CHUCK’S

My dear brother took us to Chuck’s Produce and Street Market in Vancouver, Washington.  It was a combination of all the goodness of Trader Joe’s, Ralph’s and Whole Foods.  As usual,TBW had a blast in this place.

Organic garden essentials, chilled & fresh fruit juices, organically grown fruits & vegetables, bakeshop

Cheeses, prepared food from salads, soups, sandwiches to main entrees from all over the world. Proud to say that chicken adobo was on display and was actually running out.

The best handmade gelato and sorbet. My fave: Blackcap raspberry sorbet….just like moi…not too sweet & not too tart with the right consistency =)

A must visit!

MARKET CAFE DINNER

Dinner at Market Cafe of Hyatt Hotel and Casino proved to be an interesting food journey through Asia.  Several stations representing popular Asian cuisines and a number of international dishes are made available for the hungry diner wanting quick & freshly cooked buffet food.

Breads

Chinese station

Salad inclusions

An array of meats & seafood for grilling

Fresh prawns...

 …and oysters cooked any way you want.

Open grill area

à la minute grilled prawns & baked oysters

Assorted freshly grilled meats (fillet mignon, lamb, chicken, steak kebab)

Indian station

Melange of faves: lamb briyani, papadum, chutney, raita

Naan bread newly cooked in Market Cafe's tandoor oven.

A Filipino station serving kare-kare, chicharon and other usual pinoy delights is well represented.

Prime rib roast carving

Best part for TBW...ze bone

The best for moi...teppanyaki. Beef teppan superbly done by the cooky chef.

Sushi & sashimi counter

Japanese station and its various offerings

Dessert

Chocolate fountain, a fixture in every dessert buffet.

Another fave. Made on the premises: dalandan sorbet, mango sugar-free sorbet, orange yogurt, bailey's ice cream with a rolled brittle. Yum x 2!

Sparkling wine

Cheers!

Market Cafe buffet dinner is priced at 1,600 pesos net per person inclusive of unlimited canned soda and local beer.

Location:  Hyatt Hotel and Casino Manila. 1588 Pedro Gil corner M.H. del Pilar streets, Malate, Manila. Call 2451234 for reservations.  

STICK HOUSE IN MANILA

Italian gelato Stick House is in Manila.  Check out the branch at the basement level of Megamall building A.

An array of gelato on sticks. Sorbet available as well.

Menu board

Don't forget to calculate the chocolate dip and toppings, half or full, to the gelato if you're taking the ones that are not plain-looking =)

TBW's favorite: Pistachio gelato with half white chocolate and full pistachio nuts. Yum!

Someone else's fave: chocolate on full chocolate and full almonds.

How does one know if it's half or full dip and toppings? Just look at the gelato bar on the stick =)

Sorbet flavors like melon, mandarin orange & grape are authentic in flavor, very refreshing & less fattening.

Gelato bars are hand-made and dipped locally but the ingredients are all imported.  A great and fun way to enjoy ice cream and sherbet =)

PLAYING FAVORITE

A weekend favorite is to have food that’s delicious with no fuss and fanfare.  Going to Nihonbashitei for a good and inexpensive Japanese lunch and capping it off with ice cream at Milky Way have been a favorite pattern in several occasions.

Appetizers

Another set of appetizers on another day

Gyoza

Standard Sushi Shapes

A favorite: Chirashi sushi. It is like a deconstructed sushi in a bowl. Various sashimi slices on top of vinegared rice with shreds of nori, generous serving of sakura denbu (pink sweet powder) and some pickled ginger.

Family favorite: Ebi Tempura. Nihonbashitei's ebi tempuras are relatively large compared to other Jap restos because of the shrimp size and not the batter. When you bite into it, it is shrimp that you really find! Not bad at all for 280 pesos per order of 4 large ebis.

Akashe ramen. Quite a flavorful broth. The sukiyaki is superb here but forgot to take a photo =)

Beef Teppanyaki for the meat lovers

We always have to get a private room even if we are just 3 or 4 because we truly are a noisy and rowdy bunch of people when together =)

Three is company already!

Since Nihonbashitei is not big on dessert, next stop is Milky Way for their good ol’  ice cream and sherbet.

