Reviews Corner

Attention fellow chocoholics! Heavenly Chocolates is turning ONE in July! Attached are the details for their free chocolate appreciation workshops for the months of June and July.

Yoshinoya is a break away from our more traditional fastfood place like Jollibee and McDonald’s. What I usually order in Yashinoya is their Gyudon (beef bowl) with green tea. I love their green tea, for sure. But there is always something about their Gyudon that’s a little too much for my taste. Their gyoza isn’t very remarkable as well. Their miso soup is also okay, nothing close to Hana’s of Little Tokyo. I could have a Yashinoya meal once in a while, but not very often.

The service crew of Yashinoya is good. I should say, better than most fastfood place in the metro. From their branch in Megamall to their more closer branch here in Stal. Lucia mall, consistent good service. Prices of food meals are all reasonable but you also can’t expect them to be very generous with their servings. So if you are taking some kind of diet pill, you don’t have to worry that you’ll eat too much.

The one place that I have taken for granted when we were still renting an apartment a few blocks away from this celebrated “gotohan” (porridge/congee place).  This is until I found out that it has been featured many times in television shows. People from all over the metro actually know what could easily be considered as a lowly cheapskate’s food place.  Their facade does not look better than your regular “carinderia.”  A food place that you will just about shrug off at first glance.  

tokwa – P7.00

lugaw with lomo – P23.00

their condiments

Last night, our total bill amounted to P107 (approx. $2.30).  So cheap yet I was so full! We ordered practically everything our tummies (the hub’s and mine) could hold. We were so tired and hungry. 2 orders of lugaw with lomo, 1 egg, 1 lumpia, 1 tokwa, 1 tokwa’t baboy and 2 bottles of Tropicana juice.

Tony &  Precy Gotohan in Comembo

Not sure about the address. All you really need to do is ask the people around when you get to Comembo, where the famous gotohan is, and anybody will point you to the location.

The country’s leading Japanese fastfood chain, Tokyo Tokyo, celebrates its 24th year by relaunching its bigger and crunchier Watta Tempura. Delight your taste buds from their current selection of Watta Tempura: MIXED SEAFOOD TEMPURA, PRAWN VEGGIE TEMPURA, ALL PRAWN TEMPURA, and TOKYO BENTO PRAWN and VEGGIE TEMPURA.

I’m sure by now you have seen Tokyo Tokyo Watta Tempura fun and catchy television commercials. This Watta Tempura craze will give you every reason to enjoy your prawns, black tiger ones no less, at no extra cost. No more having to settle for unsatisfying undersized meals. Check out  www.tokyotokyo.com  and go visit Tokyo Tokyo and have a taste of the Watta Tempura goodness at a branch nearest you.

Halo-halo Heaven is  a good alternative food place, located across Xavierville Subdivision, Quezon City. At first I got confused with two names for one place. Check out the signs:

Chocolicious Alternative Café

Halo-halo Heaven

The very first time we tried eating at Halo-halo Heaven was on February of this year. We were really not expecting anything spectacular, for we only went to that place for one food stop – Ababu Persian Cuisine. Ababu is a store away from Halo-halo Heaven. After having indulged in our favorite Persian place, we saw this brand new Halo-halo joint for the first time and decided to try it out.

Our group of seven was craving for Razon’s Halo-halo, but we thought we could try this alternative, while we were there. The server who was waiting on us guaranteed that their Halo-halo is better than that of  Razon’s. I actually had to raise a brow to that. But then again, I was open to welcome this prospective competition to my favorite Halo-halo.

You won’t miss the humor that they integrated with their menus. Like their selection of pasta dishes: eTUNApo ang spaghetti (tuna flakes, bell peppers, herbs in tomato sauce), Anak ng Tinapasta! (fried tinapa flakes in chunky tomato sauce) and Ang Gara Carbonara! (bacon bits in creamy white sauce) . All pasta dishes are priced below a hundred.

Going back to this Halo-halo wonder, we really have to give it to them that their halo-halo is superior to your regular fastfood place (yes, Chowking’s) or even the one that are easily available around the corner. And given that my benchmark for a good Halo-Halo is Razon’s, allow me to compare one from the other. Halo-Halo Heaven’s halo-halo is a couple of pesos cheaper than Razon’s. Shaved ice just like that of Razon’s. Aside from Razon’s regular, saba, macapuno and leche flan, Halo-halo Heaven threw in a couple more treats, a chunk of yummy Purple Yam on top by no less than The Good Shepherd’s. And this entertaining phrase from their tarpaulin should really say it all, “…at may surprise pa sa ilalim.” Really innovative and fun, if you ask me. Because you know what, the moment I got to that surprise, I did not regret trying out Halo-halo Heaven’s sweet treat.

