Wine Story Academy: Learn the Fine Art of Wine Tasting With Wine Story Academy's Wine 101

For so many Filipinos, wine is intimidating and reserved only for special occasions and celebrations. I used to believe that wine was only for the wealthy, and people who weren't as well off drank beer or any other affordable glasses of alcohol. But the reality is that wine is for everyone and you don't have to wait for a special occasion to enjoy a glass...or two...or maybe three. 

Wine Story Philippines believes that within each wine bottle is a beautiful tale that is meant to be told. They have been educating wine lovers, enthusiasts, and wine practitioners on the many intricacies of wine through Wine Story Academy - so that many more Filipinos would come to better enjoy wine from around the world. 

To kick-off one's wine journey, you start with Wine 101 - a bootcamp to the basics of wine tasting.  

Lugang Cafe Is Promising the ULTEAMATE Feast With Unlimited Xiao Long Baos on Weekdays

In an obvious response to Din Tai Fung's Php 399 Afternoon Feasts, Lugang Cafe just gave us Xiao Long Bao lovers The ULTEAMATE Feast, letting us enjoy unlimited Xiao Long Bao during weekdays.

The promo runs for a month from September 13 to October 13 and is available only on weekdays (not including holidays) from 2:30PM to 5:30PM.

Taal Vista Hotel's Intimate Celebrations: A Night of Romance She'll Never Forget

A few weeks back, I was in a very difficult situation. My girlfriend I were about to celebrate our first year as a couple and I wanted to surprise her with a lovely evening together. Truth be told, I had a hard time making up my mind on how we should celebrate this significant milestone. I had a few ideas in mind and a staycation at Taal Vista Hotel, one of Tagaytay's premier hotels, stood out because I have been meaning to take her to Taza Fresh Table so she could try the exceptional dishes there.

When I checked Taal Vista Hotel's Facebook page, I came across a post on the Intimate Celebrations Package and from there I made up my mind, we were definitely going to Tagaytay. I have to admit it was one of the most romantic evenings of my life, and I have absolutely no regrets. If I was given a chance, I'd do it all over again. It was perfect.

Here's a glimpse of our romantic evening, celebrating our first year anniversary with Taal Vista Hotel's Intimate Celebrations...

Linguini Fini's Pizza and Pasta All You Can Promo Is Incredibly Cheap at Just Php 399

It's amazing how spoiled foodies around Metro Manila have become, with some of the best restaurants in Metro Manila handing out promos left and right. Just last month, I was raving at how Salvatore Cuomo's Anniversary Special Lunch Buffet made Manila's best Italian restaurant so much more affordable for everyone to enjoy.

This time around, Linguini Fini, arguably one of the best places for pasta in Metro Manila, is now offering a Pizza and Pasta all You Can Promo from September 8, 2017 to October 6, 2017. This lets you enjoy nine signature Linguini Fini dishes, including the popular Papardelle "Nose to Tail" Bolognese.

Here are the mechanics as well as the dishes you can feast on...

Salvatore Cuomo's Anniversary Special Lunch Buffet: Manila's Best Italian Restaurant at Bargain Rates

If you're a regular reader of my blog, you would know that I LOVE Salvatore Cuomo because the restaurant gives us a taste of Naples without flying all the way to Italy. They serve some of the best Italian dishes in the Philippines and is currently my top choice for the best Italian restaurant in the Metro. If you're willing to spend on outstanding Italian dishes, you'll definitely get your money's worth. For more about the restaurant's background, read my review here.

Luckily for us, we don't have to spend a lot of money get a taste of Salvatore Cuomo's signature Italian dishes. They currently have an Anniversary Special Lunch Buffet Treat, which includes appetizers, salad, pizza, and drinks, all for the price of Php 600 (Weekdays) or Php 900 (Weekends and Holidays). The great news is that the special lunch buffet has been doing so well that it was extended indefinitely! 

