Vanilla Cupcake Bakery

I have a sweet tooth. whenever I go out to eat meals, I will certainly look for a sweet treat that will pacify my taste. 

So after long walks after a satisfying lunch we went to try the cupcakes from this cozy bakeshop in UP town center. The place literally looks like a house of cupcakes; With the pink stripes on walls with a blue graze makes it favorable to the eyes of the children and me. :)) It makes me feel at ease to see a corner like this, It looks like a playhouse that came to life which makes the place more enjoyable to stay plus the luscious taste of the cupcakes. It feels like a wonderful playground where you can diminish your thoughts and worries for a while.

I indulged a Belgian chocolate cupcake (P100). There prices are a little bit competitive compared to other cupcake houses I’ve been. However each of their cupcakes are so stuffed. With the creaminess and fluffiness and the right amount of moisture with every bite, I guess it goes with every bucks that you have paid. It is best with coffee or unsweetened tea. :)

It’s a great place to hangout with the girls and to relax from a stressful day. ;)

© Christine Hazel Pineda

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Starbucks, BGC

Well told stories are always paired with a cup of coffee at midnight :) as I would say to my friends who won’t go home yet til it’s past  2 A.M. If we finish drinking or eating or partying like at 12 AM we would still go out and look for other things to do. We were never contented to just end the night with one place to go. We always love whether it will be restaurant hopping, bar hopping, or even house hopping. We always had fun every time we hang out. There were always hilarious things that will happen and great stories to be told. And for this night, we decided to go to starbucks. (yes, i don’t know but we’re clingy like this :D)

Photo © Lyle Patrick Hernandez

Starbucks besides the MC home depot at the Bonifacio Global City is one of my favorite places to go to feel cozy and homey. The place is spacious, even there were number of customers. Ambiance of a primordial filipino home with a touch of innovation. A taciturn place making it suitable for students to review for classes and exams. Provision of tranquilized ambiance which people love to relax and stop over here after a very demanding day. A corner where you can laze and loosen up with your friends. :)

Photo © Lyle Patrick Hernandez

Since it’s a chilly midnight I ordered my favorite, caramel macchiato hot coffee with blueberry cheesecake (yes, we love to eat, and drink lol). I lust how the cheesecake melts on my tongue and I love how the bitter taste of coffee bites with the sweetness of the caramel. Its heaven in a coffee. What else could I say,Starbucks coffee has innovated with all the concoctions to come out with the best flavors served today.

© Christine Hazel Pineda

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Casa Verde

Restaurant hopping has been a hobby with my awesome friends recently. So we tried different food gourmet places every time we meet each other once or twice a week. We’re browsing the internet for places with good eats. Then one of us refer Casa Verde at UP town center since he mentioned how tender and flavorful the steaks there.

We tried their signature steak the Brian’s ribs prepared with rice and corn. One serving is really a good deal; it can be shared by two people. If you’re really starving and you will surely be loaded after that luscious meal at the affordable price of P250. The steak serving is hefty topped with sweet and tangy sauce; the meat was tender as its also easily detached from the bone by which you will indulge consuming it all complimented with the corn bits served. 

with their proven tag line "Once you taste me, youʼll never forget me…"

We were really satiated with this dining experience; In this cozy place, with the affordability, the quantity and quality of the food served and of course the accommodation of the staff. 

We will definitely be re routing here again. I want to try their so-called biggest milkshake in town— Milky Way. We weren’t able to try this out because we were already stuffed and full we couldn’t take it all in. So we will just go here again and hit this one.

© Christine Hazel Pineda

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Wooden Spoon

A weekend is a great way to catch up with your friends and where is the most convenient place to be?— at the mall.

There we are thinking where to eat. My friends and I always have a mission: To try out different delish dishes everytime we meet and hang out. Then one of us suggested the wooden spoon at the ground floor of Rockwell Powerplant mall.

I admired the Filipino atmosphere of the restaurant. The lights decorated with hanging wooden spoons in a circular way make it look like classic chandeliers The chairs and couches carved with spoons. It’s really fabulous to see them innovate the Filipino cuisine.

There are variety of choice from their menu and we found these three dishes the most appealing to us: Dinuguan na bagnet, adobong Kangkong with lechon kawali bites, and Caldereta. If you’re not on a diet, this dinuguan is really satisfying with that crunch and crispyness with the traditional taste you’ll always look up for. The caldereta dish is really flavorful with a garnish of green olives. For the Kangkong topped with lechon kawali bites, hail to those who made this a concoction. The dishes were not the ordinary Filipino dishes we knew, they introduce it in a modern way but still with a taste of our heritage, Cheers to the chef and crew behind the twist.

What a dining experience! Great for sunday’s family dinners, meetings and to all tourists and balikbayans who wants to seize and enjoy the Filipino cuisine.

© Christine Hazel Pineda

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Milky Moustache

Milkshakes. Pancakes. Waffles. 

Suddenly it became in demand in the metro in whatever time of the day. I spotted this place on the internet when a friend of mine posted a photo of the food and drink served here. I messaged her immediately and asked where could i exactly find this place.

I was literally in awe with their food presentation I can really say that by simply looking at it I’m already satisfied; whirled whipped cream on top, different shake flavors contained in a mason jar, waffles finely lined on a plate. I was in a hurry to go in this place, luckily I have someone who lives just about the corner of Milky Moustache at Better Living Subdivision, Paranaque city. So, I texted my three bullly buddies and hurled them up to go immediately at this place.

When we went inside, I fell inlove with the interior, that thoughts and quotes written on the wall makes you feel inspired to face your everyday life, It’s also a great place to study, but my friends and I were so overwhelmed that we even chatted with the owner because at that time they were at there soft opening. We were so loud that we think we disturbed the people who are reviewing. My friend got a discount when he gave his opinion about the milkshake that he ordered. The crew was very accommodating and they were very open minded for suggestions. 

