Entries Tagged 'Fusion' ↓

The last quarter of the year is a prime season for new products specially for those catching the Christmas season market. And just when the third quarter of 2012 was just about to end, Pepsi-Cola launched a coconut craze with the new Tropicana Coco Quench drink with super model Charo Ronquillo as its brand ambassador.

Tasting the Tropicana Coco Quench

I have recently tried the 330ml single-serve of Tropicana Coco Quench which retails at P30 and I liked it!

Being a fresh coconut juice drinker myself, I had reservations at first with its freshness since it’s a processed and packed good. I also thought it would be filled with preservatives for shelf-life – I was wrong.

I came to know that Tropicana Coco Quench actually has no preservatives and its container is made with Tetra Pack packaging techonology that replicates the protection of coconuts It has 6 protective layers to maintain quality and freshness for an 8-month shelf-life.

Tropicana Coco Quench 330ml Tetra Pack

Benefits of Coconut Water

• I have gathered some coconut water benefits in this list for reference as well:
• Naturally hydrating with less sugar and calories due to its electrolytes similar to the human plasma
• Rich source of iron, calcium, magnesium and 4 times higher potassium content than bananas
• Helps reduce food cravings and aid in weight loss
• Flushes out toxins

Tropicana Coco Quench – 1 Litre pack (reclosable & resealable)

I think Tropicana banked on the ubiquitous demand of coconut water not only in the Philippines but also around the world. It also brands itself as made from real coconut water and 100% fresh fit for any age. The same demand has also drawn global attention to the Philippines as one of the leading sources of coconut water in the world. I wish the new product all the best for the public to appreciate the portability it offers while getting the benefits of coconut waters

Aside from the 330 ml pack in a pull-tab mechanism, Tropicana Coco Quench also comes in a 1 litre pack with a reclosable and resealable cap for the coconut juice lover. 🙂

Although our editor-in-chief has been to previous UTT, Clasrissa and I were first-timers and excited to be “food critics” for a day in the recent Rockwell’s Ultimate Taste Test 2.

The Fruit Garden

Knowing that there would be 40 different food stalls to try at the Rockwell Tent, we had to craft a plan so we can try everything just like how our EIC made it in last year’s Ultimate Taste Test. I couldn’t imagine how to go through each and every booth so I told Clariss that we should start with main dishes such as pork, chicken, and other meat down to the desserts and beverages.

Frisch Liquor Ice Cream

We were given a set of food tray, a pen, and a map with a grading sheet with the names of the participating vendors. It’s actually our passport to every food stall. We don’t have to finish all the stalls but it would be an awesome experience if we do!

The Scoring System:

• 1 – Thanks, but it could be better
• 2 – It’s Okay
• 3 – We had a good time!
• 4 – I love it!
• 5 – Awesome! I would recommend!

Bayani Brew

The UTT management has made it very comfortable for the “food critics”, there’s enough space, drinking water dispenser and disposable plastic cups.

On my list, I actually had 12 different food stalls with a grade of 5, but will shorten it the Top 10. Let me share our great food finds with a grade of 5 at UTT2.

1. Hillside Ranch
o This is one of the most scrumptious meat entrée in UTT2. To be honest, I’m a little picky when it comes to meat. I always want it juicy, moist, flavorful but definitely not salty, and most of all tender! Available in two variants, the corned beef brisket an my favorite  slow roast beef belly. Unfortunately, they are not available in major supermarkets but you can buy them at Trellis in QC and Essel Supermarket in San Fernando, Pampanga (the province where they came from – a place famous for good food).

Hillside Ranch

2. Carlo’s Kitchen
o The crispy, crunchy goodness of Carlos Kitchen pork belly goes very well with a bottle of San Miguel Beer! I got to try it when I visited Mercato Centrale about few months ago. The flavour, which is not too salty, and the crispiness remain the same. Crunchy belly is good for “pulutan” (finger food or appetizer). I almost forgot my favourite Bulacan chicharon!

Carlo’s Kitchen

3. Baked by Anita
o Known for their delicious cupcakes, Baked by Anita surprised us with their newest offering – a flavourful savory pie called the “Wild Mushroom Gruyere & Truffle Oil”. The truffle oil made it more appealing to the palate.

Baked by Anita

UTT would not be complete without dessert such as creamy and irresistible ice cream, cakes, pastries and smoothies. Here’s my take on their dessert & beverage section.

4. Blue Togue
o When it comes to desserts, I highly recommend Blue Togue! Initially, I was hesitant to try the cakes and pastries since I had some cheesecake overload the past few days. As of this writing I still have two boxes of Conti’s cakes in my fridge. Nonetheless, their Nutella Mouse Cake looks so divine I can’t resist! And yes, I was bewitched with its moist and creamy chiffon. I highly recommend Blue Togue!

