七十二：Sharing the J.Co Way

This is a very late post!

J.Co's logo, a peacock.

When we think of donuts and coffee we would think of Dunkin' Donuts or Starbucks which are American franchises and surprisingly, J.Co is actually from Indonesia and it has been putting up branches all over the world due to its popularity.

Instructions on how to reheat and serve your J.Co donuts,

I was aware of J.Co before as I went for a vacation in Singapore and Malaysia but I have never tasted one before because the branch that was built that time in Manila was far from my place. When I was touring Singapore, J.Co was almost in every mall and same goes in Malaysia.

I still did not dare taste one doughnut from them because I have this mentality that if we have it in Manila, I won't try it in other countries and so I opted for their rival Big Apple Donuts which I will be reviewing soon.

Back in Manila, J.Co put up a branch in Eastwood City which took months before it opened. 

On its first day my colleagues and I decided to buy a dozen for us to share.

Half dozen donuts.

When I was told of the price my first impression was that it's an expensive donut store just like Krispy Kreme which also has a store in Eastwood but I rarely eat there.

A donut costs around 40Php which can buy me 2 donuts from another donut shop. A dozen costs 350 and they actually have a promo where you need to buy 2 dozens for only 550 pesos so a donut costs about a little more than 20Php.

JCoccino / Coffee

Each donut has a quirky name like Berry Spears and Alcapone. It's a fun gimik but I find it hard to remember the names so I usually just describe the flavor like it's chocolate or it's strawberry.

Heaven Berry

The doughnut itself is similar to the texture and taste of Cello's Doughnuts but J.Co's is softer in my opinion. The frosting is also better but I still find it too sweet but definitely less sweet compared to Krispy Kreme. I think their frosting mostly uses chocolate especially white and milk chocolate.

Avocado di Caprio

Since it is an Asian owned doughnut company, most of it flavors are suited to the Asian taste and so they have unique flavors like avocado and lychee.

I just like the fact that their donuts are really soft like a pillow, almost melts in your mouth but I also find it a bit too soft that it's mostly just air.

Green Tease

I do have quite a couple of doughnuts that I like from them mainly because they aren't too sweet and because I like them, most of those doughnuts that I like, I remembered the names.

The doughnuts' flavors are: Berry Spears, Blueberry More, Cheese Me Up, Oreology, and Avocado Di Caprio.

Choco Loco

The doughnuts that I mentioned actually have a salty taste from the cheese in the filling or the topping because I find that the cheese greatly helps in cutting the sweetness and gives contrast to the taste of the doughnut.

My favorite among the flavors is the Cheese Me Up because it's a savory doughnut almost like a cheese pizza but they rarely make it.

Berry Spears

Unfortunately for these kind of doughnuts, like Cello's doughnuts, they don't stay fresh for long and I mean it literally.

Although the doughnuts are soft once you buy it, if it is left for a few hours or even when refrigerated, it starts to harden.

The soft, fluffy doughnuts can turn into rock hard bread unlike Krispy Kreme doughnuts where the doughnuts stay super soft even when refrigerated.  I guess it's the type of fat and bread flour that they use because Krispy Kreme uses cake flour and a lot of fat.

Flash forward to 2017, I have never eaten a J.Co donut for more than a year now. The last time I ate one was New Year of 2016 because I was waiting for a friend and J.Co was the only coffee shop open that time. And TBH, I don't think I'll buy another doughnut from them anytime soon.

六十四：UCC Park Cafe

UCC Park Cafe has been near my work place for like 3 years already but it was just last year that I've tried eating there. I've heard food is good but is very expensive.

I've also heard that the cafe is actually from Japan and so the food is a fusion of Japanese and Western cuisines but is most famous for their coffee.

Based on my research, UCC stands for Ueshima Coffee Company and is actually a coffee manufacturer from Japan.

I like Japanese foods so I was sure I'd like the food there.

The first time that I decided to eat there was an epic failure. It happened when I was with a friend late night. We watched a musical event and I suggested we eat at UCC Park Cafe.

