Latest Food Finds

The whole month of September, in the food court of Power Plant Mall, several establishments set up tables/display racks/kiosks. The ones whose products I tried were Vargas and Diamond Hotel's. The Vargas brazos was really yummy. It reminded me of one a friend from Bacolod gave. The custard had that true butter taste. It wasn't at all floury. I tried the chocolate ice box cake but it wasn't too great. The cream stood out and I generally am not too enamored with cream. Up till now, I can't get over the ice box cake someone brought to a party in the house when I was that small. I really liked that and will somehow recall the taste if I get a chance to try it again. I'll just know, I'm sure. Being so young then, I didn't ask who brought it. I think I had a chance to taste it just one other time and no more. Wonder if I ever will. That must have been over 45 years ago. Memories of that prompted me to buy the Vargas version. Like the quest for the Holy Grail. I thought I might just have found it. I didn't. Re the Vargas brazos, the one Blue Kitchen sells (Shang, Power Plant) is similar, I even have this sneaking suspicion they get it from Vargas. A word of caution though: one time I got brazos from BK in Power plant and wow, when I got home , it was rock hard. Like if someone hit me with it, the area hit could have swelled. To their credit, they gave me a new one when which I had to pick up (hassle) the next time I was in Power Plant.

Diamond Hotel: months back, I read a personal account of a young lady who said she didn't mind driving all the way to Diamond Hotel for its chocolate cake. So when I saw the table of DH I was so excited. But I didn't see any cake, just ensaimada. I thought nothing of getting any, as ensaimadas are everywhere. My mistake. The next time we were in Power Plant, I saw the DH rack had chocolate cake. Got a slice and just closed my eyes as it cost over a hundred bucks. I told myself that's cheaper than driving all the way to DH in Roxas Boulevard. And as the ladies selling said the ensaimada was good and I'm usually gullible, I got one. You can forget about the chocolate cake, but do get the ensaimada. Wow, it has butter with sugar and cheese piled high on top of it. Glorious. Divine. The variant I got was chocolate, the only one left of the 4 kinds (ube, cheese, plain and choco). I thought my son wouldn't like it because he isn't too fond of chocolates anymore. But he swooned. One piece is a hundred and it's huge. We sliced it into six so each of us (husband, son and I) had 2 slices. Well ok, it's not that huge, maybe as big as the palm of my hand, but given the price, I'd like to think it was huge. So the next time we went to Power Plant, we got the ham, chocolate and plain. Stop computing how much. And best of all starting 28 September, they'll deliver anywhere in Metro Manila for a minimum order of P1500. That's 15 ensaimadas. I can give away some (Rationalizing yet again?) to my neighbors. I think that's a better deal than traveling all the way to Roxas Boulevard and being tempted to buy other stuff, not to mention the hassle and the gasoline.

Speaking of ensaimada, we have a Christmas suki (source): Cunanan in Valle Verde. Ensaimada topped with queso de bola. Yummy. A bit salty because of the cheese but special. I think a box of 12 cost P450 last December. I'd usually order as early as November for picking up 24 December and 31 December otherwise I might be locked out. When they have too many orders they stop accepting, see? But perhaps this year we'll have DH ensaimada instead. Still on ensaimada, a cheaper alternative is Manyaman (or something like that), available from a kiosk in Unimart and elsewhere. I think one costs P20 plus. "Tastes" (and is) cheaper but not bad. Mary Grace has ensaimada too, P30 plus but too expensive considering that their cheese rolls taste so much better and are cheaper. Speaking of cheese rolls, when we were much younger, Mama would get from Balbina in Iloilo so the thing was called "balbinitas". Just a few years back I think someone gave me but it no longer excited me the way it did when I was younger because I've tasted better since. But of course the memory of getting an order with mama lovingly lingers. Mama and I would also go to this place that sold yummy food for the gods in Iloilo. Can't remember the owner. And bilong-bilong. She was always so excited to eat that and now I regret not having shared her passion for it then. I was so anti-fish because of traumatic bukog experiences. But now I appreciate such. Too late. I don't know if bilong-bilong is still sold in Iloilo, especially where Mama and Lolo used to get them.