Blue Togue’s Nutella Mouse Cake

5. Matasami Flavoured Shave Ice
o This one is definitely different from other flavoured shave ice I tried in the past. I never thought it would be so smooth, so luscious, so creamy and so delicious! I tried two flavors – the Swiss Cheese and Langka, in favor of the former. The owner was very generous offering us to try other variants but I had to refuse. Perhaps on my next visit, I will try the Hawaiian Shave Ice and their liquor syrups.

o Matasami can be found in: SM Mall of Asia, Robinsons Galleria, Glorietta 4 Cinema Level and soon at Robinsons Magnolia.

Matasami

6. Villa Del Conte
o I’m already familiar with Villa del Conte as boyfie once gave me a box of these luscious, rich, premium chocolates.

Villa Del Conte

7. Saint Alps
o They served us their refreshing Blueberry Double Chocolate which was outstanding!

Saint Alps

8. Bayani Brew
o Bayani brew offers interesting and healthy beverages. I tried their Lemongrass Pandan Iced tea and Purple leaf tea Iced tea. Guess what is a purple leaf tea? It’s actually “talbos ng kamote” (kamote tops)! Interestingly, it doesn’t taste like kamote tops. However, the lemongrass pandan is just like a regular brewed iced tea but I liked it nonetheless! Each bottle costs P35.

Bayani Brew

9. Pinkberry – They served us Coconut Pinkberry and made us choose 3 toppings. It had a good balance of tanginess and sweetness to crave for.  Check out my separate post on Pinkberry.

10. Mochi Sweets

o A soft and not-too-sweet mocha dessert goes well with a cup of hot tea. Since we’re already full, I paired it with Nescafe Dolce Gusto Cappuccino.

Mochi Sweets

With a wide variety of food, I never thought I would be spending almost four hours at UTT2.

Other interesting food items are the Hokey Pokey Ice Cream from New Zealand Natural, Frisch Liquor Ice Cream, Maria’s Ilocos Empanada, Chef Anton, Lulu Belle, & the Plaza.

Bake Buddy

The Plaza

Nutella Rocks

On the other hand, there were two food stalls that I had to visit twice because they run out of food – Chief Wings and Chow Fun. The latter offered us their interesting chocolate butchi.

* Story and photos by Marjorie Pineda of www.livingmarjorney.com

New Zealand Natural

Maria’s Ilocos Empanada

Nescafe Dolce Gusto

Those are my Top 10 food items from Rockwell’s Ultimate Taste Test 2! I was so full I had to skip dinner that night.

If I’m not mistaken, this would be the first time Starbucks Philippines is offering breakfast tapa in their menu. Probably a come-on for those looking for a local taste, the new Starbucks sandwiches for breakfast are available starting today which also includes the Spam Black Pepper, Forest Ham, Breakfast Tapa & Egg, and Ratatouille & Mozzarella Cheese.

Released on a significantly historical day of September 11, the all-day breakfast sandwiches are made available in all Starbucks stores around the Philippines. I hope you are trying one now as you are reading this food blog so you can relate to my feedback.

The new Starbucks breakfast sandwiches has somehow made my breakfast more sophisticated as I’m simply used to either the usual Filipino breakfast of rice with egg and tapa or corned beef, or the more western style of milk and sandwich combo.

Starbucks Forest Ham Sandwich

For example, the Forest Ham is made with slices of forest ham, scrambled egg white and smoked Gouda cheese which makes it more flavorful as a sandwich but with less fat and on healthy toasty oat bread.

The second one is a vegetarian sandwich – the Ratatouille And Mozzarella Cheese (TOP PHOTO). It’s a healthy blend of cheese, spinach, tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant, portobello and shiitake mushrooms, garlic and onions – all packed in-between a multi-grain bread. The usual perception on vegetarian sandwiches is being bland, but this one isn’t. In fact, I love it and wouldn’t have known it was vegetarian.

Starbucks SPAM Black Pepper Sandwich

Beef Tapa with Egg Sandwich

I’d predict the third would be a blockbuster – the Spam Black Pepper. Everyone’s favorite SPAM® is spiced up with black pepper, creamy scrambled egg and layered with melted American Cheddar cheese on cornmeal bread

And finally, Starbucks puts a twist to the traditional favorite Filipino breakfast – the ‘Breakfast Tapa & Egg‘.

