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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Have you heard of Yamazaki?

Location: Little Tokyo, Pasay Road Makati City

I have to blog about the best fish dish I have had in a long time. I've forgotten the name of the dish, but it starts with S. This is mackerel fish, seasoned with nothing but salt and then fried. It comes as a bento, so you get miso soup, 3 appetizers and a bowl of rice too.


At first, I was looking for some kind of sauce to go with the fish. The appetizers weren't that tasty, and the white thing with the fish is shredded radish which tastes a little sweet but bland on the whole. Eaten alone, the fish didn't have much taste too.

And then I ate it with the Japanese rice. You know how in cartoons or anime, your eyes light up and there's music in the background on the first bite of something divine? Well, that wouldn't be an overstatement. It dawned on me that no matter how fancy restaurants come up with ways to prepare fish and however creative cooking shows try to be, there's no better way to prepare fish than season it with salt and serve it with steaming hot rice. Eating the dish, I was flooded with memories of childhood in the province. When I'm in the province for summer, we ate fried fish everyday with soysauce with vinegar for dipping. My favorites are swordfish, galunggong and dalagang bukid, but later on the cook switched to tamban which I hate because of its hairlike bones. Of course, the fish we had were local, cheap fishes. Now I know stuff like mackerel, salmon, etc. But fancy or not, any fish is noble as food-- after all, wasn't it mentioned in the Bible?

It's sad that we rarely eat fish in the province now. It's been replaced with pork, chicken, beef... all kinds of versions, every meal of everyday. Sometimes granny would make milkfish adobo, but I hate milkfish too. Did our family's taste preference change, or did we just become too indulgent that what were once considered rare pleasures (meat) are now even boring?

I thought I ate a lot after my Yamazaki meal, but looking at the picture now, it's less than what I used to eat as a child. I guess the satisfaction was just so great I easily felt full. By the way, Yamazaki is the grocery where you can find Japanese ice cream, but just a tip: Choto Stop which is at the back sells them cheaper and has a wider selection. Read more

Have you heard of Shanghai-Pulled Noodles?

Location: Retiro

Watch a Shanghaianese make hand-pulled noodles while eating! Currently it has two branches but both of them are in Banawe on the same street. The logic of this escapes me entirely, but what I know is the mother branch across Tasty Dumplings is cramped and has a horrible exhaust system. The branch in Retiro is more decent, plus the Chinese making the noodles is friendlier.

On my first visit I had Chicken Noodles. The chicken component is an entire part, complete with bones, unlike in other noodle houses where it's just sliced chicken meat. The chicken meat was very tasty too, something like adobo without the sourness.

Pictured here is the Beef Noodles. They also have Special Beef Noodles, with the difference of the beef being entire chunks instead of sliced.

I ordered Dumpling Noodles, which was redundant given that we also ordered a side of dumplings (choose between 7 or 14 pieces). In the noodle houses I've been to before, the dumplings are synonymous to siomai. Here, the version of dumplings is exactly like Korean jinmandoo, which can be steamed or fried. True enough, Shanghai-Pulled Noodles also has that option.

For a minute I wondered if the restaurant is cheating and the dumplings were storebought. Visit any Korean or Japanese grocery and you'll see premade dumplings in the frozen section. But I noticed that the dumplings are not perfect; some are misshapen, some are smaller than the others, and some have thicker wanton wrap than others. This means they are not made from a factory.

The noodles are also inconsistent; some strands are thick, some portions are clumped together. To me, this is a novelty and makes the restaurant interesting. I like the idea that a person is really making my food.

Serving portion: huge; the ingredients generous
Service: very good
Interiors: could use some improvement (why are all restaurants nowadays opting for modern, mocha walls, black chairs and couches look??). They should learn from Masuki.

If you insist on going to the mother branch, you have to be forewarned that the chopsticks they provide are like the brother of the toothpick. I had a really hard time because they were too short and thin for the heavy noodles! What a memorable experience.

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Have you heard of Apartment 1B?

