Filipinos aren’t the only ones who love this cold comfort food. Our Southeast Asian neighbors each have their own versions of this icy mix. SPOT zeroes in on the iced desserts of Asia, all of which you can easily find and enjoy right here in Metro Manila.

Cream Anmitsu (Japan)

The Anmitsu is a traditional Japanese dessert which is a menu staple in Japan the way halo-halo is here in the Philippines. Anmitsu is mainly made up of azuki red beans, kanten jelly or nata de coco, fresh fruit pieces, and dango (sticky rice flour balls which are similar to mochi). It can be served with or without crushed ice and ice cream. All the ingredients are then drizzled with a sweet dark syrup called mitsu. Cream Anmitsu is anmitsu with ice cream, and it is actually the more popular variant of this dish.

While the syrupy jelly and sweet azuki red beans can be overwhelming, the fresh fruit pieces, chewy dango balls, and soft-serve ice cream offset the sweetness to make it a refreshing treat for the summer. Kozui’s Cream Anmitsu (P158) is a dead-ringer for the one I had in Osaka, Japan recently.

Cream Anmitsu is available at Hana and Kozui Green Tea Café.

 Ruamit (Thailand)

The term Ruamit stems from the Thai word ruam which means “to combine”.  Ruamit is a Thai dessert wherein assorted ingredients are mixed together and served in iced sweetened coconut milk. According to the Thai dictionary, ruam mit can also mean “assorted” or “with the works”.

Basic Ruamit ingredients include water chestnuts, jackfruit, tapioca, crushed ice, and coconut milk. Here in the Philippines it is usually referred to as Thai Halo-Halo.

Crunchy water chestnuts and chewy tapioca chunks lend a unique texture contrast to this sweet Thai treat. It is best consumed icy cold, immediately after serving. Azuthai’s Ruamit (P125) is served with a sprig of mint — plus points for its refreshment value.

Ruamit is available at Azuthai and Jatujak.

 Ice Kacang (Singapore and Malaysia)

Ice Kacang is a popular dessert served both in Singapore and Malaysia. Kacang is the Malay word for bean. Ice Kacang is primarily comprised of shaved ice, syrup, jelly, and beans. More recent incarnations have sported several syrup flavors in one serving as well as additional ingredients like grass jelly, fruits, and corn kernels. The entire creation is also drizzled with milk.

Malacca’s huge multiple-syrup version of Ice Kacang (P120) has chocolate, strawberry, gula melaka (brown sugar), and pandan syrup all vying for supremacy in a single serving. Underneath the mountain of colorful ice are kaong, sweet corn kernels, grass jelly, tapioca, and red beans. The whole mix is served drenched with a combination of condensed and coconut milk.

Ice Kacang is available at Malacca Authentic Malaysian Cuisine and Nasi Lemak.

Sago Gula Melaka (Malaysia)

Gula Melaka is actually Palm Sugar in Malaysian, and it is used in a wide variety of Malaysian and Singaporean dishes. Sago Gula Melaka is a rather basic Malaysian dessert which consists of tapioca, gula melaka syrup, coconut milk, and crushed ice. Some establishments choose to top it with ice cream.

Albeit very simple in nature, Sago Gula Melaka is a lovely way to cap off a spicy Malaysian or Singaporean meal. Malacca mixes big and chewy tapioca pieces with creamy coconut milk and sweet gula melaka syrup. Instead of using crushed ice like Penang Hill, Malacca tops its Sago Gula Melaka (P80) with a scoop of vanilla ice cream to make it cold.

Sago Gula Melaka is available at Malacca Authentic Malaysian Cuisine and Penang Hill.

Text and images by Rowena Lei.

The Wine and Spirits Club Philippines is a group of enthusiasts, collectors and newbies bound by a passion for learning, discovering and enjoying drinks as much as eating good food. Chef Gene Gonzalez shares with SPOT how the group started, what they really do when they get together and muses about being the Philippines’ very own ‘Thirsty Traveler’.

SPOT: What was the inspiration behind Wines and Spirits Club Philippines?

Chef Gene: I used to be Manila head for the Confrerie dela Chaine des Rotisseurs. It’s the oldest club in the world and is dedicated to the upliftment of food and service. It’s a gastronomic society that’s recognized worldwide. Am also a member of the sub-group, Ordre Mondial des Gourmets Degustateurs, a Wines and Spirits group reachable only to those who can afford to be members of this group. The dinners are quite expensive and you are amongst and in the midst of hard-core wine collectors and hard-core gourmets.

I met a group of yuppies who are more nonchalant about the title of being a ‘gourmet’. We like eating, we like drinking wine and the role of club is really to spread the appreciation of food and wine. We thought of democratizing the appreciation of wines and spirits and the appreciation of food that goes with it so we set up the website for the Wines and Spirits Club Philippines. The site is also the storage of our database, the storage of our essays, the storage of our writings. It’s a treasure trove of our memories. People can come in and people can read what we’ve been doing, what we’ve been eating, what we’ve been drinking. And it’s the greatest, I would say we have the most active talent. You have the best collectors who wish to share their experiences. They are not selfish at all about giving advice to newbies about what to do, where to get wine. It’s become a forum. And it can go from the very serious to the most humorous.

