Recent Eats

food at St Louis

It's been two weekends of wonderful eating that I have to document it on my online diary. :)


A Quaint Japanese Cafe In A Car Showroom

Kazunori/Kazu Cafe

I've been following esteemed restauranteur Elbert Cuenca (of Mendokoro Ramenba, Elbert's Steak Room, Ramen Yushoken and Elbert's Sandwiches) on social media. And when he started posting about Kazunori/Kazu Cafe, I was immediately intrigued since the restaurant was sharing space with a Madza Dealership Building. Imagine eating your sushis and sashimis while staring at the latest Madza cars on display. 

uni cream spaghettini

chocolate parfait

A smiling staff asked me upon entering if I have a reservation. I was a little nonplussed since I haven't read online or elsewhere that I need to book a reservation beforehand. Apparently, it was only a standard question by the staff to all patrons entering the restaurant. I positioned myself to the most inconspicuous table available and had my orders taken. 

I focus on the Kazu Cafe's menu on this visit. The Uni Cream Spaghettini is creamy enough though it doesn't have enough uni (sea urchin) for me to be mind blown by it. I should have asked for another round of the complimentary chawan mushi even if I pay for it. It's a wonderful egg custard savory dish that haunts me to this day.

I was a little torn if I would try the Matcha or the Chocolate Parfait. Deciding to chose the latter and wasn't disappointed. It's a looker of a parfait and I voluntarily mouthed "Wow!" when it was served. Just look at that giant macaron! Loaded with bananas, chunks of brownies, chocolate ice cream and chocolate coated biscuit sticks (or I could have typed Pocky to be more succinct). I smiled a little when I noticed other diners also followed suit and ordered the same parfait. 

2301 Chino Roces Ave. Extension
G/F Madza Makati Building
Makati City

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If Poisons Could Be As Good (And Sweet) As This

Poison Doughnuts & Coffee

Salted Dark Chocolate Doughnut Holed & a latte

I've been meaning to try Poison Coffee & Doughnuts ever since I learned about it last year. This visit to Kazunori gave me the licensed to trek my way to The Alley at Karrivin Plaza to make that happen that same day.

I really liked the dark, almost moody interior of the cafe. It gives off a very masculine vibe. The choices for the doughnuts are not that many, some were cheekily called doughnuts hole. My brain short-circuited a little. Instead of trying to be bold and asked for the Garam Masala Doughnut, I asked for the Salted Dark Chocolate Doughnut Holed and a latte, which was fine. My mouth was greeted with a smattering of salt punctuated the rich boldness of the chocolate as I bite into the dough. The dense, bitey quality of the doughnut requires a little to get used to. But nevertheless, I enjoyed licking the chocolate stains off my fingers in between sips of coffee while watching the moving psychedelic projection on the cafe's wall.

The Alley
Karrivin Plaza, 2316 Chino Roces Avenue
Makati City

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The Most Apt Dessert This Summer

ube halo-halo and sumiyaki coffee

Well, technically, we really don't have summer here in the Philippines. It's either just rainy season or dry season. But it was such a dirge to call it "dry season". So we adapt the Western way and call it summer when the so-called dry season comes along. It seems more fun to call it that way. 

The advent of summer also follows a plethora of cool, icy cold desserts. Bingsu, halo-halo and other shaved ice concoctions come to mind. I do like to eat halo-halo, especially when the weather is unrelentingly hot. But sometimes, I do enjoy eating halo-halo in a cake form. I've been enjoying UCC's Halo-Halo Cake for years now (I believe this tuber dessert is available all year round). It has all the components one would find in a halo-halo: langka, leche flan, ube halaya all layered in a fluffly ube chiffon cake with creamy ube buttercream. It even has scoops of nangkasuy ice cream and cornflakes. Relish this cake with your coffee of choice. Mine is UCC's excellent Sumiyaki Coffee.

1800 Eastwood Avenue
Bagumbayan, Quezon City


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An Udon Dish With An Interesting Name 

Marugame Udon

side station

My Nanay is not as adventurous as I am when it comes to food. She was quite adamant trying out restaurants unfamiliar to her. But slowly that's being changed. This year, I started bringing my Nanay to some of the restaurants I have my eyes on. Surprisingly, she's been quite receptive although she does throws me a lot of questions if there's something on the menu that she didn't fully understand.


I recently brought her to Marugame Udon in BHS. She was a little taken aback with its self-service concept. We had to fully discuss the menu first and make sure what udon bowl she'll order before we lined up so as not to hold up the already lengthening queue.

beef ontama and beef yaki udon

beef yaki udon (close-up)

piercing the ontama

I ordered the Beef Ontama Bukkake Udon (Hot) by default since it's the largest among the pictured menu items being showcased. I have to read the name of the dish quite a few times to make sure I'm reading it right. Since the word bukkake usually pertain to a vulgar sexual activity but upon researching its Japanese term, it also means "an act of splashing". It sounded even more salacious to me. He-he!

But the beef ontama udon is indeed satisfying with it's delicious sweet-savory broth. I took pleasure piercing the ontama (poach egg) to see the golden yolk flow through the broth. 

Nanay had the Beef Yaki Udon. The safest option for non-adventurous eaters like my Nanay because of its familiarity to local palate. It's very much like our own pancit bihon. And the serving was quite huge. It could possibly feed up to four people.

Bonifacio High Street, Lane P

Bonifacio Global City

Taguig

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Having A Chocoholic Feast

St Louis

gelatos display case

Ferrero Rocher and Chocolate Noir

Chocolate Brownie Crepe

St Louis' Signature Hot Chocolate

After eating our udon (and asking our left-overs to be placed on a take-away bag), we walked to nearby St Louis to get some desserts.

I haven't really intended to but I ended up ordering up mostly chocolate-based desserts for my Nanay and I to share. Consider the Chocolate Brownie Crepe, a scoop each of Ferrero Rocher and Chocolate Noir gelato and the St Louis' Signature Hot Chocolate. We almost had a chocolate food coma but neither of us complained about it. According to the staff who served our meals: "More chocolate, more happiness." I couldn't agree more! *wink*

Unit C3-104
Bonifacio High Street
Bonifacio Global City