In Search of the Better Burger - Part IV: A Little Bit of Everything

Recently encountered at Almon Marina: a great lunch combo that brings together burgers and pasta!

This particular platter holds a magnificent beef burger on a crusty, Vienna roll-style sesame bun, a mound of fries, and some rather good spaghetti bolognese. Not a bad way to kill off noon hunger, ne?

Too-Hot-to-Trot Ensaymada

It was three in the afternoon and I was craving for something sweet to go with my [made with a sachet] cup of milk tea, so I headed down to the cafeteria to see what was on display.

I arrived to find my officemates queued up with little plastic boxes of Potato Gang ensaymada from the caf’s display of baked goods, all awaiting their turn at the microwave.

While Potato Gang’s take on the classic brioche smothered with cheese and buttercream is fantastic in its natural state, heating up the bun turns it into a sublime experience.  The buttercream melts into a sauce that trickles down the sides of the bun to form a moat around it.  The cheese melts and becomes one with the very substance of the bread.  “Heavenly” is, at this point, and understatement.

I spent my tea break alternately dipping chunks of ensaymada in my tea or swooshing them through the buttery pool surrounding it.

The Little Mint Fondant that Packed a Punch

“You paid fifty pesos for a niminy-piminy piece of chocolate?” Mr. W screeched at me when I showed him the things I bought from the Leonidas stall at the Shang-ri La Mall. (Well, he didn’t really say “niminy-piminy”. However, it was in Fookien and was virtually impossible to put into polite English, so…)

It was a fairly good selection: two decadent dark chocolate mendiants studded with nuts, raisins, and candied orange rind, a tablette of sinful 70% dark chocolate with bits of cocoa nib, and the p’tit fondant with mint crisps above that incurred the dear boy’s wrath.

“W,” I said, unwrapping the mint and putting half of it into his mouth, “shut up and eat.”

He was about to protest, then his little eyes widened when the chocolate started to melt almost as soon as I popped it into his mouth. Coupled with the mind-clearing mint, it was quite a sensual experience for him. It was a tiny thing, that chocolate, but its combination of tongue-tingling mintiness and bitter-sweetness made it a rather manly confection.

“Where’s the rest of it?” Mr. W growled when he finished the tidbit.

“Go get your own!” I snapped indecorously.

Alas for him, the remaining half was already melting in my mouth.

Dark, Delicious, and Definitely Good for You

Actifs Dark Chocolate with Green Tea by Chocolat Stella

That there are chocolate bars with coffee available is one thing, but what would you say about a chocolate bar with tea - specifically green tea?  Unusual, ne?  Well, believe me: it’s not as crazy as it sounds.  In fact, it’s amazingly good and good for you.

Seriously Craving Veggies: Roll it Up!

If you ask me about where I stand on vegetarianism, I will be perfectly honest with you and state - quite firmly - that I share Anthony Bourdain’s incredibly cynical stand about it. Meat, in my honest opinion, is good.

However, one cannot live on meat alone no matter how good it is, so I sometimes crave for vegetable-based dishes. Mind: these have to be properly prepared. Where I’m from, overcooked vegetables are a no-no and everyone looks forward to crisp salads, sauteed veggies, and nourishing vegetable soups.

Whenever I order vegetable dishes away from home, I take the freshness of the ingredients into consideration along with the flavors. That said, here are a couple of my fave veg treats: