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The much awaited Trinoma Blogger Food Tour finally happened on January 9, 2008. In cooperation with Yehey.com, the event felt like food heaven for bloggers as it invited 150 bloggers to the Blogger Food Tour. It felt like an indulgent food trip that traversed Trinoma Mall’s 34 dining establishments. Earlier, I made sure that I didn’t overeat so that my tummy would have enough space for the food sampling.

Even if my tummy was prepared for the tour, time constraints brought me to only 15 restaurants.

Bread Talk
Pho Hoa
Marina
Mann Hann
Mangan
Teriyaki Boy
Hossein
La Maison
Holy Cow
Bubba Gump
Bacolod Chicken Inasal
T.G.I. Fridays
Italianni’s
Fish & Co.
Superbowl

The other group of bloggers were able to tour restaurants like Sgt. Pepper Steak, Abe, Good Earth Tea Room, Oki Oki, Conti’s and Haiku.

Is it possible to review 34 dining places in 3 hours? Impossible. I reminded myself that this was a tour of TriNoma’s dining establishments. Any review or critic on the food or service won’t be accurate because of the nature of the dining experience. The funny thing was the Trinoma Blogger Food tour felt like speed dating not that I have experienced it. I saw it on TV once. The experience was like speed eating such that we took a quick taste then grab as much information as one can get in 5 to 10 minutes. Was I able to determine the best dish or restaurant during my speed eating experience? Let me show you my top 5 favorite dishes at the selected Trinoma restaurants.

Shrimp-prawn dish at Mann Hann

Creamy Wine Mussels at La Maison

Cheesecake at Jack’s Loft Dessert Bar and Holy Cow

Pomelo Salad at Pho Hoa

Lemon Chicken at Superbowl

Looking back at my speed eating experience, maybe I should award some deserving restaurants. Let’s see who gets my vote for the Yummy Award for tasty dishes, Best in Food Presentation and Superb Service Award.

Yummy Award

My vote is on Mann Hann for the tastiest dishes. Of course, this may not be reliable because they could have easily served their best dishes for the bloggers. Mann Hann is inspired by ancient lore of warring Manchus and Hans who celebrated their truce with feast. But Mann Hann is not your neighborhood museum masquerading as a restaurant. This unpretentious and affordable food haunt serves Hokkien-influenced Chinese fare. Sure there are the usual noodles, soups, rice toppings, dumplings, buchi. They also serve non-Chinese favorites like Shrimp Tempura and Mango Cheesecake.

Favorites are Spicy Spare Ribs, Chilli Fried Squid and Yang Chow Fried Rice. I need to taste their house favorite, the Oyster Cake – a starchy oyster omelette topped with finely chopped coriander

Best in Food Presentation

Holy Cow won me over for the most tempting and cute presentation. Those cows are cute, right? Mooo.

Superb Service Award
I can’t judge the service based on a fleeting 10 minute experience but I felt like a queen when the manager of La Maison opened his arms to greet us and invite us inside their restaurant.

Bubba Gump ties with La Maison for superb service.

Now don’t take my awards seriously. It was all based on speed eating, mind you.

Luckily, I didn’t experience any unfortunate speed eating experience but a fellow blogger met a rude manager at the Cabalen Trinoma. I wonder why the manager at Cabalen acted the way she did. The other managers that I met were all very cordial and entertained our questions. Much as I wanted to take time to talk in detail with the enthusiatic managers, the time constraints made it very impossible.

The hospitality and warmth of the restaurant were evident by the food presentation. Other restaurants just fed us outside their doors and we were just standing there by their entrance. Hmm. Kudos to Mann Hann, Bacolod Chicken Inasal, Bubba Gump, La Maison, Pho Hoa, Mangan, Holy Cow, Bread Talk, Teriyaki Boy, Superbowl and Hossein for opening their doors for us. We didn’t get to talk to the manager for those restaurants who fed us outside their doors.

The speed eating experience brought havoc to my tastebud that I couldn’t discern the taste of the other dishes. Everything tasted salty from thereon. Oh , the hazard of food overload. Would I go to another speed eating experience? No. I want a more relaxed dining experience where I can savor the flavorful spices of the gastronomic delights and at the same time converse with my fellow bloggers.

The best part of the tour?

The company of bloggers, of course.

Thank you Yehey and Trinoma. I am coming back to bring my family for dinner at Mann Hann.

What about you? Did you enjoy your speed eating experience? Or can you imagine speed eating in 15 restaurants in three hours? Who did you think had the tastiest dish? and temptingly divine food presentation? Best service?

View the rest of Photos of the Trinoma Blogger Food Tour

Posts of the other bloggers:

Bakla Goes to the Trinoma Blogger Food Tour
Bakla and His Cabalen TriNoMa Experience
Byahilo Goes to the Trinoma Blogger Food tour The Trinoma Bloggers’ Pig-Out (Part 1 of 3)
Trinoma Blogger Food Tour: Prologue
Food Trip Field Trip at the Trinoma Food Tour for Bloggers!
Trinoma Blogger Food Tour
Laszlo’s pics of the Food Tour
Of Little Buzz and Big Blunders
Live Blogging During the Trinoma Food Tour

Tags: Food News & Events, Restaurant and Eating Places