Yabu: The House of Katsu, SM North Opening

Good evening ladies!

We were really quite happy to have been invited to the opening of Yabu's 6th branch at SM North Edsa, The Block, Liz was more excited though as she's been craving to eat really good food.

First off, we're very big fan of the manga arts that decorate every Yabu restaurant. So here's the four "paged" manga of SM North's Branch.

We started with a blessing and it's a little bit of a shock to see so many people working in one restaurant. Well, anyway, after all this was a big day so everybody has to be on board. :)

I love how the space feels so spacious. Because when you look at it outside, it seems too small, but you get inside and the does not feel cramped. I cannot express how much I love the modern minimalist interior. Although I know all Yabu restaurants are like this. :)

Love the bar. Always wanted to taste one of those, but it's the middle of the week and I have duty the next day so I passed on the alcohol for the night.

And here we go with the food.

Liz had the hardest time picking what food to eat as it's only her second time to eat in Yabu. Thankfully Dawn has been a frequent customer.

And today's tasty treat... CURRY!

Hire Katsu Curry for  Liz. (sorry for the unappetizing pic... this proves Liz will not make it big in a food blog)

And Menchi Katsu Curry for Dawn.

The tasty sauces waiting to be mixed in. :)

And our after thought appetizer. Yummy octopus!

And then came dessert, choco lava cake. It was very very scrumptious but the serving was a little small, but then again since we were already full from the main course, the portion was more than enough.

Lastly, we love how Yabu serves their customers. They always always make up for any small mishap. They were a little late in giving us our dessert spoons and they make up for it with a second helping of that scrumptious choco lava cake. Yum!

So that's it for our Yabu experience, we had such a great time, before we knew it, it was already 9. Food was exquisite and service was excellent. This is their 6th branch and we cannot be happier that it is in a very familiar place. It's a great place to eat whether you're celebrating an occasion or just hanging out with friends and family. Hope you guys visit and check the place out for yourselves. See you in one of their branches!

Cheers,

Dawn and Liz

What's Our Favorite Mocha Cupcake?

Hello everyone!

Let's take a break from all the beauty talk first and go with something most of us also love - Cupcakes! This isn't the first time that I posted something regarding cupcakes. I guess, besides cheesecakes and dulce de leches, cupcakes are probably a favorite sweet treat of mine. :P

Anyway, I would just like to share with all of you a new favorite of mine... a certain mocha cupcake that my siblings and I agreed that it probably is one of the best mocha flavored cupcakes we've tried!

Everyday Mom's Mocha Cupcake!

This was introduced to us by my brother. He usually goes out and try different food places - sort of like a foodie but not quite yet. He bought a box containing these and my sis, Trace (when she was here visiting from AU), and I completely fell in-love with them!

What made is stand-out among the rest of the cupcakes we've tried is that its sweetness isn't overwhelming. The cake was moist and the cream on top's sweetness was just right but filled with mocha goodness! We enjoyed every bite of it and we craved for more!

If you're not familiar with Everyday Mom, here's a description of what they are about from their Facebook Page:

Everyday Mom was borne out of a mother’s commitment to serve healthy and yummy goodies to her family, most especially her kids. Opened by full-time mother and home baker Pamela Ann Yu Lim in April 2012, Everyday Mom offers products made with natural ingredients and baked in non-toxic stainless steel pans. Cakes and cookies are butter-free and made with unbleached flour (as opposed to regular chemically treated bleached flour that has no real nutritional value), aluminum-free baking soda and baking powder, sea salt and natural flavors like pure vanilla extract. Instead of butter, Everyday Mom uses heart-healthy oil which is unsaturated and has anti-oxidant benefits. There are no artificial sweeteners, food colors, flavors and preservatives in all Everyday Mom’s baked treats and desserts. Everyday Mom believes that providing healthy food is truly a mother’s natural way of showing how much she cares for her family.

Everyday Mom. Healthy and Yummy. Naturally.

Who could say no to healthier but still delicious sweets??

Their store is located at Scout Tuason, Quezon City and is open from 11am-9pm. Though the place is small, you can't miss it because of the cute colors of the place (can't really see much since I took the photo at night time... boooo.).

