Tiffy in Japan: Tully's Coffee

Tully's Coffee
Tiffy in Japan
October 28, 2011
Afternoon coffee


Remember two months ago: I went on a 6- or 7-hour drive to Chiba to visit Tokyo DisneySea. And, since we were on a budget, we stayed at an internet cafe because I still had to meet my future academic professor the next day. In addition to what I know of internet cafes, I learned that people who miss the last train at midnight also frequent internet cafes, which is why they can usually be found near train stations.

The meeting was scheduled for 2 PM so we had so much time to kill in the morning. So we drove around Kashiwa City and tried to get the feel of the place.

Compared to Tokyo and Nagoya, Chiba is definitely less crowded. After having breakfast at Sukiya (think Yoshinoya), we headed to LaLaport mall for some new books and coffee.

My companion had been itching to buy a new book and I've been itching for some coffee.

Funny how we ended up in a bookstore that had Tully's Coffee right beside it. This was a few days before Nicole went to the Tully's Coffee launch in the Philippines.

My order: マロングラッセラテ | Marron Glace Latte

Marrons are just simply: chestnuts.

I love how the Tully's Japanese website includes their whole menu and the corresponding prices.

And now to announce the winner of our Gandiva package contest: Ms. Elaine Chua

The winner has been sent a message. Please email us at manilafoodistas at gmail.com to claim your package! Thank you for all those who joined our giveaway! Watch our for more! 

Danne: Murray & D'Vine

One late night I got the chance to stroll through Serendra with our dogs. Because we already ate dinner and we were looking for a place where we could eat midnight snack, we ended up having a meal at Murray & D'Vine Burgers, Sliders & Damn Good Wine.

Personally, the ambiance of the place is more like mature, sophisticated, gourmet. Perhaps a good place to eat with colleagues after a stressful workweek.

The unique thing about this resto is that they serve burgers and wine, which might be an odd combination for burger + soda diners. Nonetheless, the set-up works for their customers! They have gourmet burgers made from different kinds of meat such as the traditional chicken and beef, and the more unconventional fish, ostrich, turkey, among many others.

We didn't really get to try the wine but we were able to try their Chicken Sliders (PhP 375) and their Beef Burger Sliders (PhP 395). Sliders are 3 small burgers served in a skewer.

Sliders come with french fries in a cone-shaped dish, together with the cute little mini Heinz Tomato Ketchup.

I'm not really a wine drinker so I have yet to try the burger and wine combination. I'd love to go back to this place and try their unusual burgers!

I believe they're the only restaurant to serve their burgers with heart-shaped buns. You'd know where to go on a date or on Valentine's day!

Check out their official website here. I believe they also have free delivery with a minimum purchase of PhP 400.

Lezz eat!

Danne

Murray & D'Vine

Address: Space c114, G/F Retail Area, Serendra, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig 1634

Telephone number: (632) 856 3723, (632) 901 3029

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Xin Wang Hong Kong Cafe Opening

The famous Singaporean restaurant Xin Wang Hong Kong Cafe opened its flagship franchise cafe two days ago in the Philippines, located beside the IMAX Theatre, SM Mall of Asia, Pasay City. With around 200 items on the menu, which includes favorites from Hong Kong, Macau, Shanghai, and other Asian and international comfort foods and street favorites, Xin Wang will definitely have what you are craving for - something for everyone's palate.




A little back story and sort of historical fact about how the Hong Kong cafe concept was conceived as told by one of the owners: Before, the restaurants which serve international cuisine in Hong Kong were sort of exclusive to the foreigners, that's why the Hong Kongers (or the locals) decided to incorporate international cuisine to their cafes so that they may be able to try it, thus the concept of the Xin Wang Hong Kong Cafe, and similar shops.



Xin Wang Hong Kong Cafe boasts of its line-up of food, ranging from dimsum, all kinds of noodles (ramen, udon, spaghetti, etc), western "hong-kong style" food, roti, and a lot more.

Iced HK YingYong - Everyone's raving about this milk tea drink, and how tasty and unforgettable it is. It became an instant hit favorite among all who were there at the launch. A MUST TRY.



Prawn Paste Chicken - Tender juicy fried chicken in prawn paste batter. It's probably an acquired taste, or something unique or different for Filipinos, but definitely worth trying.



Pork Chop Papaya Soup Noodles - Friend tender pork chops on a creamy papaya soup with noodles, egg, corn and tomatoes.



Sticky Rice in Lotus Leaf - One of the best sellers we tasted that night. Glutinous rice with yummy meat filling.




Siew Mai (4pcs) - Ingredients are fresh, definitely a must try if you're on a quest for the best Siomai in Manila. Maybe this one's for you? :)



Steamed Pork Spare Ribs - The pork is tender, easily eaten and really tasty.



Noodles with Luncheon Meat 'N Egg - It's quite surprising to see noodles, luncheon meat and egg to all be in one dish served in a restaurant, but no one's complaining as this is quite a famous staple in the comforts of the Filipino home.



