Category: Restaurants

After dinner at Masan Garden last week, we drove to Robinson’s Place to have desserts at Cafe Breton.  When it comes to crepes, I know Cafe Breton serves the best.  Ambiance is so cool too, you can stay for hours and not get bored.  With its cool design and welcoming atmosphere, not to mention the awesome customer service too!

I was actually caught for taking pictures of the menu.  The server told me it’s not allowed.  When she told me about it, I already finished taking pictures.  I just took the ones where our orders are printed, so I could give you a whole picture of our experience in Cafe Breton 🙂

Here’s a list of our orders:

• Butter & Sugar (Php 84)

I have various interests but ultimately, I still love simple stuff.  Just like with crepes, I prefer the plain one rather than the flavored ones.  This butter & sugar plain crepe sprinkled with powdered sugar is as perfect as it is.  No complications but perfectly yummy!  Nothing gets better when it comes to crepes than if the crepe is perfectly done, soft, and thin enough too that it doesn’t become a pancake hahaha :p

• Peche Mignon (Php 272)

Composed of peach halves, chocolate sauce, whipped cream and ice cream.  Vanilla was supposed to be the flavor of the ice cream for this dish but we requested that we change it to blueberry ice cream.  It tasted wayyy better!  It was actually my 1st time to try out blueberry ice cream, I didn’t think that it would be so good.  So one tip for you people, request for a change in ice cream flavor to blueberry, you won’t regret it 😉

• Cappuccino (Php 85)

In this variant, you can actually choose either as is, decaf, double cappuccino or a decaf double cappuccino.  The one in the picture was just the normal one.  Is it good?  I don’t know, didn’t order this but it seems to be nice.  I didn’t hear any complaints from my mom’s friends.

• Cafe au lait (Php 85)

This also has the same options as cappuccino above but what is the difference between a cafe latte & a capuccino?  Well, simple.  What many people don’t realize, is that both actually have the same ingredients:  Milk and espresso.  It’s just that with a latte they use steamed milk, and with a cappuccino they use milk that is frothy.  It really is according to what you like when it comes to coffee.  Sometimes, a lot of people agree that a latte often has a milder taste to it, but that’s because technically more milk is mixed in rather than the cappuccino which has less milk due to the fact that the froth incorporates more air into it.  I know I know, I said it was simple :p  All you have to figure out really is if you want a bit more of a stronger coffee with the more froth, then go with cappuccino, otherwise stick with a latte that usually has a bit more milk added into it :p

• Cafe Mocha (Php 95)

This is definitely not for those on a diet!  This is almost as rich as you can get when it comes to coffee.  Sweet, a lot of chocolate, milk (or cream), iced, and even whipped cream on top.  For those with a sweet tooth, then I definitely suggest this drink.

• Mango Fruit Slush (Php 94.50)

In Cafe Breton, you can either order a fruit slush or a fruit smoothie.  The only difference is that smoothie has milk in it.  Since I’m on a diet, it’s best that I choose the pure one (without the milk).  No regrets there.

While my mom & her friends were chit-chatting, I couldn’t help but admire the paintings on the wall.  Very artistic, I wonder if they hired someone to do the paintings for all their branches.  It really does fit with the theme of Cafe Breton.  Super lovely!

Even the cups & tea pitcher have great designs. I took a picture, don’t they look cool?

Cafe Breton usually comes to mind whenever I’m in a mall and craving for some dessert.  It will continue to be that way since my experience is always pleasant each time 🙂

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Café Breton French Crepes & Fine Coffee
Midtown Wing, Pedro Gil cor. Adriatico St., Malate, Manila, Metro Manila, Philippines
(02) 567-0704

There are lots of Korean Nationals especially in Makati, near the red light district.  Due to that fact, there are lots of Korean establishments nearby and one of them is Masan Garden.  The restaurant is advertised as a Korean & Japanese place but I see it as more of a Korean food place.  Authentic, that’s what I love!  The owner is always there wearing a Korean costume with a big smile on her face too.  Very warm & welcoming, even if we’re not Korean, we still felt so welcome 🙂

As we entered the place, 2 dolls were immediately visible as if they were greeting us hahaha!  Then a server assisted us and brought us to our chosen seats.

