Where coffee is on the house

Where there's coffee, I'm there. But where there's free coffee, expect me to always be there. Haha! After my first time to eat at Parvati last Monday, I knew I'd be going there again whenever I'd crave for cake and coffee. You see, at Parvati in Trinoma Mall, brewed coffee is on the house when you order any dessert worth at least P100. But before I tell you what my dessert was, let me share what my friends and I had for lunch at this specialty dessert shop. By the way, three of my girlfriends in the office were my company for lunch on that working day. Lunch out is a nice excuse from work, isn't it? Hehe! Well, these were our orders:

Smoked Salmon Sandwich with Mango Dill Dressing, P200.

Chicken Potpie Pasta, P240.

Shrimp Etoufee Pasta, P230.

Mini Mango Torte, P95.

Honey Apple Iced Tea, P90.

Hot Tea, P40.

Brewed coffee

Cake gallery

Death by dessert. Haha! Lots of choices here. You can sample cake varieties, too.

Our Smoked Salmon Sandwich with Mango Dill Dressing was delish but we complained (among ourselves. hehe.) that the salmon was too small, it was just single bite-sized. The Shrimp Etoufee Pasta was yummy but lacked spiciness. When we ordered it, the server warned that it was spicy, which was why I went for it. It was flavorful, though, a bit sour and a bit sweet, and we relished it. I didn't like the Chicken Potpie Pasta, however. To me, it was like soup that ran out of broth. I ended my meal with a sweet note - the Mini Mango Torte. The crust was good; a little tough for my teeth but delicious with just the right sweetness. The mango bits and cream topping were oh-so-yummy! The brewed coffee made my Parvati experience nearly perfect. And yes, it came free although my dessert was P5 short of the P100 needed to avail of free coffee. It was one lunch date worth remembering - good food in the company of good friends.

Lunch with a bit of nostalgia

If there's one food place that reminds me so much of my happy salad days, it's Pancake House. When I was a blithe, gawky teen, my older sister, who worked at ADB where she was a champion bowler (our living room cabinet was full of her trophies), she would often tag me along to her practice at Ali Mall in Cubao, after which we would eat at Pancake House. My orders on those occasions were predictable - a taco, bacon waffle and a strawberry sundae. Yep, all those fit into my quite small a tummy (I was very thin as a child and teenager).  Haha! When I got older, however, I rarely got to eat at Pancake House. You know how it is when you always have a kid with you when you go out - you only get to eat either at McDonald's or Jollibee because that's what little rascals want. Sure, my six-year-old would sometimes agree to try new restaurants but a long negotiation would have to first test my patience. Thankfully, it was only hubby and me that went out recently and we agreed to have lunch at Pancake House in Trinoma. 
These were what we had:  

Pan Chicken Special Set, P246. (hubby's order)

Roast Beef Special Set, P273. (my order)

Strawberry ice cream, around P60. (I forgot exactly how much) per scoop

Iced tea that came with our set orders

But while I enjoyed my food, hubby didn't. His chicken was undercooked, with blood oozing from within (gross!). He called the attention of a server, who promptly retrieved his plate, and returned it after a few minutes. Now, the two chicken pieces looked smaller from being refried (not changed!) . Adding to the not-so-nice lunch was the warmth of the place. I told the server about it and he said their airconditioning wasn't functioning well. Well, obviously, it wasn't.Still, I haven't changed heart about Pancake House. I love the food there and definitely, I'll be back to have another taste of the tacos and bacon waffle that I once loved.

Late bloomer

The beauty of having grown-up kids is that once they finish school and start earning, they can treat mom to a nice meal. The downside, of course, is that it means mom is already old. Haha! Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed dinner one recent Saturday without having to pay for it myself, thanks to my eldest child. It was at Sbarro in Trinoma Mall. I know it's quite strange, even somewhat funny, but it was my first time at this Italian restaurant, even though it's been in existence in the Philippines for 20 years! I don't quite know, it just didn't appeal to me before. Truth to tell, it was Figaro that we wanted to have dinner at, but sadly, we were informed by the guard that their Trinoma store had closed last year. So second choice it was for Sbarro. However, our dinner there proved to be satisfying that I realized I was missing out on something all these years. You could say I'm a late bloomer for Sbarro but hey, better late than never. 
Anyway, my daughter and I had: 

Roasted Chicken with Spaghetti and Garlic Roll, P169.

Baked Ziti, half order, P96.

Hawaiin New York Style Pizza, P110./slice

Cheesecake, P76.

Raspberry Iced Tea, P41. and Soda, P28. 

