Shoot First Eat Later

Lunch at Nanhai No. 1

I’ve featured several restaurants in iSquare since we often eat there if we’re too lazy to walk. It’s just a few minutes walk from our place in Tsim Sha Tsui. I never knew there was a Michelin One Star Chinese restaurant, Nanhai No. 1, in the building until I read the reviews on OpenRice.

The more casual restaurants are located in the mall levels of iSquare while the fine dining restaurants are on the 25th to 31st floors.

The interiors of the two-level high ceiling restaurant were modern and beautiful. It could have been inside any 5 star hotel.

The best part was the view of the harbour and you can see the skyline of Hong Kong side if not for the fog. I read on OpenRice that if you wanted to sit on the tables by the window you will be charged a minimum consumption of HK$500 plus service charge. They didn’t tell us that but we sat one table away from the window and had an unblocked view too.

I loved the tiles they used. The uniform of the wait staff looked too casual for the restaurant.

We were given a basket of addictive shrimp crackers to whet our appetites.

The oolong flower tea was very good.

They had some unique dim sum dishes that I’ve never seen anywhere else.

✔ ✔ ✔ crispy cod fish pastry HK$45

✔ ✔ ✔ crispy chicken liver pastry HK$45

My favorites were the crispy cod fish pastry with it’s flaky crust and delicate fish filling and the crispy chicken liver pastry that like creamy paté.
(taken w/ iPhone 4S and edited with Camera+)

The black truffle and crab dumpling was just satisfactory. I couldn’t really taste or smell the teeny bit of truffle.

✔ ✔ black truffle & crab dumpling HK$50

I loved the mild chili sauce on the table and I asked if they sold it. Yes they did!

chili sauce

My favorite dish of all was the oyster cake which was unlike any I’ve tried. In Manila the oyster cake is usually made with eggs and tapioca flour which makes for a sticky interior and slightly crisp exterior. This version was very crispy like it was dipped in a batter.

✔ ✔ ✔ pan-fried oyster cake HK$168

While the outside was crispy the inside was soft and pillowy, the perfect bed for the plump fresh oysters. You have to eat this quick while it’s hot and crisp. It deflated when it became cold.

The next two dishes were quite disappointing. I’ve had much better elsewhere.

✔ crispy beancurd skin roll HK$65

✖ pan-fried radish cake HK$40

My dad just had to have his soup.

✔✔ superior sfin soup HK$318 per bowl

The super sticky sweet dumpling filled with red bean paste was a delight.

✔✔ glutinous red bean paste dumpling HK$48

My bottle of chili sauce came in a yé shanghai bag since it’s also owned by the same group.

Nanhai No. 1 Michelin One Star. 1 Michelin 1 Star

lunch menu (click to enlarge)

special set menu (click to enlarge)

Nanhai No. 1 is a very nice place to eat if you have guests and want to impress them with the ambiance, view and food. I still have to try their other non-dim sum dishes. I shall return.

✖ skip it
✔ not bad
✔ ✔ do try
✔ ✔ ✔ MUST order

Nanhai No. 1
30/F, iSQUARE
63 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong
telephone: (852) 2487 3688
menu
website

Lunch at Ippudo Hong Kong

I’m not a ramen fanatic so I didn’t even know about Ippudo until my friend Deb informed me that I MUST try it since it was famous in Japan and even had branches in New York, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney, Taipei .

Ippudo (一風堂) was located in Silvercord in TST which was a short was a short walk from where I was staying.

I was scared of long lines that’s why I arrived a few minutes before they opened at 11:30 am. We finished lunch around 12:30 pm and it still wasn’t full. It’s safe to go any time before 1:00 pm which is the start of the lunch break of the office crowd in Hong Kong.

55 ramen bowls display the wall of the Hong Kong branch. In New York they have 110 bowls on their wall.

There was a sesame grinder on the table if you want to add ground sesame to your ramen for a nutty flavor which I did. I was able to buy this grinder in Jusco’s HK$10 plaza.

A hand-sized white bun stuffed with a thick slice of pork, lettuce, IPPUDO’s secret BBQ sauce, Japanese mayonnaise and mustard, creating a tantalizingly sweet taste. source

These seem like the Japanese version of cua pao but the only similarity ends with the bun and the use of pork as the filling. The tender fatty slices of pork belly were a delicious treat with it’s sweet & salty flavors bound together with mayonnaise. How can you go wrong with putting two kinds of fat in one bun? It was good for appetizers.

