We haven’t completed our holiday shopping yet so it’s just timely that The Big Holiday Outlet Sale 2011 is happening this December 16th up to the 18th at the SMX Convention Hall in SM Mall of Asia. There are a TON of popular lifestyle brands and a couple of new ones joining this sale so it’s something you shouldn’t miss!

Yes, you can get up to a whopping 90% DISCOUNT on your favorite brands like Adidas, Nike, Puma, Maldita (likeee!), Plains & Prints, R.A.F, JB Sports, Daniel Hechter, CMG, Melissa Shoes, Giordano Ladies, BOSE, Switch, Hush Puppies, Sebago, Cushe, Ipanema, Grendha, Digital Walker, Light Room, Skechers, Desigual, Repetto, HTC (weehhh!), Lenovo, Nokia, Philips, Canon (woot!), Timex, Monster Cable, And1, Gola, Ryka, Reva, Triumph and a ton more!

If you’re a BPI cardholder, you already get FREE entrance as long as you present a valid ID. And all BPI Express Credit Edge cardholders also get additional perks plus a chance to win in the hourly raffle draws!

Again, here are the details of this mega-sale event of the year:

• What: The BIg Holiday Outlet Sale 2011
• When: December 16 to 18, 2011 – 10am to 9pm
• Where: SMX Convention Centre Hall 4, Mall of Asia Complex, Pasay City

But, WAIT! We here at Certified Foodies are giving away FREE entrance tickets to all our readers and friends. All you have to do are the following and you can get up to THREE (3) free tickets each:

November 17, 2011 – It was that time again for foodies to come together and discover new offerings from various home-based food suppliers at the Ultimate Taste Test 7.0. This time, the venue was in Mercato Centrale in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.

The food showcase was scheduled for 3 hours only so we were hoping to be there on time. But, unfortunately, we arrived almost an hour late. Thankfully, we were able to have a taste of all except 3 out of all the purveyors who were there to present their products.

When we got there, a lot of fellow foodies were still coming in and there was a long queue outside the tent area in Mercato Centrale. We were glad to see that there were a lot of tables set up inside and outside the air-conditioned area where people can sit and relax while they enjoy the food.

Since we needed to take photos of the food for our feature here, we had a hard time squeezing in. Of course, we didn’t want to cut the line as that’ll be unfair so we opted to stay in line. It was a long wait and it did test the patience of most people. But, hey, we were excited to taste all the food there ‘cause they were all new to us, except for one dessert purveyor – meaning they weren’t at the Ultimate Taste Test 6 in Rockwell or we haven’t had the chance to taste their products yet. So, we waited for our turn.

We thought UTT 6.0 was better though in the sense that there were more room for people to move around, going from one booth to another. We didn’t get to sit at the tables ‘til the very end when we were rating the food because we wanted to, as much as possible, go through all the 30+ booths.

Now, on to our top picks. We’re not unanimous with our favorites so we’re not going to rank them again, just like in our UTT 6 Top Picks. Here we go!

Note: Pardon the quality of the photos. We had to take quick shots ‘cause there was a long queue of people behind us. We didn’t want to irritate them.

Sweet Favorites

MERRY MOO

(Food for the Gods and Queso de Bola with Fiesta Ham)

Between the two, we LOVED the Queso de Bola with Fiesta Ham. The bits of meat made this so delectable, mixing in with the sweet-salty flavors of the cheesy ice cream. We wanted to have seconds! Definitely, we’re coming back for this!

Merry Moo Ice Creamery
Email: merrymoo@ymail.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Merrymoo.icecream
Contact #: 0917-528-9590

We know, this is an uber late post. But, we still think it’s worth posting about our top picks for UTT 6. It’s better late than never, I guess. Stay tuned for our faves the last UTT 7 at Mercato.

We first told you about our experience at the Ultimate Taste Test in Rockwell. Now, let us share with you all the yummy food we had that day.

It took us a couple of days to finalize our top picks for the Ultimate Taste Test because we couldn’t agree on all of our choices. That’s what you get when you have 2 people (and siblings) with different tolerance to flavor intensities and with varying preferences. So, we agreed to not rank anything and just feature the ones we absolutely loved and those that were worth mentioning.

But, before we continue, please take note that we only got to taste what 38 out of 55 food suppliers have to offer.

Without further ado, in no particular order, here are our Top Picks for the Ultimate Taste Test 6.0 in Rockwell, starting with the sweet stuff…

Sweet Delights

Carmen’s Best and Holly’s Milk

Paco Magsaysay, the owner of Carmen’s Best Ice Cream and Holly’s Milk, was the very first food supplier who approached us. Even before we got to taste his products, we were totally convinced!

