Lazada Philippines
April 2009

Birthday at Friday's

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

We spent my hubby's birthday strolling around Greenbelt 3, 4, and 5. Then we had dinner at Friday's in Glorietta. We decided to start with our all-time favorite Fried Mozzarella (P275), six pieces of mozzarella cheese coated in special Italian-style breading, then deep-fried and served with a rich Marinara sauce. It was a bit pricey for half a dozen deep-fried cheese but the oozing dairy goodness dipped in special salsa was palatably worth it. I could eat more than a dozen of those but restrained myself to make room for the main dish.
TGIF fried mozzarella
I ordered the Jack Daniel's Chicken (P355). Two juicy chicken breasts basted in a sweet, savory glaze and garnished. Served with Chef's vegetables, grilled corn, choice of cheddar cheese mashed potatoes or rice pilaf and their original Jack Daniel's sauce. The mashed potatoes certainly deserve special mention. I usually don't like mashed potatoes, as most of the time they taste artificial or bland. I was hesitant to go with the mashed potatoes, but thinking I should cut my rice intake (don't look at me like that, I know they're both starch and carbo, it just sounds like a more disciplined woman to say that I'm cutting my rice intake), I opted for the former. And great thing I did. It was the best mashed potatoes I've ever tasted (not that I've tasted mashed potatoes from every restaurant, nonetheless it's the best for me so far). There are little pieces of potatoes embedded for texture, which is why it's more flavorful than those totally mashed artificial-tasting ones. The chicken was alright, some parts were a bit tough but manageable. It would have been tastier if the poultry had more juice. The sauce on the other hand, tasted so good with the chicken albeit too sweet.
TGIF Jack Daniel's chicken
My hubby order the Jack Daniel's Pork Chops (P585). Two pieces of thick 230 g pork chops and a hefty helping of cheddar cheese mashed potatoes or rice pilaf. Served with seasonal vegetables, grilled corn and their original Jack Daniel's sauce. The pork chops were more tender and the combination of the meat and sauce was much better appreciated. As with my order, the mashed potatoes were great and the grilled corn also makes for a delectable side dish.
TGIF Jack Daniel's pork chops
We washed the heavy meal down with my favorite variant of iced tea, the Strawberry Iced Tea. Good thing it was bottomless, I just couldn't get enough of it.
TGIF strawberry iced tea
TGI Friday's
Spot: 3rd Floor Glorietta 3 Ayala Center, Makati
Telephone: +632 893.9410

Related Post:
Sauntering Down Bonifacio High Street (Part 1: TGIF Dinner)

Elfav-ulous Hangout

Sunday, April 12, 2009

There's a quaint little ice cream shop in Pergola Mall of BF Homes where homemade ice cream and a homey atmosphere pretty much makes up its attraction to the locals. 10 minutes of ice cream isn't a sufficient excuse to lounge around, but having rice meals, games & puzzles and free WiFi are.
Elfav interior
The good thing is, a few of their flavors are quite unique and very much for the legal aged folks. They have Tequila Rose, Bailey's and you'd never guess... Beer (P60)! I must admit I haven't tried their Beer though I am curious as to its taste. I've always love Bailey's and Tequila Rose cocktails and so I chose to try the two first which very much taste like so. Not surprising considering the 3% and 10% alcohol content warning printed on the ice creams' labels.
Elfav ice cream 2
Elfav ice cream
Not only do they have ice cream but they also offer a selection of rice meals mostly for P99, which already includes a drink and a shot glass of your favorite ice cream. Pretty neat huh? While waiting for lunch to arrive, you can play with board games and puzzles available in some tables. There's chess, dominoes, tic-tac-toe and Acrobatz Monkeys (which I've yet to try).
Elfav chess
Elfav human pyrmamid
I ordered the Grilled Liempo with Iced Tea (P99). While it isn't the finest of it I've tasted, it's filling nonetheless and it serves the purpose. For that price, I'd be willing to have it a go next time around. Don't get me wrong, it is good, no gourmet stuff here but it's still pretty good.
Elfav rice
Elfav spareribs
Their iced tea has a homemade flavor. Not a big fan of it though.
Elfav iced tea
Their specialty really is in their homemade ice cream. For my shot glass of freebie, I got the Bailey's and was contemplating on ordering an extra scoop. My daughter wanted the Bubblegum (P40) flavor with star candy sprinkles (P10). It was yummy as well, makes you really feel like a kid.
Elfav baileys
Elfav bubblegum
It's a nice place to hang out, the free internet access is not so bad either. And the crew won't let you feel that you have exceeded your stay.

