The Cake Club
Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On April 22, 2012
Everyone love desserts! I, myself, always crave for desserts after every meal and it has become a habit. So hearing that The Cake Club opened in Bonifacio High Street Central, made me happy as we have more options now for a dessert place. However, I realized after having visited The Cake Club, that it wasn’t just a dessert place. They offer main dishes too! Get to know more by reading on…
I loved the clean and elegant design of the restaurant. What I found really interesting was the service! The servers were dressed the same as the servers in Diamond Hotel! They were dressed formally and we get the same royal treatment that we used to get when we go to 5-star hotels. Isn’t that cool?
The surrounding will make you hungry. I was itching to order already as we waited for the rest of the group to arrive. The display of Hediard Tea, Malongo Coffee, wines and Royce Chocolates were such a nice sight to see.
Who wouldn’t take home cakes, ensaymada and ice cream when you see them neatfully placed at the center of the restaurant? We all went home with cakes and I thoroughly enjoyed them at home.
We made sure to order different items so we could share in our blog posts almost every dish that Cake Club has. As for me, I ordered red beet soup, US Angus Beef burger and blue garden tea.
Starters
- Hobart’s Spicy Tomato Soup (Php 190)
homemade tomato jam, fresh basil.
- Roasted Red Beet Soup (Php 190)
goat cheese, green apples and toasted walnuts with beet.
While everyone ordered tomato soup, I was the only one who ordered red beet soup. I super love red color but unfortunately, I didn’t like this red-colored soup. I find it odd as I have tasted other beet dishes and liked them. I guess it was only me as others have tasted my order and they liked it. It really boils down to everyone’s personal taste.
- GM Salad (Php 210)
pan roasted mushrooms, crispy parmesan basket, baby greens and shallot vinaigrette.
- Caramelized Onion & Goat Cheese Tart Salad (Php 295)
cheese, aruguia and frisee lettuce, cherry tomatoes and white win vinaigrette.
- Truffle Fries (Php 180)
This has got to be the best appetizer among The Cake Club’s menu. When this was served, it was empty in just a few minutes. We had to order again as everyone wanted to eat some more. The truffle oil must be the secret to this addictive dish. Yummy!
Mains
- Slow-Roasted Beef Belly
honey roasted baby carrots, brown rice and horseradish cream.
- U.S. Angus Beef Burger (Php 410)
Juicy beef patty, vine ripe tomatoes, caramelized onions, fresh basil pesto and cheddar reese served with fries.
I wanted to order slow-roasted beef belly but noone ordered this U.S. Angus beef burger so I decided to give it a try. It was funny that the burger was colored red because I just had red soup, haha! The burger tasted good and it was juicy, meaty, flavorful and really, really good! If you love burgers, you’ll love this.
- Lamb Burger (Php 490)
Moroccan spiced lamb patty, feta and parmesan cheese, harissa yogurt, served with fries.
- Porcini Mushroom Crepe (Php 420)
parmesan and emmental cheese and light cream sauce.
- Baked Salmon (Php 455)
salmon with mediterranean crust and saffron risotto.
- Saton-San’s Mentaiko Spaghetti (Php 370)
spicy cod roe, dried seaweed and cream sauce.
Beverages
Aside from the savory dishes, The Cake Club offers good selection of beverages. They have Hediard tea (which I ordered) and Malongo Coffee, both of which are famous French brands. Red and white wines are also available which are great for food pairing.
- Blue Garden Tea (Php 200 per pot)
Chinese tea flavored with rhubarb and wild strawberry, sprinkled with cornflower and helianthus petals. Blue Garden tea is the best seller of Cake Club when it comes to Hediard tea and I must say, I agree!
- House Wine (Php 170 per glass)
Red or white wine served by the glass.
Pastry Selection
The Cake Club wouldn’t be named after cakes if their cakes weren’t delicious right? This was why I was so looking forward for our meal to end as I was excited to try out the numerous mouth-watering cakes being offered at the Cake Club.
