Vanilla Cupcake Bakery: Sugar and spice and all things nice

Last Wednesday, my friend Pammy and I were like little giggly girls once more as we stepped into Vanilla Cupcake Bakery & Cafe at Trinoma Mall. The whole place is so cutesy and artsy, with its interiors and furniture all bathed in pastel colors and lovely flower and check prints. Going through its door was almost like stepping into a fairytale land! We looked at the cupcake display and we were mesmerized. Ogling at all those yummy-looking things, it was hard to choose! Finally, we decided.

Mine:  A cup of cappuccino and banoffee panna cotta in a jar, which was so cute I took it home.

 

Lovely cup and teaspoon.

Pammy's carrot cupcake...

...and red velvet cupcake.

Pammy's kiwi and passion fruit drink 

Cupcakes here..

...and there!

The panna cotta-in-a-jar is both an eye candy and yummy treat.

Don't all those cupcakes look delish?

See how cute the mismatched furniture here are.

Polka dotted mini porcelain bowl

I love the pink bike.

My only problem during our visit was that I couldn't taste and smell a thing because of a bad case of cold. Thus, I cannot say whether my cappuccino and banofee panna cotta were good,. But Pammy, who had a taste of my jar-red dessert, said it was delicious and I trust her. Haha!

Anyway, I discovered Vanilla Cupcake when my hubby brought home one a few months ago. I found the box and the cupcake itself too cute that I had to take pictures:

I used to not really like cupcakes but this one changed me.  :-)

Vanilla Cupcake Bakery & Cafe serves pasta and rice meals, too. And by the way, I learned just the other day that the cute cupcake shop inside the Kamiseta boutique in Trinoma was actually the Vanilla Cupcake Bakery that I know today. I'd seen that at Kamiseta last year but I don't know if they already carried the name then. Anyway, Kamiseta-Trinoma doesn't have that cupcake store now anymore and they'd opened a separate store for the yummies recently, which we visited. Yup, Kamiseta and Vanilla Cupcake Bakery have the same owners.  
Vanilla Cupcake Bakery has six branches at present - two in Glorietta, at UP Town Center, Trinoma, Alabang Town Center and Fort Bonifacio (not sure if this one has opened, though).

I.I.B.B.'s 'bulalo' to remember

I love bulalo (that irresistible soupy dish made out of boiling beef bone marrow or pata or pork leg).  What Pinoy doesn't? Especially on a rainy day when it's cold, a steaming bowl of bulalo best offers warmth and comfort. But there was a whole week last month when I wanted bulalo for a different reason apart from the weather. I was having so much trouble because of a bad tooth and had difficult time chewing food. If I wasn't having lugaw (congee), I'd look for bulalo so I could soften my rice with the soup and just swallow without having to chew. 

One Saturday just before finally being able to go to the dentist, I, in the company of two of my kids, dropped by this eatery near the UDMC hospital in Welcome (Mabuhay?) Rotunda, that I had been curious about for years. Posted above the entrance was four letters: I.I. B.B. It was only when we got inside that I learned what it meant: Ihaw-Ihaw, Balot-Balot. Hmm.. interesting..barbecue and eating on banana leaves on my mind. I read the menu and almost shrieked in delight. Bulalo! Just what I hoped for! I've forgotten if they had beef bulalo but it was pata bulalo that I ordered. My son had chicken barbecue that was served with rice, boiled egg and tomato, all wrapped in banana leaves. My daughter settled just for pizza roll, which was something new to us. All that we ordered tasted good, especially my bulalo. It was the best bulalo I've ever had! The soup was very hot and sooo flavorful! Made me wonder how many hours the pata had been left to boil to make the soup very savory. Plus, there's a lot of veggies! Definitely worth daydreaming about. Haha! 

Pata Bulalo, P110.

Chicken barbecue binalot, P79.

Pizza Roll, P39.

Sago't Gulaman, P30.

Buko Juice, P35.

Inside I.I.B.B.

Check out this I.I.B.B. They serve Filipino dishes like dinuguan, fried crablets, sisig,  tapsilog and many more. All at pocket-friendly prices that allow having a feast. :-) 

More Pinoy food faves at Amber

I've been to Amber thrice this year. During the first time at the Tomas Morato store last April, I very much enjoyed their Pancit Malabon and pork barbecue (not to mention their very affordable prices!), that I included this very simple resto in my personal list of favorite Filipino food places. Last week, our family was at Amber-Kalaw in Manila after worship service at the Cathedral of Praise for my son's birthday lunch. Pancit Malabon, my Amber staple, was of course among our orders plus other dishes. We feasted on:

Pancit Malabon, P330. (good for 5 pax)

Pretty pancit! 

Doesn't that look sooo yummy?

Soy fried chicken, whole, P370.

Pork barbecue, P20 per stick.

Pork sisig, P140.

Pichi-pichi with cheese, P110 (20 pcs)

 Amber's Pancit Malabon was delish, as usual, and so was the barbecue and sisig. The soy fried chicken, however, was bland. The pichi-pichi, which is one of their best sellers, is not my favorite for nothing. It's yummy and perfect for dessert, but not too sweet as to overwhelm your taste buds. Would have been best with a cup of brewed coffee, but sadly, Amber does not serve it. Why don't they, and soon, please?

