Mochiko

Pin It Now!

There's an interesting new snack spot in Ayala that you guys should try out.

Mochiko sells mochi ice creams whi are Japanese treats. These are usually made out of mochi, chewy glutinous rice cake with powdered sugar, and ice cream. They are usually made in pastel colors.

The colors of their mochi are to die for. Sorry, but they are just so cute. It was a bit difficult to pick which one I would be getting for myself. So, I asked for their bestsellers and opted for the cookies and cream. The boyfriend, a lover of everything in the shade of green, got the green tea one. Each one costs P70.

The easiest way to describe mochi ice creams to Cebuanos is that it's very similar to our own local masi. The masi is also made of glutinous rice, but with sweetened peanuts. With mochi ice cream, you get a whole scoop of ice cream at the center.

green tea!

cookies and cream

our snacks for the day

My cookies and cream mochi ice cream was really good. No wonder it's a bestseller. The texture of the cookie inside and the sweet ice cream blends well with the sweet mochi. It was really good and yummy. The green tea was also good. However, the mochi somehow overpowers the taste of the green tea ice cream which robs it a bit of its real flavor. Nevertheless, it was still yummy.

I really like Mochiko's mochi ice cream. They are unique and yummy. Being a tad bit pricey for a snack is my only concern. It's not really that filling of a snack. But if you don't mind spending a bit for a yummy treat, then go ahead. You'll love the pretty colors!

PIIINK!

If you want to drop by, you can find them beside Tablea at Ayala's Active Zone.

OT: Lumpia ni Senyang

Pin It Now!

I discovered Lumpia ni Senyang because of the boyfriend. Before, we had lots of free time during school days that we'd head to Senyang's which is just a tricycle ride away from the boyfriend's place in Lapu-Lapu. It's right across St. Alphonsus Catholic School, where he studied high school. 

ordering XD

A word of caution: this is not a place for the faint hearted. I kid! Senyang is famous for their super spicy sauce which is their own secret recipe. Being a really spicy-addicted person, I found this a good place where I can fill my spicy cravings without hurting my pocket.

As the name implies, Senyang only serves lumpia. They have special and ordinary lumpia to choose from. The special has meat in it while the ordinary is made from tawgi or bean sprout. I'm not really a meat person, so I always prefer the ordinary lumpia or gulay as they call it. Their special lumpia costs P15 while the gulay costs P12. To match, you can get huge puso for P5. 

gulay, above. special, below.

special lumpia in spicy sauce. yum!

Prepare lots of water especially when you want to try their spicy sauce. It really is spicy. However, if you're not a spicy person like me, you can always opt for the usual sauce. Senyang is famous for their very spicy sauce. Without the sauce, your Senyang experience isn't really complete.

I would recommend Senyang if you want to go on a spicy trip with friends. The food is affordable and the service is really good. Senyang herself is there to take your orders and the other servers are also friendly.

good news! :)

*photos taken by Paw*

Tea Serve

Pin It Now!

While riding a jeepney, Mustachio of Mustachioventures, suggested this tea place in Mango Avenue for us to kill time. He's been there a couple of times, he said. So we figured out why not give it a try. Going there is probably one of the best decisions I made since I saw Anney Uy pass by the place. I really look up to her as a photographer and as a blogger. It was the first time I saw her in person and I've to admit I was a bit starstruck. 

But, back to Tea Serve. It's a stall that you can see right beside Mr. Coffee in One Mango. I didn't even know there was a milk tea place there if Mustachio didn't mention it. Anyway, we got ourselves passion fruit and matcha, which were our usual orders for milk tea. 

I really liked my passion fruit tea. It had a kick. I really liked how refreshing it was. The boyfriend was not really that fortunate with his own matcha milk tea. It wasn't really cold and it didn't have the usual flavor you could taste from other tea shops. It definitely was weird. Nevertheless, my passion fruit tea was good. 

passion fruit and matcha.