Location: One Lafayette, Makati City

This restaurant has had so much publicity for being included in the book Manila's Best Kept Restaurant Secrets. The chef is supposedly a Filipina alumna of the prestigious Culinary Institute of America in New York. I pass this nondescript restaurant everyday going to my office and, having heard so much about it, can't help but take a peek every time. Located at the ground floor of a residential condominium, I read that the owner bought the condo originally to live in but friends kept coming over to eat, so she decided to turn it into a restaurant. It's proven to be a wise decision so far.

Most of the customers are caucasians; a mix of businessmen and tourists. You can find them from brunch until dinner time. What amazes me about this restaurant is it's open from 7:00am until 10:00pm. Usually, a high-end restaurant like this is open only for lunch and dinner. I can see how the operating hours is an advantage, though. It's the only restauarant at 7am that's decent enough to hold breakfast meetings or simply have a gourmet breakfast.

I was finally able to sample Apartment 1B one morning for a breakfast meal. Here are the stuff on the table:

Eggs Benedict with turkey and tomatoes

Apartment 1B is quite notorious for its breakfast menu, particularly the Eggs Benedict. You can choose from ham, turkey and smoked salmon for the topping, with the prices increasing accordingly.

I had a really hard time selecting from the menu. Being a breakfast lover, I wanted everything. The Orange Glazed French Toast with Almond Slices was calling to me, among other yummy sounding items. There's even plain Oatmeal on the menu; perhaps for the elderly customers? At one point I was tempted to order that, but for P200 a bowl? I could already buy a bag of rolled oats and eat it for a year! In the end I went for Egg White with Grilled Vegetables and a side order of Wheat Bread with Jam. We also had brewed coffee, which they make using Vittoria brand.

Egg White with Grilled Vegetables

Wheat Bread with Jam

The verdict

First of all, great service. Nevermind that there was only one other table to serve at that time. The wait staff are corteous and alert. On the serving size, if only we had known that the serving was enormous, we could've split so we'd get to taste other things on the menu. Then again, B isn't a fan of splitting, and I'm happy with what I ordered. On the food itself, B said the hollandaise sauce was good, and I was glad he really enjoyed his order. As for me, just remembering how crisp and fresh the zucchini, lettuce, tomatoes and onions were makes me smile. The scrambled egg white is so creamy you would forget it's healthy. Plus, I didn't need salt in my dish at all. Both items come with baked potatoes on the side. My only beef about the meal was on the wheat bread slices; I like my bread hot when toasted, and still soft in some parts while crunchy on the edges and the center. The wheat bread slices was toasted all over, which made it dry. I didn't care for the coffee much either. I think I ignored it completely as soon as our order came. One last thing to like about this restaurant is the posh restroom located on the second floor.

I noticed that the restaurant is affiliated with the Australian government. They are even promoting an Australia-themed dinner menu which gives you a chance to go to Sydney. It looks like they get their produce and meat from Australia, then.

By the time we left, the restaurant was filled with foreigners and more were coming in. I'd come back here on a good day, or when I want to celebrate something, and probably order a more sinful item. I also want to try their dinner menu, but for now I'll let B relax his wallet a bit.

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Burgerventure continued

That's supposed to be how my burger would look like, except for the tomato. You gotta admit, it is a thing of beauty. http://men.style.com/.../hamburgers/louis-lunch_h.jpg

I got a tip that in order to keep the burger patty juicy you can't-- AT ALL COSTS-- flatten it. I tried to squeeze all the oil and fat out of my burger. B's so competitive that he's going to make burgers on Saturday too, which would bring the tally to 3 burgers in one month! I haven't had more than one burger a month since high school!

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Burgerventure

I made burgers last Saturday. I got this recipe from the Internet; there's a place in the US that makes burgers in this version (white bread slices instead of burger buns). It looked really easy to whip up so I decided to surprise B. What man would say no to a burger, right? The potatoes on the side are oven roasted. It doesn't look very appetizing in the picture. When you don't hang out in the kitchen very often, cooking is not as easy as Food Network chefs makes it look!

Logan County Burger

If you're wondering about the taste, B tells me it's delicious. What makes it good is the cheese--lots of it. I suppose the seasonings used for the patty makes a difference too. Of course, there is a thing or two that can improve it and B says we'll perfect it together. I don't know if it's such a good idea though, as I see it as a personal quest. Then again, he's the one with chef friends.

