Mercato Centrale comes back south of Metro Manila!

The launching  of Mercato Centrale's EL SUR in Alabang Town Center (ATC) last November 23, 2013 (Saturday night) incidentally started with a blessing from heaven - a showering rain.  Thus, traffic going to and from ATC flowed slowly. 

The organizers of Mercato Centrale's EL SUR cut the ribbon last November 23, 2013.to formally launch the opening of another premier night food market in Metro Manila.

Even before the cutting of the ribbon has started to formally launch the opening of EL SUR, the open space at the foot of Fully Booked building was already filled with foodie enthusiasts elbowing each other on that narrow alley with two rows of white-capped tents. More people came later that night either they were pulled by the scent of foods or by the music played by the playing band.

At the EL SUR (actually, this is the Spanish words for "The South"), one has to stand beside cocktail-style tables installed in the midst of the alley to dine what the folks have treasured in the food market. There are those who brought the food with them as they go.  Sitting around is limited because monobloc chairs are few.  

EL SUR is open every Friday from 4:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. and on Saturdays from 12:00 noon to 12:00 midnight,  starting on November 23, 2013 (Saturday)!

I suppose the designated venue is just for cocktail-style dining and drinking.  Bottled San Miguel Beer products are available but one has to drink the beer while sauntering or idly standing on the alley. Anyway, it's not about beer after all. The place is about a variety of great-tasting and innovative food.  

Still , I want to see EL SUR to be more spacious and have more tables and chairs to rest those moving butts so more will come, stay, and take more foods. Anyway, the food are great!  Try to pass by at the EL SUR and bring home the great foods it offers for the entire family or gang to share.              

The Mercato Centrale group, organizer of the Manila’s most popular night food markets, brought back the Mercato Centrale experience to the South of the Metropolitan Manila!

The newly launched EL SUR is the newest Mercato Centrale's weekend market in Metro Manila. Come. Enjoy. Feel free to select what you like from a variety of great tasting food choices.

You can find EL SUR in Alabang Town Center (ATC), in an open space just beside the Fully Booked bookstore building.

THE MERCATO CENTRALE FOOD EXPERIENCE IS BACK IN THE SOUTH!

Great news to all the foodies from the South of Metro Manila! The MercatoCentrale group, organizer of the Manila’s most popular night food markets, has brought back the Mercato Centrale experience to the South! Visit EL SUR – the NEWEST MercatoCentrale's food market. You can easily find it in Alabang Town Center (beside the Fully Booked building). EL SUR  is open on Fridays (4:00 pm – 3:00 am) & on Saturdays (12:00 noon -12:00 midnight). It was formally launched last November 23, 2013.

“After a short break from the South, we are excited to be back in the area!“ enthused Anton Diaz, co-founder of the MercatoCentrale group and the blogger behind the popular food and travel blog in the Philippines www.OurAwesomePlanet.com. “Thanks to all the support from our Southern-based foodie fans who have been clamoring for our return.”

“We look forward to bringing the MercatoCentrale foodie experience to Alabang Town Center, which includes a variety of great-tasting and innovative food choices straight from the homes of the South-based chefs and homemakers, acoustic entertainment and a lively atmosphere“ said RJ Ledesma, co-founder of the MercatoCentrale group. “We will also have the best-selling vendors from our various Mercato markets sharing their famous dishes in EL SUR!”

“We also want to find the next big food entrepreneur from the South!” added Anton. “The Mercato markets have been the birthplace of many expanding Manila food businesses like Manang’s Chicken, Merry Moo Premium Ice Cream, Spring by Ha-Yuan, Kristina’s Inutak, Chuck’s Grubberie Fish and Chips and many more. We are happy to note that one of our pioneer Mercato vendors, Mochiko Ice Cream, already has a branch here in Alabang Town Center!”

For interested food vendors who want to join EL SUR, please contact (+63 917) 840-1152or (+632) 812-0102, email admin@mercatocentrale.ph or visit www.facebook.com/elsur. Limited slots available.

MercatoCentrale group is the organizer of Midnight Mercato in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, CucinaAndare (the first food truck market in the country) in Glorietta Park, Makati, Mezza Norte in Ayala’s Trinoma Mall, Quezon City, CocinaCentrale in Ayala’s MarQuee Mall, Pampanga and Porto Cena in Ayala’s Harbor Point Mall, Subic.

