I recently attended the media launch of the newly opened Todd English Food Hall Manila at the 5th floor of SM Aura and guess what I saw nearby? A Magnum Manila  shop! Continue reading →

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 →

We were able to witness the soft opening of the new SM Supermarket Aura a few days ago at the lower ground floor of the similarly newly opened SM Aura Premier in Taguig, SM Supermalls‘ 47th mall.

SM Aura Premier

Inevitably, together with my wife, we satisfied our foodie curiosity with the new supermarket and went around to see what they have to offer.

Fresh Every Day!

So I wore my “cart- pusher” hat/role which I earned since I got married a few months back while wifey does the actual grocery shopping. 😛

Interestingly, the new SM Supermarket Aura is pretty big at 9,300 sqm floor space and has several interesting new sections compared to other SM groceries we frequent. We do our weekly grocery shopping at SM Supermakret North Edsa since we live near Munoz.

Fruits & Veggies

Ready-To-Eat Food Stalls

It has the usual sections on bread, health & beauty, fruits and veggies, poultry, seafood, meat, and frozen goods, among others. But they also has new and surprising ones.

Here are the new sections and discoveries we saw which made it to our ‘10 Reasons Why SM Supermakret Aura is a Grocery Haven‘ list :

Wine & Liquor Section

• Premium Wine & Liquor Section & the P 230K Wine Bottle

On the right side of the entrance are situated stand alone stores such as Watsons, and a couple of ready–to-eat food stalls but the Wine & Liquor section at the right most is obviously bigger and has a wider selection than usual.

Moreover, what caught our attention was a very premium cognac brand by the name of Camus Cuvee 5.150 which costs P 230,000 for one bottle beside other similarly premium wine bottles on display. It is the highlight of a masterpiece collection of 5 Camus Cognacs aged 22-37 years minimum by  Cyril Camus celebrating 150 years of family tradition.

Camus Cuvee Cognac 5.150 worth P230,000 !

We later came to know that this is the only SM Supermarket so far to carry this line of expensive wine and that the aforementioned Camus Cuvee is one of the only two bottles in the Philippines!

Buy 1 Take 1 Gardenia Bread at only P57!

• Chateau de France

On the other end of the supermarket is a bigger bread section as well which greets customers from the left side entrance.

Chateau de France will be your bread at first sight. A famous bread line from France, this is Chateau de France second branch in the Philippines with the first one in SM Makati which also just opened a month ago.

You would find French macarons, baguettes, croissants, and quiche, among others from their selection.

Chateau de France in the Bakery Section

Moreover, did you know that these French breads and pastries are imported directly from France ‘as is‘ and shipped utilizing cryotechnology to preserve it’s goodness?

• 

  Fruit Carving Section

  Fruit Carving Station + Soup Section

Near the bread section is a small but distinctive stall serving as a fruit carving station. It is a free service to customers who buy fruits from SM Supermarket. This is best suited for businesses in the catering or food service industry which can easily have the fruits carved here.

A little push of the cart further is a  soup stall serving fresh and hot, well, soup!.

Simple as it is, I was surprised seeing it at first but if you are looking for a quick soup-fix in an air-conditioned grocery, this might be worth a try.

Soup Stall

• Organic Products

Aside from the usual fruits and vegetable varieties you would see in an ordinary supermarket, SM Aura Supermarket has a substantial section devoted to fresh organic fruits and vegetables such as lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, papayas, and chico. Packed and canned items for customers on the go are also available.

Organic Vegetables and Root crops

SM Supermarket Aura

Herbs & Spices

Of special interest is the shelf with mushroom varieties I found in the organic section.

I got to chat with Ms. Cherry Lo of Crystal Jade Dining-In at the nearby Bonifacio High Street restaurant a week ago when we tried their dishes. One of which is the “Sauteed Prawn & Scallop with Chicken and Assorted Mushroom Served in Pumpkin“. She mentioned how she gets these very good mushrooms fresh from the generous variety available at the nearby mall Market! Market!.

Mushroom Variety Shelf in SM Supermarket Aura

I guess I could now recommend SM Aura Supermarket mushrooms for her to try one of these days.

• International Shelves

At the center of SM Supermarket Aura are 12 shelves of inviting imported products. Most of the items are from the countries of France, Germany, Japan, US, and Korea.

Asian Imported Goods

Western Goods

Although we focused on buying fresh goods and products for our upcoming house blessing that time, I guess we’ll check out more of the international goods / imported goods in our next visit.

10 Reasons….Part 2 Teaser: Bahay Kubo: Bataw (96/kg) & Patani (392/kg)

NomNom Wifey at the SM Prestige Cashier Counter

This is only the first half of our ‘10 reasons why SM Aura Supermarket is a grocery haven’.

Stay tuned for the second and final installment of our SM Supermarket Aura grocery experience in the next few days!