Tag: cheese

HOT STAR Large Fried Chicken in Alabang

HOT STAR Large Fried Chicken in Alabang

carlocarrasco

If you are looking for fried chicken to eat here in South Metro Manila, there are plenty of places to find them such as Jollibee, KFC, Popeyes and McDonald’s among the many restaurants. You can even find fried chicken meals served in convenience stores like Ministop, 7-Eleven and FamilyMart. Rest assured the mentioned business joints provide a lot of fried chicken whenever you are in Las Piñas, Parañaque and Muntinlupa.

There is one food joint that stand out among them all – HOT STAR Large Fried Chicken Philippines. With its newest branch located inside Festival Mall in Filinvest City, Alabang, HOT STAR is making a comeback here in South Metro Manila. Previously they had a branch along Presidents Avenue, Barangay BF Homes in Parañaque City and I ate there a number of times while they lasted. That particular branch closed down a few years ago so it was nice to see them open a new one in Alabang (note: their space is shared with Dakasi).

The commercial space of HOT STAR with Dakasi.

For the newcomers reading this, the HOT STAR business started in Taiwan and has overseas branches. They are best known for selling the 12-inch fried chicken which has a nugget-like shape but really large and quite filling.

At their Festival Mall branch, I had two stops there. The first time I was there, I joined the line to order myself a meal composed of their signature 12-inch fried chicken (referred to as the Signature XXL Chicken), rice and a drink. When asked for what type and what flavor the chicken should be, I chose the original type flavored with salt and pepper. Soon enough I got served and went to a vacant table.

The 12-inch signature fried chicken of HOT STAR.

Looking at the 12-inch original, salt-and-pepper fried chicken, it really was exactly as I remembered what was served to customers at the previous branch in BF Homes. It was also a bit challenging to cut into pieces given its formation and texture, so there were moments when I had to take the chicken by hand and pull it apart before trying to cut it into pieces with the plastic utensils.

As before, the 12-inch signature fried chicken is pretty tasty on its own. It was tasty enough, I did not bother to use any condiments. What is also notable about it is that it sure has a lot of content of chicken meat to consume. In fact, it was more than enough to fill the stomach. While this might sound unusual to you, this is pretty normal given my previous dining experience at HOT STAR BF Homes. That being said, I had a tasty and really satisfying meal there at HOT STAR Filinvest.

A few weeks later, I returned to the Festival Mall branch mainly to take home one of their newer foods – the Cheese Bomb. After driving home with the chicken from the mall, I got home and placed it on a plate.

This is what the Cheese Bomb looks like on the outside.

On the surface, the Cheese Bomb fried chicken has a different shape compared to the signature fried chicken. It looked ordinary on the outside but it is the cheese content inside the makes the big different not only in terms of content but also on flavor. As I ate the Cheese Bomb, I really felt that fine combined taste of fried chicken and cheese in my mouth and it only made me want to keep consuming until it all ran out. I got my money’s worth.

The cheese of Cheese Bomb exposed.
A closer look at the Cheese Bomb. The cheese itself is tasty.

To put it in short, I can say that the 12-inch signature fried chicken and the Cheese Bomb were both well cooked by HOT STAR Festival Mall and were properly prepared. It is notable that the two fried chicken variants were pretty flavorful respectively which shows that the cooks made them with the utmost care for me. As such, I highly recommend the 12-inch signature fried chicken and the Cheese Bomb to anyone who loves fried chicken. I got my money’s worth and so should you.

So if you happen to be in the Alabang area and you crave for fried chicken, you should visit HOT STAR at Festival Mall. They are on the ground floor level of the mall. Keep in mind that HOT STAR has several other types of food to offer such as spaghetti, rice bowl meals, burgers and fries, and chicken wings to name some. HOT STAR is a standout among the sellers of friend chicken here in South Metro Manila.

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My Observations: Mang Pandesal with SPAM

My Observations: Mang Pandesal with SPAM

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Let me start by making clear to you all that I love eating the pandesal (a roll of bread common in the Philippines) sold by Mang Pandesal located at El Grande Avenue corner Tropical Avenue in BF International, Las Piñas City. Every day they sell freshly baked pandesal that is both affordable (at P2 each as of this writing) and very delicious. Mang Pandesal is so good, many times lines of customers are formed just outside of their store, as well as vehicles suddenly parking nearby with a driver or a passenger coming out to line up and buy pandesal. If you are not familiar with Mang Pandesal, check out my opinion piece.

This past weekend, I passed by Mang Pandesal to take home freshly baked bread. Look at the pic below…

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Freshly baked pandesal at Mang Pandesal! Highly recommended!

Normally, I ate Mang Pandesal’s bread standalone because each and every pandesal tastes great. There never was a time I had any bad bread from the BF International baker. This time around, I decided it was high time to experiment something that could be very enjoyable. As such, upon arriving home, I placed the Mang Pandesal bread on the table and pulled out a can of the worldwide favorite meat SPAM.

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The world-famous SPAM canned meat, just with less sodium.

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Some of the Mang Pandesal bread arranged on the small plate for SPAM.

