THE CAKE CLUB

There was a time that I was very addicted to coffee...

Wait hold on, addicted may be such a strong word. So let's try dependent. 

Yes there was a time where in whatever I do, wherever I was, I just HAVE to have coffee. And this was not the when-I-wake-up in the morning sort of dependency. It's more like, instead of water, I'll just have coffee. 

Yes. That bad. I remember when I was in radio before, I used to chug down 4 tall mugfuls of coffee at one sitting. And hey, this was BESIDES the one at morning, one at noon, and one at night thing. So all in all that's like 8 tall mugs of coffee? It's a wonder that my teeth is not in 50 shades of black. 

Ugh... not a pretty sight.... 

On a Tuesday holiday, ERICJAZ FOODIES received an invite to try out the new hand dripped coffee offered by THE CAKE CLUB. Now I let out an smug snort to my husband boasting that yes, I know this. I "breathed" coffee before so there would be no problem in my "appreciation" here. So I was all so cocky and Ms. Know-It-All while going to Bonifacio High Street Central.

But wow. Big surprise. It turns out, my very menial knowledge about coffee is like a speck of dust to what I am missing. And the CAKE CLUB just charmingly exposed that. Ha ha ha ha!

My "loving" husband of course, took a lot of pictures of me being clueless.  So TYPICAL of him. It's okay though. I drowned my embarrassment from him by burying my face in the delicious food that THE CAKE CLUB has to offer.

And then just like that, everything was a-okay again. Only this time, I have added to my "dependency" the wonderful hand dripped coffee offered by THE CAKE CLUB!

THE CAKE CLUB by the DIAMOND HOTEL! 

Now THIS is one club I would like to have a life time membership in!

Upon entering, THE CAKE CLUB's recognitions immediately caught my eye.... 

While my stomach tugged me to something else.... 

... oh and these too!

But our favorite bloggers in Manila were already there so we cannot really stay and drool at the dessert display at THE CAKE CLUB can we?

Chef Decker Gokioco, from THE DIAMOND HOTEL and Chef de Partie of THE CAKE CLUB, welcomed us and introduced the long array of coffee beans to be used for the "pour over method" or more commonly known as "hand dripped" coffee!

Let's the BEANS begin!!

THE CAKE CLUB's El Diablo Dark Roast... 

From the Latin America region, the coffee these beans produces leaves wonderful flavors of molasses and malted barley. 

THE CAKE CLUB's Decaf Noir!

Made from 100% organic beans which gives you hints of chocolate and nuttiness in every sip!

THE CAKE CLUB's Bella Donovan!

As they said... comforting, warm, and familiar.... 

THE CAKE CLUB's Kunga Maitu Kenya!

This gives you coffee with infused with various fruit flavors that is light and comforting to the taste

.

THE CAKE CLUB's Summer Solstice Blend!

Taste the ripe cherries with lime and floral flavors from a combination of beans from Ethiopa, Guatamela, and El Salvador!

THE CAKE CLUB's Matalapa El Salvador!

"Extremely clean coffee, medium  body, good sweetness, and fruity"

THE CAKE CLUB's specialty beans for their hand dripped coffee!!

Ms. Carmela Ang, part owner of THE CAKE CLUB, mentioned that the "pour over method" for coffee was introduced by Japan on 2006 and that DIAMOND HOTEL was the only hotel serving it. 

This wonderful method of extracting the full bodiness of the imported coffee beans will be introduced in THE CAKE CLUB in 2 weeks time! Now THAT is java jolly news to those crazy for coffee! 

My husband got so enchanted with the inducing smell of the beans that he got a sample and gave it a loooong good sniff!

Why hello there birthday girl Yedy of YEDYLICIOUS!!!! I hope my hubby is not bugging you with his loud sniffing... ha ha ha ha! Kidding! 

Ms. Carmela Ang of  THE CAKE CLUB was going to demonstrate to us the "Pour Over" or "Hand Drip" method!

THE CAKE CLUB's special dripping machine and burner to get that perfect hand dripped coffee!

Check us out crowding over Carmela Ang... isn't she pretty? :) He he he he!

She then proceeded to demonstrate the procedure of THE CAKE CLUB's hand dripped coffee!

She started up with lining the dripping machine with specialty paper and dousing it with boiling water.

If we were in class, dear Carmela was such a pretty and engaging teacher...

But of course, there are still SOME students who, no matter if their teacher is Sydney Poitier or Michelle Pfeiffer, are hopeless forever....

Ha ha ha ha!

Kidding!

And like I said, I'm not really a model student who could get internalize what the "teacher" is saying but lets just say there is a significant ground coffee to water ratio. That explains the full and strong flavors of the coffee!!!

And the hand drip begins!

Ms. Ang pours the boiling hot water in circular motion then finishes it in the middle. When the ground coffee beans are a tad covered with the water, she stops pouring and lets the liquid drip down. This method takes out the carbon dioxide. 

She repeats this process until she finishes the pot containing the appropriate amount of water for the ground beans. 

We were all astounded when Mr. Richard Co (TALES FROM THE TUMMY) shared his knowledge about coffee and almost finished the sentences of Ms. Ang!

That's me doing my "Could you repeat that?" face. Ha ha ha ha ha!

It's okay... Mr. TALES FROM THE TUMMY was more than willing to explain it again to me. Ha ha ha ha ha! :)

Ms. Ang mentioned that hand drip coffee will probably be the next wave in the java craze of Filipinos. The first one being the 3-in-1 coffee phase then the Starbucks phase.

And yey! Will finally get a taste of THE CAKE CLUB's hand dripped coffee!

