Le Petit Artisan

Location: Greenbelt 5, Makati City

Isn't our little V-day picnic basket purdy? :)

That's raisin bread from a newly-opened French pastry shop in Greenbelt 5, Le Petit Artisan. The experience with Alexandre still fresh on my mind, I wasn't keen on being cuckolded again into buying overpriced bread just because some French guy is in the shop. But when we passed it on Friday night before our breakfast picnic, B couldn't resist checking it out. I must admit, I was also drawn by the rows of bread baskets lining the walls.

We were only supposed to look. But B succumbed to the croissants silently beckoning from the glass display shelf on the counter.

He bought a chocolate croissant, as butter croissant weren't available at the time. Although he's not big on chocolate, he thoroughly enjoyed his pastry which we noted was bigger and had more chocolate than that of Alexandre's.

Speaking of Alexandre's, the French guy running the bakery also chatted us up. We were wondering about the variety of bread loaves, and when he said that all breads are whole-wheat, sugar-free and yeast-free, I was sold. However, appealing as all the breads were, I'd just seen a Paris episode of Giada's Weekend Getaway the previous Sunday, so I knew raisin bread was the perfect choice for a French breakfast al fresco.

We had our raisin bread loaf sliced, and while waiting for it we voiced our observation that the bakery's croissants seem larger than those of Alexandre's. At the mention of the rival French bakery, all hell broke lose.

Mr. James shared with us his outrage towards a popular Filipino food blogger (his website begins with the letter O) who wrote about Le Petit Artisan. He confirmed our suspicion that this blogger is a major free-loader who writes biased reviews based on the freebies he gets. Apparently, at Le Petit Artisan, he didn't get the recognition nor courtesy he usually receives in other restaurants (good ol' Frenchies), although Alexandre did so. The result is raving reviews on Alexandre, while a mere pfft on the Mr. James' croissants. Poor little artist! Joke's on the blogger though, as you can see from one reader's comment after his bashing:

I wouldn't bother repeating the other things Mr. James said. After all, B and I could judge for ourselves which of the two made better bread and pastry. It made sense too, as Mr. James, the French head baker, has been baking privately for elite clients for a long time since coming to the Philippines. It was only recently that the group behind Max Brenner's Philippines convinced him to fully commercialize his breads.

How to tell a good croissant according to Mr. James: when you pull the croissant horizontally, it should ribbon apart and not crumble or split into two. Because Alexandre's croissant was dense and a bit moist, I can imagine it ribboning a little but mostly splitting.

Before leaving the store, I asked for tips on how to best enjoy our raisin bread. Mr. James said to toast it and add just a little honey or jam. The next day, though we didn't bother toasting the bread since we were going on a long drive, it was still soft and fragrant with the smell of california raisins and walnuts.

We had it with honey (myself) and strawberry jam (B), although we would've been equally satisfied having it plain with 3-in-1 Nescafe coffee mix care of Sierra Madre Hotel and Convention Center.

It was truly a perfect way to say, Bonjour, mon ami! :)

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Alexandre, Authentic French Bakery

There's a new french bakery that B read about in a blog. It's reportedly authentic, being owned by a French guy with recipes by his family. To pass the time before my dinner appointment with college friends, we decided to have a chic merienda.

It wasn't easy to find this small patisserie in Global City, and it didn't help that B forgot the name. We located it near the Grand Hamptons condo and triumphantly found a parking space (albeit paid) across.

The look of the place, even from outside, has "expensive" plastered all over it. We guessed that the foreigner who was the lone customer for the night busily working on his laptop was the owner.

View from inside

We chose to occupy the big couch near the entrance to get as far away from the staff as possible. It was very cosy and the lighting was romantic. Because the glass reflects the restaurant interior, you feel secluded even though the truth is everyone can see you from outside.

Posh interior

At the counter, we couldn't decide what to order. The server kept insisting on trying their pizza. She kept selling it even though we told her twice we're looking for something light as we still have a dinner to go to.

After a while, the owner (Alexandre) finally intervened and introduced to us the various items on the menu. He was very proud of the loaves of bread which were brought out on a wooden tray for our benefit, and he too tried to convince us to order a pizza. He said they just developed the recipe the day before. When I heard they have rye bread, I decided to buy a loaf as dark rye was what I lived on back in Sydney.

