UCC Vienna Cafe

Specialty: Japanese

Location: Mall of Asia
Telephone No.: 556-0446

Location: 26th St. Forbes Town Center, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig
Telephone No: 845-1365, 884-2477


Location: 8757 Paseo De Roxas cor. Sedeno St. Salcedo Village, Makati
Telephone No.: 810-4388, 810-2210

Location: Central Westgate Center, Filinvest Corporate City, Alabang, Muntinglupa
Telephone No.: 771-1549, 771-1550

Location: Rockwell
Telephone No.: 895-4088, 897-3223

Service Charge: 10%
Price Range (Meals): php 199 - 499
Rating: ★★★★

Founded in 1933 in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, UCC has taken over all aspects of its coffee business. It has since expanded to several countries and it has several branches in the Philippines alone.

The menu is dominated by Japanese dishes and unlike Tokyo Cafe, this place cooks their dishes the way we expect Japanese dishes to be. They don't have ramen and sushi here though. Instead, they feature the ever so fragrant curry rice, gratin, pasta, pizza, and risotto too.

UCC Blended Coffee
Price: php 109
Rating: ★★★★
We cannot make a review of UCC without tasting its coffee. So do you want to know what it was like? Imagine a coffee with a fragrant aroma, strong flavor bitter and a full body with a smooth wine-like texture. The flavor dramatically softened when I added the cream. Maybe I shouldn't have done that.

Iced Yin Yan Cha
Price: php 139
Rating: ★★★
For those people not liking strong blends, there is the Yin Yan Cha. Light bodied coffee served with ice and tea. Somehow, the mildly sweet tea flavor overpowers the light bitter coffee taste. Good for those who dislike bitter coffee taste.

Hamburg Curry Rice
Price: php 289
Rating: ★★★★
This is Japanese curry rice done right. I have long tried to find a local Japanese restaurant with an authentic-enough curry rice. This is one of the best I've tried. It smells right. People who have dined in Japanese curry houses know: If the smell doesn't stick to your clothes, it's not smelling right. A huge hamburger patty with curry sauce mixed with cashew nuts, sliced carrots and potatoes, raisins and pickled ginger.

Chicken, Mushroom and Cheese Risotto
Price: php 319
Rating: ★★★★
Risotto rice coated with curry sauce mixed with chicken stripes and mushroom bits topped with sticky mozzarella cheese. This is a heavy dish. Take this only when you are really hungry. There is a strong mushroom and curry flavor although it's a bit oily and there's not enough chicken.

Bacon and Sausage Penne Gratin
Price: php 279
Rating: ★★
Big mistake on my part. This was not the gratin I expected. This looks more like normal noodles rather a casserole dish. Penne noodles, bacon, sausages, mushrooms and mozzarella cheese. Eat while still hot. The noodles tend to stick when the cheese cools down. Not bad but a bit too expensive for its ingredients considering the quantity.

Conclusion
Expensive but worth it for some dishes. Great service, soft chairs and excellent dishes. I do not recommend eating here on a regular basis. It is much too expensive! Once in a while would be nice... a very long while. Its nice and quiet since there aren't a lot of people dining. For its apparent lack of customers, you might think they would persuade people to stay. We were almost thrown out when we were taking too long to order and I was taking pictures of the menu. I really need to get a moleskin notebook.

Davao: Food Trip Part 2: Blugré Coffee

This is part two of a running series on Davao. Part one is here.

Blugré Coffee

Specialty: Coffee and pastries
Price range: php 90-120 for beverages, 40-100 for pastries
Location: Matina town square; Landco Corporate Center, Davao City
Rating: ★★★★
Espresso, latte, mocha, durian, cappuccino. Yep you got that right. Durian along with our usual coffee favorites. Blugré coffee's signature drink is the durian cappuccino. Hot cappucino with the durian fruit bits. It also available in iced form called durian larcepuccino. Aside from the usual espresso, latte, mocha and cappuccino, this place also serves ice-blended coffee drink which they call larcepuccino coffee. They also have larcepuccino cream and Blugré shakers for non-coffee drinkers. This chic cafe is similar to those found in Manila with their concept and designer coffees.

Hazelnut Caramel Mocha
Price: php 110
Rating: ★★★★★
It fills your senses with a delicious blend of hazelnut and caramel syrup, chocolate and coffee. a classic combination that never fails the sweet tooth. The cup comes with an unmistakable scent of hazelnut accompanied by the sweet taste of caramel. As you drink, you encounter the warm froth of mocha followed by a lingering bitter coffee flavor.




Caramel Macchiato
Price: php 1XX
Rating: ★★★
A signature Starbucks beverage found its way to this unique cafe in Davao. Creamy and foamy with a hint of caramel. It is not so different from the more popular creator of this drink but still addicting and good with any pastry.






