Therese in Taiwan: Dazzling Café

Have you ever heard of honey toast? A better question is, have you ever eaten honey toast? If you haven't, head on over to Dazzling Café and order one!

One of my classmates posted a picture of her eating honey toast, and because it looked really good, I invited my cousins to eat out with me. The good thing about Dazzling Café is that they accept reservations (although you might have to wait a couple of months before your turn), and when you fall in line, you can leave your number, walk around, and they will call you up when it's your turn to go inside. There are some restaurants here in Taipei that don't do that. I'll blog about such restaurant next time. Each table has an allotted time of 90 minutes inside the restaurant. The servers tell you when your time is almost up, and then you have to leave after that.

 

We went to Dazzling Café Mint in Zhongxiao East Road (忠孝東路), and we had to wait around an hour maybe before we were seated. We passed the time in Uniqlo!

Smoked Chicken and Mushroom Panini

Strawberry Lover Honey Toast 就愛草莓蜜糖吐司 | 250 NTD (~375PhP)

How the inside looks like

Banana Chocolate Honey Toast 香蕉巧克力蜜糖吐司 | 220 NTD (~330PhP)

How the inside looks like

Mentaiko Spaghetti with Cream Sauce 明太子義大利麵 | 260 NTD (~390PhP)

We were really satisfied with our orders because they were delicious, and we could share them with each other. I must admit that the prices are a bit on the expensive side, especially for students like us. It's worth trying at least once though!

You can check them out here.

Therese in Taiwan: Coffee Alley 咖啡弄

It's in the second floor of this building beside Uniqlo

Coffee shops are abundant around Taipei, probably because of their culture of drinking "afternoon tea" (or in this case, afternoon coffee?)

My cousins and I went to Coffee Alley a couple of months back (yeah, I have a ton of backlog)
because we wanted to try their waffles. They didn't disappoint.

Coffee Alley 咖啡弄

冰草莓歐蕾 Iced Strawberry Au Lait

抹茶牛奶冰沙 Green Tea Smoothie

OREO冰沙 OREO Smoothie

鹽味焦糖鬆餅 Salty Caramel and Vanilla Ice Cream Waffle

紅豆抹茶冰淇淋鬆餅 Azuki Bean and Green Tea Ice Cream Waffle

草莓冰淇淋鬆餅 Waffle with Fresh Strawberry and Strawberry Ice Cream

香蕉巧克力冰淇淋鬆餅 Chocolate Ice Cream and Banana Waffle

These were the food and drinks that we ordered. They were all very delicious, and the servings were huge! We didn't expect them to be that big. Had we known, we would've just shared. Hihi, oops! I forgot how much these cost, but they're probably around 140-180NT (~203-261 PhP).

You can also check out their website for store locations and operating hours. They also have a Facebook account!

Fruitti Nutti: Your Healthy Food Choice

by Marielle

Living a healthy lifestyle is almost impossible nowadays, with processed foods abundant and easily available wherever you go. We may not have time to prepare full course meals everyday, but snacking on healthy food always helps. Protein and fiber-rich fruits and nuts are great snack options to keep your diet healthy even when on the go.

Fruitti Nutti is a newly-opened retail store specializing in the supply of U.S.-origin Nuts such as almonds, walnuts, macadamias, pistachios and pecans; Dried Fruits such as blueberries, cranberries, cherries, strawberries, dairy-free & cholesterol free cooking cream and coffee creamer; other food ingredients and specialty fruit and nut mixes. The woman behind this new healthy food stop is Elaine Gatchalian, giving Filipinos a taste of nutritious food options that won't break your budget.

Healthy Food Choices are available in a variety of pack sizes:

- Dried Fruits (Blueberries, Cherries, Cranberries, Dates, Prunes, Raisins, Golden Raisins, Strawberries, etc.)

- Nuts (Unsalted Almonds, Macadamia, Pistachios, Walnuts, Hazelnuts, etc.)

- Specialty Nut and Fruit Mixes

- Other healthy ingredients (Dairy-free, gluten-free coffee creamer, creamer & whipped cream made from Almonds & cashews)

Among a cornucopia of healthy snack foods offered in their store, I was able to try out several dried fruits and nuts that satisfied my taste buds without the unnecessary oils and artificial flavoring. Take a look at these healthy and utterly delicious treats:

Aren't they delightful to look at? All the more to snack on or to add to your meals! These fruits and nuts can be added to your dishes, used as ice cream or yogurt toppings, or eaten plainly. The possibilities are endless!

Fruitti Nutti goodies!

Time to give the junkfood a break. Visit their store located at Unit 7, 8 Jade Bldg., Santolan Rd., Greenhills, San Juan City.

For more information, you can contact Ms. Elaine Gatchalian through these numbers: 975 9689 / 0917 537 2361 or send an email to fruittinutti@gmail.com.

 Happy healthy munching!

Tiffy: Cadia from Healthy Options

I know, I know. It's the middle of January already and I still haven't said my greetings. I've come a long way from when I used to text everyone on my phonebook my holiday greetings. 

