March 2011 - Certified Foodies

Selecta Hersheys Ice Cream with Reeses Peanut Butter Cups

Ever since my bro Ken came back from Singapore, heâ€™s been craving for different kinds of food. That includes his ultimate favorite Mekeniâ€™s Tocino. 😀 But, since it was already summertime, he started craving for this:

He loves Reeseâ€™s Peanut Butter Cups. And so, when he saw this Selecta Ice Cream with Hersheyâ€™s chocolate and Reeseâ€™s Peanut Butter Cups, he couldnâ€™t stop thinking about it. He saw it while he was at Victory Mall in Monumento, where youâ€™d find Samsung TVs LCD , refrigerators and other appliances at very affordable prices.

He didnâ€™t buy it â€˜cause it was a liâ€™l expensive for a 1.5L of ice cream. The other day, he finally convinced me to split the costs with him. This ice cream tub costs Php 240. I was pretty excited to get a taste of it, too, since I love chocolate ice cream.

I wanted to take a photo of the ice cream BEFORE they get a chance to scoop out anything. But, as you can see, I was too late. 😀

We were actually a bit disappointed. No, not because it wasnâ€™t good. Itâ€™s just that we expected more Reeseâ€™s Peanut Butter Cups pieces mixed in the ice cream. Ken commented that you have to let the chocolate ice cream (Hersheyâ€™s) completely melt in your mouth before you can finally taste the peanut butter cups. I guess itâ€™s better to eat Reeseâ€™s peanut butter cups separately than having it mixed with anything. The chocolate flavor was too strong, which made me very happy. 😀

I still enjoyed it a lot â€˜cause I loved the Hersheyâ€™s milk chocolate flavor of the ice cream. I was on sugar high after my serving of it, pictured above. 😀 Iâ€™ll stick with their plain chocolate ice cream next time though. 🙂

Raku Hokkaido Ramen House at NAIA Terminal 3

When Kenneth flew to Singapore for a â€œvacationâ€ in January, our family decided to have like a goodbye lunch at NAIA Terminal 3. I suggested we do that instead of going to a restaurant weâ€™d pass by on our way to the airport since there are food places in NAIA Terminal 3 that I wanted to check out.

So, there. As soon as Ken checked in his baggage, we went up and saw Raku Hokkaido Ramen House by Ministop.

Photo credit: Katâ€™s Musings

First off, we ordered drinks. I wanted to try their Apple Nectar, but Php 145 is just too expensive for me. So, I decided to order Rakuâ€™s Japanese Ocha for all us, at Php 29 each. At that price, I expected it to be bland. Well, it met my expectations. 😀

Though we wanted to try their Ramen, we opted to order their Bento meals since we havenâ€™t had anything yet for breakfast or lunch.

Before I tell you about what we ordered, I wanted to mention that I was completely disappointed with their service. By the time our orders arrived, we were all very hungry. And they werenâ€™t served like a few minutes after each other or at the same time. We had to wait like 5-10 minutes for each of our orders to arrive. My dadâ€™s order came last while we were already in the middle of finishing off ours. We had to follow up 4 times on our orders. It was that bad. It wasnâ€™t that hectic when we were there. People only started coming in while we were already eating so I donâ€™t understand why it took them that long to serve our food.

First off, my bro ordered their Chicken Teriyaki Bento, Php 145. As you can see, thereâ€™s a generous serving of rice topped with sesame seeds and veggie side dishes on all their bento meals. But, I wouldâ€™ve wanted more pieces of chicken. I got to taste it and the chicken meat were tender. My bro enjoyed it.

Continue reading Raku Hokkaido Ramen House at NAIA Terminal 3

Tutti Frutti Frozen Yogurt, SM City San Lazaro

A few hours after my brother Kien flew back from Singapore, we didnâ€™t waste any time and went out. I was picking up my new babyÂ that day in Manila. Since weâ€™re a few blocks away from SM San Lazaro, we decided to head out and look for a place to hang out or to pass the time and test drive my camera.

