六十三：Secret Recipe Cakes

When I went for a vacation in Singapore and Malaysia, this particular restaurant caught my attention because it has numerous branches that I saw about six of their branches in both countries and I actually thought it was the Jollibee or McDonald's of Singapore and Malaysia. Turns out, it's actually a real restaurant with a bakeshop and not a fast food restaurant.

I also remembered that they have a branch in the Philippines in SM Megamall Atrium but I have never tried eating there until I went to Malaysia.

Mango Delight

Sponge layers with mango slices covered with cream and topped with mango puree and sesame seeds.

Their logo is no secret recipe (pun intended) because it's super simple, it's just the words Secret Recipe in Mistral font face and white font color on a red background. They have no other designs added to it, just the words.

Oddly enough, it's an effective logo because everywhere I go in Singapore and Malaysia, it catches my attention.

The first time I heard about Secret Recipe is when my friends working in Malaysia uploaded pictures of cakes. I asked them where they bought it and they said it's from Secret Recipe.

I then learned that Secret Recipe is actually famous there for their cakes. They have numerous cake flavors and they have stalls that sell only cakes.

Chocolate Fudge

Secret Recipe actually reminds me of our very own Red Ribbon because both are famous for their cakes and both have a red and white themed logo. the difference is that Red Ribbon is mostly cakes and their menu is limited to a few Filipino dishes while Secret Recipe's menu ranges from Singaporean, Malaysian, Indian and Western dishes.

thin layer of fudge and chocolate cream in layers of chocolate cake

I've only tried Secret Recipe's pasta and it was really good. I forgot what type of pasta it was but it's cream based and it was really cheesey with mushrooms and shrimps sort of like a seafood fettuccine carbonara.

The only thing I don't like about Secret Recipe is their prices and serving. A dish is around 200Php and their 9 inch cream cakes are 900Php to 1200Php. I find those prices very steep especially if compared to let's say Red Ribbon or Goldilock's bakeshops where you can buy a whole 9 inch cake for less than 500Php.

Coffee/Mocha cake

I was not able to try their cakes when I was in Singapore and Malaysia but when I came back to the Philippines, I was checking some group buying sites and I saw a promo for Secret Recipe's cakes.

The promos was 50% off for the 9 inch cream cakes but it's limited to only a few flavors. The original price for a cake is 900Php and so it's being sold for only 450Php. I bought 4 flavors so I can try a lot of flavors.

coffee infused cake with coffee flavored cream and chocolate chips

Buyers will have to choose which branch to pick up the cakes and I chose SM Megamall Atrium and I scheduled my pick ups 1 cake a week in 4 weeks since I bought 4 and since it was November that time, I started the pickup mid November and the last around December which is my birthday month so I treated it like a Birthday Cake month. ^_^

The 4 flavors that I bought were: Mango Delight, Chocolate Fudge, Mocha Cake, and Chocolate Indulgence.

By the way, they call their cakes Cream Cakes maybe because it's covered with cream. You'll understand later as you read my description of the cakes.

Chocolate Indulgence

chocolate and lots of chocolate!

I first picked up Mango Delight because I like mangoes and it's a chiffon cake covered with cream and layered with ripe mango slices and more cream. On top it has a mango puree and some black sesame seeds.

The cake is soft and not too sweet and the mangoes were sweet too.

The next cake that I picked up was the Chocolate Fudge because I bought 2 chocolate cakes and I thought the Chocolate Indulgence one is better so I saved it for the last. The Chocolate Fudge cake is again covered with cream but this time it's chocolate cream and then in between the layers it has a thin layer of fudge and then on its sides, some chocolate vermicelli.

The 3rd cake that I picked up was the Mocha cake. The cake was a chiffon cake that seemed like it was soaked in coffee, kind of reminded me of the Tiramisu dessert where you soak the lady fingers in espresso. Again it's covered and filled with coffee flavored cream and then topped with a few chocolate chips. It's the simplest cake among the four that I bought.

The last cake and the most delicious cake among the four is the Chocolate Indulgence cake. It's a chocolate chiffon cake with layers of plain and chocolate flavored cream and then covered with chocolate cream and then covered again with chocolate ganache. It was delicious, soft, moist and not too sweet and the cake didn't even last a day because me and my family liked it a lot.

Will I buy cakes from Secret Recipe again? Maybe if they have another promo. ^_^

I still like the cakes from Red Ribbon more and it's way cheaper.

