Elegant Afternoon: 1837 TWG Tea Salon and Boutique Shangri-La Plaza

After our lunch in Kimukatsu (see my review here) last Thursday, my food buddy and I decided to grab our desserts in TWG. Since we had a late lunch - blame it to traffic, we were just in time to get some tea and pastries.

TWG or The Wellness Group is a Singaporean - based luxury tea established in 2008.

It was my third visit to TWG and my second time to visit their branch in Shangri la. I'm always amazed with their glass walls and gold interiors, so with the porcelain tea pots they display on the counters.

Here's a photo from my favorite blogger, Rowena Lei of Animetric's World. Just click here for her blog

Photo credits from Animetric's World 

Tony, my food buddy told me that the place reminded him of Disneyland (I visited TWG more than once but never thought about it) He said it was the music and the "feel" of the place made him thought of Disney. Maybe he is referring to Princess Belle and Beast drinking tea from Mrs. Potts (hmm not bad).

Here are some of my photos of TWG last December 2013. They introduced Magic Christmas Tea during that time together with its tea - infused macaron.

The place was glamorous. I feel like I'm in a different place every time I visit.

They are selling those porcelain pots that you can see in the picture. Price Ranges from 7K - 25K depending on the size, style and capacity. 

We ordered my favorite Silvermoon Tea (195php/pot) -- Green tea blend with red woodland berries and grand vanilla bouquet. It has a fruity taste and it cleanses the palate, a great tea after our lunch from Kimukatsu.

Aside from the tea, we included some muffins and macarons

We got blueberry and chocolate muffin (150php). I always order their blueberry muffin but both muffins were too crumbly and a lil bit dry. Good thing the tea jelly was stellar, it gave the muffin its saving grace.

On the other hand, the macarons were the best! we ordered (from left to right) Vanilla Bourbon Tea and Kaya, Grand Wedding Tea, Passion Fruit and Coconut and Earl grey fortune and Chocolate (55php/each). For me all are two thumbs up. Fillings are smooth and the macaron shells are not dry unlike other macarons that I tasted from other shops. Taste of each macaron was distinct most especially the chocolate macaron which Tony loved a lot.

It was a wonderful experience.Not bad to have luxury once in a while over a great cup of tea. We decided not to interrupt any of their staff and since I got a great photographer with me, he decided to take my picture alone (little he knew that I took a photo of him as well -- wicked haha)

Been discussing things about Masterchef AU Season 6 with this guy. I also encouraged him to audition to Asian Food Channel's Food Hero since last submission of entries was extended until July 31,2014. I know I'm a little bit pushy to encourage him to join haha -- well its just a moral support from a friend. All I got from him was just a smile and a response "hindi ako artistahin" nyahaha. I still don't buy his reasons -_-

I know I'm getting off topic here, but incase you got a friend, a family member or even yourself who loves to cook, share your talents to people, wanna be seen on TV and loves to travel, AFC's still open for auditions for their next Celebrity Chef.

See the details by clicking here

Going back, if you want to know TWG's WIDE range (yes its wide! They got a whole book for it haha) you can visit their website here or aside from the first blog that I posted you can also check my blogging hero at ourawesomeplanet.com. -- I'm a fan of his site.

So have a cup of tea with your family, friend or someone special. TWG is simply a haven of tea that you must not miss.

TWG Tea Salon and Boutique: 
Address: Mid-level 2/3, Shangri-La Plaza Mall, East Wing Expansion, Mandaluyong City
Website: http://www.twgtea.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TWGTeaPhilippines

Kimukatsu: 25 layers of goodness

Ugh!

It's been raining for a week now and I forgot to post my visit to the new katsu craze in the metro. Been seeing alot of good reviews about them and I wanna share the experience we got after we tried it for ourselves.

Kimukatsu got an offer with Deal Grocer for 500php worth of voucher for just 300php (not bad) So I decided to buy 2 vouchers -- for me and my food buddy (of course I let him pay half of it -- haha). We met up in Shangri la for lunch but curse traffic cause my friend came late haha. Good thing though, the wait made me hungry so I was ready for the food fight.

Originated in Japan, what sets Kimukatsu aside from other restaurants that offers katsu is their 25 Layers of Mille-Feuille Katsu. Yes, it is prepared in a different way and they made variations with the usual tonkatsu.

While I was waiting for Tony, I decided to check out their menu; even ordered edamame -- my favorite appetizer just to kill time. They offer 7 different flavors of katsu which was unique most especially if you get tired of the traditional or you just want to venture on new tastes.

They offer Plain, Cheese, Negi Shio (spring onion), Yuzu Kosho (yuzu fruits and green bell pepper), Ume Shisho (Japanese sour plum shiso leaf ), Garlic and Black pepper. Set meals starts at 390php including unlimited rice, red or white miso soup, cabbage and Japanese pickles.

