A Tummy Samba Day at Sambo Kojin

I was pretty excited when my dad finally agreed to have lunch with me and my sister at Sambo Kojin. I’ve always wanted to dine there as I heard that the food’s pretty good. Finally, I got to go there with my one and only dad (you see, we hardly eat out together so this is one special day for me). :)

As we entered Sambo Kojin (at the second floor of the Kamayan, Dad’s, and Saisaki building along EDSA), we were greeted by the waiters and they assisted us to three different tables (yes, my dad was very particular with where to seat).

Look. Select. Eat.

I was a bit disappointed with the variety. Well, I understand that it was a Korean and Japanese restaurant but I was somehow hoping that there would be more.

This looks pretty sad. :(

Anyway, my first pick was salmon sashimi. My dad asked for the newly sliced cuts and true enough it seemed to be fresher. It was the type that sort of melts in your mouth. Oh love~

The next ones I took were assorted maki and sushi. (I totally forgot to get some ebi sushi. I concentrated too much on salmon.) The makis were your typical makis. The salmon sushi felt a bit old and dry. And the one wrapped in kani was a mouthful (literally) but I liked it. 

My next plate was filled with all things fried or breaded. It was nothing special though. The tempura (from my sister's plate) and the ebi fry were well-cooked. Both were crispy yet the shrimp inside was not dry. The katsudon though was extremely dry and it seemed that it was cooked twice (not exactly how Bon Chon does it) and the meat was very tough.

I also had fish teppan which was yummy. I decided not to eat the green peppers though to give me more space for the other dishes I got. More space for seafood, gyoza and chapchae and another round of salmon sashimi. I loved the chapchae!

My dad took some meat and seafood to grill. I was a bit iffy about grilling though as it is the usual culprit of food poisoning. But my dad kept on giving me and my sister meat and seafood to eat. Oh well. I liked the asparagus wrapped in bacon. It was really good. It didn’t make me feel so guilty since it was somehow “half” healthy.

It was also my first time to eat sea urchin. Since I was a newbie, I was not aware that I had to eat it with soy full of wasabi to prevent food poisoning. Nonetheless, it was very interesting. (I had an upset stomach afterwards but I think it was because of overeating and not the sea urchin.)

We also had some fried rice which was really good. It was the sticky fried rice. (Don’t eat a lot of it though as it is a bit heavy.)

I was pretty excited with the dessert section. I did my very best to ignore it while getting my sashimi. And I was truly surprised when I finally stopped by for my sugar fix.

It was too few. :(

I had no idea where to start because I didn’t find any of the sweets appetizing.

I decided to get one piece of apple on a stick (and dipped it in chocolate), a cupcake, brownie, cookies, and chocolate ice cream. To make it short, I liked the ice cream. No comment on the other desserts.

Yakimix? Check! Sambo Kojin? Check! Next stop… VIKINGS.

Rates:

LUNCH (Mon to Fri) No Left Over Price is P 495 (with left over add P100 only)*Except for Holidays
LUNCH (Sat & Sun) No Left Over Price is P 595 (with left over add P100 only)
DINNER (Mon to Sun) No Left Over Price is P 595 (with left over add P100 only)
For children 4 ft below- No Left Over Price is P 295 (with left over add P100 only)

Sambo Kojin is located at 207 EDSA, Greenhills, Mandaluyong City and Eastwood Citywalk, Quezon City.

Do Re Mi Fa So La Ti Dome... Cheesecake!

Desserts truly have a BIG space in my tummy. No matter how full I am, I have to have desserts.

After watching Fright Night last night, my mom, sister, and I went dessert hunting. I thought that Café Metro also serves desserts since there’s the word café but I was not aware that they only serve savory dishes. Well, they have the “Dessert of the Day” priced at PHP90. That day, they were serving Banana Fritters and Buko Pandan. I just had Banana Fritters for breakfast (yes, I also make sure I get to have desserts as early as 8am) and I was not in the mood for anything coconut-y.

Then we remembered Dome and its delicious blueberry cheesecake.

*Off to Dome*

I still have fragments of childhood memories dining at Dome. Some were good and some were not so good. But whenever I remember blueberry cheesecake, I smile.

When we arrived, there were only a few cakes left. There was one slice of carrot cake, a few personal sized Blueberry Cheesecake, Devil’s Food Cake, and Sugar Free Mango Cheesecake. There was also an almost whole blueberry cheesecake.

We decided to order one personal Sugar Free Mango Cheesecake (PHP240), Devil’s Food Cake (personal: PHP195, slice: PHP155), and Blueberry Cheesecake (personal: PHP210, slice: PHP165).