Starbucks Philippines added garlic mayonnaise and put it in a whole wheat bread, instead of the staple rice (of course, we’re talking about sandwiches). It was an interesting approach for someone used to having their beef tapa in the morning with rice. 🙂

New Starbucks Breakfast Sandwiches (Starting Sept 11, 2012)

I’ve got the chance to try all the new Starbucks breakfast sandwiches which are all priced similarly at Php 115 (US$2.78), Generally all four are good but my recommendations are the Ratatouille & Mozzarella cheese on multigrain bread and Spam Black Pepper w/ egg & Cheddar cheese on cornmeal bread.

Magnolia Flavor House on Dry-Run (Augugst 2012)

Do you still remember the Magnolia Ice Cream House along Aurora Boulevard?

If it doesn’t ring a bell to you, you might have been too young or were not even born yet in Manila during the 1990’s when the Magnolia Ice Cream parlor was an iconic landmark for families and ice cream lovers. It was the place to be when you talk about banana splits, parfaits, and special ice cream concoctions such as the peach melba sundae.

With the opening of Robinsons’ newest mall – Robinsons Magnolia – in the very same spot where the old Magnolia Ice Cream House once stood, the new Magnolia Ice Cream House was born. The mall itself was named Robninsons Magnolia because of this nostalgic history. It’s now called the Magnolia Flavor House.

New Magnolia Ice Cream House beside Starbucks

The new Magnolia Ice Cream House – the Magnolia Flavor House -  is located in the garden area right beside a Starbucks coffee shop under construction and not within the mall premises.

They were in dry-run last month when we visited the ice cream parlor but I believe the menu selection now would have increased.

Here are some photos of the new Magnolia Ice Cream House in Robinsons Magnolia at night.

Magnolia Ice Cream House

Magnolia Ice Cream House Menu (they now have more selections)

Robinsons Magnolia Garden

This is a photo of the Magnolia Flavor House from the top during the day.

Magnolia Flavor House by day

Magnolia Flavor House (New Magnolia Ice Cream House)
Robinsons Magnolia Garden
Dona Hemady corner Aurora Boulevard, New Manila, Quezon City

We were busy that night with the Samsung Concept Store launch in Robinsons Magnolia so I was not able to dine in. But I’ll make sure to drop by Magnolia Flavor House again, the new Magnolia Ice Cream House, very soon. 🙂

NomNom with Anton Diaz (right) in UTT

In Rockwell’s Ultimate Taste Test 2011, NomNom was able to conquer 51 food stalls. How many would this year’s count be? On September 15 and 16, test your appetite and set your own records at Rockwell’s 2nd Ultimate Taste Test happening at Rockwell Tent as brought to us by Anton Diaz‘ Our Awesome Planet together with San Miguel Lifestyle Brews and more.

This two-day food tasting event happens from 11 in the morning up until 9 in the evening of both days. Get to taste samplings from over 40 home-based food businesses, concessionaires, and Power Plant mall establishments as they set up shop to have food lovers, connoisseurs, and foodies, become ” food critics for a day.“

Food Rating Activity

Rockwell’s ltimate Taste Test traditional ratings of the food by the visitors within the scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest, will be one of the event’s highlights. The top performing food stalls with the average rating of 3.8 and above, will be specially features in Anton Daiz’s Our Awesome Planet blog in October 2012.

Rockwell’s Ultimate Taste Test 2011 Score Sheet

Purchase Tickets

The ticket rates for the tenth (10th) edition of the Ultimate Taste Test  (UTT) is at P585/person/day or P1,000/person for 2 days. This covers the food taste portions and a bottle of San Miguel Super Dry, Premium All-Malt or Cerveza Negra (age 18 and above).

Buy the tickets from Creative Juice Office (Tel. # 5707827) during office hours or Rockwell Customer Care (Tel. # 8981702) during mall hours . You may also email admin@ultimatetastetest.com for questions and inquiries.

Rockwell’s Ultimate Taste Test 2012

For Interested Food Suppliers

Interested in becoming one of the food suppliers? Email the organizers at admin@ultimatetastetest.com. 

Buy your tickets now as only 1,000 tickets to be sold are allocated per day. See you at Rockwell’s Ultimate Taste Test 2 in 10 days! 🙂

Angel’s Pizza ETON Cyberpod

In a bold move to cater to the mall-going crowd, Angel’s Pizza opened its newest branch at ETON Cyberpod in Ortigas. This is the call-center-dominated mall across Robinsons Galleria crossing Ortigas Avenue.

Simply a pedestrian crossing away from Robinsons, the new Angel’s Pizza ETON Cyberpod still focuses on delivery to nearby customers in offices and condominiums. This is evident through the 6 customer-seat capacity of the pizza store mainly due to the big kitchen space necessary for a pizza chain where the dough and pizza are created.

