Love at First Bite: Carousel Creamery Handcrafted Ice Cream | 101 Flavors

It has been a while since my last lazy weekend. R and I have been out traveling for weeks and though it was fun to see new (and not so new places), it was tiring. (Oh how I hate unpacking!) So last Saturday, we decided to have a lazy day and napped the whole afternoon. But when I woke up from my slumber, my tummy was on a rampage. It was hungry and DEMANDS food ASAP. I then started to munch on the delightful Coco Banana Corn snack my officemate gave me for Christmas and I (well, with R’s help) finished it in less than one episode of Amazing Race. And since it was not enough to calm the grumpy tummy, I managed to convince R to go out (with a lot of cutie pie eyes which were not really cute) and head to Chili’s so that we could finally use the PHP 1,000 gift certificate I got from Looloo. (Stay awesome, Looloo! I love yah!) Buuut, this entry is not about Chili’s (which I will blog soon). The spotlight is on Carousel Creamery, a new ice cream place I spotted last weekend.

Hello, Carousel Creamery Handcrafted Ice Cream | 101 Flavors!

The bright black and white sign caught my attention as we brave the Missouri Street traffic last Saturday. Ice cream? 101 flavors? Oh yes please!!! Gimme all!!!

Almost all tables were occupied when we got there. But several chest freezers were still empty. Boo! That night, they had 21 flavors ready for us ice cream lovers and said that all 101 flavors will be ready in the next weeks to come. Apparently, they are still in their soft opening and last Saturday (the day I went) was their first day of operations. Sweet! I was one of the first foodies to spot this place.

They have a lot of interesting flavors such as Beer and Chicharon which have this nice malty caramel taste; Java the Hot Star Wars which was pretty much like chocolate until the spice hits you (surprise!!!); and Maple and Bacon which has real bacon bits! Bacon?!? *drooooool*

Love at First Bite: Hong Kong Banjum 0410 Plus

When I watch Korean dramas or even when I lived in Korea for several months, I didn’t really understood why Koreans are so into jajangmyeon (black bean noodles). But boy oh boy, when they slurp those thick noodles with fragrant black bean sauce, it sure looked scrumptious. But back then, I wasn’t really adventurous with food. I’ll just have bulgogi or samgyeopsal with my mekju (beer) and soju. And I never realized what I was missing until I dined in Hong Kong Banjum 0410 Plus.

Annyeong, Hong Kong Banjum 0410 Plus!

This place was recommended by my local friend E. She said that this is one of her favorite restaurants in Dongdaemun and since I trust her taste, off we go to this jajangmyeon restaurant.

And when we arrived, it was packed! Good thing though that one table was available when we got there.

We ordered Tangsuyuk (9,500 ₩ for medium and 15,000 ₩ for large), Bokkeumjjamppong (5,500 ₩) and Jajangmyeon (4,000 ₩, or add 1,000 ₩ for extra size).

Service was pretty fast and our jajangmyeon was served first.

It was HUGE! And I can’t believe that it’s just 5,000 ₩ or PHP200. It tasted divine too with the slightly sweet black bean sauce and well cooked noodles. It was really heavy dish (I can’t even lift a chopstick full without exerting effort) so it is best for sharing.

Love at First Bite: Lulu

I love birthdays. It’s the day of the year when I feel special. I spoil myself with sweets and a gift or two. But more than that, I love making the people I love special on their special day. This is why I had big plans for R’s big day. But it was ruined by APEC when they cancelled my flight back to Manila and I had to stay in Seoul for 4 more days. *cries* Good thing, I have Plan B ready.

Hello, Lulu (now named as Catch)!

I spotted a deal on Lulu’s scrumptious steak while checking Deal Grocer a few months back and figured it would be a great meal to share with R on his special day. For PHP1,800, we get 600 grams of Lulu’s rib eye steak and two sides—garden salad and one of your choice.

Since I missed R’s actual birthday, I made dinner reservations at Lulu the following night and it was perfect as we were the only ones in the restaurant. It was as if I reserved the whole place for us. Sweet!

It was a bit chilly that night so we opted to order a bowl of Organic Squash Soup (PHP250) along with our U.S. Prime Angus Rib Eye with garden salad and truffled fries.

The squash soup was served first and it was pretty good! It was slightly creamy with a bit of earthy flavor from the spices. I enjoyed it the crisp toasted bread.

