Chatime Tea, Why Don’t Cha?

April 14, 2011 by

 

I never realized that the Milk Tea fever will explode this big.  Foodie friends and non-foodie friends got hooked initially on Serenitea and some eventually switched their coffee time with cold tea drinks.  I was never a big fan of coffee although I love the smell and I take it once in a while during meetings but I was pretty much taken by Serenitea since late 2009.  We visit frequently in a week and somehow got addicted to it. 

 

Family of drinkers

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Now, they have about 5 branches since they opened since 2 years ago.  I did lessen my visits when prices hiked up, and even limited orders of my favorite peppered corn.  Bubble Tea opened along Wilson Street and my Twin and I usually pick that spot for our chat/bonding/catch-up time.  Happy Lemon, a new player in the market, has followed suit and started making waves in the Greenhills area since it opened late last year. 

 

 

I have somehow got friends hooked on it also and have converted some from the first cooler to the latter.  My different groups of friends cannot stop raving about Happy Lemon in the past couple of months and TODAY I’m quite excited to share with them, a new DRINK discovery.

 

 

After having lunch with Richard, Irene, Lauren, Fran and Paul at Cab Café 2 days ago, Richard suggested to stop by his latest addiction, Chatime.  Chatime is a Taiwanese (the population who started the milk tea craze) brand of milk tea and is considered one of the largest bubble tea brands in the world. 

 

What I love about ChaTime is their second floor that’s a huge lounge area with chic seat designs.  It begs to spend more time there chatting with good friends and finishing your round of drinks.  Or maybe 2 rounds *shrugs*

 

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They had so many varieties of drinks available to order that it might take you a while to choose your poison.  Take note that some of the Chatime drinks do not come with toppings/pearls/sinkers so make sure that you check with their friendly staff.  Pearls are an addition of PHP 15/serving.

 

Photo Credit: Richard Co of www.talesfromthetummy.com

 

 

While there was an order for 2 Cocoa Smoothies, Tea Guanyin Tea Latte, Grass Jelly Milk Tea and Cha Time Roasted Milk Tea, I settled on Taro Milk Tea (PHP 90) and got a Pearl Milk Tea (PHP 80) as an added free bonus due to the current promotion they have on the store. 

 

Chatime OVERLOAD! I likey-like! 🙂

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It’s Buy 1 Take 1, choose any of the drinks on the menu board and take 1 Pearl Milk Tea (regular size) for FREE only from 12nn-2pm!  This will last until tomorrow, April 15, so better head over to Chatime at Pioneer St. by today or Friday to get free dibs on their Pearl Milk Tea.

 

Taro Milk Tea

 

Chatime Taro Milk Tea is the most real taro drink you can find in the market.  Don’t expect our local purple yam as its taro taste or the synthetic kind.  It took me a few more sips, midway, to finally appreciate Chatime’s version of fresh taro and I grew to like it.  It had pieces of the taro and i enjoyed the texture of the drink… not-thick or not-thin.  It had a certain dance in your mouth.  I might order the same next time I’m there but I’m also tempted to get a second drink to try their other offerings.

 

Try some Chatime drinks!

 

Chatime supposedly has 500 stores worldwide and it is now available in Manila with its first branch in Pioneer Street.  Why don’t CHA give it a try? 😉

 

 Photo Credit: Richard Co of www.talesfromthetummy.com

 

 

Chatime
Good Tea, Good Time

Pioneer Center, 8006 Pioneer cor. United Sts.

Pasig City, Philippines

 

 

 

Related Posts:

Different Tea Assortment to Love at Serenitea

A Sunday Afternoon Picnic

Happy Lemon

 

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Foodie Club Series: The Shabu Shabu Fit For A King at King One Rotary Hot Pot

June 8, 2010 by

 

I’ve been hearing King One stories from Richard, Irene and Wendy ever since the Foodie Club meet at Beijing Hand Pulled Noodles and since then it’s been included in my “food/restaurant” hit list to try.  I don’t know how the King One Plurk thread started but when somebody said June 6, it was immediately a “green light” for me without even peeking at my calendar.

