For the Love of Cheesecake 2: House of Silvanas Takes the (mini) Cake

September has come and gone (here in the Philippines at least but it is still September in the US as of this posting.)  First of all, there are a few things to be thankful for the month of September.  As I have mentioned a couple of days ago I just reached the big 4.0 and September also marks the first year of my blog.  Time does fly so fast.

Some of my favorite posts where my take on the best blueberry cheesecake I have ever tasted.  (See For the Love of....Cheesecake!  and "Unboxing" a Becky's Kitchen Blueberry Cheesecake.)  Since then I have been on a look out for places that offered blueberry cheesecake as well as revisited some old favorites.

This one is from Yakimix.  Like every buffet the serving of the cakes are bite sized so this one is just a teaser. The cheesecake is more on the sweet side and the graham crust is too thin.

This came from my favorite Italian restaurant Italianni's.  As you can see I tasted it first before I can even take a picture :)  Well even though this is one my favorite places the cheesecake was a little bit of a let down.  This is the same cheesecake base as their sister resto FlapJacks but as you can see there is no real blueberries in it but just syrup.  The serving size is a bit big and it would take two to three persons to finish it.

This hefty piece is from Bob's a famous cafe in Bacolod.   This cheesecake is screaming CHEEEEESE!  And is a bit on the salty side. Also the crust is not made of graham crackers and a bit nutty . Bob's now has a branch in Makati along Dela Rosa St.

This one is from Market on the 5th at St Luke's Medical Center.  It is on the sweet side but it was quite OK. A bit expensive though for the serving size.  I think I was paying part of the hospital with it :) And I didn't come there for a check up either.

But if you are looking for value for money as well as being yummy then try out these mini blueberry cheesecakes from House of Silvanas

I was very careful with it because I thought that the cheesecake base might be too soft but lo and behold the base is more cake than mouse.

There is even an ample graham crust.  But the only one let down on this version is that there are no whole blueberries on the topping.

And since it is my birthday month what would be more fitting than to have one whole box of Becky's Kitchen Blueberry Cheesecake for my birthday.

This is truly a little piece of heaven here on earth :-D

Happy Birthday Executive Lunch!

Handling a Customer Complaint

Some restaurants do a good job of handling customer complaint.  Case in point, last Saturday we were back in Italianni's to use the 250 pesos mobile coupon we got for registering in their mailing list Please see (Must Try: Bistro Group Promos!) On this visit, we ordered their Lasagna and a Quatrro Formaggio Pizza.  At first the server told us that she would check if the Lasagna is available, it's a good thing that there still is as we were a bit fickle in the our choice that night.  The Lasagna was served first, and admittedly it was one good Lasagna.  With about a quarter of the Lasagna left the waitress (a different one) asked me if she can move the Lasagna.  I figured she was probably making way for the Pizza so I agreed.  She took the plate and so I thought she would just transfer it to a smaller plate.  The Pizza came and when I asked about the Lasagna, that is where we realized that there was an error in communication.  The waitress thought we were done with the Lasagna.  The waitress who moved it quickly apologized.  I just smiled but said that there was still about one fourth of that Lasagna which we intended to eat (to my mind I was already formulating my blog entry.)  I think they saw through my reaction that I am not happy about what happened so the manager on duty (Mr Adrianne) quickly remedied the situation by offering to replace the Lasagna with a new one.  I said that we may not finish it anyway so he volunteered to just have it to go.  Good Job Mr Adrianne and the rest of Italianni's Glorietta.  I left feeling good and treated well.

Yummy Lasagna!

Some restaurants do a bad job of handling customer complaint.  Case in point, when we celebrated my wife's birthday last June.  We planned to have a quick lunch in the Greenbelt area since I just stepped out of the office for a while to meet her and the little girl.  And that plan was ruined by a restaurant that I used to love so much before but sad to say I now truly despise.  Itago na lang natin ang restaurant na ito sa pangalang Chili's (-:  To think I even eat at this restaurant when I go abroad.  Anyway, the start of horror lunch came when the waitress took the plates from the other table.  Unfortunately, a plate fell... on me... and I am wearing a white polo shirt!  The waitress apologized and I just said "never mind it was an accident."  It was my wife's birthday and I was on a celebratory mood.  Apparently the waitress (the same one) most probably thought that if I didn't mind it the first time I wouldn't mind it again.  So the next time she took the plates again, still from the same table, plates (yes not just one) fell again... on me... right smack on my white shirt.  And my reaction was "Now that would really make a stain on my shirt now wouldn't it?"  No yelling, no drama.  What did the poor waitress do?  Apologized and got some wet tissues.  WET TISSUES!  For crying out loud, all she can think of was to get wet tissues to take off the stain.

Sad part of it is that the Manager on duty (whose name I have already erased from my memory) didn't even come to us when it happened and we had to ask for her from the server.  By the way, this same manager approached us before the incident to check if somebody already took our order.  And what did this manager offered to us?  At first, she asked if they can bring my shirt to the laundry so that they can have it cleaned.  I refused, what do they think I would wear while waiting for it to be cleaned?  And I told them I needed to go back to the office.  The next thing they offered was to buy me a new shirt, I agreed as that seems to be the best they could offer at that point (actually kahit Chili's polo shirt tatangapin ko na sana eh. Madaling madali na talaga akong bumalik sa office.)  But even that part they didn't understand as we waited for an hour before they can buy the shirt from Landmark.  And what kind of shirt did they buy?  Over-sized (see for yourself), smells like a stock room and the folds from being kept on stock very long was very evident.  And I had to pay that freaking food bill in full.  Wrong move Chili's Greenbelt.  I will make sure that our paths would never ever cross again.

I turn my back on you Chili's

Must Try: Bistro Group Promos!

Here are some good promos from Bistro Group restaurants that I stumbled upon:

Fish Unlimited at Fish&Co. - Greenbelt

My wife emailed this promo to me.  Being a Fish and Co. fan (I am actually a Bistro Frequent Foodie cardholder) I would definitely try this one out.  However, I don't think they would allow me to use the BFF Card together with the promo.  Anyway, the 20% discount may probably be used on the drinks, though.  Please click on the picture for details.

Get 250 pesos off from Italianni's 

Speaking of discounts, I got a 250 pesos discount from Italianni's just by joining their mailing list.  The discount comes in the form of a mobile coupon which would be sent to you once you have successfully completed registration.  You need to purchase at least 750 pesos to avail and again this promo can not be used with my BFF.

I know what I would order again the next time I visit them though. Here are pictures of the food we ordered:

This is my favorite, the Sicilian Salad

This little number is called the Fettuccine Frutti de Mare (it means fruit of the sea)

Italianni's is such a kid-friendly place they allow kids to make their own pizza.  This one is a bit overcooked though.

Even this little fellow was trying to get a piece of pizza

BPI Real Thrills

And finally, I can get P1,000 pesos off on my next dine-in for an accumulated purchase of P 5,000 pesos at Italianni's, Fish and Co., TGIFriday's or Pig Out by using my BPI Credit Card.  I'm almost halfway through this promo and by using my BPI card to avail of the promos above, I may be on my way to getting that 1,000 pesos soon.

http://www.mybpimag.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=739&Itemid=1018

Happy Eating!