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Magnum Manila

The opening of Magnum Manila at SM Aura Premier SkyPark tomorrow is all-abuzz around the metro and in the social media-sphere where those who got first dibs, including NomNom Club, have been sharing their photos online, much to the jaundiced eyes of those who haven’t.

But the day has come, tomorrow, Magnum Manila opens it’s first pop-up ‘pleasure store‘ in the Philippines, following other branches around the world including Paris, Jakarta, Shanghai, Amsterdam and New York, among others.

Magnum Manila Signature Combination

Magnum Manila Pleasure Store

Mr. Bryan Chanyungco

So before you hit the store in it’s grand opening tomorrow, here are 10 Things You Need to Know About Magnum Manila:

1. Magnum Manila is not a Café

No, it’s not  a cafe, as Magnum Manila brand manager Bryan Chanyungco has confirmed in an interview with NomNom Club.

Strictly, it’s a “Pleasure Pop-Up Store“. It means that their main purpose is to support the brand – Magnum.

It would be open for only a little more than a year and the objective of success is then attained!

Magnum Manila @ SM Aura Premier

2. Dessert Dishes were Crafted by Chef Miko Aspiras

Chef Miko Aspiras

The Magnum concoctions forming all the dessert dishes were crafted by Chef Miko Aspiras, a globally award-winning pastry chef and is currently one of the pastry chefs in a well-known Philippine premier hotel.

3. Food is by Chef Him Uy de Baron

You may consider Magnum Manila a restaurant since aside from the Magnum Ice Cream creations, there are other sumptuous dishes you could order from appetizers to soup and salad to mains.

Some names from the menu include Asian Steak Salad, Pumpkin Soup, Magnum Braised Beef Cheek, and Carbonara.

The entrees are the creations of Chef Him Uy de Baron, the executive chef of Chef Cuisine Catering and owner of Nomama.

Asian Steak Salad

Make-Your-Own-Magnum

4. The “Make-Your-Own-Magnum” only costs Php 100

Since Magnum Ice Cream‘s launch about two years ago, the brand has already made it’s mark in the Philippine ice cream industry. And with Magnum Manila, the customer’s experience will be elevated by offering them the chance to create their very own Magnum bar for only Php 100!

Most of your favorite desserts from other restaurants costs more!

5. Step 1 Make-Your-Own-Magnum: “Coat It”

The DIY process starts from the choice of ice cream. Choose between vanilla or chocolate truffle.

After selecting your Magnum ice cream base, you get to “Coat It” by choosing a chocolate coating from white, infinity dark, and classic.

Step 1: “Coat It”

6. Step 2 Make-Your-Own-Magnum: “Top It”

To ‘Top It’ is to make you Magnum Bar more exciting by experimenting on 18 different toppings to choose from. You could create more than a hundred thousand combination with all 18 of them!

The default is to add 3 toppings from the varied choices. The toppings include pistachios, almond, chocolate chip cookies, dried raspberries, gold nuggets, and even sea salt or chili flakes for that surprise kick!

Step 2: “Top it” – 18 Toppings to Choose From

7. Step 3 Make-Your-Own-Magnum: “Drizzle It”

Finally, you get to drizzle your Magnum Creation with the same chocolate choices from the coating section. Select either white, infinity dark, or classic Belgian chocolate.

Step 3: “Drizzle It”

8. Magnum Manila contemporary architecture and sleek interiors is designed by Ed Calma.

Magnum Pleasure Store @ SkyPark

Magnum Manila Interiors

9.  NomNom Club’s Top Dessert Choice is the Cookie Dough Skillet

The Magnum Manila menu is quite handy but there are a lot of options to order. So to help you make the right choices, allow us to give you NomNom Club’s top choice which we believe you’ll never regret – the Cookie Dough Skillet.

The Cookie Dough Skillet is a warm chocolate chip cookie dough topped with two vanilla Magnum bars, dark chocolate and chopped pecans.

At P250, it has earned to be one of my favorite desserts of all time. It’s also good for sharing!

Other Magnum Manila creations include the Rainbow Dream & Pink Friday.

The “Rainbow Dream”

The “Pink Friday”

10.  NomNom Club’s Main Dish Recommendations are the Seared Salmon and Mushroom Burger.

For the ‘mains‘, please do try the Seared Salmon with Basil Creme and Chorizo Confit and the Mushroom Burger.

While the Seared Salmon is good for a meal, the Mushroom Burger has that unique meaty texture perfect just before a Magnum Manila dessert creation for snacks.

Seared Salmon with Basil Creme and Chorizo Confit

Mushroom Burger

Free Magnum

But wait, there’s more!