Another thing is that their tea is a bit frothy. The froth also had a weird after taste to it. It would be nice if the attendants would scoop out the froth after making the milk tea to remove that weird taste.


Tea Serve is an affordable place to get your milk tea. It's also convenient. But it would be nicer if they have colder and froth-less drinks.

OT: Siomai sa Tisa

Pin It Now!

I believe that one can never be a real Cebuano without knowing or having been to Tisa for their siomai. Unless of course you were born vegan or you’re allergic to siomai, you don’t have any reason not to try siomai sa Tisa.

Siomai is a type of traditional Chinese dumplings. It's also called shumai. It is made of ground pork or beef with shrimps or meat extenders like carrots or peas wrapped in wanton paper. Most often, you find the siomai steamed. Others also fry it to make it crispy. But, I personally prefer steamed siomai.

 If you have stayed long enough in Cebu, it’s impossible for you not to know siomai sa Tisa. Food stalls and kiosks that sell “siomai sa Tisa” are popping in every university and business center in Cebu. I even heard there’s one in Iligan. That’s how far siomai sa Tisa can go.

Tisa is a barangay in Cebu City that is filled with sidewalk carenderia (local restaurants) that sell siomai, porkchop, and other food. I really like looking at that Tisa strip. It’s hard to explain. My heart wells up knowing that it’s distinctly Filipino and Cebuano.

One thing that I like about Tisa is that they have unlimited siomai sauce. I am a fan of siomai sauce since I want my siomai REALLY spicy. I am a bit disappointed with other siomai stalls near schools that only give you a limited amount of sauce. In Tisa, you can ask and have as much as you can. AWESOME!

Siomai costs P6 a piece and puso (or hanging rice) for P3. For P30, you can already have your meal there and be filled. We normally spend around P120 for a meal for two. This already includes the drinks, a serving of pancit canton, 10 siomai and around 10 or so puso. It’s really cheap and you already go home really full at that.

If you want to go to Tisa, you have to be prepared to eat by the sidewalk. This means welcoming stray cats and dust while eating your siomai. I really don’t mind eating while jeepneys, taxis and cars pass by. I think this is really part of being a Filipino. We just love eating anything and everything on the sidewalk. And I believe that having siomai along the streets of Tisa is definitely a way of being a real Cebuano, unless of course you’re allergic. :P

Llew's Mudpies

Pin It Now!

I've been wanting to drop by Llew's Mud pies since I saw a blog post about it. One of the reasons is that I like mud pies. Another thing is that it reminds me of my friend in the US, who might be reading this blog. (Hi Llewelyn!)

We were supposed to go to this new dessert store which the boyfriend found online. We we went to Llew's just to kill time and ended up having dinner there. We also met some friends at Llew's. (Hi Tinay and Frena!)

We got ourselves a cup of cookies and cream mud pie (P30), blueberry cheese pie (P42), two lemonades (P40 each), tuna melt sandwich (P55), spaghetti in chunky tomato sauce (P85).

They serve really affordable sweets from s'mores to mud pies. Their lemonade and iced tea were in this interesting jar that I had to ask their attendant where they got it. Unfortunately, she doesn't have an idea so I'll have to hunt that jar down.

clockwise: cookies and cream mud pie, lemonade, and blueberry cheese pie.

I really like my mud pie. It was creamy and good. I like the taste of the chunky cookies. The blueberry cheese pie was also good. I could really taste the blueberry and the cheese was just creamy. I think you'd really get the value for your money.

I didn't like their spaghetti that much. The boyfriend commented that it reminded him of Dong Juan's which I also agreed. He liked it. It was good but at that time, I just didn't feel like eating. I didn't even like my own tuna melt sandwich. I usually love tuna sandwiches, but I think my tongue was not giving it justice. Just note that I didn't have appetite for real food at that time. So don't trust me with my sense of taste with food. It's weird that I only had my tongue working for sweets that night.

tuna melt sandwich

spaghetti in chunky tomato sauce

I'll definitely visit the place again especially when I'm craving for something sweet within my pocket's reach. Next time, I 'd definitely try their s'mores which was what a friend got.

