Entries Tagged 'Cravings' ↓

NomNom got the chance to try out the newly opened SumoSam in Greenhills Town Center (near Gilmore). More specifically, we had the Samurai’s Choice bento box.

Samurai's Choice Bento Box

Although I was surprised with the hefty Php488 price of Samurai’s Choice at first, the menu indicated a lot of ingredients including chicken teriyaki and beef misono, among others. Moreover, I know that Sumosam is about quality and authentic japanese food so I’m did not pass judgement in a whiff.

And as I expected, I was not disappointed. All the ingredients were freshly made and satisfied my palate. To complete the set, Samurai’s Choice consists of a handful of chicken teriyaki serving, generous beef misono strips, slices of dory tepan, and some chunks of tuna with salmon sashimi, kani stick, a dash of bean sprouts, yasai itame, gohan, and dilis.

Japanese Rice with Black Sesame Seeds

Chicken Teriyaki and Dory Tepan

I love them all. The dilis in particular might appeal to the Filipino taste. It’s a bit tricky though since if not prepared properly and fresh, it might go the other way. The presentation is also outstanding as norm in Japanese standards.

Tuna and Salmon Sashimi

Sumosam Dilis

Beef Misono (US Beef Knuckle)

If there’s anything lacking, it’s just my favorite – tempura. 🙂 Nonetheless, with a lot of ingredients that go with it, adding tempura might already be too much. You can share the bento meal with a friend, by the way, just add extra rice. 🙂

Perhaps they can offer variants in the near future substituting some of the components with tempura.

Bean Sprout

SumoSam Greenhills / Gilmore Samurai’s Choice bento meal definitely gets a thumbs up from NomNom. Try one yourself soon as it is only available from 11am – 2pm daily and only at SumoSam Greenhills Town Center branch.

Filipino coffee company Figaro taps into satisfying its market from breakfast ’til night with it’s newest offering for dinner – Figaro Dinner Meals.

I got two try the first two variants namely the Chicken Rice Bake and Tofu Steak Rice.

Chicken Rice Bake

The Chicken Rice Bake is a cup of flavorful chicken, bell peppers, mushrooms, carrots, rice in creamy white sauce baked and topped with mozzarella cheese baste.

Paired with a cold glass of lemonade it is priced at P150.

Figaro Dinner Meal - Chicken Rice Bake

Tofu Steak Rice

Next is the Tofu Steak Rice. It’s a deep-fried Tofu glazed with a flavorful special sauce with hints of onions and topped with white sesame seeds on steamed rice garnished with parsley.

Tofu is known to be rich with health benefits such as being a good source of protein. Check out the health benefits of Tofu here. It would make a healthy vegan meal for those looking for one and is paired with a complimentary cold glass of lemonade (Price: P150).

Recommendation

Being familiar with the common Chinese dish Mapu Tofu, the Tofu Steak Rice was no stranger to my taste buds. The sauce tastes good, however, paring tofu alone with rice as “ulam“, falls short to my expectation for a filling meal. My thumbs-up goes to Chicken Rice Bake, instead.

On the other hand, I had a crazy idea/recommendation of combining the two – Chicken Rice Bake + Tofu Steak (without the extra rice). Chicken, Tofu, and baked cheese as a comfort food fills the complete meal set.

If you have a big appetite and welcomes the extra rice from the second meal, try ordering both and ‘taste‘ what I mean. 🙂 If ever Figaro would be reading about this and happen to combine the two and logically offer it at around P200, that would be great! 🙂

Figaro Milk Tea Craze

Taro Pudding Milk Tea

Figaro Milk Teas

In that visit, I was also surprised to see Figaro Milk Teas. They have cached-up with the milk tea fever. 🙂 Curiosity piqued and I tried the Raspberry Milk Tea. It turned out to be just average and  instead, I liked the Taro Pudding Chiller Frost Milk Tea my other friends ordered.

Try Figaro Healthy Dinner Meals of Chicken Rice Bake and Tofu Steak Rice. It started to be available at all Figaro stores and outlets nationwide since the start of the new year.

Together with some foodie friends and food bloggers, we were able to dine on a Chinese New Year buffet at F Restaurant in F1 hotel located at Bonifacio Global City (BGC) a few weeks ago. This is such a fitting article for this season – Chinese New Year. Kung Hei Fat Choi!

