Entries Tagged 'Western' ↓
June 17th, 2011 — Affairs, Bar/Grills, Buffet, Casual, Cravings, Cuisine, Dessert, Filipino, Fine Dining, Fusion, Greenhills, Hotels, Italian, Japanese, Makati, Malaysian, Mandaluyong, Manila, Ortigas, Promos / Events, Restaurants, Steakhouse, Sweet Shops, Western, Where To Eat
It’s Dad’s turn! After Mother’s Day last month, wives, children, and families are thinking of places this weekend where to spend time with their Dads on Father’s Day!
Aside from home, you may choose to catch the special offers by these restaurants specially for Father’s Day:
Corniche (in Diamond Hotel)
Corniche in Diamond Hotel will serve a Father’s Day special buffet called “Celebration of Filipino Flavors” by Chefs Roland and Jackie Laudico of Bistro Filipino at P1,588 net per person or P1,888 with unlimited beer, house wine or any standard drink of your choice.
Father’s Day brunch at 22 Prime will be a feast on cold appetizers, salads and soups, entrees, and Prime Rib Carving at P1,295+ per person, available from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Dads get special souvenir items like men’s fragrances from Hayden Paris Fragrances, gifts, products from Belo For Men, and selected men’s wear from Gold Toe.
Café d’Asie (The Bellevue Hotel)
Brunch or dinner seafood buffet with Asian and Western favorites, fresh seafood, carving station, and desserts at P2,000 net per person.
Dine at Marriott Café, Cru Steakhouse or The Lounge on Father’s Day and get a chance to take home a mini cooper and drive it to anywhere for three days.
Bizu Chocolate Cigars
Astralis (by Diamond Hotel)
Astralis in Power Plant Mall offers brunch buffet for P758 net per person featuring one signature dish plus salad and dessert buffets.
Dine in a group of 5 and Dad dines for free plus a surprise giveaway!
Bizu Chess Cake
Bizu Patisserie
Get free items upon purchase of Sugar-free Chocolate Cigars and Checkmate Cake in Bizu. The former is a premium handmade gourmet chocolate cigars made with sugar-free milk chocolate and croquantine wafers in a piano finished cigar box. The latter are made of layers of Almond Dacquoise, Italian Gianduja Ganache, Feulletine Wafer and Lime White Chocolate Mousseline.
Free gift for Dad when you dine in. You can also get a special Serye mug & Barako Coffee with P2,500 purchase
Free set menu for dads with a reservation for 6 or more persons in CAV.
Father's Day at CAV
Agave Mexican Cantina
Get a chance to win a free dinner for two or a bottle of wine in Agave Mexican Cantina. Father’s Day coloring pages for kids will also be given away.
Café d’Asie (The Bellevue Hotel)
Fathers get special gifts (Men’s Health and Top Gear magazines) from The Bellevue Hotel and Summit Media
What a huge set of choices, and there are more as restaurants take the opportunity in this family affair. Happy Father’s Day to your Dad wherever he may be!
May 11th, 2011 — Appetizer, Batangas, Beverage, Casual, Cebu, Cravings, Cuisine, Davao, Dessert, Filipino, Greenhills, Iloilo, Makati, Mandaluyong, Manila, Naga, Paranaque, Pasay, Pasig, places, Quezon City, Quick Service, Restaurants, Tagaytay, Taguig, The Fort, Western, Where To Eat
Have you seen the recent Jollibee commercial? It showed today’s busy and hardworking moms finding it a challenge to get home in time and prepare for a special family dinner. So the father and the kids tried to take on the chore of cooking and the kitchen ended up in a mess, and still without dinner.
When the mother came home, she comforted the family that they could always order through the 8-7000 Jollibee Express Delivery hotline. 🙂 The advertisement highlighted that serving delicious meals can be enjoyed by the whole family with just a phone call.
