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, 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. It’s kitschy as kitschy can be but in a pleasant way, maybe strangely romantic even. 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.
Lia’s Cakes, Always in Season
Avocado is one of my favourite fruits and being a sucker for desserts, the combination of the fruit on a cake is lethal. Strolling along with a fellow foodie friend in the streets of Kapitolyo, Pasig, which is fast becoming a food hub with a lot of new dining options popping up, we discovered Lia’s Cakes in Season. Lia’s is one of the old dining establishments in the area (been there since 2004) that has been known for their signature Avocado Cakes.
J. Co Donuts get the sweetness and softness just right
Before you know it, we’re deep into the Christmas holiday. It’s the time of the year when part of the tradition is the merry eating, often a cause for indulgence that will visibly manifest itself come January. It’s also the time to give and receive (food calories included in the merry swapping of presents) so it was really a pleasant surprise to get boxes of J. Co Donuts at the doorstep. Hmmm, gets us into thinking: is there really room for another donut brand in a sweetly saturated market? J.Co isn’t really a new brand, having been around in other Southeast Asian countries like Indonesia where it got started since 2005. Well, only with a taste test can tell so we made room for extra calories to give Happyfoodies readers our impressions.
Cooling off a wet summer with Selecta Hersheys Ice Cream
PAGASA declared a wet summer and the often fickle weather is living up to that paradox. But climate change or not, what’s summer without warm days sweetened by dollops of ice cream? Well, you know it’s going to be an interesting summer when Selecta comes up with not one but four new flavors, three of which are choco-inflected.
Brownie points for Brownies Unlimited
Forrest Gump may have said that life is like a box of chocolates but he never had the dilemma of contemplating on what kind of chocolate brownie he’s going to get from an assorted boxful from Brownies Unlimited. That’s what Happyfoodies mulled upon when we got boxes of chocolate goodies from BU over the holidays. Not to complain though as we’re certified chocoholics.
All mixed up on Halo Halo de Iloko
Ah, the halo-halo. This quintessential Pinoy cooler is literally a hodge podge of locally-available ingredients. Just like the ubiquitous adobo, it varies from province to province with iterations that changes partly due to what’s available, partly to the taste buds of the locals.