Pizza Warehouse: Buy 1 Take 1 Cheese Pizza

I recently discovered buy 1 take 1 coupons in an app. It was pretty interesting since this offers a 50% off on a specific men item for participating restaurants. First off, we tried Pizza Warehouse in Glorietta. For 99 pesos, we got to 2 huge slice of classic cheese pizza. One was already requested for take out.

You get a cheese pizza, that's it. No other toppings. The cheese wasn't overflowing, it's just the right amount. The flavor wasn't strong either. It's a good deal for the buy 1 take 1 promo. But of you are looking for more savory, tangy, and loaded pizzas, you might want to order something else. Their menu also offers calzone, pasta, and chicken.



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Sebastian's Limited Edition Valentine's Ice Cream 2017

While everyone else is posting about #Feb-ibig, here I am writing my first post for the year and it's about #Feb-kain.

Sebastian's is at it again with the limited edition flavors. This year we were able to taste all the four Valentine's flavors.

They now offer half scoop options for two to four flavor combinations per cup so you can try out more of their quirky flavors. We got two flavors per cup to share.


Let's start with these two Valentine's flavors.

Unresolved Issues
"Sa umpisa parang wala lang. Pero bitter talaga. As expected."

We got what we expected from this. Its was cold, hardly noticeable at first. But then came the bitterness. It really is. See the little candied ampalaya bits over there? That's where the unique (or weirdly cool) combo kicks in. I guess it's the same from the previous versions. Just like how the same issues keep repeating itself over and over again, leaving it unresolved every time.


Closure
"'Yung Closure masarap isabay sa Unresolved Issues"

This one has a hint of sourness from the lime and passion fruit, with calming flavor from the black tea. Just like how some sour memories exist but you already got yourself back up and things are finally just a memory now. It's not sweet, and there are no strong flavors, but it's something mellow that you can enjoy.


Moving on the original duo.

Matinong Girlfriend
“Cheesy, pero hahanaphanapin mo”

There is something addicting to this cheese ice cream. Salty and tart. The cheesiness is more alike to a bag of chips rather than the currently available quezo real variants of ice cream. Not really excited about the semi-soggy Cheetos bits, but it did give a little texture to the ice cream.


Matinong Boyfriend
“Gusto ko siya. Pero naaalala ko pa rin yung pinaka unang Matinong Boyfriend”

It's recommended for the dark chocolate lovers out there. This features an earthy deep chocolate ice cream with ribbons of raspberry sorbet for contrast of sourness and color. Don’t expect a milk chocolate sweetness to this flavor. There's no candy flavor to this either. All serious and not playing around.

I am a self confessed dark chocolate fan, and I like this ice cream that does not leave a throat itching sweetness. But somehow I still remember the very first version of Matinong Boyfriend, the one with Passion Fruit Sansrival Ice Cream. Maybe it's just that thing about first love.

Just an observation, there is no flavor which features sweetness as its main factor. Just proves that love isn’t all about the sugar.


Note: During the past few months when I wasn't able to write a blogpost, I have been doing mini updates in my instagram account. Follow me at: @thegastronomersdiary for up to date food photos.

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Kimukatsu: Katsu with Layers of Flavor

Some time last December, we dined at Kimukatsu. They serve layered tonkatsu with different varieties. We also had an online discount voucher for this.

Pretty interiors. We went on a weekday so the place was not that full. Only 2 other groups were dining.


The Set Meal

Each set meal includes unlimited rice, cabbage salad, soup, pickled vegetables, and tea. The cabbage was served in a single bowl.



The rice was in a single wooden container which had the katakana characters spelling out ki-mu-ka-tsu. We each had our own bowl of soup and saucer of pickles.


Condiments were readily available on each table

 The white miso soup option was mild in taste.

The red miso soup option had a more prominent flavor.

The Katsu

The katsu were already cut when it arrived on our table together with the set meal.

Cheese

The creamy cheese oozes from the slice. The cheese was not strong in taste, just a gentle creaminess to match the crispy coating.

Yuzu Kosho

The layering is more evident in this one. It was a little sour coming from the yuzu.

We finished two whole servings of rice and 2 and a half servings of the cabbage., and half of the sesame dressing.

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Italianni's: Bistro Dinner

Here’s part two of the Bistro day series. After lunch at T.G.I. Friday’s, we had dinner at Italianni’s. Just like in T.G.I. Friday’s, we used our free appetizer coupon and ordered a main dish.

Complementary bread while waiting for our orders.

Italianni’s Fritti

For the appetizer, we had Italianni’s Fritti which was described as mozzarella sticks on the menu. Mozzarella blocks is more appropriate, I think. Not just nuggets, blocks, because of its size. We have been having cheese as an appetizer today. This time, it was pure cheese coated with breading. I would have loved it more if it was melted enough to be soft and stretchy. But maybe I just arrived a little late and it got cold already. My fellow gastronomer ordered this and was already on our table when I arrived.


