Dunkin Donuts Cafe' New Variant

parmesan with my donut?! you betcha!


Try the new flavor of munchkins & donuts -- Cheese Trickles. We were trying to look for it in other Dunkin Donut outlets, but we only found it in Power Plant Mall, Rockwell.

It tastes like the normal choco munchkin but has an outer layer of powdered parmesan. It has a spongy texture and leaves a bitter chocolate aftertaste. It tastes quite different with the cheese powder on it. It's pleasantly surprisingly good!

Visit:
1st Floor Power Plant Mall, Rockwell
(near True Value)

Elfav Ice Creamery Robinsons Galleria - Coming Soon!

Good news to us Northerners (Tandang Sora reprezeeent!). Elfav Ice Creamery will soon open its doors at the Robinsons' Galleria. We no longer have to take the long trek to get their yakult, tequila rose, beer, and pastillas ice cream!

The store is located at the basement of the mall at the main entrance of the supermarket.

We reviewed Elfav a couple of months back and posted it here: Malunggay Ice Cream, Anyone? No word yet on the official opening date but trust me the wait will be worth it :)

Elfav's Website is here

Fruits in Ice Cream

pinoys know ice cream!


I never liked anything chocolate that has mint. I never liked After Eights and even Andes chocolates with mint. The only time I liked it when I tried the Choco Mint flavor of Big Scoop ice cream when I ordered it in Sicilian (Meralco Avenue). I got addicted to it and thought it would never be surpassed by anything else.

I was wrong. During our usual strolls in Power Plant Mall, we ordered FIC for us to eat while walking. Ej ordered Cheese and I ordered the Choco Mint with Raspberry Ripple flavor. Much to my surprise, I liked it. I liked it even more than I liked Big Scoop. I like the texture of the choco chips against the smooth rich minty ice cream.


Ej ordered Cheese and it captured the taste very well. Strangely, it somehow left a warm feeling in the mouth.


Fruits in Ice Cream is not as rich and luxurious as Sebastian's but it does offer more flavors (including some sugar-free ones) at a much cheaper price. I highly recommend this.


Recommended flavors: Choco Mint with Raspberry Ripple, Cookies and Cream, Pistachio. But all the flavors are pretty good -- try out the other ones. :)

Details:
Locations: Most malls (Powerplant, Fort Strip, Robinson's Galleria, etc etc etc)

PREMIUM:
- CAPPUCCINO with REAL coffee extract
- GREEN TEA with natural green tea extract from REAL green tea leaves of Japan
- Premium MANGO Ice Cream contains high levels of our own Philippine Carabao mangoes in three forms; mango puree, mango cubes and sweetened mango sauce

GOURMET:
- Raspberry Rapture
- Butter Caramel Cookie
- Choco Mint with Raspberry Ripple
- Pistachio

FICLite:
- Tsokonut
- Manga't Suman
- Queso

There are some more flavors but we can't find an exhaustive list anywhere. :)

Their website: http://www.foodpeople.com.ph/home.htm

Frupcakes Cupcakes - Fruit Cupcakes

The cupcake craze has certainly taken over Manila and is never going away. Pinoys are known for their sweet tooth and the return of the cupcake in various flavors, shapes and forms are a welcome addition to our sugar laden diet. The kinds and flavors out there vary in size, shape, flavor and presentation but are most of the time exact mini versions of rich, indulgent cakes.

Enter FRUPCAKES. According to its multiply site, Frupcakes are "Simply put in an equation Frupcakes=Fr(uit)+(C)upcakes [Pronounced Fur-up-cakes not Froopcakes] Everybody say Fur-up-cakes!:D" I was intrigued. These cupcakes are all infused with fruits, which is what is missing in the cupcakes I have come across so far. What's out there are usually fruit-flavored cupcakes but not like this one which includes real fruits in each cupcake flavor.

I ordered a sampler pack which had one of each flavor of Frupcakes. The transaction was all done online and through text and within a few days, the box of goodies was delivered to our office in Makati.

