven along Jupiter street Makati.  We arrived at Maitre Chocolatier for our late lunch.

   
Upon entering, we were greeted by this couture dress made of Ferrero wrappers.

You will also see this photo wall with Maitre Chocolatier as the background in black and white. 

One might get intimidated at first as the restaurant looks quite expensive.  You know the connotation, when it looks expensive, chances are they also have a steep price for their food.  Surprisingly, it is not the case with Maitre Chocolatier.  I find their food price in fair range.  The place looks chic with brown and cream comfortable couches, yellow lights, and modern pieces of art hanging on their walls.

They also sell imported chocolates like Toblerone, Lindt, Ferrero Rocher, Ritter and Mercer to name a few.

On the table

• White Chocolate Carbonara

Rich and creamy carbonara with Lindt white chocolate sprinkled with bacon bits and generously topped with Parmesan cheese.

Oh..la..la!  The pasta is perfectly cooked.  The sauce is so creamy and delicious.  The bacon bits are such a treat.  In simple words... I LOVE IT!

• Linguine in Spicy Dark Chocolate with Grilled Chicken

Linguine in spice dark chocolate sauce made from Lindt Excellence Chili Dark Chocolate with tender grilled chicken.

I love spicy food so I happily suggested ordering this one but I find the combination not quite pleasing.

• Linguine in Pesto Sauce with Parmesan Crusted Chicken

Linguine with fresh herbs and spices with crisp and tender Parmesan-crusted chicken strips.  The white chocolate sauce is made from Frey Classique Blanc.

• Maki Salad

Salad with seaweed, crab sticks, and ripe mangoes dressed with Frey Blanc Chocolate.

• Churros Sticks with Lindt Dark Chocolate Dip

Light and crunchy churros sticks fried into perfection.

• Sweet Revenge

Dark chocolate molten lava cake made from Lindt Excellence Dark 70%, filled with oozing sweet and vengefully spicy chocolate lava served with vanilla ice cream.

Definitely the highlight of the meal!  Surely a must order when you visit this place.  The oh-so-delicious chocolate ruptures from the lava cake.  There is also a hint of spiciness midway through.  Vanilla ice cream is served on the side to cool down the taste buds.

 Raymund enjoying his churros...cute!

We are already planning a second visit to this place.  I couldn't get enough of that sweet revenge that I find myself staring at a picture in my laptop in the middle of the night.  I'll definitely come back here with Lars as I'm very sure she'll be so addicted to this as I am.

MAITRE CHOCOLATIER BOUTIQUE CAFE
2A, No. 28 Jupiter Street corner Astra Street, Bel Air, Makati City
(Beside Whistlestop & Starbucks)
(02) 897-8559

You had me at FIRST BITE

Shobe and Pacoy were raving about this newly opened restaurant in Banawe that is owned by their friend.  They kept saying, "Achi, panalo ang chicken dun!"  So after doing some wedding errands, we headed straight to Sincere in Banawe at 9:00 pm for a very late dinner.  But to our dismay, the restaurant was already closed.  Shobe insisted she called and that they told her they close at 10 pm.  Lucky us they still accommodated us and immediately ushered us in our table.

Grabbed from openrice.com

  
Sincerity (Sincere is what they call their Banawe branch) is a family business opened as far back as 1950s so they are an institution in the food industry.  They currently have three branches.  One in Binondo, another one in Little Baguio San Juan, and the latest is their Banawe branch.  Upon entering the resto, there are different sizes of displayed buddhas welcoming you, as in Chinese culture they believe this will bring good luck and good fortune to the establishment.  The restaurant has a well-lit ambiance with colorful plastic tables and chairs.  I was also delighted to see that the plates they use are the same ones we had at home when my lolo is still alive.  Sadly though I forgot to take a pic.  It's the one with a gold rim and a lady in the middle.  Nostalgia!

I let shobe and Pacoy ordered for us as they seem to know what's best to order.

On the table

• Sincerity Fried Chicken

Sincerely one of the best fried chicken I tasted!  At first look, it is just a plain fried chicken but as I had my first bite...OMG!!! It's tender, juicy, crunchy and bursting with flavors.  It's citrusy, garlicky, peppery with a hint of sweetness.  It doesn't need any condiments at all as it is so delicious unto itself.  I swear I could finish a whole order of this!  I love that it's unpretentious, deceiving at first look, but as they say don't judge the book coz you're not a judge! haha.

• Sincerity Fried Rice

Fried rice with egg and chorizo sprinkled with spring onions.

• Sincerity Kikiam

The kikiam did not disappoint as well.  It is indeed very tasty, loaded with pork meat and served with gravy sauce on the side.

• Oyster cake

A mix of fresh, succulent oysters done in omelet style with chopped spring onions.

• Pork Siomai

• Black gulaman

I wanted to kick myself for not discovering it earlier but nevertheless it's not too late as I will surely frequent the place more often to get a taste of that chicken.  I now know why Sincerity has been in the food industry for a very long time.  You can never go wrong serving excellent food with very good prices.


SINCERITY RESTAURANT
549 Banawe corner Samal Street, Quezon City

My Precious

It was my baby's 2nd birthday last June 28.

I bought him a mini sansrival cake from Figaro and some spiral candles from NBC for him to blow.

Moxie is staring at his cake.