We decided to sample the pastries. What could be more French than croissants? We were surprised at the prices for such small croissants, however, and when we were told those on display were the grande size, we could not help but wonder how the petit ones look like.

Butter croissant (Php50) with brewed coffee

Never having been to France, I can't say I'm a good judge of what an "authentic" croissant should taste like. But according to my research, it should be flaky on the outside while being airy soft inside. It should be buttery but not greasy.

Alexandre's butter croissant was buttery and dense inside, which made up for the small size. Maybe because we went at dusk, but the pastries were no longer fresh and so the croissants were not as soft as they should be. The crust wasn't fall-apart-at-the-touch-of-your-fork flaky, but not greasy either as commercial croissant usually is. In fact, I didn't make as much mess as I always do when eating croissant.

Pain au Chocolat (Php60)

The chocolate croissant had just the right amount of chocolate filling so that it didn't taste like dessert. They use real chocolate that's rich but not too sweet.

Our big disappointment was the coffee. At first we found the coffee reasonably priced at Php95 for regular size, but it turns out it's because it tastes like barako coffee which means it was coarse and there were dregs at the bottom of the cup. Having had mine black, I was not able to finish my mug.

We noticed that the coffee table is decorated with coffee beans underneath the glass.

We stayed in the restaurant long after the unfinished coffee had gone cold. The place became more romantic as the night wore on. Nobody bothered us and the few customers that came in only bought bread loaves to take away.

Overall, we felt we got our money's worth with the ambiance, excellent service and good food. I am actually excited to come back in the morning for the Breakfast Bonjour Php250, made up of a basket of assorted fancy breads, a plate of petit croissants (butter, chocolate & almond), accompanied by honey, strawberry & mango marmalade with a choice of any regular size of hot beverage. Surprisingly a good deal, considering it's a breakfast at the Hamptons! :D

Checkout Alexandre's Facebook page. This guy definitely knows how to make use of social networking.

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Late-night Italian at Padrino

Location: A-Venue Mall, Jupiter St. Makati City

Because we tried to catch the 6:30pm showing of a movie that turned out to be disappointing anyway, we didn't have dinner until 9:00pm when we were finally able to decide where to eat. Ever the pasta-lover, B wanted Italian food and suggested a place called Padrino where he had a good dining experience once, some time ago.

Padrino is in the ground floor of A. Venue Mall, developed only two years ago by Antel Group. I remember my first trip there to be also my first taste of the Sicilian Pizza, a reasonably priced Italian fastfood that's now everywhere where there's a university.

Padrino is created by the same people from L'Opera Ristorante Italiano in The Fort. B has raving reviews about L'Opera as THE ONLY Italian restaurant in Manila. But L'Opera is not only known for authentic and quality food but its gastronomic price range as well. That said, we were surprised to see the price list of Padrino, which is even cheaper than restaurants in Greenbelt.

The good thing is, lower price didn't equate to lower quality. The service was also good. On the table:

Complimentary bread basket with sweet butter, liver pate and tomato salsa

Spaghetti Alla Pescatora (Php300) As you can see, it is teeming with seafood, unlike some restaurants that give you one or two clam shells, two squid rings and call it seafood pasta. B could not find anything wrong with this dish (a rare occasion!).

Wurstel Classic (Php300) described on the menu as "An Italian country side version of a hotdog made with hearty serving of grilled Italian sausage served on grilled homemade bread." Until today, I can't believe I ate those two sausages by myself! Either I'm German at heart or I was just hungry.

Aside from the bread, there were steamed vegetables with parmesan, grilled onions and potato chips on the side. The bigger one on the left was not really tasty, just very salty; I remember having to salvage it with a lot of ketchup. Looking back, maybe I should have sliced the sausage and made everything into a sandwich? I did NOT eat everything on that plate at least.

We knocked back a couple of beers (Php45/bottle!!!) with the food. It helped me appreciate the loud music courtesy of the DJ in the restaurant. We're not sure if it's because we met the owner of the restaurant or service and food are normally that excellent. Too bad the presence of foreigners dining with Filipina hookers was off-putting; then again nobody asked us dine in a place across Makati's Red Light District.

