Category: Lifestyle

If you follow me via Instagram, Twitter or Facebook, you might have noticed my posts yesterday about sampling new drinks from Seattle’s Best and being able to see firsthand their 2014 Dream Journal.  I was lucky to be one of the first few bloggers who were invited for a preview of Seattle’s Best christmas offerings!

So here I am sharing what I learned from the event.  It was truly an enjoyable experience considering we didn’t have a slightest idea on what was in store for us.

We went to their dela rosa branch where we were greeted by Seattle’s Best friendly managers.  They were obviously excited about what they were sharing with us.  It’s funny how they were trying to be composed yet it was pretty obvious how eager they were! haha!

Look at that big smile Eric gave us!  You see, he was only on his first slide!  I said to myself, this must be good.  He started with sharing what the upcoming holiday drinks are.  As Eric showed the slide about one drink, we saw a server bringing the drink to us.  And boy, we were all in awe!  I thought candy decorations are only fit for cupcakes but apparently, it also works for coffee!

Apart from the holiday drinks, Eric showed us mockup photos of Seattle’s Best Coffee shops with the christmas decorations.  Lastly, he explained the different features of the most awaited Seattle’s Best 2014 Dream Journal.  We got ourselves a planner to bring home!  Whee!

Ready to know what kind of treats Seattle’s Best has in store for us?  Here! 🙂

Seattle’s Best 2013 Holiday Drinks

The holiday drinks are composed of four different flavored coffee based on Seattle’s Best famous White chocolate mocha and classic mocha.  What I love about them is the decoration and the distinct taste & flavour of each drink.  Never have I imagined that I would see gingerbread man on my coffee!  It works and I just love it!  How can coffee be so cute?!?! <3

• Gingerbest

• Roasted Hazelnut

• Eggnog Frost

• Cookies & Mint

The Seattle’s Best 2014 Dream Journal

As we enjoy this year’s christmas drinks, it’s time to get ourselves and/or our friends a Christmas gift.  In normal coffee shop fashion, Seattle’s Best is offering its 2014 Dream Journal!

The Dream Journal comes in four colours: charcoal gray, brown, peach, and purple!

While listening to Eric present about their 2013 Christmas Plans for Seattle’s Best, I can’t help but notice their attention to detail.

Just look at the many features of Seattle’s Best 2014 Dream journal: monthly calendar, a music CD compilation (love this! <3), coaster, cute metal bookmark, notepads, stickers, and Php 3,000 worth of freebies!

There are indeed a lot of features about the Seattle’s Best 2014 Dream journal but the best one is that every redemption of this beautiful item will help the children of World Vision!  After all, we celebrate the holidays by giving! 🙂

So how do we get one?

1. Accumulate 18 stickers by purchasing 8 holiday drinks and 10 regular Seattle’s Best drinks from October 24, 2013 to January 15, 2014.
2. Once complete, present your SBC Dream Card to the cashier to redeem the 2014 Dream Journal.  You can do this from October 24, 2013 to March 16, 2014.

One day more to go and we can all start collecting stickers!

Indeed, it’s a merry, merry christmas from Seattle’s Best Coffee!

Get ready for some nice holiday decorations on all their branches starting tomorrow!  We saw a bit of preview during the event earlier and I must say, entering a Seattle’s Best branch will remind us of our childhood Christmas.  Think of alphabet toy blocks, drummer boy and choo choo trains!  It’s like entering Santa’s workshop!  So make sure to visit any branch of Seattle’s Best during this holiday season and you’ll feel the joy of Christmas!  Ho Ho Ho!

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Seattle’s Best Christmas Treats
October 24, 2013 to January 15, 2014
http://www.seattlesbest.com.ph

I’ve written about Relik Tapas Bar and Lounge  already.  I mentioned how it changed my outlook about bars.  Places like Relik Bar while popular at night time, do serve delish food during daytime too!