Coconut Float - Fresh Coconut or Buko Juice with Vanilla Ice Cream, which makes it even more interesting and refreshing.



After trying all these, and even more (which aren't included here in the post), there are still more dishes to try and appreciate, to fully taste what Xin Wang Hong Kong Cafe brings to the table. For us, we are definitely up for the challenge, since we love food, eating, and sharing stories at the dining table. Xin Wang is one of the perfect restaurants to go to because there are a lot of food and cuisines to choose from.

Xin Wang offers a place where the early morning breakfast crowd, up to the late night and even midnight (after last full show movies) crowd can enjoy. It is fuss-free restaurant, where both the younger generation and even families can hang out and enjoy a wide variety of food, even just for desserts, coffee or tea. Xin Wang Hong Kong Cafe can seat up to 200 customers at a given time.



Brian Ong

P.S. It's really nice to be back with Manila Foodistas, thanks to Tiffy, Thea, Danne and Nicole :)


Xin Wang Hong Kong Cafe 
SM Mall of Asia
Ground floor (beside IMAX and Cabalen)




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CafeVegis: Vegetarian Café

CafeVegis: Vegetarian Café
by Nicole


Craving for something new, affordable, fresh and GOOD-FOR-YOU food? Then head now to the newest vegetarian café in town - the CafeVegis in Quezon City!

Opened just last August, CaféVegis is located at Moomba Plaza, Mother Ignacia corner Roces Ave (map). If you´re the type who has already exhausted all the restaurants in the neighbouring Timog, and now looking for a new and interesting restaurant to dine in, then CaféVegis is the place!

When we got to this café, my folks and I were the only customers (twas raining like cats and dogs that day so very few people were out). I know that´s not so good for any business but I was quite pleased about that because I am not fond of crowd! HA HA!

I love how spacious this café is! Very child friendly (proven and tested because my 5 year old brother who´s like a tornado was with us and he was running around and did not break anything nor tripped over something! :)))

CafeVegis

Some photos of their menu. Honestly, I wanted to order EVERYTHING! Look at how scrumptious and affordable their dishes are! ♡

Menu

For appetizer, we had this salad with raspberry dressing. Not to exaggerate or anything but THIS IS THE BEST TASTING SALAD I´ve ever eaten in my life! The serving was huge! This one was good for three people already. 

CafeVegis´salad
Php 125.00

We can´t help but gush about how awesome the raspberry dressing was! Total YUUUMMM!

Salad with raspberry dressing

While we were having the salad and waiting for more food, one of the staff gave my brother some cookies. :D

Oatmeal Chocochip Cookies
3 pcs for only PHP 18.00!

Here comes the main course!  Boy oh boy oh boy! We were extremely happy about the salad and when we tasted their main dishes, wow! Guilt-free aaand REALLY GOOD!

Vegetarian sisig (left) and buttered lemon salmon (right)

Finally a guilt-free sisig! This sisig has tofu, gluten, turnips and some more ingredients! I can eat tons of this ha ha! This is my second most favorite!

Vegetarian Sisig

Remember this is a vegetarian cafe so there's no meat here. All these fake meat are gluten. :) SO YUMMY! It was so cool that they actually taste meat!

Beef Salpicao
Php 165.00

This looks like a real liempo but of course it is not. It was so interesting how even the "fat" tasted like the real liempo fat!

Grilled Liempo
Php 175

CafeVegis has an on-going promo. Buy any pizza and get 3 milkshakes for free! The pizza that we ordered was the Garden Pizza. Its toppings were olives, tomato, basil, and mushrooms! My folks and I loved it because you can absolutely taste the toppings. While I was eating it was like that scene in Ratatouille where Remy was eating strawberry and cheese and then there were colors, shapes, music... D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S! Although, I was not that impressed with the crust.

Garden Pizza
Php 275.00

Now for the dessert! I'm not a dessert person ergo I am not fond of sweets but I can never resist a cheesecake! I must say, their cheesecake is loooove! Though the crust needs a little bit more of butter or something to make it more intact. But anyway, my folks and I liked it so much because it's not too sweet and it was huge! One serving is already good for 2 people!

Blueberry Cheesecake
Php 125.00

It was awesome eating at this café because we felt like we were dining in a pseudo fine dining resto. I was sooo pleased at how they gave us separate plates for every dish! We were sooo full! My pop said after: "nakakabusog at nakakalusog!" :D

 I really don't have a favourite restaurant but since eating here in CafeVegis, no doubt I have one now! I can't wait to go back! And by the way, they also sell vegetarian stuff - like gluten (finally! My mom will now be able to cook vegetarian kare-kare), vegetarian sausages, and all sorts of vegetarian frozen stuff like the veggie version of fishballs and squidballs. They have noodles, dried mushrooms and many other vegetarian merchandise too. They also sell breads - with and/or without eggs :D


CafeVegis
Address:  Moomba Plaza, Mother Ignacia corner Roces Ave
Telephone number: 374 5598

Visit them on their Facebook for more photos :)


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