Elaine De Los Santos

I never knew CBTL had good quality cakes and pastries. The blueberry cheesecake and chocolate sans rival were to die for. The breakfast quiche was also surprisingly delicious. Coffee is still topnotch. I like that there’s a self-service water station. The staff were polite enough to inform us that they were already closing the store. The ambience was great for group dates, as the seats and tables can be rearranged.

Underwhelming sizzling meals, but everything on the menu was pretty affordable. I tried sizzling lechon kawali, but it was more like pork chop doused in gravy. The gravy was not flavorful — it’s just salty and thick (malapot). The service was fast though — pay-as-you-order at the counter and food was ready in no time. The atmosphere was quite chaotic— the tv was playing and loud background music playing too.

I was glad to stumble upon this dessert/cake place for a quick merienda. Their bestselling cake “Best Kept Secret” should not be kept a secret because it was absolutely delicious with its interesting play of textures and flavors. Their coffee was also pretty good. Staff were friendly and gave good recommendations.

They served good ramen and other Japanese-inspired food items. I ordered tonkotsu ramen with chasu. The broth was flavorful, the chasu grilled perfectly, jammy eggs, bouncy noods. No complaints. The All-Star Takoyaki was also good, but it took a while to be served. The servers should be more attentive, especially when processing the bill, payment, and receipt. Also, they should do something about those flies — perhaps put some insect zappers?

A quaint ramen place tucked in one corner of Estancia Mall. The ramen has three serving sizes - small, medium, and regular. I ordered small Sigekaya ramen and it was already very filling. The broth was thick (like lomi), which I like because it coated the noods well. The chasu was not too fatty, but a bit meager in portion (2 short slices only). I also ordered the chicken karaage and yakisoba combo. The karaage was juicy and cooked well, but the yakisoba was a miss (too sweet for my liking).