The smell of freshly baked goodies was simply hard to resist. Opening the box, the Frupcakes looked like ordinary cupcakes but as the cliche goes, the proof of the pudding (or the cupcake in this case) is in the taste.It was hard to figure out which flavors to try first as there were no flavor list or flavor guide included in the box. Maybe this is something the owner should consider in the future.

Of the ten flavors, here are the standouts:

Mango Vanilla

The hubby and my brother found it too sweet. I found it to be just right and it instantly became my favorite. The cupcake however looked a lot like Cupcakes by Sonja's Vanilla Sunrise cupcake but the inclusion of mango and the chunks you bite into provide a refreshing and sweet surprise to an already classic flavor.

PB and Banana

Imagine biting into warm banana bread that's topped with peanut butter, a classic combination that's been baked successfully into this handy bite-sized cake. The cupcake was moist and the smell of banana was strong and the black fibers typical of any banana baked pastry were plentiful. The peanut butter icing was just the right sweetness and texture. My hubby and brother are big fans.

Pineapple Meringue

It's hard not to miss this cupcake. The meringue frosting was a stark contrast to the pastel colored icing and sprinkles of the other cupcakes. This however is the test group's (this being me, my hubby and my youngest brother) ultimate favorite. The meringue icing was a surprise, it was very light and just had the right sweetness. The pineapple chunks inside the cupcake were still juicy and chewy. My husband is not a fan of pineapples infused in food in general as he finds the flavor too overpowering so he was pleasantly surprised that he absolutely enjoyed this cupcake. The entire cupcake was very light and just had the right hints of sweetness. It was a perfect end to a heavy dinner we had when we started testing the frupcakes.

The other flavors were just as good but these three stood out from the rest of the pack. The sampler pack including delivery was only Php550 pesos. Ordering these was a breeze and the owner, Clarissa Banaag was very easy to talk to.

the loooove cupcake, pear coffee cupcake

frupcakes sampler

For more information go to the Frupcakes website here and the complete flavor and price list is here

They also do cupcake towers for weddings, birthdays and baptisms. They even do anniversary/love cupcake specials where the cupcakes are personalized with greetings for a loved one. Cute!!

Contact Details:

Frupcakes

Clarissa Banaag

0917.844.6064

frupcakes@yahoo.com

http://frupcakes.multiply.com

Buyer Beware - Breadtalk Megamall cashier

Over at Chuvaness , a flurry of comments and stories are being exchanged regarding Chuvaness' (aka Cecile Zamora Van Straten) experience with a cashier at Breadtalk Megamall who charged her without ringing up her purchases first. When the purchases were entered into the register, it turns out the total the cashier mentally calculated was eight pesos over.

Be sure to read not just the post but the comments as well and you could see how seemingly innocuous slip-ups like this are actually well-planned schemes. My dad once told me that when cashiers ask me if it's ok that my change is short even by a centavo that I should always say no. Centavos add up and at the end of the day, someone (it may not even be the cashier) could pocket what is not rightfully theirs.

I have a bad habit of just paying whatever is asked from me without looking at my change or the receipt especially when I'm in a rush only to find out that I'm missing 20, 30 pesos (maybe even more) I don't bother going back to the store anymore just to avoid the hassle but come to think of it, I should have.

Moral of the story? Only pay AFTER the cashier rings up your stuff and to always check your receipt.

Here's the post by Chuvaness:

Somebody has got some explaining to do

I hate to be the whistle blower against people who need jobs, but being a business owner who has experienced one too many inside jobs, I feel like I have to warn other business owners about thievery within their stores.Last June 17, I went to Breadtalk in Megamall to buy baon for my son. I was second in line at the cash register. While the cashier was ringing up the person in front of me, she took a look at my tray and said, "One hundred forty six pesos."So I thought, wow! Mathemagician! How did she ring that up in her head. I was impressed.I gave her the sackamount (exact amount) and she put my bread in little plastic bags and handed it to me.I was surprised, or rather suspicious that she didn't ring up my purchases in the cash register, so the good citizen that I am, I asked for a receipt.That's when she punched the items. Lo, and behold, the total was only Php 138, so she in fact had to give me back eight pesos I overpaid. And then she apologized. I gave her a really dirty look and made a mental note to blog it because corrupt cashiers are so annoying!!




