Big Time Meals | Baked Truffle Chicken

The Baked Truffle Chicken is one of the many new meals that has been added to the ever-growing menu for 7-Eleven. It is part of the Big Time Meals range of rice meals that are tiered to be one of their premium “seasonal meals” As the Holiday Season is less than a few weeks away invite you to their take on this dish. Usually, Big Time Meals are medium-tiered rice meals that border on the premium at the same time trying to still capture the budget-conscious consumer. The last few months have set its theme to Southeast Asian dishes from Thailand, and now setting the mood with their take on the Baked Chicken Truffle that is part of the Taiwan-themed dishes that are becoming a popular trend with the local consumer.

Shopwise's Roasted Pork Belly, is it good?

Previously, the Roasted Pork Belly has been featured as a discovery at Shopwise and has been reviewed. Recently, there was a major price bump in all of the grocery’s food meals, including the rice meals in general, and the roasted meals from the rotisserie that was recently featured here as a new addition to the meals. It’s no surprise that the Roasted Pork Belly has become a personal favourite to the point it was always sold out because it was affordable. Incomparable to the past featured Pork Bellies, the one at Shopwise was always an immediately sold out that it took them days to restock the rotisserie until the price bump changed all that and only produced a limited number of stock for the week.

Shopwise Grab & Go | Roasted Pork Belly

Sometimes Good Feedback is a way to improve your product, and it makes the store respond in its most subtle way. Recently, Shopwise Grab & Co was featured in this segment as rarely does it get a spotlight due to the product's potential to be a “hot item” in a way nobody would notice until they see it on social media or stumbled upon it by accident while casually shopping inside Shopwise. Shopwise Grab & Co section inside the Deli has been there casually putting out roasted chicken that you don’t need to cook. But they slowly expanded the menu with their rice meal that only featured roasted chicken, and then they had Roasted Pork Belly putting them on notice and getting some sort of a spotlight.

Shopwise Grab & Go | Pork Belly

Shopwise is not just a supermarket and has proven to constantly reinvent its portfolio by having a Deli section that not only sells fresh meat or frozen goods. But also, adding snacks and rice meals that do not need to be cooked and only need to be heated in a microwave by a consumer. They already have this since adding a Rotisserie section, but the shelf that has the fried chicken on special packaging is not skewered and is not being cooked in front of you. The display has a see-through blind that you can flip up to open to pick up the food. It’s a shelf that has a hot surface and it is not exactly a Rotisserie.

Foodie Spotlight | Chicken Sandwich

There’s nothing like having a bite of a crunchy, juicy, and delightful Chicken Sandwich. Of course, in this current times there have been a handful of them vying for the consumer’s attention. It is quite different from four years ago that anyone now are emphasizing on the Chicken Sandwich as their main menu when most of them not having them in their list or menu board. Jollibee is one of them that have jumped in to the ‘Chicken Sandwich Wars’ late in 2021 when they unveiled their version of a Chicken Sandwich even marketing it before as a ‘Chick n’ wich’ to stir up competition with their other fast food restaurant contemporaries that has been arming themselves with their type of this dish.

Mang Cesar | Chicken Sisig

A small business when it is all about food-related is a challenging enterprise, and mostly if it has not established a name or identity needs to go through A LOT of hoops to be able to make it. Sometimes it may takes years or it would be a short lived ideas that would never work, In the case of Mang Cesar, there’s an opportunity to put that name, brand, and content all together. Mang Cesar that established its brand and services in 2020 opened a branch nearby sometime in August 2022, and slowly learning from being a restaurant to this new location. Beginnings have some lessons to learned, and it also needs to establish itself to the neighbor around that they would be sticking around for a long time.

