Conlins Cafe: My new Cheesecake Haven

Look at the time, it is already 11:25PM. I should be getting to sleep now, however, I cannot just keep to myself the best cheesecakes I had so far.

This is a continuation of the meal I had in Almon Marina. I like their dishes, but their desserts does not meet my expectations.

A good friend of mine asked me, “What is with you and cheesecakes?”. I promptly answered, “It is cheesecake! Cheescakes need no reasons –Leon Carbonell”

There is this newly opened cafe in SM Southmall which caught my eye. They had an assortment of cakes which looks mouthwatering. I remember last valentines, I decided to bring home a cake for valentines to share with my family. I do remember buying their Black Forest Cake. I wanted to create a blog for that cake. During that time, I was still undecided on what blog provider to accommodate my blogging need. Unfortunately, weeks later, the memories of that cake has gone. Not even the memory of the after taste.

Well, I decided to take a visit at their shop and give a re-assessment of their cafe. I looked at their cake collection. t seems that they have a discount. Their cakes were 50% off. Before, a slice of their cheesecake costs P60 pesos, now, they have it for only P30. Talk about the “kaching” moments. My eyes turned to Dollar signs because I will save a lot of money for cheesecakes. All of their cakes are at 50% discount. I am now stuck at the dilemma, Strawberry or Blueberry? Since it is already a bargain for P60, i decided to buy both.

Let me just say. It was all worth it. Let us explore the senses as we go through the details of these cheesecakes. Keep in mind that these cakes were bought for only P30 each. Look carefully at the presentation of the cheesecake. The cheesecakes sits in the middle of the plate. The plate is decorated with chocolate and strawberry syrup. Just imagine how much effort they have given to heighten up our sense of sight. The cheese of the cake contains bits and pieces of the fruit they represent. The picture on you right shows signs of the blueberry being embedded within the cheesecake. The topping contains real blueberry and blueberry Jam. The Jam was not sugary sweet. In fact, it really does taste like blueberry. Same goes for the strawberry cheesecake. One bite was all it took to get me to my very own Nirvana. Such joy to feel the goodness of the cheesecake.

There was no side crust for this cheesecake. For me, that is a big plus. If eaten separately from the cheesecake, the crusts tastes more of a brownie cookie rather than a cheesecake crust.

Looking back, It makes me want to say, “A hell-of-a-lotta effort for a P30 cheesecake”. My new mission: Try out all of the cakes in Conlins cafe.

Almon Marina: Home of Comfort Foods

Ever has a feeling of great depression? Well, this week gave me a lot of reason to be depressed about. The last time I felt this depressed was the time I got kicked out of Mapua. That is right, I got booted out of a great institution. The root cause of the depression is just the same. I am depressed because I think my skills are not competent enough to be acknowledge by anybody. I have a feeling that I am more of a burden to my co-workers rather than a productive member of the team.

This feeling of depression was overwhelming for me. I got so depressed that even the most delicious looking cheesecakes did not appeal to me. It was then I realized that this is a bad sign already. Loosing my most favorite of the senses is a nightmare.

It was a Saturday night. I was planning to go to MoA (Mall of Asia) to buy a certain item to be used in my cooking. (yeah, as if I can cook). My schedule was: Be at the office by 11AM, fix a bug, leave the office by 3PM to go to MoA. However, due to the beer I had last night and the overwhelming depression, I overslept. I woke up 9:30AM, hurriedly ate my breakfast, prepped for office and left the house at around 11AM. 20 minutes later, I arrived at Metropolis mall, ordered my lunch for take-out, and left again for office. 40 minutes later, I arrived at the office, a little sweat soaked because of the heat of the midday sun. I was able to finish my bug, thanks to my friend Raughn, and was able to take-off from the office at around 6PM. Being already late from my plan of buying a good pair of pants + solitary walk + buying my planned stuff in MoA, I decided to try and buy it some other day. The Mall is too big and transportation home is quite hard coming from there. Change of plans, I tried to catch up to my friends at Festival Mall, but unfortunately, it was already too late and they have already gone home. Being depressed and having no one to talk to during this rough times, I should try to pick myself up using comfort foods. I searched the Mall for fine dining where I can eat alone. But alas, Cravings wall already full, so I had to look for other options. I had to decide, Fukuya (Japanese) or Sbarro (Italian). Since my depression was somewhat Japan related, I chose to eat at Sbarro. It was horrible. Please remind me never to eat there again. I dunno if it was the depression talking, or their Lasagna in Alfredo Sauce really tasted bad.

After the horrible experience, I was hoping that I will have a better chance of finding comfort food when I go to SM Southmall the next day.

The next day, I woke up, ate breakfast, played some PC games, and dressed up to go to the Mall for a wonderful day of re-centering. I left home just before lunch tim. Originally, I was scheduled to go to the dentist before eating lunch. Lo and Behold: I already forgot that the regular cleaning costs P750 already. I was not prepared to spend that much. So, cancel the dentist and go to the next agenda: Eating.

Finding a new place + not crowded + fine dining restaurant in Southmall was next to impossible. I feel like eating something roasted and something with pasta.