What can be more delightful than Bizu’s Summer Sorbets and Yoga Cake to cool down the summer heat! This is what we were served with and a handful of other treats during the Bloggers Merienda 2 that was held in Bizu Patisserie and Café in Greenhills.

Bizu’s Summer Sorbets and Yoga Cake are probably two of the most innovative summer treats I have ever tried. The serving of Summer Sorbets consists of: Apple and Mint, Raspberry and Merlot, Passion Fruit and Mango, Lemon and Ginger and Lychee and Vanilla. The set is sold for P285. The sweet kicks you get from the fascinating play of each flavor in every concoction would just have you ask for more. My favorite from the Summer Sorbets collection is the Lychee and Vanilla. I would have delightfully finished a mugful without complaining, if I had the chance.

The passion fruits comes into serious sweet play in Bizu’s most recent masterpiece – The Yoga Cake. As a lover of yogurt, it is not difficult to fall in love with this treat. The complementing tastes of yogurt and custard,  topped with  passion fruits and the biscuits that hold the cake create a perfect blend for that ultimate summer indulgence. The Yoga Cake comes in three sizes: Personal – P165, Midi – P625 and Grande – P1,255. Make sure to spot and get a taste of the season’s finest: Bizu’s Summer Sorbets and Yoga Cake.

Alabang Towncenter
G/L Corte Delas Palmas, Alabang Town Center, Muntinlupa City
Tel. No.: 809-BIZU • 772-1917 • 772-1918

Greenbelt 2
G/L Greenbelt 2, Ayala Center, Makati City
Tel. Nos.: 757-BIZU • 757-4749

Glorietta 4
3/L Glorietta 4, Ayala Center, Makati City
Tel. Nos.: 757-2086

Greenhills
The Promenade, Greenhills Shopping Center
Tel. No.: 724-2498 • 726-2496

Arny-Dading’s Peachy Peachy is the best of its kind. It will only take a single bite to get hooked. A package of 20 pieces is sold for P100 (approx $2.17). By far we have only tasted the one generously topped with cheese. There is also a variety of grated coconut.

“Kakanin” is what Arny-Dadings’s Peachy Peachy is classified as- a classic Filipino snack. One of those that are usually called native rice cakes.  These yummies are made of grated cassava. It has always been called pichi-pichi, but for some reason, Arny-Dading got away with calling it peachy-peachy instead.

Some glutinous cakes would only be good if they come straight off the pugon or a regular oven, but this kind is as good and as soft even straight from the fridge. This succulent, slide down your mouth sweet nuggets of Arny-Dading’s Peachy Peachy will prove to satisfy you through and through, are for sale at the following branches:

MASINAG BRANCH
Corner Maries Village 2
Marcos Highway, Antipolo City
996.8764
C.RAYMUNDO BRANCH
3444 C. Raymundo Avenue
Pasig Blvd. Extension, Pasig City
583.9232

VALLE VERDE – E.RODRIGUEZ JR. BRANCH
U6 Cathay Builders Bldg.
E.Rodriguez, Jr. corner J.Caparas Street
Brgy. Ugong, Pasig City
T: 996.9944 / 482.1503

MARCOS HIGHWAY BRANCH
(Beside Morning Dew Montessori)
Cainta, Rizal
T: 996.8764

LIGAYA-SANTOLAN BRANCH
KM16 Marcos Highway
Santolan, Pasig City
257.5462

GREEN PARK – MANGGAHAN
306 Amang Rodriguez Ave. Manggahan, Pasig City
T: 996.9936

SHAW BLVD.-WACK-WACK
547 Shaw Blvd.
Mandaluyong City
232.8408

After having tasted various types of Halo-Halo, it is not difficult to conclude that the Razon’s Halo-Halo is probably one of the best, if not the best of its kind. For the benefit of those who do not know what Halo-Halo is, here’s a definition from Wikipedia:

Halo-halo (from Tagalog word halo, “mix”) is a popular Filipino dessert that is a mixture of shaved ice and milk to which are added various boiled sweet beans and fruits, and served cold in a tall glass or bowl.
There is no specific recipe for this dessert, and a wide variety of ingredients are used. The order in which the ingredients are added varies widely. Primary ingredients generally include boiled red mung beans(monggo), kidney beans, garbanzos, sugar palm fruit (kaong), coconut sport (macapuno), and plantains caramelized in sugar. Other components may include jackfruit (langka), star apple, tapioca or sago, nata de coco, purple yam (ube) or sweet potato (kamote), sweetened corn kernels or pounded crushed young rice (pinipig), leche flan or custard, ice cream and gelatin. Other fruits, such as papayas, avocados, kiwifruit, bananas or cherries, may also be added. Some preparations also include ice cream on top of the halo-halo.
Generally, condensed milk or evaporated milk is used instead of fresh milk, due to the tropical climate of the Philippines.