For the Secret Recipe Cake Flavors:

http://www.secretrecipe.com.my/page-3552.html

六十二：Figaro Coffee Company, Frappes and Cakes

I became a regular of Figaro Cafe because my friend would usually stay there for hours for her reviews and most of the time I join her to just chat with her.

I heard it's Filipino owned and most probably explains why they have a lot of Filipino dishes on their menu.

We usually go at their branch in Brickroad beside Sta. Lucia East Grand Mall in Cainta, Rizal.

It's quite hard to find since they are located at the back of Brickroad but it still gets crowded especially at night because those who live near the place are already frequent customers like us.

Cozy interiors and comfy wooden chairs

The place is very cozy. The walls have wooden panels and rock patterns. Most of the interiors are actually made of wood and wall lamps lit the whole place.

Their chairs and tables are also wooden but comfy enough. The tables have marble top and they also have some couches available.

They also provide magazines and wi-fi for a minimum fee so staying for hours is no problem especially when you're waiting for someone.

The only thing I don't like at their Brickroad branch is the toilet because it doesn't look that clean and it's cramped, not enough lighting and they they usually run out of toilet paper.

Figaro got famous for their latte art where the foam is designed to look like a leaf or a flower etc.

Besides coffee they offer pasta, sandwiches, burgers, rice meals and of course lots of pastries and cakes.

Other drinks that they serve are Twining's tea, milk, hot chocolate and iced tea.

If you don't like warm drinks, they also serve iced coffee and recently milk teas.

They aren't like Starbucks who's famous for frappes but just a few months ago, they started adding it to their menu.

Devil's Mocha Cake

The following are the flavors and prices of their frappes:

Figaroccino Caramel Chips

White Chocolate Mocha

Choco Chips Java

Figaroccino Cookie Crumble

Php135 16oz

Php150 20oz

Rich dark chocolate cake with mocha buttercream and topped with chocolate ganache weave

Their frappes are delicious, very creamy and not too sweet. For the non coffee drinkers, the Oreo frappe has no coffee in it and you may also ask the barista to remove the coffee for the other flavors.

 I would also like to add that their frappes are cheaper compared to, let's say Starbucks or CBTL which ranges from 150 - 200Php, to think that the food at Figaro is quite expensive, e.g pasta dish for 200Php.

White chocolate mocha (front) and Figaroccino Cookie Crumble Oreo (foreground)

Besides coffee, I've tried some of their dishes like the pasta, salad and some rice meals especially at breakfast where they serve Tapsilog and other silog dishes.

Like what I've said, it's quite pricey. I think a dish starts at 150Php up to 300Php.

So if you plan on eating there prepare about 200-500Php for a full meal with coffee or any drinks.

Figaroccino Cookie Crumble Oreo and Caramel Chips

Though it's quite expensive, the food is good and of course, when I eat at a place that serve dessert, I make sure I try them.

Figaro serves an assortment of desserts from cakes, brownies, bars, muffins, cupcakes etc.

The cakes are around 100Php per slice and the pastries are around 50Php.

The desserts are good and I've tried some chocolate cakes from them and so far I liked them all.

I was told that their Red Velvet is their best seller and so one time I tried a slice.

Their Red Velvet, like any other red velvet cake is a but dry but still good. the cream cheese frosting helps in moistening the cake, still I'm yet to find the best red velvet cake.

Besides the Red Velvet, they also have a Blue Velvet which I think is made of blueberry.

Red Velvet Cake

For those looking for a coffee shop in Rizal, besides Starbucks, you may opt to try Figaro in Brickroad.

They also have a branch inside the Sta. Lucia mall just between Cinema 9 and 10 but the one in Brickroad is open until 11PM.

Make sure you try their cakes and enjoy their coffee.

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

五十八：Famous Belgian Waffles

Waffles are becoming popular these days or should I say, eating breakfast anytime of the day is the trend and waffles is among the famous breakfast food.

One of the fastest growing number of food stalls that I have observed is Famous Belgian Waffles. I've seen a stall in like each SM Mall that I've been to.

wooden chairs and tables

 You won't miss it because once you pass by it you'll smell the scent of waffles being cooked. In my opinion though. it doesn't smell like waffles but coconut oil. Maybe they are using coconut oil for their waffles?

Ham and Cheddar cheese and Chocolate Banana waffles

 While strolling one day at Sta. Lucia East Grand Mall, I passed by their stall and there were a lot of people lined up. Out of curiosity and hunger, I went ahead and ordered some waffles.