I've enjoyed food at Amber not only with my family but with good friends, too. Last July, one of my best buddies and his family were at Amber-Kalaw before Saturday worship 
and we ordered:

Cream of asparagus soup, P120.

Fried chicken wings, P190 (8 pcs). This is good!

Chicken Lollipop, P20 apiece.

Sotanghon Guisado, P65, solo. This is delicious.

Pancit Malabon, P65, solo

Pichi-pichi with cheese, P66 (12 pcs)

The counter

Inside Amber-Kalaw

Amber has branches in Paranaque City, Makati, Pasig, Mandaluyong, Quezon City, Muntinlupa and San Juan aside from Manila. They deliver, too!

Regional Cuisine II: Chicken Inasal, La Paz Batchoy, Pancit Molo and Lechon Cebu from the Visayas

Recent years have seen Iloilo's famed chicken barbecue called "inasal" rising in popularity in Metro Manila via the phenomenal fast food chain Mang Inasal. The latter opened in December 2003 in the province of Iloilo in the Visayan Region. Its name (Mang Inasal), by the way, is a Visayan term for Mr. Barbecue. Ten years after this restaurant first opened, its stores have grown in number to some 500 nationwide. There's a few others riding in the inasal bandwagon, offering not just Ilonggo-style chicken barbecue but other Visayan dishes as well. Two of such restaurants are the Bacolod Chicken Inasal and Inasal Chicken Bacolod. Their names are confusing, I know. I'm just as confused as you are. Hehe. One time, I was craving for La Paz Batchoy and happily got it at Bacolod Chicken Inasal at its branch at the Quezon City Memorial Circle. It was good! Very flavorful and the soup was hot and comforting. Batchoy is a soupy dish made out of pig organs, beef loin, noodles and chicharon. Its origin can be traced to the La Paz district in Iloilo City, thus the name. I paired my batchoy with grilled chicken liver and what a perfect pair it was! My daughter who was my companion had a pork barbecue meal called Quito. Meanwhile, a cup of brewed coffee provided a satisfying ending to my afternoon meal.

La Paz Batchoy

Atay (barbecued liver)

Quito (pork barbecue with rice)

Native brewed coffee

And then, just yesterday, I was at Bacolod Chicken Inasal again, this time with my little boy. I tried their Pancit Molo - a dish which name makes me wonder because it doesn't have noodles that would make it apt to be called pancit. Also, pansit is usually dry but Pancit Molo has broth which makes it a soup dish, am I right? Oh well, can somebody enlighten me on this? Hehe. Anyway, Pancit Molo is very similar to Wanton Noodles found in Chinese restaurants. However, I wasn't happy with the Pancit Molo that I had yesterday. It only had two pieces of dumplings and that's about it. Bacolod Chicken Inasal was stingy in here, I thought. Good thing I also ordered Puto Manapla, otherwise, I would still be leaving the restaurant hungry. Puto Manapla, by the way, is rice cake whose origin is the town of Manapla in Negros Occidental province. They're quite good and filling. My son, on the other hand, had chicken inasal, which he liked, although I think it's a little bland, comparing it with Mang Inasal's.  

Chicken inasal at Bacolod Chicken Inasal

 Pancit Molo

Puto Manapla

Inside Bacolod Chicken Inasal at the QC Memorial Circle

The masks are a reminder of Masskara Festival, held October every year in Bacolod

Meanwhile, last month, it was the Inasal Chicken Bacolod that we tried at SM City Manila. I was curious about Kansi - the Visayan version of bulalo, which might as well be a combination of sinigang and bulalo. So it was my order for dinner that Saturday while my daughter settled for chicken inasal. The Kansi was not as fab as bulalo nor sinigang per se. I still think that nothing beats nilagang baka or bulalo. My daughter likewise was not all praises for the inasal. She said she still preferred Mang Inasal's version. Oh well, we still had a yummy, sweet ending to our meal with the creamy leche flan.  

Chicken inasal at Inasal Chicken Bacolod

Kansi

Leche Flan

Inside Inasal Chicken Bacolod at SM City Manila

Another favorite in the recent years is Lechon Cebu, which, foodies say, is better than the lechon (roasted pig) we have in Manila because of the herbs and spices used, plus no MSG was added. Some two months ago, the hubby fetched someone at the domestic airport who flew in from Cebu and guess what he brought home? Zubuchon - said to be the best lechon in Cebu! Oh yes, it was delicious, the flavor was full but not overwhelming. The meat was very tender too. The only sad thing was that the skin wasn't crispy anymore even though I warmed it in the oven. Probably because of the long distance and time this lechon had traveled to get to our plate. Even then, I was happy to sample the 
famed Lechon Cebu, and the best one at that.

Zubuchon Lechon Cebu

Visayan cuisine is interesting, don't you think so? Some of the dishes even have funny-sounding names. For instance, there's "laswa". To us who grew up in Manila, "malaswa" means obscene. So imagine how my daughter and I laughed when we read Laswa ni Lola in the Bacolod Chicken Inasal menu. Grandma is obscene! Haha! 

Oh well, there's a lot more Visayan dishes I'd like to try - Balbacua, Pancit Bam-i and Pancit Efuven. Soon, hopefully!