Happy New Year! 

So far, I've checked some blogs and their New Year's resolutions and I haven't seen one that I particularly want to copy. So far I only have one resolution: always be on time. To anything. 

I received so much love and random presents for Christmas that I really can't complain. I was especially happy when my family received this gift from someone. It's from Healthy Options.

We also got a package last Christmas with Cadia snacks as well and I'd have to say that it's a favorite of mine. It's a family favorite, actually!

So far, we've eaten the Cadia All Natural Cheddar Cheese Baked Curls and the Cadia Organic White Cheddar Cheese Popcorn. Finished in a day.

The baked curls contain a lot of calories though. 170 kcal per serving and the whole pack contains 7 servings. I deliberately ignored looking at the nutrition label on the popcorn.

Haus of Burgertainment

Haus of Burgertainment
by Nicole


Somewhere in Ortigas Extension, Pasig is a small restaurant that will sure entertain your taste buds.

Haus of Burgertainment opened on the eve of Chinese New Year last January 22, 2012. It is owned by a wonderful lady, Eve (who happens to be my colleague), her husband, Mark, and Steve, their friend and business partner. They serve DELECTABLE snacks and you'll be dazzled on how affordable they are! Their recipes are full of flavor and they do not add MSG in anything they make. They sure make food the way you would make it at home!

The wall paintings

Last weekend, some of my teammates and I went here to check the place out. I thought I would only stay for breakfast but boy, that day turned out to be a non-stop pigging out until two in the afternoon!

The Menu

We arrived at the place at around 8:30 in the morning and the day at this humble restaurant was just getting started.

For our starter, we had FLAPJACKS! I can't remember the last time I ate one so it was a thrill to find out that they have flapjacks here! They cook and serve these every morning.

Flapjacks (oat bars) at only Php 5.00 per bar

 For our breafast drink, instead of the usual coffee or juice, we chose these really interesting creme brulee shake! Where on earth can you find a super creamy creme brulee shake for only 20 pesos? No where but here! They have raspberry, strawberry, and chocolate shakes too.

Crème Brûlée  Creamy Ice Shake (Php 20.00)

After the flapjacks, we had pancakes! Their pancakes are made from scratch meaning they don't use those ready-made pancake mixes.

Pancakes (only Php 10.00 each)

Then came lunch time. We were served with these uber DELICIOUS spaghetti! Now, this is totally not your average spaghetti. The sauce is a combination of Italian and Filipino taste - lotsa herbs, not sour and with a hint of sweetness. I loooooooove this! It tastes sooo great and it smells sooooo good I could make a perfume out of it! :D

Totally not your ordinary spaghetti with Parmesan cheese  (Php 25.00)

Because the people in this place are just awesome, they served us with something that's not on the menu. We all know what a mashed potato is but have you ever tasted a mashed cauliflower? Well folks, I had tasted one and it's heavy! With all that we had eaten plus this, we all felt like our tummies were about to explode! HA HA! Their mashed cauliflower was creamy and garlicky.


Mashed cauliflower

After lunch snack:

Another something new. These are called crunchy munchies. They are made from a mix of flour, milk, baking soda, and sugar, then deep fried and sprinkled with cheese powder.


Crunchy Munchies at Php 3.00 each!

French fries -  a total best seller! These are made from fresh cut potatoes. You can sprinkle it with cheese or barbecue powder - your choice.



Fresh fries (Php 12.00)

  This is how their french fries are cut. That's my supervisor by the way :D. She's trying out their potato cutter.



How come their food taste soooo good? One, their ingredients and two, their recipes are created by Mark, an Italian-American who's got a passion in cooking, and Steve who's British.


The ingredients

As an addition to really good food, people can also chill out in this place because they have a videoke and TV corner. Sing a song or watch your favorite and recent movies here!


The videoke/TV corner

Hands down, this is one special restaurant! They serve amazingly great tasting food and they price it for ANYONE. Check this place out - you won't be disappointed! A note though, you'll have to wait for your order because this place is packed with people!


How to get there:

From SM Megamall, take an FX and get off at Countryside. From there, ride a tricycle (tricycles are stationed at the corner beside Ministop) and tell the driver that you're going to the Burger haus :D


Haus of Burgertainment
84 Rosario Village
Sta. Lucia Pasig

	+63 9157918132

http://burgertainment.com/
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Sa Kanto | Podium

Podium | Sa Kanto

by: Tiffy

Manila Foodistas was lucky enough to be invited to try out Sa Kanto at the Podium. Kanto is the Filipino word for corner, sa kanto meaning just around the corner. 

Saan ka pupunta? Where are you going?

Diyan lang sa kanto. Just there around the corner. 

Sa Kanto serves all kinds of Filipino food--from street food to pulutan (food one usually eats while drinking) to meals. 

It is also by Il Ponticello, who is the group behind Borough which just happens to be situated beside Sa Kanto.