Gale Eats: Bites of Love Salted Egg Potato Chips

Happy rainy Saturday everyone! :)

This morning I have received my order from Bites of Love. I saw an FB post from Donna of My Lucid Intervals about the salted egg potato chips and she was asking if it was really good. I was intrigued because all of the replies on that post said the chips are really good. So yeah, I ended up ordering from them hoping it would be worth my money. 

Price: Php 250

Size: It is not indicated how many grams this has but the container is the same size as the peanut brittle sold in Baguio. Here's also a comparison shot beside a regular sized mug. 

MY THOUGHTS:

PROS:

- This is really delicious! I haven't eaten something like this before. The taste is also very addicting. We can't seem to stop eating the chips haha ^_^


- The chips are made from real potatoes. If I am not mistaken, these potato chips are handmade too.

- I believe these chips are made by batch, probably weekly. Guaranteed always fresh.

- And I really appreciate how easy it is to talk to the owner of Bites of Love. I had a very smooth transaction.

CONS:

- This is very pricey for potato chips. That's Php 250 for a small tub. Take note that this container is not full to the brim with chips. There's like around an inch of space from the brim, I'm not sure if this is because the chips got broken into smaller pieces during delivery or it's meant to be like that.

- I'm not sure how long you can keep this crispy. The container is not sealed so I think the crispiness of the chips can go away pretty quickly.

- The chips are greasy, probably because of the butter & salted egg that's coating it. So definitely not healthy hehe =P

- This is spicy. Not too much but you can definitely feel the kick. I am not fond of spicy foods so my tongue is quite sensitive to it. This has chopped siling labuyo (chilli).

OVER-ALL RATING: 4/5

Me & my family loved it! We got addicted to the taste & can't stop eating. We were able to finish the tub in one seating haha. Definitely a good experience to try. 

I recommend that you guys try it first if it will suit your taste buds. I guarantee that it taste awesome! :)

WILL I RE-PURCHASE? 
Probably not, the price is just a turn off for me. Php 250 is too much for chips IMO. Other imported potato chips like Lays & Ruffles only sells for under Php150 & that's a big bag already. Also, I'm on a diet (I'm trying to eat healthier) & I'm pretty sure this has high calories & salt content compared to other more commercialized chips. BUT I am not disappointed that I was able to eat it because it is just so good!

I will probably just try to recreate this because I have seen a lot of recipes online. I will update you guys if ever it is a success. Experiment project ko yan haha :)


Thank you for dropping by!

Gale Eats: Farmer John potato chips

Happy Friday! Oh my gosh, I can't believe we're already ending the 2nd week of January. I still haven't felt the New Year and we're already nearing the 2nd half of the month! The next thing we know, it's gonna be Christmas again haha :)

Anyway, I noticed that I have been blogging almost everyday instead of just the 3 days I planned. I can't seem to help myself because I get this urge to post something when I wake up, just like today. So, I am gonna share with you my best discovery so far with regards to snacks.

Do you love Ruffles and Lays potato chips? What's your favorite flavor? Mine would be the Ruffles "Sour Cream and Cheddar" and Lays "Plain Salted" and "Sour cream and Onion". Those 3 are my go to flavors whenever I want to eat some chips. I would only buy them when we go on long trips though, like when we go camping, because they are so expensive. They costs almost Php100 per bag depending on where you get them so I feel guilty if I buy them more often. 

So imagine how happy I got when I found a cheaper version that tastes the same as my favorite chips! They are made by a local brand called Farmer John.The big bag costs Php44 (80gms?) and the small ones are priced at P11 (22gms) in Landmark Trinoma. 

YAY!

- taste the same as their more expensive counterpart

- look, texture and size of the chips are the same too

- very affordable. 

- locally made

- can be found in any major grocery store (as far as I know, even 7/11 stores have them)


NAY!