At first I thought I was lucky as my friend is a fan of the cafe and likes eating there with his colleagues at work and so we drove off to Taguig City where he lives and where there is a branch of UCC Park Cafe. Unfortunately, he doesn't remember the exact location and so we had to scour the place from Bonifacio High Street to McKinley. My feet got sore from walking and he had to pay twice for parking fees.

After about an hour searching, he remembered the location and when we got there, it was already close....

Unagi Rice Meal 409Php

My next attempt was a success. I was with another friend and she also likes Japanese cuisine. We were at Eastwood City and decided we want to eat Japanese food and so we went to UCC Park Cafe at the 1800 building. 

Typically, UCC's establishments are just coffee houses which serves mainly coffee, tea, cakes, pastries and the dishes are mostly for breakfast. UCC Park Cafe offers more dishes than the typical UCC Cafe.

Grilled Unagi on top of rice.

As expected, the prices are steep. The price ranges from 200+ to almost 400 pesos for a dish. 

They have a wide range of available dishes but of course most are Japanese such as ramen, curry and omurice dishes. They also serve Western dishes such as pastas, sausages and sandwiches and Filipino dishes such as our Si-Logs (sinangag at itlog/fried rice and egg) and the ever famous chicken adobo.

TanTan Men 399Php

Most of the time, when I eat at a Japanese restaurant, I would order ramen (Japanese noodles) because I believe it's the most Japanese dish in my opinion other than sushi.

TanTan Mian 399Php

That night I ordered their Tan tan men (399Php) or Tan Tan Mian in Chinese which is according to their menu is inspired by the Chinese Sichuan noodles which explains the Mian meaning noodles in Mandarin.

It's a spicy noodle dish with a Tonkotsu broth base with sesame paste topped with minced pork, scallions and eggs. The sesame paste gives it the creamy consistency and a nutty taste. It was very tasty and a bit spicy though I think the sesame paste is too overpowering. It's a bit too nutty for my taste but it is still delicious. 

UCC drinks (119Php)

My friend on the other hand ordered the Unagi Rice Plate (409Php). She is addicted to unagi which is grilled eel with a sweet soy sauce marinade. Unagi for me tastes like a very tender fish and is very delicious.

Pearl Milk Coffee 119Php

For our drinks, we tried their pearl drinks namely the Pearl Milk Tea and Pearl Milk Coffee. UCC is very famous for their coffee as they actually started as a coffee shop hence their name UCC Cafe but since we were going to eat warm dishes, we decided to have cold drinks and because the price of our dish is expensive already, adding coffee will be out of our budget.

Pearl Milk Tea 119Php

My friend ordered the Pearl Milk Tea and I tried the Pearl Milk Coffee (119Php each). The Milk Tea is very tasty. The balance between the tea and milk is just right. It wasn't too milky nor does the tea taste too strong. The Milk Coffee was served pousse cafe style (layered) where the milk settles at the bottom and the coffee floating on top.

I like coffee and the milk coffee was good. The coffee isn't too strong. Like the milk tea, it's just the right combination of coffee and milk. The pearls at the bottom also has the right chewiness, not too chewy nor too soft.

Japanese dinner at UCC Park Cafe Eastwood City

Overall, I liked the experience except for the fact that the food is too expensive. I would eat there again to try other food especially the coffee and pastries.

UCC Park Cafe in Eastwood is located at the ground floor of the 1800 building just in front of McDonald's.

六十一：Moshi Manju Korean Cake

I'm reviewing yet another Korean food. This time it's a Korean snack from a kiosk named Moshi Manju. 

Moshi Manju says on it's description, is a Korean cake. 

Big Box of Moshi Manju, 24 pieces for 92Php.

I'm not sure if it's really called manju in Korean because from what I researched, manju is actually a Japanese snack made of mochi but has filling in it.

The so called Korean cakes are small about slightly more than an inch in length and about half an inch in thickness.

