Entries Tagged 'Beverage' ↓

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.

It has been a while since NomNom Club last held a blog giveaway and contest. I still remember the Samsung microwave oven we gave away  and the  Top Commenter winners every month that we used to have. Anyhow, we’re now back with some tumblers and gift certificates to giveaway from Starbucks Philippines and it will be my first time to use the Rafflecopter online tool for managing online contest entries.

It’s so easy actually, you just have to guess what is NomNom’s newest favorite Starbucks Beverage this June 2012. Get a clue from this Starbucks Beverage blog link.

Using a points system, click on the Rafflecopter online tool below and earn as many points as you can.
a Rafflecopter giveaway

The duration of the giveaway will be from today – June 18 upto June 30, 2012. There will be 5 winners of a set of Starbucks Tumbler + Starbucks Beverage Gift Certificate. The merchandise will be delivered for FREE anywhere in Metro Manila, Philippines. The winners will be announced in this post and our Facebook Page anytime from July 1 to 8, 2012. Join and enjoy our Starbucks Philippines giveaway!

Have you tried the two new Starbucks Philippines‘ new featured beverages? Starting today, June 12, 2012, Hojicha Tea Jelly Frappuccino and Red Bean Green Tea Frappuccino are now available in all Starbucks branches in the Philippines.

Hojicha Tea Jelly Frappuccino

Hojicha Tea Jelly Frappuccino

I have tried them both recently and the Hojicha Tea Jelly Frappuccino easily became my favorite.  I love the refreshing taste of the roasted Japanese tea, also called Hojicha, combined with the herbal aftertaste of the Earl Grey Tea Jelly. The texture of Starbucks’ own Tazo Earl Grey tea-infused jelly is something Starbucks aficionados might find refreshing.

Among the tea variants of Starbucks, I’m fond of both the Green Tea and Chai Tea Latte and I’m glad with the coming of the Hojicha Tea Jelly Frappuccino. Although it will be staying until the end of July only, I hope it would eventually stay longer with the market’s demand. The tall cup is priced at Php 155, Grande – Php 165, and Venti – Php 175.

Red Bean Green Tea Frappuccino

The second featured beverage is the Red Bean Green Tea Frappuccino. It’s basically your usual Green Tea Frappuccino with added whole kernels of Red Azuki Beans on top.

It is quite an interesting twist if you wanted to perk up your usual Green Tea ‘matcha‘ frapp but the Hojicha Tea Jelly Frappuccino still made more impact with me. The price range is also the same with Hojicha frapp.

Asian Frappuccino Blended Beverages

They also classify the two beverages as Asian Frappuccino blended beverages since they were only released in Asia. The ingredients themselves were sourced from Asia as well.

New Starbucks Food Items

Together with the two new beverages are new Starbucks food items which were offered starting today as well. They are:

Beef And Mushroom Pie

Chicken Parmigiana Wrap

Beef And Mushroom Pie

Baked to golden brown, this flaky pastry consists of beef strips, sliced mushrooms, carrots and mashed potatoes. At Php 95, it can be one filling meal.

Chicken Parmigiana Wrap

It’s a chicken breast fillet in a pita bread wrap with sliced eggplant, Italian tomato sauce, and grated cheese. At Php 150, you can have it sliced and is good for two.

Bacon And Cheese On Italian Country Bread

Crusty on the outside, soft and luscious on the inside – this one’s my favorite new Starbucks food item!

Bacon And Cheese On Italian Country Bread

This grilled cheese sandwich is coupled with six types of cheeses (Gruyere, Emmenthal, Provolone, Mozzarella, Feta and Cheddar). The flavor is further enhanced by the crispy bacon strips, pesto sauce, and Italian herbed butter on bread. Can you already smell and taste it based from the description? 🙂 . Best served warm, it costs Php 150.

Want to win some free Starbucks Beverage gift certificates or free Starbucks Tumblers from NomNom Club? Leave a comment below and stay tuned as we’ll announce this soon! LIKE us as well on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/NomNomClub!

