Entries Tagged 'Western' ↓

Gino Quillamor hosted the event last Jan.31 at the new J.CO branch in Eastwood City

Finally, J.CO Donuts in Eastwood City had its much awaited grand opening last week with the prestige of being the largest branch and soon-to-be the first 24/7 store.

(Center) Trina Lim, VP for Operations, Lesley Chan and Alvene Ngo, Marketing Assistants – J.CO CFI Philippines

Sadly, me and my fiance had to miss the opening as it coincides with our pre-nup shoot at Pico De Loro in Nasugbu, Batangas. Nonetheless, J.CO donuts lovers will have another reason not to miss their delectable donuts paired with freshly brewed Italian coffee or healthy J.COOL frozen yogurt treats anytime.

The special media event was also graced by J.CO Donuts and Coffee founder Johnny Andrean who flew in from Jakarta to witness firsthand the growing appreciation J.CO in the Philippines.

The 7th and largest J.CO branch in the Philippines also welcomed JCO executives Mr. Oszen Chan – President, CFI; Mr. Carlos Chan – Chairman, CFI; Mr. Edgar Sia – Vice Chairman, CFI; Mr. Kevin Tan – First Vice President and Division Head, Megaworld Commercial Division, Megaworld;. Trina Lim, VP for Operations – J.CO CFI Philippines, Alvene Ngo and Lesley Chan, Marketing Assistants – J.CO CFI Philippines.

The brains behind the success of J.CO donuts -Mr.Carlos Chan – Chairman, CFI, Mr. Johnny Andrean – Founder of J.CO Donuts, Mr. Edgar Sia – Vice Chairman, CFI and Mr. Oszen Chan – President, CFI

J.CO Eastwood

Moreover, guests were treated to a hands-on making of J.CO’s bestselling donuts – Green Tease, Oreology and Al Capone. In a friendly competition, each guest was tasked to pick a donut of his or her choice then pair it with a beverage to come up with the best “Pair Me Up” donut and coffee combination. Guess what, JM Bueno of Kumagcow.com won that activity which entitled him to free donuts for the entire year.

The first J.CO Philippines branch opened in SM Megamall last year and is now also found SM Mall of Asia, J.CO Greenbelt 2, Alabang Town Center, SM Fairview, Trinoma Mall, and now J.CO Eastwood City.

Jalapenos and more!

No, this is not an advance Valentine’s Day post. It has nothing to do with Valentine’s Day, actually. 🙂 The Bistro Group of restaurants, known for their international and casual dining brands, has just launched their latest campaign called “Taste the Love.”

Taste the Love

Taste the Love is not a promo per se, it’s about inviting diners to taste the love behind their every restaurant concept launched. The campaign celebrates a series of milestones for The Bistro Group including:

• the opening of 50 restaurants spread across the 12 resto concepts
• the appointment of Corporate Chef Josh Boutwood
• the launch of its Premiere Card.

BBQ Pork Slider from Village Tavern

The Bistro Group of Restaurants

12 Restaurant Concepts

Modern Shanghai is one of the four freshest name in the group which brings authentic recipes in a homey environment. Village Tavern, Watami, and Ma Maison, completes the group having come from the US and Japan ( for the latter two).

The Bistro Group of restaurants is composed of TGI Friday’s, Italianni’s, Fish & Co., Flapjacks, Pig Out!, Krazy Garlik, The Stock Market, Bulgogi Brothers , and the previously mentioned restaurants.

But within the 1st quarter if 2013, expect the US-based Chuck E. Cheese’s to be the 13th as it opens at the New Glorietta soon.

Village Tavern Bonifacio High Street, Philippines

Apple-Carrot Juice

Chef Josh Boutwood

Chef Josh Boutwood

Together with the arrival of Chef Boutwood is the launch of new dishes as well. Among the favorites in the list are Sesame Teriyaki Chicken Wings, the Fully Loaded Sweet Potato Skins (Village Tavern), and the a la carte Katsu Menu (Ma Maison). NomNom Club‘s favorite is the Black Pizza (black due to the squid ink mixed with the dough), also from Village Tavern.

Penne with Pesto from Italianni’s

The Premiere Card

The Bistro Group Premiere Card will offer multiple discounts up to 40% off the total bill; complimentary appetizers, coffee, and tea; as well as birthday treats for the cardholder.

In addition, for February, The Bistro Group is offering an exclusive deal for Citibank cardholders. From February 4-7, cardholders will receive 50% off food and beverage orders worth at least P2,500, with a discount up to P5,000.

Ms. Lisa Ronquillo

“Taste the Love is not just about food. It’s about the heart and the passion that goes into everything we do, from our concepts to our locations to our service to of course, our food… we allow our customers to taste the love from the moment they get hungry and think about our restaurants to the time they have polished off every bite,” says Lisa Ronquillo, AVP Marketing of The Bistro Group.