You sure made my day! Someone please email this blog entry to Breadtalk.

So I vowed to blog small incidents of corruption from now on.

Sometime in May we received reports there were problems in our own store, so Jeroen and I were a little bit stressed. I sat down in Dulcinea, Rockwell to indulge in churros con chocolate. A few minutes later Jeroen plopped down on the banquette and ordered Diet Coke. When it was time to go, Jeroen asked for the bill. The waiter said, "It's 200."So I thought, wow, since when did we get a bill rounded off to 200 pesos. F*cking amazing.Jeroen paid up. When the receipt came, only the churros con chocolate were punched in. The Diet Coke was not and the waiter gave a few coins as change. He also mentioned the Diet Coke was not in the receipt. I wondered why.I smelled corruption, but Jeroen was not in the mood to dispute it as we were having problems of our own.(Unfortunately I did not keep the receipt of that incident. Next time I will.)

A couple of days later, we consulted a successful Chinese restaurant owner who told us there's this racket he experienced where he caught staff selling their own canned drinks at the restaurant (with no receipts), so the business owners lose on the drink orders. No wonder one of Makati's most happening bars lost business. Their waiters were selling their own bottles/drinks. When those ran out, only then would they sell the bar owners' drinks at 1 AM.

The original post and the comments are found here: Somebody has got some explaining to do

Kulinarya

it's still there for a good reason...


It's hard to stick to my mostly-vegetarian diet. Personally, i'm not aspiring to be a vegan, it's more for health reasons. It's a great thing that a lot of the restaurants now have salads and really great ones at that.

Last Saturday, we had dinner at Kulinarya with the entire family. It was a good opportunity for us to blog about it since we ordered a lot of dishes. Kulinarya is one of my family's favorite restaurants when we go to Rockwell.

I had the Gravlax Salad (P280). Boy, was I awed by the presentation. I always like how they present the food here. They always look so appetizing! Gravlax Salad is a salad with Norwegian salmon served with a bouquet of mixed greens. It's served as a deconstructed salad -- the greens were inside a nice "stand" made from a cucumber, with the 3 dressings placed on 3 separate edges of the plate (aoili dressing, wasabi vinaigrette and dill mustard). If you like the flavors of raw fish ala sushi or sashimi, this is the perfect salad for you. It brought the unique flavors of Japanese raw food with a modern twist.

Gravlax Salad (P280)

EJ had Crab & Mango salad (P200 single / P320 shared). Its dressing is a mixture of mayo, cilantro, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar. The entire feel of the dish can be described in two words - "fresh and summer". I like how the sauce was not too heavy and complemented the crab and the mango well.

Crab & Mango salad (P200 single / P320 shared)

My mom had the Grilled Asian Salmon (P380) and my sister had the Grilled Boneless Chicken (P260). I usually order these dishes when we eat here (I love the grilled chicken here). Both the chicken and the salmon were not over cooked. I also love the sauce of the grilled chicken -- slightly sweet and not too overpowering. The salmon is always soft and fresh.

Grilled Asian Salmon (P380) / Grilled Boneless Chicken (P260)

Dad, as usual ordered baby back ribs (P280).

Kulinarya's pride & joy is their Salpicao & Rice (P380). The beef is cooked very well. It's tender and melts in your mouth. They place just the right amount of garlic to give it that salpicao taste without relying on the garlic as the main source of taste. I highly recommend this.

Salpicao & Rice (P380)

Other dishes that we ordered were the Grilled Hamburger (P150), which was okay but not memorable, and the Beef Tenderloin (P440).

