Entries Tagged 'SM Megamall' ↓

I’ve been to the relatively new Mega Fashion Hall food scene of SM Megamall quite a number of times already. And Alqueria is one of those restaurants that will capture your fancy from its name alone, which means ‘farmhouse‘.

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Undoubtedly, Tim Ho Wan’s maiden opening in Manila a few months ago was a huge success with its long lines persisting even until my recent second visit. My first was part of the SM Mega Food Tour.

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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.

Don’t be surprised when you visit the newly reopened Yoshinoya branch in SM Megamall. It opened a little more than a week ago as the 4th branch in the Philippines to have its interiors remodeled seemingly catering to the younger market segment.

Yoshinoya SM Megamall Reopens

Best known for its Japanese Gyudon Beef Bowl, Yoshinoya went away from the traditional Japanese feel of wood and classic bowls into a more hip orange-themed look.

The upgraded design highlighted the “bull horn” logo shaped as “Y” and invented by Yoshinoya’s Mizuho Matsuda way back since 1899. Did you know that the surrounding rope around the horn represents “Yokozuna” referring to the ranking winner in a Japanese wrestling match? Moreover, the rope is made with 27 rice grains while the whole logo means “best beef bowls.”

Launches and openings, specially for a restaurant, is of course not complete with out served food. So here are some of the Yoshinoya specialties we got to try on their opening day:

Beef Gyudon Rice with Vegetables + Red Iced Tea

Guest Celebrity Ricardo Zepeda graces the Yoshinoya Megamall Opening

Yoshinoya Orange Wall of Bowls

Yoshinoya Maki-Siomai-dessert sampler platter 

As good as the food we had, on the other hand, I missed the more conservative premium Japanese ambiance, but that may be just me.

Freshly-cooked Tempura with sauce

Yoshinoya Megamall had its look since way back in 2003 when it first opened. I guess it was time for a change. And with it, the evolution to adapt to the new market must be what the people behind Yoshinoya have in mind.

As long as the food quality does not change, I know we will continue to love the delicious recipe of  beef and rice Gyudon we have grown up with in Yoshinoya SM Megamall. By October, Yoshinoya Delivery will have the number 288-2888! They have branches in Robinsons Galleria, SM Mall of Asia, SM North Edsa, SM Manila, and Glorietta 1.

Jamba Juice Philippines opens yet another store / branch, this time up north of Metro Manila, or more specifically SM City North – The Block.

Jamba Juice Merchandise

This is an expected strategic move by the fairly new Jamba Juice brand in the Philippines having opened earlier in the south with Jamba Juice Alabang and Jamba Juice SM Mall of Asia.

People from Caloocan and Quezon City can now enjoy California’s famed lifestyle brand and try their Banana berry smoothie and Fruit & Yogurt Parfait, among other juice and menu items.

Jamba Juice Menu

Jamba Juice Smoothie Preparation

Jamba Juice SM City North

Jamba Juice SM North The Block is the brand’s fourth store in Southeast Asia.

In their launch early this month, they brought in challenging and energetic activities like Zumba, wall climbing, biking, trampoline jumping, and the famous Bike Blender.

Ms. Sharon T. Fuentebella, Managing Director of Jamba Juice Phillippines

The Bike Blender is the tool that highlights Jamba Juice Philippines’ Give Me Five campaign. The project was first introduced in conjunction with the opening of their pioneering flagship store in Bonifacio High Street Central and was made possible through a partnership with the Bureau of Plant Industry­­­-Guimaras National Mango Researcher and Development Center (BPI-GNMRDC).

“Aside from further bolstering the thrust of Jamba Juice as a brand that complements dynamic living, we wanted our customers to experience the thing that Jamba Juice passionately upholds,” says Sharon T. Fuentebella, Managing Director of Jamba Juice Phillippines.

Jamba Juice The Block Branch

We recently tried a regular smoothie from Jamba Juice SM City North The Block branch. It’s good that they have maintained the Jamba Juice price amidst aggressive marketing. We hope they would come up with new flavors soon.

Mondo Juice Megamall

So called ‘fruit juice bars‘ and ‘smoothie stands‘ have sprouted around the metro in the recent years, trying to ride on the “healthy lifestyle” bandwagon. But only very few can claim to serve an all-natural, real fruit smoothie without added sugar, syrup or sweeteners – that’s Mondo Juice.