‘Taste the Love‘ from all the Bistro Group of Restaurants starting this 2013! I wonder what other upcoming deals, menu items, and treats they will dish out soon?

Filipinos greet the new year with new hope and a fresh perspective. As they say, ‘out‘ with the old, and ‘in‘ with the new. As per Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) , it’s “shred the usual, try out the new.” KFC introduces something new, exactly today – January 11, 2013, a not-the-usual chicken sandwich they call KFC BBQ Shredder Sandwich.

KFC BBQ Shredder Sandwich

I mentioned that it’s unusual (in a good way) because, as the title suggests, the KFC BBQ Shredder Sandwich has chicken shreds instead or your regular chicken burger.

KFC BBQ Shredder Sandwich

I found it bizarre at first, but I immediately approved of it at first bite. Tucked in between the soft Kaiser buns are tender chicken shreds with smoky barbecue sauce and some lettuce. Open the top bun and a little surprise would be two tortilla chips laid on top, perhaps to provide a contrasting crispy texture to the soft chicken flakes (just make sure you get ’em hot-served).

Tortilla on Chicken Shreds

Price

At P55 solo, I say it’s a good price; add fries and drink for P85.

“The BBQ Shredder Sandwich is a fun and unusual take on the chicken sandwich. With it, KFC hopes to inspire people to make changes in their daily lives – no matter how small. It could be as easy as shredding your usual choice and trying out this new sandwich,” says Natalie Perez, Marketing Director of KFC Philippines.

KFC Shredder Sandwich Cross Section

If you are looking for something new and beyond the usual, I highly recommend the KFC BBQ Shredder Sandwich. I hope KFC makes it a permanent part of their menu. For delivery, call 887-8888. Follow them on Twitter @KFCPhilippines , Facebook www.facebook.com/kfcphilippines , and  www.kfcdelivery.com.ph.

It was a quick trip from SM Megamall to Julia Vargas corner Meralco Avenue going to Renaissance Condominium. After parking, we found ourselves at its 2nd floor inside Citrus Restaurant & Deli upon invitation of the owner through common friend.

The interiors of Citrus Restaurant was classical-posh but laid back. If you value your privacy,  a quaint location as such is great.

Citrus Restaurant and Deli

Interestingly, they also have an exclusive second floor with a mock-up fireplace that also serves a wine cellar for expensive wines ranging in the hundreds of thousands.

Citrus House Specialties

Now for the food. More than the usual tapas, I highly recommend their house specialties Jaunita’s Callos and Lengua with mashed potatoes which is surprisingly affordable at P259 and P200++ only, respectively.

Juanita’s Callos

Lengua with mashed potatoes

The callos was flavorful and cooked just right as if it was done by a lovely chef mom at home. The lengua was tender and exceeded my expectations.

The food was served without unnecessary fancy decorations either but I noticed the elegant and irregularly shaped white plates fit for the 2-person serving dish.

Wine Room on the second floor with mock-up fireplace

Citrus Main Dishes

From their main dishes, we got to try the Pan-Fried Fish ala Vera Cruz. Quite a long name, but it was no disappointment either at only P199.

This was followed by the Spaghetti Bolognese (P199) and a double-sized thin-crust pizza. I also shared a Vanilla milkshake with my fiance who loves anything sweet. 😛

Pan Fried Fish ala Vera Cruz

Spaghetti Bolognese

Desserts and More

Finally, some baked potato chips and a delectable Panna Cotta (top photo) concluded our dinner affair. I thought I was already used to the low prices but the P59 panna cotta was simply unexpected.

Promos

Citrus Promos

They also have a P999 promo offering 1 bottle of wine + all you can eat tapas-tapas. Or the Drink All You Can Jack Daniel’s for P949. Night chillers can also get free tapas-tapas for every 10 bottles of beer.

If you’re looking for an eclectic flair that would match your tapas, they have live bands playing with a different concept every night of the week.

They open up as early as 7am and offers breakfast, salad, and a wide range of pizza collection. Beverage range include soda and juices starting at P40 and P60, respectively. Beer starts at P50.

Pizza

Aside from great food, I highly recommend Citrus Restaurant as a very ideal place for dating with its intimate and sophisticated ambiance; not to mention the friendly prices for guys on a tight budget. 🙂

Citrus Restaurant & Deli
2F, Renaissance 3000, Meralco Ave. Ortigas Center , Pasig
7am- 12am daily
Lounge (9pm-12am and extended on Fridays and Saturdays)
Call them for reservations at: 667-3458, 667-3465, 631-0335

Citrus Restaurant as Bar

I definitely have to be back at Citrus Restaurant soon and try more of their new world cuisines on the menu; perhaps at the wine cellar on the 2nd level next.

