Travel Cafe Philippines

Right in the heart of Greenbelt 5 is a concept cafe owned by the Department of Tourism called “Travel Cafe Philippines.” I guess the point of the entire cafe is to promote Philippine tourism by featuring its best dishes, desserts, and coffee. There’s also a concierge of sorts where you can get bookings for anywhere in the Philippines. It’s like a one-stop shop of traveling to the Philippines. BF and I dropped by for “merienda” but ended up trying some of the chef’s recommendations. (:)) I love the ambiance of the place, very quaint, clean, and attentive servers.

The Smoked Mackerel with Laguna Cheese Pandesal was delicious. We loved the way they were able to execute this dish. It’s also a very healthy option for people on a diet Light and tasty. Wash everything down with a carafe of Calamansi Juice!

Aligue Pasta is nothing special. Being a Kapampangan I’m very picky with my aligue. I think this dish needs more salt or more kalamansi. I didn’t think the aligue was fresh enough. They need to tweak this dish I think.

Filipino Triolet - A great idea because its basically a combination of the Philippines 3 traditional desserts (leche flan, suman, and turon). You get to taste a sample of Filipino culture! This is my favourite treat in Travel Cafe Philippines.

The leche flan was great! Hindi tinipid! Haha. Again, I’m serious about my desserts. This is real leche flan, all egg yolks I think. Very Rich and the Macapuno was good as well.

The suman was soft and easy to eat. It wasn’t too sweet too. Just right.

My family is a big fan of turon or any of the traditional Filipino merienda’s so I really enjoyed this turon. The wrapper wasn’t thick. There was enough banana and langka inside. Cute concept this dessert trio.

Our Travel Cafe Philippines experience was a good one. Don’t expect to get GREAT food though but it was good food. The prices are pretty steep if you really think about it but the service, presentation of the place makes up for it I guess. This place is good for an afternoon date, a meeting, or if you just want to unwind after hours of shopping at the mall.

Related Posts:

Travel Cafe Philippines by Spot.ph

I traveled to Travel Cafe Philippines by Blogalag

TRAVEL CAFE PHILIPPINES

2nd Floor, Greenbelt 5 Ayala Center

Legaspi St., Makati City

(632) 729-2233

www.travelcafephilippines.com

 

KOZUI Green Tea Cafe

I’m a big tea fan. I drink tea twice a day or sometimes three times I day..YES..I love tea that much. I even have my own tea drawer at home which is why I wanted to share with you one of the neatest tea places in quezon city — KOZUI GREEN TEA CAFE. Kozui serves all kinds of stuff with green tea from drinks, latte’s, desserts. They also (of course) have an extensive tea menu as well as having some traditional japanese dishes.

I love the ambiance of kozui — very clean, minimalist, fresh and bright. I drop by kozui often when I’m studying at coffee bean or if I just want to have a healthier “frap” or just eat some amnitsu which is the japanese version of the halo-halo. Everything is tea-inspired which is very creative. The servers are very nice and the owner is there sometimes and they will be very happy to suggest their specials or help you make your choice.

 

Crepe de Chine

After gorging ourselves over at one of Chinatown’s finest resto’s El Presidente. We decided to go look for some dessert but since we were quite tired I wanted to go somewhere a bit cozy and relaxing. While going back to our car I noticed this tarp at the place where we parked our car…and it had a picture of a crepe…a pizza crepe at that advertising Crepe de Chine! Finally!!! A decent dessert place in Binondo!

Crepe de Chine is a small restaurant located on the Lower Ground of the World Trade Exchange Building in Binondo that serves wonderful crepes at affordable prices. The first thing that I noticed upon entering the place is how CLEAN it was. It was spanking clean and the servers were very courteous and even gave suggestions on what we should order. The menu is quite extensive: they have savory crepes, pasta, sandwiches and of course the dessert crepes.