The restaurant's loud music is fully heard outside to attract customers who want to chill some place al fresco. Padrino's Php300 pizzas and cheap beer are definitely a hit among groups.

When we got the bill, we were given coupons that said free pizza for Php500 purchase on our next visit. Mine was until January 31 only; good thing B's coupon is not dated. Padrino may not be an ideal date place, but it's definitely a good one to get together with friends.

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The Bestest Best Steak that doesn't seem like Steak

Location: Dusit Thani, Makati City

If one day you wake up with thoughts of meat filling your head, when you're feeling so carnivorous that you can eat a pony, stop yourself before you head to the nearest steakhouse. If you're going to have yourself a piece of beef, by all means treat yourself to the best with Umu's Wafu Steak. I am not exaggerating when I say that you'll die happy if it's the last meat dish you will eat. Well actually, no, you will be sad because you won't be around to have it again.

I know this blog is turning out to be a declaration of passion for Japanese cuisine. Is it obvious that Jap food has a big following among Filipinos? In our case, it's the default option when we're not feeling adventurous; our tried and tested Japanese restaurants always let us go home happy and feeling healthy. Sometimes though, it's nice to discover new Japanese restaurants reserved for special occasions.

Umu is located in Dusit Thani Hotel in Makati City. You will never imagine a fantastic Japanese restaurant in a Thai hotel, but there you go.

I'm going straight to the highlight of our dinner and move backwards from there. The steak I want to describe deserves nothing less.

When the Wafu Steak arrives at the table, it devilishly casts its onion-and-meat aroma towards you, pleasuring the olfactory senses until you realize you've got your nose half an inch away from the bowl. The plating is beautiful: all pinks, browns and reds. You can tell that the beef is a perfect medium-rare by its pink center, while the browned exterior means it's seared just enough to seal in the juices. Spring onion, red peppercorn and garlic flakes (I think, if not potato strings) are used to garnish the dish.

I can't describe enough how mind-blowing the beef is. It's soft and so so juicy... like really tender pork meat. I don't like steak because I end up wanting to spit out the chewy beef after sucking the juice. The unbelievable un-chewiness of the Wafu Steak is a revelation to me. The sauce is sweet and peppery. It was so good that when all the beef was gone, we seriously considered taking away the remaining half-centimeter of sauce!

And now for the rest of what went down. Since we opted to sit outside on the patio to afford the view of a pond with koi and waterfalls, the pictures were taken with the Night Shot setting. The result was ten minutes of picture-taking everytime a dish arrived before we could get a nice shot! Please appreciate my effort! :D

View of restaurant interior from the patio

Complimentary Tuna while waiting for our dishes. The pieces were chunky in a light sweet sauce. It was a little dry for me so I gave most of it to B.

The Sashimi Gosyumori seems to be Umu's most requested signature dish. Comprised of five different sashimi around a box of dry ice, its arrival is an event of its own. Since the sashimi are Chef selected, they vary from time to time.

We were looking forward to some uni but ours had grouper (or maybe red snapper) instead, along with salmon, tuna, kampachi and one more we couldn't identify. Presentation aside, we liked the freshness of all the sashimi.

This is Kaki-Furai or deep-fried oysters. There were three oyster shells, each sitting on their own bed of salt and containing two pieces of Kaki-Furai. Chili, tomato and an unidentified herb garnish the tempura dish and lend a spicy-tangy kick. The oysters did not have a funny after-taste to them, which means they were fresh.

The Miso Soup (not pictured. Hello, it's soup) came next and finally the Wafu Steak. After the meal, we took some pictures around the restaurant. Umu was actually nominated for best restaurant interior design in Asia some years ago, and we could definitely see why.

The hallway of the restaurant

I love the kimono-esque upholstery

Orchids

Some floral plant I see around in most commercial establishments

Yakiniku area

The staff even let us play around and took our picture :)

For more privacy, there are rooms like these which you can reserve. It opens up to the garden so it must be nice here during daytime. I was not able to take pictures of the pond but I'm sure it's nicer during the day too.

The only thing I can complain about Umu is that when you sit out in the patio, it becomes hard to get service because it's so dark that the staff can't see you from inside. It would be nice to put more lights out there, or at least have someone regularly check for customers needing a glass of water or waiting for their bill.

