Parachute Café in Canggu, Bali

 

If there's one place in Bali where I'd stay to chill and wait for the sunset it'll be here at Parachute. The whole vibe of the café screams picturesque and cozy at the same time. The utilization of wood, its variation of grains, tint, and texture create the mood for beautiful mornings, easy afternoons, and sensual evenings. Add to that the sprawling seating choices, from al fresco to indoor nooks, it is absolutely pleasing to the eyes. 

It's one of those cafes that's located right beside a rice field, and the changing of the season transforms the background from a lush green to warm golden hues. If anything, its aesthetics in on point with being a rustic-chic restaurant. The focal center of the café is an actual parachute that drifts along with the breeze. Here you'll find people in intimate groups or alone with a laptop, relaxing in the ambience that the space has created. 

Selloum Café at Talisay

 

Tucked away in the upper part of Talisay, Selloum is a good getaway spot for a quick respite from the city life. There you will be able to take it slow and look at a 180 degrees panoramic view of Silay, with a horizon that reach as far as Panay. On one side you'll find the subalpine peaks of Mt. Silay, and on the other is the flatlands of Silay with the Guimaras strait on its background. On clear days you will find the islands of Pan de Acuzar of Concepncion, and they claim that you can even spot the beach isaland of Lakawon in Cadiz on occasion.

Selloum is a type of Araceae plant that is popularly ornamental with its deep green color and unique leaf shape. That's the leaf you will find on their logo and in their cafe. They describe themselves as wild, tropical, lush, and dramatic. They encourage you to stay for sunsets as it is beautiful...yet try not to stay until dark as the road has little to no light, and is steep. I got a small scare on my way as I was driving a small car not fit for mountain driving, and part of the path is a deep cross of a bridge then immediately a steep climb up, I thought the car was gonna overheat before getting to the cafe. Luckily it didn't. The sights you will see on your drive will be amazing though, with a chance of seeing fog rolling down the mountain. 

Mandayao Panorama Park at La Castellana

Marked as K73 L11, Mandayao Panorama Park is a fast-developing destination for bike riders and those on short weekend getaways. Located at Barangay Mansalanao in the municipality of La Castellana, it sits out at the highest point of Mandayao Legacy Park. With an elevation that is sandwiched between two spectacular views: the south-west face of Mt. Kanlaon at one side, then parts of the sloping plains of La Castellana, hill ranges of Central Negros, parts of Moises Padilla, the coast of Hinigaran and Binalbagan right down to the Strait of Guimaras on the other. On clear days you should spot the islands of Guimaras and Iloilo where you can witness spectacular sunsets. 

There you will find an array of affordable restaurants that serves a variety of dishes, from the classic Pinoy favorites like batchoy, silog, pancit, inihaw, crispy pata, kare-kare, and even boodle fight meals. If you want to try foreign-inspired dishes some restaurants also serve localized versions of Japanese maki, Taiwanese hot pots, American burgers, Italian pizzas, and gyros. Each restaurant has its own edge, be it from the food that they serve or the ambiance that they set. Almost all of the restaurants are managed and manned by their respective owners, thus making your experience a little better. The laid-back setting tends to match with their service as waiting time can get apparent once their places reach a certain capacity. There will be days when a couple of their menu items won't be available, especially on weekdays...but for the most part, people do tend to go there to unwind more than go on a gastronomical journey. Get a cup of native coffee or open a bottle of beer, then take your time to sip them while gazing at the unobstructed landscape. 

Foodtrip: Bali

Going to Bali was an on-and-off trip for me. For four consecutive years, Bali has been in my radar but always took the backseat when pit up against another country. To me, Bali is one of those places so easily accessible that I often end up choosing to fly to a different destination year after year. So was the case that when I finally booked a flight, it didn't occur to me that I was actually going until about a week before the trip. I barely did my research, not really sure where I wanted to go...but for one, I knew what I wanted to do, eat.

We had an evening flight, and so we arrived in Denpasar International Airport roughly almost midnight. The first conversation I had with my host was:

Host: Sisstah! So what you wanna do in Bali?
Me: I'm not sure, but I want to try local dishes—
Brother: She has a list of food on our itinerary!
Host: Really!? (Proceeds to laugh) Okay okay, tell me what you wanna eat
Me: (Got the itinerary that I made and skipped to the bottom part of the page where I wrote just a list of local dishes that I wanted to taste.) 
Ayam Bakar Taliwang (grilled chicken)     Gulai Otak (brain curry)

Pepes (herbal packet)                             Beef Rendang (rendang)

Soto Betawi (Jakarta soup)                     Babi Guling (lechon)

Nasi Ayam Campur                                 Mie Goreng (fried noodles)

Martabak Manis (sweet martabak)
Brother: (Asks our host) Can we have dinner before going to your house?
Host: Let's start with Nasi Ayam!