 I ordered a Ham and Cheddar Cheese waffle, Chocolate Banana waffle, Hot Chocolate and Malaysian Coffee.

Our waffles and hot drinks

I liked the ham and cheese waffle because of it's sweet and salty combination. The chocolate banana is also good but nothing special. The waffle itself for me is too soft or soggy but it tastes like ordinary pancakes.

The coffee reminded me of the tea tarik in Malaysia. It's like rich milk tea than coffee but it tastes really good. The hot chocolate is also good but again it's your typical hot choco and it goes well with the waffles.

Hot chocolate

The price range of their waffles start from 30Php to 55Php depending on the filling. The drinks are around 30Php to 45Php.

From what I know, what I ate weren't Belgian Waffles. Belgian Waffles are supposed to be chewy and thick because it starts as a dough and that dough is put inside the waffle iron and it rises almost like bread. 

On the other hand, Famous Belgian Waffles' waffles are like pancakes. They have a liquid batter which they pour in the waffle maker after a customer's order is taken.

Malaysian Coffee with milk

So, will I buy waffles again from them? Well, I haven't bought waffles from then ever since so most probably no. It's not bad tasting but I was expecting "authentic" Belgian Waffles.

If I you want REAL Belgian Waffles, try going to Caffe Bene instead. It's a Korean cafe but they serve authentic Belgian Waffles.

Location: Famous Belgian Waffles have stalls in almost all SM Malls in Metro Manila.

五十七：Xocolat, The Ultimate Hot Chocolate

It's been a while since I last uploaded a blog post. I've been quite busy the past months mainly because of work, trying out new stuff and seeking adventures. :P

Like my last post about Rocci, I'm going to review another chocolate cafe which Xocolat. 

I was introduced to Xocolat by my ex-boyfriend who also likes chocolate a lot. He told me that they have these cold blended chocolate drinks that are really good. 

My first time trying their chocolate drinks were at their Katipunan branch in Quezon City. 

The place looks like a house turned into a cafe and so the ambiance is very cozy, it's like drinking hot chocolate at your own house.

The second time that we tried Xocolat was when it was still located inside Eastwood City in Libis, Quezon City. 

They had a small bar-like store at the Citywalk and the ambiance was still cozy. Unfortunately that store had to close and they moved outside Eastwood City.

This is Red, Red Velvet Cake, 115Php per slice.

Lucky for me, they were just a few minutes walk outside Eastwood City. It's quite hard to find because they are located inside one of the warehouses in Libis. There is a tarpaulin outside the gate but unless you're very keen you will definitely miss it.

I was really happy when I found out that Xocolat is still accessible at least from where I work

And so I had a friend accompany me there.

Xoco Lava 145Php

I ordered their Xoco Lava which is I think their signature drink. They call it Cold Caprichos. They actually name their dishes with some quirky names such as Tentaciones for their cakes which I assume means temptations.

Their Xoco Lava is like hot chocolate that is served blended with ice with lots of milk and topped with whipped cream and drizzled with chocolate sauce. The drink is 145Php for the large size. Unfortunately, it tasted a bit bland compared to what I tasted in their Katipunan branch.

I also ordered their red velvet cake called This is Red. It's 115Php per slice. I also didn't quite liked it as it was too dry in my opinion. I wish I could have ordered a chocolate cake instead.

Assorted Cakes on display.

As the name implies, they serve a lot of chocolate products and most especially hot chocolate. They have chocolate cakes, chocolate drinks, chocolate pastries, even savory chocolate dishes.

Revel bars, Brownies etc. 50Php

Besides chocolate, they also serve real food like pasta and rice. They also have non-chocolate cakes such as cheesecakes and they also have other pastries like ensaymadas etc.

lamps?

I really like how this branch looks. From the outside it's like a small country house with trees and flowers and inside it's cozy with wooden tables and chairs, couches and they accentuated their walls with some small paintings and other wooden crafts.

Cute tiles.

Even their bathroom has some art in it. The tiles have flower designs and some wooden planks with paintings.

Overall, I still like Xocolat. I just noticed that the drinks aren't as good as I remembered it would be compared to my first time trying it in Katipunan but I will still go back there another time to try some of their products.

Website: Xocolat

Location: Casita Xocolat, Topy’s Compound, Economia cor Calle Industria Street, Bagumbayan (beside Eastwood City and Nuvo City)