It was a deLITEful day south of Metro Manila as Magnolia Chicken Station LITE hosted an exhibition of good food and related activities last Friday at the Activity Area in SM Southmall.

Welcome to Magnolia Chicken Station!

The whole day event gathered food enthusiasts, health buffs, and mall goers towards a day of fun-filled and exciting activities.

Magnolia Chicken Station

Magnolia Chicken Station has recently launched Magnolia Chicken Station Lite (MCS LITE) in response to the growing health and wellness movement in the country. It is a healthier line of fresh chicken products that come from leaner and “healthier” chicken parts.

Magnolia Chicken Station DeLITEful Day @ SM Southmall

DeLITEful Day

The main program started at about 2pm where celebrity host Angel Aquino led the program. There was a dance performance at the start to perk up the crowd as well.

Celebrity Host Ms. Angel Aquino

Wellness Seminars

When the people were hungry enough for some knowledge, Ms. Llena Tan-Arcenas (RND, MSN, RN), San Miguel Pure Foods‘ in-House nutritionist, gave a very informative and insightful series of seminars about wellness and food. The first one was entitled “Embracing Good Nutrition” which encouraged the audience to develop a habit of good nutrition. It was followed by a talk on food safety.

“Embracing Good Nutrition” Wellness Seminar

Ms. Llena Tan-Arcenas, Nutritionist

Magnolia Family of Products

In between the informative seminars were fun games & exciting activities where Magnolia Chicken gave away prizes such as digital weighing scales and gift certificates from sponsors such as Slimmer’s World.

Surrounding the Activity center were stations holding free nutrition consultation. There were also booth sponsors offering beneficial memberships and freebies such as the Ysa Botanica booth, the San Miguel ‘My Great Food Club’, San Miguel Pure Foods, Mabuhay Chiropractic Clinics, and Slimmer’s World.

Exhbitors Slimmer’s World and Ysa Botanica

Magnolia Chicken Booths

San Miguel Pure Foods Booth

My Great Food Club 

Magnolia Chicken Station Models

Cooking Demonstrations

Finally, a healthy cooking session was demonstrated on stage using the current MCS Lite product line-up including the high protein, less fat Magnolia Free Range Chicken, as well as lean, skinless breast cuts like breast fillet, chicken strips, chicken chunks, and lean ground chicken!

In addition to whole chicken, choice cuts, and customized cuts, the Cook-easy line-up and special marinated cuts were also available.

Cooking Demonstrations with Angel Aquino

Taste Tests

Exclusive in SM Supermarkets

The brand is also set to introduce a healthy cook-easy line, lean cuts lightly marinated in natural herb and fruit-based flavors that can be used for salads, pastas, and sandwiches.

Magnolia Chicken Station Lite is exclusively available in major SM Supermarkets, SM Savemore, and SM Hypermarket outlets nationwide.

SM Southmall Officers with the Magnolia Chicken Station Team

Magnolia Chicken Station DeLITEful Day!

Activity Center of SM Southmall

Mascots Frida & Wanda

This is just the start! Follow Magnolia Chicken Station on their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/ MagnoliaChickenStationPhilippines and know the succeeding DeLITEful Day venues. The next one would be tomorrow, July 12, 2013 at SM Mall of Asia!

It’s good to know that now, we have a better and healthier choice with the deLITEful Magnolia Chicken Station LITE.

Black Canyon Coffee Philippines

Black Canyon Coffee opened its first branch in the Philippines just this morning at the Food Street wing of SM Southmall in Las Pinas. The grand launch was graced by no less than the honorable Las Pinas Congressman Mark Villar. He was joined by Mr. Pravit Chitnarapong (CEO, Black Canyon Thailand), Mr. James Dy (Chairman, Royal Thai Food Philippines Inc.), and Mrs. Wilma Dy (President, Royal Thai Food Philippines Inc).

A big brand in Thailand that started in 1993 and now has 220 stores and 40 more internationally, Black Canyon Coffee is known for their unique concept of a coffee shop that ‘is’ also a full restaurant. While they offer a wide range of coffee drinks and beverages from espresso to cappuccino (and ‘Blackpuccino‘), they also serve Thai cuisines such as Tom Yum soup and Som Tam salads. On the other hand, their brand ‘Black Canyon Coffee‘ can be easily misconstrued as a western brand whereas their specialties are Thai food.