Choco Oatmeal Bar
Price: php 45?
Rating: ★★★
Oatmeal bar smothered with generous helping of chocolate. This sweet pastry may pass for a granola bar except that it has more calories. This is normally one of my favorite sweet treats. Unfortunately, this one may have been left on the shelf for some time already because the oatmeal is a little hard to chew and the chocolate is no longer gooey.




Dark Chocolate Cake
Price: php 9X
Rating: ★★★★
This dark chocolate treat lived up to its name. The cake is rich and heavy and mildly sweet with a strong heart-attack-inducing, calorie-laden chocolate flavor. Delicious and sinful to the last bite.

Conclusion
Blugré also sells their coffee beans and they grind it free of charge. On one side of the cafe are mugs and souvenir shirts for sale. a place to hang out, catch up on stories or simply read today's news this place is not much different from the usual cafe in terms of ambiance. For the not-so-daring enough to try the durian cappuccino/larcepuccino, this place offers decent coffee and pastries that are a little less expensive than the usual cafes found in Manila. But definitely try the durian cappuccino/larcepuccino for an authentic Blugré experience.

Bigby's : Take A Food Trip (part 2)

Bigby's Cafe Location :2/f Entertainment Center, Ayala Center Cebu, Cebu City Tel # : (032) - 2342495/ (032) - 2342395 Cuisine : International/Filipino Menu Price Range : Php 160+ - 300+ Service Charge: none Rating : ★★★★

(This is part 2 of the special 2 part review of Bigby's Cafe. Part 1 here.)

Round 5 : tapa bai!
Price : Php165
Rating : ★★★★
This is a variation of the classic Pinoy Beef Tapa. Beef tenderlion tips sizzling in spicy sauce and vegetables. Also served with rice. The beef was not melt-in-the-mouth soft, but the usual tapa variation, tender but with a sort of firmness to it. The sweet, salty and spicy blend of the sauce mixed well with the meat. The veggies for the added crunch and color. Also served with a generous cup of rice.


Round 6 : Asian Ostrich Skewers
Price : Php210
Rating : ★★★★
This gets a star just for originality. If you feel adventurous, go try something new in the poultry section. Ostrich. This little number has ostrich meat laced with herbs and spices on a kebob stick, drizzled in peanut sauce, raw mango strips on a bed of java rice.
The marinade of the meat is a bit spicy to my liking, but you can still taste the actual flavor of the ostrich. For the many who will be guessing it will taste like chicken, but surprisingly, ostrich is a dark meat variety, and to my taste buds, I think the closest flavor it is either pork/beef tenderloin.


Round 7 : Chicken Samurai
Price : Php179
Rating : ★★
Let's go back to the regular selection of poultry, the Chicken Samurai. Grilled Chicken smothered in Teriyaki sauce over a bed of sauteed greens. The chicken was tasty already on it's own but the sauce overpowered the whole chicken flavor. Leaving me to eat something like a Teriyaki sauce samurai, not the chicken. I didn't need the extra sauce served on the side.


Round 8 : Mango Chantilley Crepe
Price : Php XXX (to be determined later)
Rating : ★★★★
I am not much of a dessert fan but I'm sure is a crepe fan. Their mango crepe is served not your usual way but mango slices on the outside, ice cream flavor of your choice from the selection on the inside (we chose mango) and a pool of caramel sauce of the side. The mangoes were sweet and it seems to match well with the mango ice cream, which resulted into a fixture of creamy and citrus flavors with caramel sauce spooned generously to your likeness. It was a damn shame I was having a coughing fit that day.


Round 9: The Birthday Surprise
Price : Free
Rating : ★★★★★
Like all the themed restaurants with the curious knick-knacks, waiters in creative costumes and whatnots, everybody has their own birthday gimmick. Here at Bigby's I was the victim of the birthday surprise since I treated a bunch of people for my birthday dinner, and up to now, I still don't know who secretly told the restaurant to get a group of enthusiastic waiters to sing me a Bigby's birthday jingle served together with this brownie ala mode cake. When they shouted at the doorway towards where we're seated, I was crawling under the table, literally. Nevertheless, it is an equally wonderful and embarrassing surprise.

Conclusion
A good place to go for good eats with great people. Compared to manila restaurants offering the same stint, its prices are relatively cheaper. So do swing by if you happen to be visiting Ayala Center Cebu, and, like their menu said, take a food trip.

