A journey to the foodie street Part1: Maginhawa St. and Iscreamist

When my friend Mean (its pronounced as meh-ann haha she spell it that way) wanted to unwind, I suggested to take a break at Maginhawa St.

I read a lot of reviews about the street that even clickthecity.com got their map so you wont get lost.

Photo credits to clickthecity.com

Be sure to have an empty stomach when visiting the place cause there's always a food establishment on every corner. We were able to pass by some of the restaurants in Malingap st. but I want to visit Blacksoup Cafe + Artspace in Maginhawa since a friend recommended that their food is really good. 

One good tip: Make sure to check their opening and closing times cause most establishment there is not available for the whole day. 

Sadly, we arrived in Maginhawa at 3pm and Blacksoup was closed. The guard informed us it will open by 6pm -- dinner service, so we just decided to look for another spot (Bad, my hungry stomach can't wait for 3 hours more) 

Good thing my hero arrived: Street food!! Yes! If you are hungry and can't decide what to eat, you can always grab some munchies in this kind of food cart. He offered quail eggs, squid rings and tofu! 

After eating the famous kwek - kwek (quail eggs) we decided to go to Magiting St. where Iscreamist is located. We intended to walk but since one of my friends are not so into walking, we rode a tricycle going there and to my surprise, there was a long queue of people waiting outside.

Iscreamist is one of the famous places whenever you search Maginhawa St. in Google. They serve ice cream in a different manner by serving it with LIQUID NITROGEN. Yep! you read it right. Liquid Nitrogen.

The place is small but its really cool for a somewhat nerd like me haha. Love their periodic table of ice-cream posted on their wall and the UV lights that illuminates the whole room. Its like you are inside a laboratory of a mad scientist.

We ordered their famous Dragon's Breath -- smores or french macaron dipped in liquid nitrogen. (65php for smores and 75php for macarons) 

They also got cream based and coffee based ice cream but we decided to order the dragon's breath just for fun! 

preparing our orders 

It was really cold. You need to dip the smores for a short time or else it will turn to a crunchy biscuit without any flavor -- the nitrogen tends to draw all the moisture out of my smore making it bland (I did it in purpose for some experiment) If you are brave enough, you can also try eating it without waiting for 7 seconds but don't blame them if your tongue got numb -- yes it will be (just imagine licking an electric post during winter or sticking your tongue in the fridge)

The experience was great! the smores and macarons are ok but the thought that you can experiment your desserts was really fun. I may be back for the real deal -- their cream based and coffee-based ice cream. I got curious if the taste will just be the same with the ice cream tub that is available in the market.

Science is really awesome. especially if food is incorporated in it!

Follow them: 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheIscreamist

IG:  ISCREMIST

Veni, Vidi, Vici Spiral! - Sofitel's Magnificent Buffet

We came, we saw and we CONQUER! This time, it’s SPIRAL of Sofitel Manila. Spiral was listed as the top buffet of looloo’s Midyear report of 2014 for best buffet restos. It was always my dream to set foot and dine on this luxurious hotel knowing it gained a lot of great reviews. 

Then the rumors are true. The place was breath taking. I got little light headed because there’s lot of food to choose from. Lunch service opens at 12:00nn but better to arrive early so you can sit back and relax first before devouring the awesome food they offer.

Photo credits to http://eatinghealthyinthecity.blogspot.com/

Spiral has 21 Ateliers. Yes 21; and each atelier offers a wide range of items. Good thing we arrived 30mins early, still got plenty of time to relax and take pictures. They first served us their famous olive bread with 2 types of butter. It was warm and hearty! Great as a start-up dish.

Here is the list of the twenty one dining ateliers.

>> Salad and Appetizer

>> L’Écailler

>> Sushi Sashimi

>> L’Epicerie

>> Hot Japanese

>> French Stove

>> Rotisserie

>> Wood fired Oven

>> Churrasco

>> North Indian

>> Asian Noodles

>> Peking Duck Oven

>> Steam Baskets

>> Chinese Wok

>> Filipino

>> Thai

>> Korean

>> La Boulangerie

>> La Patisserie

>> Chocolaterie

>> Creamery

We started our lunch with cheeses and cold cuts from Le Epicerie. They have a variety of hard and soft cheeses that can be paired up with the sausages and ham. I’m a great fan of soft cheese but because there’s a lot to choose from, I was up to the challenge of eating the hard sharp tasting cheeses – which I find awesome.

You can also pair the cheeses to your bread of choice. Visit La Boulangerie and be amazed with all the bread selections they they got. 

We headed over to the Asian section where you can choose from Korean, Filipino and Thai cuisines. They also serve our favorite chicaron in a jar – niceee :D

After the almost SEA flare, we decided to grab some Lamb and Prime Rib at the Rotisserie. As always, I requested my lamb and beef to be rare – so I can taste the natural sweetness of the meat paired up with mint jelly for the lamb. It was full of flavor that I was craving for more but since there is a lot of food to choose, we decided to head up to the next atelier: Peking Duck Oven.

Yes, you read it right. The famous Peking duck has its own atelier in Spiral. It’s like a carving station but especially for the lovable duck. You can also get Char Shiu and Crackling pork. Each piece was succulent we even requested for a duck wrap just tell the chef and he’s happy to make you one – sweet!

And before we end our lovely lunchdate, who can forget desserts? Dessert station for me is the crème de la crème of all buffets. In Spiral, they have 3 ateliers that will satisfy your sweet tooth – La Patisserie, Chocolaterie and Cremery.  It’s all in one area so don’t worry cause you don’t need to make a long walk from one area to another. Good thing they allocated us the table near the cremery (beside the fountain under the spiral staircase) – such great view and very good access to desserts haha!

Don’t miss Spiral’s rum bubba. Rum baba is a small yeast cake saturated in hard liquor, usually rum and sometimes filled with whipped cream or pastry cream (source: Wikipedia). Spiral got their own version by not soaking the rum but INJECTING it. Yes! The small plastic thingie that you can see on the picture was the rum; you can control how much alcohol you can take on the dessert. For me, everything! I even took a sip of the rum – and yeah it’s good.

I can’t describe the pastries one by one but they got a lot! For kids and kids at heart, they have a small drawer of goodies – candies, gummy bears and chocolates. I wanted to grab some but the pastries stole my heart.

They also got a chocolate fondue where you can dip your favorite dessert with chocolates. For health conscious or just watching their diet (well I’m not part of the group lol) Spiral also offers fresh fruits and if you’re creative, you can use those in making your own fruit salad or you can request halohalo since it’s just beside the fruit counter. Cremery offers different flavors of gelato. Sad because I’m so full that I only tried mocha and strawberry flavor. 

Overall, the experience was sensational. No wonder Spiral is always on the top of the best buffet list here in the Philippines. All staff were great – they made sure that everyone had a great stay and they accommodated our requests whenever we need any. 

For me, I was one of my food dreams that came true. After conquering Spiral, my sister and I thought of one thing… We shall return!

Wanna make reservations? Its just a click away

http://www.sofitelmanila.com/en/spiral.html

For more info you can also visit my blogger heroes :D

http://www.thepickiesteater.net/2013/06/spiral-at-sofitel-manila-triumphant.html

http://www.ourawesomeplanet.com/awesome/2012/11/spirals-dinner-buffet-by-sofitel-manila.html

Princess_BeLLe