Cucumber Slices

One of my co-writers have actually featured the restaurant here in NomNom Club a few months ago so I am glad to see the place myself. 🙂 They are currently offering a Chinese New Year buffet consisting of the traditional Szechuan/Sichuan Beef, Peking Duck, and Crab and Corn Soup, among others.

Appetizers

To start with, we had a set of appetizers namely Jelly Fish, Beef Kimchi, Cucumber with Garlic and Chili Sesame, and Cold Pork Knuckle. Be sure to share these much appetizers to leave room for the main course.

Jelly Fish

Cold Pork Knuckle

They were all good but the cold pork knuckles with vinegar was new for me. I would compare it to a version of the Philippines’ local ‘kinilaw.’

Beef Kimchi

Although the jelly fish and cucumber came off too ordinary for me, the mix of garlic and chili sesame with the cucumber was a good twist.

In this appetizer set, the Beef Kimchi is the winner in the aspect of taste. Although I was surprised at first because I expected Chinese dishes while kimchi , as far as I know, is basically Korean.

Crab and Corn Soup

Fried Noodle

Soup and Noodles

To further elaborate the list and hold the mystery of the main dishes, we had a bowl each of the Crab and Corn and Seafood Spinach soups. They were both satisfactory and filling.

The Deep Fried Noodle followed right after mixed with sliced pork, bokchoi, carrots, mushroom, and the Chinese signature X.O. sauce.

F Restaurant in Best Western Premier F1 Hotel

Main Dishes

A quick run down of the main dishes include the Peking Duck, Steamed Marlin with Soya Sauce, Deep Fried Pork Ribs with Salt and Pepper, Sichuan Chicken, Sichuan Beef, Steamed Asparagus with X.O. Sauce, and Lechon Macau.

Sichuan / Szechuan Chicken

Sichuan / Szechuan Beef

Lechon Macau

While the Sichuan Chicken and Sichuan Beef needs more spices for that needed oriental taste, the Deep Fried Pork Ribs with salt and pepper and Lechon Macau made up for it.

If there is any that you shouldn’t miss, it’s the above-mentioned Deep Fried Pork Ribs with Salt and Pepper, Lechon Macau and the Peking Duck (I missed their Deep-Fried Tiger Prawn with Salt and Pepper though).

In the background of the Lechon Macau photo on the right are fellow foodies and food bloggers including Anton Diaz, Spanky Enriquez, Ivan Man-Dy, and Stonibert Lim.

It was generally a good oriental buffet at F cafe / restaurant with a wide view of Bonifacio Glocal City and ongoing area developments.

Steamed Marlin

Mango Sago for Dessert! (It was full of small tapioca pearls and mango bits)

Although the Chinese New Year was just over, don’t fret. F Restaurant’s Chinese New Year buffet menu will still be available  until January 31, 2012 for lunch and dinner buffet for the price of P998++.

Best Western Premier F1 Hotel Chinese New Year Promo

F Restaurant, F1 Hotel

For reservations, call +632.928.9888 or +632.908.7888. F Restaurant is at 5th Flr. Amenity Level., Best Western Premier F1 Hotel, 32nd Street, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig 1634, Philippines

16 student chefs, 16 delicious dishes and desserts, 5 celebrity chef judges, and 1 brand to remember that is Moulinex – that is how you would describe the afternoon of January 14 last Saturday – having been the Moulinex You Cook Video Recipe Challenge semi-finals!

Cream Pie with Malunggay

16 student chefs and HRM students from 9 reputable cooking schools cooked-out each other as they competed for the coveted nods of 5 celebrity chef judges in the recent Moulinex You Cook contest.

Held at Hotel Intercon in Makati, the 1.5 hour cooking challenge decided the top 8 finalists from among the contestants who submitted their video recipes. The Top 8  moves on to the final round on January 28, 2012 (venue TBA).

Kitchen Ingredients

Batch 1 Moulinex You Cook Challenge Participants

Batch 2 Moulinex You Cook Challenge Participatns

They were judges on the following criteria:

• Taste 30%
• Ease of Preparation 20%
• Creativity/Originality 15%
• Visual Appeal 15%
• Optimization of Moulinex Products 15%
• Personality 5%

Moulinex YouCook Judges

The celebrity chef judges were: Chef Bruce Lim, Chef Niño Laus, Nina Daza-Puyat, Rory Subida, and Laurent Casteret.