 

 

June 6 was such a hectic Sunday.  Bubba and I went from one end of Manila to another end but nothing could have stopped us from joining the King One lunch get-together.  It wasn’t too tough to find the place with specific directions from Richard.  A little before 12 noon, Carlos, Bubba and I were welcoming Irene and Richard back in Manila (fresh from a Davao trip).  Our group of five sat comfortably in the reserved booth near the conveyor belt.

 

 

King One has a conveyor belt that showcases all their little plates of ingredients available for hot pot.  They will basically provide the Hong Kong curry broth on your table and set it to boil.  Once boiling starts, cooking begins.  Grab the plates that you want to add to your curry soup.  Sze Chuan sauce is also available as an additional spice. 

 

 

On the Table

 

I’m so happy that I was sitting across Irene because she knows good food!  She picked the right plates off the conveyor and requested some more plates directly from the servers who are stationed inside the “belt”.  We started off with:

 

 

Tao Pao

Tao Pao is basically beancurd skin.  I learned from Irene that this is used to wrap Kikiam meat.  Interesting huh?  It takes a while to cook them but it’s worth the wait to bite into the soft beancurd skin.  It gives a different texture to your palate –the beancurd sheets have a unique bite about it I can’t quite explain.  It was soft yet textural… almost still crunchy.

 

 

Mozzarella Balls

It’s Singaporean fish balls with mozzarella inside.  Be careful when you bite into it because even if the outside might not be that hot, the inside could be piping hot!!!  It’s best, as Irene advised, to cut it first on your plate. 

 

 

I like the soft fish balls (I’m not a fan of fish balls, maybe squid balls, but Singaporean version is good!) without the evident fishy taste and interestingly semi-sweet and cheesy mozzarella bit inside.

 

 

Lamb Slices

Bubba and I love Healthy Shabu Shabu but it can get quite pricey.  Some plates there cost PHP 500 already and your limited to just one plate for that price.  King One has great meats available with the “all you can eat” price.  I particularly loved the lamb slices and I think even finished one plate by my own.  It had enough meat and fat combined in the strips.

 

 

Instead of dumping the meat/shrimps on the boiling soup that makes them a bit overcooked and dry, the trick is, I learned again from Irene, to place the beef on the ladle, submerge it in the hot pot and wait a few seconds for the pink to turn light brown, then pull it out onto your plate.  The lamb tasted so delicious soaked a bit in the curry soup.

 

Hong Kong Curry Soup

 

 

Enoki Mushrooms

Also known as Golden mushrooms… it’s one of my favorite

 

 

Fresh Scallops

We didn’t get to try this since it wasn’t available that day… but Richard and Irene were able to try it on their previous (dozens) visits.

 

 

Shrimps

Do the same trick with the lamb slices to the shrimp.  King One can serve the shrimps without the shells anymore.  Best to dip the cooked shrimp in the Sze Chuan sauce… it’s like dipping suahe in Chinese restaurants into the semi-sweet soy sauce with spring onions.

 

Dip and Shake -and it gets cooked!

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Other than the above, we also tried litid, pork dumplings, shrimp dumplings, watercress, fresh squid, Hong Kong fish cutlets, etc.

 

 

Richard and Irene brought several pasalubong from Davao –langka yema of 2 brands and durian yema.  My favorite (and I think Joan and Carlos agree with me on this) is the Apo ni Lola Yema Langka –has the sweet milky yema flavor to it and strands of fragrant langka adding a different sweet tang to it.  I almost finished the whole bag.