Relik Tapas Bar and Lounge used to have the Php 350 lunch sets that include a main dish, soup, and salad.  I guess after more than a year of operations, they realised that some people prefer to spend only minimal amount on meals.  Just last month, Relik launched their new lunch specials that include free iced tea!  And now, they’re offering it at Php 199!  I got to try some Relik’s lunch offerings a few weeks ago.  I must admit, I liked them all.  However, my favorite has got to be the Chorizo pasta just because they didn’t scrimp on the main ingredient.

• Cheesy Tomato Pork Belly

24 hours sous vide port topped with tomato cheese fondue and baked in the oven.

Who wouldn’t want to eat several pieces of uber-tender pork belly?  I certainly want it!  Relik made a twist by putting tomato and cheese on top of it (usually restaurants use mushroom sauce)!  Served with fries.  I would probably request for Relik to change it the side dish to rice.  Other than that, well-done dish!

• Relik Solomillo

Photo from Relik’s FB Page

Grilled sirloin steak with garlic rice and buttered vegetables.

The steak wasn’t available during the time that I was sampling the lunch specials.  I saw the photo in Relik’s Facebook page.  Look at how big that steak was!  The next time I try to eat lunch at the Fort, I will order this one.

• Pesto Fish Fillet

Photo from Relik’s FB Page

Poached dory drizzled with home made pesto sauce with a side of grilled potato hash.

For health conscious people, the pesto fish fillet is the lunch special to order.  I wasn’t able to try this too but I will most likely order this as I have a special fondness to fish.  Mostly because I want to lose weight 🙂

• Chorizo Chorizo Pasta

Spaghetti with an olio based sauce and two types of Spanish chorizo

For pasta lovers, Relik offers the chorizo pasta.  If you like Italian pasta, then you will love this as they put garlic, olive sauce, parsley & parmesan cheese.  What made me like this dish is the generous amount of spanish chorizo.  Every forkful of this chorizo pasta was just heavenly!

• Boneless Fried Chicken

With honey tomato fondue and chorizo fried rice.

One of my friends ordered this for the second time because the chicken tasted really good especially when it was freshly served.  The skin was crispy, chicken wasn’t too oily, and we didn’t need to do much work as Relik already removed the bones for us!

So there, if your office is located inside Bonifacio Global City, you have one more option for lunch!  Try out Relik’s new lunch specials at Php 199 with complimentary iced tea.  They are available mondays to fridays, 11:30AM to 2:30PM.

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Relik Tapas Bar and Lounge
Lunch: M-F, 11:30am to 2:30pm, Dinner & Cocktails: daily, 5:30pm onwards
2nd floor, Commercenter Building, 31st Ave cor. 4th St. Bonifacio Global City, 1200 Taguig, Philippines
+63-2-6248251 & +639175298333

I’m probably the last person in Manila who tried out iHop Restaurant for the first time.  Honestly, no matter how good the dishes of a restaurant are, I wouldn’t waste two hours of my time waiting in line.  I’d rather wait for several months and visit the place at my most convenient time.  That’s exactly what I did with the famous iHop (International House of Pancakes) restaurant at the Fort.

Fresh from the airport, I dropped by my house and left my luggage, then went straight to iHop Restaurant for dinner.  Obviously, I was pretty tired but I enjoyed the dinner nevertheless because I was with my friends.  Pardon my photos though, I realized they were pretty bad.  I hope that it still gave you an idea on what iHop offers in their restaurant.

The iHop craze died down so we didn’t have to wait for our group to be seated.

I’ve never been to any iHop restaurant so I don’t have anything to compare it with.  However, one thing I noticed is that it looked like a typical American restaurant.

I liked how they put iHop’s specialties even on their lighting.  It’s a good personal touch and definitely fit the whole iHop ambience.

We were a big group.  The consensus is for us to order one of every kind of dishes that iHop offers.  Of course, pancakes won’t be missed.  I asked an American friend beforehand for advice on what to order on iHop.  I was told that the Harvest Grain n’ Pancakes were good.  I took a mental note.

