Oh! La La

By: The Moody Critic

It is an innovative idea to give the classic Oreo cheesecake a makeover. However, the thought of making the cheesecake matrix a marble of hazelnut and vanilla didn't work for me. By deviating from the standard layering seen in typical cheesecakes, the cake loss the balance and the potential synergistic effect of its flavors. It was like hazelnut as episode one and vanilla as episode two. Another downside of this dessert was the increased humidity of the matrix by roughly 30%. It was like eating a piece of a poor unsuspecting bread that fell into a cup of coffee. I also believe that the general idea of making a cheesecake is making it more hydrophobic than hydrophilic.

Presentation: 8.0
Taste: 7.3
Texture and consistency: 6.0
Serving size: 6.6
Value for money: 8.2

Overall rating: 7.2/10
Mood: AMBIVALENT

Resto: Fleur De Lys Patisserie & Cafe
Address: Tomas Morato ave., South triangle, Quezon city
Full food name: Oh! La La
Price: P98.00

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Strawberry Shortcake

By: The Moody Critic

This is a dessert for those who haven't eaten strawberries for a decade. Almost everything from top to bottom is made up of strawberry. The strawberry toppings though showing some signs of aging already, are still succulent. However, it was very intriguing that they used an overripe mother strawberry and unripe daughter berries around it.

The cake is enclosed by a rich and delicious strawberry cream. There were frozen strawberry slices embedded in the cake which were quite hard to extract. If you force to get these adherent strawberries, the cake has this tendency to collapse.

The cake's overall presentation was very commendable especially the intricate detail of a Mayan-like or Aztec-like carvings of the base layer. However, I don't get the wisdom of placing the butterfly at the side because it seemed to me that the insect was flying with decreased sensorium so it crash-landed into the cake.

Presentation: 9.3
Taste: 8.2
Texture and consistency: 8.5
Serving size: 8.3
Value for money: 8.2

Overall rating: 8.5/10
Mood: SATISFIED

Resto: Sweet Bella Cafe
Address: Greenbelt 5, Ayala Center, Makati City
Full food name: Strawberry Shortcake
Price: P275

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Hallow Mallow S'mores Pie

By: The Moody Critic

A dessert that obviously heralds the Halloween season.

To be honest, I haven't tasted the actual S'mores. I usually hear about it in American TV shows and they would really fuel my desire to taste it. But thanks to this dessert, my curiosity was somehow put to rest.

This dessert includes the traditional ingredients needed to make S'mores: graham, chocolate fudge, and toasted marshmallows except for the added roasted almonds. From top to bottom, the cake was inconsistent in terms of texture because first you have a smooth, rich graham whipped cream, then a rocky road-like texture from almonds and chocolate fudge underneath, then a gooey marshmallow layer with brittle graham crackers.

The only amazing constituent of this dessert was the deliciously sweet graham whipped cream because of its thematic cobweb-like design and the cute solitary ghoulish marshmallow on top. As I have observed, these marshmallows vary in facial expressions and personalities.

Sad to say, like its existing brothers and sisters, this dessert's Oreo crust seemed to have been enveloped with iron curtain. I wasn't able to eat it because it was practically made indestructible.

Presentation: 8.0
Taste: 7.3
Texture and consistency: 6.2
Serving size: 8.7
Value for money: 8.1

Overall rating: 7.4/10
Mood: AMBIVALENT

Resto: Banapple Pies and Cheesecakes
Address: Il Terrazo Mall, Tomas Morato Ave., Quezon City
Full food name: Hallow Mallow S'mores Pie
Price: P110.00

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Yo-ho-Hope!

By: The Moody Critic

Though this cheesecake may look like it has underwent some melting, it didn't prevent it from kicking some butt. Originally made as a Christmas-season dessert, the hidden candied pecans under the custard layer gives you an explosion of a very distinct roasted nut effect; just perfect for the holidays!

This dessert has three layers: a top layer of custard cream, a middle layer of rich chocolate fudge, and a bittersweet base of chocolate cookies. The middle fudgy layer could have been made 20% sweeter while the base layer should be 10% sweeter so that they would potentiate the sharp sweetness of the top layer. Unfortunately, the posterior portion of the base layer was made very thick and it was also unyielding because it was as hard and compact as a bone. This gave me the impression that it was overcooked.

WARNING: This is a very very dense dessert which warrants small frequent feedings. It may actually be consumed by two people.

Presentation: 7.3
Taste: 8.8
Texture and consistency: 7.9
Serving size: 9.4
Value for money: 9.2

Overall rating: 8.4/10
Mood: SATISFIED

Resto: Banapple Pies & Cheesecakes
Address: Il Terrazo Mall, Tomas Morato Ave., Quezon City
Full food name: Yo-ho-hope!
Price: P120.00

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Criteria

How is food rated?

Below is the criteria used in rating the food including the definition and corresponding weight of each parameter. All ratings are expressed up to one decimal place and within the range of 1 to 10 (1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest).

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Moods

The Six Cardinal Moods

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Criteria (Old)

How is food rated?

Below is the criteria used in rating the food including the definition and corresponding weight of each parameter. All ratings are expressed up to one decimal place and within the range of 1 to 10 (1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest).

1. Presentation: 20%

This most superficial parameter deals with the plating of the food including the finesse needed to produce that visual appeal.

2. Taste: 40%

This includes the potency of flavors, diversity and distinctness of flavors, synergism of flavor combination, and the general sense of palatability. 

3. Texture and consistency: 20%

The texture of the food is the sense of roughness and smoothness of the food in our mouth and on our tongue. Consistency on the other hand deals with the structure of the food like its firmness, humidity, density, thickness, hardness or softness. 

4. Serving size: 10%

Basically, this assesses the food's size, quantity, and ability to adequately fill the stomach of a person.

5. Value for money: 10%

This simply evaluates whether the food was worth its price.

Overall rating - This is the final rating of the food by using the criteria above.

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