First Bite: Meet Fresh

My heart always skip a beat whenever I hear the manly "tahoooooo" echo in the morning. I'd hurriedly look for small bills, get out of my PJs and run as fast as I could to the gate and eagerly wait for my favorite morning treat. But more often than not, I miss the manong magtataho or he skips our street. Thankfully, a new store opened that sells something better than taho. 

Hello, Meet Fresh!

Meet Fresh is the newest dessert shop in town and it opened its first store in Podium Mall. 

Is FRNK Milk Bar More Than Just A Pretty Shop?

Instagrammable. That word has been the focus of most food and drink establishments and sadly, fail to deliver what's really important... taste. This is the reason why I often avoid pretty food and colorful drinks. I'm always scared of getting duped by its beautiful appearance and leave my taste buds miserable. But when most of my friends say that this new hipster drink brand offers nothing but goodness, I just have to give in to try FRNK Milk Bar. 

Hello, FRNK Milk Bar. 

FRNK Milk Bar is one of celebrity Isabelle Daza's business ventures. And just like all the other brands she's involved with, FRNK is a beauty in all aspects of marketing. All of FRNK's drinks are worthy to be part of anyone's Instagram with its sleek presentation. 

Beat the Heat: Shari Shari Kakigori House Philippines Opens this June 2019

With summer coming to an end, the heat still lingers and there's no stopping us from wanting cold treats. Thankfully, a new shaved ice dessert shop reached our shores and is up for the challenge to keep us cool. And it has legit matcha to boot!

Hello, Shari Shari Kakigori House!

Shari Shari Kakigori House from Hong Kong is finally opening in Manila this June and will be serving its bestsellers Japanese Tofu Kakigori, Matcha Cream Special, Earl Grey Milk Tea and Strawberry Special among others. As a Manila exclusive flavor, Shari Shari Philippines will also serve Cantaloupe Melon. 

First Bite: Tsujiri

Tsujiri has been known as matcha paradise. By using premium green tea and complemented by curated Japanese toppings, this new player in the market has been well-received despite its intimidating price range. I've been wanting to visit its first store in S Maison but the traffic hinders me from visiting. Thankfully, it opened somewhere closer to home.

Hello, Tsujiri!

I was so giddy when I found out that Tsujiri opened its doors in BGC. Located on the third floor of SM Aura, I could finally indulge in what serious matcha lovers consider as the best green tea ice cream around.

Love at First Bite: Ping Pong Diplomacy

I've been waiting for Ping Pong Diplomacy's opening ever since I saw its board up in SM Aura a couple of months back. Clueless of what this restaurant will offer, I was sure of one thing... that it'll be superb given that it's the brainchild of the Tasteless Group. From hits like Wrong Ramen, Le Petit Souffle, Hey Handsome, Fowl Bread, Freezer Burn, Bad Bird and so on, it's guaranteed that this new foodie destination will be just like its big brothers (or sisters?). And when I found out that they finally opened this week, I just have to be one of the first to indulge in its mouthwatering dishes. 

Hello, Ping Pong Diplomacy! 

Before I drool again as I recall all the dishes I enjoyed during my visit, let's do a bit of recap on history. 

Ping Pong Diplomacy is actually part of American and Chinese history and an important one at that as it was the first contact of both countries after two decades of neither diplomatic or economic relations. So why ping pong? The two countries' first exchange was through a game of table tennis during the 31st World Table Tennis Championships. If you've seen Forrest Gump, you'd get what I mean. 

First Bite: Ikigai Kakigori Café

Bingsu has been popular in Manila last year when Café Seol Hwa made such an impact to the foodie community (especially to those struggling to survive from the summer heat). Since then, several bingsu restaurants popped literally everywhere.To spice things up, a Japanese shave ice concept came to Manila--Ikigai Kakigori Café. Since we were already around the area, we decided to drop by after Kozui Green Tea. (Yes, it was right after wolfing down a bowl of soft serve ice cream simply because we were really melting that day.)

Hello, Ikigai Kakigori Café.

The quaint looking café has a very Japanese vibe with its adorable façade and decors. The restaurant itself is cramped and could sit a maximum of 10-12 diners, sardines style. Moving around the restaurant was barely possible when we were there. Anyway, on to our orders.

One thing I love about these looloo foodies is that they are game to try anything. We got our orders down in less than 2 minutes. We got the bestsellers Matcha Kakigori (PHP190 | PHP250), Mango Kakigori (PHP180 | PHP240), Kuromitsu Kakigori (PHP180 | PHP240) and Strawberry Ichigo Kakigori (PHP210). 

Service was quick and first served was Strawberry Kakigori. 

It didn’t look as appetizing as the ones I'd get from bingsu places like Hobing or Seol Hwa but it was spot on with the milkiness of the shaved ice. The strawberry chunks were a bit mushy and covered in milk and sweeteners but still delightful to munch on. This was the best one we had at Ikigai.

The Matcha Kakigori was served next and it came with matcha ice cream, adzuki, shiratama (mochi) and extra matcha syrup. 