They offer different flavored cupcakes such as the black and white cupcakes (rich choco cupcakes with cheesecake center!!) and carrot cupcakes. A cupcake is affordable at around Php 40.00. 

They also have some coffee jelly which I like as well.

On the shelves store some muscovado banana bread, chocolate banana cupcakes and walnut banana bread. A heavenly dessert place for banana lovers!

 I think they also have brownies in different flavors too!

Oh, I just have to take pictures of these cute words placed on the walls of the place.

It makes the warm, welcoming, yellow interior looking more friendly than it already is!

Among their products besides the mocha cupcake that my bro introduced to us, I've tried the black & white cupcake and coffee jelly. Yum!

On my next visit...

I bought the carrot cupcake but I still prefer the mocha cupcake. I guess we've already found our HG product from the place! :P

I wish they'll have a vanilla or a white chocolate cupcake someday. I'd love to try one since up until now, my most loved cupcake is the Vanilla Sunshine one from Cupcakes by Sonja. That place is just too far away from our place... Oh how fun it would be if Everyday Mom would start serving my favorite flavors too! 

So that's all about our little cupcake talk! Do try out Everyday Mom's mocha cupcake! I'm sure you'd love it as much as I did! :D

Cheers!

DAWN

Tagaytay Trip : Ilog Maria and Antonio's Grill

 Hey everyone!

Since my sister is back here in Manila for a vacation, our family decided to go on a quick road trip to Tagaytay.

We planned to visit the Ilog Maria Honeybee Farm since my sis used to buy products from them before. Those products just smell heavenly and we can't wait to buy from them again. Afterwards, we plan to eat at a restaurant overlooking the Taal lake and volcano.

So after an hour and a half of travel from Manila (yayyy for light traffic!), we arrived at our first destination...

Ilog Maria Honeybee Farm

It wasn't difficult to get to. We just googled for instructions and asked directions from the residents. :P

We weren't able to go during the times where there is a group tour but they let us explore the area on our own. The owner's sister was there to answer some of our questions I wasn't the one asking stuff since I was busy taking the pictures. Haha. :P

There were lots of bee equipments and loads of bees flying around. It was safe to walk around as long as you are calm since the bees can sense if you are stressed.

There were also ducks, geese, cats and dogs around. It's a pleasant place to spend the time especially if you want to escape the cars, heavy traffic and pollution in the metro.

The store is filled with many products from bees.

 My sis and I went crazy looking around the beauty products!

The place just smells magnificent - sweet, floral, fruity, you name it!

 

From bath soaps, face scrubs and lip balms to throat sprays and massage oils, they have products that will surely give your body sweet indulgence that is rich with all natural honey!

They also have items made from beeswax!

 

 

The candles are beautifully carved.

Maybe I should have bought me some Bee Pollen. It looks really interesting, don't you think?

They also have gift sets available if you plan on giving them as presents! :)

Oh and what is also interesting about the farm is that it is solar powered.

It's so bright and colourful! So nature-friendly too!

And one of the spots that impressed us...

The comfort room!

We described it as the comfort room we might see in Rivendell (LOTR)!

We bought a few items, mostly bath products.

These smell so good that once you enter the bathroom, you'd smell the fragrance already!

If you're interested to know more about Ilog Maria and their products,

visit their 

website!

Afterwards, LUNCH TIMEEE!!

We were supposed to eaut at Bags of Beans but the place was full so we ended up eating at Antonio's Grill.

The place looks good and they serve Filipino food which my sis misses a lot! Just look how happy she was when the foods were served!

We ordered...

Ginataang Munggo

Squid Sisig

Beef Bulalo

and not included in the pictures were Chicken Inasal, Dulce Gatas, Mango Sago and some Fried rice! For drinks, we had tea, strawberry shake and bottomless lemonade.

I'm no food blogger but for me the meal was pretty decent. The food didn't take too long and the meal was good. Not the best we've tried but we enjoyed it. Only thing we didn't like is it was hard to get the attention of the waiters. :P

Of course we wouldn't forget to take vain pics, here are samples:

Yayyy for family bonding!! 

 It was a great day. The weather was good, the flowers were nice, the view was fantastic and we enjoyed a lot!

 We look forward to our next visit. It's only around 2 hours away anyway. Haha!

Cheers! 

DAWN