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：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

十四：Restaurant Review of Racks



Indeed the meat falls of the bone.

The best ribs in town are by Racks restaurant. It was my first time to eat at Racks because I was craving for, guess what, fries. I really like eating burgers so we were supposed to eat at Brother's Burger but then I told my friend I feel like eating French fries and I wanted those big cut fries. She understood and said I might want to try Racks. I was like, you know I have never eaten there and I would like to try some ribs but why suggest Racks when I am craving for fries? The reason she suggested Racks is because they have these side dishes like Mac n Cheese, salads and their French Fries. I forgot what it's called but it is one of the best French fries I have tried.

Baby Back Ribs.

We ordered two different dishes first. I bought baby back ribs and my friend chose the flaked ribs already because she said she does not want to get into the hassle of slicing meat though Rack's meats are very tender that you almost don't need a knife because the meat fall of the bones.

Baby Back Ribs Meal Combo

Flaked Meat.

Since I was craving for fries, of course I chose their French fries as my side dish and it was the big cut fries that I wanted. It tasted really fresh and has a large serving. I would not mind eating there again and buying those fries. It was crunchy on the outside and soft inside. It also came with a dip that tasted like gravy which is good but I think I prefer dipping my fries on tartar sauce. *salivates*

Yummy French Fries!

Closer view of the fries.

Gravy.

The baby back ribs are so tender and like what I have said, it falls off the bones. It came with rice and fermented papaya side dish, a usual among Filipino dishes. The ribs are just spiced with salt and pepper and then you have the choice if you want the regular or spicy hot Rack's barbeque sauce. I like spicy foods so I poured spicy sauce all over the ribs and boy was it good but it was a little but too spicy that it kind of burns your lips but it is really good. The dishes are priced around 150 to 200 pesos and the side dishes are around 60 pesos.

Your choice of regular or extra hot barbeque sauce.

We spent around 700 pesos for the two dishes, the fries and a pitcher of iced tea. Quite expensive but considering the serving and taste I think it's worth the price. I would definitely eat there again.

Ate it all up!

十一： Restaurant Review of Komoro Soba

Komoro Soba for me has the best katsudon (カツ丼) when it comes to fast food Japanese restaurants. I have been passing by this restaurant at Megamall for the a couple of years already but it was just last 2010 that I tried their dishes and I'm glad I did. The price for dishes for me are cheap, around 70+ per dish considering it's almost authentic meaning it's cooked the Japanese way and tastes very Japanese but the rice isn't the authentic Japanese rice. Their katsudon (カツ丼) is really tasty and tender. I have also tried their other rice bowls which are nice but not that fantastic.

The combo meals!

  They also have combo meals which includes a noodle dish either ramen or udon (饂飩) and a rice bowl as a side dish which is kinda ironic because usually it's the other way around but great because you can choose the katsudon (カツ丼) as a side dish. Prepare yourself for the combo meal because the serving is quite large and can be good enough for two if you don't eat that much. 

  My friend and I actually had to take the katsudon home because we were already full just by eating the noodles. I am not a fan of their noodle dishes maybe because it's too heavy on the tummy because of the soup and the thick noodles especially if you order udon but I like their ramen, very tasty. For 100 pesos you can order a dish and an iced tea or soda. I tell you, you really should try their katsudon.

Komoro Soba is located at the ground floor of SM Megamall Building A near the old location of Toy Kingdom.

十： Restaurant Review of Yoshinoya (吉野家)

Yoshinoya (吉野家) is a Japanese fast food chain that serves the best beef bowl or in Japanese what they call gyudon (牛丼). It's soft, melts in your mouth beef strips with a sweet salty sauce and caramelized white onions over hot steaming rice. The first time I tasted it I got addicted to it that I wanted to eat at Yoshinoya every week and order their gyudon.

The famous Gyudon! 牛丼

Most of their dishes are also delicious like their noodles and their dimsum but of course, what you should really eat there is what they were made famous for, the gyudon. I have tried the gyudon of other Japanese restaurants but nothing compares to Yoshinoya's.

kani shumai

One more thing that they are famous for is their red iced tea. I even remember the time when you can order it bottomless but they don't offer it anymore which is quite sad because it's really good. Their servings are just right not that large but good enough to make you full.

power lunch!

beef udon

Ambience is nice with oriental themed wallpapers and wooden furnishings. The price is quite reasonable because you're eating almost authentic Japanese cuisine but quite expensive considering it's still a fast food restaurant. Expect to spend around 200 per person. Other dishes that you might want to try are their teriyaki chicken, beef misono and their shrimp tempura.

You may find Yoshinoya in famous cities around the world (I saw one in Hong Kong near Yee Wo street) but here in the Philippines I usually go to their SM Megamall branch which is located at the ground floor of Building A.