Who would’ve thought that this month, I’d be thisclose to Bobby Chin?

Please pardon the big smile. I was that kilig!

Bobby and his favorite CBTL drink:
coffee, coffee, and more coffee

For the uninitiated, chef, massive food lover, and Discovery Travel and Living’s World Cafe: Asia star Bobby Chinn has run several highly acclaimed restaurants in Vietnam before opening Restaurant Bobby Chinn including Camargue, Saigon Joe’s in Ho Chi Minh City, Miro, and the Red Onion Bistro in the Hanoi Tower (formerly the infamous “Hanoi Hilton” prison). He’s gained so much kitchen respect for someone who used to work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange at 11 Wall Street!

So what did we have for brunch? I thought you’d ask.

Blueberry Muffin and Biscotti
(not in the photo: brewed coffee)

My favorite CBTL muffin is definitely cheese followed by blueberry. In my honest opinion, compared to other coffee shops, CBTL has the freshest and most moist muffins. The chocolate chip biscotti we had was hard enough not to get soggy real quick after dunking in brewed coffee (which is good because you don’t get crumbs all over your coffee).

Salmon Scramble with Chicken Sausages

I used to order this one a lot back when I was working in Ortigas just because it’s so good. I remember posting here in Pass The Sauce before my site crashed (sigh) that I had three CBTL hot breakfasts in one day: Eggs Ben (my top pick), Salmon Scramble, and Brek O’ Day. How many calories do you think that cost me?

Additional info via Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf Philippines

Mark Gamboa, Marketing Manager of Krispy Kreme Philippines and father to two boys, believes that fatherhood is like a special doughnut you never get tired of eating everyday. “My sons are very special to me that no matter how tired I am when I get home at night, I still make it a point to spend time with them,” he says.

Though still very young, his sons, Marcus who’s nine and Marco who’s five, makes his role as a dad very fun and enjoyable for they are both quite energetic and playful tots. Especially during Father’s Day, Mark’s kids never fail to give him a colorful greeting card. Afterwards, the whole family goes to their favorite restaurant to celebrate the occasion.

Although fatherhood also has its challenges, Mark with the help of his wife, disciplines their kids when needed but still remain a friend who loves them and cares for them.

Mark is also proud to say that even though he works full-time, he still prioritizes family over everything else. “It is hard to achieve work-family balance so I give my family more weight,” he explains.

Staying true to his name, Mark does his best to make a mark in his children’s lives by teaching them to put God first, to respect and love their neighbors and to be responsible for their actions. “But I also tell them to remember to do well in their studies and have fun with the things they do.”

Being an expert on fun himself after working in such a dynamic company as Krispy Kreme, Mark makes bonding moments fun by often treating his kids at Krispy Kreme. Luckily, this Father’s Day, Krispy Kreme encourages fun and memorable times among fathers and kids–just like what Mark, Marco and Marcus have in mind to celebrate the occassion. That’s why from June 9 to 30, families can celebrate Dad’s special day with Krispy Kreme’s latest offering—Classic Peanut Butter & Stripes doughnut. This yummy treat is made with peanut butter kreme and the classic Reese’s Peanut Butter that definitely adds “dad-pleasing” factor to this decadent doughnut. Topped with graham cracker crunch and striped with caramel or chocolate, no kid, or dad, for that matter, can resist. Krispy Kreme’s Father’s Day sweet offering goes best with Krispy Kreme Signature Coffee and is available in all stores nationwide.

“This is in line with Krispy Kreme’s belief of making today special. With an occasion as important as Father’s Day, a sweet celebration over doughnuts and coffee should be in order,” enthuses Gamboa.

Via: Krispy Kreme Philippines

After months and months (it’s already summed up to almost two years) of procrastination, I finally had the opportunity to take Old Manila Walks‘ The Big Binondo Food Wok with Ivan Man Dy. For the uninitiated, Ivan’s also the guy who took Tony (close?) around Binondo.

After lunch at Fely J’s Greenbelt 5, my group together with my toy for the day, a Samsung WB500 compact high zoom digital camera, drove to Plaza Calderon dela Barca in Binondo to join Ivan’s famous street & food tour. To start things off, he gave us a quick review of our elementary lessons on Indios and Mestizos:

Peace tayo Ivan!

