2 Mercato night food markets now open on Thursdays and Fridays

Good news to fellow foodies, two of Mercato Centrale markets are starting to operate every THURSDAY! 

LEVANTE in Eastwood now opens on Thursdays and Fridays from 6:00 PM till  3:00 AM past midnight.

 

MERCATO @ GLORIETTA now opens on Thursdays and Fridays  from 4:00 PM till  3:00 AM past midnight.

Midnight Mercato's Swarm app contest for January 23 & 24, 2015

Attention all foodies: 

The Midnight Mercato is currently running a Swarm app contest for all Foodies. Those who would visit the Mercato Centrale in Bonifacio Global Center (BGC) in the evening of  January 23 and 24, 2015 and then check-in via Swarm or leave a tip at Foursquare and then share it on Twitter will get the chance of winning Mercato gift check.

In your tweet use the following Twitter hash tags: @mercatocentrale  and #ImInFoodHeaven

To install the android version of Swarm app in your smartphones and tablets, click here 
 

Casual dining and booze at the 'Cue Modern Barbecue in BGC

Earlier this month, we had been to the ‘Cue Modern Barbecue branch in Bonifacio High Street Centrale in BGC in the ground floor of Building C3, right beside the fountain plaza and tiers of concrete staircases that serves as mini-amphitheater for some open-space entertainment.  

Campfire-style Skillet of Queso Fundido

It's white cheddar, chorizo, cilantro, and red tomatoes...

... that you have to scoop out and place as filling on a lightly toasted flour tortillas.

The restaurant has an elegant façade with fancy interiors.  Some tables and two sets of tables with two canvass tents are placed on the porch just right in front of the store for a casual outdoor dining where you can take fresh air, listen and take a glimpse of some live musical entertainment or hear the natural nuisances of children gleefully running around the pulsating jets of fountains in the nearby plaza.

Hot Pork Belly Tips

It is a thick sticks of fried breaded pork...

...served with 3 kinds of dips that includes Dijon-honey and bourbon char siu barbecue dips.

Inside, you can be seated near the mini-bar of the main bar for you to easily choose and pick your drinks. There are few more tables inside the resto for small groups of diners and for those who prefer to dine in air-conditioned place. 

Cheesy popcorn is served while waiting for the main dish.

The decorations inside accented with framed images of pork, poultry, and beef meat parts certainly reminded me of 8 Cuts Burger Blends, which we learned is related to the ‘Cue Modern Barbecue. 

The framed meat parts of  familiar food animals reminded me of 8 Cuts Burger Blends.

Dining here may require advance reservation if you prefer to be seated in preferred side of the resto of if you are with a group of diners. So make that call now to reserve your space.

The ‘Cue Modern Barbecue branch in Bonifacio High Street, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig City

The ‘Cue Modern Barbecue is an American steakhouse that opened a branch in BGC last May 2012. Though the name of the resto expressly mentioned “barbecue” the stuffs it serves are not just limited to grilled or barbecued dishes. There are a lot of choices to select from. They have a variety of dishes made with seafood poultry, pork, and beef prepared and cooked the American way.  The staff occasionally mark  particular dishes as their picks, and put warning sign on the menu that some are spicy-flavored. 

For the booze, they would serve cocktails and other spirits, beers, and wines.  For your pulutan, you can order their pica-pica, finger foods, and spicy appetizers

Two glasses of lovely but kicking cocktails:  (Left) Bonifacio Sour, a concoction of Buffalo Trace Bourbon with lemon, Calamansi, egg white, and red wine float and served in short glass. (Right) Sweet Soul Picnic, a concoction of Sauza Tequila Gold with fresh watermelon agave and fernet branca, also served on short glass and on the rocks. 

All the prizes in the menu are inclusive of VAT. Only a service charge of 10% will apply, but for the nice dishes and superb cocktail concoctions they served, you will not mind giving tips to the serving staffs.

