六十九：Eat Good, Feel Good at FaBurrito Fresh Mexican Grill

Faburrito

People nowadays are becoming health conscious. It might be because of the alarming increase of overweight people in the world.

I, myself, is trying to be conscious of my body since I started gaining weight because I enjoy eating food.

Though there isn't any problem with eating as we all need to eat to live, it's a matter of what and how much we eat to maintain a healthy body.

When I think of Mexican Food, I actually think that it's packed of calories, fat and carbohydrates but hey, it's delicious.

I think that's the goal of FaBurrito, and it is to serve delicious food in a healthy way. 

Salad

When I was having my lunch with a friend, we decided to try something different and healthy since we were both trying to watch our weight.

FaBurrito just opened in Eastwood City and we both got curious.

To be honest, when we saw the menu, we thought it was quite expensive since the price range is around Php150-200+

We tried it anyway and chose the Build Your Own dish.

I chose the burrito set with Cajun chicken, jalapenos and mango vinaigrette since I like mangoes and spicy food. I also opted to add a lemon grass tea and a mango pannacotta for dessert.

My friend on the other hand chose the salad with Cajun chicken, mango salsa and garlic aioli.

Burrito, Pannacotta and Lemon Grass Tea.

When the food arrived, the salad looked really good and my burrito was quite small compared to, let's say, Army Navy's burrito.

The taste, it was good and it tasted... clean and healthy?

The lemon grass tea is also not sweet. It has very little sweetness and almost has no bitterness.

The pannacotta is quite different. It has a lot of grains in it. I think it's made of soy instead of dairy to make it healthier. It is also not sweet but has a lot of texture because of the grains which makes it interesting.

The burrito is actually good and tasty. Even though it was small, it was very filling. It tasted really fresh.

My friend's salad also tasted really good and she enjoyed it a lot.

I think because everything had less salt and sugar, the food in FaBurrito is less sinful and definitely healthier but still good though I won't recommend it to those who like really tasty food.

Everything is quite expensive but I think the price is reasonable.

Website: http://www.faburrito.com/

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.

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)