“Whether daddy wants a piece of crispylicious Chickenjoy, kuya craves for a bite of Champ, ate loves the tasty and meaty Jollibee Spaghetti or bunso wants a delightful cup of Chocolate sundae, busy moms can have all these delivered right at their doorsteps in time for dinner.“
Jollibee treats can be easily made available at home allowing moms to have quality time with the family. So when you are caught in the same situation, just dial 8-7000 (Jollibee Delivery) or log on to www.jollibeedelivery.com (Metro Manila only) . For the complete list of delivery numbers, check out www.jollibee.com.ph.
May 6th, 2011 — Affairs, Batangas, Beverage, Casual, Cebu, Coffee Shops, Cravings, Cuisine, Davao, Greenhills, Iloilo, Makati, Mandaluyong, Manila, Naga, Ortigas, Pasig, Promos / Events, Quezon City, Restaurants, Sweet Shops, Tagaytay, Taguig, The Fort, Western, Where To Eat
I’m not sure what is the connotation of a ‘Happy Hour‘ in other countries or culture outside of the Philippines. But I think Starbucks Philippines is taking it by the raw meaning – giving its customers a Happy Hour!
It is an outstandingly happy hour for Starbucks customesr as Starbucks Philippines recently launched its one-week promo on its Frappuccinos which is offered at half the price (50% off!) everyday from 12 noon to 2pm from May 2 to May 8, 2011. This is to highlight their new offering of the ‘However-You-Want-It’ Frappuccino blended beverage option.
Yeah I know, I was quite late in publishing this because I’m quite busy organizing a blogger mountain climbing event. Anyhow, you still got three chances including today!
Starbucks Happy Hour
This promo is so successful that some customers abused it on the first day so they updated the promo immediately by limiting each purchase of the Frappuccinos under this promo to only two beverages for every customer.
I’ve got one secret to share…they actually officially start 10 minutes before 12nn and end 10 minutes after 2pm to avoid inconvenience with minor time difference in watch/clock synchronization with customers. ssshhhhh…. 🙂 One more thing, as long as you are in the queue by 2:10pm cut-off time, you’re still in! 😛
Once this is over, I hope Starbucks do a repeat of this Starbucks Happy Hour soon! This is really an awesome treat specially with the scorching heat of the summer season.
May 3rd, 2011 — Batangas, Casual, Cebu, Chinese, Cravings, Cuisine, Davao, Dessert, Greenhills, Makati, Malaysian, Mandaluyong, Manila, New Brews, Ortigas, Paranaque, Pasay, Pasig, Quezon City, Quick Service, Restaurants, Sinaporean, Sweet Shops, Taguig, The Fort, Western, Where To Eat
Kenny Rogers Roasters invited NomNomClub over to one of their branches before the Holy Week to try out their new Hainanese Chicken offering and frozen yoghurt.
Going Hainanese
Yes, you read that right. Food chain Kenny Rogers Roasters is giving it’s customers a break from their usual offering. From rotisserie chicken, they’re now serving Hainanese Chicken! It’s stil chicken, nonetheless.
Singaporean Hainanese Chicken
For a Singaporean food lover like me, this piqued my curiosity. Kenny’s Hainanese Chicken was served with the traditional soup and a set of three sauces namely ginger, dark-sweet soy, and chili.
The sauces were good but I was surprised that the chicken itself was a combination of white and dark meat; and with bones.
In Singapore where Hainanese Chicken is at the level of a national dish, they only serve white meat; and with barely any bones.
Dark Meat & Bones
It’s good that the chicken meat was tender though. The rice was also commendable and aromatic as it should be but the soup was too salty and needs improvement.
Kenny’s management clarified that this was part of their differentiation from the usual and ‘making it their own’. A serving of the 1/4 poached chicken is priced at P185.
Frozen Yoghurt FTW!
KRR Frozen Yoghurt while working on NomNomClub.com
Staying true to Kenny Rogers Roasters mission of providing healthy food, adding frozen yoghurt to their menu is a natural choice.
Something I’ve been expecting since they have yoghurt smoothies.
I arrived hours early in their event so I stayed in the public area and ordered their new frozen yoghurt.
I didn’t know they’ll have us try this one that night as well because the invitation only showed Hainanese Chicken.