The seemingly complicated definition what Halo-Halo is, it can be said that technically, Razon’s Halo-Halo is not really Halo-Halo. All you see from their glass of dessert are shredded macapuno (from buco fruit), saba banana, topped with a couple of slices of leche flan. All that really made it Halo-Halo is that it is buried in crushed ice. No ice cream on top, very plain really.  But don’t let the simplicity of the package fool you into thinking that it tastes as plain.

one satisfied bunch

What made their Halo-Halo special is their finely crushed ice. The rich flavor of every single ingredient, albeit just a couple of fruits, with just the right amount of condensed milk make a very refreshingly sweet dessert. I recently just found a single prospective competitor to this delectable dessert, located along Xavierville Avenue in Quezon City. Something that deserves a new post altogether. But by far, Razon’s has my loyalty. Razon’s Halo-Halo is sold for P73 a pop.(approx.$1.59)

It was last Saturday, March 28, when Mr. Benjamin Pedro welcomed the hubby and me, alongside other chocoholics to Heaven a.k.a. Heavenly Chocolates. He conducted a very interesting seminar on the dynamics of chocolates, where it come from and basically its various different classes.

Heavenly Chocolates made way to my first ever relatively comprehensive type of Chocolates 101 subject. I couldn’t believe it took me 32 years before learning all those things, to think that I have always considered myself to be a hopeless chocoholic. My favor on chocolates have always leaned either to the dark ones or the Belgiany, smooth types. Sure I can tolerate all those in between but this particular sweet tooth loves the strong flavor of dark ones. I guess, as a person who is passionate about healthy stuff, it came when I first learned that dark ones are the healthiest of the bunch.

I figured then that smooth chocolates have a handful of other different types in its category. Boy was I for a great and sweet chocolatey spin!

The Chocolate Appreciation seminar got us to taste several kinds of chocolates and Mr. Pedro had us distinguish each type with its name. It’s just the most interesting that as chocolate as everything is, there is always a distinction of one type to another. With all the chocolate discussions Mr. Pedro tackled, I so made sure I got most of it documented. I cut each video to 10 mins. each to make sure that I get them posted on YouTube without fuss.

As a big migraine sufferer (and when I say big, I seriously mean BIG- it comes at a regular time every month), I really ought to be thankful that chocolate is not one of the things that trigger my migraine attacks. Cheese, lack of sleep, hunger, citrus fruits, bright yellow lights, but never chocolates. On the contrary, chocolate tops my list of comfort foods. I am so thrilled to know that in this side of the world, my cravings for chocolates can be satisfied right within the area of Roces Avenue in Quezon City, which is better known as Heavenly Chocolates.

*thanks to Iris of PinayAds.com for some of the grabbed photos

Tofu Steak did not exactly sound very appealing to me, but it was what I had during my last visit at Conti’s. The very first time my family and I tasted what Conti’s has to offer, we were instant believers. Mango Bravo was to die for. I dined in with my good friend, Beth. Greenhills branch this time, it took us quite a while before we finally got to order. We wanted to try everything but there is only so much that our tummies can hold. She decided on trying out the Supreme Pasta something. I did not really pay attention. I took note of what I ordered.  I chose it is because of this “must-try” sticker on the menu.  Pretty lame excuse, but I’m sure glad to have succumbed to its call.  

I actually did not expect much from Conti’s Tofu Steak. For P195 (approx. $4.25), I actually got to have a taste of probably one of the yummiest health food I have ever tried and what’s neat about it is, it did not put a whole in my pocket. If dinner is always this healthy I’m sure I wouldn’t have to go check for diet pill that works.

This yummy dish consists of  healthy stir fried tofu and seasoned shitake mushrooms, served with kani salad and Japanese fried rice. I love Conti’s because of the distinct taste of their every dish. There are some restaurants that are so predictable. You get five different dishes and they kind of all taste the same. This is not the same with Conti’s. Aside from the rich taste of their dishes, they also serve in generous amounts.  You will actually step out of the restaurant full-filled. And as much as I would love to order Tofu Steak on the next visit, I am compelled to try yet another dish. I really loved the Tofu steak, I hope I have said that enough.