Entries Tagged 'Dessert' ↓

I love ice cream cakes since I was a child. And Dairy Queen rekindled it with their newly launched product Mango Cheesecake ice cream cake specially made for the summer season.

Called the Mango Cheesecake Blizzard Cake, it is made with two layers of creamy vanilla ice cream with real mango chunks in between. Although a little pricey at Php749, it is made with 100% ice cream and topped with icing buttons, mango puree spread,  and chewy cube combination of cheese and grahams. For me, more than just a cake, it’s an experience of having an ice cream cake altogether.

Dairy Queen Mango Cheesecake Blizzard Cake

Mango Festival

DQ: Served Upside Down

It’s a festival of everything Mango at DQ as well. In addition to the ice cream cake, Dairy Queen is offering a myriad of other cool mango concoctions such as 2 new mango blizzards, a smoothie, and citrus coolers.

Mango Blizzards

The 2 new DQ Blizzards are Mango Cheesecake Blizzard and Mango-Pineapple Blizzard.

Dairy Queen Blizzard

The Mango Cheesecake Blizzard is the soft-serve ice  cream version of the cake (also with real mango bits and cheesecake chunks) while the Mango-Pineapple Blizzard is for those who want some citrus sting from the pineapple bits which can be a good contrast to the prior double sweetness of mango and cheesecake. It costs P59/6oz, P79/9oz, P99/12oz, P119/16oz.

Mango Smoothie

I wan’t able to try this but DQ also has s new Mango Premium Fruit Smoothie which is a creamy blend of fresh orange, mango and a creamy soft serve vanilla ice cream. At P79/12oz & P99/16oz, I’m trying these next! 🙂

Dairy Queen Smoothies & Citrus Coolers

Mango Citrus Cooler

Much simpler is the Mango Citrus Cooler which is a blend of lemon and mango fit for a cool summer drink. The citrus coolers are also available in Lemon, Strawberry, Pineapple, and Strawberry Pineapple flavors. P49/12oz & P59/16oz.

Check more information about Dairy Queen (DQ) at www.dairyqueen.com.ph or their Facebook. 🙂

Dairy Queen Blizzard

With Filipino’s penchant for anything cold during the summer season, these blizzards and smoothies will surely be a hit. These flavors were available since early March and will stay at all Dairy Queen menuboards until the first week of May.

Steak Buffet

I got the chance to dine with some of the best food bloggers in Metro Manila a few weeks ago. It was a steak night dinner buffet at Diamond Hotel‘s Corniche.

Diamond Hotel Philippines offers choice cut steaks for its customers every Thursday night. Labeled as Corniche’s Savoring Steak Nights, the dinner buffet offers a variety of steaks such as the US Striploin Steak, US Rib Eye Steak, US Hanger Steak, Beef Tenderloin Steak and  Roasted US Prime Rib.

Add to that other entrees with free flowing red wine for only Php 2,285 nett per person from 5:30pm to 10:30pm. This is inclusive of 10% service charge and local government tax.

5 Plates - 5 Rounds @ Corniche Buffet

I was only able to try the striploin, tenderloin, and prime rib. As expected, the meats were fork-tender and juicy, coming from Diamond Hotel.  However, I have observed that steak grill was only about a meter wide and can handle a limited number of steaks at a time. As per experience, there were only three us by the counter and the grill was already full (partially because we had multiple orders each 🙂 ). Maybe Corniche can improve on that, specially when customers flock in.

Seafood Buffet

More Entrees

I also enjoyed the other dishes at Corniche such as the seafood choices, salad selections, and Asian, Western, Japanese, and Indian cuisines prepared by culinary experts headed by Executive Chef Nickolai Stoyanov with general manager Vanessa Ledesma Suatengco.

Other International Cuisine Buffet @ Diamond Hotel

Diamond Hotel Philippines - Corniche Buffet

Barbequed Shrimp w/ Kumpati

A New Discovery – the Kumpati

I discovered an interesting stove as well. As per the cook at the Indian counter, it’s called a ‘kumpati.’

A kumpati is a traditional earthen cooking stove like a palayok, but much larger almost like a ‘banga‘. The traditional ones use charcoal and firewood to cook food but the one in Diamond Hotel is of course, electric.

Kumpati Indian Stove

Corniche uses it to “charcoal barbeque” some of the food like the tandoori chicken and  the grilled shrimp in the photo. They also use it to heat and toast the tasty Naan bread. Yum yum!

