Makati's Poblacion, In Chocolate: At The Auro Chocolate Bar Crawl...

It's Poblacion like you've never experienced before, infused with the deep, rich, indulgent and nutty notes of chocolate for yet another colorful and flavorful facet of the popular neighborhood...

One of the country's finest award-winning and proudly Filipino bean-to-bar chocolate brands hits the streets of Poblacion in a curated bar crawl like no other. Auro Chocolate lets you experience Makati's famed Poblacion neighborhood with the Auro Chocolate Bar Crawl, an innovative and unique dining experience in collaboration with five of the neighborhood's best bars and restaurants. Ready for a walk in Poblacion, this time with the indulgent notes of chocolate? Read on...

The Auro Chocolate Bar Crawl showcases the wide selection of the company's artisan chocolates in creative, even surprising ways. Then again, Poblacion is known for being a non-conformist and eclectic community and the Auro Chocolate Bar Crawl lets you experience this first-hand and up close starting at the first stop... 

Operated and managed by Fat Girls Day Out, Paula and Bianca are experts on where to eat, where to go and what to do hosting numerous curated tours with Klook promoting Filipino culture, arts and cuisine (for more on Fat Girls Day Out, visit their blog at https://www.fatgirlsdayout.com/). The Auro Chocolate Bar Crawl is right up their alley, revealing the creative spirit of the neighborhood through the special cocktails and dishes infused with Auro Chocolate. The use of chocolate in a cocktail or a savory dish may seem like a modern innovation, but chocolate runs deep in our culinary heritage via the Manila-Acapulco Galleon Trade of colonial times. And it's the inventive use of chocolate by Poblacion's master mixologists and chefs in their cocktails and savory bites that make the Auro Chocolate Bar Crawl special. Auro Chocolate goes beyond bean-to-bar elevating Philippine chocolate to world-class standards, and it's taking the streets of Poblacion to an indulgent new level (for more on Auro Chocolate, see my posts, My Personal Picks at The Peninsula Manila's MaArte oPEN House Preview, A Gentleman's Affair: The Pen Ultimate Father's Day Dream Lounge at The Peninsula Manila and Indulgent Collaborations: Mister Donut + Auro Chocolate = Pure Chocolate Donut Indulgence). And who doesn't love chocolate?

Our Auro Chocolate Bar Crawl begins at Khao Khai in Poblacion's Ebro Street with a refreshing sip of sweet, tart and soothing heat from their Bangkok Fire made with rum, pineapple juice and Tabasco lined with 66% Auro Dark Chocolate. The bright tropical notes of pineapple drapes the palate with its tart sweetness, followed by the caramel-like notes of rum capped by the refreshingly comforting heat from the Tabasco and perfectly finished by the sweet, nutty notes of 66% Auro Dark Chocolate. The cocktail offers complex and multiple layers of flavors, all in one drink. And that's Poblacion in a nutshell, a multi-faceted neighborhood with diverse and colorful layers of flavors, sights and personalities. 

Khao Khai specializes in northern Isan cuisine, so don't expect the usual suspects like Pad Thai or Tom Yum in their menu. Known for their Thai-style grilled chicken, Khao Khai served up the day's first of many and tasty surprises with slices of sweet and sour Green Mangoes with 77% Dark Chocolate Bagoong. You read that right. The salty and briny fermented shrimp paste is given a smoother and rounder finish by the 77% Auro Dark Chocolate in both flavor and texture. The vibrant notes of fresh mangoes topped with minty coriander, in between that sweet and sour stage of ripeness, is perfectly complemented by the chocolate bagoong. No longer just salty or one-dimensional, the bagoong has a more balanced finish with the infusion of 77% Auro Dark Chocolate.

Sweet and tart finished with the deep hints of chocolate, Khao Khai's Green Mangoes with 77% Dark Chocolate kicks off the Auro Chocolate Bar Crawl with a flavorful start. One last long sip of Khao Khai's Bangkok Fire, and you're on your way to the second stop in the Auro Chocolate Bar Crawl.

Your palate is teased by the Neo-Filipino flavors of Lampara along Enriquez Street in Poblacion with its modern take on Filipino cuisine. The classic retro yet modern interiors exude a warm and casual vibe, highlighted by the dramatic glass-lined walls and ceiling warmed by the earth tones of brick, wood and leather.

At the bar, the special cocktails were prepared and lined up...

The Chocolate-Infused Jim Bean Negroni by Lampara cleanses the palate with its bright citrus notes and deep smoky hints of bourbon...

...pairing perfectly with the Slow-Cooked Pork Belly topped with Auro Chocolate Cacao Nibs on soft and lightly crisp mantou. Delicately prepared sous vide for fourteen hours, the masterfully executed pork belly just melts in your mouth delivering a savory richness completed by the nutty notes of cacao nibs adding both flavor and texture with each bite.

