Another CBTL Breakfast

The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf
Ground Level, A. Venue Mall
7829 Makati Ave. corner Valdez St.,
Antel Lifestyle City - Makati City
+63 (02)729-7095

*continuation of my holiday food trip with K*

 Day 14... the last day for us to be together. Both of us woke up a little sad knowing we will go separate ways that afternoon, but we still have until lunch time to roam around, so it was still a day to celebrate.


Obviously, for breakfast it was CBTL for us again. We did love how we have the entire place just for ourselves that early in the morning - we could eat as slow as we could, laugh as heartily as we could, and read as much magazines as we could.


Eggs Ben. My choice for today is Eggs Ben, which has a slice of turkey ham, cheese, poached egg, and hollandaise sauce. It was rich, but very delicious! I normally don't like runny egg yolks, but because the sauce has a creamy consistency, I just blended the yolk with the sauce, and I didn't notice it anymore. :)


Roast Beef Sandwich. K went for a heavy breakfast this day, and although he said this tasted good, he didn't appreciate that they used store-bought processed roast beef. He said when he saw this on the menu, he thought the roast beef would be something CBTL would cook at their kitchen, but I did tell him it's primarily a coffee and tea shop, so he did get to understand it. I loved the lettuce on the side, by the way.

Both breakfast meals came with a cup of coffee, which I didn't photograph anymore; as usual K had the black coffee, I had the latte with extra milk on the side.

Last stretch of our holiday... we couldn't roam far from the hotel, so we decided too just visit the Ayala Museum.

Desserts at the Saloon

Stagecoach Saloon Bar and Restaurant
2/F A. Venue Mall, Makati City
+63 (02)505-1724

*continuation of my holiday food trip with K*

Following the not-so-satisfying dinner, K told me we should just eat desserts somewhere, making sure we'd have a much better dessert so we could end the day on a sweet note. As we entered the mall, someone handed us a leaflet and when the person told us they do serve desserts, we went to check it out.


It looked great outside. Seeing that tarp with a few of the meals they offer, we were scolding ourselves why didn't we eat dinner there. Sighing, we just told ourselves "at least we could get to eat at two restaurants for that evening."


We might be the restaurant's first diners, but a group of Korean yuppies entered a few minutes after. I guess life at the A. Venue Mall happens late at night - there weren't much people in any of the restaurants at the mall during that time of the night.



The place really is like entering a "Wild West" style saloon. The billiards table are available for diners to use, by the way. I am not sure if they had the mechanical bull... that would have been nice.

When the wait staff handed us the menu, K told we were just there for the desserts. They didn't have much to offer, so from that very short list, we had:


Mango Cheesecake. At first, we ordered for the Strawberry Cheesecake, but a few minutes after we told our order, the chef went to our table and apologized that they didn't have strawberry cheesecake. Asking if we would like mango instead, we agreed. It's still cheesecake, after all.

The way it appeared, it was a slice of cheesecake topped with sliced fresh mangoes. While that thought was a little saddening, the taste actually made up for it big time. The cheesecake tasted great. It wasn't the typical smooth-like cheesecake I tasted in many food places, it had full of body (I really don't know how to explain it with words), and it really tasted good. K and I were really surprised by it... and the mangoes added a nice new twist to it.


Banana Flambe. My photo didn't do justice to it, but what's in it: saba bananas cooked in syrup and brandy (still hot), topped with mango ice cream and chocolate syrup. It was a little too sweet for our taste, but the contrast between the hot bananas and cold mango ice cream was just amazing!

We might only had desserts that time, but we did take our time eating, just so we could enjoy the place more.



    

Jollibee Crispy Chicken Wings

Being a "couch potato," it was through the TVC that I first learned about this new dish Jollibee is offering and early this month, I was able to try it out. For p80 (with fries or rice and regular size drink) it was okay for me. At first I thought this was Jollibee's version of the Korean super crunchy chicken, but as the name suggested, it was crispy, NOT crunchy... which was something I appreciated, because I already know a lot of places that serves good Korean-style fried chicken.

The breading was light and airy - it was like coated with merengue, at least in texture (in my opinion). The taste was okay and dipping it in the sweet-chili sauce made it much better. Price wise, I found it a little (just a little) expensive - considering it only had two pieces (well, one wing part cut into two).

I don't know which among the two - this or the Jollibee Chickenjoy - had more calories, but, I guess the "hoping to be slender" me would just go for this when the family dines at Jollibee and I wanted a fried chicken fix.

Next time, I'd go for this with rice, just to check if this is much better with rice.

Pass the Plate Cooking Demo

It was August last year when I attended the Yummy Magazine Cooking Demo, which I enjoyed very much. Time flew so fast, I didn't even realize it has been a year already. This year, Knorr and Yummy Magazine partnered again for another cooking demo called "Pass the Plate" and will run for 5 legs!

Obviously, the October 6 and 7 events were already finished - you can check pictures on Yummy Magazine Facebook Page, and since Batangas is quite far from my location, I am looking forward to attending the event at Robinson's Supermarket in Ermita.

If you're near Lipa, Batangas on October 20, Robinson's Supermarket Ermita on November 17, or  Ayala Center in Cebu City on November 24, do check out the event - it's a free way of learning new recipes (with step by step guide), plus, if you're lucky, you can even win prizes. Well, even if you don't win in the raffle, the knowledge gained through cooking events already makes one a winner. :)

Sicilian Express - A. Venue Mall

Sicilian Express
G/F A. Venue Mall
Makati Ave. Poblacion, Makati
+63 (02)729-5555

(continuation of my food trips with K)



We got back at the hotel a little past 5 in the afternoon; still early, but we decided to just stay at the hotel and watch TV (or go online). For dinner, it was another trip to A. Venue Mall. Checking the side entrance of the mall, K took his time reading the big menu by the wall and seeing something he hoped to eat, we entered.


There weren't much people inside (probably because it was still early), but a few guests would drop by to order take-outs. When we were handed the menu, K was a bit disappointed that what he wanted to eat wasn't in the menu, and we were told it was no longer available. K obviously wanted to leave, but since we were accepted at the restaurant with courtesy and friendly smiles, he decided to just choose from the available options.


Spaghetti with Meatballs. This was the solo serving, priced at p130. K said the sauce was okay because it was a little bit on the tangy side, but he didn't like the meatballs that much - one, because it was small, two, because it was a little dry. Still, he said it was okay to satisfy the hungry tummy.


Baked Fish. For p145, I found this too expensive. Actually, it looked a little blah when served to me - I just scooped out the tomato sauce under the fish as well as dust it with some ground pepper to make it look more appetizing. Taste wise, well if have eaten Cream Dory fish, then you know the taste, but the sauce did give it a bit of an oomph. I just wished there were more sauce because it was really good. As for the potato wedges, well...

We wanted to eat dessert, but all they had was ice cream, so K and I decided to enter the mall and find a place for us to eat desserts. Taking aside the minimal funny misunderstandings while eating dinner, K just said eating desserts elsewhere would mean additional post on my blog. So true.