food trip buddy: Beraldi and how they make coffee

Another food trip, a coffee sojourn.

After a floppy lunch at a local food chain that offer pizza and pasta, food buddy (foobu)Aida Desalisa and me decided to have coffee at Beraldi, an open-air coffee shop located at the 2nd level of SM Southmall. Its open-air feature allows customers to smoke while drinking coffee and attending to multitude of stuff.

I prefer frappuccino than brewed coffee and other types of coffee drinks. I like milk and choco-based frappes. But this time, the latteccino (coffee and milk frappe) caught my attention.

I ordered a grande latteccino caramel while foobu Aida, who prefers brewed ordered...uhhm ahh-brewed coffee, again. We also tried their Blackout cake and a piece each of choco chip cookie and oatmeal cookie.

The Blackout cake is a stunner-from the icing to the dough and up to its toppings. It is thickly covered with moist black chocolate icing and notably less bitter than normal black chocolates. The cake's dough is packed (not like regular cakes that has sponge-like doughs-lot of air holes) and its moist and also chocolatey.

The latteccino caramel is served and topped with cream like any other frappes. But unlike the cake, its quite a disappointment. The flavor was too mild that you'll wonder where the caramel went, aside from the drizzle on the cream topping. The mildness of the flavor was close to being bland. I've had frappes and lattes before, and this never came close to comparison. Its a forgettable drink.

I wanted to compare it with other coffee blends from other coffee specialty stores, and I'm thinking, perhaps this is how Beraldi makes coffee. Foobu Aida said her brewed coffee is just 'ok', so I assume she didn't like it much either.

As for the choco-chip and oatmeal cookies, it tasted nothing really special. There are better and cheaper cookies in a grocery store.

Beraldi failed to impress but I want to try it again sometime. I want my other foobus to try it out. I believe on first impressions that last in as much as I also believe on giving second chances.

food trip buddy: Tupig: a food from up north

Tupig (rice cake) is a delicacy mainly produced and sold in the northern Philippines like Pangasinan, Ilocos, Isabela and my hometown, Nueva Vizcaya. Although there are many variations to this recipe, the basic ingredients include glutinous flour, molasses (sugar), coconut milk and grated young coconut. The ingredients are mixed and rolled into banana leaves then grilled in live or burning charcoal.

This native food finds its market to travelers going in and out of Baguio City through Pangasinan and into Cagayan Valley via Bambang and Sta. Fe towns of Nueva Vizcaya. It is something you couldn’t miss when you travel up north because of the many vendors that swarm public and private transports on every pit stop. It is sold at very reasonable price, usually at a hundred pesos, that ranges from seven to ten packs (with each pack containing 5-7 pieces). However, travelers must also be cautious when choosing to buy from hawkers because you might end up buying more banana leaves than the tupig itself.

There are many blogs offering instructions on how to make tupig. But I’ll blog what my mother did.

Glutinous flour (5 cups

Brown sugar (3 cups

Coconut milk (2 cups

Grated young coconut

She just mixed all the ingredients in a pan then rolled and wrapped it with fresh banana leaves. The raw tupig (that looks like suman) is then grilled into live charcoal. And that’s another thing I like about this delicacy: I love the enchantingly flavorful aroma of burning banana leaves and raw tupig.

My mother made us some tupig yesterday and I brought some as baon at work. Its been quite a time since I savored this food. So next time you travel somewhere north. Take the time to try the native tupig, you’ll fill your stomachs and help out the vendors' livelihood as well.

food trip buddy: Vietnam and the city...

My insatiable cravings for food and my eagerness to try out something new is taking me places.

My food buddies planned to visit the newly opened specialty restaurant along Perea St. in Lagaspi Village, Makati City. Since we all work in a call center and have different schedules, it’s hard to work out a plan. Luckily, on the week of the trip, we had the same scheduled days off. After shift, we took a taxi ride from Northgate, Alabang to Greenbelt, Makati City. There wasn't enough traffic and the trip was quick. I was tired and having a slight headache from a toxic and ‘queuing’ workday. And I was thinking, I'll be very disappointed if the food is not satisfying.

When we arrived, we saw the simple yet elegantly designed signage of Ba noi’s. And as we entered, the sound of Vietnamese music was playing on the background. After all introductions were made, we settled on a black, wooden table for four. It’s a new restaurant that had its soft opening last February. The daily rush of customers had just subsided and only a couple of tables where occupied upon our entry. The place is relatively small that could house, as I estimated it, not more than 40 diners.

Enough about the place, time for the food. We're here on a food trip so we ordered just a few dishes of the menu list.

Goi cuon (Fresh Spring Rolls)-has shrimp, vegetables, herbs (basil), pasta (looks to me like sotanghon) rolled and wrapped in rice paper. Best eaten with a peanut butter-based dressing

Ga nuong (Grilled Lemongrass Chicken)-grilled chicken with the satisfying flavor of Lemongrass. Served with a dressing that tasted like oyster sauce and soy sauce but sweetenedho bo (Beef Noodle Soup)-has basil leaves and other vegetables, best tasting when made hot and spicy with chopped chili

Goi ga bap cai (Vietnamese Cabbage Salad)-served with chicken strips and Vietnamese dressing, nuoc mam. It is sweet with slight sour taste because of the dressing.

Goi buoi tom (Vietnamese Pomelo Salad with Shrimp)-good for people on diet or those who who's watching their oily food intake due to health reasons, has sweet pomelo with macapuno strips, shrimp and sesame seeds

Ca phe sua da (Vietnamese coffee)-authentic Vietnamese coffee beans, brewed and mixed with condensed, served with ice. This is very flavorful and could rival the taste of commercial coffee companies like Starbucks and Boston Cafe

Ba noi is Vietnamese for 'grandmother'. The restaurant serves fresh flavors from Vietnam with the feel and authentic experience for Vietnamese food. According to Chef Rob Desalisa, general manager, the restaurant was set-up as a way of “bridging the gap between Philippine and Vietnamese culture”. And true indeed, Vietnamese culture and food is not much publicized in the country, or very few Filipinos are aware that there is a market for Vietnamese food in the Philippines.

With the proliferation of specialty restaurants that serve authentic international cuisines, one does not have to travel outside the country to experience a taste of a different culture. And food is always a better basis to determine the identity of a certain culture and tradition.

Ba noi’s offers something new for food enthusiasts. Its a great dining experience suitable for intimate group dates. And yes, I may add, food is healthy and clean. There is Vietnam at the heart of urban Makati ready to be discovered and experienced. 

Plus, it didn't disappoint a hungry body and a craving soul.