It’s Tea Time: Bubble Tea Review

Disclaimer: This is my compilation my Bubble tea visit. Chill Time, Meeting, chitchat and tambay mode

I was just introduced to Bubble Tea last April when (remember my previous entry? :)) me and my friends ate at Sugarleaf. I am not that much of a Milk Tea addict. Not until I tried this one.

Their stores are cute. The ceilings are patterned from round shapes which represent their bubbles.

You can choose from couch or typical chairs and tables. You can also have it the Japanese way by sitting on the floor – most of the time students are seated here.

They don’t have a wide variety of Milk Tea selection. But they also offer milk shakes and other fruity drinks. 

Got a chance of visiting their Wilson Branch about four times and once on Morato branch, these are my orders with my personal rating:

Royal Milk Tea – 5/5 their best seller

Also my personal favourite

 Japanese Green Milk Tea – 5/5

Typical taste of Green tea, just like Starbucks’ Green Tea frappe. But I liked it though :)

Taro Milk Tea – 4/5

It was good. I got this from their promo (10 Stamps = 1 Large Mile Tea for Free)

Last: Almond Milk Tea - 3/5. Not really my favorite.

  

Aside from Milk Tea they also serve Japanese food and pastries. Though a bit pricey their serving is huge. Example their Vancouver Roll for 285 pesos is good for 3-4 persons.

I like the Okonomiyaki Pizza. Sweet and Salty. Comes with veggie mix on the side

Rice meals are also available. I ordered the Osaka BBQ Ribs with Rice. My order was very fatty.

The Japanese Caesar was good. The fruits and veggies are fresh.

My colleagues order:

Grilled Chicken Curry (225 Php) – typical chicken curry

Yakiniku Beef Rice (245 Php)  – I liked this more than my Osaka BBQ ribs. The beef was nicely flavored.

Chicken Teriyaki Doria (245 Php) – looks like chicken ala King for me.  

Going back to their Milk Team, though they have limited flavors they still offer best Milk Tea’s specially the Royal Milk Tea. The serving looks a bit ‘bitin’ but actually one large order can you feel full. 

This place is best for chill time. Can be alternative for Coffee shops. 

Notes:

Parking: limited slots only

Reservation: No need (but for big groups like 6 I suggest to call them ahead)

Smoking Area: Yes

Nice CR: Very Clean

Service Charge: None :)

Branches:

Wilson St. Greenhills, San Juan

Tomas Morato Ave. Quezon City. Beside Alfredo 

SM North Edsa the Block

SM Megamall 

Clean and Green: Sugar Leaf Review

Green is definitely in! :)

I’m a veggie lover. I eat almost all veggies except for okra and bulalak ng katuray (my father always prepares this at home).

Sugarleaf has a lot to offer – soup, sandwich, salad, pasta, snack, desserts and healing juices made from pure ingredients, you can really taste the difference from normal fruit juices.

So let’s start, what Sugarleaf has:

Soup: One serving is enough for 2-3 people if you are not too hungry and willing to wait for the rest of your order

The only available soups that day are the following:

Spinach soup – the soup was made from pure spinach thus it’s really bitter. So green and leafy.

Squash with Orange – I like this better than the spinach soup. You can really eat bits of crunchy squash.

Sandwich: We really ordered different types sandwich so we can have a taste of each one of them (hehehe). Btw, their sandwiches are very nice. Though I was not able to check if they also sell bread.

Turkey Waldorf (150 Php) – this is the best seller amongst us. This is made of turkey with red apple bits, cinnamon and lettuce in Raisin Bagel.

Free-Range Chicken (120 Php) – According to the store manager Ms. Gina the chicken used here are fed with nothing but organic food. The sandwich includes green apple bit, lettuce with sugarleafs signature dressing.

Smoked Blue Marlin (180 Php) and Smoked Norweigan Salmon (260 Php) – they are both prepared with alfalfa, lettuce and tomatoes with vinegariette dressing. I like the Smoked Salmon compared to the Smoked Blue Marlin Sandwich (bias? Heheh that’s my order kasi). You can savor Salmon’s distinct taste plus I like the crunchy veggies on it.