 

Apo ni Lola has the sweetest yema langka! 😉

 

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Richard and Irene 🙂

Love this HAPPY photo! 😀

 

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Abet and Joanne 🙂

 

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Carlos aka ZP aka Zipster

 

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It was a battle won by “us”

 

 

After eating the yema langka, I had to eat some more savory food.  I can’t end with only a sweet note on my palate.  I ate more shrimps soaked in the sze chuan sauce and half a plate of lamb slices.  It was a wonderful lunch where the food are abound and of good quality –prepared well I should say.  I get turned off with restaurants that offer buffet sometimes because of the way the food is prepared… but in this case, King One’s staff handles the food properly.  Service was friendly, prompt and inclined –more reason to enjoy your King One feast.

 

 

King One’s “all-you-can-eat” hot pot was such a pleasant and satisfying lunch –all for a good price of PHP 529 per head.  It’s a bit far off the usual Metro highways but the trip to Macapagal Avenue is worth the while.  Best to go on a Sunday where traffic is really light in the area. 

 

 

King One Rotary Hot Pot

M2-A Lower Hobbies of Asia

#8 Macapagal Ave., Pasay City

(632) 556 1370

 

 

King One Album

 

Related Entries

FoodieManila King One

Tales from the Tummy

 

 

Photo Credit:

Carlos Palma of FoodieManila.com

Richard Co of TalesfromtheTummy.blogspot.com

 

 

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Foodie Club Series: Cantonese Soup Kitchen

June 4, 2010 by

 

 

Tuesday night –After our Foodie Club dinner at a recently opened Indian restaurant in Makati, we all headed to our favorite tea spot for after-meals tea drinking.  Our hunger for more good food led to a dinner meet-up the next day at Cantonese Soup Kitchen. 

 

Richard, Irene and Carlos picked me up at the office a little past 6pm and straight we went to Banawe area.  The Banawe area is one of the spots in the Metro that’s heavily populated with a range of restaurants.  Despite getting muddled in the thick of restaurants, a really good dining spot doesn’t get drowned easily especially if it has superior specialty dishes that stand above the rest.

 

 

If you’re looking for Cantonese dishes to try, Cantonese Soup Kitchen is where you should be headed.  If the Americans have their popular chicken soup for those feeling under the weather, the Chinese have a traditional recipe called “sibot” soup that can counter that any day. 

 

On the Table

 

Sibot with Duck Soup PHP 195

“Sibot” is a kind of herb that’s used mostly in duck soup that can help alleviate illness.  Sibot duck is supposedly one of the oldest and most popular Chinese herbal soup recipes.  This soup is famous for restoring energy and strengthening of the immune system.  For those who like duck, this is another variation that offers soft delicate duck meat and soothing herbal (tea-like) soup.

 

 

More than its healthy benefits, Sibot is a comfort food that’s an enjoyable starter for a succeeding hot meal.

 

Chicken Feet PHP

Carlos and Irene both like chicken feet a lot.  I was more the courageous one out of Richard and Bubba to try a piece.  Carlos ordered another set and loved the fact that at certain time, CSK’s chicken feet dimsum’s price is at 50% off.

 

 

Tausi Spareribs PHP 85

Richard ordered this and this is also more like my order for dimsum more than chicken feet.

 

 

Shrimp Salad PHP 250

 

 

Fried Garlic Squid PHP

 

 

Sliced Beef Kenchi PHP 240

I’ve been harping on Plurk how much I wanted to go back to Cantonese Soup Kitchen ever since March.  Fran suggested trying the sliced beef kenchi and it was a good recommendation!  Thin sliced beef with strips of “litid.”  It’s so soft that almost no chewing is required! 😉 

 

 

Satay Sotanghon Seafood in Hotpot PHP 250

Different seafood chunks in a Chinese stew –flavorful satay sauce and strands of sotanghon

 

 

Wintermelon soup and another bowl of Sibot duck soup (again) are on my list when I pay Cantonese Soup Kitchen another visit.  They have a bigger branch along Banawe Street near Starbucks (where Coco Asian Bistro used to be).