© 2007 wastefulspace

Chaikofi

Specialty: Coffee, tea and sandwiches
Locations: Sunset Avenue, Mall of Asia; Robinsons Place; Robinsons Galleria; The Block Level 4, SM North EDSA
Telephone: 8912559
Rating: ★★★★

This place certainly knows how to specialize. No qualms about not trying to satisfy everyone's preferences. This cafe knows what it serves and does a good job of doing it. They are certainly all about coffee, tea, sandwiches and a bit of pasta. It calls itself a "concept cafe" according to its website. No arguments from me. It's certainly different.

The Menu
Consisting mostly of sweet, cold coffee and refreshing iced tea complimented by sandwiches and few pasta dishes. Very little on the menu but each one is definitely worth checking out. I have a feeling that this place doesn't like conformity and before I forget to mention it, they also serve wine for those special occasions. Just ask at the counter.

Jungle Bungle
Price: php 125
Rating: ★★★
Coco flakes, milk tea and vanilla ice cream with whipped cream on top. Contrary to what I expected, this drink was also light on the stomach. Chocolate is usually heavy but this drink is mostly milk tea even if it does have that chocolate flavor. The mouth of the glass is coated with coconut and was a nice surprise since I was expecting chocolate.

Raspberry Green Tea
Price: php 125
Rating: ★★★★
Cold, sweet, refreshing and light with just the right amount of whipped cream. The cream is just right and doesn't have that heavy cream flavor. The light sweet raspberry flavor was stronger than the green tea and tastes a bit artificial. The tip of each glass on the menu is coated with something different depending on the item. So don't forget to lick the mouth of the glass. Perfect for the lick and sip manuever that is advertised on their posters.






Chaikofi Melt
Price: php 145
Rating: ★★★★
This is their star sandwich. So special that it bears the name of the store. Lettuce, ham, tomatoes, onions and a nice big helping of mozzarella cheese sandwiched between buns with green bits (I have no idea what they are. Tell me if you do). It also has a nice helping of potato chips on the side. The sandwich melts in my mouth so nicely and blends the flavors of the veggies and the ham into a single unit. It definitely merits the name Chaikofi Melt. One caveat though, no matter how amazingly flavorful it is, it's still a sandwich and it's still too expensive so minus 1 star.

Conclusion
Great for groups of 2 to 4. Nice and cozy place to just hang around or to read a book or magazine (they have a few lying around). I would recommend this place to have afternoon snacks or maybe even breakfast. I wouldn't recommend it if you want dinner though. There just isn't enough in the menu to satisfy varied tastes for a group.

Cafe Bola

Cuisine: filipino food
Location: 2/f Greenbelt 3, Ayala Center, Makati
Tel #: 757-BOLA
Service charge: 10%
Opening times: 11am - 10pm
Menu Price range (meals): php 100 - 235
Rating: ★★★★★


This place is definitely one of my favorites. I don't think I've eaten anything there that I didn't like. Warm, quiet, cozy atmosphere with an in-your-face filipino taste. The architecture is very contemporary and somewhat edgy but it's accentuated with black and white still photos of old filipino films, all of which i haven't heard of before nor plan to hear about anytime soon. The place is cozy enough for two. They even have candle lit tables outside. It's definitely more comfy inside and could seat a small group of people. It's not best to be boisterous in this place as I can imagine that would tend to echo.

The Menu
Filipino dishes and pasta are the dominant items on this cafe's menu. There are few dessert items as well. Today I will be sampling thier lemon grass tea (both hot and cold) as well as their specials Adobo Flakes + Kesong Puti and Sirloin Tapa + Egg.

Lemon Grass Tea (Hot)
Price: php 44
Rating: ★★★★
Smells really really nice. The steam seems to carry the lemon grass scent straight to your olfactory nerves and give you a taste sampler before you even put the cup to your lips. The taste is exquisite. The only caveat is that you only have one cup. That's it. Unlike most hot tea from other places, you don't get a pot. You get a measly cup. An amazing tea cup nonetheless.

Lemon Grass Tea (Cold)
Price: php 50
Rating: ★★★
Unlike the hot lemon grass tea, the scent is muted on this cold refresher. The taste is almost the same, albeit cold. Personally, I think I like the Bola Iced Tea better

Adobo Flakes + Kesong Puti
Price: 154 and worth every peso
Rating: ★★★★★
My mouth is watering as I imagine every spoonful (it's not a pretty sight). Rice topped with adobo flakes and a chunk of white cheese which is most probably made from goat's milk. The smell is absolutely delightful. The flakes are light, crispy and flavorful. The cheese balances out the flavor. The rice is nice and steamy. Perfect.



Sirloin Tapa on Rice + Egg
Price: 176 and worth every peso
Rating: ★★★★★
Rice topped with thin slices of juicy mouth-watering beef topped with a sunny-side up egg done filipino style. Although the egg was quite oily, the dish more than makes up for itself because of the flavor of the beef. Delicious. Besides, fried eggs are supposed to be a bit oily. If I had more space in my stomach, I'd order another one. Another perfect score for Bola.