The rib eye steak was served after quite some time. I think it took them at least 20 minutes to serve the steak but when it was served… wow oh wow~

It was huge! I was scared that 300 grams might be a bit too small for us but I was wrong. Pairing the steak with truffled fries made the dish even heavier.

We asked them to make our steaks medium rare and it was spectacular! I loved how soft and juicy the steak was. Each bite was succulent and packed with flavor from the rich mushroom gravy sauce. I just kept having one mouthful of steak after another like someone who was deprived of food for days. I also loved smothering the seasoned fries with the thick gravy. It was a lovely meal.

First Bite: Yakitori One

Thanks to Taguig Day, I had free time to do errands that I always put aside. I was able to clean my place, do laundry, and other boring adult stuff. After overexerting myself and going mad cleaner, I decided to reward myself by having late lunch at SM Aura. When I got there, I realized that I’m not interested in any of the restaurants in the mall. And since I was feeling a bit stingy, I went to the sort of classy food court, Food on Four, instead of dining at a restaurant and spotted Yakitori One.

Hello, Yakitori One.

There was a long line when I last saw Yakitori One, about two years ago. Lines have this strong power to get rid of me so I didn’t bother lining up to try its dishes. But this time around, the food court was like a ghost town so I finally gave Yakitori One a try.

I went with #13, Chicken Thigh, Chicken Karaage and Pork Butabara (PHP218). I added PHP20 for iced tea.

At first, I was thinking that three sticks might be a bit too much since I was nursing a very ill stomach that day. But… nope. Apparently, I could still eat no matter what.

Second Bite: Unit 27 Apartment Bar + Café

Manila is turning into one big foodie destination. With several restaurants opening here and there, it is so hard to decide on where to eat. I am already getting frustrated that I am finding less and less time to explore new restaurants and the fact that for some reason, fats find its way to chill on body parts I wish they would never find. Curse you slow metabolism! Anyway, I got so giddy when R mentioned that his Chichi group will meet up for dinner last Monday because that means dinner out! (Yay!) I was so excited with the idea of eating at Genki Sushi since that was what R recommended. But come Monday, it was decided that we’ll have dinner at… Unit 27 Apartment Bar + Café.

Hello again, Unit 27 Apartment Bar + Café!

This time around, I got to see the third floor of the restaurant/bar. The third floor, unlike the set-up on the ground floor, was definitely more of a bar with its neon light wall décor, dim lighting and actual bar. I didn’t take photos of the place since it was quite dark and I was more interested to listen to R’s Chichi friends’ stories. (Yes, connected to the real world!)

Hungry, R already knew what to order—Pinoy Steak & Egg (PHP380). I went with Bagnet Breakfast (PHP395).

It’s so fascinating though how restaurants service slows down when you’re very hungry. It happens to me most of the time. And Unit 27 was no exception. Our food arrived after 30 minutes! It took them that long to prepare our food. >_< We were so hungry that it made me exert extra effort to take quick photos of the food.

After a few clicks, it’s dinner time!

My house dried pork belly was quite good. It wasn’t overly dry that would make my throat itch. I loved that it was crunchy all throughout and no part was chewy. I alternately dipped it sukang Ilocos  and Unit 27’s homemade lechon sauce. 

First Bite: Farmacy Ice Cream and Soda Fountain

I have been planning to visit Farmacy Ice Cream and Soda Fountain for almost a year now! But for some reason, I always end up going somewhere else till one Monday night.

My long wait is finally over! Hello, Farmacy Ice Cream and Soda Fountain!

The store is quite charming with its slightly retro signage.

I also loved the “prescriptions” sign which is a play with the name of the store (Farmacy—Pharmacy).

But what I loved most about this place is the oh-so-patient staff who let us try as many flavors as we want till we decide which one to order. I think I sampled over 8 flavors.

After my sampling spree, I decided to get Pick Me Up sundae (PHP280) which comes with Hazelnut, Vanilla and Coffee Verve ice cream, toffee nuts, whipped cream and an espresso shot topped with thin chocolate waffle. Since I wasn’t too crazy with vanilla, I went with Milk, one of the flavors R sampled. Milk was just like vanilla, only creamier. I also swapped whipped cream with sliced almonds for more texture.

And after a bit, my sundae arrived.

Green Tea Heaven: O’sulloc Tea House

Hipster. That’s how R described this quaint tea shop known for its wide range of teas from Jeju Island. Yes, I’m talking about O’sulloc Tea House.

