Afternoon Snack at La Creperie Shangri-La

After doing much of our errands, we decided to eat before finally heading home. We happen to be going down to the second floor when something pushed me to go to the western part of the mall. This has been the "not so visited" part of the mall but we were very happy to see "La Creperie" sign - we've finally found a place to eat our snack!

Although the alley was a semi-desserted area, La Creperie had a lot of diners. Good thing that there was still enough seats to accommodate us. Since it was more of a stall in the middle of the alley, seats are compressed so if you have issues with space, you may want to seat on the outer tables. It was both our first time so honestly, we didn't have any idea what to order.

Because it was more of a dessert/coffee place and my husband was a bit hungry, we decided to order a pasta and crepe.

Since he is a fan of white sauce, he ordered Pesto Cream Carbonara with ham and mushroom. As simple as the dish may sound, it was good! The photo below doesn't actually justify the creaminess of the dish. What we loved about it was the fact that simple ingredients tasted extraordinary.

Pesto Cream Carbonara - Php 275.00

Me having a sweet tooth picked their sinful Double Chocolate Fudge Brownie Crepe. 
I was not disappointed with my order - it was perfect to satisfy my chocolate craving. In my opinion, it tasted better than that of Todd English's OMG. Why? Because the ice cream used by La Creperie was vanilla - there was contrast hence it balances out the sweetness of the chocolate.

Double Chocolate Brownie Crepe - Php 265.00

They do have a gimmick which we actually found good to market their food online. All you needed to do was to follow the instructions written and they give you coffee for free! I actually read about it right after my husband ordered Cafe Glace so he ended up enjoying cold coffee fix (which was actually worth ordering) and the free brewed coffee after his meal.

La Creperie is located at Unit K 206 & 207 Level 2 of Shangri-La Plaza Mall near Kate Spade. We will definitely go back (maybe at their New Manila branch) to try more of their crepes! 

Lanna
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Duck and Buvette at Shangri-La Mall

Because we arrived at Shangri-La a little past 12noon, we decided to look for a place to eat. Duck and Buvette is on our "to try" restaurant list and finally decided to try it out.

It's a good place to dine with your kids because they have kids' menu and the place is cozy enough for them to feel at home. I wouldn't suggest this to people who prefers to have a quiet ambiance because the table arrangements are quite near each other. 

Since there was only the two of us eating and there were so many dishes to try, we decided to order soup, pasta, and main dish.

Bistro French Onion Soup Php 230.00

We had this split to two so our tummies could accommodate other dishes. The onion is not too strong but is prominent enough to be tasted together with the beef broth. What actually caught my taste buds was the bread with cheese that was on top of the soup.

Farmhouse French Bean Pasta Php 280.00

At first look, you may think that this pasta dish may not taste good because it looks too healthy and somewhat dry. After tasting it, the feta cheese mixed well with the pasta and complemented the other toppings. This is perfect for those who are on a diet, especially vegetarians.

Slow Braised Beef Burgundy Php 620.00

This was the highlight of our meal and comes with a bowl of rice. This dish is not recommended for those people on diet. The beef is very very tender and the sauce is literally to die for! No wonder it comes with a BIG bowl of rice because a cup will not be enough. To be honest, ordering only this is already enough for the both of us. At first glance at the menu, this dish may seem pricey but the generous serving enabled us to take it home and had it for dinner and even lunch the following day!

Overall, we loved our experience at Duck and Buvette and will definitely be coming back to try more of their dishes - maybe their duck dishes because it's their specialty! How was you Duck and Buvette experience and what are your favorite dishes? Share it with us too so we could try it too!

Duck and Buvette is located at the 2nd Floor Main Wing of Shangri-La Plaza Mall.

Lanna

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Shopping Corner: Rustan's The Great Summer Sale 2015

The past week has been a busy one as we celebrated our baby's first birthday. Preparing for his party was one thing and fixing all everything after the party was another. It was also our wedding anniversary week but we decided to postpone our celebration since a lot of things needed to be done.

Hubby and I were finally able to go out and date last Friday since it was holiday - we could leave the baby with my parents. We decided to go to Shangri-La since we needed to do a few errands as well. Twas a good thing that we arrived just before 1pm - we actually didn't know that it was Rustan's great summer sale!

It was a good thing that our car was parked in a nice location where I could pump comfortably - we didn't check the nursing section because the last time we were there it was under repair and I doubt that the single nursing room will be vacant since there were a lot of people shopping.