A four and a half star dining experience. Ohh that lip-smacking steak... Seriously, it's a sin to live in Manila and not try it.

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Stockmarket, Bonifacio High Street

I did not know that the restaurant, Stockmarket, is by Del Monte. The poor choice of name does not give off images of fresh produce on a platter. Instead, along with the architectural design, it makes you think of an uptight restaurant that serves pea-sized, insanely expensive artificial food for heartless finance moguls.

This fact becomes clear though with the racks of Del Monte canned products and fresh pineapples that greet you upon entering. The servers' uniform (green and khaki) also scream farm-fresh vegetables and healthy menu items. The interior design tried to achieve a country-kitchen feel, what with the white wooden furniture, mocha-colored seat cushions, walls with framed recipe pages and glasses with pineapple design lined up against them. Sadly, it failed in execution with the result of being torn between chic and modern, and homey and nostalgic.

Fortunately, the food was its saving grace, although it wouldn't hurt for Dole to give more value for customers' money. I mean, it IS Del Monte already.

I wanted a light dinner so I went for the berries-something-salad. Essentially, a salad made of lettuce, mango, grapes, strawberries, blue cheese and walnuts. The "berries" part was the sauce-- a puree of mixed berries which did not taste artificial and had just the right amount of sweetness. B liked it a lot. For the price though (Php295), they could've been more decent with the strawberry serving, as what I had in my giant plate was one tiny strawberry sliced into four.

I noticed how B likes to have pasta on weekend dates. I guess it's the romantic/traditional in him. His tomato-based pasta with salmon was light without sacrificing taste. The salmon was cooked and seasoned perfectly.

The Ice Cream Bar by FIC (Fruits in Ice Cream) has opened inside Stockmarket, so you can have your fix of fruity ice cream after dinner. But I can't think of anyone who'd want FRUIT ice cream after having a fruity meal already.

We had a satisfactory dinner at the Stockmarket. Next time, I will order the Pineapple Harvest Salad-- a salad arranged inside a cored pineapple-- which we spotted being brought to one of the tables. I look forward to coming back in the afternoon to experience the place and food in daylight. Perhaps I will appreciate the interior design better.

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Threesome at Tsumura

I remember every single date I've been with B's Granny. All in all, the three of us have gone out exactly six times. And of course, on each date, I'm the third wheel.

I'm sure B doesn't mean it, but he always chooses intimidating places. You know, where you actually have to talk while eating, and the servers purposely leave you alone to do just that. Not that I don't like talking to Granny; don't get me wrong, I adore her. She exudes fierceness in a good way. I just don't wish to see that fierceness in action, like, ever, so I tend to be meek around her. Meek becomes me, actually, but it is so so boring.

Oh yes, restaurant review.

On our third date as a threesome, B chose his family's favorite Japanese restaurant-- second to Kikufuji-- Tsumura, in Salcedo Village, Makati. When I first heard his raves about this place, I couldn't believe there's a Japanese restaurant on the second floor of the building I used to pass by on the way to work every morning. When I finally had the chance to try it, alas, I was no longer working in Makati.

My first impression of Tsumura was highly influenced by everything I had previously heard from B, although at first the modern interiors made me doubt its authenticity. But seeing Japanese families and several obviously loyal local customers arriving as dinner time rolled around put my mind at ease.

We didn't take a picture of every dish that came out, but here are a few that made it (and rightfully so):

This was among our appetizers, along with Assorted Sashimi and the ever-present California Mango Maki. The salad was light and refreshing-- a perfect opening for tastier, richer entrees, such as this one:

Usuyaki

This is one of my memorable dishes of 2009. Maybe it's because I seldom eat beef, so when I taste an exquisitely prepared beef dish, the eruption of flavors in my mouth is ten times more intense. Pictured above is mushrooms wrapped in thinly sliced beef. The sauce is just a little sweet and not as salty as most teriyaki dishes are in other restaurants. The combination of mushroom and beef results in a powerful punch of meatiness in contrasting textures: slippery soft shitaake bursting from juicy, chewy beef. As is my quirk when something is too good to eat, one piece took forever to finish on my plate. I kept sampling other things in between little bites. :)

We also ordered Dobinmushi, a clear seafood soup that comes in a clay pot. It has a roast taste and when drizzled with lemon juice, is a refreshing accompaniment to any dish. Granny ordered the Hamachi Head Shio Yakimono, which is grilled young yellowtail fish head, while I ordered the Sanma Shio Yakimono (mackerel). Hamachi is firmer and tastier than Sanma, so it is more expensive. Usuyaki is actually B's main dish.