Sugar Free Mango Cheesecake

My sister had the Sugar Free Mango Cheesecake and it was just fine. It was not outstanding or something that I would crave. I found it a bit thick and heavy—the type that sticks to the palate. My sister thought that the mangoes were also bit too sour (can’t really say the same thing as I love sour food). Anyway, in the end, we were not able to finish it.

Next cake was the Devil’s Food Cake. I love the one from The Chocolate Kiss. The frosting was delightful as it has the melted marshmallow texture and the chocolate cake inside was not too sweet. The Dome version on the other hand was a bit too sweet for me. The frosting was sugar overload. I didn’t like the chocolate cake as well as it was not as moist as I think it should have been. Nonetheless, I think this is still a hit to those who are hardcore sugar lovers.

Devil's Food Cake

Finally, my favorite, Blueberry Cheesecake…

Blueberry Cheesecake

The blueberries were a bit sweet and sour complementing the cheesecake. Also, the cheesecake was light and the texture was smooth. It was one dessert I would love to order after one heavy meal. I just thought that the strawberry syrup on the plate a bit odd though. If only they have spelled Dome or put it more creatively than like a blob or small puddle of blood, it would have been more appetizing.

Dome is located at the Ground Floor of Shangri-La Plaza Mall, Mandaluyong City (in front of Mercury Drugstore).

Attack of the Fitness Nagger

For some reason, I think that the Fitness Nagger is following me.

It all started way back in 2009 when I first joined St. Paul College, Pasig or SPCP’s Family Fun Run. To be honest, I didn’t enjoy it at all. The fact that I was running out of air, it removed the fun out of the picture. (Okay, that was extremely corny.) But it inspired me to become more fit because for a 3.7 K run, I reached the finish line after 54 minutes whereas the best runners finished their 5K run in less than 20 minutes. (Shame!!!) And yes, some grandparents had a better time. How did they do it?

The next run I participated was… this year. Apparently, I wasn’t very inspired to become fit. But hey, I did a lot of walking for 5 months when I stayed in Korea. It was same place, same distance—SPCP’s Family Fun Run 2011. It was still tiring… and I got slower! I finished the race after an hour and four minutes.

Since I felt that I wanted to become more athletic, I decided to “upgrade” and joined the 5K run during the Good Housekeeping Family Fun Run (which was also an event for the latest magazine Good Dog—a dog magazine). I saw several colleagues during the run so I was really shy to do speed walking. It was a great motivation though as I finished the race under an hour (which was still a terrible record but loved the idea that I improved and broke my personal lame record).

That run made me desire to be fit again thus I began to look for running shoes with a friend. I was pretty concerned with the support and cushion as I have weak knees (wonder if it’s due to too much eating). In the end, my friend who did not plan to run at all was the one who went home with a paper bag with running shoes and I went home with a tummy full of chocolates, other sweets, and Chinese food. FAIL.

Finally, another “motivation” appeared (via email this time)…

Hmm… should I go?

Shopaholic me: Go!!! Can’t you read? It mentioned S-A-L-E

Glutton me: Why spend it on shoes when you can buy lots of munchies instead? Let's go explore Makati instead!!!

O.o 

Pantry Surprise: Mochiko Cookie Dough

I just love pantry surprises! Oh wait, let me define “pantry surprises”. It is when you get a call that there’s a delicious treat waiting for you at the office pantry. This time, the treat that was chillin’(okay, that was not funny) was Mochiko’s newest flavor… Cookie Dough!!!

I love cookie dough and my lovely relationship with it all started last year.

I first got a taste of cookie dough in 2010. It was the Pizza Cookie Dough of Joey Pepperoni—literally a cookie shaped like a pizza (it’s been a long time and I wasn’t able to take a photo of it). I still remember that the dough itself was a bit hard and we had to exert a lot of effort to take a bite. But we did not mind it at all for the chocolatey taste compensates the effort. Oh, did I mention that it was also topped with a generous serving of vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup? 

My second encounter was even sweeter. It was with Carmen’s Best cookie dough ice cream. I just love how creamy and smooth the ice cream was with a bit of crunch (from the cookie bits). It was really flavorful yet not extremely sweet kind that make you hate it after a few spoonfuls. I must remember to place an order soon (and also some of its rich milk).

I also had some cookie dough chocolates from Chocolate Fire and it was quite weird because the texture reminded me of shaved coconuts. Maybe the one handed to me by the server was wrong. Nonetheless, I will still claim it as cookie dough.