Girlhood at Supersale Bazaar, World Trade Center on Nov. 29, 2013

Modelling for Girlhood - Ms. Bun Ching, co-owner of Girlhood and Erika Ongtauco, the PR of Red Pastries.

Girls! Girls! Girl! See what we have this coming Supersale Bazaar at the World Trade Center Metro Manila on Nov. 29, 2013. The Girlhoodlady's lifestyle accessories is bringing you its fine array of colourful ladies’ fashionable lifestyle accessories.

The Supersale Bazaar will be held at the World Trade Center Metro Manila (WTCMM) Building, Gil Puyat Avenue Extension corner Diosdado Macapagal Blvd., Pasay City, Metro Manila. Girlhood will be there on November 29, 2013 until December 1, 2013. 

Girlhood supports the launching of Red Pastries at the Nozumi in Ortigas Center

To know more about Girlhood and its girlie products, see it on Facebook (facebook.com/shopgirlhood) or see it on Instagram (shopgirlhood)

Ms. Bun Ching of Girlhood and Margette of TCU during the launching of Red Pastries at the Nozumi Japanese Casual Dining in Ortigas Center

Red Pastries is for all occasions

If a big event is coming soon in the family, a wedding, a celebration, or if someone dear is going to celebrate a birthday soon, a debut perhaps, Red pastries is just a phone call away to provide you the beautiful cupcakes and muffins you need.

Guest actress, Rhen Escaño, samples Red Pastries cupcake.

All year round, the Red Pastries can help you express any celebration as something special. They have pastries for your Baby Shower, Christening, and for the Yuletide Season of gift giving and the upcoming New Year’s Day and Valentine's Day celebrations. Expressing your love with the Red Pastries is a wonderful idea. You can even have the cupcakes to convey a simple message of "I'm sorry!" or give someone the unexpected flick! Having cupcake and muffins in all your occasions is practically great. They are colourful, decorative, and delicious.

Express your emotion with cupcakes. Here's an example if you want to surprise your girlfriend or wife in your anniversary.  You may add scented candles and plates filled with Japanese gourmet dishes from Nozomi Japanese Casual Dining. It would surely swept the feet of your dear as she floats in the air of joy.           

I would recommend Red Pastries to perk up your product launch. It is an ingenious idea, and you will be among those who have proven the saying that “the nearest way to customer’s heart is through their stomach.” Red pastries is capable of reproducing a simple logo or quotation of your product on the cupcakes. Specification as to company colours can also be served. Ask the Red Pastries how you want the launching, celebration, or meeting would go with the cupcakes and muffins and Red Pastries will come up with a design according to your specifications. Make it a great "Thank you", "Welcome" or "Congratulations" or as a giveaway gift to your customers and clients.

You can specify the decoration and colors as desired. These three beautifully decorated cupcakes won the contest among foodie bloggers during the launching of Red Pastries last November 9, 2013, held in the Nozumi Japanese Casual Dining, 6th floor of One Corporate Center, Ortigas Center, that serves also as the home of  Red Pastries

Celebrate you birthdays with the Red Pastries. The tasty and beautifully designed muffins and cupcakes are for everyone to enjoy. Red Pastries specializes in making ultimate “cupcakes” or “cupcake tree” on your special day.

Let the Red Pastries create you a cupcake tree you or your dear one is dreaming to have.

Red Pastries array of specially flavored pastries are:

A tray of Red Pastries specialty cupcakes and muffins-puffins

ALL TIME FAVE CUPCAKES

· Vanilla Crème
· Mochalicious
· Choco-mint
· Cookies ‘n cream
· Salted Caramel

SINFULLY DELICIOUS CUPCAKES

· Red Velvet
· Carrot cupcake
· Strawberry ‘n cream
· Ultimate chocolate

MUFFINS AND PUFFINS

· Calamansi
· Banana
· Walnut
· Blueberry
· Double chocolate chip muffin

For inquires and orders, text or call: (0917) 841-8919
See Red Pastries on Facebook: www.facebook.com/redpastries
Follow it on Instagram: @redpastries

Finding the hidden Nozumi in the concrete jungle of Ortigas

We just discovered lately the Nozumi Japanese Casual Dining hidden in the concrete jungle of Ortigas Center in Pasig City.

