Ultimate Taste Test 2015 Set this Saturday

You are invited to the biggest food tasting event in the country – the Ultimate Taste Test 2015!

This much-anticipated annual food trip is happening this Saturday – September 12, 2015 (11am-9pm) at the Glorietta Activity Center, Makati City. The Ultimate Taste Test enables food lovers to be food-critics-for-a-day by sampling mouth-watering unique flavors in Manila from over 40+ home-based food businesses.

Organized by the Our Awesome Planet team led by Anton Diaz, its mission is to provide food lovers with remarkable activities meant to excite their palates with the latest and greatest dishes from the most talked about food concessionaires including home bakers, caterers, and food product retailers in Metro Manila.

Get you tickets here: http://www.ourawesomeplanet.com/awesome/2015/08/ultimate-taste-test-2015-tickets.html

Ultimate Taste Test 2015

Ultimate Taste Test 2015

UTT Summary:

  • What: Ultimate Taste Test 2015
  • When: September 12, Saturday, come anytime between 11am-9pm
  • Where: Glorietta Activity Center, Makati City

Be in the loop about the newest foodie finds with NomNom Club by subscribing to our blog through email and liking the NomNomClub Facebook Page. Follow our Twitter and Instagram accounts too!

Moreover, you can also be a food critic for a day by scoring the food booths! See you at the Ultimate Taste Test 2015!

Gaucho Tops My Magnolia Residences City Food Picks

Robinsons Land Corporation Magnolia Town Center

Magnolia Town Center

The Magnolia Residences City Food Picks is a foodie tour at the nearby Robinsons Magnolia Mall that highlights urban comforts amidst a variety of food picks and shops.

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Top 10 Restaurants From My Mega Food Tour

Lugang Cafe Restaurant

Arabian Coffee Maker @Lugang Cafe

16 restaurants, 4 hours, 1 stomach. That in a summary, is how you would describe in numbers the SM Megamall “Mega Food Tour” held the other night at the new wing called Mega Fashion Hall. It almost broke my 18-restaurant- food-tour record back in 2009. 🙂

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An Awesome Secret Foodies Tour @ Tuscany

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!

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

Planet Grapes

Planet Grapes Wines

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

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)

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

This Foodie Tour come in a Group of 30

....or simply your small group of friends

….or simply your small group of friends

 

B&T Mexican Chicken

B&T Mexican Kitchen

B&T Mexican Kitchen

Chipotle Chicken Pizza, Mango Glazed Habanero Chicken, Taquitos Espesyal with Barbacoa, & Nachos with Assorted Dips

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

Chicken Mole

Chicken Mole

L.E.S. Bagels

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

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)

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

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

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

 

Sauceria

Feta Cilantro Tomato Cocas - Spanish style pizza

Feta Cilantro Tomato Cocas – Spanish style pizza

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

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

Tuna Tataki - Zaru Soba with homemade wasabi sour cream dip

Tuna Tataki – Zaru Soba with homemade wasabi sour cream dip

Main Street

Poutine - thick-cut fries served with beef gravy and cheese curds

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

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

Organic Maple and Candied Bacon Artisan Ice Cream

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)

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

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.

Cucina Andare: First Philippine Food Truck Market

Top Food Blogger Anton Diaz on Cucina Andare

Top Food Blogger Anton Diaz at the Cucina Andare Opening

We often visualize trucks as big nasty vehicles on the road. The nearest I could associate it with food are the fruit-delivery trucks from the provinces or the ones used by caterers and big restaurants.

But the Philippine foodie scene just got better as the group behind Mercato Centrale night market, led by Anton Diaz of Our Awesome Planet and author/celebrity RJ Ledsema, brings the US concept of food trucks to the Philippines. Hence, Cucina Andare was born two nights ago.

Cucina Andare Food Truck Finds: (L-R, T-B) Brother's Burger, Bundaberg Apple Ale, Chicken Waffle, Beef Shawarma Plare

Cucina Andare Food Truck Finds: (L-R, T-B) Brother’s Burger, Bundaberg Apple Ale, Chicken Waffle, Beef Shawarma Plare

Mexicombi (Van)

Mexicombi (Van)

Just in time for the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season, the Cucina Andare food truck market is located at the Glorietta Park in front of Greenbelt 3, Landmark, and Makati Shangri-La Hotel. It will be open every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 4pm3am for the whole of December which started Last December 14, 2012.

It brings together specialty and gourmet food trucks, new and innovative food, drink and pastry vendors from home-based food businesses from around Makati plus some live acoustic performances.

“The food truck is a staple in the American foodie scene…There are now popular gourmet food trucks in San Francisco, New York and Australia, and people follow them wherever they go. We believe it’s about time that food trucks make their debut in the Philippine foodie scene,” shares top food blogger Anton Diaz.