SPOT: Is this just a purely online community for now?

Chef Gene: We have our own pocket events like dinners. The dinners can be fun, like once we had the themed “Brown Bag Dinners” wherein we bring a bottle of wine, and nobody knows which wine you brought. We serve it in a brown bag, totally unidentified. You might know your wine, you consistently drink it, but you don’t know the sequence of when it is served. And we vote for the best wine and the worst wine. The person who brought the worst wine of the evening pays the bill. But it’s fun. And what you realize from these dinners are, sometimes the most expensive, the priciest and the highest-rated wines by all these foreign critics are not always correct. They may not be appreciated by certain talents

SPOT: Do you have strict guidelines on the membership or it’s just really a group of people who love wine and other drinks?

Chef Gene: All you have to do is log in and register. Eventually we might have to put a premium on that to become a member. But right now all you have to do is log in, get involved in the forums and attend the events. It’s really a fun website. People have seen the value of being a member and getting involved.

SPOT: Tell us about your first experience of trying beer or wine?

Chef Gene: My first beer was when I was around five years old. We had drunkard relatives who thought it was funny to give a kid a beer. I got vamped out then eventually there would be these really ritzy parties in my lola’s place. They had cocktails in some area in the living room or in a salon. When the guests would leave, I would go and drink the leftovers. I was always fascinated by watching television, by movies like The Cask of Amontillado, how they would be able to identify these wines, how their talents could be so trained. And with wines, beers or spirits, if they come in moderation, it’s fascinating, especially the process of how they are made. They just have to be well explained, how they’re paired off with food, how the cultures use them, whether they use them for entertaining, or for ceremonies. It’s fascinating. It’s also universal - the taking in of these beverages.

SPOT: What are your personal wine favorites?

Chef Gene: It really depends on the meal but I’m very partial to Spanish wines, probably because they’re memories of poverty. They were what were affordable before when I was receiving a meager salary and these were beverages that I could afford. And Spain is now one of the centers of cuisine in Europe. They have really gone a long way. Also, because one of the biggest vineyard owners in Spain is my friend, Miguel Torres. I’ve been welcomed in his vineyards and his expansive plantation and learned so much from his group, everything from wines to brandies.

SPOT: Did you ever attend wine appreciation classes or wine courses?

Chef Gene: I didn’t attend any wine appreciation courses. I picked it up from people who dined and I always had an open ear. Also, my family is a family of foodies. They’d rather die than not eat good food. My education came straight out from their table and of course, I read a lot and learned a lot when I started joining the wine clubs.

SPOT: Would you ever want a job like that of the Thirsty Traveler’s at some point in your life?

Chef Gene: Yes, I’m quite a fan. I would love to. In fact there’s only one person that has documented local drinks and spirits and the book is out of print. And unfortunately, my copy was eaten by termites. It’s called “Inumang Pinoy” by Edilberto Alegre. It’s a very rare book. He’s the only person who has documented Philippine spirits. He’s written about basi, lambanog and someone should follow up on these. And nobody’s doing artisanal rums. We have a rum industry but it’s all mass-produced.

SPOT: Where do you go for wine? Beer? For other drinks in Manila?

Chef Gene: I actually bring my own because we know all the suppliers anyway. Although, there are some really good places that carry good wines like Barcino. There are some good places that carry good inventory and they’re not expensive. I just bring my own and then I just pay corkage. Some of the best places in Manila recognize that if you are a wine drinker, you normally order good food and you order well so they don’t really hit you on the corkage or they give the corkage for free cause they profit a lot from the food you order.

SPOT: If Chef Gene were a drink, what would you be and why?

Chef Gene: I think I’d be wine. I think I’d be a spicy Spanish red.

For more information on the upcoming events of the Wines and Spirits Club Philippines, log on to www. winesandspiritsclub-philippines.com.

Ming Tsai toasts M Café and Chef Sau del Rosario .

The first highlight of American fusion cuisine chef Ming Tsai’s visit to Manila this week was a taste of our version of Philippine fusion cuisine involving camaru, lechon, sinigang, foie gras, and Chilean sea bass at modern Asian restaurant M Café last Saturday night, April 25 for a dinner thrown in his honor.

MING MINGLES

Clad in a blue (his favorite color and the color theme of his famed Boston restaurant Blue Ginger) striped shirt, jeans and black sandals, Ming Tsai breezed into M Café last Saturday night with his Manila-based cousin, real estate executive Leighton Tsai, and Leighton’s wife Linda, a life coach. Looking cuddlier than his formerly hunky TV self but still flashing his trademark smiling eyes, Tsai’s affable persona that has made for good food TV for more than a decade permeated the restaurant the minute he walked in. That night he was also reunited with his colleague from 20 years ago at the Chicago Intercontinental, Terri Betia-Swager, and his former professor at Cornell, Tom Cullen, who was in town to visit his friends Tom and Annabel Wisniewski, owners of M Café.

PAMPANGOURMET?