We scanned the menu for a while and asked the owner what are their bestsellers. She suggested the matchagreen tea milkshake, reese’s peanut butter (which unfortunately at that time was unavailable), kitkat, and cookies and cream.

I tried the salted caramel, for me it has an enhanced taste of salted caramel compared to starbucks as my other friend would say. For me it tastes great for a milkshake at that price. The kitkat also tastes good with the itsy bitsy bites down the shake that will make your teeth crunched the goodness. But the best of all as for the 4 of us is the matcha green tea milkshake, we’ve never tasted something like that before. 

This is an amazing spot to hangout with your friends or to review for your exams at night because they are up until 12 AM midnight, And a great way to jump start your day for a brunch since this branch opens at 9AM. This corner is easy to spot, their new location is near the Paranaque Doctors Hospital. If we will be hanging out at Paranaque again, we will definitely go back in this delight.

© Christine Hazel Pineda

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Mad For Pizza

Where to go in Quezon City? we were bumped by the traffic and the restos that we planned to try that afternoon was still close and will be open for about two hours or so. Since we’re really starving, we planned to just look for a another dining place to enjoy around QC so we stopped by the Il Terrazzo. We want to try something new, and we found the Mad for Pizza located at the 2nd floor. 

Upon entering we noticed the difference between the menus printed on the corners of their walls and the menu handed to us by the waitress; of course we wondered so we nicely asked the waitress and suggested to her that we think there’s a need to change that to avoid confusing the customers who will dine in and to keep the consistency of the establishment.

After browsing the menu on hand, we ordered two ‘make your own pizza’. Here, you can customize your own pizza. You will choose what pizza dough (10 inches)  the pizza sauce, and of course the toppings and it will be served at your table in 10 to 15 minutes. We chose the herb dough with barbecue sauce topped with parmesan cheese, bell pepper, meat chops, mushrooms and bacon strips. for the other pizza, we chose Garlic Parmesan dough with house pizza sauce topped with cheese, mushrooms, meat and bacon strips. I prefer the herb dough paired with barbecue sauce, it’s extraordinary.

Although they have ‘ready to order’ pizza in their menu, we chose to make our pizza for a different kind of experience and to discover different tastes and combinations.

We also tried their carbonara. This pasta serving can be shared by two to three people tops.

For us Filipinos,this pizza place is cool if you’re in for a snack. it wont make you stuffed like a main meal would do especially if you’re sharing with your buddies. For me, it would be more fun if we’re really the ones designing your own pizza, I know it would be kind of messy and all but I guess it could make them different from other fine pizza places in town.

© Christine Hazel Pineda

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Banapple Pies and Cheesecakes

My friends and I went out near Makati and we passed by Ayala triangle and since I’m starving, we’ve decided to drop by Banapple. I can say that you can eat here whether its for breakfast, lunch, snack or dinner because they offer a variety of meals, from cakes to breads to pasta to rice and steak.

I’ve tried their lasagna rolls ohhh heaven. Very reasonable for their price when it comes to presentation, tastes and quantity. I don’t know what else to ask for. After I finished my meal I couldn’t even afford to buy a slice of cake because I’m stuffed already.

So, I promised that I will come back to try some of their pies and cheesecakes soon. After two weeks,my friends and I went back to Banapple branch at Il Terrazzo, Quezon City.I love desserts. I wont be satisfied til I get something sweet inside my mouth. Banapple’s pies and cheesecakes are so stuffed and loaded with heaven, that when you finished a half of a slice you’re already full. LOL. Since I’m a chocolate lover, I tried the Snicker cheesecake, but still I recommend the Banoffee pie, it tastes like no other. It is indeed their signature pie.

 So if you’re really hungry and on a budget, Banapple is a good choice to quench that hungry belly of yours. The branch in Ayala Triangle gives you the ‘comfy’ ambiance with all the trees that surrounds Ayala triangle with its sweet breeze; the area is really relaxing and refreshing. The banapple branch in Il Terrazzo has a private area for party for children or for young adults like me who likes to indulge in sweet treats. haha. It’s a good place to hang out.

© Christine Hazel Pineda

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Mad Mark's Creamery and Good Eats

Mad Mark’s, I can say, was a great find. A cozy place to enjoy their delish dishes with your family and friends.

For the last couple of weeks, I’m indulging myself  together with my friends to enjoy different restaurants around the metro. 

We’ve tried Mad Mark’s branch at Glorietta 5 (2nd floor). The staff were very accommodating and very cheerful that suits the warm and joyful ambiance of the place. You can call for a reservation because this place tends to be full during dinner time and weekends.

I’ve tried their medium well signature steak (P265-100g steak with 2 side dishes; P495-for sharing with 3 side dishes). It’s affordable for that price for it will be really making you satisfied. The meat was tender topped with bootstrap steak sauce with three sidings: Corn and carrots, garden grains (fried rice with green peas and carrots), and bacon potato salad. Their tastes complimented each other.

Of course, every meal won’t be complete without any desserts (especially for a sweet tooth like me LOL); which Mad mark’s has a lot to offer. i will definitely come back to try the other sweet treats. We ordered Madagascar Milk shake (P175) which we asked the waiter of how they put that crunchy chocolate on the corner of that cold glass, brilliant isn’t it? haha. We also tried the Half baked Madagascar ice cream (P85/scoop); this ice cream is home made and it’s really a must try.It’s not so sweet but will make you crave for more ;) 

I really had fun trying this place out. Great dining experience. :) I’ll ask my friends to try their other dishes soon. ;) 

09/17/14

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© Christine Hazel Pineda