It was quite plain and needed more matcha syrup (more than what was given as extra) especially for hardcore matcha lovers. I liked the shiratama and adzuki though as it added a different texture to the bowl of shaved ice. The matcha ice cream was pretty good too.

Japanese Love: Green Tea Mochi

I have pretty much established in my previous blog entries years back that I just love anything Japanese. I fell in love with the Japanese culture during the Akazukin Chacha days and I’ve been hooked ever since. From Card Captor Sakura to Rurouni Kenshin, Slam Dunk to Grave of the Fireflies, and even The Ring, I just can’t get it out of my system. I then fell in love with its cuisine—tempura, sushi, sashimi, teppan, ramen, okonomiyaki, mochi and a lot more! I still remember the first time I had a bite of real Japanese mochi. It was heaven and there was no turning back. I need more of that. I have to go back… even if it’s just Narita Airport.

Back when planking was the coolest thing to do. (2011)

I’m lucky that I know a handful of people who travel a lot. I then get to satisfy my craving for food that I could not get here in Manila. Last month, I had an intense craving for beef jerky and ended up bugging 6 people to buy me packs of the yummy Bee Cheng Hiang beef jerky.

 

Earlier this month, I had an intense craving for Japanese mochi. But every time I buy locally, I end up being disappointed as I have not found any that comes close to the one I bought from Narita. So when my boss mentioned that she’ll visit Japan, it gave me hope.

Shopping Destination: Marukai Market

I have expressed my love for anything Japanese in several blogs entries. The word sashimi alone makes me smile for hours! So just imagine my thrill when I stepped inside a Japanese supermarket. I was beyond ecstatic! 

The first thing I saw inside the market are some clothes for older women. It shows, I guess, the target market of the shop. There are signature bags as well though I'm not really sure if those are popular brands. Being a person who cares more about what to eat, I went straight to the kitchenware and I had a blast!

Ceramic knives!!!

Plates everywhere! 

 

There are a lot of sushi and sashimi plates though I find it a tad pricey at $1.25 and higher. 

There are a lot of cute figurines too and those kimono dolls. 

I also saw the Aquazinger thermos bottle my colleague T brings to work. 

Restaurant Discovery: Ikkoryu Fukuoka Ramen

I mentioned in my previous entry (The Strip Hollywood Steakhouse) that I was targeting to try this new ramen place beside it but they close from 3 p.m to 6 p.m. every day. But I was destined to try dine there soon as when I met up with Frannywanny and P, we all agreed to try that place out.

Hello, Ikkoryu Fukuoda Ramen!

The place has really cute interiors. Wood everywhere with Japanese writing with red chairs!

The menu is a bit more extensive compared to Kichitora. Ikkoryu Fukuoda Ramen also offers rice meals, salad, appetizers, and they also have more desserts (though the one I want wasn’t available).

After a while, I finally decided to go with the Black Garlic Tonkotsu (PHP380) and Chasu Maki salad (PHP230) as my appetizer. I simply chose those with the chef recommended stamp beside the names. :)

Service was quite quick as in less than 10 minutes, my salad is on the table. 

At first, I was hesitant to eat it as it looked dry and bland. I was looking for a dip for it. But since I couldn’t figure out if dipping it in soy sauce is a good idea, I opted to eat it as is. Cold… and savory! I was surprised that it was very flavorful. The chasu was well seasoned and despite the dry and bland look, it sure was juicy (to some extent). I just love the tenderness of the pork and the crunch of the vegetables. It sure was a great way to start my meal.

A First: Countdown to Tuesday

I can’t wait for Tuesday! And I also can’t believe that I’m saying this on a Friday!

I used to hate Tuesday as this is our coding day and most of my PE classes fall on Tuesdays and Fridays. I don’t hate PE itself, in fact I like it as it helps me be fit! But what I don’t like about it is that no matter how hard I try, I just can’t manage to excel in any ! (Competitive kid here.)

Anyway, yesterday, a cool reason arrived in our office and that’s the reason why I just can’t wait for Tuesday. Perhaps now you’re wondering what I’m babbling about. Let me give you a little peek.

Fine, fine. Just teasing. :P 

My Best Food Forward Finds

I just love food events. Not only do I get to be surrounded by yummy food, I also get to sample and discover new food finds. 

Last weekend was yet another yummy weekend as Best Food Forward held yet another foodie event at the NBC Tent. I was quite sick that day so the pain of seeing sweets was too much to handle. I had to force myself from taking samples.

 

Fortunately, there were still a lot of other savory dishes that I was able to sink my teeth into. Here’s my top 5 finds:

Carlo’s Kitchen Crunchy Belly (PHP130, comes with rice)

 

I just love how the crispy the pork belly was and that it was not oily at all making it less sinful. My mom can’t help buying two orders of it. It was like eating chicharon with more pork meat. If your order is from a newly cooked batch, let it cool for a while to make sure that it’ll be crunchy. :D