a bite of brownie

Still on our special day bingeing, ReiMart and I met with Sandy at Kayu for another round of dessert (yes we had dessert back at ICAAC but so what?!). The restaurant is located inside a subdivision so it’s tucked away from the usual hustle and bustle of the metro.

Seated on a booth while waiting for our party, the a/c was directed at us or maybe it’s just because I was so full from the previous meal not an hour ago. We looked at the menu, found nothing light we could try consuming, so I asked for the desserts menu. We asked the server which is the bestsellers and we ordered those.


I got the Sizzling Caramel Bar and it did not disappoint with the sizzling part. The waiter had to call our attention before he poured the caramel onto the sizzling plate. We watched it with awe as it produced that crackling sound and the caramel hugged the ice cream, bananas, and the pudding. It’s a dessert channelling the sisig plate that we all so love. After that, dissecting the dish, I found it a little underwhelming. Because that’s that, pudding with ice cream on top and banana slices around the plate. But among the 3 (yes, 3) dishes we had, this was the first to go. Am I just too technical about this dish? LOL


Drei got the Chocolate Fix for his dessert. It’s got chocolate n-ways! Crunch, crémeux, gelée, and the non-chocolate stuff in there, vanilla ice cream and milk crumbs. Well, if you ask me, this is more complicated than my dish. It's also better looking! But I don’t know, maybe you get more than a fix with the amount of chocolate there, and I can’t believe I’m saying that because I am such a sweet tooth, but Drei had to finish his plate alone haha!

Sandy got a Nutella Cheesecake, the only best seller left that’s not on our table. So this is the hazelnut galore dish, from Nutella truffle, candied hazelnuts, and hazelnut flavored granola crumbs, the works! We also had a hard time finishing this one because of the sweetness level haha!

Oh, Sandy and I got the Strawberry Lemongrass mocktail because I’m the designated driver! And well, I haven’t been exactly putting down crates and barrels of liquor haha so yeah mocktail it is!

Verdict: 2/5
Just went here for desserts, I heard they have this tapas menu you can order and a few tables around a fire pit. Would have been nice to dine there, when you’re cold, but it wasn’t available when we arrived.

Since my last visit to Cebu, ReiMart enrolled at this culinary school, International Culinary Arts Academy Cebu, aka ICAAC. And once in a while, when he’s not assigned as dishwasher (yeah, because apparently they take rotations on every station so they get to experience everything) or in any other stations, he get to dine in the restaurant! And as part of our bingeing for his special day, we had a meal in the restaurant to try the dishes prepared by his fellow classmates.

For appetizers, I had the Seafood Chowder and it was the bomb (saying that may trigger a funny memory for poeticnook haha)! I had chunks of every bit of seafood in there and it was such a joy to eat. The soup was thick and very flavorful. ReiMart got the (stacked) Onion Rings as tall as a 12in ruler. Perfectly crispy and light with a nice dipping sauce. And yep, you guessed it, we finished both plates haha!

Our entrees came and the serving size is huge! I really think they put 2 servings in my Blackened Seafood Pasta. The fresh pasta was was blackened with squid ink and it’s sitting on a seafood broth (yes, broth! I was a little surprised when ReiMart told me about it before my plate came) with clams and shrimp. I thought the pasta was al dente but unfortunately needed more flavor. With a broth, I’m not sure how to do that, haha! I finished all the seafood in it but had to leave behind some pasta (I know, the Pasta Gods are frowning down at me!). ReiMart had the Lamb Chop Risotto and if I felt my dish was huge, his plate was so enormous I had to take another second look and even uttered a “good luck” to him. Surprisingly, he managed to eat all of it!

Initially we thought of ordering 2 desserts, but by the time we reached it, we were so full, we had to share a Blueberry Cheesecake instead haha! The cheesecake was so so and light, but what I really loved here was the lemon and blueberry gelées on top. The lemon coulee particularly had a nice sharp taste to it which cuts through the richness of the dessert. We both thought that the nuts on the plate were a little out of place.


Verdict: 2.5/5 (don’t kill me, ReiMart!)
Maybe there’s more to like with the other dishes I haven’t tried. I heard they have an Unli-Steak Night that won’t hurt the wallet. Culinary students from this school should be proud for running the kitchen that night without getting yelled at. I would have liked to see ReiMart in there, I’ll definitely send one dish back, just to throw him off. Haha! Maybe next time.

I remember saying here before that I like having dessert any time of the day, because it’s dessert! So while being trapped by the number coding scheme in place in Metro Manila (it was a Thursday then and my car plate ends with 8), we had to look for a resto where we could have a quick bite, just to burn the 2hr window from 6-8pm. So St Marc Café was the winner among 3 finalists.