The ambiance is very Korean-Japanese.  Bamboo trees sketched in the glasses, very Japanese design all over the restaurant.  The customers being mostly Korean also helped with the ambiance hahahaa, made it truly authentic.  I was really so excited to eat Korean food again, especially the soup!

Here are our orders:

• Salmon (Php 300)

Salmon Kui as the menu says.  It’s just a simple piece of salmon, you put calamansi on top and you are ready to eat.  Simple but delicious!  Cooked well, and still moist.  There really wasn’t any presentation to this dish, which was a shame since it really tasted very good.  In most cases, I try to emphasize good food presentation since it is also part of the experience, but honestly with this dish, you really can’t complain with how it tastes.

• Roasted Pork (Php 320)

Pork Bolgogi.  I love this dish, very spicy but tasty!  The chili really did give the pork a bit of a kick.  I wish I wasn’t so late when I arrived, I could have eaten more of it.  The chili based sauce really was delicious.  For those that don’t like spicy food, sometimes that’s the trade-off when it comes to dishes like this, because the taste of this dish is truly wonderful!

• Roasted Beef (Php 320)

Beef Bolgogi.  Actually the same as Pork Bolgogi but instead of pork, they used beef as the main ingredient.  I always prefer beef over pork but still, both tasted delicious.  This dish was a different variant from the previous dish not only because of the different meat, but because of the different base used to stir fry the dish.  You could taste a bit more of the onions, and the sesame seeds also gave it a more nutty taste, no single ingredient was overpowering, but it really was a great combination of flavors.  The seasoning was also excellently done.  As with most dishes, it doesn’t matter what you put into it, sometimes it can be ruined because it is too salty or under seasoned.  In this case, the meat was tender and the seasoning was just right.

• Garden Fresh Lettuce

The lettuce were given to us for free as we ordered the bolgogi (both beef & pork).  Basically, we just wrap the bolgogi with the lettuce, put their special sauce + garlic.  Perfect lettuce wrap!  I loved it!  My mom also used the salmon with it.

• Bibimpop (Php 300)

A popular rice dish in Korea.  I wasn’t able to taste this though, as my soup order already includes rice so I passed on bibimpop.  Although, it certainly did look appetizing.  This is almost a meal within itself, a great looking concoction indeed!

• Hemul Pajon (Php 280)

I don’t know what the english term for this dish but I would say this is like a vegetable cake or vegetable omelette.  It’s a bit oily though but it was yummy.  I like the how the greens were incorporated in this fried cake, it certainly gave it a great taste that wasn’t too heavy, even if it was a bit oily :p

• Bean Curd Soup (Php 270)

The last time I visited Masan Garden, I ordered the Bean Paste Soup and I hated it.  So this time, I made sure that I ordered the right one which is the Bean Curd Soup.  This version is just lovely, it tends to be spicy, you might want to ask them to just put a small amount of chili.  This is basically soup, with soft tofu and beef.  I can finish this on my own, together with the high quality rice included in the order.  The base is just so yummy, I really loved how full of flavor this dish was!  This is definitely a dish worth ordering every time you dine Masan Garden!

Aside from the awesome service (I think awesome is an understatement but service was just superb!) & great food, I love how generous they are with their FREE appetizers.  It doesn’t matter how many are in the group, it could just be 2 or a group of 5, we were still given all the available appetizers like spinach, kimchi, tofu, dilis).  Now, that’s exceptional value!