Tea & Symphony

Pin It Now!

A lot of my friends have been to Tea & Symphony. However, I wasn't able to visit the place. When Justinne of Babe for Food suggested the place to me, I knew I had to try the place.

We didn't really plan on going there and we just thought of it out of the blue. Nevertheless, we were really happy for doing that impromptu date. Anyway, I also have to ask sorry for the pictures since I only had an SLR with me that day with only a couple of shots left.

I was really surprised to see that Tea & Symphony had a big space for customers. They had a number of tables and chairs that were enough for many customers. I really like the place and they also had books that you can read inside. Yay to that!

So we got panda milk tea (P85), Hokkaido milk tea (P75), hash browns (P35), and fries (P50). The panda milk tea was a mash-up drink out of their Tea & Symphony milk tea plus black and white tapioca pearls which gives it an interesting look. Their milk tea options, like Hokkaido, didn't have any sinkers, so you'll have to add them to your drink. The boyfriend got aloe vera since it seemed interesting.

hash brown and fries (in the little basket), panda, and Hokkaido.

my treat for the night: hash brown and panda. ♥

Their tea is really good and it's not the usual overly sweet that you'd get from other tea shops. All I could say is it really changed the way I see sweetness. We both had 100% sweetness which was just normal. It was definitely good. I though that my drink wouldn't taste good if it wasn't too sweet, but I was wrong. I also like how soft and chewy the tapioca pearl were. They weren't as sweet and chewy as Bubble Bee's, but it was good enough. The aloe vera sinker was also yummy. It was unique and it added a great kick to the drink.

I really like the fact that Tea & Symphony also had food served. I will vouch for their fries and hash browns. They probably have one of the best hash browns I've tasted, next to McDonald's. It was just fried the way I wanted it to. Their fries were also fried beautifully and had the distinct salt and pepper taste to it. 

Tea & Symphony is officially among my top list for bubble tea. They really have yummy and unique teas that make you want for more. My only issue is it's location. It's a bit far from school, work, and even from my home. I wish they have a more convenient location. However, I'd be willing to go there just for a cup of tea. ;)

Cool greetings in many languages. :)

Tea Religion

Pin It Now!

I was really waiting for Tea Religion to open since I pass by the place almost everyday on my way to school and work. And I got really excited when I saw it open up last week. So, we decided to head to Tea Religion a while ago after our responsibilities.

We got even more excited when we saw CupcaKen cupcakes on display. I thought of eating something yummy earlier and a red velvet CupcaKen cupcake appeared in front of me. How can I resist?

We got ourselves a large mint milk tea for P80, a medium green honeydew milk tea for P70, and cookies n' cream and red velvet cupcakes for P55 each. They also have other teas which are served hot and cold. You can choose the sweetness levels, as well. So make sure that you do inform the attendants what you want.

Tea is instant wisdom.

Their mint milk tea is probably one of the most interesting milk teas I've tried so far. It has a minty kick to the drink that would make you want to drink the entire drink. I could imagine myself having that tea during a long hot afternoon especially if you just want to feel cool and fresh. Their honeydew is just as sweet as I want it to. Their pearls are also soft and sweet which we both like.

As usual, the cupcakes were as yummy as they were back in the CupcaKen branch in Banawa. It was just so good and sweet. Every bite is just filling and it makes you want more. The boyfriend kept mentioning the cupcakes even hours after we ate them. That's how much he loves CupcaKen.

Tea religion is reasonably priced. Their cups have interesting designs and I love it. Their service is good, as well. They also have nice interiors. I do have a problem of getting to the place though from school (UP). I have to walk from IT Park just to get there. However, getting a few minutes walk might just do me good. Teehee!