On Cheeses

I also saw a table of varied cheeses in different color and textures like Sage Derby, Iberico, Fontina, and Brie. I did not try any of them though as I am illiterate when it comes to cheese appreciation. 😛

Table of Cheeses (lower right side)

Desserts

I love their dessert choices though. There was much to choose from and I was able to try only less than half. Maybe I’ll try the other half in my next visit.

Lastly, it was glad to finally meet Lori Baltazar of DesertComsFirst.com. Also with us were prominent food bloggers Spanky, Ivan Man Dy, and Jane Chua, among others.

Corniche Desserts

Lori Baltazar & NomNom (right); Jane Chua & Ivan Man Dy (left)

Corniche Buffet Restaurant, Diamon Hotel

Corniche is located at Diamond Hotel’s lobby level with a 650 square meter space that can accommodate up to 200+ persons within a chic environment and contemporary overtones. However, I believe they can have more lights on the food. But I think the elegant interior necessitates the ambiance to be dim. With that in mind, they could have mini spotlights efficiently installed on focus entrees, at the least (or maybe I’m just used to other hotel buffet restaurants which are well-lighted). 🙂

I like the pocket-seating layout throughout Corniche providing spatial privacy for intimate groups. They also have a grand bird chandelier at the center and full height windows which offers a view of the garden and water features on one side.

Corniche Buffet @ Diamond Hotel PH

For reservations:
Corniche
Diamond Hotel Philippines
Roxas Boulevard, cor. Dr. J Quintos St., Manila.
Tel. 528-3000 / 305-3000
E-mail bizcenter@diamondhotel.com
Website: www.diamondhotel.com.

It’s a Thursday! Steak night tonight, Anyone?

Italian inspired table design

Hello there, I’m Renz of Pinay Mommy ADreamer, and I was given a huge, huge, huge privilege to be Nomnom’s guest writer. Let me share with you an Italian inspired tasting experience that I had a few days ago. So, prepare your appetite to be stirred and read on…

Would you agree that the best thing to start your weekend is to spend Friday nights with a great crowd, sharing good food and wine?  Of course, I do. It might be my first and last conversation with the people I met on that night but I’m sure glad I met and shared a lot of fun experience with them.

Perfect Italiano Chef

Food bloggers were escorted to a place where tables and chairs were decorated with masks and Italian inspired plates.

To start the night and to whet our appetite, we were given Bruschetta topped with Romano cheese, Mozzarella cheese (both from Perfect Italiano), honey and olive oil.  Also served was wine that went perfectly great with the appetizer. After a few pleasantries, the hosts asked us to be seated and be comfortable as the tasting experience began. It was an 8-course Italian-inspired fine dining prepared by Chefs JJ Yulo and Namee Jorolan of Pinoy Eats World.

Salad with Perfect Italiano

All dishes served were made a notched yummier by Perfect Italiano cheese. And boy was I a happier gal after that hearty meal.

First on the menu was a simple salad made unique with strawberries, Romano cheese, arugula, romaine lettuce drizzled with delicate vinaigrette.

The saltiness of the Romano cheese went well with the tanginess of the vinaigrette and the strawberries.

Pizza plus with Perfect Italiano

The “Pizza Plus” was topped with mozzarella cheese, red bell pepper wrapped in a crust topped with freshly picked vegetables with melted cheese on top. It’s so perfect for a meatless treat for everyone!

Chiz Soup

Creamy Soup made even creamier with cheese (by Perfect Italiano). A new comfort food if only I’ve asked Chef JJ Yulo the recipe. But I tell you, it was so pleasant it made me think of the days when we stayed home and kept warm during stormy weathers.

Red Bell Pepper with Cheeses of Perfect Italiano

I didn’t know that a simple red bell pepper baked with all kinds of cheeses in it tastes so good. Or maybe it’s because of Perfect Italiano? It was sweet and salty at the same time creamy. I usually don’t like red bell pepper but I enjoyed the dish so much I finished all of it in a wink of an eye.

The biggest hit for the night was the Clam Soup. It was clam with Tuguegarao longganisa bits in cheesy soup mixture. It was a surprise for everyone how well the cheese blended with the taste of the longganisa and the clam.  Hold on to your seats because we’re just half way through this delectable experience. Of course at this point I was high in energy and happiness with my glass of sparkling wine.

Clam Soup with cheese

Italian-inspired dinner is not complete without pasta, so pasta was also served. It’s not your regular pesto or alfredo pasta because the sauce was creamier and tastier by combinations of melted cheese mixed with olive oil and some herb.

The pasta was lethal because it could easily make you feel full and heavy. No wonder serving was small.

Cheesy Pasta

The main course was Lamb with Potatoes (Top Photo).