Individual cakes can be purchased/ordered for Php 250, whole cakes are priced at Php 1,500 and if you crave for Diamond Hotel’s famous ensaymada, you can order them too at Php 120 each.
We were all lucky to have the privilege of trying out almost all the cakes at the restaurant. My gosh, just by looking at how pretty the cakes were presented, made it much harder for us to take the first plunge in eating it but nothing stopped us for trying them all out. I had my favorites of course, and they are Ispahan & Vanessa.
Le Royale – Chef Pang Kok Keong’s signature cake made of Vairhona dark chocolate mousse, almond meringue and hazelnut crispy.
Vanessa (my fav!) – named after Diamond Hotel’s General Manager, this cake is made of pistachio macaroons and fresh strawberries.
Danielle – Chef Daniel Back’s white chocolate raspberry cheesecake that is sugarless! Perfect for diet-conscious peeps!
Baked Cheesecake – Diamond Hotel’s signature cheesecake that is known to be the cheesiest cake in the metro!
Ispahan (another fav!) – Diamond Hotel’s tribute to French pastry chef Pierre Herm. The cake is made with raspberries, lychee and rose essence.
Cecilia – used to be in Diamond Hotel President’s wish list but came true when chef Robert Mempin made this version of buko pie.
St. Honore Ube – cake made after the French patron saint of bakers and pastry chefs, Saint Honor and is made of puff pastry, pâte a choux and ube ganache.
Supermoist Chocolate Cake – I’m not a fan of chocolate cake but I’m sure that this cake will be a major success to all customers with sweet tooth! 🙂
Ice Cream Selection
Aside from the famous cakes, The Cake Club also serves their very own homemade ice cream. Their flavors are totally unique and each one has a distinct taste & flavor. Some of the flavors are based on their cakes.
The Cake Club’s Ice Cream Flavors were: Supermoist Chocolate cake, Baked Cheesecake, Genmaicha (green tea with roasted brown rice), Black Sesame, Azuki (Japanese red bean), Mont Blanc (chestnut & rum), Taro-Jackfruit, Melon, Apple Pie and Coconut – Palm Sugar (low-sugar ,6%).
I definitely enjoyed Taro Jackfruit & Black Sesame ice cream flavors the most and I would recommend you try those out 🙂
You can order 2 scoops of ice cream for dine in at Php 150. If you want more, you can order one pint (Php 350) or half-gallon (Php 1,000) for take out.
As always, being able to spend time with foodie Yedy just made the experience more joyful! 🙂
The Bonifacio High Street Central is Cake Club’s second branch. More people can access Diamond Hotel’s loved desserts through The Cake Club’s branches in Rockwell & now, Bonifacio High Street Central. Go and indulge! <3
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The Cake Club
East Superblock, 30th St. corner 7th St. Bonifacio High Street Central, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City, Philippines
Live More with SmartNet
Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On April 16, 2012
You might have heard of SmartNet via Twitter or from Smart Subscribers. You might be wondering what it is and how it works. You’ve seen celebrities, bloggers and friends rave about the service. You’re already familiar with the name of the service, SmartNet, but you want to know more.
With this in mind, I decided to write a blog post about the features of SmartNet. I’ve written about SmartNet before when Smart launched Netphone 701 and Samsung Galaxy Y Netphone edition. I thought I shared enough but I guess SmartNet deserves to have a blog post here in HeaRty’s Haven on its own.
I’ve been using SmartNet on my Netphone 701 for several months now. It serves as my backup when my data plan fails on me. I never have to worry about losing internet connection because with SmartNet, we get to access Facebook, Twitter and SmartNet for free! Yes, that is why I agree with Smart’s tagline: Live More. We live more if we have SmartNet. You don’t even have to worry if you’re using postpaid or prepaid. As long as you’re using a Smart SIM, you can have SmartNet!
