Have at you!

These past few weeks, my parents and I have become regular patrons of UCC Vienna Café along Banawe. I admit that it’s not exactly the most affordable place to dine at, but sometimes when we’re in need of some peace and quiet, it’s one of the places to be. This post will show you some of the items we’ve enjoyed…at least the ones I managed to take a photos of. :p

The Clubhouse Sandwich: one of the most popular types of sandwiches around. I normally don’t order this type of sandwich when eating out, but decided to do so when I last visited UCC. This was worth its price tag of Php200+ because it was huge and was generously filled with bacon, tomatoes, lettuce, chicken, egg mayo spread, etc. I didn’t manage to finish the entire thing and took half of the serving home for breakfast the next day.

Dad’s favorite sandwich from this place: the Kani and Shrimp Sandwich. Toast bread filled with kani (crab sticks), shrimp and alfalfa sprouts.

Once during a visit, Mom was feeling very hungry and wanted to eat something with rice. UCC Vienna Café in Banawe offer rice bowls, one of which was this Chicken Katsudon. It was served piping hot and managed to satisfy Mom’s hunger.

One other time, Dad decided to order a pasta dish. He got the Salmon and Spinach Pasta in cream sauce. You’re usually given a choice of having your pasta cream or tomato based. I’m a bigger fan of the tomato based ones; Dad always goes for the cream based ones.  I remember him enjoying this a lot, telling us that the flavors were all very mellow but still very delicious. Glad it passed Dad’s standards!

Another type of pasta dish which appealed to us was UCC’s Fried Chicken Spaghetti in tomato sauce. I remember really liking this one, since I found the tanginess of the tomato sauce marry nicely with the salty bacon. The chicken chunks on top were also served VERY hot, which is a big plus, especially when one’s starving.

It’s summer here in Manila and the heat has been pretty nasty. Mom saw her favorite dessert on the menu and ordered it without hesitation. UCC Vienna Cafe’s Halo Halo was pretty to look at. Generous scoops of mango and ube (purple yam) ice cream, leche flan, macapuno and more purple yam sitting on top crushed ice with milk and a layer of kaong (sugar palm) at the bottom. It satisfied Mom’s desire for something sweet.

More often that not, I enjoy having my cup of joe with a slice of cake. I’m a big cake fan and would rarely say no to a slice of it. During one of my visits to UCC, I decided to sample their Red Velvet cake. My parents and I thought that the presentation was really good, even if wasn’t the most elaborate of all. What we liked most about the cake was that it was moist and very dense. It was also not too sweet. A slightly sour raspberry syrup, if I’m not mistaken, was also put on the side to add a nice touch. We managed to eat the entire slice in just a few minutes, leaving the plate spotless.

It’s very rare to find a cake made from Splenda here in Manila. When we saw that UCC had a tiramisu cake made from it, Dad was really happy! We order him a slice of it whenever we’re there so that he could enjoy the post-meal sweets with Mom and I. He likes this as much as the Guiltless Chocolate Desire from The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf.

I love ending my meals in UCC with a hot cup of coffee. In the photo above is their hot caramel macchiato, which I found to be way better than the one from a more famous chain of coffee stores. When I don’t feel like having the caramel macchiato, I like enjoying the simple café latté or UCC House Blend.

**UCC has a lot of different branch with different names. If you’re within the Banawe area, try dropping by UCC Vienna Café which is located at 690 Banawe Street, Bgy Sienna, Quezon City. They also have free wifi for those who always want to stay connected.