Being a ‘Megamall guy,’ I’ve been passing by Mondo Juice in SM Megamall for so long as I can remember. But it was only recently that I actually tried it upon the prodding of my fiance who have tried and blogged about Mondo Juice way back in mid-2011.

Mondo Juice Fruit Smoothie

And so I tried, and regretted it. I regret why it was only now that I gave-in to my fiance’s recommendation to try Mondo Juice. 🙂

We came from a full-house Starbucks shop so I eventually agreed to her suggestion of trying Mondo Juice as I always welcome the thought of trying restaurants I have never been to.

Mondo Juice branch interior

Mondo Juice High-Powered Blenders

My Order #1: Blushing Mango & Turkey Pesto

Mango has always been one of my favorite fruits so I decided to go ‘safe‘ and chose the “Blushing Mango” from the Premium Fruit Smoothie category. It costs P135 for the solo size and P180 for the ‘Mondo‘ (big) size.

The other smoothie categories were ‘Homegrown‘, ‘Buzz Smoothies‘, and ‘Exotic‘, among others.

I was also offered add-on options such as yogurt, oatmeal, soy milk, and honey whose prices ranged from Php 15 to Php 35. As much as I would like to have those healthy add-ons, I decided to have the smoothie as it is. I wanted to know how it fares without the extras.

Blushing Mango Smoothie

Hungry as I was, I ordered a Turkey Pesto sandwich to match my smoothie. The smoked turkey breast slices were calling out to me complete with the green peppers and rustic pesto in between two Italian herb Focaccia breads. 🙂

As so it was served.

My Blushing Mango smoothie came in a transparent cup where you can see all the goodness of the fruit and pulp (no rinds/roots), and an informative sticker at the back. Mine turned-out to be a blend of mangoes, respberries, and nectar amounting to 3.5 big servings of fruit hitting upto 140% of my vitamin C need.

I had my first ‘sip‘ and I can almost feel the toxins flushed down. 🙂

Grilled Turkey Pesto Sandwich

Her Order #1: Mango Magic with Ham & Cheese

Not to be outdone, my Mondo Juice advocate and fiance named Marjorie ordered her all-time favorite ‘homegrown‘ fruit smoochie smoothie called Mango Magic (P125 Solo). She partnered it with the traditional – Ham & Egg sandwich.

Based on the back sticker label, the magic in her Mango Magic is a mix of mangoes, nectar, and orange juice with a whooping 161% of vitamin C! It goes further saying “the only thing fresher grows on a tree.” 🙂 With the 1/3 pound of fruit in each Mondo Jucie cup, the recommended five servings of fruit daily has just been met!

And without hesitation, she made her ‘sip‘ and said “ahhh.”

Mango Magic with Ham & Cheese Sandwich

My Order #2: Blueberry Bonanza + Kiwi Fruit & Jello

An hour after, needless to say, we wanted more. Round 2 was imminent.

I then consulted the sales crews and asked which one is their bestseller. The unanimous answer was the “Blueberry Bonanza“! Again from the premium fruit smoothie category, it had the same price as my first one at P135 per ‘solo size‘ order and P180 for the Mondo.

Blueberry Bonanza Smoothie

Mondo Juice Jello

Adventurous as I am, a group of jello encased in interestingly hard plastic containers on the left side of the display piqued my curiosity. I browsed through and selected the Kiwi Fruit & Jello over the Lychee and Mandarin Orange-infused ones.

Kiwi Fruit & Jello

On first ‘sip‘, I already knew why the Blueberry Bonanza is the bestseller. The natural blend of blueberries, mangoes, bananas, and cranberry juice was harmonious. You have to try it for yourself.

The Kiwi fruit & jello was fine with good kiwis and jello fruit juice. It’s something different for a change. I think the kids will love it too. For something healthy, parents out there should seriously consider this as a snack for their kids.

Her Order #2: Proteinzone Super Smoochie Smoothie

From the start, I never doubted she would take seconds for Mondo Juice.

My Mondo Marjorie scanned through the menu board for quite a while similar to how she scans through dresses, gowns, shoes, and bags while shopping in department stores.

I was afraid.

Three mondo minutes after, she finally exclaimed: “I think I will try something different this time!”

I was even more afraid.

Ready to face my fears, I gathered enough courage and asked her straight to the point: “What’s your order as the cashier is waiting?”

She looked at me intensely into the eye and finally said … that she wanted to try the Proteinzone Super Smoothie booster (P145/solo;185 /Mondo). In the same category are the ‘Detox‘ & ‘Power-Up‘ smoothies.