Salads: I LOVE their Salad!!! It’s fresh, it’s light, its clean and definitely cholesterol free. We had 2 orders of salad. The one with the Garden Salad with Sugarleafs own dressing and the other one is Green Salad with red eggs and tomatoes.

Healing Juices: I call it the power juice. Power because you will surely get all the nutrients from the fruits.

Detox – my personal choice. It has apple, grapefruit, watermelon and ginger. The ginger dominates the taste. But when you reach halfway of the glass you will taste the other remaining fruits. Though my friends didn’t like it I still like my order though. For the reason that the ingredients is for detoxification hehehe

Well Being – for general health. Made from Banana, Orange, Strawberry, Apple and mint. This is the most recommended juice. It’s sweet and very refreshing.

Liver Cleans – Made from Pineapple, Carrot, Sugarbeet and lime. This is recommended for those who love to drink alcoholic drinks. Like the well being juice this juice is also recommended, no ‘Alien’ taste.

Dessert: We ordered Apple Pie and Ebun Buro Sorbet.

We liked the apple pie; it has the right sweetness and creaminess.

But the Ebun Buro Sorbet was the best! Yes! The ice cream was made with salted egg. We asked for one order since we know that we are already full. One order has 3 scoops. We ended asking for one more round hehehe.

Aside from the salad they also offer some pasalubong and other healthy treats.

Btw, I bought their Organic Salted Duck Egg though a bit expensive (20 php each) you can taste the difference with the normal red eggs in the market. 

The place was not too big nor too small so if you want to visit sugar leaf it’s better to call them ahead so they can reserve seats for you. It’s also recommended to place you order ahead of time since they will prepare everything upon order.

The Menu:

The store manager/owner Miss Gina was very accommodating. She cheerfully answers our questions and she even gave us some sample of Kefir dip (which btw, taste good on the salad).

You can also visit their website to check on their menu: http://www.sugarleafph.com/

Sugarleaf is located at G/F Health Cube Building, 226 Wilson Street, West Greenhills, San Juan, Metro Manila, Philippines 1502 (between BDO and Kink Cakes)

Buffalo Wings 'N Things

This is my 5^th time here since 2010 but this is the 1^st time that I had a chance to take photos. After my 1^st visit, it inspired me to try preparing buffalo wings at home though until now I cannot imitate their recipe. The store was not too big. I prefer to sit outside because atleast I can laugh as loud as I can (uhmmm hindi sadya un ha hahaha) not bothering the other table :P

My all time favorite is their Honey BBQ. I never visited Buffalo Wings ‘N Things without this on our table. It has the right amount of sweetness and super BBQ flavor. One Pound order has atleast 8-10 pcs chicken (254 Pesos). Adding Bleu Cheese is not a must but I will definitely add a twist. It’s best if you try their chicken without rice to enjoy it’s flavor.

If you like spicy food you can also try their signature Buffalo wings sauce. Each sauce has its own level of kick. The Rookie, The New York’s Finest and Fire House Classic. But wait, If your still not satisfied with those three there are still 2 flavors that you might want to try: Nuclear and Armageddon. But for me I won’t hahahaha.

We tried The Rookie (the least hot) and just like my first visit I like its sour taste.

I already tried their New York’s finest before but I ended up wiping my face because I cannot continue eating anymore. I guess I can only endure The Rookie.

Aside from their specialty they also offer fries, burgers etc. 

We ordered their Nachos. I love the salsa because it has Cilantro on it which has a distinct taste. The nachos were also cooked as we ordered them because it was served hot.

The fries were okay with me (99 Pesos). We asked for Mayo and Ketchup for our dip. Oops I forgot to take a picture

And the Jambalaya Rice was also good.

Their Margarita was also nice (124 for 1L). But if your purpose is to really drink then this is not for you. Their sister Resto –Jalapeňo offers a wide range of drink selection you can actually ask the waitress for for their menu.