Eunice Desiree Go Choa, the General Manager of Nozumi Japanese Casual Dining is hands-on in taking care of diners and other customers.  She can be contacted at  (0917)634-9005 and (0922)892-7442

Nozumi Japanese Restaurant is a casual dining restaurant located inside One Corporate Centre building at the very heart of the Ortigas Business District. Started out as the small humble restaurant within the building, Nozumi now has earned the confidence of the people when it comes to great tasting food. The name Nozumi/Nozomi originated from two characters which is 'nao' and 'mi', which means hope and great expectations –these are the words they aim to be associated with the restaurants reputation.

The place where you can find the Nozumi Japanese Casual Dining is at the 6th Floor of One Corporate Centre along the corner of Julia Vargas and Meralco Avenue in Ortigas Center, Pasig City

With every customer that comes into the restaurants, the team always makes sure they leave with a smile and full stomach. The Nozumi dining experience is what sets them apart. Relaxing ambiance, friendly service crew, and a very hands-on general manager is what keeps the customer coming back for more.  Just like what their regular customer always say, “Dining in Nozumi isn’t only about the great food, it’s about how they take care of us, and how they treat us. We always look forward dining there because when we go to Nozumi, everyone smiles at you and give you a warm welcome. You can say that everyone who goes there is treated like a VIP.”

Beef teriyaki(P220.00). The beef are thinly sliced, tender, sublty sweetish, and with juicy beef fats

Sweet crazy maki (P225.00). Strips of ripe mango, strands of crab meat, and sprinkle of fish roe laid over maki lined with green ice lettuce

Tofu steak (P175.00).  We liked these molds of crisp coated tofu. You have to bite it along with the toppings of saucy ground meat and leeks to experience the explosion of favors in your mouth. Otherwise, if you just eat the tofu separately, you will just have it completely bland. 

Ebi mango salad (P215.00). Shelled prawns in decorative greens, carrots, cucumber, lettuce, tomato, ripe mango, and dressing.

The humble Nozumi restaurant serves great Japanese foods, such as the favourite Sashimi, Sushi, Maki, Katsu, Teppanyaki and many more. Along with the usual Japanese dishes, they also serve some unique maki that you don’t see in every Japanese restaurant like Sweet Crazy Maki, Mexican Maki, Nozumi Baked Salmonand the best of all, Kakigori for the dessert lovers. The menu doesn’t end there, the culinary experts of Nozumi doesn’t stop from experimenting new mouth-watering dishes and desserts to level up the food choices for those with meticulous taste buds. Soon, more gastronomic dishes will be served like never seen before in Ortigas only by Nozumi Japanese Casual Dining.

Ebi tempura  ( 4 pieces P190.00, 6 pieces P280.00). Battered and deep-fried prawns.

Mexican maki (P230.00). A bit spicy maki garnished with cheesy taste and dust of ground chili.  You have to mouth the whole piece of garnished maki to completely savor and experience the explosion of Mexican flavor. Now the West meets East.

Green maki (P195.00). Green maki roll filled with two colors of raw salmon fish. Don't forget to sip the lemon wedges right before you chew the maki roll. It completes the ceviche taste in it.

Gyoza (3 pieces P60.00, 6 pieces P110.00). A savory pan-fried Japanese style dumplings.

Hiyashi ramen (P220.00). Japanese cold noodle salad

The past months have been a great transition for the restaurant. From being just a restaurant, now Nozumi offers their venue to be an events place for small functions like meetings, seminars, & gatherings. Nozumi has been the perfect venue for small gatherings or formal meetings because of its relaxing ambiance that makes everyone feels at home.

Nozumi bento with assortment of Japanese delicacies we sampled. A cup of hot tea was served that I have to sip in between to clean and ready my palate and throat the various flavors laid before me.

Nozumi is open from Mondays to Fridays from 10:00 am until 8:00 pm. Weekends are reserved for special events, and can be arranged by reservation.

With Eunice after the food show.

For inquiries, send it to:

email:            eunice_choa@yahoo.com  or
                     eunicedesireechoa@gmail.com

Landline:       (02) 310-5422 
Facebook:    https://www.facebook.com/NozumiJapaneseCasualDining