- there's only 3 flavors available (bbq, sour cream n cheddar, plain salted) so it might limit some people 

- I felt the content in the small bags is too little hehe but that's just me :)


OVER-ALL RATING: 5/5

If you love those flavors I mentioned, definitely check this brand out. They are good quality potato chips and can fix your junk food cravings at a much affordable price. But I suggest you get the big bags because you get more out of them. The small ones are for little fixes only and is meant to control your intake (I get the small ones just for this purpose as I want to limit my intake of chips).


Thanks for dropping by!

Gale Eats: Mr. Moo's Pastillas

Happy Wednesday everyone! I almost was unable to post anything today because I lost my eyeglasses this morning and I can't seem to find it. Luckily, I found it around 1pm near the trash bin beside my computer table. I guess it fell there when I was feeding the kittens last night. It was really hard to navigate when you're vision is not clear haha :)

Anyway, I would like to share with yo all the most delicious pastillas I have ever tasted! This is from the brand Mr. Moo's from Tagaytay and it is made from carabao's milk. I love love carabao milk compared to cow's milk. I grew up in the province and my grandma always buys me 1 liter of fresh carabao milk every morning and she will boil it herself before I drink it. Sometimes, she makes me pastillas from those too so eating this brought back childhood memories.

PRICE: Php100 / 15pcs

I always get the jumbo version whenever I buy because I hate getting pastillas that were wrapped in big paper rolls but when you open it you'll find a very small roll of product. So, I was really happy that when I opened Mr. Moo's, it came with a big sized pastillas! It is also wrapped with a clear plastic before wrapping with the traditional white paper. I love this addition because it prevented the pastillas from sticking to the wrapper which always happened to other brands unless they are full of sugar coating.

Speaking of sugar, this one is not full of sugar. I love the right blend of sweetness from white sugar and the creaminess of milk. Everyone who tasted this said the same thing, "This is good. Not too sweet like other brands. Where did you get it?" I think I've found my favorite pastillas ever :)

When you go to Tagaytay, you should try this one. They also sell fresh carabao milk and it is delicious too. I always ask my parents to bring some over as pasalubong whenever they go to our rest house there :)

OVER-ALL RATING: 5/5

This is the best pastillas I've ever tasted. Even if it is priced higher, I would still buy it because it's worth ~

WILL I REPURCHASE? Definitely! This is so delicious! :)


Thanks for dropping by!

Gale Eats: Kogi Restaurant

Hello again! Me and my aunt went out for lunch yesterday in the new mall at Divisoria. I forgot the name of the mall but it has a feel of Glorietta. You can find great shops and restaurants and even coffee shops inside so I can safely conclude that the mall's target customers are the Chinese community and the other Class A & B in the area of Divisoria.

We have decided to eat at the Korean restaurant there called Kogi Bulgogi coz I love Korean food and I haven't tried that restaurant yet.

We ordered 2 dishes:

JJAJANGMYUN - this is made up of wheat noodles, black soy bean paste, vegetables and small strips of meat. This is the most delivered noodles in Korea according to Wikipedia and this is the first time I have eaten this on a Korean restaurant locally. I usually buy the instant version on Korean grocery stores but this is better. 

 

WHAT I LIKED: It has the perfect consistency of noodles and it doesn't taste too sweet which sometimes happen in instant versions. It is also affordable and can be shared by 2 people if you have other dishes.

WHAT I HATE: The only problem I have with this is that, you can hardly taste the meat because they are so small and minute in number. It feels like there's no meat at all. Oh, and this is quite messy so make sure to have a napkin on hand and be cautious of your clothes.

BIBIMBAP - Rice with different stir fried vegetables, egg, and beef. 

It comes in a heated stone bowl like this:

WHAT I LIKE: It taste so good! One of the best bibimbap I tried locally. Rice is not soggy and the vegetables are well flavored. I love how they cooked the meat like they are bacon bits. It gave a nice flavor to the dish. Another plus point is that they didn't mixed the chili paste on the rice so you can control the spiciness of the dish.