SmartNet used to be available only on Smart Netphones like Netphone 701 and Samsung Galaxy Y. But now, with the newly released Android application, you can have SmartNet on any of your Android-powered device! Isn’t that cool? Install it via Google Play and you’ll be on your way to enjoy the awesome features of SmartNet!
So what is SmartNet?
SmartNet is a suite of applications that works with Smart Network for subscribers to enjoy its services even more!
- Smart Center
– Check your postpaid bill or prepaid load balance instantly
– See and track your current subscription
– Choose and purchase packages to subscribe to
– Reload your phone without visiting a SMART loading center
– Pay your bill without going to a payment center
- Safe Browsing
– Turn Net setting to Internet to surf the web using your prepaid load.
– Turn Net setting to SmartNet to use SmartNet, Facebook and Twitter for free without worrying about charges!
- Chat
– Send a “friend request” so friends on SmartNet and Netphone users can add you to their contacts via the Global Directory.
– Send “FX” messages – special messages featuring sound and video.
– Chat with your friends on Facebook or YM.
– You can add friends via web, www.smartnet.ph.
- Social Stream
– Update your FB status & Tweets on-the-go
– View your friends’ status updates & tweets
I mainly use SmartNet to check my prepaid load balance through Smart Center and check Twitter/Facebook status updates from friends through Social Stream. SmartNet has really been very useful to me. If you’re on Smart, I highly suggest you download SmartNet now! 🙂
Cirque Mother Africa in Manila 2012
Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On April 12, 2012
We travel to discover different cultures and watch local shows to enjoy each country’s unique performances. If you don’t have much time to travel, you’re in luck as world-renowned Cirque Mother Africa will be performing for the first time in Manila!
We’ll get to enjoy African music and dance through a series of 2-hour performances from April 19-22, 2012 at the Newport Performing Arts Theater, Resorts World Manila (which BTW is my favorite events venue).
The unique show combined the talents of 40 famous artists from African countries Ethiopia, South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Ivory Coast, Benin, Zimbabwe, and Guinea. Expect to see items spun through the air, bodies contorted into mind-boggling shapes, and performers balance on other performers, percussionists beat up a storm of sound, tap-dancing and traditional dancers tell their own stories.
Cirque Mother Africa will be a refreshing show to see that will make us appreciate the modern, fresh and dynamic culture of the new Africa. With sold out shows in Germany, Italy, Romania, Russia, Netherlands, Australia, Belgium and Spain, we are assured of great entertainment!
Dancers, percussionists, singers, acrobats and contortionists will take the stage in a celebration of the culture of the traditional and modern African continent. I can’t wait for next week to watch this!
Cirque MOTHER AFRICA
A joyous adventure into the wonderful
& magical world of an African human circus.
Tickets are available at Resorts World Manila Box Office and TicketWorld outlets. Here are the prices & seat plan for your reference:
- VIP – Php 6,095
- Category 1 (Premiere Left & Right) – Php 5,090
- Category 2 (Deluxe Left, Right & Center) – Php 4,065
- Category 3 (Balcony Left, Right & Center) – Php 3,025
- Category 4 (Upper Balcony) – Php 1,500
Schedule (April 19-22, 2012):
- Thursday/Friday/Sunday – 8 PM
- Saturday – 3 PM / 8PM
Do catch Cirque Mother Africa as they only have 5 shows here in Manila! I surely won’t miss one of them! See you there! 🙂
UDPATE:
I caught the evening show yesterday and I must say I was totally blown away! The show started exactly 8PM with the clown host convincingly making us be more energetic. He repeated his welcome with us pumped up and with smiles on our faces! 🙂
Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to take pictures during the show as I was apprehended when I took a picture of the funny African host. I sat back and just enjoyed the rest of the show.