Black Canyon Coffee Manila

Black Canyon Coffee SM Southmall

Black Canyon Coffee South Entrance

Iced Drinks

I personally tried the BC Thai Iced Tea w/ milk, BC Iced Coffee, and BC Iced Lemon Tea, in that order of preference. I loved the authentic mix of the Thai Iced Tea just like in Thailand and the Black Canyon Iced Coffee which is a blend of arabica coffee with two kinds of milk and plenty of ice.  However, I found the iced lemon tea just ordinary.

Black Canyon Coffee: BCC Iced Coffee, Thai Iced Tea w/ milk, Iced Lemon Tea (left to right cups then back)

Black Canyon Coffee Menu Board

I then ordered one of their signature beverages – the Black Canyon Frappe. It was a refreshing drink in a visually appealing presentation with a fat glass, similar to the Black Canyon Iced Coffee. For a cost of Php 120, it was well worth the price given that they source the coffee beans from Columbia. The other raw coffee beans are from Northern Thailand while the Matcha Green Tea are from Japan.

Black Canyon Coffee Frappe

Thai Restaurant

More than just a coffee shop, Black Canyon  is actually a 160 sqm. full-restaurant that can accommodate upto 90 customers and offers Thai cuisine ala carte from soups, sandwiches, to pasta, and steaks.

Four of which I have tried are the Pad Thai, Tom Yum Goong, Tuna Green Curry Fried Rice Wrapped in Egg Sheet, and the Spicy Glass Noodles and Grilled Salmon Salad.

The Tom Yum Goong (Spicy Prawn Soup  – Php 192) had the right level of spiciness for an authentic Tom Yum Goong. Although the Tuna Green Curry Fried Rice is not really my type of food, curry lovers may want to try this one out at a good price of Php 156.

Tuna Green Curry Fried Rice Wrapped in Egg Sheet Php 156

The Spicy Glass Noodles with Grilled Salmon was something new to my taste bud, and it turned out well. The spicy and lightly grilled salmon complemented the glass noodles. They could have oiled the noodles a little-bit more, however. Called Yum Wun Sen Salmon in Thailand, this Thai delicacy is priced at Php 188.

Spicy Glass Noodles and Grilled Salmon Salad (Yum Wun Sen Salmon) Php 188

And finally, you should not miss Black Canyon Coffee Philippines‘ authentic and award-winning Pad Thai which is at par with other Thai restaurants I have dined-in here in the Philippines. The shrimps were fresh and larger than I expected for a Pad Thai complemented with bean sprouts, garlic chives, and eggs.

Black Canyon Executive Chef Rasri Athaboh

They also have desserts and bakery products. I was able to try the Fruit Salad Sundae (Php 68) and a slice of Oreo Chessecake (Php 95). The former was just ok and nothing special but the cakes were good. Priced at less than a hundred, this is a very good deal.

Chef Rasri Athaboh

It was also great to have met with Black Canyon Executive Chef Rasri Athaboh who came from Thailand. He will be staying in the Philippine for a while to oversea the kitchen and knowledge transfer. Black Canyon cooks and crew were also initially sent to Thailand for over a month of training.

Very Competitive Pricing

If you browse through their menu, you would notice that the drinks are almost always below Php 100. The Thai dishes also range only from Php 150 to Php 200; with some a little above Php 200. I hope they do maintain, more or less, these affordable introductory prices within the year.

Black Canyon Coffee Branches

Black Canyon Coffee Philippine Team

Black Canyon Coffee (BlackCanyonCoffee.com) also has presence in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar, UAE, Cambodia, and Laos. In the Philippines, they are looking at 2 more new Black Canyon Coffee branches within 2012; watch out for BCC in SM Mall of Asia and SM Megamall.

California Berry is teasing its customers this summer season with its one-day offering of a Free Yogurt serving of their newest seasonal yogurt on March 5, 2010.

The flavor remains to be a secret as this is probably part of the word-of-mouth marketing campaign. So far, it seems to be working and news have reached NomNom Club. 🙂

Known for it’s low calorie fat-free frozen yogurt (“Fro-Yo“), regular price starts at Php60 ($1.30) for the small cup.

Can you guess what the mystery flavor is? The only clue we have is that the new fruit flavor is rich in antioxidant content and health benefits.

You have to note however that the free yogurts are good only for the first 50 customers starting from 2pm to 4pm of each branch on a first-come, first-serve basis (one cup per customer). So if you didn’t make the cut, rush to try the next branch. (LOL) 🙂

* Photo & info source: California Berry Facebook Profile

You can find California Berry outlets at Silver City Ortigas, Greenhills, Robinson’s Galleria, The Fort Strip, Tomas Morato, Paseo Center Makati, SM Megamall, SM North Edsa, SM Southmall, and SM Manila.