We also get free fresh pineapple after our meal! 😀

Lots of reason for me to go back.  The authenticity of the dishes, the wonderful ambiance, and the superb service!  Have you tried Masan Garden?  If not, then you should! 🙂

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Masan Garden Korean & Japanese Restaurant
29 Polaris Street, Bel-Air Village I, Makati City, Philippines
(02) 896-5094

Around a month ago, we were walking around Mall of Asia looking for a place to dine.  I believe we practically strolled around every single area of the mall, walked for half an hour, and then we saw Jatujak.  Who could miss a place called Jatujak?!  So, after we finished looking around, I said let’s try Jatujak!

It’s a Thai restaurant situated on the 2nd floor of MOA.  Always jampacked but glad that there was 1 table free when we got in (must be destiny! hehehe).  I was totally craving for it, I would have been so disappointed if we weren’t able to try it out that day.  Thai Iced Tea & Tom Yum Soup immediately came to mind.

Here are the dishes that we ordered from our new restaurant discovery:

• Sampler Appetizer (Php 198)

Whenever we eat a restaurant, I would always want to try out as many dishes as possible.  So when the time came that we had to choose our appetizer, the sampler appetizer was my obvious and only choice.  This dish included 3 different appetizers: fresh springrolls, fried springrolls and shrimp cakes.  The springrolls contained glass noodles, minced pork & mushrooms inside, I still prefer the fresh one.  All 3 appetizers have different dips too!   I really love samplers, best for first-time diners.

• Tom Yum All Shrimps (Php 195)

We had a choice as to which Tom Yum Soup we wanted, either all shrimps or mixed seafood.  A no-brainer for me coz shrimp is just one of my favorite foods and I believe it’s the best ingredient for Tom Yum!

• Bagoong Rice (Php 155)

If you wanna eat Thai rice then your only choice would be bagoong rice!  I just love this rice, the ingredients are all there: bagoong, egg, onions, green mango & of course, rice!  You have the option to choose which ones to mix with your rice so you could have the fried rice that you like.  I love that the rice itself is cooked with bagoong so it was really tasty.  Yummy!

• Crispy Pork w/ Cilantro Relish (Php 230)

A truly unique dish, I got shocked when I saw that the pork was actually put in a bed of vinegar spice.  It’s not spread all over but you can just dip your pork at the bottom of the bowl so you can have more spice.  This dish is just wow!

• Thai Iced Tea (Php 78)

When we say Thai Iced Tea, we usually know that it’s actually milk tea.  I don’t know what comprises the recipe as it does have a distinct taste which I truly, truly, truly love!  I’m guessing cinnamon & vanilla but hey, If I want it, I’ll just go to a Thai restaurant like Jatujak hehehe.

• Mint & Lemongrass (Php 70)

I was about to order Thai Iced Tea but then I saw lemongrass tea in the menu.  It’s rare to see lemongrass juice in the menu and better yet, they offer bottomless!!!  I just couldn’t pass it up.  As far as I know, lemongrass is a type of herb that has lemon flavor & aroma, I super love to drink its juice!

I also like the design of Jatujak, even with the limited space, they were able to make it look so welcoming.  At the back of the couch, there’s this customized cabinet.  The cabinet shows some pictures of Jatujak’s specialties, the cabinets, on the other hand, were filled up by Thailand products & decorations.  It made Jatujak’s ambiance authentic as a Thai Restaurant.

I wish they could open more branches since MOA is far from my place.  Nevertheless, when I get the chance to go to MOA again, Jatujak will be one of my top choices for dining.

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Jatujak
2/F Entertainment Mall, SM Mall of Asia, Pasay City, Metro Manila, Philippines
(02) 556-0850

I have been addicted to Serenitea for quite a looong while now.  I actually wonder why I haven’t been blogging about something that I really like.  I actually influenced a lot of my friends to try it out.  Well, I guess it’s time for me to write about it so the readers here at HeaRty’s Haven can discover this great tea place in the Metro.