Looking at their display, I can’t imagine someone passing by without giving it a second look. I mean, look at it! The desserts are screaming for you! For your name! And if you just pass by, man, you’ve got no love. You’re dead in the bones. Haha!

So. Among the selection, I chose the Choco Berry Celebration sundae. It had rice crispies at the bottom, which I found weird, because it eventually turned soggy because of the sundae. It’s topped with strawberry slices, sliced almonds, a chocolate wafer sticks, and a panna cotta. Finally, it’s drizzled with chocolate sauce. It’s not too sweet, too!

Verdict: 3.5/5
For 250Php per pop I’d gladly come back next week! Try this resto when you’re in the area. It’s at the ground floor of Fashion Hall in SM Megamall.

If there’s one thing interesting with restaurants nowadays, it’s how they elevate a classic dish to something more relatable but yet still affordable. Not your average Japanese restaurant, Ooma dances on the doors of being nostalgic and adventurous.

Oysters are normally deep fried or eaten raw. Then comes Oyster Aburi Maki, an aburi topping for a maki, is just plain genius. Not only it is a mouthful, but when consumed in the right way, it gives exploding layers of flavor and texture in your mouth. The creaminess of that torched Japanese mayo hugging chopped oysters passing on its smoky flovor is a nice contrast to its subtle and sweet flavor. The rice, you’d expect to downplay the taste does no such thing when drizzled with teriyaki sauce and the crisp cucumber and sweet kani inside is your hold to the traditional maki.


Another favorite is the Soft Shell Crab Katsu. I’m used to have this plated as is, dumped on a plate right at the middle. Ooma’s take on this, however, is somehow like a barbequed soft shell crab. The crabs were split to two, made to look like it’s standing up the plate. Drizzled with sriracha mayo that’s not overpowering the crab at all.

Verdict: 3.5/5
I read in Ooma’s menu that the name of the restaurant was a play for the Japanese word “umai” which means “good.” You should pay them a visit one of these days at 3F Fashion Hall SM Megamall.

Rainy season in Manila! And you know what that means, even in the humid weather, we get to enjoy a nice bowl of ramen from your local ramen store. We reviewed a few ramen restaurants in the past months and so far my #1 is still undefeated.

Tucked in the newly renovated wing in Ayala Alabang Town Center, Hanamaruken Ramen is proclaiming to capture happiness in a bowl, and they have ingeniously named it as Signature Happiness Ramen. The ramen was served in a bowl with heels (as I would like to call them) making it appear bigger, but when I dipped my spoon into the broth, I was met with utter dismay that the bowl was quite hollow. But kudos to the presentation! The ramen noodles (could be a little harder, if they ask me), was donned with nice shoyo tonkotsu broth (a little on the salty side), fish cakes, onion leeks, my (additional) aji tamago, and an insanely huge slab (yes, slab) of slow cooked pork rib. Oh, and there’s that seaweed with some writing on it, which I would like to think means “happiness.”

I was able to finish the whole bowl, because that’s what I came for. The slab, I had to push down my throat, it was too big! The tamago, I would have liked it to be a little on the runny side, so yeah, it was a little overdone. That slab was so huge I had to find a light dessert in the form of an ice cream sandwich (which I really, really liked!).

Verdict: 2.5/5
All in all, I’ve had better. Mind you, this bowl is available for a limited amount of servings per day, so be there early if you want to try it. The dish celebrated the huge pork rib slab and because of that, it tear away from the supposed star of the whole dish - the ramen.

When I think of Korean, I usually think of Korean Beef BBQ, Bibimbap, and lots and lots of vegetable side dishes! And of course, that’s what I got from Soban K-Town Grill. The restaurant is located at the posh Ayala Corporate Center in Alabang. The restaurant is good for group or solo patrons and it was just my luck that there’s some sort of an on-going celebration three tables down from me.

I had the Woo Samgyup a la carte, all 180g of thinly sliced beef belly goodness. The sizzle on the grill was intoxicating and I had to forcibly remove myself from the trance so as not to overcook my beef (oh but I did, on some slices haha). This plate came with all assortments of Korean side dishes which is a joy to look at but a pain to actually finish.

The Chicken Teriyaki Bibimbap was just something you have to order to see how beautiful they set up a bibimbap. Sadly, it wasn’t that pretty. Which reminds me, I just recently watched a MasterChef challenge on this dish and wow, the homecooks really took it to heart! Well, some.

Oh and don’t forget to try their Green Tea Iced Tea, it’s a house blend. Don’t be shy, order the refillable glass! You won’t regret it.

Verdict: 3/5
Giving it a 3 as I really loved the Woo Samgyup, I had second servings of their lettuce wraps to really enjoy the strips down to the last bite. Maybe I should have stopped there, the bibimbap was just so-so and a little lacklustre.