Grilled Hamburger (P150) / Beef Tenderloin (P440)

It's a bit pricey so it's not somewhere you go to daily, but it's good for the regular dinner-outs with friends and family.

While other restaurants in Powerplant have closed, Kulinarya has remained strong & open. It's no fluke -- it's just that good. Try it out!

Cerealicious

Deliciously Healthy


If you want to stay healthy in today's world, you'll surely either die of a heart attack after seeing the price of healthy organic food or vomit since most of what you're supposed to eat have to be FORCED into you. You then veer away from your goal of trying to be fit and healthy and just grab a bag of chips. End of story... until you find yourself trying again.

Well, we found a new healthier alternative to pizza, chips, cake and fried food -- Cerealicious. They serve different combinations of cereals, around 27 mixtures. They also offer oatmeal, milkshakes, frozen bananas, crepes, and ice cream liners. They also just launched their yogurt shakes.


What I like about Cerealicious is the concept of the names of the menu offerings. They are named after famous movies.

My favorite is The K afer Tommorow (Special K, Mango, Granola). EJ's favorite is Apple-O 13 (Fitnesse, Apple, Almond, Cinammon). We also order the Banana Jones and the Temple of Doom (Special K, Banana, Raisins), Jumango (Cornflakes, Mango, Honey Crumble), and Frootloose (Froot Loops, Apple, Banana).

For the lucky out there who are already healthy, they also have other "less healthy" but just as yummy combinations available such as the About A-hoy (Coco Pops, Chips Ahoy, Choco Kisses).

What I love about this little kiosk is that they always have very generous servings. You don't feel like their scrimping on the fruits that they serve. The milk that they serve is also shaken/whipped (not sure), providing a nice frothy uniquely tasteful base for the cereal.

I also got to try their oatmeal. It didn't taste like any instant oatmeal that I've eaten. It's thicker, not as sweet as the instant (just right), and it comes in different flavors.

Addictive, healthy, and affordable -- Cerealicious has a growing following and it's no mystery why.


Details:
Locations: UST; UA&P; Animo, DLSU; St Scho College, Manila; First Strip, Mendiola; FEU-East Asia Cafe; JRL Foodcourt, UE Gastambide; Poveda; La Salle Greenhills; Theater Mall, Greenhills; De La Salle Zobel; Southville Int'l School; Alabang Town Center; Ateneo de Davao; SM Baguio; SM Iloilo; SM Lipa; SM Pampanga; Kenmore Bldg, Angeles; Robinson's Place Ermita; 4/L Robinson's Galleria; Robinson's JG Summit, Makati; Station 2, Boracay; St Luke's Medical Ctr

Wikipedia - Cerealicious

Royce' Potatochip Chocolate

For my turon loving tummy, this is absolutely indulgent. Ridged, deep fried potato chips covered in chocolate in a medium box worth Php 540.

I tried but failed to make the box of potatochip chocolates last a week. The hubby and I finished the whole bag in two days and we were already restraining ourselves at that.

You can smell the sweet salty goodness once you open the bag. It literally made my mouth water then. My mouth is watering even now as I write this. Royce' Potatochip Chocolate is a salty potato chip dipped in cool light chocolate. It's a crunchy, sweet and salty conconction and the flavorplay is addictive.

However not everyone in our house were fans. My two brothers ate a chip each and their faces registered a very discernible WTF???. The combination admittedly is weird but you must admire the technology used. Only the Japanese can successfully coat a chip with chocolate while still maintaining the crunch. To my brothers though the sensation of a crunchy chip and chocolate was downright gross.

Unfortunately, the medium box is the smallest for this snack. If you're in the mood for experimentation, better share this with a few of your buds to split the 540 tag as you might not know what you're in for :)

Here's a fanblog for Royce' chocolates :) http://www.roycechocolates.com/

We bought our Royce' at Powerplant, they also have a kiosk at Greenbelt 5.