I usually rave about it whenever I talk with friends.  When I got to meet a friend for some chit-chat, I made sure that we stopped by Serenitea.  Good thing that there was still available space when we arrived.  Usually, it’s full especially during weekends and people just end up getting their drinks & food order to go.  We spent a couple of minutes at the place savoring the yummy appetizers & of course, the tea! *slurp*

Ordering is easy.  We just go to the counter and choose which drink we like, some finger foods too as we wish.  Prices are reasonable, cheaper than similar products in the market.  Plus, quality is  really top notch, considering that their teas are brewed (not made of artificial flavors).

What separates Serenitea from the rest is their brilliant idea for customers to choose the sugar level of their drink.  PLUS, you can also choose the toppings you would want your drink to have.  Uber Cool!  (Though I’ve seen some competitors following the same lead but who thought of it first, right?)

Sweetness Level:

• Full Sugar (standard)
• Less Sugar (75%)
• Half Sugar (50%)
• Mild Sugar (25%)
• No Sugar (healthy)

Optional Toppings to Choose:

• QQ (combination)
• Pearl
• Egg Pudding
• Black Bricks
• Crystals
• Lime Jelly

I assume you have an idea on what Serenitea offers.  Anyway, here are some that we’ve tried so far:

• Wintermelon Cool (Php 80)

This is one of my all-time favorite drinks.  I used to have difficulty finding this drink.  Before Serenitea, only Tasty Dumplings offered this drink.  I’m glad I found another place to find such a delicious drink 😀  Serenitea actually has different versions of the Wintermelon drink.  Wintermelon Cool has black bricks as toppings.  With Wintermelon Sweet, you won’t have any option on choosing the sweetness but you can choose the topping.  You should try this when you visit the place, but just in case, they also have wintermelon milk tea!

• Lychee Milk Tea (Php 95)

Honestly, I don’t understand why my friend ordered Lychee milk tea hahaha!  I guess he has a certain fondness for lychee and would like to try it as a milk tea.  If I  may suggest, you should order either Royal Milk Tea, Hokkaido Milk Tea or Black Dragon Milk Tea 🙂  My personal favorite is Black Dragon Milk tea but if you want to be safe, Royal Milk Tea is for you 😉

• Pepper Tofu (Php 50)

Oh yes!!  Tofu again!  Okay, I know you’re getting tired as I always get tofu wherever I go.  But I just love this version from Serenitea, they cook to order which means each and every appetizer that we get is cooked on the spot.  And most importantly, it’s fresh!  So when it arrives on our table, it’s newly cooked.  Very hot & yummy!  Main spice in this dish is pepper (as the name implies).  They cook it so well, and seasoned just right.  The firmness of the tofu is also just right, I honestly just loved each and every bite of this tofu.

• Chicken Chop (Php 65)

When you go to Serenitea, please please order this dish!  It’s the best chicken snack I have ever eaten.  The chicken is just so juicy and tender.  It’s literally so soft!  And the coating is crispy too!  What a combination.  I don’t know how they did it but I loved it!  We can call this pepper chicken too since I think the seasoning on this one is basically the same as what we had with the tofu dish.  And we actually tried the greens along with the chicken, and even that was also a great treat!  The plate was empty when we finished! hahaha :p

There was a time between March to May 2010 that I would go to Serenitea every single day to order at least 1 drink.  I was able to finish a couple of Serenitea LoyalTea Cards (talk about addiction!).  I love Serenitea’s version of loyalty card, it really serves the purpose to reward loyal customers.

The promo is you get a free drink whenever you complete all 10 stamps in the card.  How?  You get one stamp for every purchase of Large drink.  Card is valid 3 months from the date of 1st stamp.