Celebrity Chefs in Action

Chef Masters

Almost all the dishes looked great, while a few was challenged by the limited time. Nonetheless the judges were encouraging enough giving a pat-in-the-back advise that they can still do better the next time.

Food Photos:

Budding Chefs

Participant Photos:

Tempting Dishes

The Top 8 Finalists

After the scores were tallied and counted with a DTI representative, the Top 8 Finalists were named. They are (in no particular order):

• Halson Lapuz (First Gourmet Academy)
• Romeo Apostol Jr.
• Juno Pocholo Sedigo (First Gourmet Academy)
• James Andrian Bacaldo (Center for Culinary Arts Manila)
• Nino Carlo Rosali (Asian Institute of Culinary Arts)
• Rosana Ramel (Maligaya Institute for Culinary Arts and Residential Services)
• Karen Grace Santiago (La Consolacion College – Manila)
• Leonelia De Castro (MOST Institute)

Moulinex Products

Moulinex is exclusively distributed by Collins International Trading Corporation. Moulinex appliances are available at all leading department stores and appliance stores nationwide. Their kitchen appliances include a Food Preparation Line such as food processors, meat mincer, chopper, electric knife, immersion blender, hand mixer, and stand mixer. They also have a Beverage, Cooking, Breakfast, and Home Care Line.

Moulinex Products

Grand Finals Prizes

Grand Prize Winner:
Contestant: P40, 000 cash, Stay and Learn Program inclusive of an overnight stay of Intercontinental Hotel, Moulinex Master Chef Tour, gift packs from sponsors and a Certificate of Recognition.
Mentor: P5, 000 cash, P5, 000 worth of Moulinex products and gift packs from sponsors.
School: P25, 000 worth of Moulinex products and an F & B/Cooking Seminar for selected students courtesy of Intercontinental Hotel.

Second Prize:
Contestant: P20, 000 cash, gift vouchers from Intercontinental Hotel, gift packs from sponsors and a Certificate of Recognition.
Mentor: P4, 000 cash, P3, 000 worth of Moulinex products and gift packs from sponsors.
School: P15, 000 worth of Moulinex products.

Consolation Prizes:
6 Consolation prizes of P5,000 cash each for the other 6 finalists and Certificate of Participation.

For more details and information, visit their website www.moulinexyoucook.com or email moulinexyoucook@gmail.com Contact Mr. Marvin Mancera, Brand Marketing Assistant-Moulinex at 681-6161 or 681-6163.

In the grand finals 8 days from now, the student chefs will go head to head in their last showdown to know whose dishes will rise above the rest. Certainly, there’s no place for mediocrity and we will anticipate on that day whose creation will emerge as the 2011 Moulinex You Cook Video Recipe Challenge Grand Winner!

This is the first time cocktail mixing will be featured here and it was really quite an interesting experience. The Canadian Tourism and Hospitality Institute (CTHI) invited NomNom Club late last year to seat in and participate in one of their lifestyle courses entitled Cocktail Mixing 101.

Cocktail Mixing 101

Popular cocktail drinks featured during the seminar were Strawberry Margarita, Frozen Pina Colada, Strawberry Mango Daiquiri Frozen, Mojito, Strawberry Mojito, and Tequila Sunrise. And as expected, we tried all of them! 🙂

Strawberry Margarita

Strawberry Margarita is a mixture of pureed strawberry, Tequila, lime juice and crushed ice served in a sexy margarita glass.

I personally love the Pina Colada Frozen. It’s a mixture of rum, pina colada mix and crushed ice served in hi-ball glass and garnish with pineapple wedge and straw.

For the Strawberry Mojito, you can use 7 mint leaves, strawberry halved and 2 lime wedges, rum, fresh sour rocks mix, pureed strawberries topped with soda.

The Tequila Sunrise is the easiest to prepare with few ingredients just the Tequila, orange juice and grenadine with orange juice and straw to garnish and serve in a hi-ball glass.

Canadian Tourism and Hospitality Institute

June Bug

Strawberry Mojito

Tequila Sunrise

Cocktail Surprise

Moulinex

Love vodka? Try the Melon Ball, a mixture of vodka, melon liqueur and orange juice. Serve it in a double old fashion/rock glass and garnish with orange wheel.

Melon Ball

This three hour long cocktail mixing 101 seminar was delivered by Sir Joel. It was an information-overload for me, but I learned a lot from choosing the right glass, mixing and garnishing, and knowing how to prepare popular cocktails in a professional way.