New Starbucks Food Items

Try the new Starbucks food items specially the Bacon And Cheese Bread and don’t forget to pair it with my favorite Hojicha Tea Jelly Frappuccino. 🙂

If you frequent the Greenbelt 2 & 3 area in Makati, you’d actually observe that there’s hardly any milk tea place around. And with the number of milk tea stores that have mushroomed in Metro Manila, this should be a surprise! Lo, and behold, a milk tea ad endorsing “A-Gantea” recently sprouted we just had to try it.

It turned out to be from the same owners of the longstanding Qoola yogurt place which now shares a part of its space with A-Gantea. A brand hailing from Taiwan, they have a lot of stores in Malaysia. With the yogurt craze cooling down, this is good move on the part of Qoola to refocus according to trend.

Their ordering counter is immediately on your right upon entry but the dining area is on the 2nd floor. The store is also blogger-friendly with free Wi-Fi access.

A-Gantea Greenbelt 2, Ayala Makati

The Milk Tea

A-Gantea Tea Café‘s menu offered five main concoctions such as the QQ Milk Tea, Taro Milk Tea, Bubble Milk Tea, Pear Fruit Tea, and Hawaiian Fruit Tea.

As much as I want to order my all-time favorite Taro milk tea variant or the more adventurous options of Pear Fruit Tea and Hawaiian Fruit Tea, I decided to try the traditional Bubble Milk Tea since this is my first time to try the brand.

So, Bubble Milk Tea it is. At P85, I had a Black Pearl add-on for P15 since it comes with the default white pearl. The total bill was flat P100.

They also had the ‘vibrator’ thing to call your attention when your order is ready; it’s getting quite common in restaurants nowadays.

Agantea Buzzers

The Verdict

The Bubble Milk Tea was good and the pearl / tapioca / ‘sago‘ were also consistently chewy. Being a tapioca lover, I had the add-on. But I wouldn’t recommend you have one since they were already generous with the pearls. I ended up with almost half of the large serving filled with sago. 🙂

Their medium size is P75, by the way.

I intend to be more adventurous in my next visit. Target points are the A-Gan Green Tea and Taiwan Alpine Tea which they said are from Taiwan’s Ali Mountains at 1200m altitude.

Moreover, the Hawaiian Fruit Tea which mixes sour and sweet, the Pear Fruit tea made with sweet and mellow alpine tea base, and the Milk-lid Green Tea which is basically alpine tea with special creamy milk-lid, are all in the pipeline.

A-Gantea Menu

More about A-Gantea

I also learned that  A-Gantea’s “A” means a happy disposition while “Gan” means sweet. Go figure. Check more about them at a-gantea.com.ph, facebook.com/aganteaph, and twitter.com/aganteaph.

More A-Gantea Branches Soon

With it’s first A-Gantea branch in Greenbelt 2 Ayala, they will soon open in Robinson’s Ermita, Ayala Triangle Garden (Makati), and Harbor Point in Subic.

Jollibee Coffe and Chocolate Floats

With the scorching summer hitting as high as 35.9°C in the Metro and a staggering 38.4°C nationwide, Jollibee – one of the largest fast food chains in the country, fights the heat off with the newly-launched Jollibee Chocolate Float and Jollibee Coffee Float which are sure to give people their needed lift.

Jollibee Amang Rodriguez Branch

Held about a week ago at Jollibee Amang Rodriguez branch, media people and bloggers graced the unveiling of 2 latest additions – Chocolate and Coffee Floats, to join the roster of Jollibee’s Coke Float and University Floats.

Being a coffee lover, I felt excited when we were first served with Jollibee’s Coffee Float. Made with a delightfully smooth blend of iced coffee, this gloriously refreshing drink is topped with a rich vanilla soft serve and a beautiful swirl of chocolate syrup.

Enchong Dee

From a coffee lover’s point of view, Jollibee’s Coffee Float can easily compete with any cafe’s ice blended coffee or even coffee-infused frappuccino. With a slight hint of bitterness balanced by Jollibee’s sweet concoction of vanilla ice cream, this Coffee Float can definitely give you your needed dose of caffeine while leaving you revitalized and lifted.

