Entries Tagged 'Cravings' ↓

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!

Yoshinoya is one of my favorite quick service Japanese restaurants. Although they often adjust their menu prices upward (specially in the previous year), their service is commendable and food quality is maintained.

Yoshinoya Pihilippines

So it’s always a good news to know when they have something new in their menu. In particular, I was invited to their launch last month wherein they introduced a number of new Yoshinoya dishes and highlighted some existing favorites such as the Shrimp Tempura, but now also served in a bowl .

Here are the new dishes from Yoshinoya Philippines:

Yoshinoya Tokyo Chicken – golden brown pieces of grilled chicken marinated in ginger-infused sauce served with mixed vegetables and steamed white rice.

Tokyo Chicken

Shrimp Tempura – crispy golden brown white prawn and deep fried garnished with a special tendon sauce.

Shrimp Tempura

Tokyo Beef – tender slices of beef with fresh onions sauteed and garnished with seasme seeds and capsicum slices over steaming white rice.

Tokyo Beef

Pork Tempura – breaded pork fillet with sweet potato and eggplant on the side over steaming white rice plus drizzled with special tendon sauce.

Pork Tempura

Veggie Beef – tender slices of beef simmered with onions in a broth of herbs and spices served with mixed vegetables and steaming white rice.

Veggie Beef

Chicken Tempura – breaded chicken chunks with sweet potato and eggplant fan on top of steaming white rice with special tendon sauce

Chicken Tempura

Pork Tongkatsu – deep-fried breaded pork fillet topped with special tonkatsu sauce with cabbage siding over steaming white rice

Pork Tongkatsu

Yoshi Chicken – deep fried and double coated marinated chicken dipped in a special sauce served with steaming rice.

Yoshi Chicken

Among the new offerings, I found the new Yoshinoya Yoshi Chicken most tempting.

Although obviously, it was concocted in response to the new fad of flavored chicken such as Bon Chon, Chicken Charlie, and Chicken Delish, Yoshinoya’s Yoshi Chicken is almost at par with the crunch and the flavor of the sauce.

I enjoyed the taste test and will surely be back to try all those new dishes from Yoshinoya in full servings. 🙂

After Jamba Juice Bonifacio High Street opened in the Philippines last year, Manila is now its biggest market in Asia. It is no surprise then that they immediately opened their second branch in the Philippines (first store in the south) at the Alabang Town Center earlier this month.

Jamba Juice ATC Interiors

Brief Background

Jamba Juice is known for its all-natural smoothies and juices sourcing high quality fruits from around the globe.

Originating from California since the 1900s and making it big in South Korea, Jamba Juice has been brought to the Philippines by one of the largest food chains in the Philippines. It is the same one who’s behind the Max’s Group of Companies including Max’s Restaurant and Krispy Kreme – the Fuentabellas.

It’s not surprising then that the Jamba Juice ATC branch is situated right beside Krispy Kreme Alabang Town Center.

Jamba Juice Philippines

Jamba Juice Menu Board

Jamba Juice Boosters!

Janmba Juice ATC 2nd Floor

Jamba Juice Fruit Smoothie

Jamba Juice Alabang Town Center Opens

The opening program of the ATC branch started with members of the Max’s Group of Companies welcoming Jamba Juice’s President and CEO Mr. James D. White and Global & Franchise Development and Senior VP Mr. Thibault De Chatellus.

They were greeted with a parade of cheers and placards showcasing the core ideals behind the Jamba Juice brand.

The festivities matched the energy and excitement symbolic of the product and its health benefits.

Here are some of the photos we got from the celebrations:

Guests from Jamba Juice International Arrives in Alabang Town Center

Jamba Juice President and CEO Mr. James D. White Shakes Hands with Guests

Jamba Juice Senior Vice President Mr. Thibault De Chatellus joins Ribbon Cutting (in white polo)

 “Alabang is a great model for a district that exudes a dynamic lifestyle…known for being the hometown of cyclists—an example of the active lifestyle market that Jamba Juice has successfully served in California for many years,” adds Mark Gamboa, Jamba Juice Philippines Marketing Director.