Mang Cesar | Roasted Chicken Experience

Roasted Chicken (Lechon Manok) is one the most famous dish in the Philippines, and just next to the roasted pig (Lechon Bsboy) to have during lunch time or on occasional events or parties included in the menu. It is not rare to have Roasted Chicken as many establishments have tried their hand in creating their own brand. Recently, outside of the Makati CBD a new food establishment named Mang Cesar opened their newest branch. They have other several branches all over Metro Manila and this one opened last 22 July 2022. Their flagship dish is the Roasted Pig, but you can also try their take on the roasted chicken, which is something to experience here.

Foodie Spotlight | McDo Burger Meal

McDonald’s is famous for the Billions of hamburgers served all over the world, since its founding this made the company popular and expand outside the US. But of course, with all the expansion each McDonald’s is taking their identity trying to localize their menu to suit whatever country they have opened their stores. In the Philippines, they could be the most popular fast food restaurant until a bee dressed in a suit and a chef hat stood in front of their domination. This is why McDo has to compete by localizing their menu to suit the Filipino Class A-to-E. They did changed and tried, but sometimes you don’t need to change your hamburger for it.

Foodie Spotlight | McSpaghetti

The McSpaghetti has been re-branded previously, and the last time it was marketed as ‘new and improve’ goes back in 2018. The product was introduced in their menu along with the McChicken in the late 1980s, but the inclusion and rebranding of other products would continue to the early 1990s when the famous burger was changed too. This was of course, embraced by the locals and also trying to match up with a certain fast food giant that they haven’t toppled since their arrival. For those from outside the Philippines, the McSpaghetti is unknown and not considered to become part of McDonald’s menu. Unless you’re discovering it right here that it does exist.

Foodie Spotlight | Chicken Joy

Jollibee is by now known most parts of the planet for their food, namely the famous Chicken Joy. It is their flagship meal and favourite Filipino staple that they have perfected and has become a well-documented and reviewed by Foodie aficionados that never heard about the fast food giant. Chicken Joy even dethroned KFC in the Philippines and continues to be the most preferred choice on every household’s plate for those ordering take away. Jollibee tries to stay constant and consistent in making their product relevant despite how it is served to local customers and internationally. It is still have a long ways to be globally known, but for now they are worth the spotlight.

Foodie Spotlight | Jolly Spaghetti

Every Filipino kid has tried having Jolly Spaghetti as their staple meal whenever their parents bring them to the store or have it as a take away. Jollibee is not just about Chicken Joy it is also about that Filipino-style past, which is the Jolly Spaghetti. Over the years the product has evolved from just another part of the menu that caters to the locals who has gotten used to the way it was prepared. Jollibee has become the benchmarked for other foreign fast food restaurant opening up their store in the Philippines and trying their hand to localize their brand of what is a Filipino-style spaghetti. It is either a hit or miss in the way how you’ll capture your market to keep up on the original who has made this a favourite.

Foodie Spotlight | McDo Chicken Meal

McDonald’s McChicken has been a staple in their menu since the product was introduced in 1987 to suit the Filipino taste and localized their menu. Of course, the McChicken back then was very different from today that competes with the more popular local fast food brand that has perfected its flavour for the locals. Served with steamed rice with gravy on the side, the McChicken Meal it’s a regular meal in the Philippines and it is included also under the McDonald’s Happy Meal, which only offers a one-piece chicken. It’s not exactly a downgrade that it is being offered as a regular meal, but it tailor-made that an adult might order a McChicken as a Happy Meal due to the collectible toy.

Chef Creations | Lechon Paksiw

There’s nothing like Filipino-style cooking, which has a rich culture founded in the country creating something original like all thing ‘Paksiw.’ In terms of the word, most of the dish were ‘cooked and simmer in vinegar’ with so many variation. Lechon Paksiw comes to mind for having leftover roasted pig becoming a Lechon Paksiw. Like all the budget meals, 7 Eleven has created to become their frozen meal product has been a sure-fire seller. Another collaboration with Rico’s Lechon certainly made the convenient store the go to place to look for home cooking without the need to actually cook by just heating them up in the microwave gives them serious props!