I was craving for gelato that day, but we werenâ€™t sure if thereâ€™s a store that sells it in SM San Lazaro. So, we were glad we found Tutti Frutti Frozen Yogurt as soon as we turned a corner by the entrance. We opted to try their froyo instead.

Iâ€™ve already tried frozen yogurt from 3 places â€“ The White Hat, Red Mango and Yogiberry. So far, I enjoyed all of their own versions of froyo, Yogiberry topping the list, followed by Red Mango at close second. So, I was really curious how Tutti Fruttiâ€™s froyo will compare with them three.

First off, I think I was an (frustrated) interior designer in my past life â€˜cause I enjoy taking photos of interiors of food places I visit. This is the table where me and my bro hung out to enjoy our froyo. I love the fun colors they used inside their store and the dotted design of the chairs.

Tutti Frutti Frozen Yogurt has the same concept as Yogiberry â€“ self-service. They have numerous dispensers with different flavors of frozen yogurt. You can mix flavors if you prefer.

Kien loves vanilla flavored anything so he chose that. I chose coffee â€˜cause, well, I love coffee. Plus, he also wanted to try it.

According to what Iâ€™ve read about Tutti Frutti frozen yogurt store, they have 50 different yogurt flavors. Every week, they change flavors of the froyo they have available at the stores. A fun experience for frozen yogurt lovers indeed.

The other flavors they had available when we were there were Death by Chocolate, Original Tart, Very Berry Raspberry, Lychee, Taro-bly Delicious and Strawberry Banana.

Continue reading Tutti Frutti Frozen Yogurt, SM City San Lazaro

Dinner at Tokyo Bubble Tea Restaurant at SM The Block

Exactly a month ago (yes, another late post), right after grocery-shopping, my nanay and I were on the lookout for a new restaurant to try out. And, just right outside SM Hypermarket was Bubble Tea, one of the popular places in the Metro where you can enjoy milk teas. I’ve read about them from fellow foodies so I was looking forward to our dinner at Bubble Tea.

We weren’t sure what to order yet ’cause I’m on a low carb diet. But, everything on their menu looked tempting so I said “forget about it” (in Italian mafia accent). I think it took us almost 10 minutes before we finally decided on what to order.

First, we ordered drinks. I chose Bubble Tea’s Taro Milk Tea (large, Php 125). I picked the Passion Fruit Black Tea (Php 95, cold, large) for my mom. After tasting both drinks, she wanted my Taro Milk Tea. She found the passion fruit too citrusy/sour for her taste. I enjoyed it though.

If you look at the photo, the glasses don’t look that tall. But, they were. I still think it’s a bit pricey. 😀

By the way, you are given options of less sugar and the size of tapioca pearls (“bubbles”) you want in your drink. You can go for big pearls, small or a combination of both. We forgot to mention I preferred bigger pearls so we both ended up with the other choice.

Now, on to our main orders. My nanay wanted to have fish for dinner so we ordered this for her – Bubble Tea’s Fish Katsudon (Php 195), breaded fish cutlet with cheese filling, egg and tonkatsu sauce.

It was a bit bland for our taste. I loved the crunch you get from each bite of the Fish cutlet though and that the egg was perfectly cooked sunny side up. 🙂 The serving was big enough for my mom. She, again, preferred the one I ordered.

Continue reading Dinner at Tokyo Bubble Tea Restaurant at SM The Block

Golden Fortune in Victory Mall, Caloocan (Monumento)

Ever since my mother saw the fruits of my labor from blogging and became supportive (read: active), most especially here on Certified Foodies, whenever we go out, she NEVER wanted to eat anywhere we’ve already dined in before. So, when we went grocery-shopping a few weeks ago at Victory Mall, she convinced me to eat at Golden Fortune Restaurant.

I’ve been seeing this Chinese restaurant for like a hundred times over because I usually frequent Victory Mall when I buy inks for my printers. So, I was looking forward to trying their food, especially because I wanted to know how they compare to Wai Ying Fast Food Restaurant in Binondo.