Former M Café chef Sau del Rosario who hails from Pampanga, engineered the “Country Filipino Cuisine” feast that night. On the menu, printed on little banderitas strung across the long table evoking a fiesta were Pampango favorites given a modern twist: Pica Pica Buru, fermented rice with crispy catfish and yes, sautéed crickets rolled in mustasa leaves; Pacu Ampo Paru, forest fern salad with prawns, salted egg, watermelon, fresh young coconut in a country vinaigrette; Sisig Pambuc Babi, pork bits with chicken liver, red onions and chili; Bulanglang Asan, or Chilean sea bass in a sour guava broth, Pugu Adobo Foie Gras, stewed pigeon in vinegar soy sauce topped with foie gras, quail egg and pickled vegetables; Litsung Bigak, stuffed suckling pig with green curry rice, and Tibok Tibok, native carabao’s milk curd and purple yam cake.

At the dinner table, all eyes and ears were on the 45-year-old celebrity chef and restaurateur who rose to fame in the late 90s with his Food Network show East Meets West, for which he won an Emmy Award. Tsai currently hosts two cooking shows, Ming’s Quest on the Fine Living television channel and Simply Ming on American Public Television, and is the author of three cookbooks. While fellow guests dillydallied in a Fear Factor-like dilemma over the first course of crickets, Tsai was unperturbed and ate a whole mustard leaf-ful of the Pampango delicacy, saying, “They taste like beetles.”But he didn’t have seconds. He gushed about the sea bass sinigang. “He inhaled it,” observed someone sitting across him. “Is the sea bass farm-raised?”he asked. He devoured the sisig, left a little of the pigeon and foie gras on his plate, and proclaimed the lechon to be his favorite, along with the sinigang.“These are good portions for a tasting menu,” Tsai remarked. He ate just enough of everything, even taking photos with his own camera.

THE MING THEY KNEW

In the middle of dinner, he got up from his seat and surprised everyone by popping into the kitchen, to the delight of Chef Sau del Rosario and his staff. “What’s that, is that a foam?” he asked one of the junior chefs making the dessert. Inevitably, photo-taking and autograph signing ensued between aspirants and idol. His old friends were not surprised, sharing their own stories of Tsai’s magnetic personality.“He likes to do that because he knows what it was like to be one of them,” remarked Swager, who worked at the Chicago Intercontinental while Tsai was Food and Beverage manager. “He’s always been so down to earth, even back then. I went to his wedding, and he went to mine! And his kids, they’re also such hams like their father.”

Recalls Cullen, who was Tsai’s management professor in graduate studies in hotel management and hospitality marketing , “Ming was always crazy even back then, definitely a right-brain thinker. One day I walked into our class and saw him holding a banana by his ear. I said ‘Ming, what are you doing?’ He said, ‘I’m on my banana phone.’ And this was graduate school!’” He chatted with everyone at the table, even with us. He spent the day playing golf at Southwoods, he said, after which “I had a fantastic massage for what, $6! It’s unbelievable. They came to my place! Tomorrow, two people will massage me. The day after that, I’ll have three people. Then, it’ll be time to leave! Think about it, you’ll have someone massaging your head, your back, your feet—all at the same time!” he laughed.

After the last course, Tsai stood up to propose a toast, congratulating Chef Sau and his staff and M Cafe for a wonderful dinner, joking that he should really stay longer in, or even move to Manila. Afterwards, melodious bell-jingling ushered in an authentic Sorbetes cart parked in front of the dinner table. Tsai had first dibs.“Hey, Sau!” Tsai hollered. “This mango ice cream doesn’t taste dirty at all.” He gamely posed for even more photos until every one in the room, even the wait staff, had a souvenir of him. Then, at around 11 p.m., Tsai had to go. Together with his cousin and some newfound Manila friends, Ming Tsai was off to Establishment.

Photos by Michael Wisniewski, Terri Swager and Raeanna Cranbourne.

Aubergine may have won Best Interiors in the recent Gold Spots Awards. But it’s also a nod to the inner workings that make this year-and-a-half-year-old restaurant one of the best in town.

SPOT.ph talked to executive Chef Stefan Langenhan and Sous Chef Samuel Linder about the two elements that bring to life Aubergine’s elegant interiors: the staff in the front of the house and the chefs in the kitchen.

A staff that’s supervised and trained well contributes to one part of a restaurant’s over-all atmosphere, says Chef Samuel. It’s when your waiter puts you at ease as soon as you enter, order off the menu with wise recommendations from him, and dine contentedly on your table.

Aubergine’s co-founder Hans Schallenberg, Meg (restaurant manager) or Reynan (captain waiter) regularly keep the staff in top form. “Everyday we have a training session with the staff on different topics. Some day we talk about how to open a bottle of wine or how to set up the table exactly,” reveals Chef Stefan. Aubergine had also been nominated for Over-all Service in the Gold Spots Awards.

Aside from knowing how to serve the guests, the staff is also trained to be knowledgeable about the wines on the list, how to serve the beverages, and most importantly, Aubergine’s menu and bestsellers. The latter is done through a menu briefing, especially when something new is added. The chefs explain in detail everything about each dish—from the ingredients to preparation—and expect the staff to know the dishes by heart.