Angel’s Pizza First Customer

The opening ceremony started with a blessing of the store. Passers-by were also treated to some free pizza slices through out the day in conjunction with the 30% Off whole-day first-day promo.

NomNom got to try some of the pizza flavors and even take home a box of pizza courtesy of Angel’s.

Angel’s Pepperoni PIzza

You may consider this new branch as a transfer from their former branch in the Pasig area (near Julia Vargas corner Meralco Avenue) which has now closed.

Angel’s Pizza ETON Cyberpod
UP/G ETON Cyberpod, Corinthian, EDSA corner Ortigas Avenue.
Angel’s Pizza Delivery: 922-2222

Their “Double Deal”  all-day promo is still ongoing where you can get 2 pizzas for the price of 1 on selected flavors. Kudos to Angle’s Pizza ETON Cyberpod for this bold move of having a mall-based branch.

Mondo Juice

You must have read my previous blog about Mondo Juice Megamall for you to fully appreciate this post. You can consider this a part two-of-sorts. 🙂

Having an awesome first experience, my fiance and I made sure we’d drop by the second Mondo Juice branch – and that is the one in Robinsons Galleria. And so we did.

It was a bit smaller than the Megamall branch but the interiors played with curves and lines, perhaps to give the small space more fluid and spacious dimensions. Kudos to the designer. The walls were also decorated with principled health statements from Mondo Juice itself such as “Hide and Seek: We don’t play games with your smoothie…” and “Made by Nature: Assemnled by Mondo Juice.”

Mondo Juice Robinsons Galleria

Mondo Juice Galleria

Hide & Seek

Made by Nature

What to Order

Now for the beverage-choosing part, we made sure to order something else from which we have already tried. My Mondo Marjorie chose the Sippin’ Strawberry premium fruit smoothie while I tried something from the “Exotic” fruit smoothies category for the first time – Raspberry Rush.

Mondo Juice Menu

Mondo Juice Menu Board

The Sippin’ Strawberry sticker labels says that it’s a mix of strawberries, mangoes, cranberry juice, and nectar. The solo is priced at P135 while the ‘Mondo’ size is P180.

Mondo Juice Sippin’ Strawberry

My Raspberry Rush is a combination of well, raspberries, strawberries, low-fat yogurt, and cranberry juice. Although the price is more premium at P160 for solo and P220 for mondo, I liked its taste better, perhaps due to the low-fat yogurt which made the juice’ texture slightly thicker but still natural and in good taste.

Mondo Juice Raspberry Rush

To complete our meal, we shared the Beef Pastrami sandwich (P165) which was also our first-time to order.  Aside from the beef pastrami, it has lettuce, onions, mild cheddar, and honey mustard on a black sesame whole wheat ciabatta. It was one protein-filled sandwich with a healthy bunch of stuff. 🙂

Beef Pastrami

NomNom and the Mondo Juice Advocate

WIped-out Mondo Juice Fruit Juices

I consider this a good closing article to our brief back-to-back Mondo Juice mini-series. It somehow felt complete having visited both the SM Megamall and Robinsons Galleria branches of our newest beverage place of choice that is both healthy and refreshing –  Mondo Juice!

Mondo Juice Megamall

So called ‘fruit juice bars‘ and ‘smoothie stands‘ have sprouted around the metro in the recent years, trying to ride on the “healthy lifestyle” bandwagon. But only very few can claim to serve an all-natural, real fruit smoothie without added sugar, syrup or sweeteners – that’s Mondo Juice.

Being a ‘Megamall guy,’ I’ve been passing by Mondo Juice in SM Megamall for so long as I can remember. But it was only recently that I actually tried it upon the prodding of my fiance who have tried and blogged about Mondo Juice way back in mid-2011.

Mondo Juice Fruit Smoothie

And so I tried, and regretted it. I regret why it was only now that I gave-in to my fiance’s recommendation to try Mondo Juice. 🙂

We came from a full-house Starbucks shop so I eventually agreed to her suggestion of trying Mondo Juice as I always welcome the thought of trying restaurants I have never been to.

Mondo Juice branch interior

Mondo Juice High-Powered Blenders

My Order #1: Blushing Mango & Turkey Pesto

Mango has always been one of my favorite fruits so I decided to go ‘safe‘ and chose the “Blushing Mango” from the Premium Fruit Smoothie category. It costs P135 for the solo size and P180 for the ‘Mondo‘ (big) size.

The other smoothie categories were ‘Homegrown‘, ‘Buzz Smoothies‘, and ‘Exotic‘, among others.

