Every now and then, as you take your regular food breaks, you get to discover something that truly pleases you, something special that delights your palate and becomes a gastronomic treat — surprisingly, and it does not have to be something grand. It can be something as simple as, say, ice cream or bread?

World of Flavors recently found two such treats — one in the form of ice cream in the middle of summer, and one in the form of bread that you usually found in a neighborhood bakery but found in a commissary-produced bread bar.

PINOY NA PINOY FLAVORS

Despite all the high-end ice cream brands — with all their extremely imaginative flavors — that are fully represented in the Philippines, there’s a new brand that has come out to boldly compete with the best, armed with its Pinoy na Pinoy flavors and the traditional Filipino sorbetes formulation.

It is called Frozen Spoon, and it is from LRP Group Food Service, the same group that owns and runs Minatamis PH, and supplies S&R with several frozen desserts and baked snack items in jars. Its Sorbetes line is made up of six flavors — Buko Munggo (coconut ice cream base blended with sweet mung beans), Ubeng Ube (classic ube ice cream made with real purple yam, with a coconut base), Kesong Keso (creamy cheese ice cream with coconut base), Salted Latik (creamy coconut ice cream blended with rich, caramelized coconut curds, with a coconut sorbetes base, and a hint of sea salt to make it a perfect balance of sweet and salty), Bukong Buko (delicately crafted coconut ice cream base that captures the true essence of fresh buko in its purest form), and Manggang Manga (mango sorbetes bursting with pure tropical sweetness, with a coconut ice cream base).

Priced at P190 to P205 per tub, each flavor has its own charm, working its magic on the palate that looks for something satisfyingly sweet at the end of a meal. You can buy it at the Minatamis PH store at 23E D. Tuazon Street, Quezon City, or send a message to LRP Group Food Service, Minatamis, or Frozen Spoon on FB to order online.

AWESOME BREADS

You would think that by now, you’ve tasted the best Spanish bread and bonete made by both the neighborhood bakeries and commercial bakery chains. But try the versions of Bake Bar at the 2nd, a semi-industrial commissary bakery located at the 2nd Floor of G&W Terrazza Building, Gil Fernando Avenue, San Roque, Marikina City. It is a bakery project under the same owners of Over Easy Chews & Brews, which is a brunch and comfort food place founded by a group of young professionals and is now serving the Marikeño market with its line of breads, cakes and pastries.

Best sellers include two versions of the Spanish Bread — Classic Spanish Bread and Ube Spanish Bread, and the latest addition, Buko Pandan Bars (the birthchild of Pan de Coco and Spanish Bread), is doing good, as well. The Spanish Breads are incredibly delicious, soft, fluffy, and yet generously filled and fully satisfying. Also a best seller is Bake Bar at the 2nd’s Bonete, which is Spanish in roots but locally claimed by Batangas and Laguna as their panaderia staple.

Apart from the breads, Bake Bar at the 2nd offers a wide range of cakes, including Red Velvet Cake, White Chocolate Sans Rival, and Old-fashioned Chocolate Cake. Soon, its all-new Ube Velvet Cake will be launched, and it is set to change the way people enjoy Ube Cake. Bake Bar is also very proud of its Dark Fudge Brownies; Dark, Milk & White Chocolate Chip Cookies; Red Velvet; and Ube Velvet Cookie Pie, which are available daily at Over Easy Chews & Brews, which can also be found in the same building in Marikina.