UCC Coffee’s New Halo Halo Cake and More

UCC Coffee is one of a handful of places my dad likes to drink his coffee, he even has a stash of their beans in his office. In the Philippines, UCC is more than just coffee, they have a wide variety of food options from breakfast to dinner with the likes of sandwiches, rice meals, and even spaghetti and also coming up with unique things like the halo halo cake.

Before I talk about the unique halo halo cake, I’ll talk about some of the new and unique stuff they have added to their menu.

Lengua Spaghetti (P369). An interesting blend of lengua (ox-tongue) for that strong beef umami taste, complimented by mushrooms, olives and lots of garlic bits. Its not something that one who would think of to pair with spaghetti but it somehow works.

Char Sui Curry Soup Spaghetti (P389). Following the previous dish was this out of this world noodle dish. Getting inspiration from both Char Sui and curry ramen and then blending it with their signature UCC soup spaghetti line. This dish taken altogether somehow works, the creamy and a bit spicy soup blending with sweet-salty char sui and finished off by the strands of spaghetti. I really appreciated the bowl of hot soup especially during that rainy night.

Buttermilk Pancake (P90). Made from fresh buttermilk that’s why its available only at UCC Cafe Terrace in One Rockwell. Fluffy, chewy and possessing a heady fragrance that puts all other pancake I’ve had to shame

Japanese Char Sui Pita Pan (P289) Soft pita brad stuffed with same char sui they used in the soup spaghetti then complimented with cucumbers and tomatoes.

Lengua Omu Rice (P389). I love omu rice, probably because it has a big scrambled egg pocket hiding a surprise inside.  This time the rice inside is curry based so it definitely hit my curry loving palette with more of those tender lengua on top.

Pearl Milk Coffee (P119). You’ve had pearl milk tea, now UCC give’s you pearl milk coffee using their high quality coffee. I found the pearls a bit lackluster but the coffee was smooth and strong. They also have pearl milk tea at the same price.

Sausage and Bacon Pizza Toast (P259). This reminded me of something I used to do as a child, although a bit more haphazardly done. Its basically thick toast bread topped with tomato sauce, sliced sausages, bacon and veggies. I liked their soft tasty bread, which they also sell in select branches of UCC.

Halo Halo Cake (P250). The cake comes with a cup of brewed coffee already, I hope they could add an ala carte version. Living in the Philippines, I bet most, if not all of you has tasted halo halo at one time or another. Its also prevalent as ice cream but I bet you’ve never had halo halo cake, me too until that day in UCC.

The ube takes the form of the chiffon cake and icing, with leche flan, caramelized banana and more halo halo ingredients sandwiched in between. I was kinda missing the gulaman, sago and nata de coco but I don’t think those would do too well when baked. It’s complimented by FIC nangkasuy ice cream topped with corn flakes (I would have preferred pinipig). Take a bite of the cake and you’ll be surprised that its not quite sweet at all, so the ice cream still manages to compliment it.

Mais con Yelo cake (P185). Compared with the halo halo cake, this one was a bit lackluster. Corn made into a creamy paste is sandwiched in between vanilla cake and topped with more corn kernels and corn flakes and served with cheese ice cream.

They also have two new parfaits, drinks with ice cream, whipped cream and more. Mais con Yelo Parfait (P199) and Pearl Coffee Parfait (P239) and both interesting things to try on your next visit.

UCC Coffee in the Philippines is the envy of their customers in other countries, with the vast amount of food items locally developed including that wonderful halo halo cake. They come up with a dishes that mix and match things that we don’t normally think about doing and somehow make it work. There always something for both coffee drinkers and non coffee drinkers.

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