Here’s video taken during the seminar.

Special thanks to Canadian Tourism and Hospitality Institute.

Canadian Tourism and Hospitality Institute (CTHI)
2nd Floor Paragon Plaza, EDSA Cor. Reliance St. Mandaluyong City
Telephone Numbers :861-1061/ (+632) 584-7343
Website: http://www.canadiantourisminstitute.com/9/home

CTHI

The Canadian Tourism and Hospitality Institute (CTHI) is the first international franchise of the Canadian Tourism College (CTC) based in Vancouver, Canada. With its thirty (30) years of providing real-world quality tourism education, Food and Beverage Services is just one of the many programs being offered at CTHI.

Programs are divided into three areas- Diploma Courses, Certificate Courses and Professional Development.

Cocktail Mixing 101

Before the Cocktail Mixing 101 seminar ended, Sir Joel did us some flair bar tending exhibition. It was an interesting show as he juggled and flipped bottles and shakers with amazing skills.

A lot of people don’t realize that in the midst of the meat-eating restaurants, there are also vegetarian alternative places to go and eat. If you are a vegetarian, finding these restaurants can be difficult if you don’t know where to look.

They are around though and easy to locate. If you can look away from socializing on the internet or playing Foxy Bingo for a while, it is very easy to find vegetarian cuisine here online. If you aren’t a vegetarian, though what are the benefits of trying the food?

Sabah Vegetables (close to our 'Kangkong' but less leafy and more on trunks/stems)

Vegetarian Alternatives

The answer is simple: vegetarian food tastes better than what people expect. Whether you fancy Chinese, Italian, Indian or even Thai, there is always a tasty vegetarian option. For example, you could eat vegetable fried rice, vegetable curries, soups, potato samosas and vegetable sushi. All delicious alternatives.

Nurture Spa's Garden Salad

The choice of restaurants that serve vegetarian food in Metro Manila alone is vast. Places like Barbara’s at the Orchidarium, a Thai style restaurant that offers soups, tofu and vegetable dishes, or Green Wok Deli & Café in Quezon City which supplies all the flavor you would expect of a meat-based dish, only without the meat. Vegetarian Chinese food is also available in places like the café, Happy Veggie Health Food on Masangkay Street, Manila or Kong Tiak in Quezon City. You don’t know unless you look. 🙂

Vegetarian Menu

If you have problems with the menu in a restaurant, there are ways around the issue. Ask the chef if he can make you something vegetarian with the ingredients in the kitchen. Remember they want you to dine again so they will help if they can.

If you are dining around someone else’s house, make sure you let the host know your preference in advance. This will be less awkward if they supply a meat-only meal. Offer to buy vegetablesfor the cause or bring a dish over to share with fellow guests.

Starbucks Philippines' Roasted Vegetables on Flat Bread

Great vegetarian food is just around the corner from you, wherever you are in the country. You just need to keep an eye out.

The Food Adventure at Venice Piazza is back. It’s where you can taste the flavors of 12 restaurants for P600.

We have tried something similar to this mid of last year and another one about three months ago called Platter for 8 also in Venice Piazza where 14 participating restaurants offered big servings of dishes fit for eight people only for Php800.

This time, the Food Adventure if from 12 restaurants and only for P600! I have yet to try this one but they will start this weekend January 7 and every Saturday and Sunday following that until March 31, 2012. It is also offered only during 4pm to 9pm. Let’s see how this compares soon.

The Participating restaurants are :

• Blackwood Bistro
• The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf
• Empire Deli
• Figaro
• KBOP
• KUSE
• Little Asia
• Old Vine Grille
• Pho Hoa
• Pinchos
• Red Crab Alimango House
• Ramen Bar
• Sol Gelato
• Yo Swirls

Food Adventure at Venice Piazza

It’s nice to see Figaro joined the promo this time as they were not in the list of previous promos (or maybe it’s a new branch, I don’t know). 🙂

Check out the details of the promo mechanics at Taste of Manila blog (click on link).

12 Restaurants - Php 600

So if you’re not doing anything this weekend, you might want to drop by McKinley Hill and check out the Food Adventure at Venice Piazza. Personally, I suggest you try it starting January 8 onwards, you wouldn’t want the inconsistencies of first day blues that goes with new activities. On the other hand, I’ll be at Market Market on Saturday, hopefully I can pass by. Bring your family to enjoy!