'Cue Modern Barbecue

Space NELG 105 (Building C3), Lower Ground Floor

Bonifacio High Street Centrale

Bonifacio Global City (BGC)

Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City

P h i l i p p i n e s

landline:    (02) 621-4052

cellphone: (+63) 917-899-2283

Email         cuemodernbbq@momentgroup.ph

Website     http://momentgroup.ph/

+Mercato Centrale

15 of 31 participants passed the 2014 New Big Food Entrepreneur Taste Test

After attending the free seminar on How to Develop Your Business Food Ideas during the  startup of Food Entrepreneur Weekend last October 25 (Saturday) in the Mercato Centrale of Bonifacio Global City (BGC), Taguig City, thirty-one aspiring food entrepreneurs finally set their tables  on November 7, 2014 (Friday) for the first step to winning the  3rd Next Big Food Entrepreneur  contest organized by the Mercato Centrale, the country’s premier night food market.

The list of 31 contestants

The participating food entrepreneurs presented their food creations vying for a win in the food taste test.  Each of them served bite-sized portions of their dishes to a judging panel composed of select lifestyle and food media practitioners, food bloggers (that includes us), some entrepreneurial consultants, and the Mercato Centrale’s partners that include Our Awesome Planet, Unilever Food Solutions, MasterCard, Globe MyBusiness, Entrepreneur Magazine, Yummy Magazine, Go Negosyo, Solar’s Second Avenue, and WhenInManila.com, with support coming from Mercato vendors and management. Sampled are different combinations of savory dishes, artisanal food, pastries, and desserts. Some food creations were inspired by foreign cuisine but presented with Filipino twists by using some locally available ingredients or by catching the Pinoy taste and the ways the foods were introduced and served. I was amazed by the creativity of the participants in coming up with their own recipe. However, I was more fascinated upon realizing that most of the contestant food entrepreneurs were inspired by Pinoy tastes and food culture. It must be of what they learned from the earlier seminar that Pinoy flavors, ingredients, and food performers were the most trending and popular in those years of Mercato Centrale's food market experience.

Helping find the best food entrepreneurs this year was a big challenge not only to the competing contingents, but also to the panelist of judges who sampled and rated the food entries presented by each of the aspiring food entrepreneur.  We sampled more than a hundred food entries in less than two hours. Most of the judges were not able to sample a bite of all the stuffs presented due to time pressure.  In my case, I missed to taste the food entries of two participants due to time constraint despite observing discipline to limit myself to take only two bites for each entry so I could speed up my review and to avoid my guts from getting filled too much halfway in our race against time. However, the said two contestants passed the Taste Test because the got favorable votes from those who have tried their dishes. I managed to try their dishes after the contest and agreed their food creations deserved to win the test.  We, the food tasters-con-judges, were asked to rate the food entries on the following criteria: 25% for Creativity, 25% for Taste, 25% for Presentation, and 25% for Marketability, or a total of 100%. 

Finally, after tallying all the score cards at the end of the search, 15 entrepreneurs won the votes of judging panel. The winners automatically became qualified to the final round of the competition, which is to sell their best food creations for over four weekends in the Midnight Mercato, Bonifacio Global City on November 14 & 15, 2014 and on November 21 & 22, 2014,  and at the Banquetta, CCP Complex on November 28, 2014 and on December 5, 2014. The ultimate winner of the contest will get PHP 100,000 start up capital, a rent-free stall in Mercato Centrale for six months, and will be featured in Entrepreneur magazine, Yummy magazine, The Philippine Star, WhenInManila.com, Globe My Business Digital, and Our Awesome Planet.

The 15 finalists who made it to the final round of the competition are the following (in alphabetical order):

1. A Guy’s Flan

2. Bakmi Nyonya

3. Bigorots

4. Cubano

5. Dirty Fingers

6. Home of French Toast

7. Hunger Buster

8. Let’s SuTuKil Atbp

9. Mad Wraps

10. Mr. Pallman's Sandwiches

11. Naughty Nachos

12. Siowarma Twist

13. Tiya’s Kitchen

14. Turrone de Manila Cafe

15. Up in the Clouds

 Related posts:

• Your Chance To Become The Next Big Food Entrepreneur Is Back!
• TheNext Big Food Entrepreneur 2014 start up in BGC
• Free Seminar on Setting Up Your Food Stall Business at Mercato Centrale