Upper Right: Hungry Rover's UD Beef Kofta Sliders (Mini Burgers) made of grilled patties, veggies, choice of suace, and cheese in baked buns with chips on the side. P110

Upper Left: Hungry Rover’s UD Beef Kofta Sliders (Mini Burgers) made of grilled patties, veggies, choice of sauce, and cheese in baked buns with chips on the side. P110

They also launched the Food Truck Association of the Philippines during the opening of the market to encourage more food trucks vendors and related innovative ideas. I think this is the start of a new niche in the Philippine food retail industry.

And what did NomNom Club do there? What else but to eat! And here are our TOP FINDS from the first Philippine food truck market :

  1. Gab Sobrepena’s Shawarma Bros Shawarma Truck

    Shawarma Bros

    Shawarma Bros

  2. Hungry Rover truck by Romeo, Joseph, and Voltaire

    Hungry Rover: Check out their US Beef Tapa Grilled Wraps for P120

    Hungry Rover: Check out their US Beef Tapa Grilled Wraps for P120

  3. QKebab Shawarma Truck by Chef RJ Ungco

    QKebab Shawarma Truck by Chef RJ Ungco

    QKebab Shawarma Truck by Chef RJ Ungco

  4. Brothers Burger Gourmet Burger Truck

    Brothers Burger Gourmet Burger Truck

    Brothers Burger Gourmet Burger Truck

  5. Bundaberg Ginger Beer

    Bundaberg Ginger Beer & Other Variants

    Bundaberg Ginger Beer & Other Variants

  6. GuacTruck Taco Truck – a partnership with the Big Chill

    GuacTruck Taco Truck - a partnership with the Big Chill (lower right)

    GuacTruck Taco Truck – a partnership with the Big Chill (lower right)

  7. MioGelati Gelato Truck

    MioGelati Gelato Truck

    MioGelati Gelato Truck

Best Food Truck

Since the new food truck market is so eye-catching, we can’t help but compare and judge them.  The best-tasting food for the night came from Shawarma Bros courtesy of the Beef Shawarma plate while the Best Food Truck Design goes to QKebab Shawarma & Shawarma  Bros.

QKebab Shawarma Truck

QKebab Shawarma Truck

Beef Shawarma Plate by Shawarma Bros

Beef Shawarma Plate by Shawarma Bros

On the other hand, the Best Food Truck Experience belongs to the Hungry Rover truck which even have a dining area inside the truck (good for about 8 people.) for the complete food truck experience.

Hungry Rover Truck

Hungry Rover Truck

Other food establishments who participated in the food truck market include Mexicombi, Chicken Waffle Haus, Taclings,  Top Dog  Best Hotdogs on the World, Cakes by K, Carlo’s Kitchen, Petra & Pilar, the Spanish Club, and Chef Resty’s Roast Beef Carving Station, among others.

B. Wings creates a unique mix of buffalo wing variants

B. Wings creates a unique mix of buffalo wing variants

Taclings' small malunggay tacos for about P120 a dozen

Taclings’ small malunggay tacos for about P120 a dozen

Cucina Andare Food Truck Market

Cucina Andare Food Truck Market

Know more about Cucina Andare Food Truck Market via www.facebook.com /CucinaAndare and @CucinaAndare on Twitter. Contact them at admin@CucinaAndare.com or 09178401152. See you there again next Friday!

 

Rockwell’s Ultimate Taste Test 2 on Sept 15!

NomNom with Anton Diaz (right)

NomNom with Anton Diaz (right) in UTT

In Rockwell’s Ultimate Taste Test 2011, NomNom was able to conquer 51 food stalls. How many would this year’s count be? On September 15 and 16, test your appetite and set your own records at Rockwell’s 2nd Ultimate Taste Test happening at Rockwell Tent as brought to us by Anton DiazOur Awesome Planet together with San Miguel Lifestyle Brews and more.

This two-day food tasting event happens from 11 in the morning up until 9 in the evening of both days. Get to taste samplings from over 40 home-based food businesses, concessionaires, and Power Plant mall establishments as they set up shop to have food lovers, connoisseurs, and foodies, become ” food critics for a day.

Food Rating Activity

Rockwell’s ltimate Taste Test traditional ratings of the food by the visitors within the scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest, will be one of the event’s highlights. The top performing food stalls with the average rating of 3.8 and above, will be specially features in Anton Daiz’s Our Awesome Planet blog in October 2012.

Rockwell's Ultimate Taste Test 2011 Score Sheet

Rockwell’s Ultimate Taste Test 2011 Score Sheet

Purchase Tickets

The ticket rates for the tenth (10th) edition of the Ultimate Taste Test  (UTT) is at P585/person/day or P1,000/person for 2 days. This covers the food taste portions and a bottle of San Miguel Super Dry, Premium All-Malt or Cerveza Negra (age 18 and above).

