January 24th, 2010 — Beverage, Casual, Coffee Shops, Cravings, Dessert, Makati, Ortigas, places, Restaurants, The Fort, Where To Eat
A month after the holidays, Starbucks‘ Dark Cherry Mocha still stayed on the menu board way after the other two holiday featured beverages Toffee Nut Latte and Peppermint Mocha was taken off the shelf – which is a good thing! 🙂
Give in to your chocolate craving with its combination of espresso, steamed milk, and bittersweet chocolate with dark cherry flavor; topped with whipped cream and cocoa powder.
And although the Starbucks Planner fever is over, it tastes like Christmas all over. 🙂
January 17th, 2010 — Affairs, Promos / Events
Finally, a weekĂ‚Â after the Top 6 Christmas Wishlist entry came out, we will now know who will be NomNom Club’s 2009 Best Christmas Wishlist Bl0g.
Congratulations to John Paul Vergoni of Kompyuter Sayantist for his entry “My Shrubbish Nomnomlicious Wishlist“.
First (1st) Runner-up is ‘”My Christmas 2009 Wishlist” by Edelweiza Mabalay fromĂ‚Â “The Life of a Breadwinner.”
Second (2nd) Runner up is “My Grownup Christmas List” by Ria Tirazona from”Daydream Believer“.
Thanks you to Ia Lucero who helped us in the very hard judging process. Ia is a fellow writer, blogger, and a respected web designer in the online community. See more details of her work at Stellify.net
The grand winner brings home the limited edition Starbucks USB flash drive. The second and third placer each gets an authentic Starbucks cap and lace (instead of the earlier announced gift certificates). Wait for the confirmation email in your inbox within this week where your valid Philippine address will be requested for shipping purposes.
Again, congratulations to all winners and participants. I hope you would join our succeeding contests in the future.
Stay tuned to Nomnom Club‘s food adventures and contests by subscribing to our email feed and Facebook Fanpage.
Hopefully we could have another Christmas Wishlist contest for 2010 come December. 🙂
January 17th, 2010 — Casual, Cravings, Dessert, places, Restaurants, Where To Eat
Via Mare Restaurant
When I refer to something as ‘expensive‘, it does not necessarily pertain to the high price alone.
When it comes to food, I consider the value through the balance ofĂ‚Â quantity, quality, and preparation involved. Simply said, ‘is it worth your buck‘?
As a supposed branch specialty, I decided to try out Via Mare‘s Bulalo from their SM Mall of Asia branch.
Via Mare Interiors, SM Mall of Asia
Bulalo is one of my favorite stew dish so I was anticipatingĂ‚Â to try Via Mare’s version. The menu says P400 ($9). It’s not cheap, but I assumed it’s a big bowl enough for at least two.
Come serving time, it was indeed a big bowl with some vegetables and 2 corn cub slices. I excitedly got the meat part first but it wasn’t as soft as a bulalo should. The soup is just so-so and almost half of the meat serving is ‘litid‘ (ligament).
Bulalo @ P400
I’d just like to clarify though that the bulalo was not that bad, it was average. It juat wasn’t at par with my expectations – which was the problem because I expected more from Via Mare who prepares good Bibingka Galapong and is one of the established restaurant brands in the Philippines.
I guess it was just a bad night for the bulalo. 🙂
January 16th, 2010 — Bar/Grills, Casual, Cravings, Ortigas, places, Restaurants, Where To Eat
Bigby’s Cafe restaurant in Manila is always in my shortlist when dining at the Atrium of SM Megamall. And I’m just glad to be back for dinner the other day before watching a movie premiere care of Viva Films.
Two friends in company choose to be conservative with their tried and tested orders Rack-A-Bye-baby ribs (~P400; $8) and Mojo Chicken Q (P299; $6.5) while the adventurous me choose to try something new (something I haven’t ordered before).
Bigby's Cafe 7 Restaurant Rack-A-Bye Baby Ribs (Photo by Azrael Coladilla)
Mojo Chicken Q (Copyright NomNomClub.com)
Tuscan Fish Melt
I decided to go fishing and got the Tuscan Fish Melt. It’s a fried Dory fish topped with pesto paste laid over pasta in tomato sauce. Although I wished the Dory was bigger, the dark pesto paste was a new experience.
The farthest I got with pesto is with pesto pasta and nothing else. In this case, the pesto paste was fuller in taste (since it’s in paste). The pasta in tomato sauce was good too.
By the way, my two companions enjoyed the Rack-A-Bye-baby ribs and the chicken barbecue-like Mojo Chicken Q. I should point out the large serving of Bigby’s Mojo Chicken Q, by the way.
January 11th, 2010 — Affairs, Promos / Events
A total of twenty-five entries were submitted for the Starbucks USB contest where a blogger should create a Christmas Wishlist based on the following mechanics.
