First Bite: Harlan + Holden

Harlan + Holden instantly charmed me when I saw photos of its picturesque cafe in Rockwell. Call me sucker for Instagram-worthy places but I did my research and read great reviews of this place prompting me to ask R and his parents to a trip here one afternoon.

Hello, Harlan + Holden. 

First Bite: Hello Kitty Cafe

The Hello Kitty Cafe in Uptown Bonifacio Mall has been one of the most anticipated restaurant openings to date. Though it is not a new concept as Hello Kitty Cafe has been around in the 90s, its sudden disappearance from the busy SM Megamall scene created a hole in my heart and tummy. And when I saw the board up of Hello Kitty Cafe in Uptown, the little girl in me squealed with joy. Fast forward to 2017, a year after seeing the signage, I finally got to set foot in the controversial girl in cat costume cafe. 

Hello, Hello Kitty Cafe.

Love At First Bite: Paul

I find it really amusing how I get to reconnect with people this year. With food. Food truly brings (hungry) people together.

K bought some vouchers to this Chinese restaurant a few months back and realized that it will be expiring soon. Knowing that E and I are gluttons, K invited us to have lunch with him so that he could finally use the will-expire-in-two-weeks vouchers.

The lunch was filling but it did not satisfy us. So we decided to have coffee at Paul. (And I was so excited as I wanted to visit this place for months but the place is always packed!) That Sunday was not an exception as we had to wait for roughly 20 minutes to get a table.

Hello, Paul. *giddily smiles at the menu*

I forgot that I was full when I started to browse. I wanted to buy some savory dishes but K and E were focused on desserts so I pretended I was just looking at the sweets as well. I still got all hyper though with all the tarts, eclairs, cakes and macarons! Was I in heaven?

K and E settled for the Café surprise (PHP280) and I ordered the same but I also ordered Eclair aux fraises (PHP170) and Tartelette Chocolat (PHP210).

 

First to arrive was my eclair and it sure looked mouthwatering. I needed high EQ just so I could avoid attacking it right away. But I did get a bit of the cream while waiting for E and K's orders.

Weekend Love: Gourmandise Patisserie

I had a solo date a few Saturdays ago and though at some point it felt a bit lonely, I was able to visit some stores I wanted to visit and one of which was Gourmandise Patisserie. 

While walking, I spotted a small éclair place that could house at most 8 people. I remembered the name of the store. It was one of the featured sweets in the desserts issue of Yummy magazine and I even got to sample some before! Oh yum!

I hurriedly entered the place and checked out the different flavors.

I wasn’t feeling very adventurous then so I opted to order the more popular ones such as Salted Caramel, Chocolate, Praline, Vanilla Bean, and Coffee (PHP100/each). I also ordered some Salted Caramel macarons (PHP65/each) and a cup of cappuccino (PHP85) as snacks while resting from my mini walkathon.

While waiting for my order, a party of 5 arrived and I realized that the place was really packed already. No wonder there was a table outside the shop too.

The coffee is your typical cappuccino and it isn’t anything spectacular and I really do not have high expectations as it’s not a coffee place. The macaron on the other hand is another story. It was HEAVENLY.

My First Bite: Sancho Churreria Manila

Ever since I saw a post claiming that a quaint restaurant along Maginhawa serves the best churros in town, I’ve been itching to go back to Maginhawa to try it myself. I’ve always been in love with Dulcinea’s churros and I wondered if I’ll have an affair with a new one.

 

We were still in our “Invade Maginhawa” mode but it was almost 5PM then. We didn’t care if our tummies were about to explode. We just have to check this place out.

L.A. Food Find Favorite: Porto's Bakery

“I need to buy some potato balls” was what our family friend said. Potato balls? Baby potatoes… those you bake and dip with butter? Apparently not. It was so much better.

After a quick stop at Ross, TJ Maxx, Nordstrom, and Staple, our friend asked us if we could drop by Porto’s on our way back home. Since we were clueless what that is, we said, “Sure!”

We were greeted by brown interiors and furniture (what’s with cafés and the color brown?) and I can’t help but notice that there was also a party store on the second floor.

*Confused* I wasn’t sure if I could check the pastries first before lining up (for people might think that I was cutting in line) or if I should patiently wait for my turn, take my time browse through the different mouthwatering sweets and savory dishes. Anyway, with the help of my dear (how I wish it was longer) neck, I was able to find something I fancy (plus the famous Porto’s Potato Balls). I called out to my mom and pointed out the Triple Chocolate Mousse while my sister stared at her so eagerly and pointed with her mouth the Chocolate Éclair and Tiramisu. Since we heard that the Cheese Rolls were popular too, we ordered 3 of that as well.

 

We hurriedly went back home to try the goodies.