Another thing to note that the blogging community is very fond of the place.  There have been numerous discussions (shall I say raves) about Serenitea.   While I have heard it before from non-blogger friends, but the noise that the blogging community has had with Serenitea really is so powerful that you’d regret if you haven’t tried the place.  So why don’t you? 😀

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Serenitea
74B N. Roxas Street, Banawe, Quezon City
(02) 238-2545

One day, I organized a get together at Romulo Cafe.  It was unfortunate that most of the group were not available (but that doesn’t mean that we didn’t have a great time).  Actually, it was a great lunch get-together with my shobe Theresa & her friend!

It took me quite a while to find the restaurant since I’ve never been there nor have I ever even heard of it.  I know it will come as a shock to my readers, but there really is a lot of restaurants out there, and there will always be a first for trying out each restaurant.   And everyone knows that I will always try out most restaurants that I come across, that I hear about, or restaurants that are recommended to me.

When we arrived, I had to park a bit far from Romulo Cafe as parking slots were taken already.  It was well-worth it, and I understood after our meal why there were a lot of people dining considering their affordable prices & the unusual location.

Here is what we ordered:

• Sinigang na Salmon sa Miso (Php 295)

Oh, how I loved this dish!!!  I was hoping I can take some more servings of this.  The salmon was very fresh & tasty, perfect for sinigang.  The ingredients were just right as I really love drinking the soup.  A must-order.  The tart taste of the soup definitely gave that great balance which is a characteristic of all great sinigangs.  But the added flavors of the tomato and the other veggies, as well as the great flavor of the salmon, it was all I could ask for in any sinigang.

• Tito Greg’s Kare Kare (Php 385)

A popular Filipino dish that is usually served with bagoong.  What could be more classically delicious than this traditional kare kare that is being served by Romulo Cafe.  I just couldn’t believe the great balance of the peanuts that went into this dish.  The softness of the pork, the creaminess of the sauce, the seasoning of the sauce too.  Sometimes kare kare tends to overemphasize the peanuts in the dish, and you end up with something that tastes more like peanut butter rather than the traditional and delicious kare kare.

• Boneless Crispy Pata Binagoongan (Php 625)

There was just too many ingredients in this dish, and it was even garnished with eggplant.  But oh boy, this really tasted good, with the bones removed and sliced perfectly.  We cannot help but enjoy the different combination of flavors in the dish.  It tasted a bit like sweet & sour, spicy, fried all done in 1 dish.  I love just how it maintained its crispiness while soaking up all the flavors of that wonderful sauce.  The meat was soft and tender, the spices were just perfect, and the taste was really something you must experience for yourself!  But still, with all those ingredients,  the taste was still a bit unusual, but still so good!  Talk about a confused but happy customer hahaha!

• Cool as Cucumber (Php 95)

I’ve always loved to drink cucumber juice.  I much prefer having cucumber as a drink as opposed to eating it or even putting it on our face hahaha :p  I’m just glad that Romulo’s version works very well, combining it with fresh lime & mint leaves.  It was very refreshing, just sweet enough, and plus the added flavors of mint and lime really gave this drink a special touch.  Just delicious!  I was really hoping that they could have had this as a bottomless order.

• Banshee (Php 75)

Mixture of fresh banana, white cream de cacao & fresh milk.  I didn’t order this as I’m not a big fan of bananas hahaha!  Anyhow, looks so fresh & healthy.  But for those who are fans of shakes with banana in it, this is something that may also be worth a try.

Obviously I enjoyed the food but it just wasn’t that alone that made our stay enjoyable.  I also liked the design & ambiance of the place.  Simplistic theme with major colors of black & white combined with clean surroundings, cute furnitures, etc.  You can either dine outside or inside (we were seated outside).  I went inside to go to the washroom and also checked how it was designed inside.  I was impressed even more.

I said to myself that I would definitely go back to the restaurant.  One of the better Filipino restaurants in the Philippines.  If you haven’t tried, I suggest you do 😉

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Romulo Cafe
#32 Scout Tuason cor. Sct. Dr. Lazcano, Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines
(02) 332-7275