The lamb was so tender that it kind of melted in your mouth and I didn’t taste the usual after taste of lamb meat either. There was also no excessive nasty smell from the lamb which I am very particular of.

For dessert we were served Bananas with Nutella sprinkled with mozzarella cheese.

Okay, you must wonder where’s Italy on that….I wondered the same thing but I was so happy with it that it didn’t matter anymore 

Banana in Nutella and Cheese

That ends my Italian-inspired food experience with Perfect Italiano and Pinoy Eats World! I must say that each individual dish was a crowd pleaser and everyone went home with a happy stomach and a smile on their faces. I know because I sure did.

I haven’t visited Mercato Centrale (the day market) since it started, but I was able to check out Midnight Mercato first with other blogger friends last weekend. This is defiintely for night people like me who can’t wake up early on weekend mornings. 🙂

Chilled/Hot Taho by Tahooo!

It was also the launching night of Midnight Mercato at the Bonifacio Global City last Friday so there was a simple opening ceremony, ribbon-cutting, guests, and the likes.

Briefly to the unaware, Midnight Mercato is a weekend late night food bazaar where foodies and barkadas can hanging out and enjoy great food you can’t easily find otherwise. You can feast on a wide array of food choices from gourmet selections to ‘lutong bahay‘ (home cooked) dishes; even sosyal street food and balut included. Add to that acoustic musical performances by Rock Ed – all in an air-conditioned ‘kubol.’ Yes, that is Tagalog for ‘tent’ (as fellow blogger Alex shared).

Here are some food trip photos I’m sharing from:

Buy 1 take 1 Sausages @ P150 and Chips To Go Booth (similar to Potato Loops)

Monster Burger & the Monster Burger Challenge (finish it in 4 minutes and it's FREE!)

Nutsylicious have different kinds of nuts including walnuts and pistachios!

After all the photos, it’s my tummy’s turn. So I got an authentic shawarma (P75) from a Mediterranean-looking guy whose booth I forgot, three Mochiko mochi ice cream, and  some Takoyaki balls.

Mochiko Mochi Ice Cream @ P70

Mochiko had a very long line and was out of stock before 12midnight. That speaks for itself. 🙂

I also had a set of Armenian Lavosh Chips with Pesto Mozarella Cheese dip (P145) from the stall with a witty name of ‘5 loaves and 2 Fishes.’

Armenian Lavosh Chips (right); Claypot Chicken Rice (left)

Big Bob's Quarter Pounder Burgers

I also got a bottle of Raw Honey and Organic Gourmet Rice from ‘Fresh Start‘. They’re quite pricey actually but I know mom would love the brown rice while I use the honey as sugar substitute in my morning milk (there goes the revelation). 🙂

Fresh Start Organic Gourmet Rice (Brown Rice P200) & Raw Honey (P300)

There were a number of media outfits and got to spot some celebrities including Mara’s Mom in ‘Mara Clara‘ , Ashlee Gosengfiao, Sarah Meier (I think), Mercato Centrale guy RJ Ledesma, and others. I also spotted Anton Diaz and wife Rachel at the Human Nature booth.

Rachel @ Human Nature booth (right); Mexican Kitchen (left)

Balut (Duck Embryo)

I wanted to try so much more but I can only take in so much having come from a full dinner at Rai-Rai Ken a few minutes before going to Mercato Centrale.

There were also other food finds which caught NomNom’s fancy and instantly became a favorite.

Watch out for that post coming out next week including my predictable Mochiko review. 🙂

It was a haven of grilled food, hamburgers, and suasages outside the Midnight Mercato Tent.

Moreover, I got some tips from foodie friends and is looking forward to try the following in my next visits:

Off Beat Burger‘s Krispy Kreme Burger,  Ravioli’s of Natalia,  and the Angus Beef Tapa Rice Toppings, among others.

Krispy Kreme Burger

I also got news from Antin Diaz’s blog that Bale Dutung will start tonight @ Midnight Mercato! I’ll have to wait a little longer though as I will be going to Thunderbird’s Resort in Rizal tonight and I’ll be at the Pyromusical competition in SM Mall of Asia tomorrow.

Check out more about Midnight Mercato and Mercato Centrale here.

Midnight Mercato Tent, Tables, and Interiors

Midnight Mercato happens every Fridays and Saturdays at Bonifacio Global City from 11pm to 3am the next day. They are located at the corner of 31st and 9th streets (vacant lots between Serendra and STI Fort). Mercato Centrale day market continues Saturday and Sunday 7am to 2pm.