I got a taste of Mochiko’s latest flavor when I went to the Ultimate Taste Test and it was one of my top 5 concessionaires but I remember telling Nowie of Mochiko that I still prefer Azuki… then.

Well, after round two with this sweet goodie, I take it back. 

I just hate it that I had to wait for it to thaw. It was plain torture that you couldn’t take a bite right after getting it from the fridge. A colleague of mine attacked his mochi right away though; and he’s a-ok! He must be using a certain branded toothpaste (blind item?).

Cute packaging. :)

Anyway, I waited for my mochi to become softer… 1 minute… 1 minute and 30 seconds… 2 minutes… oh whatever.

The first bite was a bit bland for it was all mochi. As for the second bite… it was a different story.

I got a bite of the cookie itself with chocolate chips with creamy vanilla ice cream (which I assume is FIC). It was quite sweet but it was somehow addicting. The crunch from the cookie and the soft mochi was a very interesting combination. I had to stop myself from getting another one as the box of mochi was for the team.

I just hope that there’s a smaller mochi (Mochiko Jr.?) so that it will be easier to eat. 

Thanks Nowie and the Yummy editorial team for sharing it with us! :)

Chocolate Discovery: Russell Stover

If Russell Stover wasn’t that old, I would have asked him to marry me!

My mom bought this small piece of chocolate (well I find 57g small) just because she got curious with it. Priced at PHP99.75 at Candy Corner, it would have never appealed to me as there are several other cheaper yet still oh-so-good snacks I could buy instead. 

Anyway, my mom forgot all about the chocolate so it is now all mine (yahoo!) and after a few days, I’ve finally decided to try it.

Hmmm… it doesn’t look special at all to be priced at PHP99.75. While staring at it, the snooty glutton in me said “I would have bought Ferrero Rocher instead. Pffff!” But I felt that I was being unfair. (Come on! Russell Stover will cry.) Who knows, it might be good after all to justify the price.

Disclaimer: The chocolate got smashed inside my big bag.

 Lo and behold… it was pretty good.

It tasted a bit like Snickers but fewer nuts (the one I had was with almonds) and more caramel. What I loved about it was that the caramel doesn’t get stuck between your teeth (especially the molars). The chocolate was soft and every bite definitely had caramel and small bits of almonds.

A warning though to those who love chocolates but are not that fond of the too sweet variant: this one falls on the too sweet side. 

I.Think.I’m.In.Love.

Right after finishing the pack, I immediately checked the web for more information about this latest love of mine. I found out that it is way cheaper in the States (one box costs around $7!!!). 

Yes, Nutrition Facts. I am ignoring you!!!

Now, I can’t wait for October. I will definitely hoard a lot of Russell Stover goodies. (And perhaps a few of those WeightWatchers by Whitman’s as well.)

For now, I will visit S&R for price check. :)

Gone to the dark side of… chocolates.

I just love dark chocolates for it made me feel less guilty of finishing a box of it in one go.

I often do the grocery shopping whenever I’m not very busy. I’m proud to say that I could shop a month’s worth of supplies in less than 30 minutes. Yes, I have mastered the grocery near our place. However, there are also times when I just look around hoping to see something new or interesting (as long as it is reasonably priced, I will buy it). Thus I was so happy when I saw my favorite chocolates KitKat and Macadamia... DARK and BITTER.

I'm in love!

And I love you too! (Great! I'm a two-timer!)

At first I was afraid that these might just be like the failed attempts of chocolate brands claiming that the chocolate beneath the wrapper with screaming DARK/BITTER/PURE COCOA is indeed dark; but in reality, it was still milk chocolate… only with its sweetness level toned down one tiny bit.

I.was.wrong.

Looks dusty but who knows, that might be the "secret ingredient" :)

Meiji’s Macadamia Bitter truly used dark chocolate. The word bitter was a bit too strong though. The chocolate’s taste was similar to Meiji’s Dark Chocolate bars… one of my cheap thrills. It was dark but not extremely dark to the point that it is no longer enjoyable. (Note: This one though is a bit pricier compared to the chocolate bars because of the macadamia).

Let's play a game! Which one is dark?

As for Nestle’s Dark KitKat… I was impressed. It is longer compared to the normal milk chocolate KitKat and (biased) it is definitely better. I love dark chocolate and Nestle managed to come up with an affordable chocolate that is quite dark (but not too much that will make you go blaaaah!) yet something the little tykes could enjoy.

Both chocolates has something to munch on (macadamia for Meiji and waffle for KitKat) making it delicious snacks that will make you eat it for… hours (well, with some chips, water, and soda—well, that’s what I call the I-will-just-relax-and-watch-a-movie snack).