In the end, I wasn't able to cover all grounds, but it was a good start.

The cover page on top is what I ate in Parachute Cafe in Canggu. The place was beautiful with a real parachute as canopy to those who wish to dine al fresco.

Walking Around Yongkang Street, Taipei

Yongkang Street has a special place in my adventure's list as this is the first place I explored on my solo trip around Taipei. I stayed in the area for three days, getting a chance to go walk around at a leisurely pace for hours. The easiest way to get to Yongkang Street is by train. The train station closest to it is Dongmen Station. It helps that it's an interchange station, meaning two rail lines pass by here, the MRT Red Line and Xinzhuang Line. It won't take many steps from the station to reach Yongkang. There are also bus stops in the area, but I was too afraid to ride and miss my stop on buses here, considering I know zero Mandarin.

The street at first glace is this busy mix of tourists and locals, thanks to the popularity of some restaurants in the area, including the michelin star restaurant Din Tai Fung down at Xinyi Road. They're known for their dimsums and xiao long bao. The vibe of the area is more of this artsy back alley that has a mix of popularly staple restaurants with small independent cafes and shops. It's a hip residential area with price ranging at roughly mid-to-high price points with a meal that can cost for around 100TWD for up to over 700TWD per person. The best time to be in the area is either before lunch or late afternoon to avoid the crowds. As early as 9pm though, you'll find yourself almost alone as tourists tend to disperse right after dinner, leaving a couple of young locals just chilling within the area.

I'll walk you through briefly with some of the photos I took along the way. And fyi, I travel to eat...so the ratio of images of restos to other shops is 3:1 in this post. 

Coffee Project in Taguig

It has come to my attention that it's been a while since I last posted an entry about a coffee shop...oops. And so what a relief it was to see this cafe pop up close to home after months of being away from the metro. I have been meaning to go to Alabang just to try the place...because again of the interior, but one scorching hot summer day─yesterday─I saw the name COFFEE PROJECT embossing out the wall of what used to be an appliance area of All Home, just above CBTL. Apparently, it's a Villar-owned coffee chain that aims to grab a niche from Starbucks and CBTL as evidence shows. Now I'm not into the coffee-shop-cliche-looking logo, but the warm ambiance plus the strong-enough coffee base of the drink that I ordered got me. Plus, it's hipsterrr-ish. I like it.

Snippets: Calea's Cakes

Taken January 5, 2016...this is the first official photo I took this year, a pleasant surprise on the first Tuesday of the year. My mom is a St. Anne devotee, and has always told me that most of the delightful surprises she experiences happen on a Tuesday since it is said that when you pray for the intercession of St. Anne, a blessing in disguise can unexpectedly happen on a Tuesday. Now, I'm not saying that I prayed to eat cake in Calea, it's just that year after year they have this tradition of closing down the cafe for several days after the New Year and I never get to eat my slice of cake before heading back to Manila because I usually leave on January 5, right after my grandmother's birthday. It breaks my heart, really. This year though, I moved it on the 6th because I always get stressed out with the preparations on the 4th because my lola lives with us, and having to wake up at the break of dawn to catch a flight after hosting a lunch-to-dinner party the day prior is dreadful. 

With January 5 finally free, I got to visit another lola, a cousin of my father's mother who I love having conversations with, especially hearing stories from the past and gossips that goes on around the city. My parents, my brother and I went to her house, but one of her secretaries told us that we should turn around to Balay Quince because she was waiting for us in Calea. We were all smiles with the news for cake-reasons. One thing that's always at the back of my mind whenever I'm in Bacolod is to eat a slice of Coffee Crunch cake (as seen on the photo...the one up front) since it's one of my favorite cakes evaaaah! It's really light and spongy, not too sweet with a thick whipped buttercream frosting and pieces of chewy honeycomb topping. Urgh. I love it. Getting a chance to eat my favorite slice of cake for free was the pleasant surprise I got that Tuesday afternoon. Yes, it's time I learn to find delight in simple joys, like a slice of cake, in order to make little things be more special...in turn make my day a little less ordinary. So yeah, true enough she was there sitting in wait, monitoring the work of the men who were cutting the unruly branches off the front yard of the establishment. We chatted for a bit, I gave her my gift while she handed over her pabaon and we left before dinner. It made me realize...I should start booking my return flights to Manila after the holidays on the 6th now instead of Jan 5. 