Jollibee on a Hot Summer Day

With the majestic sun shining very brightly upon us, it was a relief to be served with Jollibee’s Chocolate Float next. Made with deliciously rich iced chocolate, this sweet treat is even topped with Jollibee’s signature creamy vanilla soft serve, and a dollop of chocolate syrup.

Jollibee Chocolate Float

Although I am most certainly partial to coffee-based drinks, it was surprising that I preferred Jollibee’s Chocolate Float more. The iced chocolate drink was far from being overly sweet and made a perfect base for the creamy vanilla ice cream. Most of my companions also preferred this over the Coffee Float, so it definitely earned our stamp of approval.

Endorsed by the equally yummy and refreshing Enchong Dee, Jollibee’s Chocolate and Coffee Floats retail at only P45 per cup. Should you wish to have these refreshing floats with your favourite Jollibee Value Meals, you can opt to just add P25 to get your needed lift.

Jollibee Coffee Float

*Story and Photos by Blogger Apprentice Stephanie Go

Jollibee’s Chocolate and Coffee Floats are available in all Jollibee stores nationwide. So if you want a delicious drink to fight off the scorching heat of the summer, head to your nearest Jollibee branch and get a lift!

Today is the day – April 24, 2012 – when a gamut of new beverages, food items, and promos start at Starbucks Philippines. Coffee and frappuccino addicts as you are, you ought not be behind the news. Worry not as NomNom Club is here to make sure you are. 🙂

Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappuccino

1) Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappuccino Blended Beverage (Coffee Based)

The Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappuccino blended beverage is your favorite Starbucks Frappunccino roast coffee with chocolate cookie bits made richer with mocha sauce, and vanilla syrup. And as if that’s not enough, it is topped with chocolate drizzle on cookie crumble blended topping.

If I’m not mistaken, this is the first time Starbucks PH is offering  chocolate whip cream.

It’s like a java chip frap with vanilla syrup. It can remind you of Wendy’s frostee as well. 😛

A yummy treat for the chocolate-loving coffee drinker!

* Tall P165, Grande P175, Venti P175

2) Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappuccino Blended Beverage (Cream Based – Zero Coffee)

The same as number 1 above but is cream-based instead of coffee.

Strawberries and Cream Frappuccino

Something for the chocolate lover who wants a coffee alternative; maybe even for kids too. It’s just like your all-time favorite Magnolia Chocolaitwith cookie bits.

Did you know that you also have the option to ‘blend‘ your cream into the beverage (instead of ‘just on top’)?

* Tall P165, Grande P175, Venti P175

3) Strawberries and Cream Frappuccino Blended Beverage

Not really new, it’s more of a focus featured beverage highlighting the However-You-Want-It Frappuccino beverages.

It’s your favorite Strawberries and Cream frappuccino with the option for soy, non-fat milk, or your defualt whole milk.

* Tall P155, Grande P165, Venti P175

4) Sausage Pizza Roll (P95)

Replacing the current sausage roll, this flaky pastry is filled with a smoked frankfurter and cheese pizza sauce. A true comfort food that can easily satisfy that impulsive craving for a quick soft bite.

Don’t forget to have it warmed.

Sausage Pizza Roll

5) Fish and Chips Wrap (P150)

A filling wrap of fish fillet, herbed potato wedges, and dill mustard egg sauce. It’s big and enough to substitute for a full meal. If you’re wondering, the chips is inside. 😛

Fish and Chips Wrap

6) Chicken Grape Almond Salad on Classic Ciabatta Bread (P150)

Available in a Starbucks Philippines stores nationwide, this is a tangy sandwich of chicken, celery, roasted chopped almonds, sliced sundried tomatoes, and interestingly grapes, with lemon-mayo sauce and hints of tarragon and Emmenthal cheese sandwiched by crunchy Ciabatta bread.