🙂
Kenny Rogers Roasters Frozen Yoghurt
Anyway, so I had one while working online. I just had the plain one to appreciate the yoghurt itself without the fancies…and I liked it!
The quality and texture of the yoghurt was at par with the expensive ones we have around. I mentioned this aspect of pricing because I think this is their strongest point compared to other frozen yogurts. Starting only at P35, you could have a small sized plain yogurt. The biggie size is P55.
Graham (left); Mixed Fruit (right)
Yoghurt Add-Ons
The add-ons come with every P10 addition to the yoghurt base. For now, they have only 4 add-ons namely: Mango, Mixed Fruits, Brownie bits, and Grahams.
Needless to say, I tried all four that night to be able to compare all of them. The fruit-based ones are expectedly refreshing.
Aside from the fact that it’s cheapest among the four, I think they had grahams for the crunchy texture it provides. However, the grahams I got might have been crushed too much that most of it is in powdered form that can make the yoghurt rough and course to the taste and in the mouth. I’d suggest that they don’t crush it that much.
From the four that I have tried, I think the best combination is the fruity Mango and the chewy Brownie bits. Their contrast in texture, softness and taste was a perfect highlight to the tangy-sweet yoghurt. It is the best yoghurt for me in the aspect of taste vis-a-vis price point.
Frozen Yoghurt - Mango + Brownie Bits
Phil Younghusband of Team Azkals & Triathele Mica Tantuico
At the latter part of the program, the gathering lighted up when they introduced Kenny Rogers Roasters’ new sporty endorsers in the persons of Philippine Football Team Azkals starplayer Phil Younghusband together with professional triathele Mica Tantuico. James Younghusband and surfer Lorraine Lapus complete the line-up but they were not able to attend that night.
Kenny Rogers Roasters Hainanese Chicken
In conclusion, the Hainanese Chicken was a so-so and needs more development. On the other hand, their price busting frozen yoghurt is highly recommended by NomNom. I am already excited for the new add-ons I heard Kenny Rogers Roasters will be coming out with soon!
April 27th, 2011 — Batangas, Beverage, Casual, Cebu, Coffee Shops, Cravings, Cuisine, Davao, Greenhills, Iloilo, Makati, Mandaluyong, Manila, Naga, Ortigas, Paranaque, Pasig, Quezon City, Quick Service, Restaurants, Singapore, SouthEast Asia, Sweet Shops, Tagaytay, Taguig, The Fort, Western
Soy Green Tea Cream Frappuccino Blended Beverage
Basically, it allows customers to create a blended beverage of their liking. You can choose to add a variety of fresh milk or soy to your Frappuccino beverage.
Moreover, you could indicate the intensity of your coffee and pick any combination of toppings and syrups in the same way a Starbucks espresso beverage can be customized.
Among the featured Frappuccino® blended beverage creations are the Extra Coffee Caramel and Soy Green Tea Cream Frappuccino® Blended Beverage
The Starbucks Extra Coffee Caramel is a coffee-intense concoction of caramel syrup combined with new Starbucks Frappuccino® roast coffee, milk, blended with ice and topped with whipped cream and a swirl of buttery caramel sauce.
On the other hand, the Soy Green Tea Cream Frappuccino® blended beverage is made with matcha powder and soy milk, blended with ice and topped with whipped cream.
Extra Coffee Caramel Frappuccino Blended Beverage
Furthermore, Starbucks Philippines elaborates on the new soy options as quoted:
“From soy combinations to those that limit the number of calories, customers can now select their favorite ingredients to find a Frappuccino® blended beverage to meet their dietary needs. By choosing nonfat milk with sugar-free syrup, a Tall (12 fl. oz) blended beverage has only 100 calories, while doubling the Starbucks® Frappuccino® roast coffee and skipping the syrup will intensify the taste, without increasing the sugar.”