This sense of knowledge about what (and how) they serve in the restaurant boosts the staff’s confidence. “You [the waiter] don’t have to be nervous with [the customers] because you know what you are doing,” says Chef Stefan. Such confidence translates to smooth-sailing service and enhances the ambience.

Going hand in hand with a confident and knowledgeable staff is their passion. If they’re passionate about their profession, it’s reflected in the way they handle their work and in their overall disposition. “Only then can they make the guests happy,” says Chef Samuel, because the staff themselves are happy with what they are doing.

He also mentioned how the staff should be attuned to the human side of the profession. “They should be able to ‘read’ the guests, see which guest needs more attention. If they see a couple having a romantic dinner, they don’t [appear at the table] every five minutes,” says Chef Samuel, and end up interrupting a private moment. Or perhaps their movement should be brisk when a group of businessmen is having a power lunch.

At the kitchen, Aubergine is manned by the two professional chefs while the rest are all senior students from the International School for Culinary Arts and Hotel Management (ISCAHM). Every two months, another batch of 15 student-apprentices come in for the internship. These chefs and their apprentices ensure that the food comes out consistently good at all times, pleasing regular patrons that form 50% of Aubergine’s clientele.

SPOT.ph readers who have visited Aubergine know how good are the Sea Bass, Foie Gras Sampler, Lamb Rack, Chocolate Dome, and Pineapple Crème Brulee. Chef Stefan says the blackboard specials are also very popular among the guests. The waiter explains the specials for the day as soon as the guests are settled in their seats and ready to peruse the menu.

For guests who want to explore a bit of French cuisine, “they often go for the degustation menu,” says Chef Stefan. The seven-course degustation menu changes every week so return guests who want to indulge will always have something exciting lined up for them.

To show “how we are preparing our dishes here,” Aubergine will be offering a cooking class this May, says Chef Stefan. Not your usual cooking class, Aubergine’s chefs will showcase “high-end cooking” to complement the fine dining experience of the restaurant. It will cover basic preparations as well as how to work with some expensive ingredients like foie gras and lobster.

Aubergine is located at 5th Avenue corner 32nd St., Bonifacio Global City with telephone number 856-9888.

To be held for four Saturdays, the cooking class will be facilitated by Chef Stefan and Aubergine’s co-founder, Chef Norbert Gandler. Check out their website at www.aubergine.ph for more details.

Serenitea is the brain child of Export Management graduates Peter Chen and Juliet Herrera. On a trip to Taiwan, they saw the popularity of tea and the presence of numerous tea houses and kiosks in almost every corner. Along with souvenirs from their trip, the partners brought back and introduced a new way of tea drinking to the Philippines.

To ensure that they maintain the authenticity of their products, all of their ingredients and equipment are ordered from Taiwan. No powdered mixes here, what you’ll have is a drink made from tea bags and real tea leaves by an espresso machine that was specially customized to brew teas.

A variety of toppings, which include sweet pudding, silky black jelly and chewy pearl balls, can be added to fit your individual taste, preference and idea of the perfect healthy summer cooler. And along with choosing the toppings that go into your drink, the servers also give you a small cup of your choice drink for you to taste the sugar levels until you give them the thumbs-up.

We list down our cold favorites at Serenitea, bound to become your summer drink of choice:

1) Yakult Green Tea (P80)
Who would ever thought that Yakult, which we all loved during our childhood years can be made into a cold drink mixed with your favorite type of tea. When mixed with green tea, the drink is fragrant and complements the smooth, healthy Yakult. With black pearls and a sugar level of 50%, this drink goes down well with a plate of Pepper Tofu.

2) Royal Milk Tea with Black Jelly (P80)

A sweet milk tea combined with smooth black jelly is a refreshing summer cooler. Milk teas are generally sweet, so this tea is best taken with minimum sugar levels for the uber health-conscious. The Royal Milk Tea can also be ordered hot (P70).

3) Blueberry Iced Tea (P80)
For those who want it simple and refreshing, the Blueberry Iced Tea is highly recommended. Every sip has a burst of sweet blueberry flavor with just the right amount of sweetness. A perfect pair to Serenitea’s yummy Chicken Chops, this will save you from a summer filled with aspartame-sweetened drinks.

Serenitea Cha Kitchen is located at the Ground Floor of the GNL Building, J. Abad Santos cor V. Cruz, San Juan City with telephone number 379-4166.

Images taken by John Paul Ang.

With almost every other eating establishment offering halo-halo as a menu staple, determining who does it best becomes a pretty tricky task. From the most basic halo-halo to the fancier and more unique creations, SPOT goes around town to see who has the best mix of all.

Chowking
Name: Fiesta Halo-Halo with Ice Cream
Ingredients: Ice cream, leche flan, sago, ube, red beans, banana, white kidney beans, pinipig, macapuno, garbanzos, gulaman, jackfruit, crushed ice, and evaporated milk
Presentation: An order comes served in a wide bowl with the ingredients set on a bed of finely crushed ice with milk. It’s actually one of the more photogenic of the bunch with its colorful ingredients.
Price: P94
Overall Taste: Chowking’s Fiesta Halo-Halo is definitely on the sweet side. The beans, garbanzos, and other ingredients taste generic, suspiciously like the kind you can buy bottled in grocery stores. The ice is finely crushed, and since it’s served wide instead of tall, it’s easy to mix everything up and eat spoonfuls from the bowl. Nothing really special here, just your typical foolproof halo-halo.

