More Merry Moo!

I can’t believe it’s been two and a half years since I first blogged about Merry Moo. Back then, they were only available via Mercato Central. But my family and I would make the trip all the way to The Fort on weekends and never ever leave without a scoop and/or pints of their delicious ice cream. I love Merry Moo Ice Cream so much that I’ve collaborated with them on flavors. Twice!

So I’m very happy to announce (and a little proud, if you don’t mind my saying, Kelvin, if you’re reading this) that Merry Moo has just recently opened its first two stand-alone locations! The first is located at Food Choices in Glorietta 4, Makati:

And the other one is at the 2nd floor of SM Mall of Asia, across Topshop:

A third location is in the works at the Lower Ground floor of the mall du jour, SM Aura Premier.

If these malls are still nowhere near where you live or work, then fear not. Merry Moo also has stockists further north in San Juan and in Quezon City. Of course, Merry Moo is still a mainstay in weekend markets. While they are no longer in Mercato Central (RIP, Mercato) they still have kiosks in several other weekend locations.

So to get your fill of fresh, unique and delicious artisanal ice cream, see the complete list of Merry Moo branches, weekend market locations and stockists below:

Merry Moo Branches:
SM Mall of Asia, Pasay City M.M.                                       Food Choices, Glorietta 4, Makati City, M.M.
2nd Floor, across Topshop                                                   3rd Floor, beside Dulcelin in food court area
Open daily 10am-10pm                                                     Open weekdays 11am-10pm, weekends 11am-11pm

Weekend Markets:
Midnight Mercato Night Market                                       Salcedo Saturday Market
Corner of 8th Avenue & 34th Street,                                 Salcedo Park, Salcedo Village, Makati City
Bonifacio Global City, Taguig                                             7am-2pm, Saturdays
Fridays and Saturdays from 9pm-3am

Mezza Norte Night Market                                               Podium Mall Weekend Flavors Market
Trinoma Open Parking Lot                                                3rd floor, Podium Mall, Ortigas, Pasig
4pm-3am, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays                      10am-10pm Fridays to Sundays

Cucina Andare
Glorietta Park, infront of 6750 Building
Makati City
4pm to 3am, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays

Stockists:
ECHOstore Serendra                                                          ECHOstore Centris
G/F Serendra Piazza, McKinley Parkway,                            Eton Centris Park,
Bonifacio Global City, Taguig                                              Quezon Avenue, Quezon City
11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily                                                     11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily
Tel: 901.3485

Deli Master                                                                         DEC – Diao Eng Chay Food Plaza
33 Anapolis St., Greenhills, San Juan City                            203 Wilson St., Greenhills, San Juan City
10:00 am – 8:00 pm Mon – Sat                                          8 am to 10 pm Daily
9:00 am – 8:00 pm Sun                                                      Tel: 721 1105 / 721 3649

 

Photo courtesy of Merry Moo.

Merry Moo and Me

I’m so excited to share this with everyone!

I have collaborated with Kelvin Ngo of Merry Moo on a flavor that will be sold in limited amounts this weekend!

And what’s the flavor, you ask? Well, the photo below should be a clue. I baked this last weekend and our ice cream will be filled with yummy (if I say so myself) chunks of this:

Cheesecake by me, photo by Kelvin.

So come over to any one of the Merry Moo stalls to give their Cheesecake Ice Cream a try. They have stalls in Mercato Centrale, Mezza Norte, Salcedo Saturday Market, Legazpi Sunday Market and the Podium Mall. We’re still perfecting this one, so feel free to let us know what you think of it on Merry Moo’s Facebook page!

Mercato Centrale: Merry Moo, Part 2

I’ve been to Mercato Centrale for the last 5 of the 6 Saturdays they’ve been open. And every week, I have a scoop (or a pint) of Merry Moo Ice Cream, with no fail.

I usually stick to my favorite Sea Salt Caramel, but various factors (curiosity, the desire to prove that bacon indeed does make everything better, Sea Salt Caramel being sold out by the time I got there) forced my hand to try other flavors.