April 25th, 2011 — Affairs, Appetizer, Cravings, Cuisine, Filipino, New Brews, Promos / Events, Sinaporean, Western
When doing your groceries for yourself or for your family, you always want to buy items that are of great quality, and deals that give you the bang for your buck. For our current economical state, who would blame you? That’s why when I heard SM Hypermarket is introducing their newest finds; I could not pass the opportunity to join them during the launch. True enough, I am happy to share with you healthier options that are very economical and worth your every peso.
Chefs were present during the launch to show us some recipes and cooking techniques using ingredients that we can all buy from SM Hypermarket (Spinach Patties – Top Photo).
Carrot & Pumpkin Soup (left) and Australian Lamb Pochero (right)
Hainanese Chicken, Chicken Fingers, and Mushroom Stuffed Red Capsicums (left-right)
Desserts by Gardenia were also showcased. It’s very easy to do and economical. Here’s how:
Braised Sea Cucumber (left); Mixed Seafood with Scallop (right)
The Fresh Finds at SM Hypermarket are truly the help we all need to survive a trying economy. Head over to the nearest SM Hypermarket and try one of the dishes I mentioned above. For recipes, please contact me so I can send them to you via email.
This is your resident NomNom Club writer, Renz of Pinay Mommy Adreamer saying, our minds are like our stomachs; they are whetted by the change of their food and variety, so eat fresh to think fresh.
March 19th, 2011 — Ayala Triangle Gardens, Batangas, Casual, Cebu, Cravings, Cuisine, Davao, Dessert, Glorietta 4, Greenhills, Iloilo, Makati, Mandaluyong, Manila, New Brews, Ortigas, Paranaque, Pasay, Pasig, Quezon City, Quick Service, Restaurants, SM Megamall, Sweet Shops, Taguig, Western, Where To Eat
I love ice cream cakes since I was a child. And Dairy Queen rekindled it with their newly launched product Mango Cheesecake ice cream cake specially made for the summer season.
Called the Mango Cheesecake Blizzard Cake, it is made with two layers of creamy vanilla ice cream with real mango chunks in between. Although a little pricey at Php749, it is made with 100% ice cream and topped with icing buttons, mango puree spread, and chewy cube combination of cheese and grahams. For me, more than just a cake, it’s an experience of having an ice cream cake altogether.
Dairy Queen Mango Cheesecake Blizzard Cake
Mango Festival
DQ: Served Upside Down
It’s a festival of everything Mango at DQ as well. In addition to the ice cream cake, Dairy Queen is offering a myriad of other cool mango concoctions such as 2 new mango blizzards, a smoothie, and citrus coolers.
Mango Blizzards
The 2 new DQ Blizzards are Mango Cheesecake Blizzard and Mango-Pineapple Blizzard.
Dairy Queen Blizzard
The Mango Cheesecake Blizzard is the soft-serve ice cream version of the cake (also with real mango bits and cheesecake chunks) while the Mango-Pineapple Blizzard is for those who want some citrus sting from the pineapple bits which can be a good contrast to the prior double sweetness of mango and cheesecake. It costs P59/6oz, P79/9oz, P99/12oz, P119/16oz.
Mango Smoothie
I wan’t able to try this but DQ also has s new Mango Premium Fruit Smoothie which is a creamy blend of fresh orange, mango and a creamy soft serve vanilla ice cream. At P79/12oz & P99/16oz, I’m trying these next! 🙂
Dairy Queen Smoothies & Citrus Coolers
Mango Citrus Cooler
Much simpler is the Mango Citrus Cooler which is a blend of lemon and mango fit for a cool summer drink. The citrus coolers are also available in Lemon, Strawberry, Pineapple, and Strawberry Pineapple flavors. P49/12oz & P59/16oz.
Check more information about Dairy Queen (DQ) at www.dairyqueen.com.ph or their Facebook. 🙂
Dairy Queen Blizzard
With Filipino’s penchant for anything cold during the summer season, these blizzards and smoothies will surely be a hit. These flavors were available since early March and will stay at all Dairy Queen menuboards until the first week of May.