The other two cakes on the photo is the Window Cathedral or Broken Glass cake...a rather rare dessert to find in cafes just like the elusive Black Sambo. It's basically made up of different fruit flavors of jello cut into cubes and is remolded with a milk and cream based gelatin. The other slice is their Imported Chocolate Cake, a really yummeh-gooey chocolate cake that I'm guessing is made out of Ghirardelli chocolate. It also has an addicting caramel custard center that perfectly blends with the rest of the cake.

Designer Blooms Cafe

I realized that it's been a while since the last time I managed to post about a cafe. There have been quite a lot of new ones and a couple of those that I've been to, it's just that I haven't gotten around into taking respectable photos of them. In any case, Designer Blooms Cafe is one of those cafes that have been around for a while and I've been wanting to go to, but the idea of travelling all the way to Alabang has cut my interest short...until my brother managed to convince me during one of his visits to the house he'd be constructing in Calamba. How? Because I like the location of the house and I wanted to see the view again, plus the company car was available to service us. Yey!

Designer Blooms Cafe in an offshoot from the actual Designer Blooms flower shop in Megamall. The charm of the cafe is that they also sell their beautiful flowers in the coffeeshop. The interior of the cafe is bright with mismatched furniture to give it that foreign appeal, especially with the use of rustic decors.

Cafe by the Ruins

Strawberry Shortcake. A layer of fresh strawberries, shortbread, whipped cream and syrup. Yummehh!

The moment the bus arrived in Baguio city, after almost seven hours of butt-aching travel, we immediately thought "Luuuunch time!" Since we did our research, we knew the place to be was at Cafe by the Ruins. Doing research is one thing, but navigating the actual site posted as a challenge. We called a taxi to take us there and he said, "Lakarin niyo na lang!" and left us. :( It was nowhere in sight! We went to another taxi and asked him to take us there, and he said, "Mag jeep na lang kayo!" :(( At least he was kind enough to assist us and instruct the jeepney driver to take us there. It was the right decision not to walk all the way to the Chuntug branch from where we were at. We arrived at Cafe by the Ruins and was 16th on the waiting list. :((( On our way back to Manila we realized that there was actually another Cafe by the Ruins two blocks away from the Victory Liner bus terminal. :(((( I managed to buy a bottle of their fresh milk for Php120.00 before getting on the bus. It was so fresh that it got sour on the third day and I only managed to drink half of its content. D: Although interior-wise, I prefer the one at Chuntug St. than the one in Upper Session Road.

Despite the setbacks, their Tita Susie's Crispy Tapa alone was worth the trouble.

Coffee is good, drink it!

Cafe de Seoul in Taft

I went to Cafe de Seoul two months ago and I was planning to go for another visit for better photos since there was a shoot going on back then. Well, I pretty much haven't gone back to the place since it's quite far from where I'm at. So, after coming across several articles and films featuring the cafe, I decided to create this post before everyone else does. Because I'm competitive like this. 

Spätzle: Euro Market Cafe

Roast Chicken Sausage (Php 295.00)

Since I take the Shangri-la route to get to the MRT, I pass by Spätzle 90% of the time, and it has always been on my radar to dine in the resto because I've been seeing it almost every day for the past few months. I calls itself Spätzle: Euro Market Cafe...not sure why, but I saw spätzle on their menu...so I gave it a go. Turns out I'm not a big fan of spätzle, the dish, the cafe was fine. 

Commune at Salcedo

My brother asked me to come with him to Salcedo Village to shop at the weekend market last Saturday, so I thought I'd search for an interesting cafe while I'm at it since I don't come to the area often. This is what I found, an interestingly small cafe that's fairly new named Commune. Based on their Facebook page, they opened last April 22 of this year. As a word, "commune" means communicate intimately; but as a noun, it means "a place where you have great coffee." 

My Sweet Sweet Bella What Happened!?

There came a time when I went to Burgos Circle every weekend to buy a piece of rose flavored macaron. It was a time when the place was fairly new and the milktea craze was still on a high. I'd go for a pair or three of Sweet Bella's luscious french macarons whenever the line a Serenitea was far too long for my patience. It was my go-to place on that side of the Fort since other restos are more "restaurant-like" than a cafe. 