Click here to get a list of Chowking branches.

The Peninsula Manila
Name: Halo Halo Harana
Ingredients: Ice cream, leche flan, macapuno, jackfruit, kaong, nata de coco, sweet beans, garbanzos, pinipig, ube, crushed ice, and fresh milk
Presentation: All the ingredients are served underneath a mound of crushed ice inside a big glass chalice. A scoop of ube ice cream and a cube of leche flan top the serving.
Price: P400
Overall Taste: The Peninsula Manila prides itself on halo-halo that’s been hailed as “The Best Legal High” by Time Magazine. Sad to say, the actual order doesn’t really live up to the hype. The ice is coarsely crushed, rendering a very gravelly texture to Halo Halo Harana. You can actually chew on the big bits of ice and they’d make these crunching noises against your teeth. There’s also a lot of ice packed in that it’s rather hard to reach the layers of ingredients buried way down below. Halo Halo Harana uses fresh instead of the usual evaporated milk so the overall flavor is neither too sweet nor overwhelming. Considering the price you have to pay for this baby though, we can’t really say it’s worth it.

The Peninsula Manila is located at the corner of Ayala and Makati Avenue, Makati City with telephone number 887-2888.

Bistro Filipino by Chef Laudico
Name: Halo-Halo Napoleon
Ingredients: Carabao milk sorbet, carabao’s milk ice cream, ube tuille, garbanzos, kaong, red beans, white kidney beans, nata de coco, macapuno, and red bean paste
Presentation: At first glance, you’d think it was an ice cream sundae creation with the meticulously arranged scoops of ice cream and sorbet. If there was such a thing as the most artistic and styled halo-halo award, Halo-Halo Napoleon would definitely bag it.
Price: P168
Overall Taste: Halo-Halo Napoleon sets itself apart from all others by skipping the crushed ice and milk part altogether. Chef Laudico creatively substitutes carabao milk sorbet in its place. The result is a variety of flavors and textures that would tickle any foodie’s palate. The only downside is, if you get too excited and finish the sorbet before the rest of the ingredients, you’d be stuck with a lot of sweet and sticky stuff that aren’t even cold. Be warned that the carabao milk sorbet has an aftertaste when eaten on its own.

Chef Laudico’s Bistro Filipino is located at the Ground Floor, Net 2 Bldg. 3rd Avenue, Fort Bonifacio Global City, Taguig with telephone number 856-0634 and 856-0541.

Milkyway
Name: Milkyway Halo-Halo
Ingredients: Ice cream, leche flan, red beans, gulaman, kaong, macapuno, garbanzos, banana, white kidney beans, ube, pinipig, crushed ice, and fresh milk.
Presentation: Milkyway Halo-Halo is served the usual way — in a tall glass and topped with a scoop of ice cream. A word of warning though: when the Rockwell branch’s kitchen gets busy with a lot of patrons waiting to be served, the Halo-Halo tends to come out a bit sloppy.
Price: P85
Overall Taste: Half-expecting the Milkyway Halo-Halo to be like Chowking’s, the concoction surprisingly creates a smooth blend that is not overly sweet given its wide array of ingredients. Everything just works together so well that you‘d want to drink your halo-halo after eating up most of the beans and things.

Milkyway is located at the Concourse Level, Powerplant Mall, Rockwell, Makati City with telephone number 756-5026. Other branches are at Pasay Road and Greenhills Shopping Center.

Razon’s of Guagua
Name: Halo-Halo (Razon’s Pride)
Ingredients: Leche flan, macapuno, banana, crushed ice, and evaporated milk
Presentation: Razon’s Halo-Halo is probably the simplest looking halo-halo of all. A serving resembles a tall glass full of snow topped with thin slices of leche flan.
Price: P73
Overall Taste: While Razon’s version of our favorite refreshment may seem short on ingredients, it’s anything but lacking in terms of taste. This deceptively simple concoction is rich, and goes down smooth and easy for a truly refreshing experience. Their incredibly creamy leche flan is also to die for, too bad there are only a few thin slices per serving. Even the strings of macapuno and banana bits are chewy and flavorful. Clearly, Razon’s of Guagua prioritizes the quality of its halo-halo components over the quantity.

Click here to get a list of Razon’s branches.

Overall Winner
Despite being the less fancy-looking halo-halos on the list, it was a close fight between Milkyway and Razon’s of Guagua. Razon’s ultimately proves that less is more, giving you a sweet, icy treat to cool you off in the middle of Manila’s sweltering summer.

Images taken by Rowena Lei, artwork by Karl Bustamante.

The alfresco area can make you feel like you’re at the beach: request for the tables that sit on pebbled floors.

Ask most couples who live down South and you can bet they’ve celebrated an anniversary or two, soaking up the relaxed atmosphere and the skyline views atop the Vivere Suites in Alabang. Aside from being a romantic get-away, the place is also a haven for those who want to escape the sweltering heat of summer without heading far from the city. At Vivere Skyline, when the sun goes down, the temperature follows suit.

