yummy food sampling..

last thursday while having lunch in kolombong with a few of my officemates, i received an interesting call from shan inviting me to attend a cny promo menu sampling session cum micro blogger gathering at the coffee bean and tea leaf, waterfront at 7.00pm that same night. i said ok on the spot considering i didn't have anything planned out for the night and i haven't been on a social outing in quite a while. haha.

so there i was around 7.10pm while it rained outside *brrrrr....* seeing only two familiar faces (fara & serena) in the room. no matter. even though it seems that everyone else seems to know each other, at least i knew someone there so that was comforting enough. my biggest social problem is not knowing what to say to new people. (i'm such a boring person.. haha!)

without further ado, we were all served the star of the night: red bean ice blended priced at rm12. nobody touched the drink/food before snapping shots of it first despite being hungry. i can tell you, camera flashes were everywhere! passerbys outside must think there's a celebrity there or some photoshoot going on. lol!!! anyways, this promo drink will only be available while stocks last. being a rather conventional cafe goer, i'd usually go for my usual drink (i.e. pure vanilla frappe or a pure choc frappe -- yes, i'm one of those people who don't drink coffee or any of it's variants). normally, i wouldn't try out promotional items so this was stepping out of my comfort zone. the verdict? well, it was surprisingly good. haha. incorporating red bean powder with low fat milk (soy milk for those who are lactose-intolerant) and whip cream sprinkled with whole red beans, the only way to describe this drink is it tastes like those red bean ice cream potong. honest!!

before sampling the mandarin (orange) cheese cake, we were further delighted with a nice food spread consisting of some chicken pasta, salad nicoise (tomatoes, lettuce, anchovies, chunky tuna flakes, light dressing) and 2 types of panini sandwiches (chicken chipotle and cheese & tomato).

everything was delish!! considering i came on an empty stomach, and we were eating from ~5" plates, i was pretty filled up by the time it was cake time. i didn't manage to try out the chicken sandwich and couldn't even make second helpings. lol!! after some chit chat here and there (and camera flashing everywhere still), serena, fara and myself shared a slice of the cheesecake. the cheesecake was simply delicious with its rich moist texture with a tinge of the mandarin flavour to it. if you're not a big eater, this is really a cake to share with family/friends/loved ones 'cos it's really rich and filling on its own. if you're thinking of trying out this treat, i'd suggest you get a move on it 'cos it's only around til mid-march. and if you're wondering, it's rm8.50/slice. *wink*

now i wonder how much that chicken pasta is. me thinks me gonna get some more. oo and the salad too. i love coffee bean's salads (especially the one that comes with the breakfast menu).