Elfav Ice Creamery
Spot: 2nd Floor Pergola Mall Aguirre Ave. Phase 1 BF Homes, Paranaque
Telephone: +632 659.3025

Hop In The Fro-Yo Wagon!

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Everyone has been noticing the frozen yogurt craze, a.k.a. fro-yo. Seems more and more people have joined in the wagon. And so I wanted to find out if there was a difference in taste among the various brands.
Lulu Belle counter
I entered Lulu Belle in the Power Plant mall and ordered their Strawberry and Natural Yogurt (P80), which was twisted and that reminded me of McDonald's twirl sundae. It tasted very fresh, especially the strawberries with its tartness and sweetness mixing on your palate. You can also opt for the green tea flavor which can also be mixed in with natural yogurt.
Lulu Bell strawberry cream yogurt
My daughter chose to have an ice cream instead of a yogurt (she doesn't like them and thinks they're too sour for her taste). Their Chocolate Ice Cream (P70) was much too chocolatey for me and I'm glad we had ordered toppings of candy sprinkles to even out the richness of the flavor.
Lulu Belle chocolate with sprinkles
The White Hat was in Rustan's Supermarket, Glorietta. It offers just the basic Natural Yogurt (P85) plus a lot of toppings to choose from like fruits, candies, chocolates and cookies.
White Hat b
I tried adding 3 toppings (P45) and chose the chocolate chips, M&M's and cherries. Weird combination right? It was actually my daughter who chose it and was adamant about it, only to taste half a spoonful and let me finish the rest of it on my own. Suffice it to say, she still wasn't changing her mind about yogurt anytime soon. Although their yogurt really is more on the sour side.
White Hat collage
Yoh-gurt Froz can usually be seen inside branches of Hobbes and Landes. There's one in Bonifacio High Street, Greenbelt 5, and Shangri-La Plaza.
Yoh-gurt Froz menu board
Like the White Hat, they only offer the Natural Yogurt (P80) and a selection of fruits, chocolates, and candies for the Toppings (P40).
Yoh-gurt Froz toppings
I got the chocolate chips (they're really my favorite chocolate toppings), M&M's and candy sprinkles as forced upon (again!) by my daughter, which (you guessed right), she didn't even taste. I liked this better than the White Hat's though because it's a bit sweeter, the taste is more balanced, you can forget that it's 98% fat-free.
Yoh-gurt Froz
It was interesting and good to see a yogurt cart in Salcedo Saturday Market. They offer several flavored yogurts (P65) like Mango, Chocolate, Passion Fruit and Wild Berries, and I enjoyed every variant, even the natural one. The consistency is like that of an ice cream but the naturalness of the taste is that of a yogurt. Very different from the mall-based ones but very delightful nonetheless.
Fro Yo
I'm not a fan of yogurt before. But trying these natural, smooth frozen desserts with a whole world of toppings made me change my mind. Plus the fact that they're fat free, low calorie, no cholesterol, with prebiotics and probiotics, simply put, healthy, well that's another reason to enjoy one.

Yogurt on Foodista

Royce' Strawberry Nama

Saturday, April 4, 2009

You can never go wrong with strawberries and chocolates. And chocolate filled with hints and tinges of strawberries definitely makes it to the top 3 of my list, right after chocolates filled with liquer and chocolates with mint. For this season, Royce' offers its Strawberry Nama. The same melt-in-your mouth, creamy Nama goodness but with the light flavor of fresh strawberries. I say fresh because the taste is not of the sweet, artificial kind but more of the fruity kind, a bit of tartness that balances the sweetness of the chocolate.
Royce' strawberry nama
Royce' strawberry nama chocolate
Royce' strawberry nama focus
The experience is what can only be expected from Royce' chocolates. I'd be in a hurry though, if I'm not mistaken, this variant will only last until the end of April.
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