It was great how the participants shared their personal wants and desires and how some seriously made selfless wishes. It was awesome to discover how creative some of the entries were. There were also unconventional wishes which made me create a list of the Top 6 ‘Kakaibang‘ wish from among the entries. 🙂
I didn’t know there’s such a case for bras. We’ll, I think because I’m a guy. 🙂 The ‘business opportunities’ came in as a surprise since it was an uncommon one and very serious at that.Ă‚Â While the mom who wishes for a birthday party for her son’s first birthday was quite touching. The last two were eccentric as a collection.
There were also heartwarming messages for NomNom like the one from FunHuntress.blogspot.com that says (http://funhuntress.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-grownup-christmas-list.html)
I’m really happy that bloggers come up with these kinds of contests that can change their readers’ lives.
…or somehow affect it at the very least, even if not ‘change.’ 🙂
There was also an entry where she wished to be linked from NomNomClub.com. She is StalwartsKryptonite. 🙂
There were a number of very good entries so I decided to select the Top 6 first and invite a co-judge who is a professional writer to help me in expertly selecting the grand winner. We’ll add our scores and average them.
Allow me to announce the top winner taking home the Starbucks USB next Sunday January 17, 2010. I would also reveal my co-judge at the same post. And because of that, I would add more prizes. The 2nd and 3rd place winners will not go empty handed. They would win a Starbucks gift certificate each.
Top 6 Entries for the Starbucks Coffee Philippines USB Falsh Drive
Here are the Top 6 Finalists (in no particular order):
Whew! These are all good in their own different ways. I just hope my co-judge would not be as torn as I am 🙂 It was a good 2009 and cheers to 2010!
January 4th, 2010 — Affairs, Promos / Events
In conclusion to the recent Yummy 2010 Planner giveaway, Yummy Magazine Associate Publisher Ms. Fran Haw has sent her winning choice comment-entry earlier.
She was initially torn between three entries including Stonibert Lim‘s and Don‘s. However, there should only be one winner, and that is — Ms. Iris Pulga with her winning comment-entry as early as the first day of the contest:
Yummy 2010 Planner Contest Winner
Congratulations Iris! You will be contacted via your comment & subscription email (which means you will also be receiving this email post 🙂 ).
Thank you all for participating, subscribing and being Facebook Fanpage and Facebook group members! You will be updated with the latest nomnom adventures, contests, and tips for the whole of 2010!
January 1st, 2010 — Affairs, Promos / Events
Ok, it’s nowehere near physical birthpains, but NomNom Club freshly started September 09, 2009 (09/09/09). And just like giving birth, starting a new blog has it’s own share of quirks and smirks. But thanks to your support, we have managed.
And as we start the new year of 2010, I foresee a bigger and better NomNom Club. 🙂 With more than 70 blog subscribers and more than 100 fans in Facebook and our Facebook group in barely four months, we are thankful for your appreciation.
We plan to give more servings of your favorite restaurant features in the metro. Sharing recipes is also on our wishlist. Expect more contests as well to make things more exciting for you guys. 🙂
Nomnomnom....food
And hopefully, a food tour for our first anniversary on September 2010.
Please do continue to support NomNom and I as we dine and share with you our nomnoms.
If you are not yet a NomNomClub.com subscriber, submit your email below.
You may also want to become a NomNom Club Facebook Fanpage member here =>
or NomNom Club Facebook Group here =>
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=254169613265
Bigaten sa 2010!
That is NomNom Club’s slogan for this year – ‘Bigaten’ sa 2010! 🙂
‘Bigaten,’ a conundrum or play of words from ‘bigatin,’ can literally mean ‘to get Big.’
I think this is an apt slogan for the year as it imbibes a positive outlook, plus the fact that this is a food blog where getting physically big is not a far-fetched result. But we’ll make sure to keep watch of our weights to stay healthy. 🙂
December 31st, 2009 — Cravings, Dessert, Makati, Nomnom Loves, Ortigas, places, Restaurants, Street Fare, The Fort, Where To Eat
Mini Stop's Ube Halaya Sundae
While walking along the streets of Makati the other night, I passed-by Mini-Stop along Pasong Tamo to satisfy my usual craving for cheap soft serve ice cream.
The last one I had was when it was still the Hershey’s Chocolate sundae flavor (which is yummy by the way).
To my surprise, I saw an ube colored poster and asked details about it. It turned out that it’s a new flavor which just started last Dec 28 in all of their branches – it’s Ube Halaya Sundae!
However, it’s on a Limited offer basis and most probably would only last for a week or two. So hurry up!
It seems that Mini-Stop is just testing the market for the flavor. It may come back later on if it does well.
Ube Halaya or Halaya Ube is a rich dark lavender purple color of sweet yam-jams usually stored in bottles found in local grocery shelves. It is made from a variety of sweet potato called purple yam (ube)
almost done 🙂
more Ube Halaya Sundae
It almost tastes like its real ice cream counterpart.
At P15 (USD 0.33), Mini-Stop‘s Ube Halaya Sundae is love. 🙂
Just have it in moderation though; powder-based soft serve ice-cream/sundae are not exactly healthy food. One Ube Halaya Sundae per day would do. 🙂 (kidding!) Nomnomnom….