My favorite made better with the twist of adding grape slices! It’s the anti-thesis of a boring food, there’s so much in every bite! 🙂

Chicken Grape Almond Salad Sandwich

7) Cookie Crumble Cheesecake with Chips Ahoy (P130)

This is for the cheesecake and Chip Ahoy cookie lovers combined. The baked cheesecake is topped with chunky-chewy Chips Ahoy cookies + chocolate chips with a base / crust made of assorted crushed Chips Ahoy cookies.

However, it’s not type of cheesecake. I’m for the sinfully sweet, smooth, and soft ones.

Cookie Crumble Cheesecake

8) Whoopie Pie (P75)

Whoops, it’s big! And the two bulging eyes seem to beg you not to eat them. 🙂

This redesigned returning favorite from last year is a sandwich of two fudgy dark chocolate cookie cakes filled with white roasted marshmallow cream icing and chocolate chips. At first, it looked like a really sweet treat that’s painful to the tooth but turned out just ok.

Whoopie Pie

Although it’s a bit pricey at P75, the fun factor, specially for the kids and kids-at-heart, makes up for it; somehow. lol

It’s cuteness would also have been multiplied by ten if it was just a quarter of its current size. Who knows, Starbucks Philippines might just come across this blog and have the mini Whoopie Pies next season. 🙂

Cuteness Overflowing: Starbucks Whoopie Pies (Sampler Size)

9) Customizable Starbucks Tumblers: 16 oz. Cold Cup Tumbler (P550)

Twist and turn (step 1). Write (step 2). Erase (step 3). Those are the steps into ‘customizing‘ your ‘customizable‘ (woah!) new Starbucks Tumblers!

After the twist-and-turn, you could remove the outer cup and ‘write‘ your favorite Starbucks beverage label on the surface of inner cup. Common sense also suggests to use a non-permanent white board marker. If you think your favorite Starbucks beverage will not change, like forever, then feel free to use a permanent marker. 🙂

Customizable Starbucks Tumblers (How To)

So lets say that you’re as brilliant as I so you use a non-permanent marker, then you could easily erase it (step 3; pardon the watermark which blocked the ‘erasing’ action) with any tissue paper or cloth.

After which, you simply twist-back the outer cup and viola – give your labelled and customized Starbucks tumbler to your barista!

The Cold Cup tumbler is the one on Step 1 and Step 2A photos.

10) Customizable Starbucks Tumblers: 16 oz. Stainless Steel Tumbler (P1095)

Please see number 9, but you can have hot beverages in these! I want to have this one!

The Stainless steel tumbler is the one on Step 2B and Step 3 photos.

11) Scratch Card Promo (Buy 1 Take 1)

For the first time in Starbucks Philippines history, they’re having a scratch-card based promotion, just like in the lottery. 🙂

From April 24 to April 29 (or until supplies last), buy one Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappuccino Blended Beverage and get one scratch card to win an exciting treat that you can use for your next Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappuccino Blended Beverage purchase!

Scratch card redemption is until June 11, 2012.

Starbucks Scratch Card

Prizes in the scratch cards can be

• one free add-on
• double free add-ons
• buy-one-free-one beverage!

12) Starbucks Happy Hour / Frappuccino Happy Hour (50% Off)

The Starbucks Happy Hour is back! Your favorite Starbucks However-You-Want-It Frappuccino Blended Beverage will be at half-price EVERY MONDAY from 2PM to 6PM from April 30 to May 28, 2012!

Starbucks Happy Hour

Starbuck's Love Fernandez

The long lines will surely be back, but this time, instead of the previous 2 hrs, you’ve got more time allotment of 4 hrs!

That’s a DOZEN of new things to remember at Starbucks Philippines starting today – April 24, 2012 (except for the Starbucks Happy Hour which starts April 30)! Hmmm…which one to try first? 🙂

Oishi has been a long established snack brand in the Philippines. It was one of the few I grew up with as a child when there were only a handful of snack brands in the market.