Will be posting our Shangri-La shopping and food trips in another entry. Rustan's had a 3-day special sale for Rustan's Citi-cardholders and fsp2 cardholders until June 14, but their great summer sale will be running until the 30th of June.

Lanna
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Nursing Rooms in Metro Manila Malls

Pumping milk is a challenging task for breastfeeding moms at the same time, this is rewarding because you provide your little one with the best nutrition he/she can have.

I was never concerned with nursing stations until I needed one. Below are some of the nursing areas in different malls that I have been to:

TriNoMa

It was a good thing that one of the nearest malls in our area is TriNoMa and they do have a family lounge where kids can play and moms can feed/express milk.

Since my husband and I go malling on weekdays, I never had a problem of having to wait because there is always an available cubicle in the nursing area. It's very much different though during weekends as the 3 nursing cubicles are usually full.

Below is a photo of a nursing cubicle and you could see that the area is spacious. They make sure that moms are very relaxed by providing comfortable chair with ottoman.

Chair with ottoman

Ledge with socket for pumping mothers

For pumping mothers, you need not worry as there is also a socket provided so you could save your battery.

Ayala Mall (Glorietta) Makati

I wasn't able to get a photo of their nursing room because it was fully occupied as we went on a Sunday. I was informed by the staff though that they had 2 nursing cubicles that are available for breastfeeding moms in their family lounge. For a big mall, I think they need to put more nursing rooms to accommodate the growing population of nursing mothers.

Rustan's Makati

I find this quite odd because their nursing room is a shared space with the rest of the nursing mothers compared to the others who had separate cubicles.

When you open the sliding door, you could see sofas that are arranged in a u-shape leaving a big space in the center for strollers to be parked. In addition, a diaper changing area is made available inside the  room.

A good thing about this is you get to know and talk with the fellow nursing moms. If you're not the outgoing type and prefers to nurse discreetly, this setup might not be favorable for you.

Shangri-La Mall

If I'm not mistaken (correct me if I'm wrong mommies!), the only nursing room is located inside Rustan's Department Store near the baby/kid's section. I haven't had the chance to actually use it because when we went there two weeks ago (May 18, 2015), the staff said that the Nursing Room is "broken" and temporarily, they have converted one of the fitting rooms by the children's section to be a nursing room. I commend them for designing the fitting room to make it look like a nursery (too bad I wasn't able to take a photo of it). But I do hope that they fix their nursing room soon because only 1 mom is allowed inside the fitting room. I ended pumping inside the car that Monday afternoon because somebody else was using the nursing room. 

Do share with us photos of various nursing rooms and malls that you have been to moms! But, don't be discouraged whenever there are no nursing rooms available, let's remember that it is our right to feed our little one wherever and whenever they need it. Let's normalize breastfeeding! :)

Have a happy and blessed mid-week!

Lanna
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Kimukatsu Shangri-La: Satisfying your Katsu Craving

Being a stay at home mom for the past year has somehow made me miss going malling. Since we have been busy preparing for the first birthday of our son and weekends are usually spent with our families and in-laws, my husband and I decided to make our

It has been a while since my husband and I had our last date. Going to the mall on a monday was really a good choice because there were not queues on restaurants except that we had difficult time looking for a parking slot! I guess people who go to offices decided to just park their cars at Shangri-La mall because parking is cheaper compared to commercial parking areas. After my husband's quick meeting, we started scouting for a place to eat and we landed at Kimukatsu. I clearly remembered - the last time I ate there was a year ago, when I was still 8 months pregnant.

Because we were pretty cautious with what we eat, we decided to get a fish dish and a katsu dish.
We got one salmon fry set  for Php 490.00. It comes with unlimited miso soup (either red or white), unlimited rice and unlimited cabbage. We wanted to try a different katsu dish so we decided to order the creamy spinach katsu set for Php 450.00 and comes with the 3 unlimited sides just like the salmon.

It didn't take long for our food to be served. Just like the usual, my husband and I always share our meal so we get to try one another's dish.

I loved the pork dish, the cream spinach topping on top blended well with the pork katsu. The serving of the pork was also big, if we hadn't shared, I'm quite certain that my husband wouldn't be able to finish it.

The salmon on the other hand was just your ordinary one. It is similar to that of Yabu. If you are more on the healthier side, this dish is perfect for you. It's not filling but would definitely satisfy a healthy man's tummy. You might have a second serving of unlimited rice, miso soup and cabbage.

Although katsu restaurants have already had its peak, I consider Kimukatsu to be a good place to satisfy your katsu craving. Other than their dishes, they definitely serve one of the best Japanese white rice!

Lanna
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