BONO Artisanal Gelato

Bono means "really good really yummy gelato" as defined by a personal experience, since the accurate translation "good" or "yummy" seem like an understatement. Claiming itself as an artisanal gelato, I have no argument based on the flavors presented and the taste extracted out of them magical tubs. 

Tea Tap Cafe

These pictures date back October 22, 2011...it was Saturday that day, a time when the milk tea craze was still at large, and days when I'm still innocent of the term quarter-life-crisis.  Those were the days that I still found the energy to walk all day and not feel so much pain in my shin at the end of the day--wait--that was less than two years ago. ARGHHHH! 

All that I will write will be from my memory of what happened that day...I remembered a couple of things:

1. The place made me look forward to more milk tea places to pop up with nice calming interiors. 

2. The tip bin made me so happy that day...actually, it was one of the reasons why we went there in the first place.

3. Tea Tap, I realized then, is located in a place where there are lots of restaurants around as well as other milk tea places.

4. They sell cutesy stuff, some with cats on them.

5. The term "Keep Calm" was fairly uncommon then.

6. The milk tea I drank was the best tasting milk tea I had so far. It tasted full-bodied, one so good that the taste of strong black tea flavor still haunts the other milk teas I've been drinking to this day.

7. I remember thinking to myself how much I want to go back there several times since that faithful day...but I never did. Why? It's too far away.

8. There's a recurring theme of cats throughout the fairly big space.

Having said that, and also knowing that the owner of Tea Tap and Kozui is one, I wish he considers opening a branch somewhere closer to those living in the southern part of the metro--The Fort area would be just perfect! 

Tea Tap Café

Ongpauco Sisters Bldg. P. Guevarra

cor. Wilson St., San Juan, Metro Manila

Rustic Mornings by Isabelo

When dealing with breakfast--by that I mean the time of day wherein you eat the meal early in the morning and not the tapsilog you eat at 4 pm--it's best to be mentally aware that you have the rest of the day ahead to burn the calories you're about to take, thus you shouldn't hold back. Apparently on this faithful day we needed all the energy we could get for our day ahead at Pinto Museum because we didn't know what was coming.

We arrived starving...the kind wherein we ate popcorn for dinner the night before and a glass of water that morning before heading out to the resto. I say, when you're hungry and lack the proper brain protein, you tend to say funny things. Such was the case of my friend Cesca, who, was so frustrated with the heavy glass pitcher that she suddenly blurted, "Kainis, ambigat...pwede ko ba siyang basagin para gumaan?"

Of course, it would've been rude not to laugh at her suggestion, because we are those kind of friends.

The selection was good, the kind wherein you want to order at least three dishes just to satisfy your urge to try everything that sounds good. Thus, it is advisable to come with lots of friends for that very reason...but we apparently, unfortunately, all craved for waffles that morning. Dammit.

I must sit here next time!!!

The opposite view from where we sat.

We sat at the far corner because it was packed when we got there.

Getting there, our only landmark was the Shoe Museum...but we were there for breakfast so we skipped the museum and found ourselves in front of a big blue gate with a Rustic Mornings logo tarp attached to it. One look and you get the impression that the one who runs the place is an artist to a certain degree. This is apparently true when I read an article in llovermarikina that the owner used to be in advertising...either in creatives or in accounts, she gave up the field to pursue a greater love. And based on personal experiences, advertising people know what they want--they visualize it and make it happen, either on their own or ask people to do it for them. I can see that they know where they're going with their branding and it makes sense, very much. The place is filled with knickknacks and thinggymagiggles, but the thing that I do believe stood out were the multitude of perfume bottles stuck in corners or dangled on up. Art pieces were also consistently found throughout the venue.

The more I think about it, the more I realize that what I'm looking for in a restaurant these days is the interior and the ambiance, food is turning out to be secondary. I'm starting to scout out places worth hanging in and taking pictures, the taste of the food I can always tolerate as I'm learning to appreciate all kinds of flavors except really bad and soulless food. Anyway...

Rustic Mornings deliver a good ambiance with oldies tracks that were tastefully selected to aid aimless conversations. It's another one of those places that I am both thankful and envious of ever existing. There are a lot of tables available with ample distances; it gives you a feeling of privacy and exclusivity especially with a very homey setup. I love love love the interior of their resto...it clearly defines their term for rustic mornings. There's a lot of blue and white involved...and notice how they did the tiles on the floor? 