While I didn't like the spaghetti (I'm a true-blue Filipino, I like sweet spaghetti. Haha!) and the Cheesecake very much, I loved the Baked Ziti, pizza, roasted chicken and even the garlic roll (quite oily but delish!) . My only complaint about the chicken was that it was too small a serving. One more thing I liked was that you could go for half an order of pasta here so that even if you have company, you can try different kinds of pasta and not be forced to share a full order. Sadly, however, there's no coffee here. (Why???) But I'll definitely be back to Sbarro for the yummy food that's reasonably priced. Happy weekend, everyone!

Our Toast Box experience

I'm a simple eater with a huge appetite. Does that confuse you? Haha! Well, since I was a kid, I've always had a healthy appetite though my favorites come in a narrow range - Filipino dishes plus burgers and then a little Chinese when I got older (college). This was when my sister started bringing us quite often to the now long-closed Peacock Restaurant, a Chinese fine dining restaurant whose owners were her bosses. Then, one day in the '80s, my good friend from high school brought me to this Japanese restaurant and cajoled me to try one of those raw delicacies. I didn't like it, I even threw up, sorry. And I thought I'd never come to like Japanese food. More than 10 years later, however, I found myself working in a Japanese-owned company and it was then that I was reintroduced to Japanese food. This time, I liked everything that I tried, including the raw stuff and sashimi became one of my favorites. Still, whenever I dined out with family and friends, the choices would be the usual Filipino, Chinese, Italian (pizza and pasta) and a few times, Japanese. When I started reading food blogs last year, I realized my taste buds were missing out on a plethora of flavors offered by food specialties from other countries. I learned that so many restaurants have mushroomed around the metro, offering various Asian, Latin American and European dishes. I don't really go out and around the metro that much, you see, and the only places we frequent are the two SM Malls near our home in Manila which are the San Lazaro and Sta. Mesa branches. One of such restaurants that I've often read about is the current casual dining craze in Singapore called Toast Box, which immediately caught my fancy because of its unique concept. Who would have thought that toasted bread could become huge money makers, right? Seeing the menu on the Internet, I knew it was high time I tried Laksa, which is probably Singapore's version of our very own Chicken or Beef Mami or even Lomi. Also on the menu are other Asian specialty dishes that include Hainanese Chicken and Nasi Goreng. I love spicy soup so I thought I'd have to taste Laksa. So when I finally had the chance to bring myself and my eldest child to Trinoma after picking up our organic veggies from the Quezon City Memorial Circle, we went straight to Toast Box.

In the Trinoma branch, Toast Box shares space with its sister-food firm Bread Talk. The interiors are clean and simple, the wooden tables and chairs awashed in white paint. The lady at the counter was cheery and accommodating with my questions, me being a first-timer here. I asked what the barley drink was and she explained that it was a cereal drink quite comparable to Nesvita. I asked whether it was "masarap" (delicious) and she answered, "Yes, ma'am, masarap sya (it's delicious)." I was relieved because if she answered on the contrary, I would have to admonish her for being a disloyal employee. Haha! Minutes later, our orders arrived and these were:

Nonya Laksa, P215.

Floss toast set, P150.

Two soft-boiled eggs that came with the toast set.

The soft-boiled eggs mixed with soy sauce and a dash of pepper.

My coffee (Kopi), included in the toast set.

The cold barley drink that came with the Nonya Laksa.

The floss toast which was cut up in bite-sized pieces was good except that it was quite cold and lacked the crunchiness that I wanted. As for the soft-boiled eggs that were served with soy sauce and pepper, I knew exactly what to do with them, thanks to my fellow bloggers. :-) I cracked their shells at mid-point, poured the soupy eggs into the saucer, put some soy sauce and a dash of pepper, and mixed them altogether. Of course, had I not read that this was the way to eat eggs at Toast Box, I would have simply put a pinch of salt into it. Haha! My daughter who watched what I did with the eggs with eyes wide open, was suspicious of how they would taste but when she took a spoonful, she was reassured and almost finished everything even before I could try it. The "little" problem came with the Laksa, though. My daughter didn't like it. Me, I wasn't sure. I took spoonfuls and could go on because I liked its spiciness. But half of me knew I wasn't prepared for the somewhat strange combination of curry and coconut milk. I guess I was not ready for introduction to this Asian dish that is loved by many in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, and was quite disappointed with myself. I thought I'd already developed an adventurous palate. Thankfully, the coffee that is called Kopi here, saved the day for me. Just by looking at my cup, I knew I was about to have something different from what I usually had. It's thick, almost like hot chocolate in appearance. I took a sip. It was full-bodied but didn't come too strong. I was happy with my cup of joe. I also tried and liked my daughter's drink, the cold barley, which had a nice, mild milky taste. So, will I come back to Toast Box? Well, yes, to try their Hainanese Chicken, the taste of which I already have an inkling as I remember the White Chicken from Peacock Restaurant.