Bloggers take role as Cupcake Bakers

I attended a pre-Valentine blogger event courtesy of Max’s Corner Bakery last night. Max’s highlighted their Valentine edition cupcakes and other bakery products.

The main activity of the event was a demonstration of how to make cupcakes. The bloggers were then encouraged to participate in crafting their own cupcake creations with Max’s own cupcake-making ingredients such as icings and multi-colored sprinkles

Max's Event Hosts

I believe everyone enjoyed the activities and prizes; blogger Glenn was later on awarded as the one with the best Cupcake Design and Dedication. 🙂

It is also sweet to note that husband and wife blogger Jeff & Jen were celebrating their 14th-year anniversary as a couple on the same day. <3

Cupcakes received by NomNom

On Max’s Corner Bakery Cupcakes

Formerly known as ‘Max’s Bakeshop‘ of Max’s Restaurant, Max’s Corner Bakery is proud to say that their cupcakes are made with the same ingredients they use for their cakes.

And indeed, after tasting their chocolate variant and vanilla cupcakes, it was undeniably good.

The cupcakes come in six variants namely Cream Cheese, Choco Espresso, Choco Caramel, Double Chocolate, Choco Strawberry, and Troubador (Custard Cake).

I love the Double Chocolate best among all. Nomnomonom.

Blogger-Designed Cupcakes 🙂

Perhaps most of us are only familiar with Max’s Caramel bar. There are also other products in the bakeshop which include Max’s Ensaymada, chocolate chiffon cake w/ chocolate fudge icing, banana cakes, food for the gods, caramel cream cakes, and colorful rolls.

Other Bakery / Bakeshop Products like Max's Caramel Bar & Ensaymada

When it comes to rolls, I purchase from the usual leading bakeshops so I haven’t tried theirs. Maybe soon. I’m curious as to how it is at par with the other leading bakeshops. 🙂

Valentine Promotions

In recognition of the Valentine season, Max’s Corner Bakery has recently launched specially garnished valentine-cupcakes with eye-candy layers of sweet confections for the sweet-toothed customers.

Max's Corner Bakery Valentine's Day Promotions

Max's Corner Bakery

They ares also having a promo where for a minimum purchase of P1,500 from February 12 to February 14, Max’s diners will receive a box of chocolates for free to make you feel the ‘sarap kapiling‘ tagline. This is valid for dine-in, take-out or delivery.

Check out http://www.maxschicken.com/ or http://www.facebook.com/maxsrestaurant for more details on thier cupcakes and Max’s Corner Bakery.

Also known as sticky rice cake or pudding, cooking ‘tikoy‘ has been deeply embedded in the Chinese-Filipino culture in the Philippines, especially in the season of Chinese New Year.

Serving ‘tikoy‘ represents prosperity in Chinese belief that is why it is associated with the Chinese New Year. It serves good hope and a better life for the upcoming new year.

It is also said to enhance family bonding for the whole year hence the ”stickiness” of the rice cake. Therefore , whether you are Chinese or otherwise, receiving a ‘tikoy‘ as gift is said to be ‘good luck.’ The Chinese New Year this year will be on February 3, 2011. If you haven’t received one yet, you can buy one for yourself at Polland like how I featured their heart-shaped tikoy last year. Or you can simply cook one for yourself and your family. 🙂

Cooking & Preparing Your Tikoy for the Chinese New Year

How to Cook Tikoy

1. Crack and beat egg yolks in a bowl.  A whole large-sized tikoy needs about 20 beaten egg yolks with albumen. For creamier preparations, use only the egg yolks, do not include the albumen (egg white); but you have to double the number of eggyolks.

2. Heat your pan with 1/4 cup cooking oil.

3. preferably beforehand, slice the tikoy into small 1 inch by 2 inches rectangles at about 1 centimeter thick. While doing this, start to heat your pan.

4. Dip the tikoy slices into your preparation of beaten egg yolks.

5. Place the tikoy one slice at a time in the pan if the oil temparature is already hot enough. Do not put a tikoy slice on top of another.

6. Cook each batch by about 2 minutes each side or until the egg coating has turned golden brown.

7. Take the tikoy from the pan.

Tip: My personal style is placing the tikoy in a plate with table napkin or clean, tough tissue paper where I could initially place the tikoy for some oil to settle and transfer. This makes your tikoy serving less sinful.

Now you know how to cook your tikoy in case you receive or buy one. Enjoy the upcoming Chinese New Year NomNom Club! 🙂

'A Bite of Perfection' at The Meranti

I would like to share an experience when I got invited to a gathering entitled “A Bite of Perfection.“  It was a cooking demo experience with Chef Jackie Laudico a few months ago by the Saturday Brunch Club envisioned for The Meranti at Two Serendra in Fort Bonifacio.