When hope was almost gone, I saw a restaurant where I always eat at. When I saw always, i mean once or twice a month. It was there all along. For me, it seems that angels were singing in chorus as I walk through the doors of almon marina. All the while, I was looking for places where I could explore harmony of senses. However, during times of depression, I should go to the place where it always hits home. Almon Marina.

As seen on the picture above, I had their Chicken, Salad and Pasta. For the sauce, I requested Bolognese. From my previous experience in Sbarro, I think it is best to stay away from white sauce until I can recover from my traumatic experience.

We will now explore the sensations I went through while eating the set meal. Let us start with the grilled Chicken. For me, it looked perfect. It was not fully dried. You can see the barbecue sauce evenly distributed in the chicken. specks of pepper are always good point when it comes to grilled food. What I liked about the way this chicken was cooked was that the meat was falling out of the bone in very little effort. There was no sign of blood which means that this was cooked perfectly. Seriously, half way through the chicken, I started eating it with my hands. perfect harmony of the sweetness of the barbecue sauce with the slight saltiness of the chicken skin. It makes my mouth water just thinking about it.

Moving on, (before I drool all over my laptop), we have the salad. Th salad was not so glamorous. It was simple, elegant, and light. the different texture and taste of each vegetable goes well with the light serving of the vinaigrette. To ing all of the flavors was the neutral taste of the croûtons. To top it all of was the cheese. The cheese added the saltiness to the whole salad. That is it for the fiber in my diet.

Lastly, the Pasta. In pasta, it is all about the sauce. The sauce highlights the over-all performance of the dish. This Bolognese sauce has mild sour taste which complements the flavor of the liver in the sauce. It tones down the meaty flavor of the liver, giving it a subtle earthy taste. With the Parmesan cheese topping of the pasta, it was such a delight.

After the meal was over, I felt that my depression has already passed away. Thank God for these comfort food. Where will I be without them?

Teriyaki Boy: Feast for Two

It was past a year and a half since I last saw my College buddy. I have been to Japan and back twice, yet, not once was I able to give her an omiyage (a souvenir). She was insiting that I treat her to a Japanese meal and tell her what life was like in Japan. Little did she know, I was really planning on treating her.

It was a Saturday, I was supposed to go to office for our weekly dose of weekend overtime. However, since we were scheduled to meet at around 13:00h for “lunch date”, I informed my officemates that I will be coming in the office around 15:00h. Unfortunately, her car got a flat tire and needed repairs. This pushed our meeting by around 2 hours. Well, I can’t say that it was time wasted, I did find interesting sights in Glorietta while waiting for her.

At around 15:00h, she arrived. Truth was, I was shocked. She looked sexier now that when I last saw her. Her secret? She traded her FF Gym to enroll in a Boxing Gym. Yikes! Think about what will happen to me when I get into her nerves. Well, truth was, we were preparing for a buffet. We planned to eat at Saisaki. Little did we know that Saisaki was open during lunch and dinner only. Well, “brunch” was not part of Lunch and Dinner. So, we cancelled our seats and looked for another Japanese Restaurant. A few minutes walk away, we arrived at Terriyaki Boy. I have little knowledge in Nihongo, but I know that the Teriyaki Boy is not the real meaning of the kanji of the Restaurant. For Reference: the kanji is read as “futotta shounen” meaning fat boy.

We did not waste time. They have two hungry customers. Looking at the image shown above, that was what we had: good for two. We had California Maki, some spicy kani (crab), tiger prawn tempura, miso soup. Tofu steak, Mapo tofu, salmon sushi, california maki and tiger prawn tempura (for take out). So the question is, did we enjoy our meal? Yes Of Course. The down side is that, they service was a little slow and un-attending, inspite of having only a few customers.

In my stay in Japan, Miso soup was a staple in our meals in the canteen (Kyocera Mita Canteen). I have seen Japanese drink their Miso soup like tea, as well as their tea like water. The question is, why do they serve the Miso soup with a Chinese soup spoon? Point is that, customers eat at Japanese restaurants to have a taste of Japanese cuisine. I think, the ways of eating those food will add an extra feel to their Japanese experience.

Tofu Steak and Mapo Tofu. Looking back, I don’t know why I ordered Mapo Tofu when I know that my friend was ordering a Tofu steak. Luckily, I have already acquired a taste for tofu, thus giving me an “OK” experience with the Tofu meals.

Side dishes: Tempura, Fried Kani, Maki, and Sushi. Lessons Learned: it is all about the sauce. I was quite impressed that the sauce for the fried sides tasted the same with what I had in JP. The salmon sushi tasted fresh, however, it has a certain resistance when chewing the fish. Well, truth of the matter is, I had only 2 experiences of eating Salmon Sushi in Japan. I ate it in a Dampa style sushi bar near the wet market in Tsuruhashi station in Osaka. Nothing beats the experience of having a fresh salmon melt in your mouth while giving you different sensations. Having a fresh Salmon sushi fresh from the market was an unforgettable experience. It was like tasting the salmon with the sweet taste of the fresh water stream. It felt heavenly. Going back to reality, I am already here in the Philippines, with little to no chance of trying out the fresh sushi experience. *sigh*

We had a lot of catching up to do. She told me about her, being a model for a village spa. She even wanted me to attend her graduation. But seriously, being with her was really something for me. She made me feel how it was like being frank on everything again. Just like what we did last college.

Those were the days.