When to go: Although the restaurant is open from 5:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. daily, breakfast or lunch isn’t the best time to appreciate the charm that Vivere Skyline is ever so famous for. Trust us, go during dinner time. Reservations are recommended because you never know when other people are planning a romantic dinner. Their restaurant policy gives you a 15-minute grace period so be sure to come on time or else you and your friends might just have to go back down to the welcoming arms of the city’s summer heat. The best seats in the house are the ones outside. The cooler temperature coupled with balmy winds will have you chilling in the middle of a sweltering summer.

Muted warm lights make the interiors of Vivere extra romantic.

What to eat: The Vivere cuisine can be best described as a healthy mix of American and European flavors. For beginners, it’s fitting to start the meal with a sampler. Fortunately, Skyline’s Asian Seafood Platter (P325), made up of fish crackers, a piece of Salmon Teriyaki, Squid Head Tempura, and Crispy Fish Dumpling, is a good way to jumpstart your appetite for your main course. If you’ve just finished dinner and are just there for a couple of beers, this hearty appetizer is also recommended.

My group ordered the Lengua Estofado (P355) and the Seafood Crepe Aromat (P475) which were indicated as highly recommended on the menu. The first dish is a generous serving of Lengua medallions leaning against a mound of creamy mashed potatoes. The red wine mushroom demi-glaze sauce creates a refreshing counter to the otherwise heavy flavor of the mashed potatoes. But sadly, there’s not much of it. The honey glazed saba and buttered vegetables on the side didn’t offer striking flavors that would have been made the dish an unforgettable one. On the bright side, the mango tomato salsa precariously perched atop the hill of mashed potatoes did deliver some zest to the otherwise flat dish.

Don’t be fooled. Even without rice, the Lengua Estofado dish is extremely filling.

We chose the Profiteroles (P130) to appease our sweet tooth. The large cream puff- like pastry is filled with vanilla ice cream and topped with chocolate syrup and shaved almonds. The serving size can delightfully please two people.

Lovers of the traditional french cream puff will go crazy over the Profiterole.

The Scene: To describe the restaurant as romantic is an understatement. The main dining room’s interiors are characterized by dark, rich tones with sensuous music filling the space. The outside dining area houses the infinity pool and the mini-garden, which is the area which gets occupied first by dining groups who are seeking refuge from the summer heat. For expats looking to watch a game of football, the bar has a large flat screen where you can hang out, grab a brew, and scream your head off and cheer for your team.

Insiders Tip: The Vivere Suites is a gem located in Filinvest, Alabang. For those not familiar with this southern region of the metro, all you have to do is take South Super Highway and make a right at Alabang Exit. It’s the quickest way there.

The view from thirty floors up. A majestic scene to take in as you down your cold beers and enjoy the chilly night breeze.

Also, do stay until the waiter hands you your Infinity Card. It’s a card that entitles you to free dishes and drinks, and even a discount on your stay at Vivere Suites, depending on how often you visit the Skyline.

Vivere Skyline is located at the 31st Floor Vivere Suites, 5102 Bridgeway Ave., cor. Asean Drive, Filinvest Corporate City, Alabang. For reservations and inquiries, please contact 771-777.

Images 1, 3 and 4 by Karl Bustamante. Image 2 and 5 by Katrina Chua.

Double your Bibingcrepe fun by having it topped with ice cream.

“A Bibingcrepe is actually a lot like the Indonesian martabak, except that it’s really suited for the Filipino taste,” shares Kiko Rustia, co-owner of Halfmoon Asian Café (which used to be known simply as Halfmoon Bibingcrepe). A martabak is a sweet, thick pancake topped with anything from cheese, chocolate, crushed peanuts, condensed milk, and sesame seeds and is a very popular snack in Indonesia. “What we have here is a fusion of the martabak, bibingka, and crepe,” Kiko continues. Hence, the Bibingcrepe is a distinctly Filipino creation resulting from a medley of different culinary cultures.

Kiko and Halfmoon founder Chef Dick Balajadia have been best friends for the last fifteen years and jointly manage Halfmoon Asian Café. Kiko was recently featured as one of the Castaways in GMA Network’s Survivor Philippines. Unknown to many, Kiko is also actually a chef himself, having graduated from Center for Culinary Arts Manila.

“Filipinos love desserts, but we didn’t want to make our Bibingcrepe too fancy. Its flexibility is what makes it unique since it works well both as a filling snack for merienda and as a dessert for sharing. It can be savory or sweet,” Kiko explains. “We really worked hard to develop and perfect our Bibingcrepe batter using only the finest ingredients, and we don’t use just any ordinary pan to cook it. We have specially forged pans that are custom made according to our specifications.”

At the moment, there are five different Bibingcrepe variants available — Cheese, Chocolate, Choco-Cheese, Corn-Cheese and Choco-Mallows. Servings come in two sizes, Mini (P60-P65) and Regular (P95-P100). For an additional P5, you can have it topped with ice cream.