We crossed the street and went inside the Basilica de San Lorenzo Ruiz:

I’d love to walk you through the tour but I suggest you book yourself and your friends for a rather animated version, Ivan Man Dy style.

1st food stop: Café Mezzanine, Volunteer Fireman’s Coffee Shop
650 Ongpin cor. Yuchengco Street, Binondo, Manila

We were served three things: bowl of rice, bowl of soup with a fish ball, and brewed iced coffee (ala-Americano).

Kiampong

Kiampong is served with caramelized onions, spring onions, adobong mani. It tastes so much like rice glazed with maki (one of my favorite dishes growing up).

Fishball soup

What’s a bowl of rice got to do with a bowl of soup? Hmmmm…

2nd food stop: Dong Bei Dumpling
642 Yuchengco Street, Binondo, Manila

Before we reached the second stop, Jane mentioned that she’s dying to try these dumplings she’s read all over the net. She knows the name of the place but she wasn’t able to find it on her previous trip to Binondo. Her face lit up when she saw the sign on this food stop.

How the dumplings are made in their humble kitchen

Two names usually come up when the word “dumplings” or “siomai” is mentioned (being the most popular local franchises) : Paotsin and Hen Lin. How does Dong Bei dumplings fare? Let’s just say they’re mind-bogglingly good such that when asked where the best dumplings in Manila are from, you’ll say Dong Bei Dumplings repeatedly.

Chives/Kutchay Dumplings (Php 100, 15 pieces)

Pork Dumplings (Php 100, 15 pieces)

Chinese Pancakes (Php 100, 4 pieces)
aka. my favorite dish from the entire food walk

3rd stop: Cue Ka Ching
Corners Salazar and Ongpin Streets, Binondo, Manila

Make a wild (well not really but yeah, think crazy) guess from what animal this egg is from!

4th stop: Wai Ying Fastfood
810 Benavides Street, Binondo, Manila

The best boiled and sauce-free siopao for only Php15. I have no words to describe how awesome this is.

Bicho bicho with a leg, foot, chair, and puppy anyone?
The beauty of Manila street food!

Processed Chinese hawthorn= Haw flakes

5th stop: New Po-Heng Lumpia House
Uy Su Bin Building
531 Quintin Paredes Street, Binondo, Manila

If you joined our tour and still have room for this extra filling Chinese/amoy fresh lumpia, I can’t imagine what you’re feeding in your stomach! I’m not a big fan of this snack but this is definitely the best tasting fresh lumpia I’ve had to date.

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How do you like the photos above? They are at par with my other photos (shot using a Nikon D40x) right? I brought my dSLR just in case I don’t like the quality of photos shot by the Samsung WB500. After a few tries and getting used to (esp. with the macro feature), I think I got the hang of it. I like that it’s compact yet powerful. The best feature? The Dual Image Stabilization & of course the Beauty Shot (see photo below to see how this erases all signs of stress and shine on our faces).

Didi, Ivan, myself, and Jane

I had my first serving (Php 80 for a 4 oz cup) of Red Mango (Megamall Building A) frozen yogurt a week after I got back from Dubai. I ordered the original variant sans toppings so that I can judge the frozen yogurt itself. After my first spoonful, I wish I ordered some toppings. The frozen yogurt was a big NAY. The texture was icy and the yogurt was too sweet, far from how it’s supposed to taste like. I guess it would be safe to say that to date, if you’re looking for authentic Italian frozen yogurt, The White Hat is (still) definitely the best.

When you checkout The White Hat in SM Mall of Asia, Robinsons Place - Manila, SM North EDSA (Annex), Rustans Supermarket (Makati), and SM Clark (Pampanga) do checkout their current promos as well:

Before the programme started, M asked me if I was a fan of Master Chef Ming Tsai. I told her that I can’t really consider myself a fan (just a believer, the most) because to begin things with, I rarely enjoy Asian fusion. On top of that, I only caught him on tube probably thrice (including his infamous battle with Bobby Flay).

To cut the long story short, I ate my words an hour after Chef Ming stepped up on stage.