Free 500 Make Your Own Magnum

Magnum Manila in SM Aura opens its first day with a big crunch! A free crunch for the first 500 customers, so to speak.

They will get their own Make Your Own Magnum dessert creation for FREE!

Be one of the First 500 guests to get a taste of the Make Your Own Magnum experience. Doors officially open at 12NN on Tuesday, April 8 2014. Patrons may physically line up ahead of time (no phone reservations).

1-patron-1-MYO-Magnum-Bar Rule

Magnum Manila Signature Creations

Magnum Manila Pleasure Store

Being a pop-up store which will only be open until sometime in 2015, you should then grab the earliest chance to taste the cold and luxurious Belgian chocolate bar of Magnum made the way you want in thousands of possible combinations.

Know more about Manila’s Magnum at Magnum.com.ph, @Magnum_PH on Instagram, and MakeMyMagnum.com.

And considering that the newest Magnum Gold retails for Php60 each in convenience stores, the Magnum Manila P100 DIY Magnum plus 3 toppings in a full dine-in premium store is actually pocket-friendly.

Todd English Food Hall Manila

Todd English Food Hall, a 900-square-meter specialty culinary hall that offers a mix of fresh and prepared international gourmet food, opens in Manila today. Continue reading →

Cheesy Cheese

Me and my wife are a little picky when it comes to chips. There’s just so many brands in the market that sometimes it can overwhelm you.

Just go to the supermarket and check out the snacks section and you’ve got lines of shelves stacked with bags of chips.

We’re picky in a way that we check what we eat. SImilar to other foods, we check the back of the snack bag for information on its contents. Although, we’re no where near the skills of a nutritionist, knowing what’s inside what you eat helps.

Back Labels

And we’re glad there’s Chacho’s. In contrast to usual corn-based chips, Chacho’s tortilla chips is actually flour-based, which is better. It’s also  new to us since we haven’t tried them before. I’m just not too sure if it’s new in the Philippines as well. Anyhow, so we decided to give it a try.

Chacho’s Variants

Chacho’s come in three flavors — the Cheesy Cheese, BBQ Bonanza, and Spicy Curry. Wifey and I couldn’t settle which one to try first so we considered all three variants.

Chacho’s Flavors

They also come in 80g and 185g packs. The smaller one is about P35-40+, not bad for an imported chips such as Chacho’s.

At home, we first tried my top choice – BBQ Bonanza and it did not disappoint. It’s thin, light, and crunchy-crisp, just like how tortilla chips should be.

My cheese-lover wife got her Cheesy Cheese next. Both of us are not a fan of anything spicy, so the Spicy Curry was the last to get opened. 🙂

I’m actually torn between the BBQ Bonanaza and Cheesy Cheese. I like them both. Wifey obviously went for the latter. :p

Enjoy More with Dips

Consider however, getting some dips to enhance the flavors like salsa and even more cheese. At that time, we didn’t have them at home so we settled for the good ‘ol mayonnaise.

The dips can make snack time more fun and flavorful specially if you have kids.

Chacho’s with Dips

Chacho’s Chips!

You can try strawberry jams and peanut butter too!

I was then reminded of the memory of my Chili’s  Nachos / Tostada Chips experience in SM Megamall a few months ago. 🙂

So if you’re looking for a new snack or chips to feast on, try the new Chacho’s from your favorite supermarkets in Metro Manila. Hopefully they are available in SM Supermarkets too, if not yet.

Greenwich Carbonara Pasta

Have you experienced craving for something but not really too sure what you want yet at the same time? It’s the craving we had over last Saturday, and a pleasant surprise came over courtesy of the Greenwich Barkada! Continue reading →

If this is your first time to hear about heart-shaped pizzas, where have you been? 🙂 NomNom Club was able to try Angel’s heart-shaped pizza for Valentine’s Day for the first time about two years ago. Continue reading →

Bottomless Tostada Chips with Skillet Queso (P390)

NomNom Club recently visited Chili’s at The Atrium of SM Megamall in Mandaluyong City for the first time.

Here’s a short photoblog, aka ‘photo-chips‘, of what we had in the filling dinner a few days ago.

Chili’s SM Megamall

• Triple Dipper (P495) – a combo of three well-loved appetizers in Chili’s: Chicken Cripsers, Wings Over Buffalo, and Southwestern Eggrolls. The latter is a crispy flour tortilla filled with smoked chicken, black beans, corn, jalapeno jack cheese, red peppers and spinach. Triple Dipper also comes with avocado ranch dressing, among other sauces.
  