Ippudo BBQ Pork Bun HK$28

Ippudo offers 4 kinds of ramen, 3 using tonkotsu pork bone broth and 1 with kasane broth. The thin Hakata-style noodles can be ordered regular or extra al dente (katamen).

ramen menu (click to enlarge)

The 25-year old recipe requires the slow cooking over long hours to achieve a perfect emulsion of oil and liquid, creating a rich and powerful Tonkotsu that enhances the flavour of pork–bone topped with IPPUDO’s secret miso, garlic oil, lean slices of pork, black fungus, soybean sprouts and scallions. source

I chose the ‘red’ Akamaru ramen which promised a bolder flavored broth.

‘red’ Akamaru Shinaji HK$68

It’s a good thing I remembered the term ‘katamen’ which meant extra al dente for my noodles since I didn’t know how to say it in Cantonese. Even to the last strand my noodles remained firm. I really liked the rich pork broth which wasn’t oily or salty. The pork was lean and I liked the addition of crunchy bean sprouts.

My mom ordered the spicy karaka and I liked it even better. I didn’t specify the heat level which goes up to 5. The heat was smooth and was perfect with the broth. I plan to order this when I go to Hong Kong in a couple of weeks. It would be perfect with the chilly winter weather in December.

spicy Ippudo Karaka HK$78

This set of chicken dumplings is an exclusive IPPUDO snack. The special minced chicken recipe gives each dumpling its delicious juiciness. source

The chicken and cabbage gyoza were just ok and nothing great. I appreciated the crisp bottom though. I did love the chili oil and soy vinegar dip that came with the dumplings.

Ippudo Gyoza Dumplings HK$38

new dishes (click to enlarge)

For those who don’t like ramen they have several salads, sides and a la carte dishes you can order.

sides & rice (click to enlarge)

a la carte menu (click to enlarge)

While I’m still not a rabid ramen fan I finally realized the joy in eating a big bowl of noodles and hot soup. When you have really good and well made broth it hits home like true comfort food does.

Ippudo Hong Kong
Shop No. 20 Silvercord
2nd Floor, 30 Canton Road, TST Hong Kong
telephone: 957 8893
11:30am to 11:00pm (Monday to Sunday)
website

Kitchen’s Best Home Patisserie

When I received an invitation to partake of a dessert buffet it didn’t take me 5 seconds to reply a big YES!

I must confess I wasn’t aware that Kitchen’s Best Home Patisserie had a store in the Fort. I only knew the brand from the days I was in the bazaar scene and would often see them there. I also remembered that they had good desserts and I would definitely want to try them again.

To celebrate their anniversary Kitchen’s Best had a scrumptious dessert buffet spread that cost only P250 for non-guests. I invited Rochelle and her son to join me. If they decide to make this buffet a regular thing they can charge much more and I guarantee they will be swarmed with dessert lovers like us.

I really tried my best to try all the sweet treats and I thought I could do it since most of the goodies were presented as small bites. Let me tell you now I probably got to try only half of the tempting treats on the table.

Naturally i tried all the chocolate ones first like all these bars below. Everything was good but I had my favorites.

assorted bars

Among all the chocolate bars and small cakes my hands down favorite was the plaisir sucre. I just loved the crunchy texture of the hazelnut dacquoise and the smooth creamy chocolate filling. It’s everything I want in a cake – texture and flavor.

plaisir sucre

My next favorite green tea panna cotta. Since I love anything green tea this was actually the first thing I tried. I was delighted that it passed my rather stringent test for matcha desserts. The flavor was strong without being overwhelming. Even the red beans were a pleasant addition to the creamy panna cotta.

green tea panna cotta

macarons

parmesan sticks

almond brittle

carrot, snickers cheesecakes

chocolate & mango tartlettes

My next loves were all their sansrivals. Asides from the ube and frozen brazo there were also coffee toffee and mango sansrivals. All unique varieties of sansrivals.