For the uninitiated, Chef Ming is awesome (a rock star even, per M). It would be safe to say that I probably met hundred and ten chefs in the past 3 years, and Chef Ming is actually part of the 25% who can talk about his equally awesome craft without the “attitude”. His entire demo wasn’t just packed with useful information to both professional and non-professional food enthusiasts but also light and fun. He even shared the story about his non-smoker mom and her little ashtray collection, his baseball bet with Bobby Flay on their Iron Chef America challenge, and how it amazes him how some people think of the unthinkable when it comes to food (cracking an oyster open, blowing up a duck to make Peking duck, etc).

On with the demo, very important when buying fish:

Smell the fish. If it doesn’t smell like the sea, it’s no good.

Chef Ming’s first dish required zero heat but lots of mixing. He also made use of a Tabasco bottle and a PVC pipe to mold his dish:

Finished product:

Ahi Tuna Parfait

Vinaigrette:
½ Tbsp Dijon mustard
½ Tbsp naturally brewed rice wine vinegar
¼ cup canola oil
1 Tbsp wasabi tobiko
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Parfait:
1 cup heavy cream
½ lb #1 grade ahi tuna, cut into very small dice
3 dashes Tabasco sauce
1 Tbsp finely chopped chives
8 whole chives
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 oz wasabi tobiko
2 oz American sturgeon caviar (if unavailable, just use additional tobiko)
Soy-Lime Syrup

Soy-Lime Syrup:
1 bottle Bango kecap manis
Juice of 1 lime

Special Equipment:
Four 1”- 1½” ring molds or cookie cutter

Directions:

1. Vinaigrette - Combine first four ingredients, season with salt and pepper, whisk lightly.
2. Soy-lime Syrup - Combine lime juice, to taste, with kechap manis and pour into a squeeze bottle for garnishing.
3. In a small chilled bowl, whip cream until stiff peaks form. Reserve.
4. Fill a large bowl with ice. Place medium bowl in ice, add tuna and next three ingredients, season with salt and pepper. Mix lightly.
5. Spray insides of ring molds with nonstick cooking spray. Layer the tuna mix and caviars as follows: 1/8 tuna, 1/4 tobiko, 1/8 tuna, 1/4 sturgeon caviar. Press down lightly on parfaits after each layer with bottom of Tabasco bottle or whisk. Top the layers with a thin layer of cream, Smooth evenly. Unmold cream side up onto top of upside down martini glass. Garnish each portion with 2 chives. Drizzle vinaigrette and soy-lime syrup around and serve with demitasse spoons.

After presenting Chef Ming’s first dish, Unilever Food Solutions (UFS) Executive Chef Joanne Limoanco went up on stage to prepare her duck dish.

Errrr I don’t eat duck.

It’s not that I don’t have the heart to eat the fowl but I had this horrible experience as a kid with ducks. I think it was my Tatay Remy’s (my late grandfather) birthday when they forced me to eat this thin, white, paper like bread that had this deep brown meat aka. Peking duck. I spat it after a single munch. That must be around 17 years ago and until last Tuesday, I never had another duck.

Duck Salad with Caramelized Pears & Goji Berry Dressing

Mom was with me during the showdown and we were pointing at each other who should try the duck (she’s not a big fan too). We tried it almost at the same time with our eyes closed. I (surprisingly) loved it, she said it was ok but we agreed on the salad: we should do it at home ASAP.

Chef Ming with his sous chef, Chef Tom Woods

Chef Ming’s second dish:

Hoisin-Marinated Duck with Napa Slaw and Sweet Potato Risotto

Our jaws dropped: rare duck meat (this already feels like Fear Factor!). I only had very little of the centre but managed to cut off the tasty crust. The sweet potato risotto was definitely better than using arborio rice.

Chef Joanne’s second dish:

Braised Beef Neck with “Kailan” and Salted Egg Gremolata served with diced Potato Gratin

This tastes so much like one of the dishes I prepared in school. It’s rich, filling, and very comforting. Not the easiest dish to prepare but will definitely win hearts on gatherings.

Big kudos to the teams of Chef Ming and Chef Joanne, Kyocera, Unilever Food Solutions, and SM Hypermarket for making me and mom eat duck an awesome event!