The shape of these mini cakes are oval and has a corn pattern design. The mini cakes do taste like corn, almost like a corn muffin and are filled with different sweet fillings such as chocolate fudge, mocha, and pastillas.

Since it is called manju I'm assuming it has glutinous flour mixed in it but I doubt that they do because I've tasted mochi breads before and the texture is different.

Nice corn pattern.

The manjus are sold in 4's, 8's and in boxes 15's and 24's and you can choose the flavor depending on what is available for that day.

I bought the 24 pieces and the flavor available were chocolate and pastillas which is like thick sweet custard more like our yema. The 24 pieces is 92Php.

Chocolate fudge filled manju.

By the way. the stalls usually have the cakes cooking right in front of you. It's actually fun to watch and smell how the cakes are made.

Pastillas filled manju.

I should also warn you not to eat the cakes right away if it's given to you freshly bakes because it will burn your tongue because the filling can be really hot and this is based on my personal experience. LOL!

Anyways, even though the name is confusing, it's a really good snack. What I don't like about it is that once it gets cold, the cake becomes a bit tough so I usually reheat it in the microwave to soften it and again, don't eat it right away once you reheat it.

Price:

4's - 18.00Php

8's - 15.00Php

15's -  60.00Php

24's - 92.00Php

Location: SM Megamall Basement of Building B near Luk Yuen

六十：Sushi-Ya Japanese Restaurant and SM Megamall Robbery

Sushi-Ya

    I like noodles and so I like ramen. I like Japanese cuisine in general.

There's always something to remember when I eat at a restaurant but when we ate at Sushi-Ya, it was very memorable. It was the time when SM Megamall was robbed by armed thieves stealing jewelry at the department store and the whole mall was locked down.

Luckily for me and my friend, we were able to enjoy our food first before the horror started.

Sushi-Ya Menu

To start the story, let me make a review of the restaurant first.

My friend and I wanted to eat noodles. We were thinking of Komoro Soba or Rai Rai Ken because I've tried eating there before until we ended at Sushi-Ya because the prices seem reasonable and they have the noodles that we wanted.

Sushi-Ya interiors

We asked the waiters regarding their bestsellers and they were nice enough to answer all our queries.

My friend and I decided to order Miso Ramen, Gomoku Ramen, their mixed maki combination 2 and bottomless iced tea.

Of course the iced tea were served right away.

Mixed Maki Combination 2

Next came the sushi platter. We chose Mixed Maki Combination 2 (225Php) which has  4 Cali Maki, 4 Tekka Maki, 2 Shake Maki, 2 Unagi Maki.

We chose combination 2 because of the Unagi Maki which is actually grilled eel. 

Unagi or grilled eel is actually tasty, very delicious and it's quite expensive. It's like fish but more flaky and the Japanese season it with sweet soy sauce.

Miso Ramen

Then came our noodles served in large bowls.

My friend ordered the Miso Ramen 150Php and I ordered the Gomoku Ramen 150Php.

We ate the sushi first and enjoyed every piece of it.

We then tasted each of the ramen that we ordered.

Gomoku Ramen

The Miso Ramen is very tasty, more salty than the Gomoku Ramen and I think it is more on pork based broth while the Gomoku Ramen has white broth and has lots of seafood in it like shrimps and squid.

I think both ramen use the same type of noodles, the long egg noodle type which are also delicious.

My friend and I really enjoyed the food and surely I don't mind eating there again to try the other dishes.

Price Range (50-400Php)
Sushi-Ya Megamall Location:
G/F Building B, SM Megamall, Julia Vargas Avenue Corner EDSA, Mandaluyong City, Metro Manila, Philippines
Phone: +63(2)6319998

To continue with the robbery story...

After we ate, we went to buy the caramel cake at Goldilock's. After buying the cake, we went to the toilet and then while inside the toilet, I hear the sound of a stampede and some people screaming. I actually thought there was an earthquake. 