My Mondo Model: Marjorie (with her Proteinzine Smoothie)

Proteinzone Back Sticker Label

Surprisingly, on the other hand, she’s passing up the sandwich and hinted to share with my Kiwi jello instead; which is not a problem of course. 😛

The smoochie smoothie finally came and it turned out to be a concoction of raspberries, bananas, nectar, cranberry juice, a shot of soy protein at 4g and fiber of 2.35g per serving! (I don’t know what’s the standard, but it impressed upon me that it’s much!) 🙂

‘Sip‘!

Completing the menu board of Mondo Juice are fresh pressed juice, hot drinks such as coffee, tea, and chocolate. Other cold drinks include iced coffee, brewed ice tea, and lemonade.

There are even honeyed nuts and mango cashew nuts available by the counter.

Her Proteinzone and Mango Magic!

The Mondo Juice Advocate & NomNom

Undoubtedly, it was a no-fuss afternoon of all-natural fruit smooches smoothies with my fiance at Mondo Juice Megamall where we can drink it straight, without the sugar and syrup bait.

So where were the ‘smooches‘ in the story? It went in-between ‘sips‘. 🙂

Croquetas are basically croquettes which are famous in European countries like Spain and Netherlands, hence the ‘Dutch croquetas‘. The Dutch word means a ‘little, round ball‘. In the Philippines, mashed potatoes has replaced the bechamel-filled ones like those from Spain. It is then rolled, breadcrumbed, fried and branded as Kroketten.

Kroketten SM MOA

From Croquetas to Kroketten

Slowly being pushed in to the mainstream Filipino snack diet, Maribel Bosch of Kroketten has played with the ‘Croquetas‘ word and made it more Filipino with the “K” and adding the last syllable – “ten“. They further brought it within the common Filipinos’ reach with their chain of stalls, mall kiosks, and transport terminal branches.

Banking on Filipinos’ love for carb, they hope that the new potato snack would ‘click‘. Further innovating on more flavors that makes it more yummy, appealing, and extra healthy, they introduced three varieties: Original Kroket, Kroketballen, and the Miniballen.

Kroketten Terminal Transport Kiosk

Kroketten Miniballen

Kroketten Menu

The Original Kroket (Php 35) is the oblong-shaped croquettes with ground beef, chicken, and cheese. On the other hand, a Kroketballen (Php 35 for 3pcs) is a set of three crunchy potato balls that come with dips.

Lastly, the Miniballen bite-sized potato balls is considered best for sharing and are the best sellers, perhaps due to its variant offerings with five pieces mini ballen for Php 20, four pieces mini ballen with the 6.5 oz revitalize 10 or Nutri 10 fresh fruit drink for Php 35. It is further made interesting with the assorted flavors including cheese, chicken, beef, bacon, hotdog, longganisa, pork adobo, mango, and tuyo flakes.

Kroketten Menu

Kroketten with Tuyo Flakes breadcrumb

Kroketten Fresh Fruit Drink, I Like!

I tried several dips and they were surprisingly good! Honestly, since the one we tried was at the terminal of SM Mall of Asia, I initially have somehow managed to lower my expexctations. 🙂 Moreover, as much as I liked the potato balls and the dips, I loved the drinks even more! They were the Nutri 10 fresh fruit drink served in 6.5 oz cups. They tasted like simplified Jamba Juice concoctions at street prices!

I later got to learn that they’re made of the natural fruit juice minus the white sugar and has no preservatives, branded exclusively by Vers En Snel for Kroketten.

Their two signature thirst quenchers are the Nutri 10 (mango and guyabano) and Revita 10 (strawberry and passion fruit) for a vitamin boost and revitalization, respectively. They’re so good Kroketten is working on having them sold in bottles in the near future. On the other hand, when I tired it in SM MOA, they only had two drink dispensers and only the Nutri 10 Mango and Revita 10 strawberry were available.

4pc. Kroketten Miniballen + 6.5oz Drink = Php 35

Kroketten Branch

Kroketten: Fried and Healthy?

I asked one of their managers with regards to their tagline “Fun and Healthy Potato Dutch Snacks.” I inquired how it can be healthy if it’s fried. And he said that they use corn oil instead of the regular oil, that even if corn oil was bit more expensive, they wanted to ‘walk the talk‘ when they claim that thier krokettens are healthier.

Fried Kroketten

Croquetas For Filipinos and Franchise

Frequently touring other countries with her husband and kids, Ms. Maribel Bosch discovered that croquettes deserve to be in the Philippines for its simple and delicious taste which she thought will appeal to all levels of people.

