Happy Foodies

<figure class="wp-block-image alignnone"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/oggie/7006362500/"><img alt="Brazo de Mercedes Cheesecake" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8150/7006362500_e4c0fe6152_b.jpg"></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Brazo de Mercedes Cheesecake (P145/slice)</figcaption></figure> It’s off the usual route and takes a bit of traveling to get to but Cioccolo is an interesting place to go to at night. Right in the middle of a dark field, it seems a place of enchantment has sprung up, magically lit up at night. There’s R2-D2 in one area, Elvis in another as well as Roman statues here and there among a host of other curiosities that catch the eye and piques one’s interest no matter how blasé he or she can be. There are even huge banquet halls spread out on the spacious lot that looked like settings for a medieval tale complete with trompe l’oeil ceilings, huge chandeliers, gilded walls and ornate furniture. Cioccolo's truly kitschy as kitschy can be but in a pleasant way, maybe strangely romantic even like a fantasy world. Contrastingly, the coffee shop looks “normal” and “real world”, warmly lit and inviting for a nightcap. The whole place looks every bit interesting but we wonder if the food could be as "kitschy" good as well.

<figure class="wp-block-image alignnone"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/oggie/7152476975/"><img alt="Cold Cuts Combo Banh Mi (P75)" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8017/7152476975_d3e5d534e5_b.jpg"></a><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Cold Cuts Combo Banh Mi (P75)</figcaption></figure> Angeles City may be a chartered city independent of Pampanga since the 60s but it still shares the Kapampangan flair for cooking up delicious fare and perhaps more importantly, a contagious appetite for joyful eating. It's a tall order to live down its naughty, steamy reputation but the city has another side that can satisfy the other senses. By that we mean the nose and the taste buds. Your Happyfoodies tagged along for a food trip of Angeles City and what we found pleasantly surprised us. For starters, we found a piece of Vietnam along Jesus Street in the historic district near the Pamintuan Mansion -- in Banh Mi Saigon. Who would've thought that you can find heavenly Banh Mi sandwiches and spring rolls in between a neighborhood gym and a sari-sari store? Owner Rex Soriano, recently repatriated from the U.S. after nearly a decade of working at Nobu in New York counted on his experience as a chef and the invaluable inputs of his Vietnamese mother-in-law and wife to come up with fare that begs for repeat visits.