There were also people going inside the toilet and so we asked them what was happening. They told us that they heard gun shots and they were just trying to hide for safety.

My friend and I got scared and started texting our relatives. After a few minutes, when some of the people who were talking to their relatives outside the toilet said it's clear, my friend and I tried to go out so we can go home.

When we got out the toilet, all establishments were closed.. the whole mall was locked down and when I checked one of the restaurants, I saw people with scared faces all packed at the corner because the restaurant has glass walls.

We went back to the toilet and saw a fire exit. There was also a family who decided to join us and a foreigner. We went down the fire exit and safely got out.

Outside there were police and lots of people who aren't really there to help but are more of a nuisance. We even saw a group of people taking pictures of themselves smiling beside a police car. How insensitive can you get?

Long story short, my friend and I were able to go home safely and saw in the news that thieves robbed the jewelry stand inside the department store and they had a gun which they fired just to scare people away.

It was a really scary experience but at least no one got hurt and at least we were able to enjoy the food before we got scared by the incident. ^_^

五十九：Mr. Kimbob Korean Health Food

Filipinos are fast adapting Korean cuisine in our culture mainly because of the increase in numbers of Koreans in our country. Mr. Kimbob is one of those fast food service restaurants that serve Korean dishes.

Mr. Kimbob can be found mostly in SM Mall Food Courts. They serve typical Korean dishes such as chapchae, kimbap, and bibimbap. some of their branches even sell Korean novelty frozen treats such as the famous Melona popsicles.

My friend and I tried this when we had our lunch at SM Megamall. We ordered their donkatsu meal which is like the tonkatsu of the Japanese. It's pork that is breaded and then fried. It comes with a cup of white rice and some minced carrots. If I remember it correctly it's 85Php with the iced tea.

My friend and I also ordered their dumplings which is I think around 50Php. It tasted like our fried lumpia.

I've tried Mr. Kimbob's Bibimbob (bibimbap) before which is the Korean rice dish with vegetables and a little meat and I liked it. Unfortunately for their donkatsu, it was very dry and even their dumplings were too oily. 

In short, I was disappointed but I don't mind trying their other dishes next time like the Japchae.

Price Range: 50 - 100Php

Location: SM Food Courts

五十五：Happy Cream Puff

My friend and I were walking along Malugay Street in Makati City one night when we saw this little store with red and white colored banner. Staring at it, it looked familiar to me.

It was the famous cream puff store, Happy Cream Puff.

The available cream puffs that night.

I've actually heard of Happy Cream Puff like years ago and based on the reviews, a lot of people really like their cream puffs.

Croquembouche towers for special occassions.

 I myself like cream puffs and I bake my own cream puffs at home. I like how it is crunchy on the outside and then when you bit into it it is soft and creamy.

Just behind their display is the kitchen itself.

Since it was around 9PM already, we were left with a few choices of cream puffs. My friend got the almond chocolate puff and I got the ordinary caramel cream puff.

Wooden seats for customers.

 Their cream puffs are priced from 25PHP for the bite sized ones to 55PHP for the larger normal sized ones depending on the flavor.

Almond Chocolate Cream Puff

  The choux or the puff itself is easy to make but the goodness of the cream puff is on it's cream and how it is complimentary with your puff.

My cream puffs are a little crunchy on the outside but Happy Cream Puff's cream puffs are really crunchy. You can hear lots of crackling noise when you bite into it and the cream is mildly sweet and smooth.

Plain Cream Puff with Caramel topping

 So, I like that their cream puffs are crunchy but I think it was too crunchy that it lacked chewiness that it was just like a crunchy shell and cream pastry than a crunchy, soft, chewy bread with cream pastry.

Our orders

Overall, I might consider trying their cream puffs again but not that soon. I'd still say it's good but it's not the cream puff that I grew up liking. ^_^

Visit their Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/Happycreampuff2006?fref=ts

Happy Cream Puff
7224 The Zone, Malugay St corner Buendia, 1209 Makati
817-4234