One by one, we got to see different circus acts. We also got to experience African music and dances in between the heart-stopping circus performances. I must admit my jaw dropped in every circus act, my golly, they were so dangerous!!! I was extremely worried that if one of them makes a mistake, they’ll surely hurt themselves. It’s nice that Cirque Mother Africa made a nice line up wherein songs & dances were injected in between the stunts, or else, I might have had a heart attack hahaha!
Here are some of the acts we saw during the beautiful show:
- Hula Hoop – I can’t even hula hoop well but the performer did tons of it while standing and yes, walking while on top of a ball! While I was impressed with the act, I was really, really worried that she might fall off. Of course, she didn’t! It was great!
- Unicycle – this was one of my favorite acts. The performer was very animated! He was cracking jokes through his facial expressions while doing those dangerous acts! Imagine riding on different kinds of unicycle, balancing on it, and smiling his way through it. Do catch his cute little act on the mini unicycle. It was hilarious and impressive!
- Balancing on Top of Multiple Chairs – imagine putting multiple chairs on top of one another and standing on it. The performer did it and more!
- Ramadhani Brothers – these guys were huge! They were able to do multiple stunts using only their bodies and most especially, their hands.
- Rolla Bolla – this must be the act that I had my mouth completely opened. It was just too scary to look at. The guy was wobbled on a balance board, placed on top a stack of four rolling cans. My most unforgettable act on Mother Africa show.
- Contortionist – it’s like watching an out of this world performance. This guy is FLEXIBLE (in the truest sense of the word). Catch him lighting up a cigarette in a most unusual mind-boggling way!
- Icarus Foot-Juggling Act – 51 back flips while being tossed up into the air by another acrobat’s feet. A must-watch!!! 🙂
Having watched Cirque Mother Africa felt like I was transported to Africa. I got to experience their culture through beautiful traditional African music, dances and outstanding circus performances. They will have their last show tonight at 8PM. I strongly suggest you get your tickets now and catch Cirque Mother Africa tonight at Newport Performance Theater in Resorts World.
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Cirque Mother Africa in Manila
April 19-22, 2012
Newport Performing Arts Theatre, Resorts World Manila, Newport Boulevard, Newport City Cybertourism Zone, Pasay City
Resorts World Manila Tourist/Visitor Hotline at +63-2-836-6333
TicketWorld at +63-2-891-9999
Wrath of the Titans Movie Review
Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On April 12, 2012
After two years, the sequel to Clash of the Titans finally came out. The film Wrath of the Titans stars Sam Worthington (Perseus), Rosamund Pike (Andromeda), Liam Neeson (Zeus), Ralph Fiennes (Hades), Edgar Ramirez (Ares), Billy Nighy (Hephaestus), Toby Kebbell (Agenor), Danny Huston (Poseidon) and John Bell (Helius).
I’m not really a fan of Greek mythology but since I enjoyed the first movie, I assumed I would likely enjoy the sequel.
After a decade of defeating Kraken, Perseus (demigod son of Zeus) opted to live a normal quiet life as a fisherman and a father to his son, Helius. One day, Zeus appeared before Perseus to inform him that gods are losing control of imprisoned Titans. Tartarus, the place where Kronos (Titans leader) was imprisoned. It was breaking down due to humanity’s lack of devotion to gods. If it continued, then that will be the end of gods and also of humanity. Perseus, however, wasn’t interested in helping out.
But Perseus ended up embarking on the quest into the underworld when his father was captured. Apparently, Hades (Zeus’ brother) and Ares (Zeus’ other son) made a deal with Kronos in order to stay immortal. Ares and Hades squeezed Zeus’ power in order to revitalize Kronos. As Zeus was getting weaker and weaker, Perseus sought the help of friends andromeda and Agenor to rescue his dad.
I honestly can’t pinpoint why I didn’t enjoy Wrath of the Titans that much. The effects and action scenes were good. I loved Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes’ characters there and their acting were superb!