Press Conference

Together with a select group of media, we then had a more private presscon with the aforementioned officers and Jamba Juice Philippines Managing Director Ms. Sharon Fuentebella.

Jamba Juice Smoothies Fever!

Ms. Sharon Fuentebella (Jamba Juice Ph Managing Director) in the press conference

They revealed in the interview that Jamba Juice Philippines will continue to effectively position its growth now that Manila is considered the biggest market in Asia. They also hihglighted that they intended to open their second branch in the south to cater to the big market which more often than not is neglected by some brands in terms of immediate expansion.

The Fuentabellas also disclosed that further expansion in other parts of Metro Manila is in the pipeline with the third branch opening soon in SM Mall of Asia.

Jamba Juice Smoothies

Jamba Juice Alabang Town Center

Watch out for Jamba Juice’s third branch soon in SM Mall of Asia! With the large market in that area, I believe Jamba Juice SM Mall of Asia will easily be a hit as well.

Congratulations Jamba Juice Alabang Town Center and keep on serving those healthy drinks!

Bon Chon, Chicken Charlie, and now – Chicken Delish! I made sure to check out this humble stall at the recently concluded Best Food Forward food fair held at NBC Tent in Bonifacio Global City over the weekend.

Chicken Delish

The foremost reason is because Chicken Delish owner Annalyn Jusay-Zoglmann pimped it out to me. 🙂 She is fellow blogger as well so I was curious on what she came up with since her sole (so far) and actual branch in Paranaque is beyond my reach.

Chicken Delish Sauces

It’s one of those home-style fried chicken made more special with its tasty sauces such as the sweet and spicy sauce, Pinoy barbecue, sriracha (Thai hot sauce mixed with butter and honey), Pinoy buffalo, and the good old salt and pepper. While still being improved, her bestsellers are the sweet and spicy sauce which was not surprising with Filipino customers.

For my part, I tried it with the sweet sauce last Saturday and was satisfied. The meat was still tender and juicy even if it was late in the afternoon already. The chapchae side dish I chose was also good even by itself. Hopefully I can try it with the Pinoy barbecue sauce soon.

Annalyn says that she was serving her gourmet-style fried chicken to her family even before the bonchon craze hit the metro. ” Chicken is something every member of my family loves and experimenting on the many ways to cook it was a natural progression of our passion for all things poultry-related.”

Chicken Delish @ Best Food Forward 2012

“It came to a point that I wasn’t just happy serving my chicken at home as I was also pondering my retirement from the corporate jungle and embarking on a business… I went ahead to test my business idea in the Soderno Sunday market last year and after its initial success with the weekend crowd, an opportunity came for me to open a stand-alone store at the Caltex Gas station in Better Living, Paranaque City. I’ve also been joining bazaars like the Midnight Mercato in the Fort to gain further exposure for my product,” adds Annalyn or AJ for short.

Chicken Delish Menu / Sidedish

Chicken Delish Price

Chicken Delish‘s four-piece chicken wings afford-ably cost P90 while the two-piece drumsticks are at P120. Feel free to share your experience with Chicken Delish in the comment section below specially if you’re from the south. 🙂

Best Food Forward Photos

Next, here are the other Best Food Forward photos I got from the food fair. Thanks to Nuffnang Philippines for the blogger tickets.

Picket Fence Ice Cream Cart

SkewU Skewers

Pink Wasabi

Mochiko Ice Cream and Ponzarotti

Pinoy Eats World

Best Food Forward Seminars and Cooking Demos

Med Chef

Chorizo Burger and a popcorn concessionaire

Crunchy Belly

Wagyu Burger and Special Chocolate booth

Moderne Culinaire Academy

JT's Manukan and Malabon Delicacies

Thai Cha Yen

Cuisiniers (left); Milk Chocolate booth (right)

88DB.com

Our Kitchen and OpenRice.com booth (I'm an OpenRicer myself!)