Nothing still beats the humble fish I had over at Yamazaki, but the overall experience-- excellent food quality, attentive and smiling servers (with Japanese-speaking manager), clean interiors-- in Tsumura is worth coming back for and paying the extra penny(-ies). By comparison, Little Tokyo restaurants seem dirty with service that's below par for Japanese standards, but I guess that's their charm in the first place.

Tsumura is a must visit Japanese restaurant in my book.

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Hong Kong chow (Junk Food con't)

One of the street foods in HK I love. People really line up for this. It's like a bed of eggnogs served in a paper bag. You eat it by peeling the "eggs" one at a time. It tastes like thin pancake that's crunchy when hot and hollow inside. If you let it cool a bit, it gets the texture of a soft biscuit.

It's a filling, neat snack to have in the afternoon on the go. But I can also imagine having this for breakfast with some jam :)

Aside from this, the stall also sells waffles, curry fish balls and various beverages like sugar cane juice and coconut milk. This is very popular in Causeway Bay.

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Hong Kong chow

My recent visit to Hong Kong was less shopping and more food trip compared to 2008. Here are some of me and my family's chows in busy busy Hong Kong, where people are hungry 24/7.

Chinese food

Our hosts in Hong Kong threw lauriat for us practically every meal. Here in Manila, I try to avoid going to parties because I'm so tired of the usual Chinese fare during weddings, birthdays and everything in between. It's a different story in Hong Kong though. Everybody knows Hong Kong is not only a shopping mecca, but a foodie's dream too. The best Chinese chefs are either in Hong Kong or in Macau. Sometimes, they're not found in restaurants but in some grimy, cramped side-street eatery in front of which people would line up to get inside.

Of all the restaurants dined in, no two same entrees were cooked identically. The abundance of exotic and ocean-fresh seafoods like this giant abalone (below), not the mention the variety of mushrooms, vegetables and meat imaginatively prepared, made each meal feel like a luxurious food adventure.

By the way, this dish was served during the wedding we attended. I took a picture because my mom said it's very expensive. :p

... and I took a picture of the one above because I thought it's beautiful. Look how green the broccoli is!

After hours of walking and shopping, the best thing to do in Hong Kong is find a small eatery for authentic Chinese snacks! We noticed an especially tiny restaurant at the market that was always full everytime we passed it. My mom wanted to settle on buying pastry in one of the ubiquitous bakeshops Bread Talk style that seems to be the 'in' thing now. I convinced her to try the canteen instead.

Like most eateries in Hong Kong, the canteen has a stand outside where passersby can grab soy milk, various buns, or sticky rice to go. There were two women attending customers. Both can't understand either fookien or Mandarin, so we had to do our best with hand gestures. Good thing they have pictures of the menu on the walls. The tables inside are meant for two people, but four of us squished together in one. The result is a road block in the teeny eatery, but I figured if people were determined to eat, they wouldn't mind.

On to the food!

Below is fried buns with vegetable and meat inside. I only had a bite and gave the rest away because it was too oily. If you don't mind the grease though, this steaming bun is tasty and filling for an afternoon snack.

The egg on the plate is what my aunt says is called "tea egg," which I take to mean egg cooked in tea. It's supposed to be tastier then ordinary boiled egg, but I didn't try it. The way the eggs are cooked is shown below. That pot is outside the canteen.

The eatery's specialty is soy bean curd or taho. For an additional $3, the regular taho can be made special with toppings like sweet potato, red beans, jelly or fruits. We chose the basic one for $5 a cup. We weren't given the dark syrup usually poured over taho, also called arnibal, which is mainly sugar. Instead there was a jar of orange sugar and a pitcher of orange liquid on the table for the taho. The orange liquid is diluted sugar, so you can put whichever you prefer. A small amount of sugar was enough for the entire cup. I'd like to know what the sugar is called. Although the bean curd wasn't as soft and silky as we expected, it was delicious and refreshing.