A good piece of pork always works with a hint of sweetness, but the addition of chocolate clearly elevates it. This isn't the usual pork belly. The thick slab of pork belly on mantou by Lampara was definitely one of many indulgent highlights of the Auro Chocolate Bar Crawl...

...with one bite cleanly leaving a perfectly crescent-shaped mark (L) leading to another tasty big bite. For vegetarians, Lampara prepared an intricate treat, the Surpresa (R) with crisp and fresh bean sprouts, tofu, and roasted peanuts topped with cacao nibs and drizzled with chocolate sauce delicately encased in a ball. 

Next to a classic Old-Fashioned, you can't go wrong with a Negroni. A sip of Lampara's Chocolate-Infused Jim Bean Negroni refreshes the palate with its bold and mildly sweet notes, opening up your palate for another tasty melt-in-your-mouth bite of the pork belly. Sip. Bite. Sip. The indulgent hints of chocolate ties everything together in a seamless blend...

...with a whole lot of good vibes at the Auro Chocolate Bar Crawl. The unique tour of Poblacion is far from the usual bar crawl. Maybe it's the chocolate. But total strangers at the start of the Auro Chocolate Bar Crawl suddenly become familiar old friends, coming together for the love of chocolate. It's the perfect pre-date or before dinner activity for couples and friends. Paula and Bianca shared stories of how former high school classmates decided to hold their reunion at the Auro Chocolate Bar Crawl. One last sip of the Chocolate-Infused Jim Bean Negroni and we prepared for a short walk to the third stop...

...to Don Pedro Street. The brightly-lit neon signage promised even more exciting possibilities at Polilya. Meaning "moth" in Spanish, Polilya is managed by the same guys behind Engkanto Brewery. Inside, the craft beer's moth logo is a recurring visual theme reflected in numerous framed prints on the walls.

And just like their artisan brews, Polilya weaves their magic for the third cocktail of the evening at the Auro Chocolate Bar Crawl with the 32% White Chocolate Margarita Shots.

Lined with white chocolate, each sip softens the sharp notes of the cocktail with a decadent smoothness that can only come from one of the country's finest chocolates. Sweet with the distinct notes of tequila, this is one good yet mischievously naughty drink. Take your time and enjoy each sip, allowing both the tequila and white chocolate to perform their dance on your palate.  

You'll find even more white chocolate floating on your cocktail, and getting to it requires another sip. Go ahead, you're in Poblacion so just go with the flow. The dainty cocktail glass is misleading, this is one potent drink. It's Engkanto's enchanting style, recreated in a cocktail (for more on Engkanto Brewery, see my posts on sightings of the iconic moth on my posts, BrewFest 2018: Barbecue and Craft Beers at Grand Hyatt Manila's Pool House and #FiredUpBBQ: Discover Barbecue Without Boundaries at RackShack).

Polilya's 32% White Chocolate Margarita Shots is paired with the Deep-Fried Hainanese Chicken topped with 77% Auro Dark Chocolate, kesong puti and fresh cilantro offering yet another savory bite at the Auro Chocolate Bar Crawl.

Crisp and juicy, the delicate notes of the chicken are kicked up by the 77% Auro Dark Chocolate adding depth to its gentle flavors. The local kesong puti and cilantro adds that final layer of clean and fresh notes.

Take it in one bite, so you experience the distinct notes of each ingredient. If you wish, just use your hands to pick it up. This is Poblacion, you make the rules. The short walks inside Poblacion immerses you in the carefree, almost Bohemian vibe of the neighborhood. A little buzz heightens the senses, but there's more...

From Polilya, we walk down the streets of Poblacion to Alamat Filipino Pub & Deli in Don Pedro. Alamat is your quintessential Poblacion bar with a Filipino spin. Upstairs, the cozy bar welcomes you with their wide assortment of local craft beer on tap as well as quirky and playfully inventive signature cocktails.

This creative flair is seen with their featured cocktail made specially for the Auro Chocolate Bar Crawl, the Auro Plata. The soothing concoction is prepared with gin, white rum, pandan, cacao liquor and rich chocolate sauce blended together in a shot. The Auro Plata is probably the drink with the richest chocolate overtones, weaving perfectly with the gin, white rum and pandan. The first sip lays nutty chocolate flavors to the palate followed by the sharp hints of gin and white rum mellowed by the pandan. Refreshing and soothing, one sip is immediately followed by a second, much longer sip. The chocolate notes linger, just in time for Alamat's savory dish for the Auro Chocolate Bar Crawl...

