Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Does cream puff make you happy?

Few things sound more succulent than "cream puff". One can almost taste the custard and smell buttery goodness upon hearing those two words. I'm not a big fan of cream puffs because I don't like caramel, and cream puffs here are smothered with it. A Japanese style cream puff store goes against the customary version, though, offering light as air puffs filled with moderately sweet and equally light custard inside. Introducing Happy Cream Puff.

I read somewhere that this is owned by a Japanese couple whose first venture is somewhere in the south. They recently opened a store in Makati (near New Bombay, which is how I stumbled into said establishment) for a bigger market.

There are so many varieties to choose from. The small cream puffs are P20 apiece, and range from original (sugar coated) to more exotic ones like cocoa power and dark chocolate with almond. We tried the dark chocolate with almond and white cholocate.



The flavors aren't so present; the chocolate doesn't taste like chocolate-- just cheap flavor coating of some sort. Then again, perhaps it needs to be sweeter to make the flavor distinct. Since the puff is not sweet and filling isn't thick, you won't feel so guilty afterwards. This isn't necessarily a good thing, since the tendency is to go for another piece because you didn't feel that heaviness which desserts provide to signal the end of a meal. For curiosity's sake, I'd say P20 is cheap, but for how it tasted, it's too expensive. Good thing I'm still not a fan of cream puffs.

The bigger cream puffs are P35 apiece. There are also elongated varieties such as the eclair, and cream puffs with whipped cream and fruits. Apparently, the Japanese like their puffs with whipped cream. It's good to know there's this Japanese variety for people to try (cultural enlightenment, people!). I''m sure Beard Papa isn't too happy about the news of competition though, as it doesn't seem to be doing well as it is.

You can buy a box of assorted cream puffs for P180, or opt for one flavor in boxes of 3, 6(?) or 8. I get why it's called Happy Cream Puff. Just look at that picture! Anyone who receives this box as a pasalubong won't be able to help but smile.

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New Bombay I love

Oh I'm loving Indian food. On any given bad day, pop the thought of naan into my head and I'm ok. But you better buy me dinner at New Bombay.


I love spices; I love spicy food. Thai and Indian restaurants thrill me because I get cultural enlightenment aside from guttural satisfaction. Pictured above is the Non-Vegerarian Tandoori Platter of New Bombay, Yuchengco Museum branch. You get this plate that can be shared by three people for only P500 bucks! I can't believe how cheap it is, considering the prime location and nice interiors. The plate is a smorgasbord of chicken, mutton, fish and prawn, all cooked in tandoori. I thought the quantity meant quality would suffer, but I was delightedly wrong!

Just look at the beautiful colors on this plate:


It makes me want to run to New Bombay right now.

What made me fall in love with the restaurant, though, is really the breads. The naans and chapati are HUGE, and for only P55-P70. Other Indian restaurants only offer half the size of bread for the same price.

An Indian manager supervises the operations. Come 7pm, expect the place to be filled by Indian expats and office workers from buildings nearby. It's one of the cleaner Indian restaurants with good exhaust system (a very important consideration for me) out there. It's also very convenient to commute from the restaurant as buses stop right in front of it crossing Ayala straight to Buendia. The only thing I don't like about this restaurant is the walls are all clear glass, so everybody can see you from outside from any angle. I was extremely self-conscious as first, but when I got my hands on the warm chapati and my tastebuds were swimming with the smokey, spicy flavor of tandoori and curry, everything else didn't matter. After all, authentic Indian eating is all about the mess-- they don't even use utensils to scoop curry!


P.S. I watched Slumdog Millionaire that night in a totally non-related impulse. Or was it?
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