So step by the step, I pulled out some pandesal and carefully cut out slices of SPAM and divided each slice of the meat into three. Each pandesal from Mang Pandesal were cut into half to resemble clamshells. Then carefully I placed each SPAM portion into each pandesal.

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Mang Pandesal’s bread with SPAM meat inserted.

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A shot from above.

With the best tasting pandesal and the best tasting canned meat combined, the result was, unsurprisingly, a very delicious experience and totally enjoyable eat! This is an experience that food enthusiasts should have whenever they have Mang Pandesal bread and SPAM available!

And then out of curiosity, I decided to try another experiment…I decided to try pandesal with SPAM with a thin layer of white cheese added.

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Thin layers of cheese added.

The result? A very creamy taste that’s also very nice for consumption!

Depending how you like your Mang Pandesal bread and SPAM together, you will definitely get a great taste of the two. If you want the cheesy or creamy taste, that is what you will get with pandesal and SPAM with white cheese added.

As such, having Mang Pandesal’s pandesal and SPAM’s meat together is highly recommended! That being said, whether you like meat with your pandesal or you simply want the best pandesal around, I recommend you to go to Mang Pandesal in BF International now and buy.

Let me end this piece with a scripture from the Holy Bible, the Passion Translation to be precise.

Whether you eat or drink, live your life in a way that glorifies and honors God.

1 Corinthians 10: 31 (TPT)

Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below and also please consider sharing this article to others. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me as well. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me at HavenorFantasy@twitter.com

My Observations: Pizza Telefono’s Pepperoni & Mushroom pizza and Super Telefono pizza

My Observations: Pizza Telefono’s Pepperoni & Mushroom pizza and Super Telefono pizza

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Disclaimer: This is my original work with details sourced from consuming the featured food from Pizza Telefono. Anyone who wants to use this article, in part or in whole, needs to secure first my permission and agree to cite me as the source and author. Let it be known that any unauthorized use of this article will constrain the author to pursue the remedies under R.A. No. 8293, the Revised Penal Code, and/or all applicable legal actions under the laws of the Philippines.

Firstly, I want to thank the Lord in Heaven for the recent re-opening of the Alabang (Westgate, Filinvest City) branch of Pizza Telefono which was a very welcome development during this time of COVID-19 crisis. I’m really happy they resumed operations here in Alabang which should interest not only residents of Muntinlupa but also those in BF Homes (via Concha Cruz Drive).

Secondly, I want to thank the people of Pizza Telefono Alabang branch for fulfilling our family’s take-out orders of a thin-crust and a hand-tossed pizza even though they had a very hectic day last Sunday…Mother’s Day 2020!

On the topic at hand, here’s a look at the two pizzas we ordered from Pizza Telefono: the thin-crust Pepperoni & Mushroom pizza and the hand-tossed Super Telefono pizza.

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Thin-crust Pepperoni & Mushroom pizza. Quite noticeable was the lack of mushrooms prepared by the Alabang branch.

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A slice of Pepperoni & Mushroom pizza

The Pepperoni & Mushroom pizza came with mozzarella cheese, pepperoni and mushroom in fresh button form. Upon first bite, it was tasty and somewhat crunchy. I could tell it was well cooked. However, the mushrooms were lacking due to a lapse on the part of the people who prepared it. Even so, this pizza proved to be good enough and I should say that I myself am not even fond of pepperoni. Someone else is.

Next was, literally, the heavy hitter…the Super Telefono pizza. This one was loaded with ingredients composed of salami, pepperoni, Italian sausage, sweet ham, ground beef, bacon, parmesan and some vegetables!

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The hand-tossed Super Telefono pizza. Look at all the toppings and cheese!

As it was a hand-tossed pizza, each slice of Super Telefono was not only very delicious but also quite filling on its own. That clearly is not surprising because hand-tossed pizzas are thicker and richer. Take a look at the pic below.

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A Super Telefono slice.

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A closer look at the Super Telefono slice. Each bite of this is rich, flavorful and filling!

I should mention that I love the dough Pizza Telefono used on the Super Telefono pizza. It has a nice texture that can be felt when chewing on it. The slice soft enough for ease of chewing.

When it comes to pizza goodness and satisfaction, I will say that the thin-crust Pepperoni & Mushroom pizza is good but I’m not convinced to choose it the next time I order a thin-crust pizza at Pizza Telefono. I will recommend it, however, to anyone who loves pepperoni on their pizza.

As for the hand-tossed Super Telefono pizza, I highly recommended it to all you who read this. Even if you’re not the kind of person who is into pizza with multiple ingredients on it, I still recommend eating it at least once. I had a great satisfaction with Super Telefono pizza for its taste, very good dough and got filled. Definitely Super Telefono is something I would not hesitate to order again in the near future.

In case you are interested with Pizza Telefono, visit them at https://pizzatelefono.com/

Also check out my previous article of their Alabang branch and my first dine-in experience with them right here.

Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below and also please consider sharing this article to others. Also my fantasy book The World of Havenor is still available in paperback and e-book format. If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me as well. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me at HavenorFantasy@twitter.com