Oishi Kirei

Years forward, NomNom Club was invited the other day for Oishi’s new campaign/slogan – “O Wow!” It’s long withstanding snacks like the Oishi Prawn Crackers & Kirei  and the newer ones like the Gourmet Picks, Baked Porky Pops (which I just tried last week off the grocery shelf), Marty’s Cracklin’ , the ultra sweet Pillows, Bread Pan, Oishi Potato Fries, and Wafu were all presented in an “O Wow” way.

Baked Porky Pops

NomoNom Favorites

The Oishi Prawn Crackers brought back a lot of childhood memories but among the Oishi products, Smart C has been my favorite in the beverages line. It’s not too sweet like other bottled juice and tea drinks.

Oishi Prawn Crackers

Among the snacks, the Gourmet Picks is almost always a staple in our grocery cart while Oishi Wafu wafer stick is my personal sweet indulgence – highly recommended. 🙂

Also getting my thumbs up are the Oishi Potato Fries (for being baked, not fried) and Marty’s vegetarian chicharon that’s almost as good as it’s sinful pork counterpart.

Marty's Cracklin'

Finally making in the NomNom’s a-list is the Bread Pan (photo above) whenever I wanted a quick toast-bread-fix matched with some jam. 🙂

Two more of my favorites which I did not see that day was Marty’s Baconette Strips and Oishi Ridges. Something I forgot to ask the people from Oishi.

Elmo for Oishi

Elmo Magalona: New Oishi Celebrity Endorser

In the finale of the Oishi-O-Wow presentations, their newest product celebrity endorser was revealed in the personality of Elmo Magalona, the son of the late Francis Magalona – an icon in the Philippine music industry.

Still in his teen years, Elmo represents Oishi’s energetic and dynamic product line from beverages to the variety of its unique snacks.

Oishi ‘O Wow’
Website: http://oishi.com.ph/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/oishi.ph

Elmo Magalona: New Oishi Snacks Celebrity Endorser

It’s good to see a long-established brand like Oishi continually developing itself and keeping abreast with the times and its market. Oishi deserves it’s own “O, Wow!” 🙂

After the introduction of Chicken Rice and Tofu Steak almost three months ago, Figaro has added anew two dinner meal variants – Crusty Dory Fillet in Creamy Pesto Sauce & Rice Pilaf and Pan-Seared Chicken Barbecue with Java Rice.

Figaro Crusty Dory Fillet

The Crusty Dory Fillet was just ok. I liked the Pan-Seared Chicken Barbecue more which had flavorful chicken strips. Add to that the special sauce, java rice, and string beans.

The sauce is more on the sweet side which may be loved by some, and disliked by those who want their barbecue sauce with more pepper. Nonetheless the Filipino taste would prefer the former.

Dinner meals are only available 6pm onwards.

Figaro Dinner Meal: Pan-Seared Chicken Barbecue

More of Figaro Milk Teas (plus Popping Boba)

Wintermelon Frost: Figaro Milk Tea

From five milk tea flavors namely the Strawberry Lemon Iced Tea, Raspberry Milk Tea, Taro Pudding Milk Tea, Strawberry Milk Tea and Taro Pudding Chiller Feast comes two new interesting flavors. I got to try the Wintermelon Frost with classic tea and Honeydew Frost with Figaro tea.

Honeydew Frost: Figaro Milk Tea

The Wintermelon Frost with classic tea (P100) reminds me of the sago’t gulaman. I love it but I find the sweetness overpowering the tea flavor. In addition, the toppings called popping boba and pearls adds enjoyment with every sip as the popping boba somewhat ‘explodes‘ in your mouth. 🙂 You have to experience it yourself!

For the Honeydew Frost (P100), it had a strong tea flavor which is what I usually look for in milk teas.

* Story and photos by Marjorie Pineda

Now, it will be very easy for me to choose which flavor of milk tea to order. So, what’s your favorite milk tea flavor and Figaro Dinner Meal? These two new milk tea variants are available starting today at all Figaro stores – April 11, 2012!