We had an impromptu dinner because Vanj is gonna leave the country soon to look for the greener pasture. It was very sudden that we have to come up with a date that will work for all of us and this is how our hasty plan lead us. To Cafe Mary Grace in Serendra.
Apat na sikat with our honorable guest, Jastin.We were greeted with these little notes from satisfied customers.
Now look whose writing I spotted . . .
. . . papa john lloyd cruz!!!By Vanj's request, we had this for appetizer. . .
. . . grilled kesong puti with toasted breadWe all know what a kesong puti tasted and looked like so imagine our confusion when we try to spread the kesong puti on the bread. It's so sticky it won't spread. Kinda like the texture of mozzarella. Because of that we concluded that we were served with mozza cheese instead of kesong puti. But you know what, I did a little research on the ever reliable google and stumbled upon the
mozzarella kesong puti or
carabao mozzarella. It's actually what they called Philippine's version of mozzarella. Unlike the Italian mozzarella, the carabao mozzarella did not go through any pasteurization process and it has lower fat content. (Source: ABS-CBNnew.com/lifestyle). Interesting, noh. Mas healthy pa pala cya. And who would have thought the thing existed? Salamat Google! As I am typing away making this post it made me realize that we, after all were probably eating grilled mozzarella kesong puti then.
strawberry and mango shake . . .Anj and Ivy had these fruit shakes. It was good. Very refreshing and not too sweet. The rest of us had the apple and cinnamon honey iced tea. It's like drinking an apple pie hehehe! Personally, I thought the cinnamon flavor is too strong. Cafe Mary Grace offers a wide variety of iced teas and I wanna try them all. According to their menu they're iced teas are made from scratch, using premium tea leaves and freshly squeeze fruit juices. This is my new addiction. After years of drinking powdered iced tea, I recently discovered the wonders of freshly brewed iced tea. Been making these at home and it's love! Will make a separate post about it.
. . . apple and cinnamon honey iced teaFor the main, each of us ordered pasta dishes and pizza to share. Here are the pics. . .
smoked salmon and cream . . .This was Anj's order. It's creamy and herb-y in a good way. One of my fave from all the pasta dishes we tried.
. . . spanish sardines and olives pastaVanjee's choice and also a favorite of mine. A simple dish with simple ingredients but the taste is extraordinary. Spicy, sour, salty. Every flavors complemented each other.
seafood pasta. . .Ivy's choice. This is supposed to be a tomato-based pasta but for some reason I did not taste any tomato flavor in it. Oh well, I just had a bite. Ivy finished the entire thing so it must be good.
. . . classic carbonaraJastin's order. It's okay. I had better carbonara than this. Jastin was satisfied with this.
mary grace mushroom cream with essence of truffle . . .This is what I ordered. I was looking for the essence of truffle or at hileast a hint of it. But nadah. Sadness. But with every pasta dish that we ordered I commend them for serving perfect al dente noodles. Not to forget the garlic bread that came with it. Yummy.
. . . parma ham and arugulaI love anything with arugula so I chose this pizza. Apparently, it was just me and Vanj who likes arugula. The rest of them? They thought they were eating sambong leaves. Hahaha. Good thing the arugula leaves are separated. Back to the pizza, the crust was as thin as how I wanted it. Even when its already cold the crust was still crunchy. The bitterness of arugula balances the saltiness of the parma ham. Purrrrfect.
We were full from the pasta and pizza but our meal and our chikahan did not end there. So we ordered some hot drinks and desserts to share among us.
cappuccino valencia . . .This is my drink. I felt like I had enough tea for the day so I switch to this instead. Anyway, this was mostly froth and half a cup of coffee. Anj and Vanj on the other hand ordered the hot white chocolate and traditional tsokolate. Anj's white chocolate was so good. It's the kind of drink I'd like to have on rainy days. As for the tsokolate, Vanj loved it.
Moving on to the pastry pics . . .
. . . lemon squares
grilled cheese roll . . .Originally Jastin ordered the unheated roll but our server insisted to have it grilled. He said it would taste better if grilled and so Jastin obliged. When the roll was served it didn't look like it was grilled not even a slight heat when you touch it. Jastin was upset. He said he shouldn't had listen to the server.
. . . cheesecakeOMG. After my first bite, I tried to recall the last time I had cheesecake. It felt like forever! It's because Tapioca and I rarely leave any room for desserts after meals. This cake made me realize why I love cheesecake.
tiramisu . . .Heavenly Italian dessert. Now this one made me realize why I should never let an opportunity for desserts to pass by.
. . . mango beneThis is like Conti's mango bravo. But then again every dessert taste better with fresh fruits especially with ripe and sweet mangoes.
Satisfied with our meal, we felt the need to leave our mark . . .
. . . we were here - apat na sikat + jastin
