Pinoy Food & Other Cuisine :: Food PhotoBlog and Events |

It’s a shame how there are so many excellent but slightly obscure restaurants that don’t receive as much publicity as they should, and I’m glad that there are ways for these establishments to get more exposure from discerning foodies. Orbit chewing gum recently sponsored contest where ten lucky winners got to go on a food tour of Manila’s best kept secret culinary destinations.

The Orbit Food Tour was made up of three parts. Our first stop was Cuillere restaurant, where we got to experience an unusual bestseller – carabao milkshake. After this appetizer we moved onto dinner at Elbert’s Steak Room. Our last stop was a Wine Pairing Session at Galieo Enoteca. I won’t be talking about dinner and wine just yet. The carabao milk shake was so excellent that it deserves an entry of its own.

Culliere’s famous carabao milkshake costs Php 195 and comes in different flavors: cheese, dark caramel, avocado, vanilla, and strawberry. You might be wondering why anyone would be crazy enough to pay that much money for a glass of melted ice cream and milk. Well I’m telling you now that the carabao milkshake is no ordinary milkshake. I ordered the avocado one and it was thick and creamy like a milkshake should be. But it was smooth, not too heavy, and the avocado flavor made me feel as though I was drinking liquid avocado with lots of cream and sugar (but not too much sugar). Yummy.

Since it feels strange to be drinking without nibbling on something, we had appetizers light finger foods to go with our milkshake. The Croque Madame is the small version of Culliere’s Croque Monsieur and comes topped with egg and fries.

Since I’m a vegetarian I wasn’t able to try the tenderloin tips with blue cheese, but cheese and beef look to be a very good combination.

The mini dried codfish croquettes were, contrary to their name, not dry at all. The croquet was moist and had a pleasant texture.

After we were done eating, we took some of the Orbit Xylitol chewing gum on our table to chew for twenty minutes after our meal. The gum is supposed to keep your teeth healthy and fight tooth decay because it contains an ingredient called Xylitol. Xylitol, they explained to us, is a natural sweetener contained in fruits and vegetables. Chewing it stimulates saliva production, washing away plaque-causing food residue and thereby reducing the risk of tooth decay. According to the FDI World Dental Federation, Orbit with Xylitol has been proven to have dental benefits.

I don’t know how much truth there is to the supposed dental benefits of Xylitol but the taste of Orbit gum felt good after a meal, and at least you won’t have to worry about bad breath.