Here's the pricelist from their brochure:

Nama Chocolate All Variants - Php 580

Pure Chocolate (Creamy Milk & White, Sweet & Milk) - Php 540

Pure Chocolate (Caramel Milk & Creamy White,Venezuela Bitter & Ghana Sweet, Mild Bitter & Extra Bitter) - Php 580

Nutty Bar Chocolate (Small/Large) - Php 540/Php 900

Potechi Crunch Chocolate - Php 540

Potatochip Chocolate (Medium/Large) - Php 540/Php 990

Baton Cookies (Coconuts, Hazelnut & Cacaonibs) - Php 540

Chocolate Wafers - Php 540

Bar Chocolate (All Variants) - Php 250

Truffe (Orange, Kirsch, Praline) - Php 450

Kurumaro Chocolate - (Milk, White) - Php 820

Macadamia Chocolate - Php 690

Criollio Chocolate (Sweet, Bitter, Milk) - Php 450

Coffee Bean Chocolate - Php 690

Karintoh Chocolate - Php 570

Prafeuille Chocolate (All Variants) - Php 540

Marshmallow Chocolate (Milk & White) - Php 420

....this list made me hungry

Relaksasi

Perfect start to another busy week!



My new work is really stressful. Lots of organizational stuff still pending and loads of work coming from my customers. So the occasional massage is a much needed way for me to just unwind and get ready for the next week.

We learned about Relaksasi from a coupon Ginger got from Watsons, offering a 20% discount. We decided to check it out so we went to Megamall's Top Floor (pre-swine flu outbreak). The store was well designed with a Balinese/Thai motiff so it had that clean traditional spa feel. The receptionist was nice and courteous, and the massage therapists were in clean professional-looking uniforms.

The rooms are really small - just enough for a massage bed and for a small thin receptionist to move around. The divisions between the rooms are all movable so any 2 adjacent rooms can get instantly turned to a couple's room. These divisions aren't air tight though... so there is a question on privacy. Of course, there are no CR's for each room but the shared CR's are really clean.

There was piped in spa music and they had nice scent (lavender, i think) permeating the air.

I got a Swedish Massage (P550 less 20% discount) and it was EXCELLENT. I haven't had a good ol' hard massage like that. They worked at my lamigs and really got my tense stressed muscles relaxed. The therapist also asked if the pressure was right during the first few strokes so I was able to get just the right amount of pressure I wanted.

Ginger got the Cellulite Massage (P800 less 20% discount). Ginger really likes strong pressure and they were able to deliver. She felt the oil working the day after so she advises that you don't wipe off the oil or apply anything else after the massage. Be sure to get that massage at night also so you don't have to spend the day in the anti-cellulite oil.

Nice ambience and well-trained therapists... perfect start to another busy week!

Details:

Check out their menu here.

3/F Sm North Edsa North Avenue Corner Edsa 1110 Quezon City Metro Manila
Phone: +63(2)9203787

G/F The Columns 6821 Ayala Avenue Corner Senator Gil Puyat Avenue Makati Metro Manila
Phone: +63(2)9015870

4/F Robinsons Place Manila Padre Faura Corner M. Adriatico Streets Ermita Manila Metro Manila
Phone: +63(2)5672279

3/F Sm City North Edsa North Avenue Corner Edsa Quezon City Metro Manila
Phone: +63(2)9203787

G/F Park Square 1 South Drive Ayala Center Makati Metro Manila
Phone: +63(2)8926218

U/G Sm City Southmall Alabang-Zapote Road Las Pinas Metro Manila
Phone: +63(2)8019440

3/F Robinsons Metro East Marcos Highway Pasig Metro Manila
Phone: +63(2)6824205

(Calling ahead and getting a reservation is highly recommended.)

The Mango Farm

Nothing spectacular...



I personally love mangoes.  So these kiosks that have been popping up everywhere are welcome additions to the usual mallscape.  I tried their (large) Mango Sago - which is made of sago (tapioca), slices of mango/mango cubes, ice, and sugar water.