Their menu has a good layout, but their utensils were quite heavy that you need both hands to share your food with the person across the table. Each set of chairs and tables slightly differ from one another but is lovely to look at as a whole. It's that kind of thing that nothing makes sense that's why it makes sense altogether.

Waffles, Buffalo Chicken Strips, and Salad  (Php250.00)

Frothy Lemon Iced Tea (Php50.00)

Filipino Breakfast Tray: Beef Tapa (Php235.00)

Sausage Spaghetti bathing in olive oil (Php200.00)

Thanks for the chocolate Kat! :)

Crispy Waffle (Php150.00)

Food...they say their crispy waffles are the best sellers. I have no argument because they are good--light and crispy. Unlike other waffles that stretches out when pulled, this one can be heard crunching when sliced. Their homemade syrup was also so good that I had to drown my waffle with it on every bite.

The rice meals were also satisfying especially with the free-range eggs as made obvious by the almost-orange color of the yolk...it's just that I wasn't so crazy about their fried rice...could barely taste the garlic and the "friedness" of the rice. The meat was so-so...I describe it as home cooking--comfort food would be an appropriate term for it--you know, with a motherly touch on the taste.

ARGHHHHH! I missed on dessert because I was so stuffed by the time I ate a meal-and-a-half that I'd want to go back there someday soon. I'm thinking of dining in earlier than brunch as people do tend to come in groups so you're left to whatever seat is available by then. I'm still bitter I didn't get to eat indoors.

Open everyday, from 8am until 4pm.

#11 Isabelo Mendoza St. San Roque, 

Marikina City

*Disclaimer: some photos are by Cesca C.

Coffee: Kazuki Yamamoto

Epic latte art

Kazuki Yamamoto works in  Café 10g at Osaka and his latte art completely undermines those cappuccino swirls in your local cafe. 

I don't know how he does it, but if you ever get a hold of a barista with this skill level, a word of advice: don't EVER let him go...and invite me over that I may challenge him/her by making me a 3D latte art of the Acropolis. 

Better add Café 10g to your must-go-to destinations for all you coffee lovers and latte art fans out there.

Giraffe flavored cafe latte anyone?

Coffee people peeking into our world.

Just chillin'

"Hope you don't choke on my fur balls!"

"Oh nooo! are you gonna drink me?"

You can find the rest of his latte art in this site: https://twitter.com/george_10g/media/grid

SM Aura Premier and Paul Boulangerie Café

Since the construction of the building I knew at once it was trouble, and my fears became horror when I found out that it was an SM mall. Despite the fact that I appreciate SM to an extent for bringing in foreign brands and affordable retails, I can’t help but feel biased when it comes to the feel of shopping in their malls, not to mention their ways of dealing business. Always: miles of plain white walls, boring fluorescent lighting, bad flooring, unclean finishes, unimaginative detailing, and chuck full of people. From where I see it, the huge chunk of boot-shaped wall covered the intricate cityscape BGC had tastefully planned out; always big, but never grand. Now, SM Aura is not part of BGC but of Taguig, so it totally makes sense why they were able to smack the mall right along C5 and mammoth their structure right in front of Ayala Territory. I've also come across articles of it being a green architecture, its name Aura coming from the combination of Gold (Au) and Radium (Ra), and the pending case they have with BCDA…other than that, it’s causing me a lot of inconvenience.

During construction, months of traffic jams along C5 were bad with trucks occupying a whole section of the road. A few days before the opening of the mall, the traffic jams began piling up along the intersections of 26^th Street, Mc Kinley Parkway and C5…plus with the new cumbersome rerouting system of BGC, cars clog in all exit and entry points to the area while leaving the rest of it inaccessible. I hate what BGC is fast becoming, a concentration of bystanders and jammed cars. I hope they’ll resolve such issues ASAP. As in!

With so many people, comparable to the horde in Cubao, I lost interest of taking pictures or even staying long in the mall for that matter. Sarah Jessica Parker was no longer there when I arrived anyway, so the only point of going there was one thing alone, makiki-osiyoso.

