Cheesecakes: Five Slices of Goodness

Healthy Grounds

Traversing Aguinaldo hi-way just before Robinson’s Imus, I spotted this quaint establishment that of another many cafés mushroomed in the city. Young crowd dominating the place had my attention. The interior spells out “café” in many modern ways; settled on a couch, one of the barista approached me handing their menu list coupled with their standard greetings. I noticed on menu that some had marking, which indicates as “best seller.” Under cheesecake, the blueberry was marked that I ordered.

On my plate was cheesecake topped generously with blueberries, noticeable thickness that distinguishes layer component, the blueberry added texture with its freshness that gives substance to smoothness of cheesecake. Taste filled with blueberry flavor but allowed cheese to dominate on its own. Goodness priced at 85php per slice.

Cup @ Chino

This tea and coffee shop I found at Robinson’s mall; Cup @ Chino is a newbie in the café arena with promising future in terms of service and quality. Menu was no different from any other cafés that offers pasta, sandwiches, and variety of pastries that includes cheesecake. Blueberry cheesecake priced at 90php was reasonable and soon my two thumbs went up!

  

Slice was enormous in terms of thickness and length without compromising the taste. What makes this cheesecake special – base was not made out of crushed graham cracker but of real baked goodies; visible was slight oven burnt on crust that added home made taste and aroma. Saltiness and creaminess blends rightfully with sweetness of blueberry on light note.

Purple Oven

Purple Oven is distributor of cakes and baked products of Starbucks; cheesecakes at Starbucks display innovativeness in terms of flavor variation and texture. Chocolate cheesecake crumble tops my list – visually exquisite and taste superb. A bit pricey at 130 php a slice but the celebration of flavor and satisfaction is enough reason to spend.

French Baker

French baker is everywhere – strategically located on ground floor of every SM malls; Bringing in French baguettes, croissants and bagels French baker had stretched further with introduction of macaroons for Parisian lifestyle. Oreo and/or blueberry cheesecakes have been my staple dessert after having grilled vegetable Panini.  Slice bit smaller in comparison to others but just enough to finish of a meal. Presentation was commendable and taste uniquely unforgettable; Indulgence at 70 php a slice.

Trivia: Herbert – Henry Sy’s son and Koa’s Xavier classmates – had earlier told Johnlu Koa (French Baker owner) about plans to open a high-end shopping mall in the SM City Annex. There was an obvious fit as SM was looking for a new anchor store or food categories that could complement their existing lineup of donuts, bakeshops, pizza, and burger joints. Koa grabbed the opportunity and offered a new business concept that didn’t exist at that time – The French Baker. As they say, location is everything. After opening 4^th store at SM Megamall, Johnlu realized that he should negotiate for no less than the prime location in the ground floor. This I learned during a small talk with Johnlu’s brother at PTTC while on our lunch break from Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) seminar.

Oven Maid

One of proliferating concessionaire at De La Salle University – Dasmariñas’ Square is Oven Maid; students flock for their value meal as well as array of desserts that includes blueberry cheesecake – the base was made of crumbled chocolate cookies that added twist of crunch texture, thick and enormous enough for sharing. This one is for those with crazy sweet tooth with cookie crumble crust exude sweetness, yet gives great contrast with saltiness of cheese.  Amazing fact is that a slice cost 35 php only – A true value for money coupled with palate satisfaction!