Kiko claims that the all-time bestseller is the Choco-Cheese Bibingcrepe, and it’s not hard to see, or rather taste, why. The thick yet soft pan cake is served hot, crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside. The tangy cheese and the semi-sweet chocolate fillings complement each other perfectly. You’d be hard-pressed to limit yourself to just one slice. “We really picked a specific kind of chocolate for our Bibingcrepe. We wanted it to be smooth with just a slight bitterness to it that can be likened to dark chocolate so it wouldn’t be too overwhelming,” Kiko elucidates.

The new variant of Bibingcrepe - the Bibingcrisp is sure to be a hit to those who love food on the crispy side.

ith the success of the Bibingcrepe, Halfmoon has also started to offer a thin, wafer-like version called the Bibingcrisp. The Bibingcrisp variants include Cheese (P60), Chocolate (P60), and Choco-Marshmallow (P75), with Cheese as the bestseller. The Cheese Bibingcrisp is similar to a cheese quesadilla except that it’s crispy and slightly sweet since it uses the same batter as the Bibingcrepe. Kiko suggests having the Cheese Bibingcrisp with a nice tall glass of cold Green Mango with Basil Iced Tea (P55) for the ultimate Halfmoon experience.

Since Halfmoon has recently evolved from being a Bibingcrepe stand to a full-service café, classic Asian snacks such as Pork Siomai (P80), Char Keuy Teow (P165), Luscious Laksa (P170), and Cabbage Rolls (P80) are available as well.

Half Moon Asian Café is located at 238 Sct. Bayoran St. cor. Tomas Morato Ext., Quezon City. For inquiries, call 411-3105. They also have a branch near Mines View Park in Baguio City.

Text and images by Rowena Lei.

Leading the local health bandwagon is vitamin-infused water. The latest ads of boxing legend and local “bayani” Manny Pacquiao is an indicator that vitamin water is definitely going mainstream. And with all the different brands out there, which vitamin water is actually worth drinking? SPOT takes on the tough job of trying out and rating four of the most popular brands in the market today.

SUMMIT VITAMIN WATER

Price: P17.00
Aroma: With an aroma that’s akin to that of United American Tiki-Tiki, it’s pretty much set that this vitamin water is packed with the good stuff.
Vitamin Content: C (500 mg), B1, B3, B6, B12, and E.
Overall Taste: With hints of lemon and orange, the refreshing taste of this brand is definitely ahead of the competition. Now if they can only do something about that unsettling smell.

RUSH FITNESS WATER

Price: P24.00
Aroma: Hints of citrus and a subtle fragrance that’s usually associated with a freshly opened pack of car air freshener hits your senses once you twist open the cap, Rush definitely gets plus points in the aroma department.
Vitamin Content: Calcium, Potassium, Chloride, other minerals
Overall Taste: Though the flavor clearly says “Grapefruit Blitz”, there’s just the smallest of hints of grapefruit and the dominant taste is a sweet, watered-down taste that’s very refreshing.

VITWATER

Price: P19.00
Aroma: With a strong smell that reminds you of a mix of mango and blueberry, one might be duped into thinking that Vitwater also has a strong taste.
Vitamin Content: B3, B5, B6, B12, C, D-Ribose
Overall Taste: Contrary to it’s strong color and smell, the drink is still pretty much watered-down. The citrus flavors are still subtle but are still tangible enough to make your drinking experience pleasant.

GATORADE PROPEL

Price: P20.00
Aroma: “Royal Tru Orange” is the first thing that you’ll remember once you a take a whiff of the Mandarin Orange-flavored Propel. The good thing is that its aroma isn’t as overpowering.
Vitamin Content: C, E, other minerals
Overall Taste: In terms of taste, Propel is right up there with Summit Vitamin Water. The Mandarin Orange flavor is very close to the actual taste of mandarin oranges. A minus for it though, is that the sodium content of the drink is pretty high. Consequently, there’s a bit of a salty aftertaste which isn’t really good.

OVERALL WINNER
It’s definitely a toss-up between Summit Mineral Water and Gatorade Propel. But ultimately, the smell of Summit Mineral Water is a big enough reason for us to give Gatorade Propel the gold.

* Prices are based on convenience store rates. Actual prices may vary.

Images and artwork by Karl Bustamante.

Summer ice cream socials are always in order when the sun starts beating down on us Manila mortals and with the temperature rising this week, cooling off has become imperative. SPOT visited a couple of ice cream parlors in the city where elaborate ice cream treats are prepared and ice cream concoctions all clamor for your attention.

Art’s Cream Gallery

Located near the escalators of the Padre Faura Wing of Robinsons Place Manila, Art’s Cream Gallery sits in the middle of the mall’s ground floor lobby with the striking red Japanese-inspired umbrellas catching one’s attention. Several tables and compact cream sofas encircle the Art’s Cream stall, echoing a relaxed, minimalist vibe to the ice-cream eating experience.

The Ice Cream Selection. The colorful ice cream is displayed gelato-style on the counter with the more popular flavors tagged with a ‘bestseller’ sign to help you make your ice cream decisions. Art’s Cream serves Fiorgelato Ice Cream, which may be ordered in a cone or in a cup. Ice cream creations are also on the menu, which includes One for All, where several ice cream scoops fill up a huge martini glass and a dessert named Blooms, served with sugar roses on top of the ice cream scoops.