SM Aura…well, the stores are pretty (a notch classier than other SM stores)  and I like what I’m seeing except the mall itself. True to its nature, it’s a heaping block of white with unfinished sections. I know, it’s in progress, but I can clearly see it was rushed; uneven flooring and messy paint jobs. They were not keen on hiding their excitement of opening the mall and the haste was made obvious as roughly 60% of the mall is tarpaulined with different versions of Coming Soon statements. The thing reminded me of SM Annex in Q.C. with its long straight hall and boutiques on both sides of the building. Plants on the Sky Park are dying from shock of being transplanted in the concrete environment. People from all walks of life flock in droves with cameras to document their experience and update their profiles. Shops are using the term “soft opening” to disguise their impromptu debut. As a supposed high-end luxury SM Mall, people certainly are not intimidated with stepping in and walking around in their slippers. With a possible fail in their effort to market the mall as an exclusive since it’s right beside a colony of informal settlers and with a common mentality that it’s an SM mall, I don’t know where it will stand on the months ahead especially with the major renovation on going in Market! Market! and the upcoming Shangri-la next year. I suppose the sure winner will be us, the customers, who will benefit from all the rivalry.

"Ang eksena niya parang pinaghalong high end 

na middle class with a hint of masa."

                                                   -Francis N.

I can't wait to try more of their creations. <3

I have crappy handling skills, thus I seldom buy take-out.

Lemon Tart (Php.150.00)

An additional note, Paul Boulangerie Café is something to look forward to in completion as a single bite of their butter croissant made me a fan. The one on the photo is actually a Lemon Tartlet as the croissant never made it home, I devoured it within a few steps after leaving the counter. It was so good that I cannot compare it to any other croissants I've eaten before…it was perfect bliss. The tart…well the filling was all over the box by the time I got home so it didn't look pretty eat, but I do commend it as having a nice crumbly crust and a zestful-custardy-velvety filling. It’s as sour as you imagine lemons to be, but in a good way. I am definitely coming back as soon as they finish the better half of their café.

I shall probably return with a better outlook when the commotion has settled and 90% of the stores open.

*Update#1

I finally made it home with a piece of butter croissant intact, so I took a photo of it just make my claims more convincing.

Butter Croissant (Php.65.00) 

Look at the golden brown color and the how well the layers tuned out.

Fruit Filled-Donut (Php.95.00)

The donut was a little sad to eat...though there's actually more filling than what it looks like, it's not something I would go for a second time. 

Maybe it's me...maybe it's the donut...but it's just what it is. 

And good news! I asked the girl behind the counter when their cakes will be available because I'm not so into their tarts, she said the restaurant will be done either late July or early August. Weeeee! <3

**Update#2 (January 20, 2014)

So apparently the girl behind the counter had no idea that her employer would push back the date to December...and so here I am, back for more croissants--finally! And I liked the interior with blacks and elegant fabrics, plus the use of simple lines--so tasteful and classy! I like it--though I don't feel right at home since quirky-rustic cafes is more of my thing. Still, bread and pastries are always a good thing. And on a side note...I love their menu!!! The layout and photographs I mean, the choices are limited but fine. 

Paul's Hot Coca was my favorite-tasting thing of the bunch.
It was the saving grace of their bland waffle and crepe.
This was sinfully thick and made from good cocoa. Try it!

Their cakes are crazy Php350 a slice! So they don't put a price tag on, so I was surprised when I found out.
It was good though, with many layers and complexities as they mix the cake with many flavors and textures.
Still, my knees weakened at the price. I tasted the one on the rightmost corner--the pistachio-rose-raspberry-thing. 

This waffle sprinkled with powdered sugar was underwhelming.
It was an awkward-tasting thing that lacked "ummmf!" But it is cheap. Php 140 I think?
But just so you know, I don't know the standards of waffles, just not a personal favorite this one.

This was their afternoon tea that is a good starter set for first-time diners.
The cake felt like it was flourless because it was gooey, but not like a brownie
sort of gooey. The macarons were soft and puffy and lightly flavored.
You get the smaller sizes in the set, but the typical ones are pretty big.
And the tea can be shared with cheapskate friends!

I had to edit this photo a lot, but it still turned out as boring as it tasted. :(
The Plain Crepe was also quite cheap, Php120 if I recall right. Just order
the hot cocoa with it to balance the blandness. 

Quite frankly, I prefer their breads to their pastries. Except for their sour apple strudel. 

The Croque-monsieur was really good, including the salad. The price made
me want to flip the table though. So my friend ordered, and I ate my part from her.
The ham was sweet, the bread was soft, the cheese was gooey--yummeh!

The creme brulee was amazingly cheap in a sense that the three of us had
to share it and force ourselves into not wasting the dish. It was average in taste though.
I think it was around Php200...?