Taking into account that you would normally spend Php 1500 per person when dining at Salvatore, that's a steal! On top of that, you can choose one main course from a list of options (shown below). Now that's just icing on the cake!

Karton.ph: Artisan and Gourmet Food Right at Your Doorstep

It's often difficult to get our hands on artisan or gourmet products made by fellow Filipinos. We would often find these products at either bazaars or weekend markets across the Metro, but it's sometimes it takes a bit of effort to get there. Karton.ph has an entire shop full of Manila's finest artisan products that you can have conveniently delivered straight to your doorstep for a flat delivery fee of Php 99 - a lot cheaper than gas money or an Uber ride. 

Karton.ph is a one-stop shop for anything and everything artisinal, having all of your favorite Filipino gourmet finds. Enjoy artisan beer from Craftpoint Brewing Company or Nipa Brew, Snacks from Spud Buds and Sikat Potato Chips, or even healthy delights from Greenola or Healthy Monsters. You can read more about all their artisan or gourmet sellers here. 

The best part about Karton.ph is that all their products are 100% Filipino made, and all carefully curated to be part of their exclusive catalog. 

Shakey's Philippines Cleverly Made the California Maki Into a Delicious New Pizza

Shakey's Philippines has always had the knack of introducing innovative pizza creations for a limited time. Following the success of the delicious Scallop Primo Pizza, Shakey's is now serving a delicious blend of East and West with the new Shakey's Cali Kani Pizza - a lovely marriage of classic California Maki ingredients on pizza!

The pizza is loaded wih kani, peaches, cucumber, fish roe, and nori strips drizzled with a generous amount of Japanese Sesame Dressing. If you love pizza and Japanese cuisine, then the Cali Kani Pizza is a pizza just for you. 

To be honest I had my doubts when I first saw the ads on TV, but after trying out the pizza I found it to be absolutely delicious. Made with fresh ingredients, the combination of kani, cucumber, and Japanese sesame dressing is mouthwatering. Every bite makes you want to crave a for another one - with the full flavor of crab from the loads of kani strips - without the usual 'umay' factor you get when you eat oily pizzas. It's surprisingly good!

Amici Celebrates 10 Years With a Celebration Meal That's Good for 10

Early this year, we had Shakey's 2017 Meal Deal that quickly became a crowd favorite across the country. This time around, we have a similar treat from Amici Philippines as they celebrate their 10 year anniversary with a Celebration Meal For 10 or 5!

We recently tried Amici's New Special Menu by Chef Paolo Moran and the quality of the food from Amici is undoubtedly more delicious when compared to a fast-food restaurant such as Shakey's. So, with this promo Amici hopes to make their authentic Italian dishes more accessible to a lot more people. It's a bit more expensive when compared to Shakey's 2017 meal deal but the quality of the food makes the deal worth it.

The promotion is valid from July 1, 2017 to August 31, 2017 and you can save as much as Php 1775 with this promotion

Din Tai Fung Is Offering an Afternoon Feast With a Php 399 Eat All You Can Promo

Din Tai Fung Philippines just announced that the restaurant will be having a Afternoon Feast Promotion starting today that will run for 1 month (until August 18) for just Php 399 subject to 10% service charge. The promotion available every afternoon during weekdays from 2:00pm to 5:00pm. It's a great opportunity to eat as much of their delicious Chinese dishes as you can. While they have a limited set menu of 10 items on offer, I still think it's a bargain!

As with any eat-all-you-can promo, you can't have any leftovers which will be charged regular price and you can't take any of the dishes out.

Toby's Estate: Introducing the New Salcedo Blend

Toby's Estate serves the best Espresso-based beverages in Metro Manila. It's no secret how much I love their Cappuccino or Gibraltar made with their popular Woolloomooloo blend - with rich dark chocolate notes and a bit of spice that's a perfect base for most espresso drinks. It's the reason why a lot of coffee lovers keep coming back.