Big Time Meals | Menudo

If you’re not from the Philippines, the word “Menudo” sums about so many things. It can be that Puerto Rican Boy Band or that Mexican Soup, and sometimes a Mixtape of Latin Songs related to the name. But most of the time if you have been to the Philippines it is that familiar home cooked stew that your Lola, Auntie, or your mum’s original take on that stew. But then again, it can be one of the popular frozen meals from 7 Eleven’s list of Big Time Meals that you always miss grabbing during lunch time, which they were selling out because it was so popular that you need to go to another 7 Eleven to find it.

Wendy's Philippines | Big Macaroni Salad

There have been many local food establishments in the Philippines, and only a very small percentage served vegetable-related menu items. Anywhere to go most that served western cultured dish don’t even have ‘greens’ in them when you compared to countries like Australia or Singapore they truly are a health conscious nation. The price increase on goods is understandable, and you get what you pay for with benefits on both sides that never happen in this country for a lot of reason why health is not taken seriously. Wendy’s is known to have been carrying salads and other ‘greens’ despite not have veggie sandwiches that other competitors have served.

Big Time Meals | Beef Gyūdon

Beef Gyūdon is one of the popular Japanese dish also known as Gyūmeshi consisting of a bowl of rice topped with beef and onion simmered in a mildly sweet sauce flavored with dashi, soy sauce and mirin. But if it is localize in other countries there might have some variant difference, which would become not as authentic as you know. There are some local Japanese restaurants trying their take on the on this Japanese dish. Some might have success, while others may not be as what everyone would call an original Gyūdon. For 7 Eleven to make it as part of their Big Time Meals is quite the challenge out to make it as affordable and the same time this good to be accepted.

Big Time Meals | Chicken Barbecue

Chicken Barbecue has become a staple in every Filipino’s lunch meal, and thanks to a local restaurant that popularize it. But would it be possible to have it as a frozen meal? The answer is a yes, and 7 Eleven has done it what they have with their version of the Pork Barbecue skewered in a stick that a Chicken Barbecue is more popular. Though it may look different as sometimes expectations can be high that 7 Eleven’s take on the dish would be equally the same. But it really depends on how you appreciate and take it. If you’re time is short or in a middle of a busy week a quick Bight Time Meals is all you need, and 7 Eleven might have delivered on this one.

Big Time Meals | Pork Barbecue

Home cooked food has been redefined in more ways than once, and there’s nothing like being comforted about it. Let alone if it becomes an instant meal for you to just heat it up in a microwave. There have been several of these sold in convenient stores, and it has become quite the norm without the need to cook. With 7 Eleven, they’ve become known for their localized instant meals that it has become their most popular product when it’s all about Filipino dishes and convenient food, and they popularized their Big Time Meals that out competing other fast food restaurants due to affordability like their Pork Barbecue.

Chef Creations | Lechon Dinuguan

Dinuguan (Pork Blood Stew) is a popular Filipino dish made of typical pork meat stewed with rich, spicy dark gravy of pig blood, garlic, chili, and vinegar. There have been several interpretations and variations of this famed dish, and usually can be home cooked or as part of a menu to any food establishment in the country. It has become a world class dish too, you can find them as part of a menu by Filipinos, who started their business and migrated to other countries. But back home it is basically anywhere, and it is considered a convenient food with 7 Eleven presenting it as part of their Chef Creations collaboration with Rico’s Lechon.

McDo Sta. Cruz | Illogical Ban of Straws

11.13.2018: If you’re a customer and being served inappropriately would you feel offended? You put up a survey for your company to hear what your customer’s feedback, but don’t to take it to heart what really needs to improve means you’re just not being direct with the people who shared their opinion. I’ve dined in at the McDonald’s Sta. Cruz branch and had answered their McDo Listens several times, which sending them a piece advise to improve this store. For some reasons from all the McDonald’s stores I’ve dined in this has become unbearable to experience to visit. The only reason I go there was have a decent meal during lunch this, but this time I decided to have them Take Away.