Wendy’s Greenbelt 1

Wendy’s recently introduced the new BBQnator exclusively to the Philippine market. To be exact, it was just last November 30, 2013 when it came up into the menu boards of their branches.

Wendy’s BBQnator

Wendy’s BBQnator is composed of two 2-quarter pound imported beef patties, 6 strips of tasty smoked bacon, 2 slices of American cheese, and a dash of hickory barbeque sauce to give it the BBQ taste. Finally, it is topped with Wendy’s own real onion rings. It doesn’t come cheap at the price of P255 per sandwich, but this mouthful two-handful meal will certainly leave you full. The Combo meal version with drinks and fries costs P315. Upgrade to onion rings for an additional P8.

Wendy’s Son of BBQnator Combo with Drinks + Frostee

Baconator versus BBQnator

Son of BBQnator

We are all familiar with Wendy’s Baconator. So how is the BBQnator different from the Baconator?

They share a lot of similarities, actually; so much so you may say the BBQnator is a variant of the Baconator. They both have 2-quarter pound beef patties, strips of bacon, and cheese. But the BBQnator has an added hickory barbeque sauce for the distinction that I believe would appeal more to Filipino’s love for anything sweet. Moreover, the BBQnator has onion rings on top just below the buns.

Wendy’s onion rings are served as slices of yellow Spanish onions with mild, sweet flavor, lightly battered & breaded making it crispy on the outside.

Wendy’s BBQnator

Wendy’s BBQnator Combo

Son of BBQnator (top photo)

And just like the Baconator who has a Son of Baconator, the BBQnator also has a Son of BBQnator. The more manageable size is priced at P156 only for ala carte and P198 for the combo.

So who’s the winner?

The Baconator is a hit with bacon-lovers and those with a big-appetite. It has been a long-time favorite for Wendy’s aficionados, but I think Wendy’s BBQnator would be able to exceed the Baconator’s success. As mentioned above, the sweet hickory barbeque sauce will appeal more to the Filipino taste. And who knows, Wendy’s international franchise might even adopt this innovation in its international branches. 🙂

Greenwich Better Than Any Other Christmas Party

Filipinos continue to be innovative in their Christmas celebrations with or without a big budget as long a they have fun during the Christmas party. Just like Greenwich, the country’s leading pizza chain, they recently threw a fun-filled bash for those who contributed to the brand’s success.

Anne Curtis & Kelly Misa

The Greenwich Barkada, composed of officers from Greenwich and celebrity endorsers filled up the stage of a Makati Shangri-La ballroom in front of the media and their friends. Joining in the fun were the Pizza Gang composed of Vince Canizares, Mika Lagdameo, and Lloyd Zaragoza. The Greenwich pasta girls Anne Curtis, Solenn Heussaff and Kelly Misa also brought Christmas cheers through a song.

Cookie Cabrera of Greenwich (right)

The Greenwich Barkada entertained the guests with their rendition of popular Christmas tunes. They also shared their fun moments with their Greenwich family and gamely answered questions from the members of the media. Rockeoke session with the guests kept the night alive.

“This Christmas get-together is our way of showing our heartfelt gratitude to our friends from the press. They play an important role in helping us get our messages and stories across our market and in making the Filipinos aware of our latest offerings,” said Cookie Cabrera, Greenwich PR and Corporate Affairs Manager.

The Greenwich Barkada & The Pasta Girls

@ Makati Shang-ri La

Greenwich Special Overload Pizza – 15in Party Pizza

The star of the night though is Greenwich’s latest Christmas offering- Greenwich Special Overload Pizza 15in Party Pizza fit for Christmas parties. The highlighted flavour Greenwich Special Overload Pizza has 13 premium toppings. The party pizza has 16 square cut slices and more of the overloaded toppings making Greenwich truly the Favorite ng barkada.

Greenwich 15-inch Party Pizza (Greenwich Special Overload Pizza)

I think the new Greenwich 15-inch Party Pizza is a good additional idea for our upcoming Christmas parties. Of course, I’m ordering my favorite Greenwich Special Overload Pizza flavor.

KFC is challenging its customers in the Philippines to MAN UP and eat big with its newest product – the KFC Double Decker.

KFC Market!Market!

I myself  just had a spa session over the long weekend at Neo Day Spa in BGC, Taguig. After which I headed straight to KFC MarketMarket branch and enjoyed an order of KFC Double Decker Man-Sized sandwich and an original singles meal with rice.

With two big Original Recipe Chicken fillets, bacon strips, sliced cheese, fresh lettuce & creamy mayo, sandwiched in between Kaiser buns, having a 10th of a bite of the KFC Double Decker is already a mouthful.

