FoodMetroManila

If you’re a 90’s kid in living in Metro Manila, you probably heard of the urban legend of a snake man living within the Robinsons Galleria. The rumor ominously surfaced once it was apparent that the mall was taking away market share from the other established shopping malls of the time. Fast forward to today and the mall in the historic part of EDSA is still standing. No recent news of snake attacks have been reported. But some mall chains have been eclipsed by the Robinsons brand (Ever Gotesco, ahem).

I have been in this mall forever! I prefer going to mass (when I actually am attending mass) in the EDSA Shrine. I’ll go here straight after for a snack or to do some shopping. On this particular night, I went here to get a haircut, buy new shoes for work, and buy shaving cream and new razors. Very manly things as you can see. I also decided to do one of my mall crawl things. Just because I can.

Quiznos

I remember watching an episode of Good Mythical Morning (on Youtube in case you were wondering) where they were discussing “The worst ad campaigns ever”. (I am a mythical beast and proud of it!) One of the ads was a very weird one by Quiznos, slightly tweaking the “spongmonkeys” meme for its commercial. You have to see it to believe how stupid it was!

Quiznos is not particularly big here in the Philippines. Hell even subway, which has been here for so long, still isn’t. When it gets to a point where people are lining up to get a sub during lunch, that’s when you know it has gotten big. But I love it already!

The meat, cheese, and dressing are all layered on the bread and then get toasted. They’ll then hit it with the veg. They say toasting is supposed to really bring out the flavors of all those ingredients. I just love that their meat are better than Subway’s. I do want to share an interesting condiment. Caramba!

Caramba! Habanero Pepper Sauce, Extra Hot! I tried adding some on my sub but did not get any pronounced heat at all. It did add another layer of flavor in there, peppery and kind of sweet.

After getting my fill of a Quiznos sub I was finally ready to do my manly shopping. I got a pair of Oxfords from Payless. I did not buy a better brand because I travel really far distances everyday for work and walk a big deal. 

I bought my favorite shaving cream and some disposable razors, and finally got my haircut. The haircut also got me a short massage. Yup, I got a haircut from a good old barber shop inside the mall. Bench Fix was fully booked and I did not make a prior appointment so I had to make do with the barbershop. 

I was hungry again and this time I wanted some dessert! Enough of these manly things! I’m getting a crepe!

La Creperie

I’ve been to La Creperie before, back when I started @foodmetromanila on Instagram, and have some fond memories of it. Nothing has changed much, just the fact that every other place beside it has closed down! It’s a survivor baby!

I just went with the same thing I had more than a year ago. The simple but decadent Bananas Foster.

If you don’t know, rum is usually made from sugar canes. So if you burn off the alcohol you’ll get something sweet. At least I think it will because that is exactly what I got with this beauty. When that vanilla ice cream melts and combines with the reduction and the butter? Get out of here!

And it goes absolutely well with the fresh bananas. But the crepe itself was not the same fluffy goodness I got before. It was dull, slightly chewy, and tasteless on its own. But heck, no need to be nitpicking right now. This is still a pretty awesome dessert.

I was ready to call it a day. But this is a mall crawl and I needed one more place to hit before signing off. Coffee!

Caffe Pascucci

I prefer catching a cab from the queue in the east wing as more of these taxis tend to flock here than in the west side. I also knew that Caffe Pascucci was right there and I could catch a quick coffee bliss before heading home. Good idea, right? Not really.

Caffe Pascucci’s flagship store in Glorietta placed 9th on my 2014 coffee places list and I really like hanging out there whenever I can. Especially during the morning work rush. But this was the first time I got to spend time here at the Galleria branch, probably because of little place called Toby’s Estate just a few blocks away.

It wasn’t a good idea because when I got here, there was no line. Taxis were getting waved-off by the guards because there were too many of them. But by the time my Montebianco Caramel got served, a sizable line of people has formed. And I watched it all happen!

More about that Montebianco Caramel for a minute. The design is not on-point this time but the awesomeness remains. It’s like a mocha with caramel, all in one very small espresso cup. Yes, it is very small. Small but awesome!

I was not able to enjoy it much as I was concerned that the line will blow up even more. It’s not super hot as the milk and caramel helped cut down the heat from the espresso shot. So i gulped it down in one sip and got out of there! Took me about 15 minutes to finally get a cab. I was tired but buzzed by that quick espresso shot and still wide awake 6 hours later, writing this thing.

Ruminations…

And there you have it folks! Another mall crawl! Hope you liked it!

Robinson’s has plenty of dining places you can try, most of which are the traditional ones like Max’s, Pizza Hut Bistro, Teriyaki Boy, and a slew of Fast Food joints (including two Starbucks’). I was pretty bummed that Goodles was not there anymore but you have to try Seoul Garden in the 4th level! I’m not sure if Sci-Fi cafe is still open but that is something I want to try as well if I still can. Also, is Zoricho still open? That place is great as well!

Have you tried any of these places? Do you think I did injustice to other great places by not going there instead? Let me know with a comment below or an email to metromanilafood@yahoo.com.ph! Stay awesome Metro Manila!