...the Tiyula sa Itum, a delicately braised beef rib finger draped in burnt coconut and Auro Tablea and laid on Enseladang Adlai at Talong with Auro Cacao Nibs. And note, the dish is served on a real cacao shell. The style of presentation and richness of flavors are signatures of Alamat's chef and partner Nino Laus, one of the metro's noted culinary personalities. At Alamat, Chef Nino Laus draws inspiration from popular local "pulutan" favorites and transforms them into refreshingly new and innovative dishes. This concept is seen with his Tiyula sa Itum, and it impresses right from the very first bite.

The skewered braised rib finger easily pulls apart with one gentle bite, blanketing your palate with a savory richness. The bold beefy notes pair well with the burnt coconut and Auro Tablea with its deep, earthy and nutty hints. A fresh chili tempers the richness of the beef, and you're ready for another tasty bite. The sip and bite routine intensifies the flavors, with the chocolate binding everything together like the previous dishes in the Auro Chocolate Bar Crawl. This is seriously good beef. And you'll just have to restrain yourself from ordering some garlic fried rice.

Each new stop builds on the previous one at the Auro Chocolate Bar Crawl. Before heading out to the last and final stop of the Auro Chocolate Bar Crawl, sample some of the finest local craft beers on tap at Alamat's bar. The staff will fill you in on the different offerings. 

After sampling a few shots of local craft beer, we head down to Pedro Tap House along Matilde Street. Like seeing an old friend, it was great reconnecting with one of my favorite craft beers with their very own bar. From the same guys behind Pedro Brewcrafters, Pedro Tap House brings their craft brews fresh to the Poblacion scene...

Endless Summer Wheat Ale, Procrastination Pale Ale, Space Out Coffee Stout, Wandering Wonderer IPA and my favorite, Elementary, English Ale, the craft beers by Pedro Brewcrafters were always part of good times (for more on Pedro Brewcrafters, see my posts, The Other Side of Boracay Meets Pedro...at Rieseling Boracay Beach Resort., There's A New Brew In Town...Meet Pedro, And Then There Were Four: Meet The New Wandering Wonderer IPA from Pedro Brewcrafters..., and Meet The Drunken Lechon by Leonardo's Lechon and Pedro Brewcrafters...). At the final stop of the Auro Chocolate Bar Crawl, it was comforting to see a familiar name again...

The Auro Midnight Stout by Pedro Tap House features their Space Out Coffee Stout with a splash of bourbon topped with whipped cream and melted 55% Auro Dark Chocolate for a rich and thick head. I've always preferred stouts and dark beer, and the coffee-infused Space Out Coffee Stout has everything you love about a good stout, enhanced by the bold hints of coffee. And chocolate. Bold, deep and elegantly smooth with subtle hints of toffee, Auro Midnight Stout warms the palate with its richness amplified by the sharpness of the bourbon and the indulgence of 55% Auro Dark Chocolate. Lined with Auro Cacao Nibs, the Auro Midnight Stout is the perfect drink to end the Auro Chocolate Bar Crawl.  

The Auro Midnight Stout is paired with an equally comforting dish, the Auro Chocolate Chili Cheese Dog with 55% Auro Dark Chocolate. One bite brings an audible snap from the cheese-stuffed sausage covered in thick chocolate chili infused with Pedro Coffee Stout and topped with melted cheddar cheese on a buttery soft brioche bun. A chili cheese dog was never this sinful...

From the cheese dog to the chocolate and Pedro Coffee Stout infused chili, melted cheddar cheese, and soft brioche, Pedro Tap House ends the Auro Chocolate Bar Crawl on a high note with their indulgent take on comfort food.Well done. This calls for another round of good vibes.

The pace and portions were just right, allowing you to enjoy and experience each stop without any rush. At the start of the tour, each participant receives a handy tote bag, a bamboo straw, and a lanyard woven by PioPio. It's a great way of seeing and rediscovering Poblacion in a different light, this time with the decadent hints of chocolate. The Auro Chocolate Bar Crawl starts at 4:30 pm for registration and runs from 5:00pm until approximately 8:00 pm. For schedules, reservations and prices, visit the Auro Chocolate Bar Crawl website (details and link below).

The Auro Chocolate Bar Crawl isn't your usual bar crawl, everything is timed and portioned right. It's an eye-opener, showing how premium chocolate can be used in ways you never thought possible. It's also about good times. And good vibes.

If you like what you see, all you need to do is sign up. The cocktails and dishes from the five participating bars and restaurants are all off-the-menu and served exclusively during the crawl. Inventive cocktails, flavorful bites and whole lot of good vibes. Experience Makati's Poblacion, in chocolate. At the Auro Chocolate Bar Crawl...

For more on the Auro Chocolate Bar Crawl, visit and book your reservations at https://aurochocolate.com/pages/barcrawl

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