  Chili’s Triple Dipper (P495)

• Bottomless Tostada Chips with Skillet Queso (P390) – never tire with your unlimited crispy tostada chips with flavorful house-made salsa and skillet queso which is a combination of chesse dip and soft beef.
• Classic Nachos (P435) – It certainly looks like pizza, but they are nachos! These nachos has melted cheese on top, jalapenos, and beans served with house-made pico de gallo and sour cream. You have the option to add grilled beef for (P195), grilled chicken for (P95), and guacamole for (P55).
  

  Classic Nachos (P435)

• High and Mighty Pie (P380) – Definitely a dessert to share (although I can finish this all by myself)! 🙂  It’s indeed high for a pie and mighty for a cake! It has Heath candy pieces in rich vanilla ice cream piled high on a crushed Oreo cookie crust and drizzled with caramel and hot fudge.
  

  High and Mighty Pie (P380)

  

  Big Mouth Burger Bites

Lastly, we had the Big Mouth Burger Bites. We also had smoothies which are as good as desserts by the name of  Fresh Strawberry (P195) and Molten Chocolate (P195).

Molten Chocolate (left) & Fresh Strawberry (right); both Php 195

The former is a generous serving of vanilla ice cream blended with chunks of strawberries at the bottom. The latter is special chocolate coating blended with vanilla ice cream and milk. It’s creamier than the first.

Chili’s chilisphilippines.com 2F Greenbelt 5, Ayala Makati (729.3022) Northeast Greenhills, San Juan (727.2959) Tomas Morato corner Scout Fernandez, QC (372.5017) Power Plant Rockwell, Makati City (659.65627) SM Megamall (631.0380) Twitter/Instagram: @Chilis_PH

Chili’s SM Megamall

We used to go to Chili’s in Greenhills and the one at the Timog / Tomas Morato Area. Chili’s SM Megamall is surely a welcome addition to their list of branches which is more accessible.

There are four numbers to remember from this ‘Awesome Secret Foodies Tour‘ – they are 8, 20, 3, & 1000. The numerals represent 8 restaurants, a 20-course degustation, 3 Hours, and 1000 pesos.

Foodies Anton Diaz, RJ Ledesma, wifey Marjorie Uy & NomNom!

The Tuscany Food Tour at McKinley Hill in Fort Bonifacio presents a 20-course degustation spread among 8 restaurants that intends to continually fill your tummies for 3 hours. All these for a measly P1,000 from you pocket. Moreover, 2 of the metro’s iconic foodies – RJ Ledesma and Anton Diaz of Our Awesome Planet – will join the group of 30 to make the experience more engaging.

Participating Restaurants in the Food Tour:

• Sauceria
• Planet Grapes
• L.E.S. Bagels
• Main Street
• Sophie’s Mom
• B&T Mexican Kitchen
• Marciano’s
• Trattoria Poggio Antico

Not to keep you wanting for too long, let’s take a peek on what the 8 restos  have to offer:

Planet Grapes

Wine pairing at Planet Grapes plus choice of one red wine and one white wine:

Planet Grapes

Wines include Folie a Deux Merlot 2010, Joel Gott Riesling 2011, and Kunde Family Chardonnay 2011, among others

RJ Ledesma joins Our Awesome Planet in hosting the Tuscany Food Tour

Trattoria Poggio Antico

4-in-1: Prosciutto con Melon (ham and melon on pizza crust), Crespella del Poggio Antico (crepe stuffed with ham and cheese, and mushrooms in truffle oil), Pomodoro e Mozzarella Crostini and assorted pizzetas, and Oyster Sur Pate di Fegato (oyster on liver pate)

This Foodie Tour come in a Group of 30

….or simply your small group of friends

B&T Mexican Chicken

B&T Mexican Kitchen

Chipotle Chicken Pizza, Mango Glazed Habanero Chicken, Taquitos Espesyal with Barbacoa, & Nachos with Assorted Dips [+ Awesome “Rice” drink on the left]

Chicken Mole

L.E.S. Bagels

L.E.S. Bagels with assorted Cream Cheese Filling (NomNom Tip: :I love the one with black sesame seeds)

Marciano’s

West Side Four Season Pizza; (not in photo: Woody Allen Linguine)

Dow Jones – US T-bone with prawns, potato wedges, sausages, and roasted vegetables

Sauceria

Feta Cilantro Tomato Cocas – Spanish style pizza

Artisanal All-Beef Burger with tuyo blue cheese spread in a Furikaki bun

Tuna Tataki – Zaru Soba with homemade wasabi sour cream dip

Main Street

Poutine – thick-cut fries served with beef gravy and cheese curds (best with San Miguel Beer)