Maybe the story didn’t cut it for me. There wasn’t strong character building. Or maybe the main characters just didn’t show as much emotions as they should be. I loved Rosamund Pike but I think the role didn’t suit her or there wasn’t any material for her to work with. Sam Worthington was emotionless all throughout the movie. He had the same expression even in scenes that would need him to emote. Maybe Perseus was really a man who hides his emotions and not the expressive type. I really don’t know.
If you just wanna sit, watch and relax then you can enjoy Wrath of the Titans. Don’t expect long discussions with friends after watching the movie though.
My Rating for Wrath of the Titans: 3 out of 5 stars
Crazy Katsu
Posted by Rochelle Sy Chua On April 10, 2012
Crazy Katsu was a small restaurant but it certainly has a homey ambiance. The place was filled with wooden tables and benches. I liked the simplistic design.
Crazy Katsu is owned by musicians Shinji Tanaka (drummer, Gaijin) & Bryan Kong (drummer, Taken by Cars). It explains the list of CDs displayed on the restaurant. We were too busy taking pictures that I wasn’t able to browse through the list of albums. I should check them out when I go back (yes, I plan to!).
The wall piece at Crazy Katsu was really eye-catching! The lighting made it look much better so it’s not surprising that we used that as background for most of our pictures there.
The restaurant had simple interiors, and their food menu is just as simple. They had a one-pager straight to the point menu that listed down Crazy Katsu’s specialties. There were just 5 of us, but we almost ordered everything that Crazy Katsu had, hahaha! So here is a list of things we tried out. Everything was delicious and it made me glad that we took a chance in trying out the place.
- Gyoza (Php 120)
Do you know that Crazy Katsu would everyday make their gyoza from scratch? That explains why I enjoyed this dish very much! We ordered gyoza for appetizer and it was the first dish that we tried out. It paved the way for more exciting dishes to try out.
- Fish & Vegetable Tempura (Php 140)
All Crazy Katsu dishes are served with a cup of rice. I guess they were meant to be eaten by 1 person. However, we wanted to try out all food items we ordered. Whether you decide for them to take out the rice, the price would be the same. So, we kept the rice for the fish & vegetable tempura.
- Iced Tea (Php 30)
Their iced tea was home-brewed! I still thought it was a bit on the sweet side though.
- Chicken Katsu (Php 145)
The house specialty is Chicken Katsu. I must agree! Crazy Katsu’s chicken Katsu was unique. The soy-sauce that they poured over the dish plus the spiciness of it made it a winner in my book. If there’s one dish that you should try out in Crazy Katsu, this must be it!
- Katsudon (Php 150)
I wanted to have Chicken Katsu but I saw that everyone ordered Sukiyaki for themselves. I wanted to try out as many dishes as possible so I went for Katsudon. It’s pan-fried pork cutlets, onions, and egg on top of rice. I didn’t like the dish that much. I guess it has something to do with my lingering taste for their chicken katsu.
- Sukiyaki (Php 190)
Oh, the sukiyaki! The only beef dish that Crazy Katsu serves. This was definitely a hit! I was able to try it and I must say it was tasty and oozing with flavors.
- Pudding (Php 80)
I LOVE Crazy Katsu’s pudding or shall I say, ‘Leche Flan’. The chef made this perfectly and I’m not exaggerating! It has the right amount of sweetness and texture. We ordered for sharing because we were too full already. It’s a good way to end an excellent meal.
There are certainly lots of reasons why I want to go back to Crazy Katsu. Aside from the yummy and affordable food that the restaurant serves. Crazy Katsu also has a pool of friendly staff! Service is definitely top-notch. Kudos to the owners for training them well 🙂
For huge fans out there, Crazy Katsu sells its own T-Shirt designed by Team Manila for Php 500.
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Crazy Katsu
#81 Maginhawa St. UP Teacher’s Village, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines
+63-2-435-0030
Mon-Thurs 11am-10pm, Fri & Sat 11am-11pm & Sun 5pm-10pm