I would've taken more "real food" pictures, but every dish was great anyway and some situations made it too embarrassing.

Junk food

When we weren't eating banquet meals, we were eating burgers and other junk food. Hehe. Here are some of the pictures I took.

Lamb burger set meal at ThreeSixty, Elements Shopping Mall

I forgot that I don't like lamb or goat burger when I ordered this. It's a lebanese take on burger, but I didn't like the dressing which is akin to hummus. I like my mustard and pickles and sometimes even tomato sauce in my burger. It was nothing compared to the Big N' Tasty burger I tried in McDonald's there, which I can't wait to write about.

Swedish meatballs at Ikea Bistro

I enjoyed this one, although basically they reminded me of Jollibee's burger steak in balls instead of patty-style. The sauces are cranberry and some mushroom-cheese gravy.

Finally, dessert! At the Hong Kong 44th Brands and Products Expo at Victoria Park, my dad and I had our very first durian ice cream. We couldn't resist because everyone--young and old-- was walking around with a huge ice cream cone in hand.

I have to say, at first lick you wouldn't like it because of the strong durian flavor. But at least it's not a rip off right? So you go and take a second lick, just because the cone is huge and after all, the pale yellow color is still appealing. And then surprisingly, it gets better as you continue to eat it. The creaminess of milk was a good match to neutralize the foul odor of the fruit, and together the flavor is exotic, rich and not too sweet for ice cream.

Here's a picture of my dad in front of the stall at the expo. Some fruit flavors are made into ice cream on the spot with frozen fruit pieces. The durian flavor is the most expensive though, which I'm sure added to people's hesitation. I'm glad we tried it because it was one of my most memorable experiences during the trip. If it wasn't so expensive, I'll even sell it in the Philippines!

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Chinese food galore at Shang Palace

Location: Makati Shangri La

Before I left for Hong Kong last December, B's grandmother invited B and I for a pre-New Year lunch since I wouldn't be around on the actual celebration. We went there without a reservation, and considering it was a Sunday, we were lucky to get a table. According to our server, only one family is responsible for filling almost the entire place that day. We guessed they must be a regular in the hotel restaurant.

What can I say about the dining experience? Everything was fantastic, from the interiors to the service which was attentive, courteous and quick. The food was superb--authentic and far from the hodgepodge cooking of some Chinese-claiming restaurants in Manila. While we weren't able to take a picture of everything, we managed to capture some of the more presentable dishes.

This is rice cooked in soy sauce with minced vegetables and meat, wrapped in yam leaves. I don't know exactly what it's called and what ingredients are in it but I'm guessing you can eat this on its own, like kiampong or the Chinese version of paella.

Eat the rice with this fried prawns in orange sauce though and you'll find yourself going for seconds and third servings. This is seriously very good, but you can't eat it without at least plain steamed rice as the sweet flavor is too strong. There's a nice size of prawn inside that's meaty, tender and gently flavored to offset the sweet and sour sauce.

The winner of them all! Fried gindara in some light soy sauce. It took me forever to finish my fillet because I wanted it to last forever, and at the time our rice hasn't arrived. I was also afraid that if I ate it quickly, I'd want another one, and there was only one for each. Like the prawns, this is best eaten with plain rice. The restaurant manager recommended this dish, and although it's pricey (Php300 each), we were glad to have listened to her. The fish is crunchy without being too oily, with the meat flaky but not dry. I could've been sighing with every bite.

Other dishes that aren't pictured are ravioli soup (clear soup with mushroom and pork ravioli) and beef stew in special chef stock (Chinese version of corned beef in stock, with vegetables). The experience reminds me of the saying, "When you feel hungry, follow the Chinese; they will surely go where food is good."

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Chocolate Kiss Cafe, Sct. Tobias QC branch

Location: Quezon City

This is one of my restaurant review backlogs from last year. Back in college, I had to be in UP on Saturday mornings to be with Special Olympic athletes as part of my duties as a member of the Ateneo Special Education Society. The grounds where we'd jog and do exercises with the special children was behind UP's Bahay ng Alumni, so by lunch time, my orgmates and I could usually be found in Chocolate Kiss rewarding ourselves. Most people would say that the restaurant is more ideal for a romantic date though, and I'd have to agree as it's quite pricey for a normal uni student's allowance. Plus, its ambiance is conducive for quiet talks over cakes and coffee.