 

 

Cantonese Soup Healthy Kitchen

Unit C-847 Banawe cor. Linaw Sts., 

Quezon City 

(632) 743 5249 

 

 

Cantonese Soup Kitchen Album

  

Related Entry:

Cantonese Soup Kitchen: A Sip of the Soup

 

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Foodie Club Series: Great Korean Barbecue at Jang Ga Nae (formerly Minato)

April 26, 2010 by

 

 

Photo Credit:

Carlos Palma of Foodie Manila

http://www.FoodieManila.com

(Those watermarked are from FoodieManila obviously 🙂  while the rest are mine)

 

 

The advent of a little Korea has dawned ever since Korean population in the Philippines has grown enormously.  Other than really good and sweet ice cream in their Korean stores, something to look forward to is dining at the authentic Korean restaurants. 

 

April 21, Wednesday evening, the “Foodie Club” members meet once again for another gastronomic adventure.  Pick of the week was from Richard Co’s suggestion –Minato.  Among a dozen of Korean restaurants that populate the Ortigas area, Minato along Escriva Drive is supposed to be one of the best.  This particular Korean restaurant we visited before also caught our eye but Minato caught our Korean taste bud that we had to return three days immediately after the first official introduction.

 

 

The group that huddled in the “no-shoes” area of the 2-part dining room comprised happy foodies like Richard and wife Irene, Rowena Wendy and husband Peter, Abet and wife Joan, Carlos a.k.a Zippy, and Bubba and I.  As we enter the low table area, I suddenly remembered that I’ve eaten here once or twice before when Korean channel affiliates bring us over for a lunch meeting.  It’s quite different though when you’re dining casually with foodie friends, definitely more relaxed and enjoyable –with audible moments of laughter and appreciation of good food.

 

On the Table

 

Free Side Dishes

The smorgasbord of side dishes includes Kimchi as the most recognized Korean preserved appetizer, spiced green vegetables, peanuts, bean sprouts, marbled potatoes among a variety of other side accompaniments.

 

 

Korean Miso

A sip or two soothe the spice and then you’re ready for more…

 

 

Kimchi Pancake

I didn’t know that they serve it for free.  I should have asked when I treated my parents here Sunday evening.

 

The Kimchi Pancake is oil-fried pancake with bits of beansprouts and cabbage flavored Kimchi-style.  Bubba and I finished one Kimchi pancake by ourselves, while the other one on Carlo’s side was left untouched –to which Irene so thoughtfully and sweetly had wrapped to go for Bubba along with the kimchi soy bean paste that she amusingly noticed Bubba was tremendously enjoying.  Irene was sitting across Bubba that’s why they were partners in food crime that dinnertime.  She was also so attentive to everyone’s needs on the table, asking the wait staff for this and that and some special requests.  The wait staff was eager to attend to the requests particularly Richard’s and Irene’s as they seem to be the favorite patrons there having visited the restaurant for approx. 20 times already in less than a year. 

 

 

Richard and Irene share the same philosophy as Bubba and I of visiting the restaurants they like for multiple repeats.

 

Jok Bal PHP 390

It’s a Korean dish consisting of boneless pig trotters cooked in soy sauce and spices, sliced in a round shape with layer of meat, fat and skin.  Jok Bal is boiled with leeks, garlic and ginger and Korean rice wine until tender.  It is served with fermented shrimp sauce called saeujeot –imagine Filipino “bagoong” (shrimp paste) without the dark brown liquid, it’s actually dry and on the salty side that Irene loves.

 

 

Dak Gal Bi PHP 350

Char-grilled spicy chicken –marinated on the sweet and spicy note

 

 

Tempura PHP 390

Peter ordered Tempura because he claims to be restrained in eating shrimps at home since Wendy is allergic to it.  When Richard asked if he liked the tempura, Peter straightforwardly said, “No.” –which made us roar in laughter.  I guess it’s still safe to order Korean cuisine in Korean restaurants and leave what’s originally Japanese to their own.

