BANAPPLE GOODIES

Last Monday, Tina and I had a free schedule to fetch our son, Gabby from his 8 to 11AM kindergarten class.   We went to the school on the dot but the kids weren’t dismissed until after their 30-minute-rehearsal for their dance performance for the school’s celebration of Linggo ng Wika which was scheduled by their school on a later date, the 28th of this month, next Friday.  While my wife was happy to see Gabby dancing to the tune of a folk song,  I grabbed that waiting period to go to a nearest bank and settled our domestic bills. After which, I went back to them and Gabby was surprised to see us together instead of his yaya fetching him that day. 

After 10 minutes, we were at a mall called Il Terrazzo, along Tomas Morato in Quezon City.  I’ve been reading and hearing about this mall that has Rustan’s supermarket, and a number of affordable and upscale restaurants and food stalls.  One of those is BANAPPLE  PIES  and  CHEESECAKES . 

Since I did my Post-Medical-Graduate Internship at Quirino Memorial Medical Center along Katipunan Avenue  almost a decade ago, I’ve been passing along BANAPPLE’s original branch few steps from that tertiary hospital but for no particular reason,  it took years and a family and Banapple’s second branch for me to try and taste the goodies they serve. 

We only saw a couple of women dining outside Banapple at the second floor of Il Terrazo before noon last Monday.  But soon after we ordered, people came in troop. 😀 

Tina noticed that wherever we dine, it always happens as if Gabby’s attracting more customers for the restaurant.  Is this an indication that he has to pursue his early inclination to becoming a chef for us to put up a restaurant years from now?  *wishful thinking*  

Bannaple in Il Terrazo is a small but with homey and charming appeal to families and friends.  Though with limited space, it has high ceiling and is well interiored that gives that welcoming ambiance.  This was the view from where we sat…

                      

A huge multi-layered glass fridge keeps the cakes fresh and a smaller one is used near the counter to display those delectable yummies.  

We occupied two round tables and it was delightful to see art on them!  Colored glass marbles were embedded in round cemented tables in different mosaic patterns. These simple details make dining experience remarkable! 😀

We had different cravings that day.  I ordered one of Banapple’s entrees, Tina only had sandwich and Gabby, pancakes.

 ASIAN CRABSTICK & MANGO SALAD SANDWICH, PhP 100. 

I was able to taste this sandwich; the salad dressing was OK, slices of mango were sweet, the toasts were nearly perfect but Tina and I were expecting that the crabs sticks are thinly shredded but were not, so it’s quite disappointing.  Another comment from my discriminating wife, lol, she didn’t like the cheese-flavored chips as sidings of her sandwich.  Plain salted potato chips could’ve save the entire plate.

While Tina was partly satisfied with what she ate, I enjoyed mine.

PAN-FRIED PORKLOIN WITH HERB MUSHROOM GRAVY, PhP 160.   I like its sidings – freshly blanched and seasoned carrots slices. I have high regard to those carinderias and restaurants that prepare their own vegetable side dishes instead of the chilled-readily available carrots and corn packs from groceries.   The porkloin strips fried in olive oil were so tender and its thick gravy was flavorful.  I might order this again on our future visits. 😀

Gabby, who was a little tired from their dance rehearsal, ordered pancakes…

BUTTERMILK  PANCAKES, PhP 100.  As expected, Gabby wasn’t able to finish this plate because it’s too much for him. But we were again disappointed with its consistency.  The menu says their fluffy but were not.  It has the poorest pancake consistency. Sorry 😦

A visit to Banapple isn’t complete without tasting pies or cakes.  With the variety of flavors, it took us few minutes before finally deciding what cakes to order…

 

BANAPPLE’S  BANOFFEE  PIE, PhP 70.   I love Starbucks’ Banoffee pie. But Banapple’s version at almost half the price of Starbucks’ is also satisfying, hands down! 😀

TIRAMISU, PhP 95.  It’s a multi-layered mocha-coffee cake with different textures that’ll stimulate your palate. Sarap!

We didn’t order pasta and only tasted two of the many cakes. With few flaws on what we ordered and with those uniquely delicous cakes that are different from those too-commercialized ones, we’ll definitely visit Banapple again soon.

BANAPPLE PIES & CHEESECAKES, 2L  Il Terrazzo, Tomas Morato cor Sct Madrinan, South Triangle, Quezon City.  The other branch is located along Katipunan Avenue, Project 4 Quezon City.