Hello, O’sulloc Tea House.

The two storey high tea shop was quite packed on a rainy Saturday night.

It has a wide range of teas and sweets displayed on the ground floor. The packaging of its teas is also so adorable, perfect as Christmas gifts! (I personally love its Wedding Tea. It smells so great!)

Since we were still full from our Jjimak dinner, my mom and I decided to share a glass of King O Fredo (8,500₩) while my sister opted to get Jeju Milk Ice Cream (6,000₩).

While waiting, I explored the tea shop and went up to the second floor.

And it has a different feel to it. It was warmer with its wooden interiors. It also has interesting wall details and I spotted a door that says OSULLOC LABORATORY. It must be where tea magic happens! *drools*

When in Seoul: Andong Jjimak

Living in Seoul for 5 months on a student budget was tough. I survived thanks to milk, free study-hard noodles, and those “military” tasteless free biscuits given out in Myeongdongs. (Okay, I might be exaggerating a bit here as I also get to occasionally buy $5 pizza from Pizza School and splurge a bit with a cup of Dunkin Donuts Caramel Macchiato.)  This is why I promised myself that I’ll buy a fancy (or at least good) meal or two when I visit again. And when I finally did, we had a nice start with…

Andong Jjimak.

Thanks to my good friend, R who happens to be a very fluent and you’d-think-is-local, we got to discover Andong Jjimak. He said that it was one of his favorite restaurants in Myeongdong and even thought of bringing it in Manila. Hearing these from him made my expectations really high.

And seeing the place packed seems to prove it. We were lucky though as the diners eat fast here.

We opted to get Jjimak (37,000 ₩, one and half order good for 3-4 pax) and four bowls of rice.

While waiting, we enjoyed the free appetizers—pickled radish and spicy kimchi.

The pickled radish was pretty refreshing and cleanses the palate while the spicy kimchi was…spicy. One bite was enough for me as it made me gag. (Yes, my tolerance for anything spicy is very low.)

Service was pretty quick and our huge bowl of jjimak was served in less than 10 minutes.

When In Shanghai: Oriental Pearl TV Tower

It has been over a decade since I last visited China. All I could remember was having a hard time communicating what I want. My aunt even had to go inside the kitchen to point out that we wanted rice with our dishes. Yes, that happened. Anyway, this time around, we went to Shanghai, Suzhou and Wuxi for a packed tour of the must-see places. And our first stop in Shanghai was…

Oriental Pearl TV Tower!

It’s hard to miss Oriental Pearl TV Tower (or OPG which stands for Oriental Pearl Group) with its bead like structure. It used t be the tallest tower in Shanghai till two other skyscrapers surpassed it.

For 160 Yuan (or PHP1,120) per head, we were able to gain access of the observation deck and the glass-floor skywalk which is 1,535 feet off the ground.

 

The place was packed when we visited. 

We had to wait for about 10-15 minutes for us to get to the elevator which will lead us to the 263^rd floor.

There we got a beautiful view of Shanghai and its ports.

I was awed with how much business flows through its ports in one day.

First Bite: Sen-Ryo

Having Chinese food for dinner for 3 nights straight made me crave for Japanese food in a whole new level. And I was so glad when C offered to meet us for dinner in Sen-Ryo, a Japanese sushi restaurant which is a notch higher than Genki Sushi.

Hello, Sen-Ryo!

The place was packed when we arrived. We had to wait for a few minutes before getting seats. 

And since I am a sucker for sushi conveyor belts, we got bar seats.

Sen-Ryo has a lot of sushi, sashimi and maki dishes to choose from and it was a challenge for me not to over order.

After a while, we decided to go with Prime Salmon (HK$22), Seared Salmon (HK$22), Fried Prawn Roll (HK$28), Dragon Roll (HK$22), Deep-Fried Soft Shell Crab (HK$48), and Spicy Salmon (HK$18). (We ordered two of some of the dishes.)

The first dishes to arrive (or pass by) were the delightful salmon sushi plates. The Prime Salmon was prime indeed with its quality cuts. It was fresh and the smooth and melts in your mouth type.

The seared salmon was divine too. Served slightly warm, it was a feast in my mouth. The smooth and silky texture of salmon and the delightful pop of salmon roe made this dish quite addicting. 

We ended up ordering two plates of this.