Buko sherbet in plain, lychee and maiz variants. Bring a pint or half-gallon home. The best is the plain buko because it is not too sweet and still gives you that refreshing feeling =)

Avocado and langka ice cream. Yummy and powerful combination. Like Brad and Angelina =)

Playing favorite this way is surely welcoming and worth doing with fun family members.

Nihonbashitei is located along Arnaiz Ave. (formerly Pasay Road) in Makati before Don Bosco church.  Call 8188893 -94 for reservations.  Advisable to get a private room so no one hears your conversation and noise  and also, you’ll still smell like yourself and not Jap food.  Another branch opened along Pedro Gil st. in Manila, before Robinsons Place.

Milk Way is along Arnaiz Ave. Head towards San Lorenzo Village and find it on the right side.  It’s in the same building as El Cirkulo and Azuthai.  Pass by their deli named Pop’s for frozen “take outs” like sherbets, dinuguan, lengua and other Filipino and Thai delicacies like chicharon, mini barquillos, tamarind, etc.

ONE OF THE BEST WAYS TO EAT ICE CREAM…..

…..is in a crepe cone.

Pistachio ice cream in a crepe cone. Love! TBW usually asks the crepe maker to slightly brown the crepe sides for that crunch. Texture makes a lot of difference.

A crepe is a very thin pancake usually made from flour and is French in origin.  Crepes originated in Brittany, northwest of France, and has now swept the entire world for its flexible nature as any type of filling be it savory or sweet can be used. In Manila, one can find several creperies with people queuing to dine in or for take away.

TBW likes to take out the rolled ones because it is so handy to eat and saves time =)

Savory filled crepe.

Popular creperies in Manila: La Creperie, Crepes and Cream, Cafe Breton, Crepe de France.

Warning though to not overload on savory and sweet crepes in one night.  One can end up deliriously satisfied and stuffed =)

LUNCH AT MARRIOTT’S CAFE ‘TIL 4

Time flies when you’re having fun.  Time flies even faster when in the company of precious friends.  Everyone seems to be oblivious of the surroundings, sometimes even the food, as focus is on each others stories and updates.

That’s exactly what happened to 3 girlfriends one beautiful Wednesday afternoon.……

Even the juicy looking dungeness & blue crabs were passed as too much concentration & effort were needed to eat these. The ladies were too drawn to each other that nothing could tear them away....not even these crabs.

What did bring their animated conversation and friendly banter to an amusing halt?  Not the time.  The handmade gelatos did.  Why gelatos? Because they were the last to have, also someone insisted that all 3 eat and gain weight together and  simply because they were good!

So Carol, Rona and TBW had almost a dozen scoops of these amongst them…….

Lemon, mango coconut sorbet

Ruby Tuesday--a coffee based gelato

Baileys & mixed berries

Mixed beriies

Sorry ladies, this pala was the super flavor...Palawan Honey Walnut

After that brief sweet indulgence, it was back to obliviousness until the clock struck 4.

‘Til the next chapter.

QUICK AND EASY DESSERT

If you need to bring “something” to a lunch or dinner,  it is always safe to bring dessert.  If you need to fill in a dessert offering while entertaining, the quickest and easiest would be a cake.  But cakes are so…uhmmm…common?  Be a bit different and bring an ice cream cake instead!  The goodness of  cake on delectable, creamy ice cream. A match made in heaven!

Cara Mia is fast becoming a popular ice cream brand. Not only do they have “gelato-ish”  ice cream flavors and tastes, they have developed a line of delicious gelato or ice cream cakes as well.  Mango, berry, chocolate flavors, etc.

TBW has tried the mango and choco sansrival flavors. Yummy!!!

Cara Mia Gelato Cake

Yummy Choco Sansrival Gelato Cake

The pink box with the yellow ribbon is a vogue thing to carry, at least for TBW.

The box to carry.....

Go get them for hassle free dessert offering.

http://caramia.ph

BLUE BUNNY ICE CREAM

We love ice cream!  Blue Bunny is one of our favorites.  Just today, we discovered one of their premium ice creams:  White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookie.

Macadamia nut cookie flavored ice cream with white chocolate chunks and real, visible, white macadamia nut cookies. Simply heavenly!

Really yummy!!! Filled with nuts, cookies and white chocs!

Check out S&R freezers. Hurry cause  we’ll hoard them =)))