Yummy Magazine

Did you go to the Best Food Forward last weekend? How was it? Which were your favorite food concessionaire? NomNom’s choice from those I have tried are Crunchy Belly of Carlo’s Kitchen, SkewU, Pint Homemade Ice Cream, ButterBeer, and well, Chicken Delish.

🙂

All is set for the big day tomorrow as Manila’s benefit summer food fair – Best Food Forward – comes back to town from its success last year!

Sumang Malagkit with Tsokolate

Bigger and better, BEST FOOD FORWARD 2012 returns with more surprises and enjoyable activities on March 24 and 25, 2012 at the NBC Tent, Bonifacio Global City in Taguig. It promises to be an affair where everyone can savor the best food from food entrepreneurs and exhibitors all in one roof.

Best Food Forward likewise aims to encourage group of friends, families and industry people to appreciate our local delicacies, entrepreneurial talent and creativity/

Photo Teasers:

Not too long ago, NomNom Club, together with a select group of foodies, were able to try about ten of the food exhibitors in the upcoming Best Food Forward that served like sort of a teaser. 🙂

They are

• The Fruit Garden – Luxury Jam
• Casa San Luis
• Manang’s Chicken
• Pint Homemade Ice Cream
• Skew U
• Butter-Beer
• Simply Pie
• Quantum Cafe
• Carlo’s Kitchen – Crunchy Belly
• and the Chocolate food concessionaire which served different chocolate by-products including brownies, and chocolate dips for the suman. The taste  is so rich and authentic…I forgot their name! 🙂

The Fruit Garden (by Pierre Marmonier Marmonier) - I got to try their new flavors

Casa San Luis

Mannang's Chicken

Simply Pie

Quantum Cafe

Chocolate Food Concessionaire (whose name/brand I forgot) 🙂

All the above-mentioned ten concessionaires served fantastic treats but four among them deserves the ‘NomNom” seal! 🙂 You should not miss the following in tomorrow’s Best Food Forward:

• 

  Skew U

  Crunchy Belly of Carlo’s Kitchen – awesome crunchy liempo bits will make you ask for more

• Skew U – pronounced as just “Skew”, you’ll be surprised with the tender meat of their chicken and pork skewers.
• Pint Homemade Ice Cream – My readers know how much I love ice cream, ‘nough said.
• ButterBeer – Harry Potter fan or not, you’ll love this wizardy beverage. Make sure to have it really cold for best results

Crunchy Belly of Carlo's Kitchen

Butter Beer with its Child Creator

Panghimagas: Pint Homemade Ice Cream

Here are some more of the food concessionaires (including):

• Chicken Delish
• 3 Angels
• AZChia-ChiaBia
• Bacolod Chicken Inasal
• Bliss
• Bonanza Roasted Calf
• Casa San Luis
• Chewy Junior
• Choclery Artisan Chocolates
• Cinq Dessert Boutique
• Cuisiniers
• Culinary Institute of Aristocrat
• Cupcake Boutique
• DEC
• Downtown Philly
• Duckie’s Cupcakes
• Eat my GF (Garlic Fries)
• Enzo’s Shawarma
• The Fruit Garden – Luxury Jam
• Gold Leaf Tea
• Ineng’s
• Jam Foods & Co. – Angus Beef Tapa
• Justine’s Baked Goods
• Kate Baked
• Kate Bakes
• Khao Shong Coffee
• Little Louie’s Cupcakes
• Lu Chi Authentic Dimsum House
• Mama Lou’s
• Manang’s Chicken
• Megabites Chocolates
• Monster Cookies
• Our Cookie Jar
• Our Kitchen by Manila Catering
• Perfect Home Living
• Picket Fence Milk & Ice Cream Bar
• Pint Homemade Ice Cream
• Rice Pots
• SaWrap and Roll
• Smoochies Basil Seed Drink
• Skew U
• Snow Joe Cream Coolers
• The Souq Organics
• Sugar Cakes by Ana’s Kitchen
• Sweet Vanilla
• Teys’ Cakes and Pastries
• Think Wink Cookies
• Tokyo Bubble Tea
• Unit 16 Sweets
• Yemashita