After class, I met my parents in a mall and the first thing my mom gushed to me was, "I bought you Wham Burger! I didn't know they made delicious burgers!" I had the burger for breakfast the next day. Even though it was microwaved, I could tell its difference with my homemade burger patty. How on earth do they make is so so juicy??! I promise to tell you when I find out. I'll keep you posted!

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Ice cream!

It's Chinese New Year today but I'm going to make a quick post about Japanese ice cream! Have you had Japanese ice cream? There is a quaint Japanese grocery store in Little Tokyo that sells five types of ice cream. I just had to try the red bean or azuki flavored ice cream sandwich, as seen in the pictures below.

Hokkaido Azuki Monaka by Lotte

Vanilla Chocolate Ice Cream Sandwich by Morinaga

Among the deserts being sold in the frozen section is shaved ice with azuki in a cute cup. It comes in three flavors: milk, green tea and regular ice. If you're opting for something lighter than ice cream, that's definitely for you. The goods are pricey though, ranging from P78 to P90. If you want more selection, go to a Korean grocery instead. Their ice cream are really REALLY good. Prices aren't bad too, starting at P38 for a popsicle stick.

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Have you heard of Bizu?

Location: Greenhills Promenade

Of course you've heard of Bizu. If you haven't you must be living under a rock. Or you don't care for desert. Either way, it's a shame.

I was never tempted to enter a Bizu establishment because I'm not one to indulge on cakes. I always felt the place is too extravagant to visit without a special occasion, and of course I'm too cheap. The special occasion arrived yesterday, and without planning it I found myself inside the bright, homey interior of Bizu Patisserie's branch in Greenhills. I was surprised to know that Bizu is open until 2:00AM on Fridays and Saturdays, and with good reason as I found out soon enough.

We arrived at Bizu past 10:00PM. The original plan was to head straight for desert, but I haven't had dinner so I decided to order an appetizer.

Hors d ' Oeuvres Sampler

The Hors d'Oeuvres Sampler consists of mushroom duxelle in vol-au-vent, prawn cakes, caramelized apples and brie croute and grilled feta, olives and cherry tomato skewer. We were also served complimentary bread basket, but it was dry, as though the same bread had been served since morning. Mushroom duxelle in vol-what? means coin shaped croissant topped with creamed mushrooms. I could taste a little sweetness and overwhelming butter in the cream. Not being a fan of cream-based dishes, I appreciated the prawn cakes which is crab cakes but made of shrimp and went well the tomato-herb salsa. The caramelized apple is apple chutney on top of brie and toasted pastry. It was too sweet and I couldn't taste the brie. My favorite was the tomato skewer with olive and feta-- simple and all natural.

We waited a while before asking for our cakes to be taken out. It was SO hard to choose! We ne picked 3: one fruit-based, one chocolate-based and guilt-free, and a third tried and tested concoction as a fallback. While letting the appetite build up, I observed the crowd that filled Bizu that night. At past 10:30PM, almost all the customers were just beginning to have dinner! Next to our table, a Chinese man over his fifties was on a date with his late twenty something daughter. They had just ordered burgers which were heartily consumed as soon as the huge plates landed on their table. The servings were very generous; each order comes with salad and fries on the side. At another table not far rom us, a group of rowdy friends aged 30-40 were enjoying their steaks. A few minutes later, a couple came in and started ordering main entrees! I felt sorry for the chef at the back. Either those people's body clocks are seriously screwed or it's their cheat day. I guessed it was the latter, and as our cakes arrived, I totally empathized with them.

Mango Chiboust

The Mango Chiboust is just a fancy name for mango cheesecake. I appreciated the art though, and the mangoes were perfectly sweet.

Naomi

My choice. Naomi is a sugarless and fourless cake made of sugarless milk & dark chocolate mousse between layers of chocolate cake sprayed with cocoa liqueur. Texture is very silky, taste is chocolatey but not too sweet. You can even tell there's liqueur. Seriously very good!

