Paradise Dynasty Celebrates its 3rd Year Anniversary

Paradise Dynasty is more than just a place where I get my xiao long bao fix. With its superb and mouthwatering dishes, each visit has been a sweet escapade. And just like any fun vacation, I always yearn for more. Fast forward to three years later, I still can't stop smiling from ear to ear every time I get a piece of its bestsellers. 

Hello, Paradise Dynasty. 

Paradise Dynasty's extensive menu gives its guests a glimpse of China's rich cuisine and a taste of its various flavors. From the sweet and salty flavors of the South and mala-filled spices of the North, Paradise Dynasty offers it all. And perfectly too!

First Bite: Hummus Elijah

I love to munch on junk food and indulge in soda and milk tea for days. It can get even crazier when I'm stressed or down. Thankfully, my body can recognize when it needs something healthier as I get intense craving for salad or anything fresh. And it was timely that Hummus Elijah opened a branch just a few blocks away from home. 

Hello, Hummus Elijah. 

Hummus is often treated as a side dish to complement one's meal here in Manila. We'd usually have it with a plate of kebab or shawarma. But this healthy treat is enjoyed as one's breakfast, lunch or dinner in Israel. In fact, there are several restaurants in Israel that sell only hummus and pita. And Eli Lapid, owner of Hummus Elijah, wants to promote that this is a great alternative to one's usual meal. 

First Bite: Honolulu Café

The influx of foreign brands has been crazy these past years. We've welcomed several establishments that we used to include in our itinerary whenever we go abroad. And one of the newest brands to find its way to our shores happen to be the oldest tea restaurant in Hong Kong.

Hello, Honolulu Café.

Honolulu Café's story began in 1940 when it opened its first store in Hong Kong serving  egg tart, coffee, milk tea, buns and mouthwatering comfort dishes. Regarded as the first and original Hong Kong café dining concept, it is not surprising that a stop here is a must for every traveler up for a gastronomic experience.

First Bite: La Mère Poulard

French food is one of the cuisines that remains to be the unpopular choice for the local market. It is perhaps of its fine-dining image or its not so friendly price tag per dish. But when we're talking about fluffy puff omelettes, it somehow changes our perception of how French enjoy their food. It becomes more familiar and inviting. 

Hello, La Mère Poulard.

Noodle Heaven: Nadai Fujisoba

One clear sign that you love Japanese food is when you crave for ramen on a hot day. I get that a lot and I just can’t help it. I need my noodle fix before I go crazy and one of my go to places is Nadai Fujisoba. 

Hello, Nadai Fujisoba.

I still remember the delectable bowl of udon I had from its High Street branch. Its delicate broth taste and delicious tempura left quite an impression. This time around, I was in the mood for more than a bowl of noodles. 

I'm in Lava again with Lava Cheese Tarts

It has been a while since I last dropped by Lava for my cheese tart fix. I try to avoid it as I’ve had a lot during Christmas break. But when my tummy craves, my whole body follows.  And so, I found myself in front of Lava one early afternoon.

Hello again, Lava Cheese Tarts!

Restaurant Love: Buta+Wagyu

Buta+Wagyu is one of our favorite restaurants as its succulent A5 wagyu are just too good to be to enjoyed once. However, it’s also too pricey to be enjoyed on a daily, weekly or even monthly basis. But when there’s something to celebrate, one of our top picks is Buta+Wagyu.

Hello, Buta+Wagyu!

Knowing that this is R’s favorite restaurant to date, I suggested this Japanese wagyu place as the venue for R’s pre-birthday dinner. R’s parents and sisters were okay with the idea and I quickly placed reservation as soon as I got a go signal. We decided to have dinner there on a Thursday night.

I was the first to arrive and I ordered a few appetizers for everyone to munch on as we decide on which mains to indulge in. I got Organic Pork and Wagyu Gyoza (PHP280) and Organic Pork and Wagyu Kimchi Mandu (PHP320) for sharing. When R and his family arrived, we ordered two Double Stone Grill Samplers—Ohmi (PHP8,500) and Kagoshima (PHP7,000), and three orders of 200g Steamed Wagyu (Rib Eye Hida, PHP1,640/100g). There is also a cooking charge of PHP300 on top of the cost of the wagyu dishes.  

First Bite: Lava Cheese Tarts

The cheese tart craze has finally hit Manila with a bunch of bakeshops and new brands offering these delightful treats to the local market. Though most of the prominent players are international brands, we have a handful of home bakers who offer such at a more pocket friendly price. But for foodies who are impatient and want their goodies ASAP, pre-ordering and waiting for days before those cheese tarts arrive are just too much. For months, most of us were stuck with these international brands until a local player decided to join the craze.

