A Lovely Afternoon at Market Basket in Alabang

Dropped by Market Basket this afternoon. It's a restaurant located just outside Festival Mall's River Park area in Alabang Muntinlupa. I was in the mood for sophisticated European dishes or modern Filipino food which the place prides itself with. It's like a modern day "Dampa" dining place with an interior that would remind you of a country home or what is called shabby chic. 

The place can sit about 100-120 people including the seating outside with a view of a fancy fountain. They also have a private room upstairs which you could use for small gatherings or meetings, just let them know ahead of time to reserve.

The concept of a modern day "Dampa" must be amusing, but do know they get the freshest produce around Manila and turn them into delectable dishes in just a few minutes. All you need to do is choose - and tell them what you would like to do with it. The price is accorded to the weight of the produce but their minimum is 200 grams, and you only pay once unlike regular "Dampa" that's got separate bills for the market and for the cooking.

I was with a couple of other people having lunch so it was a nice way to see what they could whip out for us. It was hot so I ordered Iced Tea which they hand in these lovely mason jars. 

Pomelo Salad

Fruits and Nuts Salad

Crispy Parmesan Tacos

Sinigang na Salmon

Eggplant and Mango Salad (my personal favorite)

Fish Ceviche

Chili Crab

Mussels Mariniere

Lapu Lapu Escabeche (Sweet and Sour)

Seafood Hotpot

Sizzling Lechon Kawali Sisig (maygahd!)

Shrimp and Steak

Seafood Thermidore (a great hit!)

We also had Sinigang Na Ulo and Belly of Salmon, Pomelo Salad, Fish Ceviche, Crispy Parmesan Tacos, Sizzling Lechon Kawali Sisig (I know! Lol) for appetizers. Then for our main course we had Seafood Hotpot, Prawn Thermidore, Chili Crab, Steak and Shrimp, Mussels Mariniere and Sweet and Sour Lapu Lapu.

For Dessert, we had Skillet Smores, Nilupak Roulade, Triple Chocolate Cheesecake, Sizzling Fruit and Ice Cream, but I was really interested with the various Flavored Pastillas they had in the counter. It looked so yummy!

Thanks Chef Jinelle Juson and Chef Arnel Arjona for preparing great food!

You may check out Market Basket at the River Park section of Festival Mall. They're open from 10am to 11pm or as long as there are customers. Market Basket is also part of the Chef's Quarter Group that owns Chef's Quarter, Old Vine, Uncle Cheffy, Chef's Barrel and Kusé. No wonder it's good! Visit https://www.facebook.com/marketbasketalabang/ for more information about their restaurant. 

KUMAGCOW

Fresh Blogs Fast!

Putting Up My HANNS 5 Tier Storage Racks

The long weekend got me to start some homework because I do lack storage at home. My pantry is so full I just leave most of my groceries in boxes because it wouldn't fit in the shelves. It gets that way every time because I do groceries on a monthly basis. I just got a HANNS 5 Tier Storage Rack and tried to put one up at home. It's tall, which was one of the things I looked for a rack plus it's shelves and posts are made of steel so I opened the box and started building.

It's got instructions but I figured it would rarely be easy to put up. I can do this, I said that quite a few times and end up still reading the manual. Don't put this up without reading it because it'll give you pointers. I started peeling off ALL of the plastic covers around the posts. You need to have them separated and know what goes in the bottom, the middle and the top. The one you should look for are the ends, it's quite easy actually. But for the ladies, please ask a man to do this for you as the parts are quite heavy. You can control what height you would want to put this in but I suggest you evenly distribute it sans weight.

Now make sure the parts fit especially the ones 4 edges because that's the one that will make this sturdy. I got it to stand around 30 minutes, make sure you have ample amount of fans because it's so hot in the Philippines you'll be sweating before you know it. Before you do this, make sure all the parts are there including the number of plastic pegs, rings, as that's needed to make sure it's sturdy. The manual has the correct number of parts so please refer to that then count it. Mine was sturdy as soon as the second level was there because I've got it all complete!