The meringue layers were light and crunchy and the buttercream fillings were very flavorful without being too sweet. Of the four varieties my favorites were the ube (purple yam) and coffee toffee.

ube sansrival or purple yam cake

Understandably the meringue layer of the brazo and mango sansrivals weren’t as crunchy due to to the nature of the fillings.

frozen brazo sansrival

my chocolate plate – plaisir sucre, glutton’s cake, opera cake, caramel walnut and chocolate obsession

I liked their macaron. Nice crunchy, chewy shell and good flavored filling but just a tad too sweet for me. Rochelle and I both adored their sweet, salty parmesan sticks.

parmesan sticks, macaron,tarte citron meringue

My messy, melted plate which was my favorite among all three plates.

frozen brazo sansrival, mango sansrival, coffee toffee sansrival, ube sansrival, peanut butter bar, almond brittle and snickers cheesecake

After gorging on all those cakes I immediately bought a whole coffee toffee sansrival for my cousin Sidney who was visiting from Los Angeles. That’s how much I was impressed with their sansrival.

coffee toffee sansrival P650 (5×7)

Just look at how thick and airy is the meringue layer. I usually scrape out the excess butttercream but with this I ate it all. I really liked the coffee flavored buttercream with all the gooey crunchy toffee candy. I’m adding this to my list of favorite sansrivals in Manila.

One of these days I want to try their food. I’ll order a croque monsieur sandwich or beef belly and a slice of plasir sucre or purple yam cake.

Kitchen's Best Home Patisserie breakfast menu

Kitchen’s best menu (click to enlarge)

I’m really happy to get reacquainted with Kitchen’s Best Home Patisserie. I now have a new source for cakes to bring to a party or as a gift to friends with birthdays.

Kitchen’s Best Home Patisserie
McKinley Park Residences
3rd Avenue and 31st Street
1201 Fort Bonifacio
telephone: 478-4870
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Sunday Lunch at My Kitchen by Chef Chris

Ever since I ate at C Italian Dining in Pampanga two years ago I’ve been wanting to go back. I was so happy to hear that Chef Chris opened a new restaurant in Paco, Manila which was still far but much more manageable than Pampanga. C is still open from what I’ve heard but Chef Chris is no longer connected with that restaurant.

My Kitchen is located at The Oasis Park Hotel, a boutique hotel right across Paco Park.

Chef Chris’ restaurant wasn’t in a popular location like Bonifacio High Street or Rockwell but it was still full. I think wherever Chef Chris opens a restaurant people will follow. That’ says a lot for a city with dozens of new restaurants opening and closing at a fast rate.

I made a reservation for our big group of 9 more than a week before but they didn’t have a record of it.

Thankfully they had extra seating at the bar across the pool.

Chef Chris

I wish the bread was warmed up but it was still ok specially with the delicious free pesto with cheese.

pesto with bread

Chef Chris is known as the creator of the panizza, a thin rectangular pizza cut into strips and served with arugula and alfalfa sprouts. How he came up with this combination escapes me but it works.

I already reserved the restaurant to treat my friends Jenny and Vivian and their families for my birthday when I saw Deal Grocer’s offer of 50% off for My Kitchen’s newest panizza flavors. I quickly bought two coupons.

Many have imitated his panizza and the ones I’ve tried here and here were very, very pale comparisons to the original. The crust was thin, crisp yet flexible enough to be rolled. If you look at the picture it would seem that there wasn’t a lot of toppings nevertheless the flavors were bold and just perfect. You can taste all the ingredients with every bite. The combination of cheeses were spot on too.

✔ ✔ ✔ Fra Diavolo panizza P792

Our favorite among the new flavors of panizza was the Fra Diavolo – olive oil marinade tuna flakes, kalamata olives, capers, anchovies, roasted pepperoncini and fresh Italian parsley. It was the perfect combination of salty and spicy. Even the kids loved it.

I ordered the Hotdog panizza for the kids – spicy homemade Italian sausages, smoked bacon, fresh sage, assorted mushrooms and sun dried tomatoes. The ingredients were just what I liked in a pizza but somehow the Fra Diavolo just tasted better.

✔ ✔ Hotdog panizza P792

The food in My Kitchen wasn’t cheap but the servings were big and perfect for sharing. The seafood pasta had huge chunks of fish and lots of other seafood. Vivian and I even commented that we wish there was more pasta.

✔ ✔ spaghetti con frutti di mare P720

Jenny’s hubby Raymund doesn’t eat lamb but he loved the lamb ribs. These lamb ribs were like little meat lollipops bursting with flavor. If I didn’t order anything else I can just eat a whole order by myself. It was finger lickin’ goooood. Braised lentils, olive fried potatoes and Italian style broccoli were served with the lamb ribs. An order was more than generous for 5 adults to share. I think I ate about 5 ribs.

✔ ✔ ✔ slow roasted lamb ribs with garlic & rosemary rub P1,100

I love ox tongue but I’ve never thought of pairing it with risotto. This dish was sheer genius and something I want to try making. The ox tongue was tender but not overly so. The sauce was rich from Marsala wine and tomatoes and not wimpy cream of mushroom soup like other restaurants make.