WHAT I HATE: Again, the meat in this dish is so little (Around 1 tbsp only of meat bits)! It's like you can't see any bits of meat once you mixed everything together. We even asked the waiter if it has meat coz we can't see anything. Luckily, they gave us another batch of meat to add in this dish coz my aunt can't believe it's supposed to be that amount only.

They also serve FREE refillable side dishes -- kimchi, kangkong, banana heart, bean sprouts, dilis (anchovies) and sweet potato & banana.

WHAT I LIKE: These are free and they taste good. I liked the kimchi, bean sprouts and dilis the best. They go nicely with my bibimbap. You can also ask for refills if you like.

WHAT I DON'T LIKE: You can only refill this once. I prefer the one in Bulgogi Brothers wherein it's unlimited side dishes.

OVER-ALL RATING FOR KOGI: 3.5/5

I liked the dishes we got and also the side dishes, they are priced affordably and the serving amount is good with pretty plating.  BUT they are so stingy with the meat on their dishes. It's like you're just paying for a meat dish full of vegetables and little meat. 

WILL RE-VISIT KOGI? I'll probably go back for the jjajangmyun whenever I visit Divisoria but I won't go there for meat dishes. I prefer Bulgogi Brothers for meats coz they taste better and the serving sizes are bigger with only a slight price difference.

Would you know if Kogi have a branch somewhere North? I live in Quezon City and Divisoria is too far from my place.  Thanks!

Thanks for dropping by!

Gale Eats: Mr. Kimbob

Hello everyone! I'm supposed to post this review the other day but my internet got screwed because of the strong winds and rain hehe so this is quite late. ^_^

Did you know that I'm a certified foodie? I love eating different things and I love cooking too. Just the other day, I thought to myself, "Since I love food, won't reviewing the different food establishments I go to and the dishes I've tried be a good addition to my blog?" So I have decided to include this here coz I think this will show you another side of me :)

This idea came to me because I myself do love reading  food reviews too like what Nikki of Askmewhats posts in her blog. It really helps in giving ideas on what to order or where to go to eat these kind of dishes. I really love seeing pictures of delicious food and how the blogger describes them ^_^

For my first post, I will introduce you to a fast food establishment -- Mr. Kimbob. I usually go to their branch in SM North EDSA but I know that they have stalls in different SM malls like Megamall and Fairview.

I really love Korean food but it's hard to find a good place to get it so if I need a quick fix for my cravings, I just go to SM and go buy myself something from Mr. Kimbob. They offer Korean foods like bibimbop, tteukboki, kimbop, japchae, ramyun etc.

*sorry I didn't know that it's blurred*

My favorite food to order is Bibimbop with beef (you can choose beef, pork or chicken). It's a hearty meal and only cost Php99!

This is served in a hot metal plate (that is so heavy) and it includes rice, egg, your choice of meat and 6 different veggies including kimchi. This dish is meant to be mixed all together but if you don't like that you can just eat them as side dishes. This dish is really healthy in my opinion coz more than 80% of the dish is made up of veggies ^_^

So this last visit, me and bf decided to try their tteukbokki. It is sticky rice cakes cooked in chili sauce.

If you love spicy foods, then you definitely should try this. It is so delicious! I am actually am looking forward to hunting the ingredients so I can try and make them at home too ^_^

I also love their kimbop but since I usually make this one at home, I just don't order it that much anymore. Their ramyun is also good but it is so spicy that I usually get runny nose after I finished eating haha It actually is served in a gold colored pot like what you see in the Korean dramas so that's fun :)

OVER-ALL RATING for MR. KIMBOB: 4/5. I give 5 to the dishes and 4 for the plating. The dishes are delicious but the metal hot plate is really heavy and there are a lot times that I almost didn't make it to our table in the food court from the counter. It is just so heavy.