The mangoes seemed to have been "forced to ripen" (in tagalog: hinog sa pilit or kinalburo).  And as "forced" mangoes go, they're more sour than sweet.

This is where the sugar water comes in.  If the mangoes were ripe enough, the sugar water would be redundant.  But they weren't so the sugar water is essential.

The sago was well cooked -- just chewy enough and enjoyable.

They ran out of the normal cup so the mango farmer (what do you call him?) used a large shake/juice paper tumbler.  He filled it up with lots of ice, sugar water, and the normal amount of sago & mango.

Nothing spectacular.

Enjoy!
EJ

---

From Came (10 years old):


The mango sago is yummy!
Tell them not to put many sugar or else you might have diabeties.

Minsok Restaurant, Makati

One of the best Korean meals I've had in a looong time. The Samgyupsal/Samgyeopsal is a winner!

Flashback: My mom had a brief stint working in a travel agency in Makati when I was younger. She had Saturday work which ended at lunch time so the whole family would pick her up and have lunch together in Makati. One of my most vivid memories of these Saturday lunches was us going to a small Korean restaurant named Masan. It was actually a house wherein the first story was converted into a restaurant. We always had the best meals there and was a great introduction for me and my family on Korean food.

Fast forward to today and Minsok. I got really excited when Dan (who was the first to try out the resto) described what it was -- a house that was turned into a resto that served really good food. Memories of Masan translated into really high expectations for Minsok.

Me, Dan and two of our officemates hied off to Poblacion one weekday to try the place out. We were there at 11 as we were forewarned that the place gets full pretty quickly by 12 p.m. We were the only customers there.

We ordered the Samgyeopsal which was highly recommended by Dan. According to Wikipedia, Samgyeopsal "can be translated as Three (sam) layered (gyeop) meat (sal), of course hinting at the three layers that are visible in the meat." The pork belly came to us pre-cut. The helpful waitress turned on the hot plate and slathered lard all over it. The dish was off to a good start I thought hehe :)

The pork slices were then arranged and were cooked right away. The dish was served with tofu soup (like sukiyaki but red) and a dozen or so condiments including kimchi and dwenjang. I usually do not eat kimchi or any other spicy food because my tolerance for them is pathetic. However, the kimchi at Minsok is really mild but was still very tasty actually ate some of the kimchi by itself because it was that good (not to mention tolerable). One other condiment that was a big hit was the salt pepper sesame oil dip. Do not forget to dip the pork in this seemingly simple conconction in order to give it flavor as well as to have that sweet salty counterpoint for the spicy kimchi. Along with these two are different vegetables and a korean pancake.

There are two ways to eat this dish, the most preferred (and traditional) way is to wrap the pork and the condiments in a lettuce leaf. Here's a step by step:

(1) Dip the pork in the salt sesame oil pepper dip; (2) the rice and the Dwenjang, a mildy salty bean paste; (3) lettuce, pork, dwenjang; (4) lettuce, pork, dwenjang, rice; (5) Add PaMuchim, a spring onion salad with red pepper flakes; (6) winner!

It's really up to you on how to layer the condiments and figure out the best flavors for your own wrap. That's probably one of the fun parts of eating this dish this way.

One of our officemates ate the dish ala rice toppings. The condiments are refillable at no extra charge but you need to pay extra for rice.

We finished the first order right away and we were "bitin", so what's a hungry group to do? We ordered two more sets!!! The total bill came to Php 1,200 including the drinks. The 3 orders of Samgyeopsal was Php 780. Rice was Php 50 each and the canned sodas were Php 60 each.

It was a very good lunch! We're already planning the next trip back!