Buy the tickets from Creative Juice Office (Tel. # 5707827) during office hours or Rockwell Customer Care (Tel. # 8981702) during mall hours . You may also email admin@ultimatetastetest.com for questions and inquiries.

Rockwell's Ultimate Taste Test 2012

Rockwell’s Ultimate Taste Test 2012

For Interested Food Suppliers

Interested in becoming one of the food suppliers? Email the organizers at admin@ultimatetastetest.com. 

Buy your tickets now as only 1,000 tickets to be sold are allocated per day. See you at Rockwell’s Ultimate Taste Test 2 in 10 days! 🙂

 

2011 Ultimate Taste Test 6.0 Soon!

Food lovers, connoisseurs, and foodies, hear ye, hear ye! One of the most exciting food event of the year is back – the sixth edition of the Ultimate Taste Test!

Brought to you by Our Awesome Planet, in cooperation with San Miguel Lifestyle Brews, Rockwell’s Ultimate Taste Test 6.0 is happening on September 3 at the Rockwell Tent from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. as food blogger Anton Diaz  embarks on this first partnership with Rockwell.

Be a food-critic-for-a-day by sampling mouth-watering food preparations and concoctions from over 50+ home-based food businesses and some of Power Plant Mall’s own restaurants. Participants also get to rate the food samples and exhibiting food concessionaires on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being the highest. The hihgest scorers get to be featured in Anton’s site.

Each ticket costs P585/person and covers the ff:

  • Food Taste Portions from 50+ Home-Based Food Vendors & Power Plant Mall Restaurants (new) for the entire Saturday
  • A bottle of San Miguel Super Dry, Premium All-Malt or Cerveza Negra (18 years old and above only)
  • Exclusive to 1,000 foodies
Ultimate Taste Test 2011

Ultimate Taste Test 6.0 2011

For ticket inquiries, call Power Plant Mall Office (Tel. # 8981702) during mall hours or Creative Juice Office (Tel. # 5707827) during office hours.

Here is a list of Food Exhibitors you might expect:

 Foodie Supplier   Specialty Dish
1  The Hearty Onion  Roasted Pandan-Wrapped Salmon and Mini Pulled beef sandwiches
2  Sweet Finale  Dark chocolate flourless cake
3  Rafael’s Green Kitchen  ANAK Ng TINAPA sa SARAP! and POMODORO TINAPA
4  Souk Kafe  Mana pizza
5  Madonna’s Cuisine  Homemade baked macaroni, classic kare-kare
6  Nasi  Hainanese chicken rice
7  AMG Experience Francaise  Quiches, sandwiches, breads and pastries
8  Fortune Empire  Roast pork
9  Sals Corp  Crumbs’ ice cream burger
10  Pot-Hole The Pastry  Connection  2 kinds cheesake, opera cake, adobo lasagna with cream cheese and spinach
11  Algaventures  Chuckle! Cheese Spread/ enchantea herbal iced tea
12  Merry Moo Ice Creamery  Apple cinnamon, honey and tea, coffee kahlua ice cream
13  Sweet Sherise Cakes ‘N Bakes  Cassava de leche, cassave chocolat
14  Kitchen of Elaine & Carla  Peppermint bars
15  Sweet Nothings Mktg Corp  Chococo by glow coconut sugar
16  Tres Amores HomeMade
 Apple  Pie
 Apple pie
17  DKC Bakeshop  Almond butterscotch bars
18  Sassy K  Korn krisps and gourmet dips
19  Sweet Life  Green tea espasol with filling
20  Dulces Y Tapas aka
 Christina’s Kitchen
 Carrot cupcakes, creme caramel bread pudding
21  Fideles Food Services  YOH-GEE Premium Froyo
22  Bote Central  Freshly roasted Philippine origins coffee
23  Manila Q  Bagwang and fish ham
24  Manolo’s  Paella porchetta, fabada, chorizo tapas
25  Risa Chocolates  Chocolates
26  Mrs V’s Homemade Goodies  Fresh lumpia ubod, macaroons, cupcakes
27  MAMA  P’s  Bagnet and longganiza
28  OctoInfinity Foods  Snow ice
29  Jam Foods  Japanese Teriyaki or Korean beef
30  Mother Lee’s Home Cooking  Hungarian Goulash
31  Carol Jorge  classic chicken liver and pate grand reserve
32  DessertBarn  Amnesia, Bananalicious
33  Simple pleasures  XXX Cakes and Seaweed peanuts
34  Dulcelin  Korean Red Rice Salad and hickory smoked US pork belly
35  Chef Lolly’s Kitchen  Homemade Pork with Shrimp Siomai and Camaron Relleno (“Giok-Pit-He”)
36  da.u.de Marketing  Organic gourmet tea
37  Pepita’s Kitchen  Lechon sisig
38  Jan Viray  Brownies, revel bars, NY cheesecake
39  Christa’s Kitchen  French macarons
40  Hero Sausage  Dundee ‘Kroko’ ALL Meat SisigDundee; ‘Kroko’ ALL Meat Express.
41  Angelo Yaneza  Honey Shrimp Paste
42  Aunt May’s  Ecargot and Beef Tapa
43  Concept Specialist      Coffee
44  United Village Breadhouse  Garlic bread with parsley, assorted spread and crostini toasts
45  Kitchen ala Ching  Oatmeal cookies, espresso kahlua cake, food for the gods
46  Hacienda Macalauan  Fresh Milk, flavored milk and yoghurt
 47  Luxe by Goldilocks      Luxe Cookies
48  Pasta Box  Longganisa bolognese. Bollywood, Dirty Harry, Popeye’s Favorite
49  GUSTAZO  gourmet tuyo, Pomodoro Tinapa, Bistek Tinapang bangus
50  XOCOLAT      Bake-to-Order Cookies (Insomnia, Smores, Cookie Monster, Plain Jane)

