FoodMetroManila

Welcome to the latest category on this blog, the Mall Crawl. Join me as I explore some of the malls around Metro Manila and see what they can offer us in terms of dining, coffee, wine, and more!

The SM Megamall has been around for a long time. It has been through many changes and is easily one of the most recognized malls in the Philippines given its location. A lot has been said (and written) about the impact the new fashion mall has done to the Philippine dining scene including this blog.

This entry does not aim to recommend the places I ate in but rather staying true to the essence of a blog: A log of things done in particular day in the world wide web. It just so happened that this is food blog. Thus I tried to marry both.

Kool Kids

For this day, I needed to do some work that I was not able to finish at the office. And I needed coffee and meat. So off I went to Megamall looking to get some of those great cuppas at Satchmi. However, when I got there, the little tables they had were full of people and I didn’t want to just buy coffee and go somewhere else.  I also knew places like Starbucks would be packed on a weekend so those are not an option. Then I had an idea. Kool Kids!

Why’d I think about Kool Kids? Because of its ties with Habitual Coffee, a third wave shop I have yet to visit but has been dying to. Some of it’s creds? One of its Baristas is the 2015 Philippine Aeropress Champion lang naman. I was also eager to try Kool Kids’ ice cream made from scratch which I’ll explain in a bit.

The mocha was amazing! Smooth, bold, and has full cocoa flavor. I seldom enjoy mocha’s but I am in love with theirs! And the ice cream? Divine! The Hangover Krew (of course) is made with booze. Whisky to be exact. And I am a whisky drinker.

The Hangover cure is made with fresh milk, cereals (?), and whisky! Ding-ding-ding! I chose pretzels and crushed oreos as toppings and was pretty happy about it. The combination of cream, alcohol, the texture and sweetness of the oreos, and saltiness of the pretzels was a good combination. The ice cream is very thick and without those pesky ice crystals. A great effect of the freezing with liquid nitrogen.

I just had one problem though, my laptop was out of power! And Kool Kids didn’t have any outlets. So after the awesome mocha and alcohol ice cream I had to go find a place where I can eat dinner and plug-in my Dell.

Triple O’s 

I wanted to try Ippudo but the long waiting line deterred me. I decided to go find a place away from the Fashion Mall, to give some of the other places a try.  At this point, the idea for this category was beginning to take shape.

I have heard some praises for the burgers at Triple O’s. I mean after eating two scoops of ice cream and a full-bodied Mocha I didn’t want to eat anything particularly heavy. The Monty Mushroom Burger did the trick.

I was greeted by a very cheerful person at the register that seemed to immediately sense it was my first time here. She politely asked me if she can recommend me their best sellers. Is this part of their training? How to be as polite as Canadians?

I chose the Monty Mushroom. Monterey Jack, grilled button mushrooms, a large slab of Canadian Beef, a large slice of tomato, and sad looking shards of iceberg lettuce. Hey! It can’t be all good! Oh, lest I forget, with the Triple O sauce! Mayonnaise, tomato sauce, and pickle relish. O Canada! Thank you! I’m coming back for this!

Although not having WiFi, Triple O’s offered comfortable seating and some power outlets. The tables were also so heavy that I felt comfortable to hook my kensington lock on them and leave my laptop a couple of times to use the rest room. Yes people, I bought one burger, and stayed in the place for almost two hours. #sorrynotsorry

The staff was so polite that they actually approached each occupied table (4 in total) to ask us if it was okay that they will be turning some of their lights off. It was earth hour. Geez! The notorious Canadian politeness really is prevalent in this place.

St. Marc Cafe

I was almot tempted to get back to Kool Kids for another round of dessert but decided against. The idea for this entry now solid in my mind and I needed another place. I thus went straight to somewhere that has some of my most favorite breads in recent years: The Choco Cro!

I have had them before, those beautiful Choco Cros. The flaky and buttery croissant made more decadent by a healthy strip of chocolate. What’s not to love about them?

White Choco, Matcha, and the original with dark chocolate. Just looking at that picture makes me hunger for more. However, I do not love to lounge at this cafe as it is always full of people and some of them are just obnoxious. And the coffee’s not really good. It’s just Choco Cros and boom! I am out of there.

Ruminations…

So there you have it. My first article for mall crawl. I am almost always in SM Megamall and it’s near my alma matter (elementary and high school) so it is a good idea to start with this. There are a lot of places to try and a lot of sights to see here. The traffic situation and parking? Well nothing is perfect.

I went through the grocery to look for cans of Dr. Pepper. Well I found some Dr. Pepper Cherries and Hoegaarden! One of my most favorite beers! And I have to admit that I was drinking a couple as I was writing this entry. Holding all those bottles and cans while in a long queue to get a cab was not very fun though.

See you on another mall crawl! #foodmetromanila