With the 2015 summer weather maintaining temperatures above 34 degrees Celsius, everyone is encouraged to find a way to cool down. From becoming a mermaid from the vast seas covering the archipelago to simply chewing on shave ice delights like the Filipino Halo-halo. 

The Halo-halo is a desert mixture where ingredients like the jackfruit, kidney beans, garbanzos, sugar palm fruit (kaong), coconut sport (macapuno), gulaman, tapioca, nata de coco and pounded crushed young rice (pinipig) is placed at the bottom of the glass followed by a tall layer of shaved ice and topped with leche flan, purple yam (ube) or ice cream, which is finished with a generous serving of evaporated milk upon serving.

I've had this delectable desert for as long as I can remember, and I decided that I wanted something a little different. It just so happened that my friend mentioned, Cafe SeoulHwa, a Korean cafe in global city that could satisfy my curiosity.

A Traditional Patbingsu is topped with choped fruits, condensed milk, fruit syrup and Adzuki beans!

They specialize in the Korean shaved ice desert called bing-su which was derived from Patbingsu (Patbingsoo or 팥빙수) which literally translates to red beans with ice. It is made with shaved ice topped with chopped fruits, condensed milk, fruit syrup and Adzuki beans.

As mentioned earlier, the cafe specializes in Patbing-su and with bing-su variations like the strawberry bing-su, the chocolate brownie bing-su and the Wine bing-su. 

You are welcome to satisfy your curiosity here. In fact the one manning the cashier is a of Korean descent. He speaks fluent English though so it won't be that hard to find what you will like.

So I googled the place the night before, and planned my route. I contacted a friend of mine because I had a feeling that she would like to try something Korean, I mean different. You may know her from Pinoy Big Brother 2014, Jayme Jalandoni.

The walls are decorated with murals that evoke a frozen paradise feel to the place

The Ambiance

Cafe SeoulHwa can be found at the Second floor of the Forum South Global complex near the corner of 7th ave. and the 26th ave meet at the Fort Global City. The facade of the cafe is all glass with an embossed signage lining the top of the glass panels.

As you enter you find the counter on the right and the tables and chairs on the left up to the back of the room. The walls are decorated with murals that evoke a frozen paradise like an adorable penguin that resembles the one from happy feat and a friendly polar bear eating a strawberry bing-su.  In between the murals are informative posters that have pictures and trivia about the different kinds of bing-su.

The lightning from the outside brightens the room, and is complimented by the soft yellow-orange lights that illuminate the murals, posters and tables.

You may know her from PBB 2014, Jayme Jalandoni!

The Bing-su

I have always had an affinity for sour fruits like berries and green mangoes; hence, I chose the strawberry bing-su. Jayme on the other hand picked the brownie chocolate bing-su because chocolate and girls are almost always together.

When I took my first scoop I got a whole slice of strawberry and a portion of the shaved ice. What I noticed right away was that the shaved ice is a lot thiner and finer than what I am used to. Shaped like thin needles that quickly melt in your mouth releasing the sweet flavors of the syrup and the condensed milk which compliments the sourness of the strawberry slice in my mouth. It was wonderful dance of flavors that refreshes you at the same time.

For the ones with sweet teeth, the brownie chocolate bing-su might be for you. The sweetness of the syrup, condensed milk with the needle like shaved ice is still there but with chocolate and chocolate brownies. If you've ever had chocolate syrup and chocolate cake with chocolate brownies then you already know how it will taste but with the fine shaved ice consistency. It was too sweet for my taste but this is me.

With their wide selection of beverages, you can practically bring the whole barangay here and have something for every one

The Service

Once I arrived I was immediately greeted by the staff. They were lead by the man at the cashier who is of Korean descent but speaks english fluently. The staff was kind and patient with a first timer like me. I asked quite a bit of questions like what is a bing-su, what are the variations, and quite a lot more, and all of them were answered in a moderate volume soft spoken voice. It was surprisingly reassuring.

The bing-su arrived at around ten (10) minutes after we ordered, and were kind enough to give me us some extra tissue upon request.

Although they focus on Bing-su they are still a cafe and serve coffee, tea and ice blended beverages. These can vary from expressos, lattes, yoghurt, shakes, smoothies, and teas. So you can practically bring the whole barangay here and have something for any one especially if you just want to sit down and cool off from the Summer Manila Weather.

The Price

Prices start at Php 190.00 for the single serving Bing-su, and Php 260.00 for the shared serving. They also serve a variety of Nutritious Desserts like Injeolmi Toast and Berries Hodduk Pan Cake, a variety of sandwiches which start at Php 180.00 that could max out at Php 300.00

They also have a set menu for a combination of the bing-su and the nutritious desserts or sandwiches that start at Php 360.00 and max out at Php 420.00.

The rest of their beverage collection start at Php 105.00 and can max out at Php 200.00 per beverage.

Do you want to Contact 'Cafe SeoulHwa?'

Address: 2nd Floor, Forum South Global, Federacion Drive 7th Ave, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig
 Operating Hours: Mon-Suns: 10AM to 10PM

Like any 90's kid, I was a bit of a trouble maker who loved cartoons. So much so I couldn't stop watching television. It got so bad that on my exam week, my wonderful father had to duct tape a huge illustration board on our Sony tube (or was it Panasonic? Never mind.) just to stop me from my obsession.

One of my favorites at the time was Scooby-doo. I could never get enough of those 'meddling kids and their mutt.' In fact one of the more common themes is that you would always find them hanging out inside the 'Mystery Machine' and inside the 'Malt Shop.' A malt shop or a soda shop is where kids get their soda and confectionary fix. You know, to get high on sugar or in this case to cool off from the summer heat. So visiting the 'Farmacy' sounded like a good idea for cooling off and for nostalgia reasons.