Pacute shot =P

This is his picture when I first got him at 3 months old...so precious!

Adapting in his new home after several weeks.

At four months old... his nose is now turning to color black.

He's getting bigger day by day.

His first haircut

 His 1st birthday last year, munching on some mango cake from Red Ribbon.

His first Christmas with the family.  I had him wear a Santa costume given by his Ninang Kats

Love love love Moxie...always be a good boy :)

Milk Tea Addict

I'm addicted to tea...Gong Cha's winter melon tea and Serenitea's Hokkaido and Okinawa tea are among my favorites and of course bottomless Nestea ice tea tsalap! Haha.  Milk tea houses are so popular nowadays sprouting like mushrooms everywhere, may it be in the mall, near schools and offices, etc.


Another milk tea house joins the craze and it's Dakasi.

Image grabbed from web

Dakasi means Big Cast (famous movie star) in Chinese.  A Mr. Luo, Dakasi founder, put up the business in Taiwan 20 years ago.  It started from one shop in Taiwan to a franchise business.  Currently, it's headquarter is located in China.

All drinks at Dakasi are made with fresh ingredients with no artificial flavoring and little to no additives.  They have their own recipes for cooking tea, pearls and syrup, guaranteeing a taste that cannot be find anywhere else.

A Dakasi store opened very near our office so on their first day of opening we lined up for some milk tea fixing.

Image grabbed from openrice.com

I ordered their house special, which is Dakasi Bubble Milk Tea and I instantly became a fan.  I also tried their Passion fruit yoghurt drink but forgot to take a picture of it.

They offer a wide range of drinks from milk tea, matcha tea, ice tea, fruity yoghurt drinks, smoothies, yakult tea, and fresh tea.

It's worth giving a try.  I personally recommend the Bubble milk tea.

DAKASI
U.N. Avenue cor. Maria Orosa, Manila
(02) 917-7077

I smell DELICIOUS!

July is one of the busiest and most chaotic month of the year for me.  Birthdays here and there, wedding, anniversary, and of course the end-year sale!  I often find myself the poorest in this month, with just the right amount of money to spend for transpo and baon for work.  So please IRISH stop texting me these year-end sale happenings in malls.  I'm poorita na! Hahaha!

I was malling (window shopping lang) with my mama mia looking for gifts to send out to the birthday celebrants and I found this YUMMY body wash in Etude House.

The products are called Milk Talk Body Wash.

Image grabbed from web

Etude House Milk Talk Body Wash comes in five different scents.  There's strawberry, banana, apple, steam milk, and choco.  It has milk protein as it's main ingredient that moisturizes, nourishes, and hydrates the skin making it clean and soft.  Another big plus for these is that they smell delicious too!  To use, dispense product on wet bath sponge, lather, and massage all over the body.  They can also be used as bubble bath.

I couldn't resist it.  It smells so Y-U-M-M-Y!  I bought two for my two best friends.

• Milk Talk Choco scent

 

• Milk Talk Apple scent

My problem now is who gets what.  Bato bato pick nalang sila hahaha!

ETUDE HOUSE
2nd Floor, SM Manila branch

Mr. and Ms. Saigon

The yumyum monsters gathered one Saturday afternoon for a much needed stress buster...foodtrip!  Some go shopping, some go to salon and spa, some watch movies to unwind but yumyum monsters happiness is eating!  Yes matatakaw sila!  We are also very glad to be joined by the newest members of our group, Ms. Joy of Joyride and the newly appointed president of the club, the cutie Bea.  Also joining us is the youngest member of the club, Raymund.

We all agreed to try Ba Noi at Perea street in Makati.

Found this tabletop with instructions on how to fully enjoy Vietnamese food.

On the table

• Goi Cuon

Pork, shrimp, and vermicelli rolled in rice paper served with peanut sauce.

This appetizer tastes so fresh, a great way to start the meal.

• Cha Gio

Ground pork, shrimp, taro, and black fungus wrapped and deep fried and served with fresh greens and nuoc mam dipping sauce.

I can't deny I like this better than the fresh one.  The fried spring rolls are bursting with flavors.

• Pho Ba (Beef noodle soup)

Beef noodle soup served with fresh herbs and spices.

Hallelujah!  I love Ba Noi version of Pho Ba.  I added the basil and bean sprouts, squeeze the lime, and sprinkle some fresh chillies on the noodles.  The soup had the perfect beefy, citrusy, minty with a hint of spiciness flavor.  Also worthy to mention is the very tender beef in it.

 

• Pho Hai San (Seafood noodle soup)

Shrimp and squid noodle soup with fresh herbs and spices.
 

• Ga Nuong

 Grilled chicken in lemongrass marinade.

• Bun Thit Bo Xao

 Grilled beef in rice noodles.

• Ga Kho Kari Xa

Braised chicken slowly cooked in lemongrass and curry powder, infused with fresh chillies, shallots and spring onions.

• Banh Dan Long

Pandan cake filled with mung bean, drizzled with coconut cream and toasted sesame seeds.

Overall, I had a good experience in Ba Noi.  Although I find the prices a little costly considering serving portions are small.  Nonetheless, I recommend this resto for a quick fix of Vietnamese fare.


BA NOI
G/F Greenbelt Mansions, Perea St., Legaspi Village, Makati City

(02) 893-7359