Wagyu Burger – Kitayama beef in sesame buns served with tomato relish, cheddar cheese and their very own house sauce

BEST DESSERT in this tour: Organic Maple and Candied Bacon Artisan Ice Cream (using vanilla maple base)

Sophie’s Mom

The place is dainty and cute fit for the little princess. However,  I’m not sure if the Red Velvet shown below will be offered because the tour menu only indicated Oreo Cheesecake Cookies and Flourless Chocolate Cupcakes (fyi). Any which way, you could always order it independently. 🙂

Red Velvet Cupcake (display only)

The “An Awesome Secret Foodies Tour” is presented by Megaworld Lifestyle Malls for you to discover Tuscany’s best kept secrets starting today (November 30) and for the next three more Saturdays (December 7, 14 and 21) from 2pm to 5pm.

The experience will enable you to taste a little bit of everything and get a feel of the place before splurging out on an entire meal. Only a limited set of 30 tickets will be available per date tour so hurry up and get your tickets at designated booths near the Tuscany Grand Villas Gate from 11:00am to 6:00pm (between Ukkokei Ramen Ron and Marciano’s).

An Awesome Secret Foodies Tour @ Tuscany

For more information, you may call 709-0888, 709-9888 or 0917-838-0111.

Food Tour Tip: Eat slowly and enjoy the company as much as you would the food. Each participant will be given a tour kit including the tour ticket, tour pin, degustation menu and the McKinley Hill Gourmet Guide.

NomNom Top Picks are:

• Main Strreet’s Organic Maple and Candied Bacon Artisan Ice Cream
• Sauceria’s Tuna Tataki
• Sauceria’s Feta Cilantro Tomato Cocas
• Marciano’s West Side Four Season Pizza
• L.E.S. Bagels with black sesame seed (I forgot the name; it was long 🙂
• B&T Mexican Kitchen’s “Rice” drink
• Planet Grapes’ Torrontes wine.

Join this mouthwatering degustation at Tuscany in McKinley Hill with your friends and family and I’m sure you will enjoy it as much as we did during the media tour. This Tuscany Food Tour is a secret no more, but remains awesome for the next 4 Saturdays.

December is fast approaching and mom’s are surely already thinking of what to prepare this Christmas season and for upcoming parties and family gatherings at home. Clara Ole already knows this and came prepared for the rescue.

Clara Ole Pasta Sauces

The joy of preparing meals can easily turn into a nightmare when moms are pressed on time or when ingredients fall short from what she needs. This is the area where Clara Ole does it best – easy to prepare meals and ready-to-use products.

Wide range of Clara Ole Products

Pasta Sauces

Pasta dishes is one of the most in demand creations during the Christmas season; and you don’t have to settle with the usual spaghetti and pasta you have in every celebrations throughout the year.

With Clara Ole‘s wide range if versatile pasta sauces, you’ve got more options and something new to surprise your family with. Mommys can choose to go international with the “Italian style” or stick to a safe formula with the “Sweet Style.” For those a bit sophisticated, “Three Cheese” may do the trick while the “Filipino Style” may tickle the loyalists.

Pancake Syrups

Old stocks of Clara Ole products in our kitchen cabinet

Breakfasts and mornings could be made sweeter with Clara Ole’s Pancake Syrup, a fit partner for, well, pancakes. 😛 They can choose from Original, Maple, Cinnamon, or Truly Fruity. For those watching their blood glucose levels, Clara Ole Maple Syrup is sugar-free! While the chocolate lovers, they can have the Classic Choco and Choco-Nut Syrup.

Marinades & Dressings

Lunch meals can be made tastier with marinades. One of which is Clara Ole’s Original Barbeque Marinade which is best for grilled meat such as pork or chicken. Other variants include the honey mustard, hickory, Korean barbeque, tapa, and tocino marinades.

On a diet with salads? Make it more interesting with Clara Ole Dips n’ Dressing variants Thousand Island, Caesar, Honey Mustard, and Ranch and Asian. It goes well a dips for fish & chips, or buffalo wings as well.

Clara Ole Strawberry Jan

All the above-mentioned sauces and recipes are actually the turf of my wife. NomNom Club‘s personal favorite from Clara Ole are the jams (Blueberry Jam in particular) which we use in the morning for breakfast. Contrary to the usual Filipino customs or having rice even in the morning, we are closer to the American tradition of having breads with jams in the morning.

Know more about Clara Ole , Christmas recipes, and their line of products at  http://ClaraOle.com or follow them on Facebook at http://facebook.com/myclaraole. They are also on Instagram at @ClaraOlePH and they have a Facebook App called “Pot Sessions” A Cook without A Book.”