Farmacy's Classic Sundae: Chocolate, Vanilla & Strawberry Ice cream topped with nuts, syrup and of course, cherry!

The timing couldn't be better because the thing about summer in Metro Manila is that you know it has arrived when you feel that lingering hot air on the surface of your skin like the air around a loaf of bread fresh from the oven. According to Google Now, the temperature at the time was 34 degrees Celsius. So as much as I wanted to return to 'Silantro,' I think the spicy food can do more harm than good.

Farmacy is located at the corner of 4th and 26th street at the Fort, Global City. It wasn't that hard to find. From St. Lukes' Global City, go straight along 5th street in the direction pointing to the nearby McDonald's. You then turn left on the 26th street and then stop at the corner.

Once you get there, you will be greeted by a neon sign saying 'Farmacy Ice cream and Soda Fountain' with wooden picnic tables and chairs like the ones found in 'Wild Flour Cafe + Bakery.'

Yes, I believe they have the same owner. Decadence, I think is their specialty.

The Farmacy Ice Cream and Soda Fountain Neon Sign!

The Ambiance

After being greeted by the neon sign, Me and my family were received warmly by the Farmacy staff. I went on ahead and let my family seat while I look around. I found myself in front of the glass doors where I can see the long bar where the ice cream and soda fountain stands. As I go inside and look around, I immediately was made even hungrier by the smell of the sweet stuff lingering though the air. 

The look of the place reminded me of those stores from American period films from 70s and from 80s. It is quite the delight if you are into those things. You could tell that they spared no expense in terms of aesthetics. 

I came back to our table and I was given their classy period style menu with matching typography. I noticed that majority of the seats were outside because you come here for are the cold beverages and the cold desserts and being inside an air conditioned room could help drop your body temperature further.

The Period style aesthetics is top notch!

The Food

For the past few years dessert focused businesses have been popping up everywhere, and every time a new one arrives the decision of finding the one place to get your decadent fix is getting harder.

The answer lies in the details and the Farmacy spares no expense in their Ice Cream. In terms of flavor, the strawberries are fruity sour. The chocolate is bitter sweet with hints of (what I think is) hazelnut. The coffee flavor isn't too strong, and has a nice kick in both flavor and buzz. The consistency is so creamy that they just melt as soon as they touch the tip of your tongue. 

The Pick-Me-Up Sundae is a good way to recharge! Coffee flavored Ice cream with Nuts and a shot of espresso.

All of it comes together like a group of ballet dancers having a recital in your mouth. With each scoop, the recital in your mouth is slowly building up to the climax. After a while, you wonder whether its just the ice cream or the endorphins flooding your blood stream. (It could be both.)

They also serve Ice cream sandwiched between two cookies (I know, Genius right?) that you pick when you order. We picked the Chocolate cookies. After we took that first bite we immediately felt the chocolate in the cookies flooding our mouths and then slowly it blends with the ice cream creating a wonderful argument between the sweetness of the ice cream and the slight bitterness of the chocolate. What stood out aside from that is the hardness of the cookies. We understand that the cookies have to be a little sturdy so as the ice cream won't make the cookie crumble. Maybe I should have let the Ice cream soften the cookies. Next time.

On the left is the Dusty Road Sundae and the Berry Soda float is the one on the Right.

My dear sister ordered the berry soda float. When you take that first zip, the realisation that commercial sodas are too sweet hits you like a brick. It's like a bubbly berry fruit juice but with its sweetness restrained. Restrained in a very good way. It doesn't over power anything. In fact, it blends so well with the berry flavor that when the Ice cream melts (or when you mix it vigorously) the soda slowly becomes more creamy, and since the sweetness was restrained, you don't lose the berry sour goodness.

What takes the cake however is after consuming all of it. Normally, We noticed after eating SOME of the ice cream found in grocery stores is that after finishing my share, We still found our selves wanting even though we ate a pint all for ourselves. It was empty. After finishing this ice cream however, You'll be happy to hear that it is quite satisfying.

The Classic banana split topped with whipped cream, peanuts, chocolate syrup and cherry!

The Service

When we arrived were right away greeted warmly. As we were lead to our table, it was a little disappointing that we were seated at mono block tables and chairs where as every body else were given the wooden picnic tables and chairs. I hope they remedy this. 

Thankfully they waited patiently. It took us a while to finish ordering but we made it. After eating we had several refills of water. Sugar can cause dehydration. They would then deliver the water refills promptly every time. 

I have read some reviews of this place saying that the service are at times inflexible. I didn't find it when I was there. I sure hope not to find it next time.

The Verdict

Overall Verdict: B

Food Quality: A-

Food Service: A-

Bang for your Buck: B-

Do you want to Contact 'Farmacy Ice Cream and Soda Fountain?'

Address: G/F Net Lima Bldg, 4th Ave. cor, 26th St., Fort Bonifacio, Taguig

Telephone number: (02) 887-3622

Facebook: Farmacy Ice Cream and Soda Fountain

Operating Hours: Mon-Wed: 11AM to 12PM; Thu-Sat: 11AM to 2AM; Sun: 10AM to 10PM

P.S. Personally, I find this place as an alternative to meeting your friends or special someone aside from the usual coffee or tea rendezvous. If you just want something a little less pricey, you could just drop by your grocery and buy a couple of pints of Ben & Jerry's. It is cheaper and Ben & Jerry's do have a wide Selection. I would only come here if I were out with my friends and just want to chat and cool off. Don't get me wrong though, I like this place. I am just being practical. 

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