 

 

So Kal Bi PHP 350

Marinated beef short ribs –has a shadow of sweetness, garlic and soy.  It’s hard to restrain oneself from gnawing the large bones with charred meat.

 

 

Sam Gyeop Sal PHP 240

The plate had thick, fatty slices of pork belly (almost looks like uncured bacon) alternating meat and fat and then skin.  Meat is left unseasoned and usually cooked on a grill at the diner’s table.  In this case, the wait staff helped in cooking the pork belly slices.  On the side, green onion leeks and lettuce are served in case you prefer to wrap your meat inside.  Customize it and add different side dishes or Kimchi and dip in sesame oil with fine black pepper and salt for a perfect finish.

 

 

We were served free fresh pineapple slices that are creamy sweet.  Despite a busy restaurant, we were served adequately with few instances where the wait staff had to be reminded.  Bubba and I enjoyed Minato tremendously that we were still thinking about the grilled meats the next day.

 

 

After dinner, we headed out to Richard’s place in Astoria to check out his TV Room and his media gadgets that got the group ooh-ing and incline to get their own HD system and a portable 1TB media drive. 

 

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Wendy and Richard even had a PS3 showdown.  Ya Kun Kaya was our last stop for the night as we refreshed with cold drinks while the conversations continued until midnight. It couldn’t stop even at the parking lot like there’s more and more to talk about. 

 

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The Minato dinner was superb.  We had so much food on the table that it felt like it was a feast for the King! 😉

 

I couldn’t wait for the next one.   Foodie Club UNITE! 🙂

 

 

Minato Korean Restaurant

Escriva Road (Between Furu Restaurant and Agua Vida),

Ortigas Center, Pasig City

 

 

Minato Album

 

Related Entries

Ye Dang

 

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Different Tea Assortments to Love at Serenitea

April 21, 2010 by

 

 

Serenitea is your one-stop shop for all things serene about tea.  They have different variants of tea that will help boost a definite change of drinking lifestyle.  It is the healthy alternative to colas, coffee and sugar-loaded smoothies.

 

 

There’s no room to get bored with Serenitea’s long list of drinks!  But it’s definite that you’ll really get hook at one or two and have that for one whole season before aiming for another variant.

 

 

First, choose your kind of tea: Assam, Royal Milk, Jasmine or Earl Gray.  Then you can choose whether to get it cold, hot, with fruits or as a latte.  There are also optional toppings to choose from: pearl, crystal, black bricks, pudding, lime jelly, and QQ.

 

Once Bubba and I brought Serenitea for a Sunday picnic and we both loved the drinks that accompanied us.  Bubba got the Hokkaido milk tea with 75% sugar while my choice was the Grass Jelly milk tea with 0% sugar.  What’s terrific with Serenitea is the fact that you can actually choose your sugar percentage from 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%… you can even go beyond or none.  Richard of Ya Kun Kaya Ortigas shares that Irene gets 150% sugar with her tea drink -I’m quite the opposite since I enjoy drinks with less sugar.

 

Last time I was here was during the Foodie Club’s meet at Beijing Hand Pulled Noodles.

 

“Foodie Club”

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I couldn’t just buy for myself so I bought for Bubba and Joyce.

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I got Joyce the Yakult, which she loved.

 

So for those who are health-conscious or watch their sugar intake, this is your best bet to getting satisfying drinks without breaking your sugar level.

 

It’s been quite a while since we’ve been enjoying Serenitea.  Let me share with you that the tea drinks from Serenitea have calmed even the most stressful days at work… the evening comes and the mind is still running wild with that day’s events, the tea drink somehow relaxes my mind into a soothing detoxifying reverie.  

 

 

Drop by Serenitea and get a dose of freshly brewed tea in different assortments.  Be warned that the place can get really packed even at odd hours so have the option to just order to go and bring it home or someplace else where you can enjoy your Serenitea. 

