First Bite: Eat 9707

I hardly visit Makati on a weeknight especially knowing how traffic could be such a nightmare in the city. But it is so hard to resist good food. And due to weak will power, I found myself traveling from Eastwood to Roxas Boulevard and finally to Kamagong, Makati to indulge in Chef Kel Zaguirre's creations at this newly opened restaurant Eat 9707.

Hello, Eat 9707!

Located at the roofdeck of 9707 Kamagong, Eat 9707 offers comfort food dishes that combines L.A. street food and Japanese ingredients.

The al fresco dining area makes it a lovely place to chill after work while indulging in some of Taft's famous Syfu's Barbecue. But allow me to start with the scrumptious appetizers we had that night.

Snack Time: Taters

Glorietta never fails to feel like a jungle to me. With its different interconnected buildings and numerous stores, I always end up feeling confused and overwhelmed. But there is one thing that I'm sure of, Taters chips make me happy. And that's why I opted to have lunch there one afternoon. 
 
Hello, Taters!

It has been a while since I last had my Taters fix. Sadly, there are no Taters branches in malls I frequent. But when I pass by one, I simply could not resist getting a bag of chips even when I have no plans of watching a movie. Yes, this store with a baseball inspired logo is irresistible.

Maginhawa Food Park StrEat Find: Lost Bread

Instagram was once invaded by milkshakes with cotton candy on top. Every foodie I know posted a photo of two of what seemed to be a mouthwatering beverage and dessert in one. But I could only avail of this drink in Maginhawa and it’s quite far from my place. Despite my burning desire to buy a glass or two, I have to wait till I find myself in that area. And with a bit of planning and coordination, my looloo friends and I finally did a Maginhawa food crawl and visited StrEat to indulge in Lost Bread’s milkshakes. 

Hello, Lost Bread!

Lost Bread is one of the two stalls with air conditioned prepping areas. But unlike Magpie, Lost Bread’s air conditioned area is only good for placing orders. You have to go out right after. (Yes, by go out I mean get kicked out after paying.) 

It’s easy to spot Lost Bread’s stall. Just look for the one with the longest queue! 

It didn’t take us that long to line up though as we were inside the cool room in less than 10 minutes. We decided to share one milkshake to make room for other sweets and went with The Carnival (PHP120) as it’s the most Instagrammed drink. 

The Carnival comes with vanilla butter cake, popcorn and cotton candy so it will surely delight anyone with a sweet tooth. 

I’d hand it to them, the drink did look pretty. But the charming drink quickly turned into a nightmare once we started to pinch the cotton candy. It was one sticky mess! The vanilla base was not as chilled as I hoped but it was definitely sweet. I also liked how the popcorn added texture to the drink. So to average it out, it was so-so.

Though I was happy to finally try Lost Bread, I still like mine simple. I guess I’m a conservative milkshake fanatic. 

Lost Bread is located at Maginhawa Food Park StrEat, 91 Maginhawa, Teachers Village, Quezon City.

Now Open: Freezer Burn

So this happened:

I was planning to head to Locavore for dinner last Friday as I had this intense craving for congee and knowing that Locavore has one with foie gras, I just have to go for it! So I speed walked from work and headed straight to Forbes Town...when I saw my former Yummy magazine colleagues in front of Freezer Burn.

I was super excited to try Freezer Burn's sweets as this dessert shop is the newest baby of the talented duo Chefs Miko Aspiras and Kristine Lotilla (and their awesome partner Charlie Paw) who happen to be the brilliant minds behind hits like Le Petit Souffle, Fowl Bread and Bad Bird. I was counting the days till July 2, the store's opening date to the public. 

As I love being prepared, I asked the Yummy team for their favorite picks and they practically loved everything! I was trying to check the place out when Charlie saw me from the inside. He greeted me and I shared how giddy I am to visit the store tomorrow. And that was when he asked me if I want to sample one...now. OF COURSE!!! 

Hello, Freezer Burn!

Freezer Burn is like a portal to a cool 70's or 80's American ice cream diner. Everything was adorable! The cool color palate is very Instagram-friendly! Even the buzzing wait numbers have the same light and cool color!

Chef Miko and Charlie explained to me why they call the shop Freezer Burn. It is a play of words as each composed dessert (priced at PHP295 each) is a combination of cold treat which is ice cream (freezer) and hot dish (burn). 

After a long while of checking the menu and asking Chef Miko for recommendations, I was torn between Morning Glory (Maple Bacon Ice Cream with Brioche Toast and Popcorn) and Cream of the Crop (Corn and Cheese Ice Cream with Toasted Honey Cake and Cornicks). I was also very interested in Ketchup Mayo Fries (Ketchup and Mayo Ice Cream with Salt Pepper Fries) because I love weird flavors. But I eventually got Morning Glory because of the cotton candy. While waiting, I sampled the chocolate and ketchup mayo ice cream. 

The chocolate ice cream was the best chocolate ice cream I've had to date! It was so rich and as other guests describe it, deadly. It was inspired by the thick chocolate paired with churros. No wonder it was so good!

The ketchup and mayo ice cream was brilliant as well! You could definitely taste the two condiments and both went so well together with the vanilla ice cream base. I get it why they paired it with fries. It was made for those who love eating their sundaes with fries. It was so smart of this group to create such!

My dessert was served after 5 minutes or so and it was not a long wait at all considering that there were a handful of orders before mine.

And it was so pretty. *cries*