If you want to be a food supplier, contact Rockwell UTT Application Form and submit  via email to admin@ultimatetastetest.com.

See related Posts:

Rockwell’s Ultimate Taste Test Event
September 3, 2011, Saturday, 11.00 am – 9.00 pm.
Rockwell Tent
Email admin@ultimatetastetest.com.
P585/head. Tickets available at Power Plant Mall Office (Tel. # 8981702) during mall hours or Creative Juice Office (Tel. # 5707827) during office hours.

See you fellow foodies at the Ultimate Taste Test 6.0 on Saturday! 🙂

The Ultimate Taste Test 4.0 in Photos

ManilaQ Corned Beef Pansigang

ManilaQ's Corned Beef Pansigang

The Ultimate Taste Test 4.0 was concluded a  few hours ago – May 14 – at the NBC Tent in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig.

I’m usually slow in publishing my stories taking a few days or more. So, I’m first releasing some of the photos I took earlier in the Ultimate Taste Test 4.0 foodie event organized by Anton Diaz of Our Awesome Planet and hosted by foodies Ivan Man Dy and Spanky Enriquez.

Marty's Baconette Strips Snack (chichirya)

Marty's Baconette Strips Snack (chichirya)

A lot happened and so much food consumed within the three solid hours of food tasting by more than 1000 foodies being served by about 50 food suppliers.

There’s even a voting / ranking system of the best tasting food in the UTT.

For now, feel free to feast on some photos of the Ultimate Lamon, este, Tasting event:

Main Courses / Entrees

Denim Kitchen

Denim Kitchen

Ultimate taste Test Lechon

Ultimate taste Test Lechon

The Fruit Garden

The Fruit Garden (leftmost top), Happy Green (Right bottom)

Ultimate Taste Test 4.0 - ManilaQ

Ultimate Taste Test 4.0 - ManilaQ

Empanada Avenue

Empanada Avenue

Roast DucK Siopao

Roast DucK Siopao

Desserts:

Chocolate Moist Cake

Chocolate Moist Cake

Purple Dough Desserts

Purple Dough Desserts

Frozen Meringue by Tina Raines

Frozen Meringue by Tina Raines

Dulceline Gourmets

Divinr Drsserts (Leftmost Top ); Dulceline Gourmets (Leftmost Bottom); Monterey (Upper Right)

Kraze Kitch Bakeshop

Kraze Kitch Bakeshop

Ultimate Taste Test Desserts

Ultimate Taste Test Desserts (I forgot the dessert place name) 🙂

More Brands

ManilaQ, Crave Burger, Muscovy, Swirls

ManilaQ, Crave Burger, Muscovy, Swirls

The People / Crowd

Mombloggers (upper left); Performers (lower left); Bobby Yan (lower right)

Mombloggers (upper left); Performers (lower left); Bobby Yan (lower right)

Arpee Lazaro of Aqua Health Alkaline Water

Arpee Lazaro of Aqua Health Alkaline Water

Ella Ganda's Liempo (upper left); college orgmates (upper center); Crave Burger (upper right)

Ella Ganda's Liempo (upper left); college orgmates (upper center); Crave Burger (upper right)

Ivan Man Dy

Ivan Man Dy of Old Manila Walks (night's host with Spanky Enriquez)

Ultimate Taste Test 4.0

Ultimate Taste Test 4.0

The stories behind the photos and my recommendations of the Ultimate Taste Test 4 will follow in a few days so visit this blog again to check out which servings made it to NomNom‘s top list. 🙂