Savoury Cocktail Crackers and Apple Juice

12:12 lunch:

Roll with Butter and Cheese
Shrimp, Carrot, and Cucumber Salad
Lake Hayes Chardonnay
Tapioca Pudding with Strawberry Sauce
Al Ain Mineral Water
Traditional Chicken and Vegetable Tagine with Steamed Rice

I passed on the beef because it might be similar to what I had in flight two months ago. Save for the salad (which was very tasty) and the silver utensils, I think meal’s worse. The Moroccan tagine was very disappointing. It tasted so much like cheap chicken curry (sorry, it was really that bad).

Beef and vegetarian mains:

• Stir fried beef and vegetables in oyster sauce with egg noodles
• Mediterranean vegetable ratatouille with potato wedges

Beverages:

• Selection of juice and soft drinks
• Choice of white and red wine
• Ballantine’s
• Gordon’s
• Smirnoff Red
• Bacardi
• Cointreau
• Bailey’s
• Heineken
• Amstel Light

17:18 light snack:

Coffee, Orange Juice, Cold Vegetable Sandwich, Tiffany Break Chocolate

The coffee was piping hot and fresh. The sandwich was so filling it was way better versus dinner.

What I hated (yes it’s that bad):

• My seat cannot be reclined and I felt like a sorry ass when I reported this to the FA. I would understand that there are no more free seats but I would’ve appreciated it if she said that to me in a polite way.

• There was a disabled plane in NAIA that prevented us from landing on time. We had to park and refuel in Subic. During which, passengers were not allowed to stand up nor use the lavatory. There was no food nor drinks served the entire wait. In flight entertainment sucked big time. They collected the headsets around an hour after they shut off the TVs. When the TVs were turned on, it was tuned to only one show: Just For Laughs. Imagine watching TV sans audio for an hour. No electronic device can be turned on as well. Just imagine being stuck in this situation for nearly 4 and a half hours.

Don’t get me wrong. There’s something pretty good about the flight:

• Finally being able to watch Marley and Me, Bolt, and (insert cheese here) Twilight in a huge, touch screen economy class TV.

• Free earplus. These were my best friends during the 4 hour taxi time when the babies started crying simultaneously.
• Blanc wine. The last time I had wine was exactly two months ago and super cold wine never tasted so good!

Burger heaven facade, DFC branch

Caesar Salad with Shrimp, 39 AED

Are the shrimp toppings awesome or what? This is probably the best Caesar salad I’ve ever tried.

Unlimited garnish and sauce bar

Burgers shared by three ladies:

1/2 lb Hotrock, 1/2 lb Southwest, 32 AED each

I’m a huge burger person and these babies are just so damn good! I would definitely trade salmon canapes over these on any day. How I wish I can take the burger and the experience for my brother (who’s also a burger guy) in Manila to try!

Oat biscuits with dark Belgian chocolate. Best enjoyed with cold milk or hot tea. Available at the Swedish Food Market inside IKEA (I heard it’s available worldwide). 25 AED for 600g in IKEA Dubai.

Lemon wedge, a shot of honey, and mini cup for the hot tea

Cheese Salad, Php 200

The greens were very fresh and the vinaigrette was nice and fruity. This salad was so good but overpriced IMHO.

Princess and the Paupers, Php150

The soup above was very tasty yet not overwhelming.  I loved the mushroom dumplings and silky tofu cubes. Quick tip: finish your soup ASAP once served.

Tita Susie’s Crispy Tapa, Php 220

This one’s a must try. It’s definitely one of the best crispy tapas I’ve ever had!

Lemon Ricotta with Grilled Chicken, Php 250

Skip the pasta and ask if you can order the grilled chicken a la carte. The pasta we got was stale and bland.

Profiteroles, Php 200

Fresh strawberry, vanilla ice cream, local cacao syrup. This was probably the best dish if we had to narrow things down.

Café by the Ruins
23 Chuntug, Baguio City
Tel. 442-4010 / 446-4010
feedback@cafebytheruins.com.ph

NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM! It’s very moist, almost cake-like and just slightly sweet. The cream cheese frosting’s extra delish too! 12 AED at Sugar Daddy’s Bakery.

Sugar Daddy’s Bakery
The Village Mall
Jumeirah Road, Dubai, UAE