Holiday gift packs at Salt & Pepper
Salt & Pepper Casual Dining Restaurant offers Christmas goodies in attractive and unique yuletide gift packs. Holiday favorites like lengua de gato, oatmeal/raisin cookies, Russian tea cookies, chocolate crinkles, and chocolate chip cookies come in elegant and oven-proof mugs, plates, and bakeware.
The lengua de gato (10 pcs.) come in a porcelain mug at P90; the big-sized chocolate crinkles or chocolate chip cookies (six pcs.) in an oven-proof bakeware at P140; the oatmeal/raisin cookies (six pcs.) at P180, while the large-sized Russian tea cookies (10 pcs.) are plated on a red porcelainware at P230.
For inquiries, visit Salt & Pepper Casual Dining Restaurant at 205 EDSA, Greenhills (beside Play & Display showroom and Mazda Cars) or call 722-9925 and 725-7454.
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Couscous salad, vegetable moussaka at Café Mediterranean
Café Mediterranean or Café Med, as it is popularly known, presents a special menu called almost vegetarian. Try the couscous salad with yogurt dressing with garbanzos, grilled red bell peppers, and yogurt dressing subtly spiced with turmeric and cumin. There is also the vegetable moussaka, a variation of the popular meaty dish. Fish munchers can indulge in the Parmesan crusted fish fillet — cream dory filly coated with Parmesan cheese and breadcrumbs then lightly pan fried in olive oil served with shepherd’s salad. It comes with a Turkish side dish of tomatoes with thinly sliced red onions.
For inquiries, call 896-8625 or visit www.thecafemediterranean.com.
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Mocha crunch fruitcake at Delifrance
French café Delifrance has a wide selection of Christmas cakes this season. Must-have is the mocha crunch fruitcake. Its rich dark chocolate and coffee blend perfectly in a luscious cake filled with crunchy caramelized walnuts covered in chocolate, glazed fruits, pecans, and dark chocolates.
Savor the premium English fruitcake brimming with walnuts, pecans, prunes, dates, cherries, and glazed fruits. This Christmas treat has been soaked and cured for months in a special blend of brandy and fruit juices.
The food for the gods bursts with chopped walnuts, pecans, prunes, dates, and bits of dried mango. This classic favorite is sure to make holiday musings all the more satisfying.
For inquiries, call 642-0021. Visit Delifrance branches at AIM Conference Center, Glorietta; Insular Life Bldg, RCBC Plaza, SM Makati, Ayala Tower 1, Valero St., Makati, Zeta Building, Legazpi Village, Makati; Robinsons Place Manila, UN Avenue, Festival Supermall, Alabang Town Center, SM Mall of Asia, The Podium, C5 Libis, St. Luke’s Hospital, Greenhills Theater Mall, Roosevelt Greenhills, Philippine Heart Center, Shell SLEX Southbound, Shell SLEX Northbound, Shell NLEX, NAIA–Domestic, NAIA Terminal 2, NAIA-Old Domestic; NAIA Terminal 3, and International School Manila.
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Peppermint blizzard, mocha mint moolatte at Dairy Queen
Dairy Queen offers cool treats for the holidays. The yule flip peppermint chip blizzard has peppermint candy pieces and chewy chocolate chunks with creamy vanilla soft-serve ice cream. Layer it with loads of vanilla soft-serve and fudge crunch.
Try the rich Columbian coffee with chocolate, mint, ice creamy vanilla soft-serve and top it with whipped cream for a mocha mint moolatte. The dilly bar is dipped in luscious chocolate, sprinkled with mint chocolate and molded to the shape of a Christmas tree.
Visit Dairy Queen at SM South Mall, Festival Mall, Glorietta 4, Robinsons Place Manila, Robinsons Galleria, Ali Mall, Coliseum Circle, Red Gate Coliseum, Gateway Food Express, Gateway LRT, Farmers Plaza, TriNoma, Eastwood City, SM Taytay, Shell NLEX, and soon-to-open in Alabang Town Center, Expansion Bldg.; third floor bridgeway, SM Megamall, and SM North EDSA-Annex.
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Holiday menus from Cravings
Cravings has a variety of holiday specials for parties and family reunions. Take your pick from Cravings classics like steak and bacon tournedos, pot roast a la New Orleans, pasta paella, chicken in raisin sauce, chicken galantine, spaghetti bolognese, roasted pork loin with tangy citrus sauce, and chicken and spices in coco sauce.