 

 

Minimum delivery in San Juan area is PHP 200.

 

 

Serenitea Cha Kitchen

#1F G&L Bldg. J. Abad Santos,

Cor. V. Cruz, Little Baguio, San Juan

(632) 379 4166

Serenitea Multiply Site

 

Serenitea Album

 

Related Entries:

A Sunday Afternoon Picnic

Foodie Club’s meet at Beijing Hand Pulled Noodles.

 

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Ya Kun Kaya Toast –Ortigas

February 16, 2010 by

 

Ever since I read about Arpee’s post on Ya Kun Kaya, it’s been a breakfast I’ve long coveted.  That’s the reason I was really bent on trying Ya Kun Kaya in Singapore last October 2009 when I went there for the Nuffnang Blog Awards.  Our schedule was too tight that I only had the travel back from IKEA to Link hotel in Tiong Bahru (30 minutes before our private bus supposedly leaves for the airport) to find the most popular all day breakfast place.  Jen and Kate were with me during my quest. Unfortunately, we didn’t have enough time to cut it so we just settled for another Kaya place in SG.

 

 

Fret no more because Singapore’s Favorite Coffee Chain is now in Manila!  Taste the very best of coffee and Kaya breakfast in the heart of Ortigas Center.  Lucky me, this is only a stone-throw away from my office. 

 

On the Table

 

Kaya Toast (Half PHP 115, Set Menu PHP 140)

2 slices of delicious Kaya toast with butter –has the right lightly toasted crunch of the bread, slathered with butter and just enough green sweet coconut spread.  Satisfies when washed down with Ya Kun’s famous coffee tarik or the traditionally pulled coffee. 

 

 

There are different hot drinks available.  Get conventional with the Coffee “O” or Tea “O,” which is black (as pronunciation of O in Chinese means black) or try it with a bit of milk and order Coffee “C” or Tea “C.”  Other drinks in the menu include Hot Milo, Hot Mocha, Hot Chocolate, Ginger Tea, and Japanese Green Tea.

 

Yummy soft-boiled eggs –I got the set meal so I got two eggs.  I seasoned with a bit of special Japanese soy sauce and pepper.  Richard did notice that I love pepper.

 

 

Noticeably, the Ya Kun eggs were cooked perfectly, which other Kaya stores can’t quite get, where the eggs usually come out with still some raw uncooked parts.  My little spoon broke into that fountain of yolk and I was soaked in sunshine delight.  There’s no brighter day than eating wet and perfectly prepared eggs with the crunch of your toast.

 

 

Hankering to slurp more yellow-k goodness, Bubba stopped me from ordering another set because eating 4 eggs (I already had two) will ruin my diet for the Bali trip.

 

 

Cheezy French Toast Kaya Set Menu PHP 150

1 slice of cheesy French toast with Kaya –for people like Bubba a.k.a the Cheeseman who likes their toast with cheese, this is the must-order.  They also have cheese toast with kaya (PHP 140) if you’re craving for grilled cheese sandwich.

 

 

Yin Yang –fragrant coffee and tea drink

Richard let us try the Yin Yang, which is not part of the menu (but feel free to order this during your Ya Kun Visit).  Yin Yang is part coffee and half tea –get that stimulating coffee flavor and the calming effect of tea.

 

 

 

Start your day right with the breakfast of champs at Ya Kun Kaya Toast.  You missed to start the day with that delicious breakfast?  Ya Kun Kaya Toast is open from 7AM to 11PM so get your breakfast fix even way after breakfast time –all day everyday!

 

 

Ya Kun Kaya Toast

G/F AYK Bldg., Escriva Drive (Right beside Astoria Plaza)

San Antonio Village, Ortigas, Pasig City

(632) 470 4285

7AM-11PM

 

Ya Kun Kaya Toast Album

 

Related Post

Singapore Day 3: IKEA

 

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