It was a sunny morning with lots of lush green open spaces leading to the Dolce funciton room. The event started with a tour around Two Serendra. This was followed by Chef Jackie Laudico’s chocolate making demo.

Chef Jackie Laudico shared that pralines are common in Europe. These are the same chocolate pralines we see in chocolate shops like Leonidas and Godiva.These are also usually free from preservatives and made from cream, chocolate batter, and sweetener if needed. Flavors can also be added to complement with chocolate like coffee.

She also shared some choco trivia that pure chocolate melts at the human body temperature of 37%.

Chef Jackie Laudico Getting Ready

Chocolate Creation demo by Chef Jackie Laudico

With polycarbonate molds from Belgium on the table, Chef Jackie prepared Belgium and Swiss Chocolates, and a bottle of Grand Marnier (orange liquor) on the side. She started by transferring the warm chocolate from the bowl to the marble slab to cool it. Aside from maintaining the temperature stable, spreading around the chocolate continuously help good crystals are develop as well. These enables it to have proper gloss, snap, fluidity, and won’t easily melt in your hands when held.

Chef Laudico in action

Chef Jackie poured the chocolate into the mould where it is further cooled. Excess were scraped and the mold tapped. The tapping procedure removes tiny air packets from the inside.

Let it stand until a thin shell forms and pour out the excess.

By this time, you are ready to make the ganache (filling) and when the mold is ready, you can tap out the rest of the chocolates (non-shells). For pralines, it is ideal to have the shells as thin as possible, shares Chef Laudico.

Let it stay overnight to contract and have the chocolates breathe out.

The Video

And it’s done! Check out this video of the chocolate creation:

Buffet at Two Serendra

A hearty lunch followed with a buffet of roast Rosemary Lemon Chicken in white wine gravy, penne with roasted garlic with shrimp & basil, baked salt crusted whole salmon with dill caper aioli, Paella rice, free range chicken minestrone, Grilled vegetables with parmergiano, and a trio of chocolate mousse.

NomNom Club with Chef Jackie Laudico

As discussed in the Q&A with the project team, a similar concept and experience is what the creators of the Meranti have in mind – a 50 square meter Culinary Studio targeted to cater to the future Meranti residents’ cooking passion. Perhaps we’ll have another round of praline chocolates with Chef Jackie Laudico then. What a delicious idea! 🙂

Max’s Restaurant invited NomNom Club for their Blogger’s Night a few days ago. Max’s introduced their new Crispy Pata Feast Meal.

What is it?

The Max’s Crispy Pata Feast is a a complete meal suitable for a group or family of four. The set consists of a serving of Max’s large-sized Crispy Pata, a serving of Sinigang na Tiyan ng Bangus, 4 servings of Rice, 4 softdrinks, and 4 Buko Pandan single-serve cups. All for P865.

Max's Crispy Pata Feast Meal

NomNom Says

Crispy Pata Bone

Just a few months after their previous promo of “Chicken All You Can P165,” here’s the next one.

Although our table group hoped that the crispy pata meat was more fork-tender, we were able to finish it up nonetheless. 🙂

Undeniably, crispy pata would always be a hit in any Filipino dining table. It was amusing as well that the served crispy pata indeed looked similar to the one in their promotional photos. 🙂

Tiyan ng Bangus

The sauce mix of Max’s was also good and very Filipino with all the common spices. It was also crunchy-crispy, standing true to it’s name.

Ironically, we enjoyed the Sinigang na Tiyan ng Bangus more.

The four chunks of Tiyan ng Bangus meat was immersed in a mildly sour sinigang soup and vegetables.

It was our champion of the night.

Sinigang na Tiyan ng Bangus

It was capped by four servings of solo Buko Pandan served by waiter Kim. Buko Pandan is one of my favorite so I asked for the cup of Buko Pandan they didn’t touch from the other table (sayang naman, di ba?). 🙂

4 Servings of Buko Pandan Solo

Max's New Delivery Uniform and Bike

Max’s also presented the new uniform set for delivery including the new bike design incorporating the electric and luminescent labels for Max’s delivery.

Savings

If you compute all the items individually off the menu, your total bill would have been P1206; which means savings of P341 if you’ll be having the Crispy Pata Feast meal instead.

Max’s Crispy Pata Feast is currently available (since January 20) until February 20, 2011 in all Philippine Max’s Restaurant branches nationwide for dine-in or take out.