Trying out the Newest Craze (Family Mart's Twirl All You Can Ice Cream review)

A week ago, we tried the newest, most talked about twirl craze in town, The Twirl All You Can Ice Cream by Family Mart. We are lucky enough we are near Fairview Terraces and the mall has a Family Mart Store.

The P25.00 Ice Cream can be twirled in plain flavors and can be a mixture of the two available flavors. They say some stores offer the 3 flavors, which are White Chocolate, Dark Chocolate and Green Tea, but most stores offer only two for a day.

Mind you, the queue was really long and each person to twirl should wait for atleast 20 seconds for the ice cream to be good. Staff says its for the ice cream to be thicker and fuller.

LOooONG line!

just to try the twirling, you need to fall in line the long queue

my buddy Jane holding her cone

Then, after some 15 minutes, we had our turn to twirl.

urgh, not that way Jane! you have to pull it down harder!! 

ang hinhin ni ate, tinulunganna sya ni kuya staff

Then the finished products, not that perfect though, but this will be perfect in time..:D

mine was on the left

 The Ice Cream Lover verdict? Well, the dark chocolate tastes like dark chocolate and the green tea is a must try! Its not that ordinary ice cream taste from other convenience store, its creamier, fuller and yummier! A must try to beat the summer heat!!

A Vikings Experience

One of the most famous foodgasm nowadays is plunging into buffets. There actually are lots of restaurants which offers a mouthwatering buffet spread in the metro. One of the best I heard was Vikings.

Vikings actually has five branches, four here in Luzon (SM Megamall, SM North, SM MOA and SM Marikina) and one in Davao. I got the chance to try Vikings at Sm City North EDSA last March 17 with two of my college buddies. It wasn't planned, we were just planning to go somewhere and chitchat since Kringles will be leaving for Boston on Friday. And so we all decided to try Vikings. By the way, one of our college friend, Ange, works as a chef on the pastries section so we got the privilege of a 5% discount. :D

Original Dinner Rate: P 888.00
Discounted Rate: P 843.56
Service Charge: 5% of the total bill

Lunch buffet is served from 11:00 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. while the dinner buffet from 5:30 p.m. to 9:45p.m. Lunch every weekdays is for P688 and on weekends and holidays, the rates are same with dinner buffet at P1,088. Other rates apply to different branches. Kindly check it here.

There are different buffet spreads once you enter the resto. Elegance welcomes you and an ambience of joy will surely put a smile on your tired, stressful mind. The place was big, I bet even 500 persons or more can be accommodated. The buffet tables are classified to grills, meat, seafoods, kiddie meals, pasta and pizza, sushis and other chinese cuisine, maki's, salad bar, and ofcourse mi favorite spot..the dessert spread.

Here are some pictures of the buffet tables arranged from the entrance until you reach the dessert bar. Forgive the not so good shots from a not so expensive android phone..;)

lamb, turkey and beef station (liver sauces, and other sauces for the meats are also available)
It was my first time to eat turkey and,mind you, it really is tasty! Beef was mediumly cooked, you get to choose 2 from the 3 served.

Drinking station, filled with a variety of sodas, juices, teas, shakes, choco and coffee, even wine and beer
I sticked with Red Iced Tea all through out our yummy stay

failed to try that milo shake

 makis and wasabi..
sorry, im not a fan of these stuffs

sushis
i tried a little but it didn't fit my taste buds.

pasta and pizza corner
i wonder why we didn't get a slice of pizza or two..

ze salad bar
again, not a veggie lover here

grilling station
i tried some grilled pork and i can say its grilled to perfection!
sausages are those common taste, they even have quail eggs

And the my favorite:

breads, brownies, cupcakes and cookies

some more yummy pastries perfect for a sugar rush

halo-halo fills

the yogurt station!

things to top your yogurt

oh my, some more sweets. fruit salad, buko pandan, jellies, etc.

ice cream!! :D

And the foodies we tried:

baked mac, turkey, beef, mojos, fish finger and  liver sauce
The mjos are yummy with a little bitter taste though. Baked Mac, was not that good maybe because it wasn't hot, the fish fillet was great with sweet and sour sauce.

hakaw, spicy sea food, bulgogi and sushi

maki and sushi

baked tahong

mini cupcakes, doughnut, brazo de mercedes, grilled pork, grilled sausage
The brazo wasn't too sweet, cupcakes also, the mini doughnut is tasty

mini cupcakes, choco bread, mallows, cheese puffs and fruits dipped in choco
choco bread and cheese puffs = not good

green tea and cookies and cream topped with mallows
green tea's flavor is strong, cookies and cream is great!

And the place:

Jho's such a photo bomber!!

seatS

The experience was actually worth it, foods are (though not all) great, the desserts were soOo good.

I feel so sorry that I was so full I didn't get the chance to try everything. Next time, I promise to try the pizza and pasta and some salad might also do.

The prize was just right, given you can stay for hours. Buffet spreads were perfect for picky-choosy people like me. Will I try again? Definitely, with the 5% discount from my friend of course. :)

First Wedding Anniversary at Movie Star Cafe Mall of Asia

It's already been a year! Yes, it has been one year since we tied the knot. Frankly speaking, due to budget constraint, we really didn't plan for a wedding anniversary until I bumped on to Metrodeal's P399 Midnight buffet at Movie Star Cafe, Mall of Asia. Since I have read good reviews about the restaurant, we pursued our anniversary celebration at the cafe.

The midnight buffet's time slot is from 10pm to 2am (mon-fri) and 10pm-12mn on Sundays. July 7 falls on a Sunday, so we only have 2 hours to enjoy the buffet spread and the performances. We arrived 2 hours early so we decided to do the usual thing we do whenever we are at the mall during our college years...play at the arcade.

Silent Hill

We tried to get one for madge but after a few trial, we failed..

Movie Star Cafe is located at Mall of Asia's bay area. Upon entering the resto, you will notice that hundreds of monitors and  life-sized statues of movie characters surrounds the place. The likes of Spiderman, Terminator, Shrek, Batman and Joker, and a lot more. Here are some I've captured.

Joker

Batman

Shrek

Ironman

Terminator (?)

Star Wars character (dunno him, :) )

KINGKONG!!

This huge face of Kingkong is placed outside the resto just beside the entrance

Predator!! 

a back view of Batman and Joker and monitors above

Spidey!

 Even the waiters and waitresses were dressed like a movie character thus giving you that 'Hollywood' ambience. There were also mimes which will sure to entertain you with their funny antics.

some horror film characters

Spiderman and Black Spiderman!

Spidey for a pose

those mimes make fun of kuya customer..

..while Freddie Krueger watches

spidey again, striking a pose

In case you do not know, the resto offers performances every 30 minutes. That night, performances from movies like Grease, The Lion King, Footloose, Cosplayer's dance number, and even Barbie kept our eyes glued on stage.

Barbie sang and danced that night:

Then Grease the movie:

They even had Simba's parents on stage..hehe

Then, Footloose!

The foods were just so-so. Nachos, sisig, sausages, barbecues, burger patties, onion rings, french fries, mojos and bunch of sushis were displayed on the buffet spread. What broke my heart is that there is no desserts on the buffet table like what I have read on reviews..(see??  I AM a sweet tooth) >_<

the buffet table (??) ah basta yan ang buffet table! :D

finger foods

sushis

hubby's pate

my plate

believe me, their iced tea is good!

beer for my man

All in all? MovieStar Cafe is worth the experience but I'm afraid I wouldn't dine there again if I'm after the buffet spread. if I were given the chance to visit them again, it wouldn't be because of the food but because of the performances and the super wonderful staffs. ;)