 

President’s Tea House, Binondo

One of the most famous chinese restaurants in Manila is the President’s Restaurant in Ongpin. The much famed President’s restaurant in Ongpin has a somehow cheaper alternative in the form of the President’s Tea House on Salazar St. (which is actually a stone’s throw away from the President Restaurant itself). The tea house is a smaller version and a more affordable version because of the ambiance and the menu that’s being offered. Right beside one of my favourite chinese snack stores (Shin Tai-Shang Store) on Salazar, BF and I decided to have a quick “snack” in the tea house.

For our “snack” we decided to try some of their dimsum and of course some prawns for me. The dimsum offerings in President Tea House is one of the most delicious and affordable dimsum that I’ve had. It really is a sweet deal. i wish they had a branch in powerplant although it wouldn’t be as authentic naman.

 

CAFE JUANITA: An Old Favourite

Cafe Juanita has been in operation for almost a decade and has been reviewed by columnists and bloggers I think for the nth time but I haven’t tried it until now. Having studied in college near the area I can’t believe that it is only now that I got to eat in them gem of a restaurant and when I say GEM..I mean it really is a gem of a restaurant. Wow.

I love the whole bohemian, artsy vibe of the place. It is literally full of antiques, art, and other knick-knacks that serve as decorations as well as being sold for sale. Cafe Juanita, I think serves one of the best authentic Filipino food in town and not only that the other items on their menu like the Chinese and Japanese dishes are excellent as well. This restuarant is a must-try. Don’t be deceived by the exterior of the restaurant because the food is great so do try it out! Don’t be hindered by standards, the restaurant is comfort food so expect it to be that way.

 

Dining in the walled city: ILUSTRADO

Thoroughly exhausted but culturally enriched by our walk this way tour with Carlos we decided to try out one of the more famous restaurants inside the walled-city — the ILUSTRADO Restaurant. We ate there during lunch time but I suggest that you go there for dinner so you can eat in the main dining room since that has a better ambiance than the little cafe portion of the restaurant where we ate. Though if you’re just eating a light lunch or merienda the cafe portion is ok since it has this bohemian vibe to it.

The food in Ilustrado is composed mainly of traditional Filipino dishes but they do serve other European dishes as well. The food is cooked rather well and they have creative desserts like their homemade ice-cream. Service was a bit slow though but I think it was because it was a Sunday so they were under staffed but they were very courteous so we didn’t really mind waiting. We also loved the dinner rolls that they served since it had some raisins on them and was particularly soft and toasty warm.

 

THE GRAND LIST FOR ALL YOUR NEEDS

This is the list of REGGIE ASPIRAS in her column Kitchen Rescue in the Philippine Daily Inquirer. I’m reposting this again c/o ramblings from a gypsy soul. WONDERFUL LIST for all your needs. Add your comments for any suggestions, let’s keep the list going!

Part 1:
Acoustic Strings 0917-8915865
Mang June, aircon repair 8681073 (0917-2470700)
Arnaldo Zamora, party props 6696641/0927-7201968
Spices, Assad 5261349 (Makati branch – 897-2543; great samosas & gulab jamun)
Bailon’s Lumpiang Bacolod 8436673
Sweetcraft, baking supplies 5321595
Claudine, specialty olive oils, salt, fruits 0917-8958191
Food order (reasonably priced), Boots Salas 0916-5265284
Food boxes (packaging), RM 7138547
Brazo de Mercedes, Butter Cake, Chocolate Icebox Cake 8107529 (Vargas)
Frozen Brazo 8438086 (Dimpy Camara)
Bordadoras 7180901
Best Buko Pandan 045-9616817
Coffee caterers, Cafe ni Juan 0917-5277141
Beautiful yet reasonably priced cakes, Sasa 0917-5339275
Candy cart rentals for parties/candy importer 0917-5220495
Catering equipment rental 8890268/8431960
Gift Packages―food and nonfood 6471054
Importer and distributor of all seafood, Midas 5240006
Chocolate cupcakes with caramel centers, chocolate chip cookies, Roshan 0917-8336286 (631-7786)