As good as the ox tongue was I found the whole dish a bit overwhelming and too tasty that you can only eat so much. The kids even ate this with white rice. Nevertheless we all gave the risotto with ox tongue our stamp of approval.

✔ ✔ risotto ox tongue P820

I really liked their cheesecake. It was the perfect balance of creaminess without being too dense and overpowering. The lemon lime sauce was a nice touch too. Even the crust was delicious. My only gripe was the price. P320 for a small slice of cheesecake? Really?

They served Vittoria coffee which was pretty good.

✔ ✔ lemon lime cheesecake P320

I highly recommend eating at My Kitchen. Sunday is a good time to go since there’s no traffic and parking was easy. This was one of my favorite meals of the year and I want to go back again and again. I just can’t get the Fra Diavolo panizza and lamb ribs out of my mind.

My Kitchen by Chef Chris
The Oasis Park Hotel
1032-34 Belen Street Paco, Metro Manila Philippines
Facebook
My Kitchen’s Menu

✖ skip it
✔ not bad
✔ ✔ do try
✔ ✔ ✔ MUST order

Famous Belgian Waffles

I haven’t been to SM Megamall Building A in quite a while. I went there to buy a gift in Toy Kingdom. Imagine my surprise when Toy Kingdom disappeared from the ground floor. I was told they moved to the basement where the bowling lanes used to be. Whew!

After accomplishing my shopping in a very fast time with the help of so many staff I walked around the mall looking for some merienda I could buy for my staff. There were so many new stalls and restaurants from my last visit. A small sign at the entrance of the food court caught my eye and I looked for the Famous Belgian Waffles stall. I almost didn’t see it beside Hen Lin.

Their pricing is very affordable from P30-55 per waffle depending on the filling. The Malaysian coffee they sold was the instant sachet variety.

menu (click to enlarge)

They made the waffles upon order. I thought I had to wait long for a typical thick Belgian waffle. It was cooked quite fast since the waffle was very thin.

waffle fillings

I chose the cream cheese and peanut butter fillings. They spread the filling on one side and folded the waffle for easy eating.

These waffles tasted just like the waffles so popular in Hong Kong and Taipei.

waffles from Dundas St. Hong Kong

We all simply loved the chewy, sweet waffle specially with the cream cheese filling. The salty creamy cheese was just perfect with the mildly sweetish waffle scented with vanilla custard powder which I suspect was the secret ingredient just like what they use in Hong Kong. The peanut butter was a good quality brand too so we liked it as well. I wish I bought four waffles instead of two since my staff felt it wasn’t enough. I will definitely go back to buy these super yummy waffles. I’ll try the chocolate peanut butter combination next.

Just look at how fast they are opening branches! (from their FB page)
Nov. 10 SM San Lazaro
Nov. 15 SM Sucat
Nov. 16 SM Manila
Nov. 16 SM Megamall
Nov. 25 SM Makati
Nov. 25 SM Sta. Mesa
Dec. 1 SM Mall of Asia
Dec. 1 SM Clark
Dec. 1 Festival Mall Alabang
Dec. 7 SM Calamba
Dec. 7 SM Baguio

New branch:
3rd floor Food Choices, Glorietta 4

Famous Belgian Waffles
Food Court of SM Megamall Building A
Facebook
website

Lunch at King Chef Fine Dining Restaurant

My friend Tisay posted pictures of her meal at King Chef Seafood Restaurant in Lucky Chinatown mall on her Facebook page and raved about it. I was so curious that I went to their QC branch to try it out. Going to Banawe, Quezon City to eat is a rare thing for me. It just seems so far but on weekends it’s not that bad.

I chose to eat at their fine dining restaurant just to order the crab rice (pictured above) which was one of the dishes Tisay had.

Across the street is the more casual and affordable King Chef Cantonese Soup Kitchen and Dimsum Kitchen.

My dining mates were my three young cousins who love to eat and travel as much as I do. In fact Jay (on the left) has his own food blog too. I actually wanted to see their iPad mini which Jim (right) brought home from Singapore before I get my own that’s why I treated them for lunch. Silly excuse to eat and get together right?

Jay ordered the drunken shrimp. The show was quite entertaining.

Check out the video I took on how they made the drunken shrimp.

