Mad about FOOD

There is a number of things that I don’t eat–cucumbers, bell peppers, onion rings, sitaw, yogurt, paksiw na isda, kimchi, and a few others. But the first item on my list is always "cheesecake."  Regardless of what other people say, and no matter how glorious they look, I really don’t appreciate the sweet-sour (read: rancid) taste of cheesecakes. It can never be my dessert of choice.

Yesterday I attempted to develop a sort of liking for cheesecakes by having lunch at Cheesecake, etc. with my little foodie, Bea, and my friend, Aimee. We went to the Greenbelt 3 branch, which is a small, cramped space on the 3rd level. I was surprised by the extensive menu–from sandwiches to pasta dishes, boneless bangus, chicken pork adobo and even sisig. So we started off with a bowl of seafood corn chowder (P115) with a side of wheat toast.

         

If only I hadn’t seen the food server in the act of re-heating the soup in the microwave oven, I would’ve given it two thumbs-up. And even though the only seafood I could find were the tuna flakes (presumably from a can), the soup was tasty and satisfying, with chunks of potato, bits of bacon and lots of corn kernels. I’m thinking of making my own version of this chowder at home. Wish me luck.

         

We had the St. Galler schueblig (P225) next. It had a portion of egg salad and wheat toast with butter. I ordered it because I figured it was the safest choice. This traditional Swiss sausage always tastes almost the same anywhere you have it–whether in its place of origin or in a third world country like ours. The serving was humongous that Bea and I weren’t able to finish the entire thing.

         

My friend Aimee had the baked seafood rice (P210) and four seasons juice (P80). She said the former was a really heavy meal, topped with a creamy sauce similar to Greenwich’s rice melts. Judging from how she nearly polished off her plate (*wink*), I can only surmise that it was a good deal.

Aimee has a thing for cheesecakes, which is why I invited her there. From among the many very attractive ones on display, she picked the simple Belgian double cream (P150; plus P25 for the blueberry topping), which has a thin layer of crushed graham crackers as its base. I dared give it a try–just a teensy weensy bit–and, well, it wasn’t that awful. The cream cheese doesn’t have that overpowering taste of something rotten or spoiled. It was actually quite good. At least, Bea thought so. Still, I am no convert. I maintain my aversion to this dessert.

But if ever I’ll go back to Cheesecake, etc., it will only be because of the Ghirardelli double choco malt (P150). Having visited San Francisco several years back, I know that Ghirardelli is a well-loved homegrown chocolate brand in the City by the Bay. The choco malt drink is a real winner, with its ultra-smooth, thick and sinfully creamy chocolate goodness.

My only real and valid complaint about the branch is that it only had one person handling everything–taking the orders, preparing/cooking the food, blending the drinks, serving them, manning the cash register, and cleaning up. Granted, the place is tiny but with only 2 sets of customers, she already had her hands full. Our orders came one at a time, maybe ten minutes apart. She was friendly and still had a smile on her face, but it’s just not fair for her, wouldn’t you say?

Special thanks to Appetite ~Your lifestyle food magazine~ for the P1000 Cheesecake, etc. gift card.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 15th, 2007 at 3:41 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.