Babe for Food: February 2012

2/20/12

Cobo: Awesome Possibiliteas

Let's do a recap of the food trends in Cebu City: From pearl shakes (Zagu, Quickly, Jello), to pizzas (Alberto's was phenomenal back then), to ribs (Casa Verde and Mooon Cafe were once close rivals), to burgers (Dong Juan and those 'buy 1 take 1' stalls), to fro-yo, cupcakes and now to MILK TEA! One positive thing I noticed is it's getting healthier. I, for one, love fro-yo and milk tea! I try to have some at least once a week. :D

I know of 3 milk tea specialty outlets in town - Bubble Bee Tea House, Teariffic (at SM Cebu City's Lower Ground Floor) and Cobo (at J Center Mall). I had mentioned in an earlier post that J Center is a frequented place for me and dad since it is nearby our residence. What actually draws me most to this place is Cobo, a Taiwan milk tea franchise. When Bubble Bee Tea House opened, I adored their drinks but it was Cobo that ignited the craving streaks.

The colorful interiors attract and invite passersby who cannot help but pause with inquisition of the playful concept; like me! They have comfy, unique, colorful chairs and a cute doodle-like mural. Aside from their milk teas, they also serve coffee, Taiwanese chicken, dimsum and a delectable cold dessert they call snow ice.

unique and colorful chairs!

the cute and cool mural :D

snow ice!

the counter

The first item I had here was honeydew with strawberry bubble burstea smoothie. I loved this refreshing and unique concoction. It came with a generous serving of sago (rice pearls) and the bursting bubbles were the biggest surprise. It was like oversized sweet caviar or simply like a delicate sago that isn't chewy and bursts in your mouth with a flavored syrup as soon as you bite it. That's a little molecular gastronomy in your drink! Definitely as good as it sounds and this got me hooked from then on. Unfortunately, the picture is in my friend's iphone and her phone had to be fixed so I wasn't able to retrieve the photo. Boo.

I still wasn't able to take a photo during my next visit when I had their taro floating sea salt. This didn't really suit my taste buds though.

My dear friend since high school who is now studying in France is finally back for vacation so I brought her to Cobo to catch up on each other. We had their Cobo Milk Tea which we enjoyed chatting the night away with that we stayed past the closing time of the shop. Some of our friends who happened to be around also joined us for a while.

my dear Jamaica and I with our Cobo milk teas!

16 oz Cobo Milk Tea

Cobo won my heart for milk tea because it's UNIQUE in every way! And of course it's addictingly delicious! From the flavors, to the furnishing and the design. Not to mention the generous serving of their pearls (sago) and other toppings (they also have chewdle, bursting bubbles, flavored jelly) and it's affordable.

I also love the option they offer for degree of sweetness in your drink. You can opt for extra mild, mild, average, normal and very sweet. Drink sizes are 16 oz and 22 oz. I have yet to try their snow ice next time though. I thought it was just flavored shaved ice but it actually turned out to be like ice cream or froyo which you can add toppings to. Oh, the awesome possibiliteas at Cobo! You just can't get enough. :D

AWESOME POSSIBILITEAS :)

Price range: P 70-110

Cobo is located at J Center Mall, A.S. Fortuna St. Banilad, Cebu City.

Babe For Food

- your BFF in Cebu dining!

2/18/12

Pizza Valentines

The day when people suddenly group themselves by pairs, flowers for sale are suddenly dotting streets everywhere (especially outside schools. ugh!) and it's bottleneck traffic in every nook and cranny starting 6 pm -- Valentines Day. I don't know about you but I never really thought of this day as something worth the traffic. Why go out on a date along with the rest of the town and bother hanging out in crowded places? I really don't get it.

Anyway, I have a really cool teacher for Chemistry Lab class and she planned for us to celebrate this day with a food trip during class. Yeah, she's cool like that. :D

So the whole class chipped in to order a big ass pizza from Calda and some chips and the teacher took care of the drinks.

our lovely date :)

Mang Juan!

the cool and beautiful Ms. Eguna

chips medley - Roller Coaster, Clover, Chippy and Mang Juan! :D

HAPPY BELLY = HAPPY HEART <3

No better way to celebrate the day than with food! I'm not a big fan of Calda's actually. I think it's like Skyflakes with pizza toppings. But oh well, it wasn't that bad.