Amour

Something tried and tested to serve as our fallback. And isn't the name fitting too? Amour is a creation made of valrhona orange chocolate mousse in between layers of crème brulee and brownie. The thing that holds it up is white chocolate. I thought it's some plastic material you need to take out before eating. The brulee has a hint of orange, and the brownie is akin to fruitcake. When it starts getting too sweet, eat the dark chocolate bits on top of the cake.

I'd give the service 3 out of 5 stars. Kudos are in order for the pretty design of the cakes. Unfortunately for Bizu, I'm not a fan of fancy food names. A mango cheesecake is a mango cheesecake. There's only one thing left for me to come back for in Bizu-- the macaroons. Tell me what's so special about them!

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Have you heard of Seoul Barbecue?

Location: Libis

I was introduced to this place by my boss in 2007, when we opened iHooked Katipunan. I had such a good experience that I never forgot it and vowed to come back. Finally, I was able to last Saturday after my Korean class.

Dol Kim - Seaweed snack from Korean language teacher

Seoul Barbecue is special because it is the only place that has Yeongyangsotbap.

Yeongyangsotbap

Yeongyangsotbap means rice cooked in a stone pot with healthy ingredients. Actually, the one in Seoul Barbecue's menu might have been Ogokbap, but Yeongyangsotbap is more likely. The rice is cooked with fresh ginseng, jujube, shiitake mushrooms and gingko nuts. After the rice is cooked, remove it from the pot and eat it with any pot stew soup. There will be burnt rice encrusting the bottom of the stone pot. The waitress will add water to the pot, cover it and the remaining rice will cook again for 2 minutes. Then you can enjoy roasted rice, and even drink the water which will taste like roasted rice tea. Mashisseoyo! Delicious!

On my first visit, I remember being given a hot towel before the meal and using metal chopsticks. The plates are now plastic (I can even tell where they were bought), the chopsticks disposable and the wait staff below satisfactory. I have a feeling the recession has something to do with this, but in any case, it is still attracting all sorts of crowd from Koreans to Filipino barkadas. The restaurant owner, a Korean woman in her 40s, is always ready to give guests a smile whether you are a Korean or a local. Then again, maybe she thought I was Korean.

In Makati Ave., there are hordes of Korean restaurants, some of them holes in the wall offering authentic cuisine at cheap prices. But Filipinos are discouraged from exploring the Korean restaurants there because the servers tend to prioritize them Koreans, not to mention some don't have English menu. Compared to Little Tokyo where Filipinos (and other nationals) are as common as Japanese expats, maybe Little Korea is alienating.

I love the complimentary pineapple and cinnamon drink that Korean restaurants (Kaya, Seoul Barbecue and Ara, anyway) give for desert. Seoul Barbecue doesn't serve the cinnamon drink anymore.

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Have you heard of Kenny's Roast and Grill?

Location: G/F Rockwell

It's the place to go if you are a health or diet freak. It looks like a spin-off of Kenny Rogers' Roasters, which is why upon seeing the sign, you ask yourself, did Kenny modernize its image? The posh or just feeling posh people probably pass by and say, "Ang cheap, Kenny??" But actually it's a separate entity created no doubt by a Kenny Roger's Roaster franchisee. Smart, huh? Ass, yes, but smart still. That way he doesn't need to pay royalties but he gets the Kenny Rogers market, plus converts with its "health-conscious" concept.

Grilled Chicken Breast with Apple and Cinnamon siding

The waitress actually asked me whether I wanted dark or white meat. It originally comes with potato chips which are freshly sliced, but ask and you'll find out it can be replaced with other side dishes. I chose apple and cinnamon, which was surprisingly good eaten with the chicken, but bad on its own.

Grilled Pork Chop with Mashed Potatoes

The pork chop was very tender. They put salt sparingly to let you adjust it yourself. Mashed potatoes were very creamy. I didn't dig the apple sauce though. I like my pork chop with ketchup, carinderia style!

Prices range from P150 - 250. To me, the price is fair even though I can make grilled chicken at home, just for the value of having a healthy option. We all know how hard that is when dining out. Feeling full yet guiltless is priceless.

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