It was really fresh and sweet from the Chinese wine which hasn’t fully evaporated from the heat.

drunken shrimp P400

I actually ordered this dish for the rice. The crab was just extra. I was disappointed with the too soft and mushy rice. I was expecting semi-glutinous rice with some bite. It looks better than it tasted.

crab rice P950

The roast duck wasn’t bad at all but it was just a tad dry. I liked that there was little fat but then it’s probably the reason it was dry. I couldn’t help compare it with my favorite roasted duck from Annapolis Seafood Restaurant (now called UNO Restaurant) which was moist and succulent.

roasted duck P950

My favorite was the crisp haricot vert with salty ground pork. Perfect combination!

French beans with minced pork P380

The frogs’ legs had a nice flavor from the salt, pepper, garlic and chili. Too bad the oil used was a bit off.

salt & pepper frogs legs P330

The seafood hot pot was just ok nothing special.

superior seafood hot pot P400

The beauty about eating with 3 young men is no leftovers. Boy, these guys can eat!

I found the food just average. Not bad but I wouldn’t rave about it. Maybe the chef in Lucky Chinatown branch was better thus my friend’s delight.

King Chef’s fine dining menu

King Chef Fine Dining / King Chef Dimsum Kitchen
987-989 Banawe St, Quezon City
Call for table reservations:
telephone: 4104919 / 4136619 / 4414177 / 3527534 / 6977781

King Chef Seafood Restaurant
2F Lucky Chinatown Mall, Binondo, Manila City
telephone: 7208594 / 4665765

King Chef on Facebook

Paris: Macaron Tasting

I’ve said it before I’m not a big fan of French macarons but since I was in Paris I decided try the macarons from the most popular stores – Laduree, Pierre Hermé and Jean-Paul Hevin. You can’t ignore macarons in Paris they are everywhere from small neighborhood patisseries to supermarkets even McDonalds’ McCafe sell their own version.

Right after our lunch at La Maison de la Truffe Rochelle and I walked to the nearby BD Haussmann a lovely street filled with lots of stores and home to two giant department stores, Printemps and Galeries Lafayette.

How can we not go shopping when the word SOLDES or sale screamed at us from all the stores. You see the shops in France have major sales twice a year, in January and July. We arrived in Paris on July 1 just when all the sales started.

I had a long list of patisseries, chocolatiers and bread stores on my list to try in Paris. I was so happy that between Printemps and Galeries Lafayette more than half of my list was covered.

Our first stop was the gourmet level of Printemps on the 2nd floor and there were so many goodies there but we went straight to Laduree.

Laduree is probably the most famous sellers of macarons with branches all over the world. A branch in Hong Kong is opening in December at Harbour City. I can’t wait to try their other pastries.

Laduree’s mini macarons flavors

Laduree’s individual macarons flavors

They also had giant macarons if those small ones aren’t enough.

individual macarons €4.40 each

pastries

They also had a bigger outlet in Printempts where you can sit and have coffee with your sweets. There’s another take out store at the ground floor too.

I now understand why Laduree is considered the best macaron. The outer shell was perfect. It had a crunch at first bite then a denser chewier interior. The filling had the right amount of sweetness and a strong bright flavor.

Laduree lime & basil macaron €1.70 each

This is what our macarons looked like after getting squished in my bag. Nevertheless it was still delicious.

Laduree macarons – pistachio, lemon, violet guimave, soft caramel with sea salt macarons

Our next stop was Galeries Lafayette where Pierre Hermé was located.

They had more exotic flavors of macarons than Laduree. Click here (pdf file) to see all their flavors.

Pierre Hermé’s macarons had a much softer outer shell that I didn’t like as much but their filling was really intense and out of this world good. You could taste the nuances of each flavor and some had bits of soft litchi (lychee) and cherries. It tasted like a 3D macaron. For me the perfect macaron would be Laduree’s almond meringue shell with Pierre Hermé’s filling.

Pierre Hermé macaron €1.60 each
pistachio, ceylon cinnamon & morello cherries
salted butter caramel
olive oil with mandarin orange
rose, litchi & raspberry

Jean-Paul Hevin is a brand I’m more familiar with since they have branches in Hong Kong but I’ve never tried their macarons. I visited their branch in the basement level of Galeries Lafayette.

I wasn’t really planning to buy more macarons but I was attracted to these two flavors. Both which weren’t available with other brands.

fig €1.60 each

chocolate orange ginger

Their macaron was way too soft without any crunch nor was it chewy. The filling was too sweet too. These were the macarons I least enjoyed despite the good flavors I chose.