And here's something I also wanna show you guys about my Valentines:

Apparently, cupid was around. He probably missed his shot on me cuz I didn't have a date. Haha. This was a good laugh. :D

Hope you all had a sweet Valentines! <3

Babe For Food

- your BFF in Cebu dining!

2/12/12

Siknoy

If I could open a restaurant, I've thought of naming it Chinoy for Chinese and Pinoy cuisine - the two most popular cuisine in the Philippines. Apparently, a new restaurant opened at the J Centre Mall this year and it is named Siknoy. So much for my idea. Haha.

Dad told me about this and J Centre has been a frequent hang out since it's nearby our residence. We usually have dinner at McDonald's there but this time Dad wanted me to check out Siknoy. I'm supposed to be avoiding rice for dinner but I can rarely resist rice with Chinese food.

nice, bright and clean :)

It's a noodle house but I had Fish Fillet w/ Taosi (black beans) rice topping and siomai. Good thing I had my sister to share the food with. Saved my diet a bit.

View from my table: A mirror reflecting the kitchen and an oriental designed mural.

fish fillet w/ taosi rice topping and siomai

I was actually impressed with the serving, especially the siomai. It was the biggest siomai I've ever seen! Haha. It was also pretty lean and tasty. The fish satisfied my spice level preference and I was so glad they didn't use Cream Dory which is unusual for most commercialized resto's these days. They used lamon-lamon. The serving was well worth the price as well.

With a seating capacity of more or less 50 people, the place and menu actually brings to mind a more serene Mandarin Tea Garden (at SM) and it tastes better than Dimsum Break!

Good service, good food, clean and comfortable ambience. That's Siknoy for you. A simple yet satisfying place and meal. I'm definitely going back. :)

Expenses:
Fish Fillet w/ Taosi rice topping - P 85
Siomai - P 65

Total = P 150 (not bad at all!)

Siknoy is located at the 2nd floor of J Centre Mall, A.S Fortuna, Banilad.

Babe For Food

-your BFF in Cebu dining!

2/1/12

Mochiko

It was love at first sight. And first bite.

A marriage of two components that give a unique and interesting texture and a play of color and flavors.

Mochi + ice cream = mochi ice cream

Mochi ice cream is plain/flavored ice cream enclosed in a glutinous rice sheet (like tikoy), a creation of the Japanese, enjoyed as dessert or a cool afternoon snack. There are endless variations in the flavor of ice cream and there should be a proportional balance between the wrapper and the ice cream. This should also be served or eaten at the right temperature (when you press down the mochi lightly and it dents) for maximum satisfaction.

La Marea was the first to introduce mochi ice cream to Cebu. They have 6 flavors and each costs P60. I immediately fell in love with this frozen concoction since my first encounter and my favorite was the green tea flavor. But now, they have competition.

Mochiko, a Manila-based mochi ice cream specialist has finally arrived in Cebu at the Ayala Active Zone, beside Tablea Cafe. They just opened this month, during Sinulog. And since I noticed their stall, it's been on my wishlist.

Yesterday, during lunch break from school, Chin2x and I agreed to have lunch at KFC Ayala. And then we wanted dessert and I remembered Mochiko.

They had a cute photo wall with pictures from Manila and Cebu patrons. Spot celebrities and friends on this poster.

They have thrice as much flavors as La Marea and each is sold at P 70 or P 400 for a box of 6. These are packed individually in plastic, convenient for take out like strolling around the mall with this to cool you down. Their bestsellers are black sesame, green tea, cookie dough and azuki. We chose the black sesame though everything looked so enticing. I wish I could try all the flavors someday.

It was definitely worth it and I'd say more worth it than La Marea. Their mochi is thicker and the black sesame ice cream surprised us with bits of something like Butterfinger. Luscious!