A Year To Be Thankful

birthday cake

I recently celebrated my birthday. And I realized that I do have a lot to be thankful for. In terms of how God blessed me and how He guided me through my ups and lows is enough for me to feel grateful. Of course, needless to say, my birthday will not go by without me having a little celebration and surrounding myself with good food.

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A Dreamy, Colorful Interlude

I first learned about Rainbow Dreams Cafe when I saw a random Facebook post of people donning unicorn costumes while striking a pose on a white background with splashes of vibrant colors. Since unicorn drinks and its ilk seems quite in so I was lured to it, tagging along my friends with me.

jampacked

donning some costumes and striking a pose

The popularity of this budding cafe in this side of Maginhawa Street in Teacher's Village is unmistakable. There's a queue when we got here and we have to wait for around twenty minutes before we were ushered in to our seats.

BBQ chops and carbonara

homestyle fried chicken

strawberry white choco waffle

We adored how cute the food was presented here at Rainbow Dream Cafe. The rice was formed into fun shapes like hearts, stars and a spaceship of some sort. The Carbonara was dotted with a constellation of stars. Almost too cute to eat. Though I must say the savory meals are just okay. To me at least since one friend of mine gobbled the carbonara to the last strand while profusely saying it's the best carbonara he had in a long time. 

I gravitated toward the Strawberry White Choco Waffle. The white chocolate sauce gave the waffle complements the chewy texture of the waffle. Some may find this a waffle a little too sweet, especially if you drizzle the syrup that came along with it. But me and a female friend didn't have a problem polishing off this breakfast dessert.

shakes

another shake and the unicorn float

Of course, we gotta try their whimsical drinks to cap off the filling meal.

80 Maginhawa Street
Diliman, Quezon City

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A Coffee Shop Getaway From The Busy Metro

counter

interior

I've been meaning to visit Cup Fiction for the longest time ever since finding out about this cool/geeky coffee shop after their page showed up on my Page Suggestions on Facebook. It finally happened just recently and it ended up being my newest favorite coffee shop.

strawberry danish and hot chocolate

sunrise shakshuka

I immediately fell in love with Cup Fiction the moment I set foot inside. The quote mural by JD Salinger is like my life mantra which I want to also appropriate in my own room. I was only planning to have a dessert and coffee but when I saw the Sunrise Shakshuka on the menu, I suddenly felt the pangs of hunger making itself known.

My shoulders slumped involuntarily upon trying the shakshuka. The pleasing tomato stew lightly spiced with cayenne powder and onions is incredibly good. Elevate it some more when you pierced the yolk of the poached egg into the mix. It took a lot of will power for me to withheld pounding my fist on the wooden tabletop to fully express how I love this dish. The hot chocolate and danish pastry I almost momentarily ignored.

141 Katipunan Ave
Quezon City

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If You Want A Little Bit Of Privacy While Binge Eating 

mural

table setting

I was a little hesitant selecting Privatus among the various restaurants I was planning to visit as a 'last hurrah' for my birthday. I was worried it might be too expensive. And it somehow conveys a brooding, snobbish exclusivity that I find intimidating. But as the saying goes, 'You live only once', so I decided to go for it.

libations to start off the meals

the kraken

local wagyu

Me and my friend were asked to try some of their spirited drinks while waiting for our meals to be prepared. As we're gingerly sipping our libations, our appetizer, The Kraken, arrived with so much aplomb. Wasps of steam envelops the bowl immediately after the waitstaff poured a liquid broth of sickly brown color into it. We ogled at it for a time before we picked up our eating implements to severe the swirling tentacles before us. The charred octopus was a bit chewy but the briny flavor of it whet my appetites even more.

We also quite enjoyed the Local Wagyu. The kitayama wagyu strip loin was really flavorful. Cooked medium rare, I lightly dabbed the meat with the miso paste before consuming it and it seemed to me my palate was caressed lovingly with each bite. Even my friend, who usually prefers her meat cooked well done, can't help but praised the quality of the meat.

inasal stew and garlic risotto

modern pork adobo

surf and turf pizza

Modern twists of Filipino classic cuisines shines through the Inasal Stew and Modern Pork Adobo. I enjoyed the fall-off-the-bone softness of the smoked chicken's meat and the stew itself has a slight sour tang from the tomatoes. The adobo was unanimously our favorite. We were surprised that the sauce was so much reduced but we adored the sous vide-style pork belly with its crispy skin.

We also liked the Surf & Turf Pizza. Loaded with oyster fritters, shrimp, bacon, corn, kesong puti and mozzarella. It's a fully loaded flatbread pizza we consumed to the last piece.

miso cheesecake

Japanese taho

I wouldn't passed up trying the desserts. The Miso Cheesecake is a bit of a let down. It's cloying sweet, maybe due to the orange sauce, and the beet sorbet seems out of place from the whole mash up. 

I did like the Japanese Taho since I always loved matcha-based desserts. The silkiness of the matcha white chocolate tofu with ginger arnibal and tapioca balls creates a beautiful rhythm of flavors that I could fall for again and again and again.

8 F. Legaspi  Street
Maybunga, Pasig City