Minsok Restaurant

5655 Don Pedro St. Poblacion, Makati City
Prepare to spend around Php 250 per person for food and drinks.

Pizza Hut Bistro

A Step above the Rest

If you're looking for simple Italian food with a budget in mind, you will find one at the 4th floor of Robinsons Galeria. Pizza Hut Bistro is a spin off the original Pizza Hut that we all grew up loving. This new twist provided a more classy feel to the well-known restaurant, different from the other pizza places' marketing strategy: Shakey's, with a target market of Kids, Greenwich with a target of the 'barkada', and Yellow Cab, the localized New York Pizza. This is a place where you could just sit back and relax and have a quiet dinner with friends and family. Not really what you would think of a pizza place.

For starters, they gave us garlic bread while waiting for the food. This was quite surprising since we know not many pizza places who give out bread for starters. I noticed that they had pipe in music , while i was munching on my bread. It was a prerecorded 'Pizza hut Radio' playlist with mostly love songs and ballads.

We ordered soup and salad as appetizers. Their onion soup was okay for the price of Php 75.00. It was just 'plain' onion soup. Nothing spectacular. The soup was a little too thin though and the bread seemed to soak too much in it and not complement the soup. The cheese was also very minimal.

Waldorf green salad was their salad special for the summer season. The ingredients were slices of apples, caramelized walnuts, grapes and greens. What I like about this salad is that the ingredients that they mixed were chunky and blend well together. The walnut was covered in sugar and the sauce had a hint of sweetness. The grapes and apples gave that fresh feeling to the salad. The flavors all exuded the taste of summer.

The chicken wings were good, served with garlic sauce. Still, it was nothing compared to the chicken wings of Hooters!

For pasta lovers, get a load of the new Viva Pizza of Pizza Hut. The Lasanga pizza is quite original. It really tastes like lasanga. It's lasanga with a thin crust. Personnaly, we didn't quite get the point of this new flavor because it didn't really create anything new. It was just lasagna on oily crunchy bread. Atkins dieters stay away from this one. The lasagna, per se, though was still pretty good.

The service was also top notch. Our servers were polite, attentive, and proactive. They kept refilling my glass of water!

Reasonable prices, good ol' Italian cuisine presented thoughtfully, WITHOUT the whole pizza parlor atmosphere makes Pizza Hut Bistro a good way to go. Nothing spectacular, but definitely a step above the rest.

Locations:

Bistro Megamall	3F SM Megamall Bridgeway, SM Megamall, Mandaluyong City
Bistro SM Cebu	Upper Ground Floor, Northwing SM City Cebu
Bistro SM North EDSA	2/F SM City North EDSA
E. Rodriguez Bistro	E. Rodriguez cor. Victoria Ave., Brgy. Mariana, Quezon City
Eastwood Bistro	C-1, Eastwood Citywalk 1, Eastwood City Cyberpark, E. Rodriguez Jr. Ave., Bagumbayan, Quezon City
Gateway Bistro	1st Level, Gourmet Tower, Gateway Mall, Araneta Center, Quezon City
Glorietta Bistro	G/F Glorietta 4, Ayala Center, Makati City
Insular Bistro	Mezzanine Level, Insular Life Bldg., Ayala cor Paseo de Roxas Ave., Salcedo Village, Makati City
Robinsons Galleria 2	Level 4, Robinsons Galleria, Ortigas Ave. cor EDSA, Quezon City
SM Mall of Asia	G/F, Main Mall, SM Mall of Asia, SM Business Park, Bay City, Pasay City

The Great Yogurt Showdown!

Comparative Analysis of Yogurt Places in Metro Manila

I am so formal. Comparative analysis sounds like i'm making a marketing plan... haha! Anyway, we decided that for our next post, we will compare the different yogurt places in the metropolis.

California Berry
Silver City, Pasig City / Paseo Center, Makati / Certain Schools


This store set us on our way to exploring the world of yogurt! Since it was situated near where I lived, it was convenient for me to stop by and purchase from the store. It is located inside Silver City, which makes it hidden from those visiting the area (or even Silver City). There are no signs outside to even indicate its presence.

I used to like the yogurt here. They used to place a substantial amount of toppings, but recently, they have lessened the servings of the toppings.

