Ohh Wham!

After a not-so-satisfying meal yesterday, my friend and I decided to grab ourselves burgers for late lunch. We went to Wham! and each ordered her own burger. I ordered their Kapow Burger and a side of Onion Rings. She on the other hand ordered their Bronco Burger and we both had Iced Tea to wash down the sandwiches.

First to arrive are the drinks and the Onion Rings. Though the serving is quite small, as I counted just about more or less 10 rings, they are very big onion rings. What I love about them is that they are very crispy and yet very light. The breading is not weighing the onion rings down. It is lightly seasoned and I think it made these onion rings the perfect side for their burgers. And soon, I was proven right by their burgers.

Wham! burgers are huge. When they arrived, I was shocked by their size, and immediately afterwards, I wondered how to bite into it. Their burgers, as what they claim are made of 1/3 pound of beef. And I think there's truth in it as to the weight of the whole sandwich. My Kapow burger, as how they described it on their menu, is made up of 1/3 pound beef patty, salsa, cheese, chili sauce, and Jalapeño Peppers. As I read this, I thought okay, I am a bit adventurous today, I think I can handle all that peppers. So when the burger was put down in my table, I was very very excited.

When I opened the wrap, I was ecstatic. My hunger will be satisfied. The Kapow burger was served with everything that was written on the menu on it. What I did not expect is that it will be served with quite thick slices of Jalapeño Peppers in it. I took my first bite and quickly hit by the juicy and flavorful beef patty. I just love the beefiness of it. Then came the salsa, the cheese, lettuce, and hint of spiciness. So I thought, yeah I told you I can handle this one. Then I took my second bite. After two chews, KAPOW! the spiciness overwhelmed me. But since I want to prove to myself that I can handle the spiciness of the pepper, I tried to act cool-y. I sip my Iced Tea and took another bite from the burger. KAPOW! Now, this time, I won't try to act oh-so-cool-y on this one, beads are starting to form on my forehead and my friend has noticed my uneasiness and asked me if it was too hot. At this point in time, I cannot hide the fact that my mouth is on fire. I nodded and took a rather long sip on my Iced Tea. I put ketchup and mustard on my burger, hoping to alleviate the spiciness of it but I failed miserably. So later on, accepting defeat, I pulled out all the Jalapeño Peppers and savored the juiciness and hint of spiciness of my burger. It was heaven. I love their burger. And there's no need for ketchup and mustard either. The burger is well-seasoned and delicious on its own. I can see myself going there over and over for my burger-fix from time to time.

Dessert Loft

Its Christmas shopping day 1 for me yesterday and at the same time, bonding time for me and my friend as I drag her from store to store. But of course, the bonding time will only be bland if we don't trade stories over good food so we headed for one of the restaurants on our "go-try" list. First off, we headed to Jack's Loft. Upon sitting on their very comfortable seats, the menus are promptly handed as they are placed on the tables already. Well, its hard to choose something if most of the items on the menu are either too expensive for a small serving or does not appeal on my sense of taste. Although, the redeeming factor is, they have heavenly arrays of treats on their dessert menu.

While both our stomachs are growling in hunger, we opted to just share a slice of cake and each choose her preferred coffee drinks. So we came up with a slice of Chocolate Mousse and Cheesecake, and Cafe Mocha for my friend, and a cup of Cappuccino for me. The Cappuccino was good. I added a teaspoon of sugar on it and it was perfect. The coffee was not too strong, and neither it was too sweet. The froth has just the right consistency and I love that cup. According to my friend, she love her tall glass of caffeine herself. I think it has chocolate in it as what the waiter said.

What I did not appreciate is the Cheesecake. I am a fan of Cheesecakes. I love their creaminess and their not too sweet taste. But I was disappointed with this one. Their version is composed of a thick layer of chocolate mousse on top of the yet again thick layer of cream cheese all laid on top of Oreo crust. I was disappointed because the whole of the cheesecake was gelatinous. Something that I do not really like. As what my friend commented in her second bite, "it is not creamy". And I agree, because of the gelatin that sort of covered the whole cream cheese and the mousse also, the creaminesswas just overpowered. I just hate the slimy texture of it. The crust on the other hand was so soft that the Oreo crumbs just breaks down into mushiness when your fork reach the bottom. It just melts away. Although I can taste the Oreo but I cannot, or rather my tongue cannot decipher which one is the cream cheese and which one is the Oreo. It just get all mixed up with the cream cheese. I do not want to base everything on this particular experience so I think I will still go there and try their other cake offerings. But its safe to say that I will just stir clear of the cheesecake selection.

Merry Starbucks!

Yeah, it is the beginning of the sticker collecting, and hunting again. The Starbucks Planner is at stake again for the Christmas season. I have always tried to collect these stickers but never completed any. This year, I wouldn't obsessively purge myself with classy caffeine just to be able to get a planner. Although, if I will have the chance to complete the stickers (with the help of my friends), then I would happily redeem of the planner.

This afternoon, I was with my friend at Starbucks Binondo to catch up on each other, and for me to take a breather from my intoxicated life. As always, I am very excited to try the very delish food Starbucks offer especially during the Christmas season. This year, I have tasted already the two cheesecakes that they are offering, in just a span of two days. I am talking about the Cookie Dough Cheesecake and the Almond Roca Cheesecake. I tried the Cookie Dough yesterday, and I was blown away. But no, it's not the Cookie Dough that blew me away, but the Cheesecake itself. At first bite, I was greeted by the sweet-tangy bliss of the cream cheese. The taste in my mouth is just very mouthwatering, and divine. The taste of cream cheese, it is just full of creaminess, and indescribable divinity that even as I am blogging this now, my mouth waters. Although the cream cheese is not that light, it is very sinful and yet I cannot possibly forget the heavenly feeling that devoured me on my first bite. Starbucks for me really is the royalty of Cheesecakes (or the supplier of Cheesecakes for them). I was disappointed on the Cookie Dough part though. I love the taste of the raw dough and was expecting to reconcile with the taste on this offering of Starbucks. Sadly, it did not deliver. The Cookie Dough tastes like cookies, baked cookies instead of the raw, sticky, dough. The cookie nibbles on the Cheesecake though is not crispy, do not resemble a dough at all. But I love the buttery crust and the cream cheese so I will still indulge this but will not particularly crave this flavor.

Today, I tried the Almond Roca Cheesecake and was not wowed by it either. Though, as always, the Cheesecake did not fail to satisfy me but I missed the Almond Roca flavor. I did taste a subtle Almond Roca flavor but it was quickly overpowered by the Cheesecake. Not even the Gold-smeared chocolate kiss on top of the Cheesecake took my breath away. I actually thought the Gold-smeared chocolate kiss has a redeeming factor, what with the gold and strategic positioning, crowning the cake, but I was again disappointed. I swear, if Starbucks will put Plain Cheesecake on its menu, I will gladly order every single chance I get. Because everytime I get to sample one of their Cheesecake variant, I always get swooned over by the Cheesecake itself and seldom by the new flavor.