The Waffle Cone (P180), is a mid-sized ice cream concoction with three flavors of your choice, a wafer stick on the side and sprinkled with chocolate sauce, nestled inside a sturdy and crunchy waffle cup. While the strawberry-flavored wafer stick did not do wonders for the dessert, the creamy, flavorful ice cream itself is really Art’s Cream masterpiece. Highly recommended are the Chocolate and Mango flavors.

Ambience. Art’s Cream’s stall is in the middle of the lobby so expect noise from shoppers and the mall’s foot traffic.

Why You Should Go. The ice cream’s taste and creamy texture echo the home-made kind and an ice cream fix will always be a sweet finish to a day of shopping. Plus, they have pasta, salad dishes and coffee for those who strangely do not like ice cream.

Art’s Cream Gallery is located at the Ground Floor Padre Faura Wing, Robinsons Place Manila, Ermita, Manila.

Iceberg’s Eskimo Bob

Eskimo Bob sits along San Miguel by the Bay behind Mall of Asia, beside the myriad of seafood restaurants and bars with a view of Manila’s bay.

The Ice Cream Selection. When the server hands you the menu, you will be faced with overwhelming choices from the Choco Creations Line, Towering Parfaits and Amazing Splits. Eskimo Bob also serves the Ultimate Big Bob, a bowl with six scoops of ice cream, mango, peach and strawberry slices on the side, a drizzling of chocolate syrup and whipped cream.

The Chocolate Banoffee Split (P185) is a visual delight with brownie cubes, wafer sticks and cherries to play up the traditional Banana Split treat. While the dessert is total eye-candy, the ice cream tasted like the usual store-brought kind, sweetened by the generous toppings and impeccable presentation.

Ambience. Colorful walls splashed in oranges and greens with mouth-watering images of ice cream desserts and sandwiches mark Eskimo Bob’s walls. Orange and white chairs, comfy booth seats and bright lights complete the cheery and inviting diner ambience.

Avoid dropping by at around 3 p.m. when the height of the afternoon heat streams in through the diner windows which makes for an unbearably hot ice cream afternoon experience.

Plus Factors. Pretty ice cream presentations remind you of your ten-year old self plus they have a Ferrero Indulgence Sundae, crepes, pizza and pasta on the menu.

Iceberg’s Eskimo Bob is located at San Miguel by the Bay, Mall of Asia, Pasay City with telephone number 415-6778.

Cold Rock Ice Creamery

Since Cold Rock opened its first branch at The Fort, appreciative customers somehow flock back for a cup of smashed ice cream blended with your choice of fun mix-ins: gummy bears, chocolate chips and sliced chocolate bars, cookie dough and a slew of other toppings you don’t find at your run-of-the-mill ice cream parlor.

The Ice Cream Selection. “If you can dream it, we can ice cream it”, so goes their slogan and more than ten flavors are on display at the counter. Count on Cold Rock to have the uncommon flavors coupled with the regular kinds and you can always ask to sample flavors like Tia Maria, Rum and Raisin, Irish Cream, Tiramisu and White Chocolate before you decide which flavor you’re going to get for the day. The mix-ins are as varied as the ice cream flavors and it is literally a playground for those who love over-the-top ice cream confections to satisfy all kinds of sweet cravings.

Ambience. Cold Rock’s interiors carry the dominant hues of the Australian flag, where the first Cold Rock store opened: red, blue and white chairs can be found in the store with kangaroos dotting the walls of Cold Rock. Even with house music blaring from the speakers of the Greenbelt branch, it’s soft enough for you to hear the conversation at your table.

Why you should go. If you’re ready to splurge on atleast P180 (medium-sized cup) for ice cream, creating your own dessert concoction should be a fun treat. They also have monthly specials and this month’s movie combo is the Yumdog Millionaire, a play on the Grammy award-winning film and is a mix of White Chocolate ice cream with strawberries, bananas and Rice Krispies.

Click here to get a complete list of Cold Rock branches.

The Ice Cream Bar (Flavors by FIC)

Hip meets retro at The Ice Cream Bar, where young urbanites go and show devotion to all things ice cream and more.

The Ice Cream Selection. More than fifteen FIC ice cream flavors are available at The Ice Cream Bar, along with shakes, signature concoctions and their version of the increasing popular frozen yogurt. The Banana Caramel Crunch (P250), a bestseller, is a sublime creation with vanilla and butterscotch ice cream, banana slices and caramel pastilles with delicate drizzles of caramel butterscotch syrup. Streusel also lends texture to the ice cream treat.

Ambience. White, orange and red dominate the diner’s interiors and gives off a homey diner feeling. Outdoor tables are available for alfresco dining, which are best for windy nights.

Plus factor. The Ice Cream Bar has Buffet Thursdays this month, where you can get unlimited scoops of local gourmet ice cream for P295. They also have free wi-fi and is open till 12 midnight and until 1 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

The Ice Cream Bar is located at the Joya Tower, Joya Drive, Rockwell Center, Makati City.