First up is Chocolate Peanut Butter. I was a little wary of this, because the combination of both flavors usually turns out to be too sweet for my liking. But my mom swears by this flavor and she says it tastes like Chocnut. I disagree. Merry Moo’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream tastes better. I think the downfall of most PB-Chocolate combinations is that they use milk chocolate or too much chocolate that the sweetness tends to overwhelm. Merry Moo, I suspect, uses dark or semi-sweet chocolate for their version (feel free to correct me, Kelvin) and the ice cream is all the better for it. Imagine, if you could, dark chocolate Chocnut in ice cream. Yummy.

L-R: Candied Bacon, Peanut Butter Chocolate

The other flavor I just had to try was Merry Moo’s Candied Bacon. Because if anything can disprove that bacon makes everything better, it’s ice cream with bacon. And so, did Merry Moo ruin bacon’s heretofore spotless record? I am happy to say that, if anything, Merry Moo’s Candied Bacon ice cream gave further credence to the argument that bacon is a welcome addition to ANYTHING. Even ice cream.

The ice cream is a sweet base, the flavor a cross between caramel and maple syrup. The bacon is chopped into small bits, not too small that you can’t taste it anymore, but not too big that you get a big chunk of saltiness. And beyond all logic, the combination works. The sweetness of the ice cream perfectly complements the saltiness of the bacon. I have to admit, it was a little strange at first, but I kept on re-tasting it and re-tasting it because I couldn’t believe the combination would be THAT good. Before I knew it, I had eaten a disproportionate of what was, technically, my sister’s scoop of ice cream.

So (#2) Chocolate Peanut Butter and (#4) Candied Bacon definitely landed on my list of Merry Moo favorites, just behind my beloved (#1) Sea Salt Caramel and (#3) Strawberry Basil, respectively. At the rate I’m going half of their flavors will be on my “favorites” list.

Mercato Centrale find #2: Merry Moo

In my previous post, my tip when going to Mercato Centrale was not to go there with an empty stomach. For this round, my tip is this: bring an ice cooler, because you’re definitely going to want to bring home some Merry Moo Ice Cream.

Merry Moo Ice Cream is made from locally-sourced, fresh, non-UHT (Ultra Heat Treated) milk. The ice cream is home-made and made in small batches (a labor of love, as my mom put it) and comes in classic flavors with a twist.

Their roster of flavors include: Strawberry Basil, Rhum Raisin, Earl Grey Tea, Sea Salt Caramel, Aztec Chocolate, Apple Cinnamon, Coffee Kahlua, Lemongrass Coconut and Peppermint Chocolate. And, as with almost all Mercato Centrale’s tenants, you can get free tasting samples!

Merry Moo's Kelvin Ngo

Then comes the decision: which flavors to actually buy? The Earl Grey Tea flavor is among the most popular, but as I am not a tea-drinker, it wasn’t exactly my favorite (although it was yummy, and I totally understand why people are raving about it). The Aztec Chocolate is a party in your palate, a blend of chocolate and Mexican spices, with the kick coming after the initial sweetness of the dark chocolate.

But those weren’t the flavors I bought to bring home. Upon seeing the card that said “Sea Salt Caramel”, I knew I could be on the cusp of an addiction. I’ve made my love for the combination of caramel and salt known before and Merry Moo’s creamy version is no exception. Instead of the sickly-sweet caramel taste that you would almost expect, you get a subtler, toasty sweetness, like the caramel was taken off the stove a mere second before it started to burn. And, that’s a very, very good thing.

Another unexpected good thing is the combination of Strawberry and Basil. And, no, it doesn’t taste like strawberry ice cream marbled with pesto sauce. Basil is actually quite sweet on its own, so it complements the strawberry, giving the creamy-sweetness a fresher taste and different dimension.  So, yes, if you were looking to buy a pint of Strawberry Basil from Merry Moo yesterday, I was the one who took the only pint they had on hand.

I guess that would be my only complaint about Merry Moo: that they make such small amounts of their ice cream. I have half a mind to offer my services as an ice cream making assistant, if only to ensure my personal supply of Sea Salt Caramel. Oh, and yeah, one more, they didn’t remind me that I haven’t sampled the Coffee Kahlua yet. Boooo.

Full disclosure: I know Kelvin Ngo, the owner of Merry Moo, as he’s the boyfriend of one of my friends from college. However, I wouldn’t even make the effort to write a post if their ice cream was anything short of delicious. And I paid for my ice cream in full. Maybe if I start working for them, though, I’d get a discount.

Merry Moo is located at the outdoor pavilion of Mercato Centrale, corner 9th and 30th Streets, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig