Sweet Serendra
Tuesday, June 19th, 2007A friend of mine sent me this forwarded text message a few months ago–
"Whenever you are stressed
and about to give up
remember
STRESSED
is just
DESSERTS
spelled backwards…
so it’s just
a piece of cake!"
Fascinating, isn’t it?
By now, the Piazza at Serendra needs no further introduction. It is fast-becoming my new favorite happy place. I mean, what’s not to love about Serendra? It has many charming restaurants/shops that one cannot find anywhere else. One of them is Duo Steakhouse & Wine Bar. I’ve already dined at Duo five times since February this year (my husband Caloy, 7 times). We just adore the place–nice ambience, excellent food, impeccable service. We love the steaks and the baked fillet of sole and I always crave the Tessie Tomas salad or Parma ham and goat cheese salad (each priced at P350). Aside from those, the desserts are really something to look forward to after a meal! There’s the house specialty Duo Surprise (P220), which is a combination of layers of cheesecake and creme brulee that really works. It’s a pleasant surprise to the palate. Then there’s also the dark and white chocolate mousse (P130), which is sure to impress any dessert fan. And for those looking for an alternative, the sugar-free French chocolate gateau (P150; in photo below) is a smash hit of pure chocolate goodness minus the guilt.
Another shop that’s ‘only in Serendra’ is the very attractive Cupcakes by Sonja. Trust your olfactory nerves to lead you to where it is located. The smell of freshly-baked cupcakes is truly hard to resist! Plus the frostings are a palette of colors that are definitely a feast for the eyes! So, yes, even though I complain that the cupcakes are overpriced, there’s something about them that’s quite magical.
So far I’ve tried the red velvet vixen (P65), the bunny huggers carrot cake (P55), vanilla sunshine (the cheapest one at P48), peppermint patty (the one with the pretty pink icing; P68), and the berries n’ cream (P75). The peppermint patty is actually quite good, if you like the taste of Colgate. But my favorite and best-tasting cupcake from among those I’ve sampled is the berries n’ cream. It is made with "brown butter almond cake with fresh strawberries and whipped cream icing." The icing for this one is simply remarkable–not too sweet, it’s just right. I’ve yet to try the most expensive cupcakes: heavenly pistachio and sweet pleasures (P130 each). That’s too extravagant for a cupcake, don’t you think?
Conti’s Pastry Shop and Restaurant has, for years, been a very popular favorite among residents in the South. The original shop is in BF Homes, Paranaque but I’ve never had a chance to visit it. Thankfully, it has set up branches in Greenhills and now, Serendra. All 3 branches are always full so we were lucky enough to find ourselves a seat when we visited Serendra for lunch. We had garlic mushrooms and crab salad for appetizers. The bestsellers at Conti’s are the baked salmon (P265) and the mango bravo (P85/slice). I wasn’t so impressed with the latter but the former was s-e-n-s-a-t-i-o-n-a-l! Each bite of the salmon is a celebration! It’s topped with bechamel sauce and parmesan cheese, then served with buttered veggies and paella rice. My little foodie, Bea, ordered a slice of strawberry shortcake (P75) that looked cute but tasted ho-hum. The chiffon cake was dry and the strawberries were preserved instead of fresh. Oh, well.
Overall, the food at Conti’s was satisfying, the service really sucked, but the baked salmon deserves an encore.