I was also offered add-on options such as yogurt, oatmeal, soy milk, and honey whose prices ranged from Php 15 to Php 35. As much as I would like to have those healthy add-ons, I decided to have the smoothie as it is. I wanted to know how it fares without the extras.

Blushing Mango Smoothie

Hungry as I was, I ordered a Turkey Pesto sandwich to match my smoothie. The smoked turkey breast slices were calling out to me complete with the green peppers and rustic pesto in between two Italian herb Focaccia breads. 🙂

As so it was served.

My Blushing Mango smoothie came in a transparent cup where you can see all the goodness of the fruit and pulp (no rinds/roots), and an informative sticker at the back. Mine turned-out to be a blend of mangoes, respberries, and nectar amounting to 3.5 big servings of fruit hitting upto 140% of my vitamin C need.

I had my first ‘sip‘ and I can almost feel the toxins flushed down. 🙂

Grilled Turkey Pesto Sandwich

Her Order #1: Mango Magic with Ham & Cheese

Not to be outdone, my Mondo Juice advocate and fiance named Marjorie ordered her all-time favorite ‘homegrown‘ fruit smoochie smoothie called Mango Magic (P125 Solo). She partnered it with the traditional – Ham & Egg sandwich.

Based on the back sticker label, the magic in her Mango Magic is a mix of mangoes, nectar, and orange juice with a whooping 161% of vitamin C! It goes further saying “the only thing fresher grows on a tree.” 🙂 With the 1/3 pound of fruit in each Mondo Jucie cup, the recommended five servings of fruit daily has just been met!

And without hesitation, she made her ‘sip‘ and said “ahhh.”

Mango Magic with Ham & Cheese Sandwich

My Order #2: Blueberry Bonanza + Kiwi Fruit & Jello

An hour after, needless to say, we wanted more. Round 2 was imminent.

I then consulted the sales crews and asked which one is their bestseller. The unanimous answer was the “Blueberry Bonanza“! Again from the premium fruit smoothie category, it had the same price as my first one at P135 per ‘solo size‘ order and P180 for the Mondo.

Blueberry Bonanza Smoothie

Mondo Juice Jello

Adventurous as I am, a group of jello encased in interestingly hard plastic containers on the left side of the display piqued my curiosity. I browsed through and selected the Kiwi Fruit & Jello over the Lychee and Mandarin Orange-infused ones.

Kiwi Fruit & Jello

On first ‘sip‘, I already knew why the Blueberry Bonanza is the bestseller. The natural blend of blueberries, mangoes, bananas, and cranberry juice was harmonious. You have to try it for yourself.

The Kiwi fruit & jello was fine with good kiwis and jello fruit juice. It’s something different for a change. I think the kids will love it too. For something healthy, parents out there should seriously consider this as a snack for their kids.

Her Order #2: Proteinzone Super Smoochie Smoothie

From the start, I never doubted she would take seconds for Mondo Juice.

My Mondo Marjorie scanned through the menu board for quite a while similar to how she scans through dresses, gowns, shoes, and bags while shopping in department stores.

I was afraid.

Three mondo minutes after, she finally exclaimed: “I think I will try something different this time!”

I was even more afraid.

Ready to face my fears, I gathered enough courage and asked her straight to the point: “What’s your order as the cashier is waiting?”

She looked at me intensely into the eye and finally said … that she wanted to try the Proteinzone Super Smoothie booster (P145/solo;185 /Mondo). In the same category are the ‘Detox‘ & ‘Power-Up‘ smoothies.

My Mondo Model: Marjorie (with her Proteinzine Smoothie)

Proteinzone Back Sticker Label

Surprisingly, on the other hand, she’s passing up the sandwich and hinted to share with my Kiwi jello instead; which is not a problem of course. 😛

The smoochie smoothie finally came and it turned out to be a concoction of raspberries, bananas, nectar, cranberry juice, a shot of soy protein at 4g and fiber of 2.35g per serving! (I don’t know what’s the standard, but it impressed upon me that it’s much!) 🙂

‘Sip‘!

Completing the menu board of Mondo Juice are fresh pressed juice, hot drinks such as coffee, tea, and chocolate. Other cold drinks include iced coffee, brewed ice tea, and lemonade.

There are even honeyed nuts and mango cashew nuts available by the counter.

Her Proteinzone and Mango Magic!

The Mondo Juice Advocate & NomNom

Undoubtedly, it was a no-fuss afternoon of all-natural fruit smooches smoothies with my fiance at Mondo Juice Megamall where we can drink it straight, without the sugar and syrup bait.

So where were the ‘smooches‘ in the story? It went in-between ‘sips‘. 🙂