Hello, Lava Cheese Tarts. 

I was so excited to try Lava’s version of cheese tarts especially after finding out that they use local cheeses for its tarts. I even went to Fork Spoon Manila’s Eatscape to Aura event after finding out that they were part of the food crawl. (And it happens to be on the day of my flight to the land of kimchi and free facial masks!) Unfortunately, they experienced some delays and had to move their opening date the week after but invited those who participated during the food crawl to attend its media launch on the 3rd of November at 1 p.m.. And I was still not around that time. *cries* But with yearning tummy comes intense desire and dedication. 

First Bite: COCA

A message from P never fails to make me smile like that creepy cat from Alice in Wonderland. It was an invite for COCA, a Thai restaurant under the same group as Mango Tree. I immediately typed "YES!" faster than my next heartbeat.  And after a week of waiting, I finally found myself in front of Mango Tree's baby sister. 

Hello, COCA! 

I had an impression that this place is a seafood restaurant as its ads before kept on highlighting its humongous crab dish. I'm a fan of crabs but I absolutely hate removing its shell just to get to the delectable white meat. And so, I shunned the idea of dining here… till I got a COCA gift certificate from looloo. And my plan to visit was moved earlier thanks to looloo and COCA’s generous invite. 

I guess all of us were excited to indulge in a Thai feast as everyone was already in SM Aura before 7 pm. I thought I’d be able to get back my early bird title but some were already around as early as 5 pm! 

Upon entering the restaurant, we were greeted by shades of browns and maroons which somehow reminded me of Mango Tree. It still exudes a fancy feel but it was more casual with its brighter lighting. 

C, A and I were the last ones to arrive and appetizers were already on the table. 

We first sampled the Salmon Grapow Cups (PHP180) which confused us if we were indeed munching on salmon. The color and texture were different from the salmon I know. 

The salmon bits of this one were tougher and quite close to ground beef. However, if you try to slowly enjoy the filling, you’d get the salmon flavor. It was just a bit too salty so make sure you eat it with the cup. 

I enjoyed the Roast Duck Salad (PHP380) more than the first appetizer because of its interesting play of flavors and textures. The crunchy skin and cucumber strips went well with the watermelon chunks and duck meat. It had a light taste and was refreshing at the same time! I had to get two to three servings of this one. 

Foodie Alert: Starbucks' New Chocolate Black Tea with Earl Grey Jelly Frappuccino

I’m not a fan of Starbucks but I am a fan of freebies. When R scored some free Starbucks from BPI, we decided to use some of his electronic vouchers to avail of some drinks. 

Hello, Starbucks!

It has been weeks since R mentioned that we pass by Starbucks to get some free drinks but we always forget it when we do our errands. It was only yesterday when we finally got to visit the famous mermaid.

The SM Aura branch was packed with only a few seats near the sunny side of the café vacant. 

R went with a Green Tea Frappuccino (PHP185, Venti) while I went with the new Starbucks drink Chocolate Black Tea with Earl Grey Jelly Frappuccino (PHP200, Venti). I was thinking of getting the Double Chocolate Green Tea Frappuccino but decided to just sip from R’s cup for some matcha love.

Service was superb as our drinks were ready as soon as we settled our bill! Talk about lightning fast service!

R’s Green Tea Frappuccino was delightfully sweet with a hint of green tea. The matcha taste wasn’t as strong as I thought. The green color was deceiving. 

My Chocolate Black Tea with Earl Grey Jelly Frappuccino, which I now baptize as CBTEGJF with CBT as its nickname, was pretty good. I loved how the Kenyan tea leaves offset the sweetness of chocolates. The two flavors blended so well. I also liked the touch of chocolate black tea powder on top of the whipped cream. Be careful though with the chocolate Javan chips as it could get stuck in between your teeth. So smile with caution, especially if you’re on a coffee date with your sweetie pie (and you haven’t reached the sweatpants stage of your relationship). 

Click here for a complete list of Starbucks branches.

La Lola Churreria Matcha Churros

I have dreamt of Matcha Churros ever since R messaged the Matcha Cult Group of looloo about it. But I heard the sad news that all La Lola branches do not have it. Apparently, they were sold out. (I was not convinced though as I didn't see a single post about it.) 

Anyway, since La Lola ignored C's IG message, I looked for SM Aura branch's number and messaged them. That was when I found out that they ran out but will be serving more soon. I asked them to message me when they have it again and waited...

Then I got a sweet message this morning from La Lola saying that Matcha Churros is once again available! Weeee! (I have to admit, I wasn't expecting them to message me based from previous experiences where I requested to be updated.) 

I went to the SM Aura branch during lunch and there I saw... Matcha Churros! It was love at first sight, smell and touch. 