Indeed we were served cheese with coating and not coating with a little cheese inside. Just look at the thickness of that slice. The stretchiness of the cheese was not very evident but the chewy factor was there.

We took some pieces home and heated it in the oven. Then there came the stretchy chewy cheesy snack.

Fettuccine Beef Ragu

Back to the dinner, we ordered Beef Ragu pasta as main course. It had a tomato based sauce on thick fettuccine noodles. Plus points for the tender beef ragu on this dish.

And with that, we exhaust our free appetizer coupons that came with the Bistro Card we bought last year. This discount card introduced us to the casual dining restaurants of the Bistro group.

Branch visited located at: 2nd floor, Entertainment Mall, Mall of Asia, Pasay City

T.G.I. Friday's: Bistro Lunch

We still had two free appetizer coupons from our discount card that was purchased last year. The expiry date was getting nearer and so we decided to have lunch and dinner at Bistro group restaurants. This is the first part of the series. For lunch, we ate at Fridays.

Beef Queso Dip

Our appetizer was characterized by strong tasting cheese with ground beef. The dip serving was more than enough for the nachos. We needed more nachos! Crunch and cheese combination is perfect for an appetizer.

Miami Cubano Chicken

Next up, we ordered Miami Cubano Chicken. Two fried chicken fillets sandwiching ham, mozzarella, and mushroom composed the main dish. This reminded me of cordon bleu. It also came with flavored rice.

Our next story at Italianni’s, coming up next!

Branch visited located at: 2nd floor, Entertainment Mall, Mall of Asia, Pasay City

Backlog Post: Green Pastures

Off to the healthier side, we went for something organic and headed to Green Pastures at Shagri-la East wing.

Stracciatella Cheese was first on the food list. Being a cheese lover, I liked this immediately. It was made of buffalo milk and indeed tasted fresh. It was also served with arugula and toasted bread.

Their sliders set was a sampler of three burgers: 80/20 Burger, Blue Ribbon Burger, and Vegetarian Burger That Doesn’t Suck (yes, that is the name).

True to its name, the vegetarian burger really tasted good! The patty was made of organic vegetables. Too bad we only ordered a sampler with slider-sized patties. I wanted more.

As for the two meat burgers, I preferred the 80/20 Burger over the Blue Ribbon Burger perhaps because I am not much of a fan of blue cheese.

The 80/20 burger had 80% wagyu beef, and 20% pancetta, topped with stracciatella cheese (fan of this cheese now) while the blue ribbon burger was made of Wagyu shortrib, chuck, and brisket, topped with blue cheese.

The Miso Tapuy Glazed Lapu Lapu was a slab of tender fish on a bed of asparagus. Sweet-saltiness of miso glaze paired well with the seafood. And the seafood itself was of good quality, “hindi malansa”. Sauce was also served at the side for added flavor if desired. The buckwheat noodles provided carbohydrates and made the dish a complete meal.

I chose Milk Eggs Honey as dessert because I was curious at what honeycomb tastes like. I first tasted each component that provided distinct flavors. The lemon curd was generally sour with hints of sweet but it was not like some lemon sauces that just tasted like melted citrus candy. The greek yogurt was smooth and a good contrast to the texture of the honeycomb. The honeycomb tasted like sugar in a chewable form. I tried eating the honeycomb on its own, sipping out the sweetness, then what was left was something dried and tasteless. I then learned that it was better to chew the whole thing and not sip out the sugary goodness. When I ate the components together, along with the almond slivers toppings, it was a carnival of textures and flavors. Sweet, sour, smooth, something with a bite.

Branch visited located at: Edsa Shangri-la East Wing, Ortigas Center


*This is a backlog post. Actual food expedition was made a few months before publishing of this post.

Backlog Post: Paul Boulangerie and Patisserie

With different colors and shapes, their display of pastries first caught my attention. When we were choosing what to order, we found out that the menu items are written in their French names with descriptions written in English. 

Of course we just had to order pastries.

Millefeuille Fraises

Tartelette Multifruits

My choice of pastries shows that strawberry is one of my favorite fruits. The millefeuille has layers of thin pastry and cream. The tart was sweeter than the millefeuille due to the white custard/cream underneath the fruits. That Paul label is actually chocolate which tasted good.

This place does not only offer pastries but also serves other meal items the sandwiches, salads, and meat. Here are the ones we had:



Soup du jour

Soup of the day was tomato soup. I appreciate the design but I didn't get to try much of this one.



Saute de poulet aux champignons

The dip was really flavorful and creamy. There are roasted chicken chunks and mushrooms at every scoop. The bread was crunchy and paired well with the dip.



Cuisse de poulet rotie

My fellow gastronomer ordered this which was roasted chicken leg and thigh served with a side salad.



Club poulet

Chicken club sandwich topped with greens was the order of another gastronomer.




*This is a backlog post. Actual food expedition was made a few months prior to publishing of this post.

Branch visited located at: SM Aura, Taguig