Food Cencessionaires who explained their delicacies led by Ms. Gwen Carino

Best Food Forward 2 is also for the benefit of the Unang Hakbang Foundation and is supported by Gastro Chef, M Café, Chelsea Market & Restaurant, Mr. Jones, Momo, Melba’s Farm, Café Lupe, Flavors on Fire Catering, Modern Culinaire Academy, Gourmet Farms, Pinoy Organics, Baicapture, and Make Believe.  With special thanks to media partners Flavors, Yummy, Entrepreneur, Appetite, BC Media, BusinessWorld, Click the City, 88db, Openrice, MacGraphics Carranz, Media Magnet, Nuffnang, Myweb.ph, AllTravelSpots.com, IEMAS, and Crossover 105.1.

Best Food Forward 2012

NomNom Club and BFF

For more information on Best Food Forward, you may contact 0917 8871933, 2119644 or bestfoodforward2@gmail.com. Check out  www.bestfoodforward.com.ph as well. Ticket prices for entrance is at P50.

J.CO Chocolate Caviar Donut

You might have heard the foodie news – J.CO coffee and donuts have landed in the Philippines! Their first stop was SM Megamall in Manila which just opened last March 15, 2012 while I was in South Korea. This will be followed soon with branches in Greenbelt 3, Trinoma, and SM Mall of Asia.

By the end of the year, the Philippine’s master franchiser is opening up 10 branches, with a target of 20 by the end of 2013 and 30 by 2014.

J.CO is a popular lifestyle café chain in Indonesia and some parts of  Southeast Asia. It first opened in Jakarta, Indonesia in 2005 with the thrust to fuse the popular donuts of the West with the exotic touches of the East. Other countries in the Asian region soon got into the J.CO craze, including Malaysia, Singapore and, more recently, Shanghai in China.

J.CO SM Megamall Branch

J.CO Donuts

J.CO Hazle Dazzle

It is just right then to follow through this news with an inspection of what this Indonesian-grown donut and coffee brand has to offer.

On focus in this write-up is their main product – the J.CO donuts.

They use a wide array of ingredients sourced from around the world like Belgian chocolates, Californian almonds, American honey, New Zealand cheese, and Japanese Matcha green tea.

Let us look at some of them and their best-sellers.

Moreover, the makers of J.CO donuts seem to have a penchant for Hollywood celebrity names as well…from Jacky Chan’s to Leonardo Di Caprio’s. 🙂 Check these out:

Strawbeery Caviar Choco and Oreology (L-R)

Hazel Dazzle
Donut topped with rich milk chocolate sprinkled with chopped peanuts and filled with a hazelnut surprise

Strawbeery Caviar Choco
Light and fruity donut with strawberry choco topping with crisp chocolate bits

Oreology
One of the worl’d favorite chcoolate treat with white chocolate topping fully covered with ground bits of dark Oreo

JCO Jacky Chunk (leftmost); Meisisipi (middle)

J.CO Avocado Dicaprio (rightmost)

Jacky Chunk
Dark-Chocolate and Peanut combo kick on glazed donut

Meisisipi
Donut laid with rich choco toppingand crunchy choco sprinkles

Avocado Dicaprio
An avocado delight with creany fruit flavors and a teasing chocolate granish on the sides

Tiramisu & Blue Berrymore

Tiramisu
An espresso dessert-inspired creation with Tiramisu-flavoured filling topped with sprinkled cocoa powder.

