Planet Infinity Energy Lounge

Energy Lounge
by Nicole

Looking for a quiet place to chill out while having great food aaand not to mention fast internet connection (wifi)? I know just a place!

Energy Lounge, a small restaurant in Crossroad 77, Mother Ignacia Quezon City, serves a hefty lot of health food that you'll love for sure. Ever since eating here for the first time about three weeks ago, I just can't have enough. Now that I think of it, I've been going here every week! Ha ha! I love this place because it is quiet, it has books and magazines that you can read, a fast FREE wifi AND they serve you great food that nourish your body and definitely not kill you.

Here are some of my favorites:

This is called Spinach Raisin Salad. It is super yummy and eating this is a great way to reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease! The freshness of the ingredients, the vinaigrette, the caramelized apples - sweet and with a hint of sourness - the flavors just go perfectly well. A note though, if you're not a fan of blue cheese (just like I do) you might want to have 'em removed.


Spinach Raisin Salad (Php 170)
Mixed greens, baby spinach, mushrooms and caramelized apples topped with bacon and blue cheese and drizzled in berry vinaigrette

And by the way, before I forget, I really like how detailed their menu is. You'll get to read the nutrition facts of every dish. For example this spinach raisin salad has 441 calories (ito palang busog ka na promise!), 5 grams of protein, 104% Vitamin A, 75% Vitamin C etc...

For the soups, they've got interesting ones - valued at Php 70.00 per serving you'll get to choose from milestrone (clear vegetable soup flavored with chicken and bacon), mongo soup, and pumpkin soup which  is the best pumpkin soup I've tasted so far (can't believe it's better than my mom's!). It's not watery and the flavor was so rich! Wasn't able to take a photo of it though.

For the main dish (if you consider it that), they've got these delicious rice bowls among others. They've got 7 types of rice bowls, all served with brown rice, and I have yet to try all of them. So far I've eaten the black bean tofu - which I loved! -, chicken terriyaki - I like that it's not salty -, and the chicken satay which is a total MUST TRY! The best chicken satay I've ever eaten so far! The chicken meat was tender, perfectly cooked, and has super rich flavor.
 

Black Bean Tofu Rice Bowl (Php 110)



Chicken Terriyaki Rice Bowl (Php 110)

For dessert, they've got cakes, muffins (I have yet to try their blueberry muffins!) brownies. . .
The last time, my sister and I tried their cake of the month for February, this red velvet cake. SUPER YUM! Not too sweet, and the frosting, which I believe is a cream cheese frosting (I might be wrong though) is YUMMY!


Cake of the Month: Red Velvet Cake (Php 100)

Last weekend, we tried the NO SUGAR blueberry cheesecake (no picture here T^T, sorry) and boy, how many times have I already said "best"? IT IS THE BEST TASTING BLUEBERRY CHEESECAKE EVER! I love it because it has no sugar! Don't think though that it tasted bland because it did not - it tasted really, really, really, really, really gooood!



One of the awesomest features of Energy Lounge are reading materials. I love that they have plenty of TIME magazines and they've got books too - mostly about health, body building. . . This place is really perfect for chilling out (at least in my preference). The sofas are so comfortable and the tables are big - really conducive for doing homework or whatever paper work while eating ha ha!

Great food, great place - no wonder I keep coming back to this place.


Planet Infinity
Energy Lounge
4/F Crossroad 77 Bldg.
Mother Ignacia ave. corner Sct. Reyes St., Quezon City
Telephone: 332-1922

	mondays to saturdays: 7:00 AM - 0:00 midnight sundays: 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Energy Lounge on Facebook

Therese in Taiwan: 85°C Cafe

Not to generalize or anything, but I'm pretty sure that a lot of us are familiar with Starbucks Coffee, am I right? Well, have you heard of 85度C Cafe (85°C Cafe)? It's this Taiwanese coffee shop that's very popular in... where else? Taiwan!

They have over 300+ branches here, and according to their website, they also have branches in Australia, USA, and China.

My cousins like to drink their teas topped with sea salt whipped cream. I guess you could say that it's the Taiwanese version of the Philippines' rock salt with cheese drink. When I heard about it, I wanted to try it for myself.

I got the cold version (there's also the hot version) of the Sea Salt Green Tea (30NT ~ PhP 45)

Look at that yummy sea salt whipped cream! I'd prefer to have this with milk tea rather than plain tea, but it's yummy nonetheless. The drink had the right balance of sweetness, bitterness, and saltiness. Plus, it's fairly cheap.

Another thing we've tasted at this cafe is their 8-inch Classic Tiramisu cake. My aunt bought it for my birthday! Hee.

8-inch Classic Tiramisu cake | 480NT (~ PhP 720)

I don't really know how much a cake sells for in the Philippines (because it's been a while since I've had any) so I don't know if this counts as a bit on the expensive side or just right.

It was very delicious though! Tiramisu is one of the cakes I love (aside from cheesecake), and this one was just right! The cake wasn't soggy (cos I've had soggy Tiramisu before) and it wasn't so sweet. Buon appetito!

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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Therese in Taiwan: Sausage in rice roll 大腸包小腸

Let me introduce you guys to what they call the Taiwanese-style hot dog. It's sausage (which is so yummy, I might add) in rice roll. The rice roll looks like a sausage from the outside, but don't be fooled!

See, the "sausages" on the left are the rice rolls. When you order it, they take a piece of that rice roll, slice it open, and then put the sausage in. They also add other stuff like cabbages, pickles, etc. (but they aren't seen in the picture)

This can be found in a lot of night markets here in Taiwan - I've had it in Shilin night market, Shida night market, and Gongguan night market. It only costs 50NT (~PhP 75) and it's really filling.

A tip to fully enjoy night markets is to go with your friends. You can buy a variety of food, and then each have a bite or two (or more!) of everything. That way, you can taste a lot of delicious (and sometimes unhealthy) food! Plus, since you'll be walking around the market anyway, you don't have to worry about all that calories you're taking in. Just keep walking until you feel like you've burned all that you've eaten. Hee!