We first got to try the Salted Caramel and Coffee flavored ice cream (sorry, we didn’t get to take a photo of the actual product ). And let us tell yah it was the creamiest ice cream we’ve ever had! We both nodded at each other in total agreement.

Paco proudly continued on to tell us that their ice cream and milk are all fresh, even using this very catchy tagline “From Cow to Cone”. And you can truly taste the freshness from the milk and the ice cream. The flavors and creaminess of the spoonfuls of frozen delights served to us lingered in our mouths.

They don’t have this available in supermarkets yet so if you want to have a taste of their products, contact them to order:

Carmen’s Best
Contact info: 809-2042 or cb_icecream@yahoo.com
Carmen’s Best on Facebook

Holly’s Milk
Contact info: 813-1385 / Website: http://www.hollysmilk.com/ Holly’s Milk on Facebook

Update: They were the #1 pick by the UTT 6.0 foodies! Congrats!

For most local restaurants in the Philippines, surviving 10 years in the business can already be considered an amazing achievement, which gives Mario’s restaurant all the reason to celebrate for lasting an astounding 40 years in the industry.

Mario’s: A History

Mario Benitez’ great passion for customer service married well with Nenuca’s perfect execution of her family’s long tradition of Spanish cuisine, which, together, gave birth to the establishment of the very first Mario’s Restaurant in 1971 along Session Road in Baguio.

Former location of the original Mario’s restaurant, where a branch of KFC now stands.

After the original venue got burned down, Mario’s transferred to a more open and spacious location.

It didn’t take long until the restaurant received great reviews from both locals and vacationers alike, some even encouraging the couple to branch out in the big city of Manila. Finally in 1974, the Benitez Family, confident that their fusion of Filipino and Spanish cuisine will have a special place in the hearts of the Manileños, opened the doors of their second branch situated along the bustling streets of Tomas Morato, Quezon City.

The façade of Mario’s in Tomas Morato, Quezon City.

We know, it’s been almost 2 months now since the Ultimate Taste Test 6.0 at the Rockwell Tent and we haven’t even posted our top picks yet! We’re hoping to finish the post within this week before the Ultimate Taste Test 7.0 at Mercato Centrale. YES, it’s happening! Just in time for your Christmas shopping!

Last time, at UTT 6.0, we weren’t able to have a taste of what all the purveyors / food suppliers’ have to offer. We had to go somewhere else so we had to leave early. This time, we’re hoping to drop by all of the participating food merchants. We’ll stay until the end of the UTT at 10pm. There are more tables and chairs available at this UTT so we can take necessary breaks anytime before we continue on our quest to finish all the food.

The Ultimate Taste Test 7.0 is happening on November 17, 2011, Thursday, 7-10pm at Mercato Centrale in Bonifacio Global City. There’ll be over 50 food businesses participating, and this will be great for those of you who are still in the market for Christmas and New Year’s gifts for your loved ones and friends.

Right now, you can already reserve tickets for the Ultimate Taste Test 7.0. They’re now priced at Php 385 / head – cheaper than UTT 6.0. For more info on how to reserve and/or purchase tickets, click here (you’ll be directed to Our Awesome Planet) or go to their Facebook page – www.facebook.com/UltimateTasteTest.

We’ll be there so see yah fellow foodies! Let’s all prepare our tummies!

A couple of weeks ago, we were invited to the launch of Seattle’s Best Coffee’s new Christmas-inspired drinks and their new partnership with World Vision, the world’s largest child sponsorship agency, an advocacy we support so we gladly came to celebrate with them along with fellow bloggers. While waiting for the program to start, we went in their cafe and ordered Mocha Javakula, Strawberry Milkshake and their Oreo cheesecake.

The program started a little late at around 7pm when the hosts finally came on-stage – Divine Lee and her beau Victor Basa. They first introduced us to Seattle’s Best new blends in time for Christmas – Chocolate Cherry, Coffee Hazelnut, Cookies and Mint, and Coffee Cream Pie.

Just by the names of these new blends, you’d know they sure will tickle your taste buds. We got to try a hot cup of Coffee Hazelnut with white chocolate that night and we loved the sweet nuttiness of this blend. Surely, there’s one flavor that will be your favorite.

After the presentation of the new flavors, they shared with us the story behind the partnership of Seattle’s Best and World Vision by calling on the 4 ambassadors of the said advocacy here in the Philippines – Tintin Bersola-Babao, Cristalle Belo, Marc Nelson and Miriam Quiambao.