Prices are as follows: Small at Php 60, Medium at 85 and Large at Php 115. There is an additional charge of Php 20 per topping for the small size. If you order the medium with 3 topping, it costs Php 115 and if you order the large with 3 toppings, it costs Php 145.

Recommended toppings: Almonds, Choco chips and almond clusters or Choco chips, Almonds and Marshmallows with Choco syrup

Red Mango
2nd Floor, Eastwood Mall / 1st Floor Megamall A



During our first visit to Red Mango, we were disappointed with regards to the amount of the toppings. One our second visit, I must admit that they increased the servings. But in terms of service of their staff, they have very unattentive servers. I thought this was only true for their branch in Eastwood, but when we visited Megamall, we experienced the same thing. The table that we sat on was not cleaned. We called a server to help us clean the table, but until we finished our order, the server never came.

The yogurt though was good. I ordered the yogurt with choco chips and almonds. I like that combination.

Lulu Belle
4th Floor Power Plant Mall (near Cibo)


You have a choice of having ice cream or yogurt as base. Serving then can be in a cup or as smoothie. If in a cup, you can add toppings to your dessert. I orders a base of the natural yogurt with Choco Balls and Almonds (I love almonds!). The amount of toppings is less than Yohgurt Froz, about as much as California Berry.

Nothing really sets this yogurt apart from the others in terms of taste, but the service does make a difference. The attention to cleanliness of the owner who's usually there is much appreciated by their customers.

Prices are as follows: Small at Php 80 and Big at Php 120.Toppings are at an additional price of Php 15 to 30 pesos depending on the toppings that you choose. They also sell three kinds of yogurt: Natural, Flavored or sugar free. Ice Cream per scoop is at: Php 70 for Gourmet or Sorbet flavors and Php 80 for FIC Lites. Smoothies costs Php 120 to Php 190 pesos.

Yo Swirls
4th Floor Shangri-la Edsa Mall


When we went to Yo Swirls in Edsa Shangri-la Mall, we were surprised since even if it wasn’t set up yet, there were a lot of passerby’s stopping and ordering.

For the yogurt flavor, customers had three choices: chocolate, vanilla or a natural base. The base was sold at Php 75 and toppings ranged from Php 25 – Php 35. I noticed that their toppings were a little bit bigger and chunkier than the usual.

The chocolate and vanilla based yogurt gives EJ, who has a sweet tooth, what he's looking for. The natural base is pretty good - not too sour. Decent selection of toppings also guarantees that you can create different flavor combinations. The attendants are also nice and friendly. The servings, however, were just too small for me -- and they only have one size, which is good for people on a diet.

Yogurbud
3rd Floor The Podium, Ortigas / 2nd Floor SM Megamall Bldg A


Yogurbud was the simplest of all yogurt stores: It had very few choices for toppings and these were just fruits. There was no sight of chocolate toppings or other fancy toppings. Which is unacceptable considering their competition. They also sold bread to go with the yogurt. For Filipinos, I know we have the pandesal and the dirty ice cream, but I'm not so sure how well that goes with yogurt...

Yoh-gurt Froz
Most of the Hobbes and Landes stores

Most Hobbes and Landes stores also serve yogurt in their play area -- Yoh-gurt Froz.

What I love about Yoh-gurt Froz is that they do not skimp on the toppings, which are pretty good quality toppings to start with. I especially like the choco balls! The yogurt base also has the perfect combination of sweet & sour which satisfies both the sweet-toothed and sour-toothed (is there such a term?) alike.

The small sized yogurt is at 80 pesos and the large sized is at 110 pesos. The toppings is at 40 pesos for 3 toppings. There are so many choices of toppings, including syrup. Very reasonably priced yogurt - surprising since it's found in an expensive store. :)



WINNER: Yoh-gurt Froz! The taste of the yogurt, the quality & generosity of the toppings, and the reasonable prices all add-up to set this yogurt apart. Get out of the Manila heat -- get some yogurt!