Then again, the unforgettable truffles of Risa Chocolates and the delectable chocolate goodness of Royce are still my favorites.

My Ultimate Food Finds from the Ultimate Taste Test 6.0

Okay, that was a mouthful for a title.

I was pretty excited to attend the Ultimate Taste Test (UTT) as I have never attended the first 5. This time around, the UTT was held from 11am to 9pm (whereas it was usually held at night before) at the Rockwell Tent.  

Tickets were priced at PHP585 each and I’d say that it was worth it since you could stay as long as you want. You can have your breakfast, lunch, and dinner there. Some concessionaires were stingy with their samples though. They only give out a very small amount and you are only allowed to get one. Well, I completely understand as they are trying to feed 1000 hungry foodies.

I started with the concessionaires on the left side (facing the stage). I first had a taste of My Pink Wasabi’s cute dessert shaped like a mini maki—Amarula Milk Chocolate. It was such a surprise for me because I was not expecting it to be a moist and soft dessert. I thought that it will be crunchy. It was pretty good. However, I find it a bit expensive. It is priced at PHP475 for a box of 16 makis.

Off to the next booth, Mang Pedro’s. It offers one of my favorite snacks ever… taho. They brought with them 4 of their bestsellers—chocolate, ube, almond, and capuchino (yes, that was how they spelled it). I decided to try ube out of the four and I’d say that I was a bit disappointed. It tasted like any other taho. The ube flavor was not that strong at all. Maybe I should have tried almond as what the owner suggested.

Next stop was a familiar stall… Farm N’ Deli. I love their longaniza and tinapa. It really taste so good. I didn’t find it special though as I’ve tried their products before. My goal at the event was to discover new food finds.

The next stall The Cereal Bar was also familiar as I’ve seen it before in Mercato Centrale. I love love love their monkey bar but as soon as I tasted the choco-dipped barmuncher, I had a change of heart. I bought a canister for PHP280. Quite expensive but it is worth it.



Things started to be a bit blurry here now as I began to realize that there were just so many food stalls around and I was panicking on which one to try first as “pacing” is very important. I will be sharing now the top 5 food stalls that really impressed me.

#5 GOURMET KESO

I liked the Chevre with cashew and truffle oil. It has the tangy taste of cheese that will make you squint a bit and a hint of saltiness. It was love. Plus, you get to help the residents of Gawad Kalinga. Happy soul and happy tummy!



#4 THE SWEET LIFE BY ANGE

From the friendly owners to the oh-so-cute trays to the scrumptious pastries, this booth surely got a high score from me. The products they sampled out were their red velvet cake called Angelina and Sweet Surrender (similar to Brazo de Mercedes only it has graham cracker crust and vanilla ice cream). What they were highlighting though was their cassava chips.  

I loved Angelina and Sweet Surrender. Angelina had this tangy taste of cheesecake. It was also moist and smooth. The Sweet Surrender on the other hand was super good. It was not the typical full of air Brazo de Mercedes. Since they used ice cream and graham crackers, it was more filling… flavorful.

#3 MOCHIKO

I love Mochiko and its Azuki mochi. This time Mochiko came up with a new flavor… COOKIE DOUGH. It was a bit crunchier compared to Azuki. It had chocolate chips and crust. Very interesting. And I still like their booth best with the polaroids.

#2 5 LOAVES AND 2 FISH

The name has a strong recall. Lifted from the Bible, the owner said “Jesus fed 5,000. I will take care of the 1,000”. I find it really funny.



This food stall served veggie chips and dips. Non-veggie eaters do not have to fear the word “veggie” as it did not taste like vegetables at all. The chips were very thin, crispy, and complemented the dips (chicken liver mousse with salsa and sweet basil pesto-queso blanco melt with coco sugar). They also had tablea chips and dark chocolate dip. Well, it had me with the word “dark”. I got burnt by the dip though (but it was completely my fault).

#1 BAKED BY ANITA

I just love food with a twist… something that will make me go “woah, I didn’t expect this!” and it was Baked by Anita that made me utter those words.

The Bacon and Maple Mini Cupcake intrigued me. I had bacon ice cream before but I never tried a bacon cupcake so it was the first one that I tried. The bacon taste was not very strong but you could sense it with its crunch and saltiness. It went well together with maple. Sweet and salty… Yum!