Laduree
Printemps de la Maison Haussmann
64, boulevard Haussmann – 75009 Paris
Tel : +33 (0)1 42 82 40 10
website

Pierre Hermé
Galeries Lafayette Maison
Ground floor
35 boulevard Haussmann 75009 Paris
Tel : +33 (0)1 43 54 47 77
website
Galeries Lafayette welcomes Macarons & Chocolats Pierre Hermé Paris : on the first floor, in the “Espace Créateurs”, and on the lower level, in the “Espace Chaussures et Souliers”.

Jean-Paul Hevin
Galeries Lafayette Gourmet
48 Bd Haussmann 75009 Paris
website

Paris: Lunch at La Maison de la Truffe

The reason we went to Place de la Madeleine was to eat at La Maison de la Truffe which was highly recommended by my cousin-in-law Mary. A bonus was going to the stores around the area namely Fouchon, Héidiard and Mariage Frères.

I made reservations online several weeks before. They are closed on Sundays.

One side was a store dedicated to all things truffle and foie gras.

whole foie gras with truffles from €45-109 (in this picture only)

chocolate bon bons with white truffles €15 duck confit €23 cassoulet with duck confit €13

whole goose foie gras

sandwich menu, potato puree with summer truffles €12 risotto with summer truffles €15 saucisson a la truffle €59

more truffles!

Pata Negra ham “Gran Reserva” de Bellota

extra virgin olive oil with black truffle

Warm crusty bread dipped in evoo with black truffle was almost a meal in itself. We had two bread refills.

Puilly-Fume

Rochelle and I wanted a light lunch so we just shared two appetizers and a pasta. The items in the menu have the options of have no truffle, season truffle, and the most expensive black melanosporum truffle.

Eggs are traditionally a good vehicle for the truffle. Instead of just plain scrambled eggs we decided to order the poached egg with black melanosporum truffle. We were surprised the poached egg was in aspic which I normally don’t like.

truffled poached egg €16

The egg was perfectly poached with the yolk all runny. The aspic wasn’t bad at all. The black truffle was that small flower shape on top of the aspic. Honestly we didn’t really taste the truffle. Too small maybe?

Rochelle still had a hangover from Italy and her love of the mozzarella and tomato salad. Burrata is a kind of mozzarella cheese filled with cream inside. It’s richer and creamier.

mozzarella “burrata” & tomatoes €14

This was the dish that Mary and her family raved about and insisted that we try. I was glad we shared an order because it was too rich and heavy. Imagine pasta with truffle cream sauce topped with a thick slice of seared foie gras and shaved white truffles. The truffles did smell good but the taste wasn’t that obvious unlike when ‘fake‘ truffle oil is used. The foie gras was heavenly though.

tagliatelles with foie gras & truffles €31

It was a pretty good meal. We were just surprised with the cost of our wine. No wonder it was so good.

La Maison de la Truffe menu (click to enlarge)

(click to enlarge)

La Maison de la Truffe
19 Place de la Madeleine, 75008 Paris, France
Phone: 01 42 65 53 22
website

Paris: Mariage Frères

The last store we went to in Place de Madeleine was Mariage Frères (Mariage Brothers), a French gourmet tea shop.

Next to coffee my second most favorite beverage is tea so you can just imagine how I felt when I entered the store and the scents of various tea assailed my senses.

I have a small glass teapot collection and all these beautiful teapots were the ultimate temptation to me. But the hassle of bringing them home to Manila and the fear of it breaking prevented me from buying any.

Some supermarkets carry Mariage Frères tea too.

You can smell samples of the tea that interests you.

This room at the back held shelves upon shelves of loose tea from around the world. Virtually every color and flavor of tea can be found here. We wanted to buy something we couldn’t find in Asia since they had a lot of green, black, white, oolong, ceylon teas.

After sniffing several cans Rochelle and I bought a bag of PLEINE LUNE® scented with vanilla and almond black tea.
The splendour of a ‘Full Moon’.
Inspired by that heavenly body and the realm of dreams, this poetic blend combines fragrances evoking the feast of the full moon: fruits, rare spices, and the sweet taste of honey.
A true moonbeam.

Mariage Frères
Tea Emporium
17, Place de la Madeleine, Paris 8e
telephone. : +33(0)1 42 68 18 54
website

Paris: Hédiard

Place de Madeleine is foodie’s area. We just stepped out of Fauchon when I saw Hédiard right across the street. I wasn’t as familiar with the store as Fauchon so I was quite amazed when I went in.
Hédiard is fine grocery store. They carried pastries, candy, vegetables, coffee, spices, olive oil and many more.