WILL I COME BACK? Definitely! I have eaten here a lot of times already and I do recommend you guys should try this establishment. You should start with bibimbop since that is their specialty ^_^

Thanks for dropping by! ^_^

Gale Eats: Japchae

I just want to share this with you guys...What I made today for lunch and snack time.. I ate this with my BF and my family ^_^

Japchae  

(Glass Noodles with Stir-fried Vegetables)

Ingredients needed:

- Glass noodles -- You can get this at supermarkets and Korean mart

- Beef, sliced thinly into strips -- I got the pre cut one from the supermarket...it's called "stroganoff"

- Spinach

- Carrot, julienned

- Onion, sliced thinly

- Bell peppers, sliced thinly

- Shiitake mushrooms, sliced thinly (remove the stems)

- Eggs -- scrambled eggs then sliced into strips

- Garlic, chopped

- Sesame seeds

- Sugar

- Sesame Oil

- Soy sauce -- I used Kikoman

- Olive oil

Procedure -- I followed "Aeriskitchen" from Youtube but I adjusted the amount of the ingredients coz I cooked a bigger batch. Here's her video ^_^

I loved the result! It tastes so good and perfect for everyone...even my dad who is very picky told me it tastes good.

I just hoped that I have a bigger wok to cook it with coz it's so hard to mix and a sharper knife for cutting the veggies (why does a ceramic knife so expensive huhu)...but aside from that, everything went smoothly. I think I can make this easily on our next family gathering...Something new to add from the usual pasta stuff hehe ^_^

Gale Eats: Tous Les Jours Cake

Whenever I watch Korean dramas I always wish we also have those cute stuffs they have especially the pastries. I love how they decorate them and they look so delicious too! So when I learned that Tous Les Jours opened a branch at SM North The Block, I was ecstatic because it is very near my place.

Their breads and pastries are super yummy! I love the unique flavors and look because I am already bored with the usual breads we see on our local bakeries even those in Bread Talk and French Baker. And it's nice to have a wide variety of bread.

But what attracted me more in Tous Les Jours are not the breads but the cakes. They are so wonderfully decorated that they look like art. I love the shapes and colors and the flavors. You should check out their stores because just looking at these cakes will make you happy ^_^

Their cakes are packaged in a very sturdy box like this and it comes with a knife and 2 candle sticks.

The box itself is cute so I usually keep it with me even if there's no more cake hehe. It is made up of thick cardboard so you won't worry that your cake will be damaged when you travel it. It also insulates the cold so the cake won't melt easily.

Here's one example of a cake they design. This is a strawberry shaped cake. Look how perfect it look. It's really perfect to bring in parties as gifts because they are unique and can be the talk of the party.

My favorite cakes are those made with their strawberry cream. I love how smooth they are in my mouth and the sweetness is just right. Even my mom who doesn't like sweet loved this cake. The straberry sponge cake inside tastes so good too. It is very moist and yummy. This cake has fresh strawberries in the middle and you definitely must eat those too. I love all the layers of this cake... well almost everything. I don't like the strawberry powder on top because it's sour hehe but my cousins love it if it's combined with everything coz it balances out the taste...but I guess I have sweet tooth so I just like sweetness haha ^_^

I love eating the cream so I ate a lot of them especially the one on the outside that serves as the "crown" of the cake.

The only bad thing I can see is that I can't bring this in far places because they are made of cream and must be refrigerated at all times. Travelling time for this cake from the store to your place should only take less than 1-2 hours depending on the weather.

Although others are detered because of the price, I think paying P600 or somthing for a cake this good is worth it. I got this straberry one for Php580 (around $13) only and this is big and freshly made. Why would I buy a cheap cake that I won't enjoy eating, right?