I got the smallest pack (6s, PHP245) and had it to go.

It was your usual churros covered with matcha and drizzled with white chocolate. It was sooooo good! 

It was crunchy on the outside yet soft on the inside. It wasn't very sweet and the matcha taste was strong enough to please matcha lovers.

I just hope that they offer this per stick. An order of 6 is too much for me. 

Aside from SM Aura, La Lola Matcha Churros are also available in UP Town Center, Estancia, SM North Edsa, Serendra, Eastwood, SM Megamall and Robinson Manila.

First Sip: Sap Juicery

I have been pigging out like crazy for the past weeks and not working out helps keep the fats stored in undesirable places. And now that I now work closer to several malls, it'll be even harder not to eat out. Thanks to some stores that specialize in healthy and detox treats, I might be able to avoid a few pounds. *crosses fingers*

I have read about Sap these past months and it caught my interest as I have a thing for juices. (R makes fun of it though as he could not understand why I spend so much when I could just buy a fresh fruit and eat it as is.) I actually saw the Sap kiosk at SM Aura last year when I tried Yakitori One but I was in a hurry because I wasn't feeling well then. But I couldn't let it pass twice so when I had lunch at the kinda pricey food court, I got myself a bottle. 

The server suggested that I get G1 (PHP185) which is a combination of pineapple, apple, kale, cucumber, spinach and organic cane. Since I'm a Sap newbie, I gave in. 

After paying and getting my bottle, I noticed that there are cheaper drinks such as the organic cane and smoothies! Price difference was around PHP25-65! Some are even less than half the price of what I got. It made me feel a bit of regret not seeing it (and my wallet uttered "ouchie") but I just hoped that it tastes good and worth the price I paid. 

Good news, it's actually a good drink. It was sweet and went well with my meal. Bad news, it was a bit too sweet (and it made me wonder if I'm really drinking something healthy). It is not an ideal drink when having desserts. 

Overall, it was still an a-okay beverage. I'll probably try the other more affordable drinks next time. 

Sap is located at Food on Four, 4th Floor, SM Aura Premier, McKinley Parkway, Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City. Sap also has a branch opening soon in NAIA Terminal 3 across Wendy's.

Love at First Bite: Buta+Wagyu

I have read a few reviews about this wagyu place in SM Aura that serves A5 wagyu beef. All reviews say that the place serve quality beef but it comes with an expensive price. I told R about it but we didn’t really bother going as even with us two, I’m sure that we have to shell out around PHP10,000 for a nice and filling meal. But then R’s dad wanted to bring one of their business suppliers there for dinner and R told me to tag along. So we got to try it for free! Yay!

Hello, Buta+Wagyu!

The wagyu restaurant is located at the Sky Park of SM Aura, beside Kettle. I didn’t notice it at first as the entrance of the place is flushed inside the walkway and is right beside the escalator going to Niu. It has another dining area right across where we dined. R, his dad and business suppliers were already there when I arrived. 

Since I was the resident foodie that time, I ordered for us. We got a Stone Grill Sampler (PHP8,500 + PHP300 cooking charge) and 300g of Sirloin Hida Steamed Wagyu (PHP1640/100g + PHP300 cooking charge). I also got a glass of Apple Cucumber Shake (PHP250) while R got Cantaloupe Shake (PHP160). 

While waiting for our dishes, I munched on the complimentary side dishes—anchovies and kimchi. (I hate kimchi but I was too hungry to be a picky eater. I actually finished the whole thing!)

Soon, our steamed wagyu was served. 

It was so soft and perfectly cut. I enjoyed dipping it in Ponzu sauce and putting a bit of wagyu spice and garlic chips for extra flavor. It was so good that we ordered rice to go with it and we also ordered another 300g right after we finished the first serving. That was another PHP5,220 to our tummies.

The platter of raw wagyu cuts was presented to us while enjoying the steamed wagyu. We asked the servers to prepare it medium and to just provide us with a hot stone grill for us to cook the meat even more if needed as some do not like seeing blood in their meat. 

It took about 10 minutes after we finished our steamed wagyu when the platter came. The Ohmi platter comes with Rib Eye, Sirloin, Chateaubriand and Chuckroll cuts. All were amazingly good! 

First Bite: Sushi Nori

New work, new lunch locations. Sort of.

My former office is a bit far from the malls and other food establishments if you were to walk (driving and parking are out of the picture because of the strict one hour lunch break). But my new office is just a couple blocks away. The temptation was so high that I went out for lunch on my first day.

I was thinking of having lunch at Tenya but the Market Market crowd was too much to handle, even on a weekday. I then remembered this sushi place I saw in SM Aura's pricey food court a couple months back. Sushi sounded really good that day so off I go to the pricey food court.