I understand that some customers might prefer a more mellow version of the Woolloomoolo blend. Rather than richness of dark chocolate, they would much rather have subtle milk chocolate notes that's a tad bit fruity (think Malagos). That's how the Salcedo Blend came about to cater to these types of coffee drinkers, but I'll get to the new blend in a bit.

We were invited to Toby's Estate Whitespace at Chino Roces Avenue Extension for a roasting demonstration and were introduced to the new Salcedo Blend. It was my first time at their roasting facility and it was great to see the level of detail and care that Toby's Estate Philippines puts into making sure that the quality of their coffee is kept at a high standard. 

Here's what you need to know about their Whitespace store and the Salcedo Blend.  

Enjoy 40% off on Chicken N Mojos from Shakey's Monday Madness

It's back! Enjoy 40% from Shakey's Chicken 'N' Mojos from May 15 to June 5 every Monday when you dine-in at any Shakey's branch. All you need to do is present your Shakey's SuperCard to avail of the promo.

For information on how to get a Shakey's supercard, check here. 

Lugang Cafe's Feast All You Can 2017 Is Here: Enjoy Unlimited Dimsum And More for Only Php 647!

Lugang Cafe's popular Feast All You Can Promo is finally back for 2017 and you can enjoy the unlimited dimsum and more for almost 3 full months! For only Php 647 (including 10% service charge), you can enjoy unlimited dimsum, appetizers, soup, and rice from Lugang Cafe's special Feast All You Can Menu at a very affordable rate. The promotion also comes with 1 glass of iced tea, 1 house specialties, and 1 dessert.

Please note that the promotion is only available from Mondays to Saturdays and is also not available for holidays. Please see the full mechanics below...

Enjoy All You With Max's 2017 Chicken All You Can Promo For Only Php 249

Winner, winner, chicken dinner! That's how I felt when I found out that Max's Restaurant is bringing back their Chicken All-You-Can Promo for 2017. For just Php 249, you can chow down as much of Max's delicious Quarter Chicken as you possibly can every Friday (plus one Sunday for Visayas and Mindanao) from 2:00pm to 10:00pm. It's only available for dine-in transactions and comes with 1 glass of Pepsi products.

Here are the complete details Max's Chicken All-You-Can Promo...

Good Life Celebrates Chinese New Year With a Flavors of Fortune Food Fest

Good Life, one of the leading Asian food brands in the Philippines, recently celebrated Chinese New Year with Flavors of Fortune: Food Trip Down Chinatown - a 2 day festival from January 27 to 28, 2017 at Robinsons Place Manila. 

The festival features a few fun-filled activities, including the Good Life Chinoy Dish Showdown where featured Manila hotels showcased a few modern Chinese-Filipino dishes that incorporate Good Life products. The participating hotels include Best Western Hotel, Amelie Hotel, City Garden Hotel, Lotus Garden Hotel, Eurotel, and Bayview Park Hotel and these hotels each had a live cooking exposition to battle it out for the best Chinese dish. 

The festival activities also featured a dragon and lion dance, cooking demos, raffles, Feng Shui talk, and cultural performances. Here are some of the fun activities from the 2017 Flavors of Fortune Celebration...

Jollibee vs Mcdo: All the #Hugot Ads for a 'Bida Ang Sawi' Valentine's

Jollibee's recent string of 'Kwentong Jollibee' commercials are recently going viral in social media, and it's not surprising why. The valentines-themed ads taps into Filipino values of love and sacrifice, but at the same time these true-to-life, heart-wrenching stories triggered all the feels from Filipinos around the country by making them remember similar instances where moments like these happened our own lives. 

Before you head over to the nearest Jollibee store to grab a Jollibee Yum or Chickenjoy, let's relive these hugot ads from rival Mcdonald's as well. 

Let's watch all three of Jollibee's #KwentongJollibee commercials again, along with some of the viral Mcdo commercials in the past, and see which fast-food chain does #hugot better. Will you go for Jollibee Chickenjoy or Chicken Mcdo this Valentine's week? 