We ordered cheese and black pepper since it was highly recommended by reviewers. I'm planning to order their kurobuta but skipped on that idea since I really want to taste their flavored katsu

Cheese Tonkatsu (390php) 
No wonder its one of the best seller. The cheese compliments the katsudon making it moist and flavorful. 

Black Pepper Tonkatsu (390php)
Great flavor. Tony ordered this and he said that its a little bit dry (which I agree - tasted it) but it was good. Though he still prefer the cheese katsudon that I ordered haha. 

We also had white and red miso soup. My buddy said that the red miso was roasted compared to white miso that tasted mild and delicate. I'm was planning to ask for more but I'm full from eating all of the unlimited rice and cabbage. 

Like other katsu house, they also got their condiments and black sesame seed for the tonkatsu sauce. 

I'm looking forward to visit them again. Maybe I can tag along some friends so we can order all 7 flavors that they offer. Not a bad idea right? 

We had our dessert on a different store. It deserves its own article that's why I'm not including it here. Thanks to my food buddy for taking the photos for me (well he always criticizes whenever I take photos using my iphone. haha well I can't contest my phone over his Sony Z1 - its reso is wayyy better than mine so I leave him with his photography skills)  

You can like Kimukatsu via Facebook here
Address: Level 5 Shangri-la Plaza East Wing Shaw Boulevard corner EDSA Mandalyoung City
Telephone: +(632) 727-0333

Jamba Juice Secret Recipe: Screaming Orgasm

Yes you read it right. Again, its screaming orgasm haha 

It might sound obscene but the taste was really awesome. Don't look for it in their menu though (cause you won't find it -- that's why its secret hehe)

I asked one of their baristas and I was surprised that they know it. Amazing! Just tell them that you want a screaming O and its up to you if you will blush all over (good thing the cashier is a girl) but the cute barista who prepared my drink handed it over to me (cute guy) repeated, "You ordered screaming orgasm right?" and just gave him a big smile hahaha 

Thank you to looloo and to EJ Dela Vega -- contributor in Looloo insights cause I got a double upgrade for my drink. The cashier just entered the code needed and tadaa!! order is on its way.

By the way, screaming orgasm tasted like a peach-orange concoction. I don't know why they called it screaming orgasm or dirty orgasm cause the cocktail version (which I think the drink where the name originated) doesn't have the same ingredients. Maybe the thought that the it will make you "satisfied" is the reason why they called it that way. 

If you want a fruity fix, just visit one of their stores in Ground Floor, Hanston Square Building, #17 San Miguel Avenue, Ortigas Center, Pasig City

Recipe is listed here: http://www.secretmenuholic.com/dirty-orgasm-screaming-orgasm/

Have a fruity day! 

Chez Karine: new haven of indulgence

I almost forgot that I got a food blog. Its been almost more than 2 months since my last post. Got busy baking lately and I dont have time to complete my entry.

But dont worry, I'll share to you some of my food journey for the past two months that I'm offline from my blog.

Let's start changing stressed to DESSERTS!

My sugar loving friend Mean and I decided to de-stress from work so I recommended to have a tea time (merienda) in Chez Karine. Located at the new fashion mall in SM Megamall, this sweet haven became my favorite. 

Its located in front of Tim Ho Wan, so if you like to get some desserts after a sumptuous lunch or dinner, this is the place to be.

We ordered some of their famous French macarons (55php) regular and (60php) for specials such as smores and butter popcorn as shown in the picture

the place isn't cozy like you expect from coffee shops (with dim lights and easy listening music -- haha) but its a nice spot to have a coffee or tea with friends. 

So with the macarons: 

from top to lower right: Smores (my fave) Strawberry, Black Sesame, Dark Chocolate and Chocolate Mint. I'm a great fan of smores since I love eating marshmallows. My friend Mean preferred the chocolate mint cause the taste of mint and chocolate were balanced -- and I totally agree to that! 

Aside from macarons they also got puddings. What I like most about their puddings is they place it inside a cute little bottle with a small spoon to scoop it out. 

I bought this for my sister. She loves blueberry cheesecake but I just made a boo boo... I forgot the spoon! just realized that when I got home and open the bag for her haha. She still loved it even its kinda hard to scoop it out. I was thinking how they placed the cheesecake inside, then later I learned that those small jars are heatproof -- got that info from All About Baking (they also sell those cutie cute jars)

We didn't stay there for long cause we're avoiding the traffic in Edsa but at least for a short span of time, we gave in to our cravings. Something I love to do once in a while.

They got their social media accounts in case you're curious about their store . Please don't forget to visit their site at chezkarine.com to see other products that they offer 

 No wonder its the reverse of stressed, cause nothing beats a good dessert.