All in all, I would keep coming back to this place because it's one of my most favorite places to eat. Ever. I just wish they had more comfy seats.

Miscellaneous
Oh yeah, me and my girl celebrated our one year anniversary here. So hooray for us! :D. I am also introducing a new author here going by the name of wastefulspace. She will be Eat My Choice's ambassador in Cebu. Yep. 5 Posts and we are already expanding!

Bigby's : Take A Food Trip (part 1)

Bigby's Cafe Location :2/f Entertainment Center, Ayala Center Cebu, Cebu City Tel # : (032) - 2342495/ (032) - 2342395 Cuisine : International/Filipino Menu Price Range : Php160+ - 300+ Service Charge: none Rating : ★★★★

Bigby's is one of the known restaurants in Cebu City. If you aren't one of the backpacker types that brave to venture the run-downed places or the pongko-ponko offerings in the streets, then this is the right place for you.

Think of it as Burgoo or T.G.I Friday's in Manila (but, cheaper). The ambiance is casual, fun, and very quirky. The walls are emblazoned with a bunch of traveler's memorabilia, ranging from souvenir plates, buttons, pins, mardi gras masks and a pair of skis. Couches are available for a cozy date or for a small group of family or friends and the usual tables and chairs for large parties.

If you glance up on the ceiling, you'll see the crazy spiral lamps and other little surprises which you can check out when you get there yourself.

Bigby's offers a wide range of foodstuffs ranging from appetizers to desserts. So there's really something for everyone.

Now on with the food trip! :D
Round 1 : Appetizer Sampler
Price : Php2XX (to be confirmed)
Rating : ★★★★
I was expecting a hungry crowd over so I knew they will be famished once they arrived, so I had a 2 sampler plates ordered (1 plate is good for 4-5 people) w/ all their popular appetizers: Chicken Fingers, Buffalo Wings, Flavored Fries and the Cheese and Garlic Quesadilla. Honey Mustard Dip and Salsa are also served for the extra kick of flavor. The Chicken Fingers were crispy on the outside, tender and juicy on the inside. But as all chicken fingers served in these sort of establishments, they are a bit bland so the honey mustard is the perfect combination to add a sweet and tangy taste to it. The Flavored Fries are the usual julienned slices of potatoes powdered with barbeque seasoning, best eaten hot or it will be a soggy, oily, mess. The Cheese and Garlic Quesadillas are little bite sized tortillas with a cheese and garlic spread, to be topped generously in salsa so the cheese won't be tiring your tastebuds for the yummy food ahead of you. But for me, the Buffalo wings are the winner of this platter. Smothered in a sweet chili concoction but still having the satisfying crunch on each bite. the flavor sears into the meat, so you know it's marinated well.

Round 2 : Belly Sizzlers
Price : Php185
Rating : ★★★
Here's Bigby's variation of Cebu's pork belly. Served on a sizzling plate drenched in special barbeque sauce with buttered veggies on the side. It comes with a generous cup of rice.
If you love the fat, then you gotta love the dish. Each portion of meat has a generous amount of fat which methinks gives this dish it's very succulent flavor. I'm not a 'fat' person myself, but the meat parts are really very tasty.

Round 3 : Deep Sea Pasta
Price : Php160-180(to be confirmed)
Rating : ★★★★★
Soon to be a regular on my menu is this shrimp pasta dish. Generous crab fat and baby shrimps on topped on a bed of sizzling spaghetti with some green onions as garnish. The sauce is not the usual tomato or cream, but a wonderful blend of spices that reminds you of the sea. the pasta is served al dente but expect the bottom pasta parts to be a bit chewy if it's gonna be seated on the hot plate for quite sometime.


Round 3 : Chix Ahoy
Price : Php189
Rating : ★★★★★
Also one of Bigby's favorites is the Chix Ahoy. If you're crazy about chicken and gravy, then this dish is for you. A fillet of boneless chicken fried and smothered in gravy and potato wedges on the side. It may sound like the average chicken and gravy, but once you tasted it, the zing of the garlic flavor will surely get you to ask for another cup of rice.

Round 4 : Passion Fish
Price : Php189
Rating : ★★★
Breaded blue marlin (look ma, no bones!) deep fried served with garlic dip and rice. I am very particular with the methods of cooking fish and I don't like it when I get a fishy aftertaste.
Anyway, this number definitely doesn't have the aftertaste. In fact, it was so crunchy and juicy that I say, it could definitely pass for chicken. (Mmm, taste like chicken).

Stay tuned for the next food trip!

This is part one of a special two-part review of Bigby's Cafe.

© 2007 wastefulspace