Blue Berrymore
Filled with cream cheese and blueberry sauce, the white chocolate topping puts the exclamation mark. making it Charlie’s favorite angel.

J.CO 'Glazzy' Glazed Donut (right); Heaven Berry (left)

Glazzy
J.CO‘s classic honey-glazed soft-bite donut

Heaven Berry
Strawberry cream donut topped with swirly white chocolate garnish

JCO Forest Glam (right)

Forest Glam
Black Forest topping composed of cherries, dark chocolate, and confectioner’s sugar

Crunchy Crunchy
Chocoltae covered donut with crunchy chocolate rice crispies on top.

3 NomNom Favorites

Alcapone
J.CO’s signature donut with Belgian White Chocolate sprinkled with roasted almond slices.

JCO Alcapone(left) and Green Tease (right)

J. Club Cheesy Rich with a bite

Green Tease
Green tea cream on top!

J. Club Cheesy Rich (top photo)
This cheesy donut is rich with cheddar and cream cheese, among others.

Price

All the J.Co donuts are at a uniform price of P42 (except J.Club Cheesy Rich which is P45) to enable the customers to try all of them without being too concious of the price. A not-so-common pricing strategy if you ask me. 🙂

J.CO Donuts

J.CO Chocolate Caviar (Crunchy Crunchy in the background)

All the J.CO donuts also has a mini-doughnuts counterpart called J.Pops. It’s a good way of being able to taste-test a variety of donuts before actually making your choice of with the big ones!

Chef Christine Nicole Nicolas

Albeit Mr.Kurosawa Restaurant has been around for more than three years now (Eastwood branch), this was the first time I was able to try it in their Newport Mall, Resorts World Manila branch, which is on their second year of operations.

The Euro-Japanese mix concept is new to me as well. The owners described it as “Japanese cuisine with a touch of European flair” headed by corporate Chef Christine Nicole Nicolas, Chef Benjamin Gonzales, and Chef Florabel Co-Yatco.

French-Japanese items like tempura or gyoza souflaits, steaks and fine wines; Greek-Japanese items like Japanese kebabs and salads; Spanish-Japanese items like the japaella; and Italian-Japanese items such as pastas and pizza, are among some of the interesting fusion cuisines. This is complemented with traditional Japanese favourites such as kobe, teriyaki, tempura, donburi, sushi and sashimi.

New Offerings

Their new offerings include chicken, katsu dishes, and milk teas. They are the following:

Tongkatsu (Breaded deep-fried pork cutlet)

Fish Katsu (P268)

and Shrimp Katsu (top photo)

There are also Salmon Katsu (P448) and Torikatsu (P288) which I was not able to try. Regular iced tea are at about P70; add P30 for the large size.

Highly Recommended

Highly recommended are the 4pc. Chicken Wings called Last Samurai (P298) and Ebi Katsu (P398).

Last Samurai (Chicken Wings)

Ebi Tempura

Needs Improvement

On the other hand, thier range of milk teas need perking up. I found the Strawberry Yakult Milk Tea (Sakura) and Matcha Milk Tea (Yojimbo) ordinary.

I have yet to try the Winter Melon Milk Tea (Sanjuru).

Here are some more shots from their menu:

Mr. Kurasawa Menu

Mr, Kurusawa Ramen

Mr. Kurusawa Brain Freeze Beverages

Check out their branches below:

Eastwood Branch
G/F Eastwood Mall, Libis, Quezon City
10am – 11pm (Sun to Thu)
10am – 12pm (Fri to Sat)
Tel no. (+632) 901-0825.

Resorts World Manila Branch
2F Newport Mall, Resorts World Manila, Pasay City
11am – 11pm Everyday
Tel no. (+632) 973-6213

Feel free to share your Mr. Kurusawa adventures here in case you have tried dining in any of their two branches. 🙂