The Menu:

Looking forward for my next visit! :D 
Buffalo Wings 'N Things is Located at Food Strip, Home Depot J.Vargas Ave., Pasig City

Recipes: Pinoy dish with a twist

My friends introduced me to this restaurant way back 2008, I’m not aware of their best seller then. What I remember is that they serve Crispy tilapia (deep fried fillet when serve) and it’s their best seller.  After almost 3 years I’m back at Recipes now at their Shangri-La branch. The place was quite small. Tip: To avoid waiting, might as well call them early for reservations. I also do this for small restaurants because I know seats are always occupied specially during lunch and dinner.

If you don’t know anything about Recipes you wouldn't think that they serve Pinoy dish unless you browse over their menu. My friends and I really love their Crispy Tilapia (you can really eat it till it’s last bone :D). To our surprise it was not available that day! Oh my! The waiter explained that when they found out that one of their fish has a bad taste (gilik ba un?) they stopped cooking Crispy Tilapia for that day. Well, it just simply says that they have their quality standards (atleast db).

As a replacement we ordered Crispy Bangus (180 Pesos):

Served filleted. I cannot find the distinct Bangus taste, probably the breading was too thick plus I want the Tilapia! (hehehe)

Gising Gising (160 Pesos) – Baguio Beans with coconut milk and ground pork with a kick of chili. This is also one of their best sellers.

Lechon Kawali with Kangkong (205 Pesos) – I thought that the Kangkong will serve as garnish, but to my surprise it was served in a bowl underneath the Lechon Kawali. BTW, the meat was cooked nicely and onti ang taba :) This is my favorite for the night hehehe...

In general they serve good food with just the right value. Probably one of the reasons why they are always jam-packed. I haven't been to their Trinoma Branch, I just hope they have a bigger place to accommodate more customers.  

The Hawaiian-Bar-B-Que

As early as January Anne and I were planning to have a one whole day trip to Tagaytay. She planned for the itinerary while I volunteered to find a place where we would go for lunch. I haven’t tried Leslie’s nor in RSM, but I want to find something other than the usual. Ofcourse, budget is considered here, The Hawaiian Bar-B-Que is not my original choice but the 1^st resto was too expensive that need to look for another that serves good food but not too pricey. I was impressed about good feedbacks about The Hawaiian Bar-B-Que’s Baby back ribs plus the ‘must try’ Bulalo (of course it’s Tagaytay) I immediately told Anne that this is the place for our Lunch.

This is located at the ground floor of The Boutique Bed and Breakfast overlooking Taal Volcano. Ambiance is definitely 5/5

The (incomplete) Menu:

I really can’t get over their Baby Back Ribs J I tried to eat the roasted pineapple on the side but it was sour! Hahaha. Pang design lng tlaga! hehe

450 Pesos for Medium order good for 2-3 persons

It’s a sure win that when I got home, I even talked to my guy friend and told him that he should invite the girl he’s courting to have dinner here (dinner for more romantic ambiance ofcourse)

The waiter asked if we want the meat and marrow removed from the bone and we immediately say ‘opo kuya’.

We ordered Medium size Bulalo… Yes, this is their medium serving! This is good for 3-4 persons but the menu says it’s good for 2, well if you don’t have any other order probably this is just enough for 2 persons. When Kuya served our order, the 4 girls from the other table were actually looking at our table hehehe because we are only 3 and yet out table was loaded of plates hahaha

The Bulalo is superb. You really know that it was cooked with real beef and not with broth cubes.

This bulalo costs around 500+

The baby back ribs + Bulalo is a sure win! No need to try other dish unless you still want to.

Tahiti’s Golden Fresh Crisp or commonly known as Pritong Tilapia is also good, ut not their specialty. The presentation reminds me of Pieces logo. 250 for 2 pcs. If I would go back and visit Hawaiian Bar-B-Que I would rather try other dish aside from this.

I tried their Hawaiian Iced Tea because it’s says on the menu that It was their house blend Iced Tea. Hmm, it just taste like regular Nestea Iced Team with fruits to make it Hawaiian inspired. Not worth it for 100 pesos.

Definetly would invite family and friends here! :)

They also have branches in Boracay and in MOA.