It was humid and sunny on the day I visited Mercato Centrale for the first time. I kept saying it didn’t feel like Christmas because of the weather. And so before I go on ranting about the obvious effects of global warming, I decided to just enjoy the company of new found friends. Soon enough I found myself again just marvelling on what a wonderful new day the good Lord has given me.

Flavors of Christmas

So what brings me to Mercato on a Saturday morning of November 19, 2011? Not only am I excited to visit Mercato for the first time but I also wanted to check out The Flavors of Christmas: A Grand Member’s Treat presented by San Miguel Great Food Club (Living the Good Life).

On this warm sunny day, there are four presentations prepared by San Miguel Food Club for its members. Everyone stayed on their seats anticipating what Flavors of Christmas San Miguel has prepared for us.

Danny Dela Cuesta set up an actual dining table within the demo area to show the audience how to create a festive Christmas Table

Before that, different samples of San Miguel products are available for Mercato visitors to partake. It is no joke when I said that San Miguel Great Food Club members are really anticipating the Flavors of Christmas event because I find it a challenge for anyone to stay under that heat for hours.

CHEF ED QUIMSON ensures that frehsness and quality of ingredients are preserved when using San Miguel Purefood Products

But the number of audience did not waiver. In fact, it seemed to even grow especially when Chef Ed Quimson demonstrated how to prepare a Christmas ham using Purefoods Fiesta Ham.

Flavors of Chrsitmas

So what exactly were the activities witnessed by San Miguel Great Food Club members during the Flavors of Christmas event? It started with Mr. Danny Dela Cuesta talking about “Setting the Mood: The Festive Christmas Table“.

Lori Baltazar of Desserts Comes First charms the crowd with her wit and humor while demonstrating her Chocnut Queso Recipe

It was then followed by Chef Ed Quimson’s cooking demo. The dishes he prepared were the Christmas ham, Roast Jumbo Chicken with Green Grapes and Cranberry Jelly and lastly Pork Pata with Lentils (Top Photo).

One of the distinguished food bloggers in the country, Ms. Lori Baltazar also demonstrated three yummy desserts namely Brownie in a cookie-cookie and Chocnut-queso de bola cheesecake. Lastly, Chef Dennis Edillon talked about “Planning a Menu: Serving the Right Proportion“.

Favorite Activity

Among the activities, what I enjoyed the most is the table setting lecture of Mr. Danny dela Cuesta. His Flavors of Christmas table setting tips can give any table a festive air which is timely this coming holiday season. While listening to Mr. dela Cuesta, I felt like Julia Child while taking notes on her French cooking class. There are so many new things I learned about table setting in general that I really felt the Flavors of Christmas starting to set in the air.

Lori Baltazar's CHOCNUT-QUESO DE BOLA CHEESECAKE

Lori Baltazar's BROWNIE-IN-A-COOKIE COOKIE

Wanda Chicken of Magnolia Chicken Station and Ropig of Monterey entertain the audience with their awesome dance moves

With the growing festive mood inside me, I found myself hungry. Fortunately, food was served to the media who attended the event. I ate heartily (which I only do when I am happy).

For me the important thing to bring home when attending food events such as this is to sample the products being showcased during the event – it doesn’t matter if you’re a blogger, a photographer or just a plain housewife. Maybe something that you have observed, tasted or heard can inspire you on your next home project.

And this is what I took home when I left the Flavors of Christmas event of San Miguel. I enjoyed munching on Edam cheese so much I told myself from now on I’m eating spaghetti with Edam cheese.

Chef Ed Quimson's Roast Jumbo Chicken With Grapes and Cranberry Jelly

I loved the corned beef on top of crackers that I went to the grocery the next day to buy one and reminisce the experience I had when I ate it at Mercato. And my final inspiration was to challenge myself to cook a whole herbed chicken for my family to enjoy this holiday season. Just like Julie Powell was inspired by her mentor, there were lots of inspirations one can bring home after attending the Flavors of Christmas.

Chef Ed Quimson's Christmas Ham

SMPFC's Culinary Services Manager Maricel Manalo opens the event by welcoming the attendees of The Flavors of Christmas

*Story by Ia Adam-Lim; photo from San Miguel Great Food Club

I wonder when will be the next flavour San Miguel will have its members take and I truly hope to be part of that event.

Have you been to any San Miguel Great Food Club event? Or are you interested to join one just like the Flavors of Christmas? We would love to hear from you by commenting below. Merry Christmas to all!