Soy yummy! Soy good!

MANILA, Philippines - Want to hear a soy interesting story?  Here it is: One fine day in Singapore, entrepreneur/ restaurateur George Pua was leisurely malling when he chanced upon a snaking long queue. Curious, he joined the queue and, not long after, he found out where it led to: YummySoy, an oh-soy-cool Singaporean product.

“It’s a big thing in Singapore,” says George. “It’s similar to the hot taho that’s sliced, with the sago and sugar syrup mixed into it.”

He adds, “It’s something new, something healthy (soy boasts health-promoting phytochemicals, it’s good for heart and bone health, etc.). It’s good for those who are into running at The Fort.”

To make a long story short, George soy loved what he saw and ate that he decided to talk to the guy who owns the YummySoy store and put up its first franchise outside Singapore. Singapore’s YummySoy sent people to train us how to do it and so, the YummySoy Simply Refreshing Bar opened last June 3 at The Fort Strip. Exactly where is it located? Right smack in the middle of the happening four-in-one complex where you can also find the simply A-OK K-Pub BBQ, Tony Roma’s fine steakhouse, where you’re sure to go back for the baby back ribs and more, and Modern Sichuan for a taste of hot Chinese food.

Yes, the indefatigable George opened four restaurants in just one morning. The restos pretty much complement each other and diners find themselves crossing over from one resto to the next. Like getting a healthy soy dessert after a hearty meal at K-Pub or Tony Roma’s or Modern Sichuan.

But of course, YummySoy is more than a dessert place. “For a lot of people, it’s an everyday refreshing treat,” says George, who’s quite a cool guy.

Yup, George tried about 20 to 30 soy flavors in Singapore, but nope, he’s bringing in just a few flavors to Manila. “I don’t want to confuse the customers,” he explains. “And there are Singaporean flavors that may not click with the Pinoy taste buds.”

But of course, there’s the original soy flavor, George’s personal favorite. By the way, George is lactose-intolerant. As for me, I’m both a milk and soy lover.  When I was a child, the sound of  “Tahooo!” filling the early morning air outside our house was music to my ears. I could hardly wait for the taho peddler to fill up my bowl and my young heart with so much joy. A small bowl of taho was all it took to perk up my day. Much later, I thought of actually putting up my own taho business and calling it Lake Taho!

Today, I’m sitting at YummySoy about to demolish six little bowls of chilled bean curd — original soy, almond, hazelnut, dark chocolate, white chocolate, and strawberry, both with and without toppings. I try the original flavor first. Hmmm!!! So mellow, so velvety smooth, it melts on your tongue right away. Then I try the almond, the hazelnut, the dark chocolate, the white chocolate, and the strawberry with pearl add-ons that delightfully pop in your mouth. Soy berry good!

Now YummySoy offers an even yummier deal: Get any six chilled bean curd for just P400.

But if you don’t have the luxury of time to sit and savor your soy, you can have your bean curd fix on the go with YummySoy’s Slurpy offerings. Like the chilled bean curd, a Slurpy original flavor costs P75 while the flavored ones are at P85 each. Add P10 for the toppings.

“The Slurpy is for the grab-and-go crowd,” George tells us. “It’s also bean curd but in a different format — it’s between liquid and solid forms. Pretty much like sipping tea with a straw, but a different experience, like when you’re eating gulaman and it sort of breaks down as it goes up.”

Try the soymilk, too. You can enjoy it hot or cold, in original and flavored variants, in regular and large sizes. The soymilk flavors are almond, coffee, hazelnut, toffee nut, tiramisu, dark chocolate, white chocolate, mango, and strawberry while the add-ons include pearls, coffee jelly, grass jelly, and strawberry pop. The original costs P65 for the regular size and P75 for large while the flavored costs P75 for the original and P85 for large. There’s a sugar-free caramel flavor at P80 for the regular size and P90 for large.

“Everything is natural, we don’t use artificial flavors or preservatives, and everything is imported from the US and Canada so you’re guaranteed really premium quality — super-smooth, super-fine, with no aftertaste. For instance, we use legitimate almond syrup, you can’t find the same kind in the Philippines, we tried looking all over. Its taste sets it apart from the rest.”

If you keep it in the ref, YummySoy has a shelf life of five days.

Another bit of yummy news is YummySoy gives you the option of choosing the sweetness level of your soy. Now, that’s really sweet of them! Would you like it full sugar (100 percent) or 75 percent or 50 percent sweet?

YummySoy is also soon coming out with smaller servings of its soy products. “And we will soon be available at 7-Eleven stores,” says a beaming George. “We’ve also been getting franchise inquiries.”

YummySoy makes everything soy convenient that you can call to order ahead and then pick it up so you can avail yourself of the 10-minute free parking at The Fort Strip.

I think I just found my perfect soy mate!

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YummySoy is at The Fort Strip, 5th Ave. corner 28th St., Bonifacio Global City, Taguig beside K-Pub, with telephone number 553-8334, and at Robinsons Place Manila, 3rd floor, Midtown Wing, with telephone number 481-6193.

Visit YummySoy at www.yummysoy.ph; www.Facebook.com/yummysoyph; instagram @yummysoyph; e-mail info@yummysoy.ph.