Confident about the potential of the product, the company is also open for franchise for a total investment of P195,000 (vat exclusive). For inquiries on franchising, please call (632) 822-5711 or 09178596623.

Cross Section of Original Kroket

Minballen with Dip

Kroketten Take-Out

There are currently thirteen branches / outlets including SM Mall of Asia (transport terminal) in Pasay City. The others are in Festival Mall Alabang, Albang Town Center, GT Tower Makati, Market! Market!, Starmall Edsa Shaw, Robinsons Galleria, Robinsons Metro East, SM North Edsa (Foodcourt), SM Lipa Batangas, and soon at SM Megamall.

I also bought a handful of take-out packs to bring home and share with the household. Let’s see how Kroketten, the first healthy Dutch potato snack in the Philippines, will further expand in the country. I will surely be back specially to get the Nutri 10 natural fruit juices. 🙂

J.CO Philippines Twitter

If you frequent Greenbelt in Makati, specially the one near the the Cinemas in Greenbelt 3, then you surely have seen the markers “J.CO Greenbelt Opening Soon!” It came true yesterday as J.Co Donuts and Coffee Philippines–Greenbelt  opened with more than 500 free donuts for its customers ‘shared the JCO way.’

J.Co Greenbelt Grand Opening

The grand opening started with a blessing of the branch followed by the traditional throwing of coins. Four members of the improv group ‘SPIT‘ (Silly People’s Improv Theater) were also there to jumpstart the crowd. Celebrities Karylle and Anton Del Rosario of the Azkals were some of the celebrities who dropped by to get some J.Co dounts and coffee.

Celebrities Karylle and Anton Del Rosario of Azkals Dropped by J.CO

Did you know that Karylle’s favorite is the J.Co Green Tease?

Karyll’s Favorite J.Co Donut is the Green Tease

Located just beside Figaro Greenbelt, enroute the entrance of Greenbelt 3 Cinemas, the 3rd branch of J.Co Donuts and Coffee in the Philippines is now giving you another foodie option to take with in the cinemas or simply something to munch on while hanging-out with your friends in the posh gimmick spot.

J.CO Orange Yogurt Frappe

They are specifically located at

J.Co Donuts and Coffee
3/F Greenbelt 3, Makati City

J.Coffee

When you do visit, NomNom recommends his favorite J.Coffee Cappuccino Avocado at Php 120/135 (12oz/16oz). I tried their new citrus-y Orange Yogurt Frappe and Mix Berries Frappe (Php 130/150 [12oz/16oz]) yesterday and it was a refreshing treat. I recommend you get the Mix Berries Frappe.

J.CO Mix Berries Frappe (foreground) Orange Yogurt (background), Tiramisu (donut)

J.Cool

You may also try their J.Cool fat-free frozen yogurt. I got the ‘single’ serve (Php 95) but the best worth-for-money to order is either the ‘couple‘ (Php 140) or the ‘sharing‘ (Php 190) which comes with 3 and 4 toppings, respectively.  I’m not much into the J.Cool Twist, however.

J.Cool Yogurt

J.Co Donuts Recommendations

For the filling doughnuts, get J.Co Philippines‘ signature J.Club Cheezy Rich at Php 45/piece. Pair it up with coffee of the day for Php 110, a cappuccion for Php 135, or an iced chocolate for Php 140.

And of course my favorites almond-topped ‘Alcapone‘ and Avocado Dicaprio (pair this with my favorite J.Coffee Favorite Cappuccino Avocado) should be in your list too.

J.CO Alcapone (left); Tiramisu Donut (right)

J.Co Greenbelt 3

But since yesterday, I got 2 new variants which I just added in my list of favorites- the Tiramisu and Choconuttzy. The latter is ultra yummy!

J.CO Choconuttzy

More J.CO Donuts

J.CO is a popular lifestyle café chain in Indonesia and some parts of Southeast Asia. It first opened in Jakarta, Indonesia in 2005 with the thrust to fuse the popular donuts of the West with … touches of the East. Other countries in the Asian region soon got into the J.CO craze, including Malaysia, Singapore and, more recently, Shanghai in China.

JCO Donuts & SPIT

J.CO Greenbelt 3 Grand Opening

J.CO Donuts & Coffee

For J.Co Donuts Philippines, they also have branches in SM Megamall and SM Mall of Asia. See you more often at J.Co Donuts Greenbelt! 🙂