Pizza Hut's Pizza Heart Deal Let's You Shower Your Love One's With Pizza Hearts This February For Php 499

This February 2017, you can show off your love for that special someone in your life by sending out pizza hearts from Pizza Hut's Pizza Hearts for only Php 499! Yes, that's three pizza hearts for just Php 499. It's only available for delivery from February 1 to February 28, 2017.  

I can't think of a better way to show how much you love someone than sending them out three delicious pizza flavors. 

Have a Taste of Dangerously Cheesy Goodness With Taters' CHEETOFIED Snacks

Taters and Cheetos, two brands that serve awesome American snacks, is partnering up to give snack lovers the cheesiest and crunchiest snacks this year. They kicked off their new #Cheetofied snacks at the Glorietta Activity Center last January 25, 2017 to bring hungry Filipinos FIVE NEW CHEETOFIED SNACKS. You heard right, you can get your hands on FIVE Cheetos-inspired snacks this year! 

Taters has long been known for serving delicious cinema snacks across Philippine cinemas and a partnership with a household name such as Cheetos definitely gives movie-goers a cheesier option to enjoy at the cinemas this year. It's a perfect marriage that those of you who love popcorn and chips, like yours truly, will surely love. 

The partnership only available from January 25, 2017 until May 15, 2017 in all Taters stores nationwide, so hurry and get yourselves some #Cheetofied snacks now! 

Pizza Hut Introduces Hut Feasts Meal for 10 and They're Putting 25% More Cheese on Their Pizzas!

Fast food chains around the Philippines have been picking up their promo game to kick off 2017 and Pizza Hut is no different by bringing you this awesome Hut Feasts Meal For 10! That's a feast for 10 people at Php 1,299 or Php 130 per person. If you factor in the 10% service charge, then the real cost is actually Php 1,429 or roughly Php 143 pesos per person. 

That's way cheaper, on a per person basis, than either the Shakey's 2017 Meal Deal or the Pancake House's Php 370 For Two. 

They haven't announced a promo deadline yet, but Pizza Hut did say they're putting 25% more CHEESE on your favorite Pan Pizz for FREE! Check out more below... 

Choose Any Two of These Pancake House Dishes and Pay Only Php 370

There are a number of very enticing promos to start the year that certainly do not help with any of our diet goals for 2017, the most popular of them all is Shakey's Philippines 2017 Meal Deal. If you're only planning to have a casual lunch date for two, however, the 2017 Meal Deal is a bit too much. That's when Pancake House's Php 370 Meals come in handy. That's Php 200 per person (including 8% service charge) for food that's slightly more refined and is a lot better for you. 

You can choose from these three Pancake House favorites: Special Salisbury Steak, Spaghetti with Taco, and Pork Vienna. Each other comes with iced tea. 

This particular promo is available in Luzon and Metro Manila until February 28, 2017.

Shakey's Philippines Welcomes a Happy 2017 With the 2017 Meal Deal [UPDATE]

Shakey's Philippines has always had some of the most sulit promos ever to be made available in the Philippines, which is why we have been sharing a lot of their deals over the years. Although our favorite will always be the Buy 1 Take 1 Shakey's Supercard Promo that's available for every pizza delivery, the 2017 Meal Deal is one deal you'll definitely love if you don't have a Shakey's Supercard just yet!
Check out Shakey's Chicken N' Mojos promo for 2017.

The 2017 Meal Deal is available for just Php 2,017 and you'll be getting a number of Shakey's favorites that good for 8-10 people. On top of that, you get a FREE Shakey's Supercard with each purchase. That's savings of Php 1,861 on each purchase! 

If you're don't feel like feasting on loads of pizza and pasta or if you can't get at least 8 people, you can also choose any two Pancake House dishes and pay only Php 370. You can also try out Pizza Hut's Hut Feasts For 10 for only Php 1,299. 

The deal runs through January 1, 2017 until March 31, 2017 [EXTENDED] for dine-in, delivery, and take-out. The promo is open to everyone, you don't need to have a Shakey's Supercard to avail of it.