Stellaire: Birthday Day Out: Wildflour, CBTL 26th St., Shopping

Finally, Set and I were able to meet up last Monday for her birthday. We've been trying to set up a date for weeks but things kept popping up and we had to keep postponing. We decided to meet up in the Fort and try out something new. Our original plan was to have late lunch at Sunshine Kitchen but we didn't do research on their store hours and found it closed. So, we went across the street and ate at Wildflour instead.

The restaurant itself isn't too big, but since it had floor-to-ceiling glass panels all around it didn't feel cramped inside. Even the kitchen can be seen from outside the restaurant and I was able to catch a glimpse of the kitchen making some bread before we went in. Despite the see-through walls the place feels cozy with modern and dark wood interiors.

I've ~~heard~~ read so much about Wildflour but had no idea what to order. I wasn't able to research on recommended dishes so it took a long time for me to decide what to get. I was so hungry that everything on the menu looked good.

Complimentary bread

We eventually decided to share an appetizer, entree, and a drink, which was a good move because we were super full afterwards. I just have to say I super LOVE their bread. Crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. Heaven!

Roasted bone marrow, mango salsa, ciabatta (PhP450.00)

We ordered the roasted bone marrow as our appetizer and was surprised when we were served two big half-slabs of bone marrow (again, we did not do research before eating there). It was definitely a heart attack on a plate since there were only two of us sharing. The marrow itself isn't that flavorful but went well with their perfect bread (again, super duper love their bread). The mango salsa didn't contribute a lot of flavor, either, but helped cut through the oiliness of the marrow. I think caramelized onions or a fruit jam or chutney would be a better combination with the marrow. Overall, I wasn't too impressed with this but I still liked it.

PB & C shake (peanut butter, banana, chocolate) (PhP195.00) - half

Set wanted to try the PB & C shake and we asked them to split the drink, hence the small serving in the photo. The shake had a good balance of flavors and was not too sweet. I liked it.

California burger, cheddar, caramelized onions, brioche bun (PhP450.00)

I'm boring and chose a burger for our main dish. The California burger is big enough to share between two people (who order other stuff) and comes with a cone of fries. It's a good, solid burger. Not extraordinarily good, but still pretty good. The soft, buttery brioche enhanced the flavor of the burger and made me go "mmm...butter". The fries were nice and crunchy, but we didn't eat a lot of it.

Wildflour Menu:

I enjoyed everything we ordered and definitely want to go back to try their other dishes. I really loved their bread, which they bake themselves, so I'm leaning towards trying one of their sandwiches next time. They also serve "all day" breakfast until 3:00 pm. Mmm...breakfast. They had an interesting set of desserts on the menu but we decided to go next door for dessert.

Just like Wildflour The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf 26th St. Bistro has floor-to-ceiling glass walls and a high ceiling. The place is huge and is probably around 2-3 times bigger than Wildflour in terms of floor area. The interiors are similar to regular CBTL stores but feels a bit more sophisticated. Since they are a restaurant you get seated and served at your table. Their menu includes a lot more food items but I was focused on choosing a dessert and didn't notice the other dishes anymore.

Pannacotta Sampler (PhP235.00)

We ordered the Pannacotta Sampler, which includes three panna cottas of different flavors (vanilla, earl grey tea, and espresso) with two chocolate chip cookies. The three panna cottas all had different consistencies and we liked the vanilla the best in terms of flavor and consistency. The earl grey one tasted really good but the flavor wasn't well distributed throughout the whole thing. It was too solid and had an eggy texture. The espresso was good but, for me, was flavored too strong to enjoy and finish. Among the three it was also the softest in terms of consistency. The cookies were perfect. Crunchy on the outside and chewy on the inside. Coffee Bean's cookies never fail to make me happy.

Full and happy

After stuffing ourselves we went shopping around the Fort. We went to Market Market to check out the Snoe store. We then checked out SM Aura. I'm really not a fan of SM Malls, but with a huge Forever 21 and Uniqlo I just had to go. After going around and seeing what was already open we walked to Bonifacio High Street and shopped around, as well. Even with all the walking we did I don't think it made up for everything we earlier that day, haha.