OVER ALL RATING: 5/5- I love this cake! I don't think I'll come back to eating Goldilocks and Red Ribbon. Nothing can compare with this one. I will definitely try the chocolate ones because my sister said they taste superb ^_^

What about you, would you like to eat something this good and pretty? I think I stared this cake for quite some time before I decided to eat it haha ^_^

Gale Eats: Chocolate Cupcakes with Fuge Frostings

Hello everyone! I just want to share with you all my treat of the week. Me and my sis ordered some chocolate cupcakes with fudge frostings from my friend Miren who has her own e-shop on multiply called Best Desserts. We had some cravings for sweets and when my mom asked me to ask Miren to bake some sugar-free chewy oatmeal cookies for my grandparents, we took the opporutnity to order some for ourselves haha :)

We chose these cupcakes because we have not yet tried it..I have eaten almost majority of her goods already because I love sweets and I love how my friend bakes them. No scrimping on ingredients and always fresh and chewy. Hmm just thinking of these babies makes me want to order again haha..I'm so lucky I don't get fat with all the carbs and the sugars I take in.


By the way, I got this photo from Miren's site because I was unable to take some actual pictures. We already devoured the cupcakes before I thought of taking some pictures haha ^_^

What I like about it:
- very moist cake even after being refrigerated
- the sweetness of the cupcake and frosting is just enough..not too sweet
- the size is perfect..not too big or too small
- freshly baked (Miren always bake the orders the night before she delivers them)

What I don't like:
- Miren's office or house is too far from my place..she is located in Makati and I'm from Novaliches..so I need to opt for one-day shipping but I can't have everything shipped :(
- the frostings is not that smooth..you can feel some chocolate bits from it..but this won't be a problem to some

OVER-ALL RATING: 4.5/5 - If only the frosting is smoother :)

WILL I REPURCHASE? Definitely! And I will try some more of her new creations :)

Where to buy: Best Desserts by Miren (http://bestdesserts.multiply.com)


That's it! I just want to make all of you hungry haha joke! Enjoy your weekends guys! I won't be able to post here for a few days coz I'll be staying with my grandparents until they went back to Mindanao :)

Bye!

My New Favorite Desserts + Update

Hello guys! How's your week? I hope everything is doing very well for you coz mine is :) If you are a student, congratulations! You're probably so relaxed now because of the 2 days no-classes because of the "signal #2 storm" :P

For this post, I just want to share my new luves! I'm pretty sure that I've already mentioned before how I love sweets. I've been having cravings for pastries lately because I'm already feeling exhausted from working almost everyday and whenever I'm down, I need to eat something sweet to make me feel a little better. So when Me and my bf went to go outing early this month during our day off, I bought many sweet foods! I'm lucky that my bf loves sweets as much as I do so I had no problem that all the food I brought with me (I'm the one incharge for bringing foods) was all pastries lol. My favorite supplier for my cravings is my friend Miren (who has a small pastry business called Dessert Express). All her creations fit my taste buds perfectly. I also love the fact that for the price, I get products with scrumptious amount of ingredients..definitely no scrimping! So I know that I really get the value for my money plus the fact that I always get them fresh and hot from the oven..She always bakes her goodies the night before she need to deliver them..isn't that nice? :)

I borrowed some pictures from her site of the ones I ordered..I was unable to take some actual photos of them coz when my bf saw them, he already asked me if we can eat them already haha (take note that we are still on the way to the resort!) Anyways, we wanted to try something new from Miren so I got us (or rather me hehe) a box of Dulce De Leche, Fudgey Merengue Cookies and Belgian Chocolate Mousse (Which I was unable to bring because it will melt so I ate it with my sister at home) which we haven't tried yet. Here are my reviews on them.

DULCE DE LECHE
What it says on her site: "Chewy chocolatey with dulce de leche bottom and now with dulce de leche on top too! Made with bittersweet chocolate blocks and Belgian baking chocolate powder. It's one big yummy mess! Eat it with a fork ...just like cake =D"

Price: Php 400/box of 15

My Final Verdict: 5/5. I really can't think of something not to like about this treat hehe..I think I like this better than the Revel Bars. Actually, this is the first time I ordered this from her so I didn't really know what to expect but after eating everything, I can now conclude that if you love eating "yema" (a sweet treat made from condensed milk), then you'll definitely love this! It is the perfect combination of gooey and sweetness..This is love! :)


FUDGEY MERENGUE COOKIES

What it says on her site: "Light outside and fudgey inside."