I have to admit that the pour over method truly brought out the flavors of the coffee beans and what I got for every sip was a strong gulp of pure java. Where has this been all my life?? To think I've been ingesting 3-in-1 coffee drinks for the past eons of years?

Another sip will do!

But MORE would be perfect! 

Now it's time to DRINK and EAT at THE CAKE CLUB!

THE CAKE CLUB meynuh one...

THE CAKE CLUB's Truffle Fries (P195.00)! 

The moment they laid 5 servings of this on the table, we all oohed and aahed. Your day will be complete just with the mouth watering aroma of the truffles! For me, THE BEST THERE IS! 

You might think that 5 servings for our group is too much but NOOOH.... We were all scraping the bottom of the wax paper to get some more of it!

I think someone even said "I'll order some TRUFFLE FRIES with RICE"... I wonder who that was?

THE CAKE CLUB's Mentaiko Spaghetti (P370.00)!

Perfectly al dente spaghetti with creamy sauce with a "kick". Loved the saltiness that the spicy cod roe gave as well!

Yub ordered THE CAKE CLUB's Slow Roasted Beef Belly (P395.00)!

At first we were requesting if we could change the brown rice to plain or garlic rice but they do not really have those types of carbs in THE CAKE CLUB meynuh. 

Still, we were able to finish almost all of it! The slow roasted beef was so fork tender and wonderfully accompanied with the savory gravy and horseradish cream sauce! 

Such a winner of a dinner! YUM!

THE CAKE CLUB's Angus Burger (435.00)!

 

An exciting burger especially if you count the mouth watering toppings of Cheddar cheese, caramelized Onions and Pesto! Not to mention, that exciting red hue for their burger bun!

THE CAKE CLUB's Lamb Burger (P410.00)!

Gerry (DUDE FOR FOOD) said that this was the best!!! And I believe him especially that it seemed so juicy while he ate it!

THE CAKE CLUB's Baked Salmon (P455.00) was oozing with tenderness with that exciting meditterreanan crust!

I was able to try THE CAKE CLUB's Spinach and Ricotta ravioli! The sauce was so succulent that if this was my order, I would mop every last drop of it with my bread!

My order was THE CAKE CLUB's Reuben Sandwich (P385.00)! 

Believe me I did not expect to love this the way that I did that day. I was already expecting my order to be the usual dry reuben... But it was so delicious and juicy especially with the perfectly toasted bread and gooey cheese! Yum! I finished all of it even if I was already gobbling up some slow roasted beef, spaghetti, and ravioli!

Oh myyyyy...... 

Now you shouldn't be in THE CAKE CLUB without having some desserts right?

THE CAKE CLUB dessert meynuh one...

THE CAKE CLUB's dessert meynuh two...

THE CAKE CLUB's tea selection.... 

... and THE CAKE CLUB's other types of coffee!

THE CAKE CLUB'S White Chocolate Mocha!

THE CAKE CLUB's Hazelnut latte!

THE CAKE CLUB's Dark Roast Mocha!

THE CAKE CLUB's Chocolate Smoothie!

THE CAKE CLUB's Macaroons were light but creamy and ultra fruity! At only P50.00, this would surely satisfy ANY type of dessert craving!

THE CAKE CLUB Wild Pistachio Dome (P250.00)!

I was surprised with the tart jam in the middle which truly complemented the light custard of this CAKE CLUB dessert!

THE CAKE CLUB is proud of their Baked Cheesecake (P250.00) as they declared that this is the richest and cheesiest in the metro! YUM!

This was my favorite in THE CAKE CLUB! The Delice Chocolate!!!

Rich dark bitter chocolate mousse with wafers then topped with heavenly ganache!!! I can't stop slicing me up servings of these!!! Perfect with THE CAKE CLUB's coffee!!! 

THE CAKE CLUB Fruit Charlotte was light and uniquely satisfying! Not too sweet and definitely not heavy for the tummy!

My CAKE CLUB dessert plate!

Of course, the best dessert could be for birthday girl Yedy! 

Happy Birthday to one of the most nicest and smartest  bloggers I know!

Of course one of the best parts of food tripping with our KTG group is the laughs and exchanging jokes with the girls!!! 

Yub and I absolutely love our KTG group (Kain Tulog Gang)! Food tripping is always a learning but hilarious time with them!

l-r THE MOST SEXIEST MAN ON THE PLANET, Gio Mangaya-Ay (THE HUNGRY GIANT), Yedy Calaguas (YEDYLICIOUS), Kathi Raneses (MUCKING AROUND MANILA), Richard Co and wife Irene (TALES FROM THE TUMMY), Eugene Constantino (THE HEFTY FOODIE), and Richie Zamora (THE PICKIEST EATER)

Super kaduper thanks for THE DIAMOND HOTEL's Ms. Melanie Pallorina (Public Relations Manager), Ms. Carmela Ang, and Ms. Twinkle Lacsamana for having ERICJAZ FOODIES!!!

Of course, special salute goes out to Mr. Spanky Enriquez (JUICE.PH) for inviting us! You are the best as always! We missed you here!

The event was supposed to be just a  royal merienda with the hand dripped coffee. But matching it with THE CAKE CLUB's desserts and other main entrees, we gabbed and grubbed for 5 straight hours!!! 

We will truly go back here for another great time!

LETS EAT!

The Cake Club

Bonifacio High Street Central

UG/F Bonifacio High Street Central, 

East Superblock, 7th Ave cor 29th St

Fort Bonifacio, Taguig

(02) 621-3176