The ambiance inside Golden Fortune’s branch in Victory Mall is surprisingly warm considering they’re at a VERY crowded mini-mall at the heart of Monumento, one of the busiest places in the Metro. I guess it’s mainly because of the lighting. But, the waiting staff were also very accommodating. We didn’t have to wait long for our orders and the woman waiting on us seemed okay with our questions. She was all-smiles and was even checking if we needed anything. That’s awesome customer service, if you ask me. I forgot to get her name though. 🙁

Anyway, as soon as I saw the menu of Golden Fortune, I heard my tummy grumble. Aside from the dumplings and rolls one can order, their rice meals (Che Chai Rice) were also very tempting. There are a lot of food choices on their menu! And my first impression was they were all reasonably priced.

I wanted to try Golden Fortune’s Hongkong Lechon that they’ve been advertising on their walls. So, that’s what I ordered. I ordered the Hongkong Lechon Che Chai Rice for Php 88.00. You can order this with unlimited rice by just adding Php 8.00. But, since my mom was not ordering their rice meals and I’m trying to lessen my carbs intake, I didn’t avail of their unlimited rice promo. 😀

As you can see, for Php 88, the serving is big enough for someone with my appetite (I shared, promise!). 😀 I love the crispiness of the pork skin and the flavor of their lechon. I also liked that there wasn’t much fat on the lechon slices I got.

We ordered Golden Fortune Fried Rice, Php 198.00. Honestly, it was a bit expensive for me since the serving wasn’t that much. Good thing it was good, with all the carrots, shrimps, green pepper, and cabbage adding more flavor to it. I expected it to be a little oily, but it wasn’t. So, I was still very satisfied with this order.

Continue reading Golden Fortune in Victory Mall, Caloocan (Monumento)

Recipe: Chicken Fillet and Chicken Nuggets with Honey Mustard Sauce

Since my family have been trying (take note of my choice of words :D) to eat healthier, two of the proteins you’d usually see in our refrigerator are chicken meat and eggs. And I love making all kinds of dishes with them. So, when I was craving for McDonald’s McChicken sandwich, instead of spending almost Php 200 to have one delivered, I decided to make my own Chicken Fillet sandwich.

I’m on a low-carb diet, so I usually just enjoy a sandwich for lunch or dinner. My mother also loves sandwiches so we always come up with our own different sandwich spreads. And this one, I’ll keep on making. I know, there’s flour and all. But, c’mon. I’m on a LOW carb diet, not giving it up completely. Give me a break! Hahaha 😀

Though this recipe is so easy, I still want to share it here for those who haven’t tried making chicken fillet or nuggets yet.

Chicken Fillet Sandwich and Chicken Nuggets
with Honey Mustard Sauce Recipe

INGREDIENTS:

3-4 chicken breasts, deboned and cut into cubes
You will need a food processor or blender for this recipe. If you don’t have it, then, just skip the blending/grinding part of the procedure and just cut the chicken breasts into nugget-sized or sandwich fillet-sized pieces. But, you can also opt to chop them into really tiny pieces, if you’ve got the strength and time to do so. 🙂
1 tbsp. garlic powder
1 to 1 1/2 cup bread crumbs (click here to find out how to make your own bread crumbs, see step #1)
1 cup flour
salt and pepper
Optional: You can add your own spices or herbs for your chicken breasts. For mine, I added rosemary. But, you can add parsley and/or basil.
Optional: 1-2 medium-sized eggs
Half of the batch I made, I didn’t dip in the beaten eggs. But, if you prefer to include eggs, you can go ahead with this.
1 cup vegetable oil for semi-deep frying
Lettuce for the sandwiches

Sandwich dressing: This is the mix that I used for our chicken sandwich.

1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 tbsp. lemon juice
salt and pepper

Honey Mustard sauce: I don’t have any ingredients available to make barbecue sauce so I decided to make honey mustard instead. But, you can find ready-to-use barbecue sauce at the grocery.

1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 1/2 tsp. honey

Continue reading Recipe: Chicken Fillet and Chicken Nuggets with Honey Mustard Sauce

Chicken Fillet Sandwich and Chicken Nuggets with Honey Mustard Sauce Recipe

Chicken Fillet Sandwich and Chicken Nuggets
with Honey Mustard Sauce Recipe