Now I've got something to put all my groceries in including the eggs, canned goods, and several food products that won't fit in my pantry. It's also nicely colored, in Mahogany Brown which I think won't peel and have rust for a few years... that's going to make it worth every penny. If you want to order the rack, just head on to https://www.facebook.com/hannsph as they've got a lot of things there for practical use. It's not just the racks, but this rocks!

Now I've got lots of storage, time to fill them up!

The Best Samsung S8/S8+ Plans From Smart

I just received a text from Smart this morning and it informed me that I can avail of a new postpaid plan for just Php 399 that includes 3GB of data, Unli texts to all networks  20 Minutes of All Net Calls and Free Chat Apps! But I wanted a new phone with it and I'm trying to find the perfect one to go with that plan, but the latest one seems to be the Samsung S8 and the Samsung S8+ that just went available for pre-order last April 17. Now you know what that means right? It's the best deal that I can combine for that Postpaid Plan 399.

So what this basically means is, you can add Php 1,500 on top of that Postpaid Plan 399 so you can get the 5.8-inch Samsung Galaxy S8 for as low as Php 1,899 per month. You will be locked on a 24 month period but only will shell out Php 5,000, isn't that amazing?

Or if you want the 6.2-inch Samsung Galaxy S8+, you can get the same Plan 399 and add Php 1,500 every month. Paying only as low as Php 1,899 per month with one time cash out of Php 8,000, totally worth every penny. If you prefer other plans, it'll be better because you can customize it with other Smart Postpaid base plans if you want to get higher GB allowance and the usual text-call-data plans that's available in Smart's Postpaid Plan offers. It also comes with FREE FB Messenger access, Viber and Whatsapp every month. Or if you prefer, there's also FREE access to your app of choice, you just tell them what you need in the Smart centers nationwide!

Aside from the looks of this new phone, it's also got a 12MP Dual Pixel camera using F1.7 aperture so you can get the most vivid photos, videos and tons of new features that has been developed on Samsung phones. Plus, it's available in 3 different colors that could match your personality. I'm an apple user but if it's going to be this affordable, I would love to have this too. But for Android users, you know how good this is right? Right.

It's the best phone for binge watching too as iFlix has got my favorite show The Magicians Season 2 on it. I'm repeating all of the episodes today!

Go visit the Samsung S8 and Samsung S8+ here for more details.

Spitting the Facts with Gigi's Custaroons

I've been to Mega Fashion Hall a lot of times and have passed by this particular store that says Custaroonery on it. I never bothered to look or see what they sell because most of the time, I'm either in a hurry or just off to somewhere else in the mall. Apparently, I've been missing a lot because as soon as I got a present from a friend... I felt so sorry for myself that I didn't try this.

Custaroonery basically sells fusion Macaroons and Custards. One of the boxes I got contained truffle like balls that tasted like Chocolate and Macaroons combined. They up the ante with powdered cocoa so the look alone was Truffle-ish. When you bite into it, it's like intense chocolate and it sticks to your teeth, like it's so d@mn good you would be finishing the whole thing by yourself if you weren't on a diet.

The not so regular Custaroonery special was awesome. It's like a not too sweet (but just right) and I'm trying to stop myself by not popping this into my mouth a couple of times, and I failed because it was that good. It's like eating a richer, creamier version of a macaroon combined with creme brulee. I tried to save some for my friends and family, but as soon as I left the box on the table after lunch... it was gone... all gone. This comes in two sizes too, the other one could equal 4 of these sweet treats. Both so good!

You kinda feel they really spent time making this with passion. I love that part.

Not only that, see those two things on the end? That's either coffee or mocha if I'm not mistaken, and the other is Matcha. I actually like the deep roasted coffee flavor even more. So you see, they've got variety aside from those good custaroons.

So if you're planning an afternoon tea party, or just so tired to fix desserts during lunch or dinner, make sure you drop by Gigi's Custaroonery. Visit their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/custaroons/ if you want to know more about their products, or better yet visit their branches in your favorite malls because they often give out samples so you could taste it before you buy it. 

Now I'm not going to to just pass by next time, this would be good gifts to friends and family when I go out of town. I want to get some just for to experience the tempting, indulgent custaroons... or the heck of it!