Price: Php 180/box of 24 bite size cookies (if I'm not mistaken hehe)

My Final Verdict: 4/5. I love the taste so much because it is not too sweet and everytime I take a bite, I can really taste the fudgey chocolate inside. The only thing I don't like (or maybe disappointed is the right word) is the size..it is so small..just the size of an Oreo cookie. Anyways, since they are plenty(24pcs per order), I guess this is made this way so that it can maintain the fudgey inside even after baking..I just really wish it came big because it taste so good! haha :)


BELGIAN CHOCOLATE MOUSSE (in cups)
What the site says: "Savor the richness of moist chocolate cake, Belgian chocolate mousse and sweetened whipped cream with this delicious indulgence. It’s simply heaven on your tastebuds!" 

Price: Box of 10 cups: P450 / 8-inch cake: P580

Tip: Must be frozen or at least refrigerated because it can easily melt in our weather. I'm so happy that I ordered the one in cups because when it melted during the travel the shape remained intact and when i reached home, I just placed it on our refrigerator to cool it again. Very easy to fix the melted status unlike when you get the cake form which has a higher tendency to melt and it won't look that nice anymore (this is based form my experience with Red Ribbon Chocolate Mousse cake that we always order).

My Final Verdict: 5/5. This is heaven! I love the fact that it is not so sweet so I can eat a lot. The cups is the perfect size for one serving and this helps to make sure everyone gets the same amount of everything. I like it better than Red Ribbon actually hehe. I can now conclude that my favorite Dessert Express goodies is this cake! Yummy! :)

Where you can get these heavenly goodies:

From Miren @ http://bestdesserts.multiply.com

What about you? Where do you get your favorite desserts? Please share them to me coz I really love sweets! Till next time! :)

Gale Eats: My Heavenly Indulgence

I just want to share with you guys the very delicious pastry that I ate during the last typhoon that hit Manila..it's so nice to eat sweets while reading a good book while the weather is cold coz it really lifts my spirits up!

My mom actually asked me to order some home-made cookies from my friend Miren (of http://bestdesserts.multiply.com ) to give away to her friends..she asked me to get 5 dozen of mixed choco chips cookies (actually my sister got a dozen of those hehe) plus my "get-anything-you-want" order (since I'm the one who loves sweets in my family)..I chose to order a dozen of Vanilla cupcakes with choco chips and Creamcheese frosting...when my Tita Jen heard that we will be ordering from Miren, she asked me to get her a dozen of mixed choco chips cookies and a box of classic Creamcheese brownies too..I'm so glad that my bro drove me to Miren's house to pick up my order since I can't carry it and it's continously raining since the night before.

This is actually the first time that I have tasted her cupcakes..I usually order cookies and bars hehe..hmm, these cupcakes are heaven...I give it 5 out 5 rating for the taste and packaging :)

TASTE: I super love the creamcheese frosting! it's not too sweet and it really complements the vanilla flavor of the cupcake...this didn't made my throat itch and I didn't had the "umay" feeling even if I ate a lot.. everyone who tasted the cupcakes told me they are delicious, even those who don't really love pastries.

PACKAGING: Miren is very ingenious..she placed a toothpick on each piece of cupcake on the corners of the box to keep the frostings from being squeezed..and I am happy that my cupcakes are all intact when I arrived home.

Here are some of the pictures I took before I ate them haha..they really look so good right? Miren colored the frosting blue since they would look blah if not done due to the plain white color of both cupcake and frosting hehe :)

Vanilla cupcakes with Choco Chips and Creamcheese Frostings