However, it was the Roasted Strawberry Mini Cupcake that surprised me most. I took a small bite to taste it and the girl manning the booth asked me how it was. I told her that I still could not taste it so I ate the whole cupcake. After chewing it some more, I was surprised that the cupcake was quite sour. It was like I was eating a strawberry-flavored yoghurt. My friend told me that they also added balsamic vinegar in the cupcake. That made me remember one episode of DC Cupcakes where one of the sisters sabotaged the mix of the other by pouring vinegar on it yet it made the mix even more special and delicious. Two thumbs up to Baked by Anita!

Other food finds that made me happy:

LUIGI’S

Chicken Cordon Bleu with a choice of aligue mayo, cream cheese or wasabi sauce and Phillychanga

SYMPHONY OF FLAVORS

Leche Flan Cheesecake

YOH-GEE

Frozen Kefir

I went home full and happy. I can't wait to visit my new favorites soon. :)

Happy Hour at 3PM

Happy Lemon Rockwell Branch is finally open to spread happiness!!!

I was thrilled when I saw a lady carrying a plastic bag of Happy Lemon while walking around Power Plant. That made me smile so big and I immediately convinced my friends to go to Happy Lemon with me while (ironically) burning some Ultimate Taste Test calories.

When we arrived, the first thing I noticed that there was ample sitting area. Customers can also sit on the couches in front of the clothes stores. However, the seats near the counter were not that desirable since it could be crowded when there are a lot of customers ordering.

We were lucky because the line was still pretty short when we ordered. After 10 minutes, the line became crazy. Service was quite quick though compared to its Greenhills branch.

New branch, new drink (well, at least for me).

This time, I ordered Lemon Black Tea with pearls since I was craving for something tangy (as I find milk tea too filling and our goal was to “burn” some calories for more of UTT concessionaires’ food).

It was quite different from the others I’ve tried before. Simply put, it was a sour tea.

At first, I didn’t like it. It tasted weird. Then after a few more sips, I eventually liked it. It now has my "less than three" a.k.a. heart stamp on it! Its distinct taste set it apart from the other milk tea stores.  

So give other drinks a chance. Take a risk and you might discover your newest love.

Happy Lemon is located at the Archeology Wing, 2F Power Plant Mall, Makati.

Zombadings 1: Patayin sa Shokot si Remington

The indie film Zombadings: Patayin sa Shokot si Remington received so much love that, just like Ang Babae sa Septic Tank, it also went mainstream (a.k.a. shown in several cinemas nationwide). Thus I was so excited for Friday to come so that I could finally watch this movie (I even asked my boss if I could leave early for it).

Popcorn? Check! Cola? Check! Fries? Check! Chocolates? Check! Water? Check! (We obviously love to snack.)

There were several trailers before the movie started so we thought that the movie will be a short one. If ever it was, we didn’t notice it at all. The pacing of the movie was really good.

It all started with the young Remington mocking all the gays that pass by him (why he even called a priest gay during confession). Unfortunately, he met his match (Roderick Paulate) and cursed him that he’ll turn gay on his 21^st birthday (which was known as the coming of age of men).

It was very interesting how the film depicted Remington’s (played by Martin Escudero) transition from a manly hunk (who fell in love with Hannah, played by Lauren Young) to eventually a flawless and slim Remington (or should I call Remita for a more girly name) who was slowly falling for his best friend Jigs (Kerbie Zamora). They made use of a buff faceless guy wearing nothing but trunks and boots to be the means to bring out the feminine side of Remington. From shaving his body hair to pulling his tongue out and drooling on him (okay, the other two doesn’t seem to make sense), it had a mix of humor and disgust (especially with the saliva waterfalls) but it made a mark and impact. It was witty too how they injected the character of Eugene Domingo in the movie... very subtle but memorable.

I laughed so hard when Remington was fighting his inner Remita from falling for his guy best friend. They made use of different music when Remington sees Hannah and when Jigs calls him.

What I loved best though was the extensive use of gay lingo with subtitles. It made me want to learn more gay words… and yes, be fluent as well.

You might think that this doesn’t have a moral lesson or whatsoever as the title of the movie was Zombadings (a combination of the word zombie and bading—meaning gay). But it actually pointed out a social issue that most people just brush off… the abuse gays receive from some people. Some mock them and make fun of them just for… the heck of it. But they, just like anyone, also get hurt, offended, and yes, get angry as well.

SENSITIVITY—was the value that was stressed during the latter part of the movie. Though it was addressed in a comedic way, it still emphasized how the lack of it can do to a society. Fear and angst prevailed.

Definitely a must watch movie!  

Will there really be a Zombadings 2?

Image from: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Zombadings-Patayin-Sa-Shokot-Si-Remington/187216821294924?sk=wall