KFC Double Decker

It is the newest addition to KFC’s Man-Sized Meals – BIG meals for men with BIG appetites, and ladies too, if you want! It is now available in all KFC branches nationwide for P 145 for ala carte and P 175 as a combo meal with fries and drink. The rest of the Man-Sized Meals are also available as follows:

• Double Decker Fully Loaded Meal = P 215
• Classic Fully Loaded Meal = P 146
• Supreme Bowl Combo Meal = P 100
• Original Recipe Sandwich Combo Meal = P 136
• Zinger Combo Meal = P 136

Man-Sized Meals & Sandwiches

Man Up Mondays Challenge

Double Decker: Man-Sized Sandwich

In line with the launch of the Double Decker and the rest of the Man-Sized Meals, KFC now challenges everyone to dress up and ‘Man Up‘ for a series of ‘Man Up Mondays‘!

Go to any KFC branch wearing white pants today – December 3, 2012 – and get P 25 off from any one of the Man-Sized Meals!

If you missed this today and last week with floral shirts, you still have a chance for the next two weeks through the following:
• December 10, 2012: Pink Shirt
• December 17, 2012: Wildcard

Man Up Mondays!

Follow KFC Philippines on Twitter @KFCPhilippines and like their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/kfcphilippines.

Man up with the KFC Double Decker Man-Sized Meals!

Pinkberry Greenbelt 5

What’s better than a chocolate yogurt? A chocolate hazelnut yogurt, that is! It’s Pinkberry Philippines‘ newest frozen yogurt replacing the former for this season, or at least until enough of you want them to.

It’s been out as one of the five Pinkberry yogurt flavors in the menu for quite a while, actually. Made with Nutella, Chocolate Hazelnut promises to be both sweet and decadent balancing the two flavors while maintaining a light and refreshing taste. I think it’s going to replace my favorite ‘original yogurt‘ flavor. I just need a little more push. 🙂

Pinkberry Chocolate Hazelnut Yogurt Combinations sampling

Chocolate Hazelnut with Toppings

Pinkberry Philipines has also revealed variants of Chocolate Hazelnut with toppings for your ready choices; but you could always craft your own according to your liking.

One of which is the Chocolate Hazelnut Classic which includes roasted hazelnuts and chocolate sauce topped by wafer rolls.

The other four are the following:

• Chocolate Hazelnut Decadence (dark chocolate crisps and mixed nuts)
• Chocolate Hazelnut Trio (Nutella, strawberry and banana)
• Chocolate Hazelnut Crunch (honey almond granola, banana and almonds)
• Chocolate Hazelnut Truffle (milk chocolate crunch and strawberry)

I was able to recently try a sampling of these and my favorite turned out to be the Chocolate Hazelnut Decadence mainly due to the rich taste of the dark chocolate crisps. I thought it was kiddie-like since the dark chocs were small pelletes. But the taste turned out to be rich. It complemented well with the sweet-tangy choco-hazelnut yogurt.

In customizing my own, I added my favorite dark chocolate crisps, toasted almonds for texture and the colorful fruity pebbles simply because I want too. 🙂

Customizing my Chocolate Hazelnut Yogurt

Pinkberry 12 Swirls of Christmas

In time with the gift-giving and card-stamping collection season such as that of the 2013 Starbucks Planner, Pinkberry has one somewhat similar called the ‘12 Swirls of Christmas.’

Simply fill up the 12 stamps and viola – you get a Pinkberry Shirt! It should consist of the 5 Chocolate Hazelnut combinations and 7 Pinkberry flavors of your choice.

Pinkberry ’12 Swirls of Christmas’

Pinkberry Waffle Cookie Sandwich

Pinkberry Waffle Cookie Sandwich

More good news! Pinkberry also came out with a new product range – the Waffle Cookie Sandwich! I’m forced to reminisce on the ice cream sandwiches we had in Singapore. I always make an effort to try one whenever I’m there.

The Pinkberry Waffle Cookie Sandwich is basically a chunk of flavored yogurt spread with a topping and sandwiched in between two wafer cookies.

The three variants are Chocolate Hazelnut (Chocolate Hazelnut yogurt topped with Milk Chocolate Crunch), Coconut Lemon (Original Pinkberry with Lemon Cookie Crunch and shaved coconut) , and the Pomegranate Chocolate.

My favorite is the latter which is composed of the tangy Pomegranate yogurt topped with Milk Chocolate Crunch. I love their combination – the waffle is softly sweet in contrast to the yogurt while the topping provide the playful crunchy texture.

Chocolate Hazelnut (Chocolate Hazelnut Yogurt w/ Milk Chocolate Crunch), Coconut Lemon (Original Pinkberry w/ Lemon Cookie Crunch & shaved coconut) , and Pomegranate Chocolate (Pomegranate Yogurt w/ Milk Chocolate Crunch),

Made fresh in store every day, the Waffle Cookie Sandwiches are my new favorites pushing back the yogurt and the smoothies. 😛 But I’ll definitely be back for the new Pinkberry Chocolate Hazelnut Yogurt!