March 17th, 2011 — Appetizer, Bar/Grills, Buffet, Chinese, Cravings, Cuisine, Dessert, Filipino, Fine Dining, Fusion, Hotels, Italian, Japanese, Manila, New Brews, Restaurants, Steakhouse, Western, Where To Eat
Steak Buffet
I got the chance to dine with some of the best food bloggers in Metro Manila a few weeks ago. It was a steak night dinner buffet at Diamond Hotel‘s Corniche.
Diamond Hotel Philippines offers choice cut steaks for its customers every Thursday night. Labeled as Corniche’s Savoring Steak Nights, the dinner buffet offers a variety of steaks such as the US Striploin Steak, US Rib Eye Steak, US Hanger Steak, Beef Tenderloin Steak and Roasted US Prime Rib.
Add to that other entrees with free flowing red wine for only Php 2,285 nett per person from 5:30pm to 10:30pm. This is inclusive of 10% service charge and local government tax.
5 Plates - 5 Rounds @ Corniche Buffet
I was only able to try the striploin, tenderloin, and prime rib. As expected, the meats were fork-tender and juicy, coming from Diamond Hotel. However, I have observed that steak grill was only about a meter wide and can handle a limited number of steaks at a time. As per experience, there were only three us by the counter and the grill was already full (partially because we had multiple orders each 🙂 ). Maybe Corniche can improve on that, specially when customers flock in.
Seafood Buffet
More Entrees
I also enjoyed the other dishes at Corniche such as the seafood choices, salad selections, and Asian, Western, Japanese, and Indian cuisines prepared by culinary experts headed by Executive Chef Nickolai Stoyanov with general manager Vanessa Ledesma Suatengco.
Other International Cuisine Buffet @ Diamond Hotel
Diamond Hotel Philippines - Corniche Buffet
Barbequed Shrimp w/ Kumpati
A New Discovery – the Kumpati
I discovered an interesting stove as well. As per the cook at the Indian counter, it’s called a ‘kumpati.’
A kumpati is a traditional earthen cooking stove like a palayok, but much larger almost like a ‘banga‘. The traditional ones use charcoal and firewood to cook food but the one in Diamond Hotel is of course, electric.
Kumpati Indian Stove
Corniche uses it to “charcoal barbeque” some of the food like the tandoori chicken and the grilled shrimp in the photo. They also use it to heat and toast the tasty Naan bread. Yum yum!
On Cheeses
I also saw a table of varied cheeses in different color and textures like Sage Derby, Iberico, Fontina, and Brie. I did not try any of them though as I am illiterate when it comes to cheese appreciation. 😛
Table of Cheeses (lower right side)
Desserts
I love their dessert choices though. There was much to choose from and I was able to try only less than half. Maybe I’ll try the other half in my next visit.
Lastly, it was glad to finally meet Lori Baltazar of DesertComsFirst.com. Also with us were prominent food bloggers Spanky, Ivan Man Dy, and Jane Chua, among others.
Corniche Desserts
Lori Baltazar & NomNom (right); Jane Chua & Ivan Man Dy (left)
Corniche Buffet Restaurant, Diamon Hotel
Corniche is located at Diamond Hotel’s lobby level with a 650 square meter space that can accommodate up to 200+ persons within a chic environment and contemporary overtones. However, I believe they can have more lights on the food. But I think the elegant interior necessitates the ambiance to be dim. With that in mind, they could have mini spotlights efficiently installed on focus entrees, at the least (or maybe I’m just used to other hotel buffet restaurants which are well-lighted). 🙂
I like the pocket-seating layout throughout Corniche providing spatial privacy for intimate groups. They also have a grand bird chandelier at the center and full height windows which offers a view of the garden and water features on one side.
Corniche Buffet @ Diamond Hotel PH
For reservations:
Corniche
Diamond Hotel Philippines
Roxas Boulevard, cor. Dr. J Quintos St., Manila.
Tel. 528-3000 / 305-3000
E-mail bizcenter@diamondhotel.com
Website: www.diamondhotel.com.
It’s a Thursday! Steak night tonight, Anyone?