• Freshly Brewed Iced Tea (Php 95)

Refillable drink is love, love & love!  After having my first sip of iced tea, I was surprised that it actually tasted different from the usual ones.  As you know, restaurants tend to cut costs so if they offer unlimited drinks, it’s probably powdered.  In iHop’s case, their iced tea was brewed!

Other refillable drinks in iHop are lemonade, soft drinks and fruit sodas.

• Big Steak Omelette (Php 325 + Php 50 for preferred pancake)

Tender strips of steak, hash browns, fresh green peppers, onions, mushrooms, tomatoes and cheddar cheese.  Served with salsa.

We ordered the big steak omelette.  I wonder what they meant by the word ‘big’ because iHop didn’t give us enough steak to enjoy the dish.  I guess I expected too much.  Don’t get me wrong, it tasted okay.  I just wanted more of the steak and less of the other ingredients 😛

Every order of omelette comes with two pieces of buttermilk pancakes or seasoned mixed fruit.  We opted for pancake but a different variant, we paid additional Php 50 for the substitution.

I asked for the Harvest Grain N’ Nut Pancakes because it was the flavor that my American friend suggested we order.  The pancakes were made with grains, oats, almonds and english walnut.  I didn’t find iHop’s pancakes extraordinary special but what made me giggle while eating were the pancake sauces!

There were butter pecan, blueberry, strawberry & old fashioned pancake sauces!  Having a bite of the pancake then dipping it into the sauce is an experience in itself.  It was like eating four different pancakes in one shot!  I loved strawberry sauce the most.  Yummeh!

• New York Cheesecake Pancake Combo (Php 385)

two fluffy buttermilk pancakes loaded with creamy, rich cheesecake pieces and crowned with cool strawberries, powdered sugar and whipped topping.

I wasn’t really crazy about iHop’s pancakes anymore after sampling the orders that we had.  However, I loved the hashbrown included in the pancake combo.

The other sides included are two eggs and choice of two bacon strips or 2 pork sausages.

• Belgian Waffle Combo (Php 285)

Belgian waffle topped with whipped butter served with 2 eggs and choice of bacon or sausages.

Again, nothing special but I must say that the sausages were a disappointment.  It looked malnourished 🙁

• Chicken Fajita Quesadilla (Php 365)

Grilled seasoned chicken breast with onions, fresh green peppers, and tomatoes in a grilled flour tortilla with cheddar and jack cheeses.  Served with sour cream and salsa.

For Php 365, I thought that iHop’s quesadillas were overpriced.  But after sampling it, wow!  It was delicious and flavourful!  This was one of the two orders that I really liked on our iHop visit (ironically, pancakes weren’t in that favorite list).

• Tilapia Florentine (Php 375)

Two delicate, seasoned tilapia fillets on top of spinach tossed in Alfredo sauce. served with mashed potatoes.

I’m not fond of fish dipped (or swimming) in white sauce.  I didn’t dare try it.  Have you?  What do you think of it?

• Fried Chicken Dinner (Php 495)

Four pieces of fried chicken, crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside, served with a savory biscuit, mashed potatoes and buttered corn.

Oh yes, we loved iHop’s fried chicken!  How surprising considering that iHop is known for pancakes and not chicken.  We even ordered one additional because we all wanted one whole piece of chicken for ourselves!  I guess the fact that iHop served the chicken newly-cooked made it more appetising.

Overall, my first experience with iHop isn’t that bad.  I knew that there was a hype since everyone loves foreign franchises.  iHop’s pancakes wont be something that I look forward to eat again but their fried chicken & quesadillas are good enough for me to pay another visit.

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iHop Restaurant
W Global Center, 30th St cor 9th Ave., Fort Bonifacio, Taguig, Philippines
+63-2-6875611