Pair it with appetizers such as vegetable crusite with creamy scallion dip, steamed pork and shrimp wontons, and herbed crostinis with salsa dip, among others. Cap the meal with two choices of dessert like white chocolate crumble, caramel squares, dulce de leche, black forest cake, and banana spring roll with caramel sauce. All packages include one round of iced tea or soda. Set meals are offered for a minimum of 50 and a maximum of 200 guests.
Party organizers can also order a la carte. Choose from pasta, meat, poultry, and seafood. Order a big batch of spaghetti with anchovy sauce to go with tandoori chicken skewers, or applesauce braised pork chop with roasted salmon béarnaise. The holiday serving is good for 10 to 12 people.
Visit Cravings at Katipunan Ave., QC; Shangri-La Mall, Fraser Place, Makati; Festival Mall, Tomas Morato, and West Avenue in QC.
For inquiries, call 689-1111 or visit www.cravingsgroup.com.
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Macarons de Paris, cake marron and canele at Bizu
Bizu Patisserie and Bistro offers sweet treats for the holidays. Try magical canelé (P325 for a box 18), which has a soft and tender custard center surrounded by a thin caramelized crust flavored with vanilla and rum.
Other goodies include the teatime treat (P395 box of 12), a light teacake made special with ground almond flour. It comes in raspberry pistachio, chocolate chip, and vanilla almond flavors; Madeleines (P365 box of 12), small genoise sponge cakes; Lamingtons (P395 box of 27), colored cakes made from butter sponge cake, flavored and rolled in dessicated coconut.
There are Christmas cakes like the cake marron with chestnuts and cream in a soft genoise sponge; and foret noir, Bizu’s version of black forest cake with rich dark chocolate sponge, chocolate mousse, kirsch and premium Amarena cherries. Also check out the samba, amour, nirvana, opera cake, goddess, strawberry shortcake and strawberry chiboust.
The macarons de Paris comes in different boxes: box of eight (P265), box of 14 (P455), and box of 28 (P895).
Bizu also offers the majestic pork crown roast (P8,995) with apple sausage and chestnut stuffing, which is good for 25 to 35 persons; a whole roast turkey (P6,500) with apple sausage and chestnut stuffing, candied sweet potatoes, shitake mushrooms, green beans, cranberry sauce and pan gravy for 50 to 60 guests; and the 10-hour US roast beef belly (P2,995) with horseradish cream and mushroom gravy.
Visit Bizu at Greenbelt 2, 757-BIZU; The Promenade, Greenhills Shopping Center, 724-BIZU; third floor Glorietta 4, 757-2086; and ground floor, Corte Delas Palmas, Alabang Town Center, 809-BIZU.
For Bizu Private Caterer, call 812-6451or 812-6027. For inquiries, visit www.bizupatisserie.com
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Tri-color puto bumbong at Via Mare
Via Mare offers classic kakanins like bibingka galapong made with Laguna cheese with salted duck egg, or quezo de bola topped with grated coconut and butter; and putto bumbong slathered with butter and sprinkled with muscovado sugar. Via Mare’s tri-color puto bumbong is back this holiday season. It comes in three flavors —the yellow sweetened langka, the green buko pandan, and the classic purple puto bumbong.
Via Mare’s bibingka cassava is a must-try. The crust, which contains grated cassava, is baked while the topping, a mixture of condensed milk, egg yolks, coconut cream and butter, is cooked in a double boiler before being layered over the crust and baked again.
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Seafood buffet at Red Crab
Enjoy sumptuous lunch and dinner buffet at The Red Crab’s Seafood Club. Take your pick from Asian, Spanish, American and modern Filipino cuisine with over 60 items to choose from.
The menu cycle changes every two weeks.
The Red Crab Seafood Club is at the second floor, Greeenbelt 3, Makati. For inquiries, call 757-4129, 757-4716.
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Christmas brunch at Dusit Thani Hotel
Today, from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., celebrate Christmas at Dusit Thani Manila’s Christmas amusement land.
Guests are welcomed at the lobby by stilt walker, juggler, unicyclist, clown, glitter tattoo artists, Santa Claus and his reindeers, and angels in chorus. Gifts are arranged under a giant Christmas tree in intermingling shades of red, green, and gold.
Treat the family to a Christmas brunch for P1,600 per person. Take your pick from Tosca for Italian fare, Benjarong for Thai, Umu’s for Japanese, or Basix for a wide array of international fare featuring roast prime US rib eye and stuffed roast tom turkey.
For more information, call 867-3333.
