The current weather is quite unpredictable, but I found a hot-and-cold combination that surely beats it both ways. And in case you’re not quite aware yet, the foodie’s cardinal rule is: Always have room for dessert. If there’s something I bet you already know, though, it’s that matcha-infused goodies are always so intriguingly irresistible with its earthy flavor.
If you’re a fan of Royce’s Nama chocolates, rediscover its ooey-gooey goodness in Hanamaruken’s Matcha Lava Cake with Ice Cream (P180). The creamy, melt-in-your-mouth taste of matcha in every bite will make you order dessert as an appetizer.
The second you fork through the lava cake, it reveals a generous filling—an oozing, rich matcha mess.The outer moist green tea-flavored cake is as decadent as its melted matcha milk chocolate core that you almost can’t tell them apart. It is also topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
The sponge cake ala mode is completely sprinkled with icing sugar, which I hope Hanamaruken will ditch soon for legit matcha powder—I obviously just can’t get enough of this Japanese flavor!
Pair it with the refreshing Iced Green Tea (P80) and you’ve got yourself a blockbuster matcha duo. If these won’t give you a serious dose of matcha madness, I don’t know what will.
If you want a more traditional lava cake, they also have the equally good Chocolate Lava Cake with Ice Cream (P180).
Hanamaruken’s signature dish has always been the Happiness Ramen, featuring a slab of fall-off-the-bone pork rib in rich tonkotsu broth—but with desserts as good as these, it’s no longer the only thing that brings happiness to every visitor of Osaka’s time-honored ramen chain.
Hanamaruken branches are found at Trinoma, The Grove by Rockwell, and Alabang Town Center. An edited version of this story appears on Spot.ph.
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