Hello, Sushi Nori!

There was only one other customer ahead of me when I ordered the Sushi Santi Temaki Handroll (PHP149). My order was ready to be picked up after a few minutes.

The size of the temaki which was stuffed with salmon, kani, tamago and cucumber was quite small but surprisingly filling.

Since enjoying the handroll would entail mess, I opted to not put soy sauce on my temaki. And I was glad that I skipped it as the sauce which tasted like teriyaki sauce, was a bit too salty and masked the taste of salmon and kani.

First Bite: Love Shack

Sunday means rest day for most but it is the day I do most of my errands. I sweep, wash and do grocery on the last day of my weekly two-day break. I usually start the week tired because of this. But thanks to R, it was a Sunday well-spent. And we even went out for dinner and tried Love Shack.

Hello, Love Shack!

I have been eying this restaurant for more than a year now. As a sucker for anything with the word “love” in it, this burger joint caught my attention. But I am always on my errand mode whenever I visit SM Aura so I never get to visit this place sooner. So when R asked me where to eat, I suggested we try Love Shack.

The restaurant had a few diners when we arrived. Ambiance is cozy and warm with its wooden furniture and predominantly brown interiors.

Since we were not really hungry, R and I opted to just share a meal. We got Overtime Burger with Umami Beef (PHP260), Mushroom Soup (PHP100) and Toasted Marshmallow Soft Ice Cream with Graham Cookie Crust (PHP170).

First served was the mushroom soup which had a darker color than I expected. It wasn’t thick too. I guess I was wrong to expect such as the menu didn’t state that it was cream of mushroom.

It actually tasted good. It had a nice taste of shiitake mushroom. It was a tad salty though but it was balanced out by the complimentary slice of bread.

We were still finishing our soup when the burger arrived. It came with a generous serving of fat fries and small bowl of ketchup.

Gone Too Soon: Poulet Manille

The deep blue interiors of this organic chicken place caught my interest when it opened in SM Aura. But I hardly see diners whenever I pass by the place. It made me think if the food’s not worth it. It could be either mediocre or expensive food. But after reading a few reviews and seeing the menu, I felt that I have to visit this place. Truffle chicken at less than PHP500 with 4 side dishes? Not bad at all.

Hello, Poulet Manille.

We got to the place around 6:30 pm and the place was empty as usual. We sat down and ordered Poulet’s Truffle Chicken (PHP498, half | PHP798, whole) with Fragrant Jasmine Rice and Creamy MashedPotatoes for sides, Cream of Wild Spinach as additional side dish, Norwegian King Salmon (PHP690) and Watermelon Ginger (PHP125).

No, you are not counting wrong. They lessened the sides per order (from four to two for a half order) and made the price steeper. (Insert frowning face here.)

Service was quick though and after a couple of minutes, my mom’s Watermelon Ginger was served.

It had a refreshing and slightly sweet taste of watermelon. The bits of ginger made it even more interesting and in a way, rejuvenating.

The mains were served soon after.

The Norwegian salmon was delectable. By just looking at it, you could tell that it is a good dish. It was soft and juicy with the outer part having a light crunch. It was on the salty side but it was well complemented by the spinach and lemon risotto. It had that nice tangy flavor that is best paired with seafood like salmon.

Love at First Bite: Honey Creme

It's nice to share a good dessert with someone. But when I really want to try something new (or not so new) and could not drag anyone to get fat with me, I turn into the-heck-with-it-imma-try-it-by-myself-coz-I'm-independent. And that was what happened when I got to leave work early and went to SM Aura to do some grocery shopping. After months of waiting, I finally got (or decided) to try Honey Creme. 

Hello, Honey Creme!

I was planning to pay Honey Creme a visit with R but every time we plan to have dinner at SM Aura, we turn lazy and just eat whatever's available or nearby. But a few weeks back, I had some time to spare so I decided to drop by this ice cream place that has one of the most Instagrammed walls.

The place was quite empty when I passed by around 4 p.m. on a Tuesday. 

With 10 varieties to choose from, I went with Caramel Popcorn (PHP165) as I was in the mood for some popcorn. 

It was such a treat to see how they prepare my cup. The server was very generous with the toppings and even struggled to pack more popcorn in my cup. (Thank you!!!)

Now to do a mini pictorial with my delectable cup!

The place is very small and there are no tables available for diners. There is a bench though against the grass wall which was occupied by an elderly and her grandchild. Since I really want to have a nice backdrop for my ice cream, I asked them if I could hold my ice cream pictorial beside them. The old lady just smiled and moved her paper bag to the other side of the bench.

*Click.* *Adjust for better lighting.* *Click* (x10)

Now for a spoonful...