Chocolate Kiss is a combination of Italian and Filipino restaurant. Aside from the chocolate cake, it is famous for its iced tea which is real tea with honey. I have good memories of dining in the restaurant, but not because of the food per se. It's more of the place being a venue for once-a-week splurge impulses or whenever there's a special occasion. After college, I forgot about the restaurant until I saw a branch near Tomas Morato last year. One night after work, I decided to visit it out of nostalgia.

The interior is not as nice as the one in UP. There were only a few customers at the time despite it being the peak of dinner hour. If I remember correctly, the menu in UP's Chocolate Kiss is comprised of entrees that are more foreign. In this branch, the menu is locally inclined, including rice toppings like the ones shown below.

Tapa with rice and fried egg

Adobo flakes with rice and fried egg

I have nothing special to say about the food, except that it doesn't justify the prices. I was disappointed with Chocolate Kiss for adopting these dishes which I think murders its entire appeal. Then again, not everyone knows about the original Chocolate Kiss in UP. It can just as well be yet another Filipino restaurant-cafe indistinguishable from others in Quezon City. To make matters worse for Chocolate Kiss, my companion and I both felt we could've had the same dishes in Banapple, Il Terrazo, and enjoyed more while paying less. For desert, we ordered the angel--or was it devil?--cake (first picture) which was chocolate chifon cake thickly topped with sugar icing.

Though I don't recommend this restaurant, I'll still go back to the original branch if only for an afternoon date over iced tea, in a quiet corner by the window where I can see the blue sky and grassy field, and reminisce about simpler days long gone.

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Sugar craving!

My breakfast today was chocolate. Before going to work, I decided I needed a sugar high (plus caffeine) to be chatty enough to do sales talking. My new job does give me good excuses...

I popped in David Jones confectionery section to get a few grams of lollies. Given that David Jones is Oz's poshest department store following Harrod's, I assumed that the confectionery would be of premium quality.

Check out this milk chocolate ginger:

I'm not a fan of ginger, and the idea of a candied one automatically warrants a recoil response. But curiosity got the better of me (doesn't it always) and I decided to gamble a few cents. Who knows, I could be discovering a hidden gem in the combination of chocolate and ginger! As soon as I got my small bag of goodies, I took a bite... nom nom nom... tasted regular creamy milk chocolate (below par, actually) and, lo and behold, super sweet hard jelly with strong ginger taste. I stared at the remaining piece in my hand (pictured above). The candy in the center is green and, upon close observation, you can see real ginger fiber. Without thinking twice, I chucked the rest in the nearest bin. My life is too precious to waste on fecking ginger anything.

Next, I tried my luck on milk chocolate pineapple. I like pineapple, but the combination never occurred to me before. I saw the hint of yellow underneath the chocolate coating and thought it must be the pineapple fruit. I was so sure I'd like it.

But the core turned out to be some sort of candy with marshmallowy consistency and there wasn't the tiniest suggestion of pineapple at all. While chewing, I had to recall what flavor of chocolate it was that I had on my hand. I ate the rest of the thing, if only because I thought the ginger chocolate made me develop a taste bud block and the pineapple flavor would come to me on the second bite. I should've chucked it in the bin as well.

Sizes of each chocolate

Needless to say, I was disappointed with David Jones. Call yourself posh! The lady on the counter contributed to the bad experience further. She kept assuming I was done with my selection of lollies even though I was obviously still deciding (too many to choose from! The pressure was killing me!) Then again, I suppose she was thinking, "What the hell are you buying chocolate here for when there's Max Brenner right behind me??" That's true. Silly me. Or I could've bought the handmade chocolates at David Jones' Food Hall, except I'd forgotten about it.

For comparison's sake, and fine, because I was dissatisfied, I tried the ones from The Nut Shop and Haigh's Chocolates, but more on that next time. Both are just a couple of steps from my shop so working there is definitely torture!

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