Exploring The Local Food Scene Through Centrio Ayala's Big Bite Festival 2018

Centrio Big Bite 2018 brought together Northern Mindanao's finest food businesses last May 15-19, 2018. Held at Ayala Centrio Mall, the four-day festival also showcased various activities like cooking demos and competitions from local chefs as well as sumptuous "Big Food" action like the Biggest Buko Halo-halo, the Biggest Bowl of Shrimp and the Biggest Chookie! Judging from pictures, it looked really fun!

the Biggest Buko Halo-halo, the Biggest Bowl of Shrimp and the Biggest Chookie
Photo credits: KC Curay of The Explorer's Channel, Jeeves de Veyra of ABS-CBN

Sadly, I was only able to catch the festival on its last day but I still enjoyed it nonetheless! With the theme "Summer in Full Bloom", the ground floor area was filled with multi-colored booths of the local businesses exhibiting their best.

I can’t feature all of them so here are some that caught my eye!

Gats Garden Enterprise is an organic store featuring a variety of all-natural locally-grown food items like Homemade Pesto, Gourmet Dilis, Wild Ginger Mushroom Atsara, Yema Spread plus a whole lot more!

The Homemade Pesto is their bestseller according to the person I talked to.

This Crispy Mushroom stole my heart! So yummy and crispy! <3

Contact Sweet Graces Gourmet Products to see their other offerings!
You can also visit Gat's Garden facebook page for more details!

Pane e Dolci is a bakery/restaurant combo famous for their sylvannas and specialty coffee. They also offer lunch and dinner meals to satisfy the foodie in you.

This display is just a mere sample of what they offer! Visit their Facebook page for more details!

I wandered next to a Mercedes Bakery booth where an employee was laying out freshly baked cookies (or Chookies as they call it).

mouth watering spread of Chookie variants

Their Pineapple Crumble which Mercedes Bakery claims as something uniquely Kagay-anon!
Find out more details about them through their Facebook page!

Some booths like Msite Kakanin and Z-Net Food Products offer traditional Filipino cuisine. I got myself a few of the Filipino desserts they have on display. They're not too sweet but they're still tasty! Yum!

Cassava rolls and rice cakes

Chicken empanada

TuboJ natural fruit juices

To quench my thirst, I tried the sugarcane juice from TuboJ. They boast that their products are sugar-free and are made from 100% pure and freshly pressed sugarcane. I totally agree! The taste is natural and reminds me of my childhood when I have to chew bite-size pieces of the sugarcane myself, haha.

The rep tells me that the sugarcane juice taste way better when paired with other fruits like dragonfruit, passionfruit or lemon to name a few. I will have to try that out next time! Check out their Facebook page to learn more about them!

The festival is not only about food since I saw September Blooms Flower Shoppe showing a colorful assortment of flowers, cacti and stuffed toys for you or your loved ones.

Cacti craze! Wanna take them all home!

La-la-love! <3
Contact the flower shop via their Facebook Page!

I'm almost a decade here but I've only just heard about Mai Crafts Boutique Cafe. Thanks to Big Bite for introducing me to them! Their churros with the chocolate dip is to die for! The cafe is located at 48 Don Apolinar Velez St. (in front of Eastwest) which I pass by everyday, haha! I will definitely go there to check them out!

Go follow their Facebook page to see their latest news!

At this point, I went outside to get some barbecue for dinner. Didn't take pictures of those, sorry!

For my last round of dessert, I got myself an ice cream cone from Nenecitas Sorbetes. Can you believe this coconut milk-based goodie is just 35 Php?! I got myself their durian flavor because durian is life. <3 However, you can also mix your cone with other flavors. Super worth it, I'm telling you!

Durian ice cream from Nenecitas Sorbetes.
Check out their Facebook page!

Overall, I think Big Bite 2018 is successful in bringing together Northern Mindanao's best businesses. I sincerely hope our local food scene will continue to grow and prosper! Looking forward to next year's Big Bite Festival!