Huawei P9 Food Adventures: Gringo, Hello Kitty Cafe & More!

I love food. I love taking pictures. And I love taking pictures of food!

If you've been a reader for quite a while, chances are, you've probably noticed how I always try my best to use either my Canon dslr or my Fujifilm mirrorless camera to take photos of food, places, my OOTD, and other things which I post here on the blog. Granted, lugging around a proper camera isn't always comfortable. But I just can't shake off the feeling that I won't get the shots I wanted if I only rely on my phone's camera...

Gringo Baby Back Ribs and Southern Spice Chicken

And that holds true until I met Huawei P9. I'll be making a review and run-down of its specs on a separate blog post. But for now, I just want to share with you how my food blogging has changed and will change.

All photos on this blog post, except shots showing the phone itself, are taken with a Huawei P9.

Just a little background


Normally, when I'm out with my sister, a friend, or the boyf, I try not to bring my proper camera so I can really enjoy the moment hanging out and catching up. Well yeah, I can probably take a few snaps when food is served... But when I already inconvenienced myself by bringing a big camera, do you think I'd be satisfied just by taking quick shots? Of course, I'd go all out and style the table, capture from different angles, and make the additional weight of bringing a camera worth it.

Huawei P9 for food photography

That's why for the most part, whenever I don't have plans to take food photos when eating out, I really end up NOT taking any photos. So yeah, even at times when I "suddenly" want to take food photos and blog about a restaurant I went to, I can't. Unless of course I muster up the guts to put out hideous food photos shot with my old camera phone.

Lunch at Gringo


Last week, my sister and I went out to grab lunch at Gringo in SM North EDSA The Block. So I thought, why not take the Huawei P9 with me to test it out?

Southern Spice Chicken Quarter with Sides
✓ Southern Spice Chicken Quarter with Sides (P235)

Doesn't this plate of chicken with Mexican rice and roasted squash look gorgeous? And it tastes as good as it looks too! More often than not, camera phones (ones I've used in the past) don't visually translate dishes like this fairly well. Colors look dull, and sharpness as a word would sound ironic. But not this time!

By the way, if you order this Southern Spice Chicken or their original chicken, don't scrimp on the lemon herb sauce and hot sauce. Put them on your chicken, on your rice, on your squash, or even dip your nachos in. They're the bomb!

Gringo Interior at SM North EDSA The Block
Gringo
Gallery Wall at Gringo

Before, I only used my old camera phones for interior shots, 'cause they capture them pretty well. But now, I can use my new camera phone not just for interior shots, but for food photos as well.

Half Rack Baby Back Ribs with Sides (P365)
✓ Baby Back Ribs Half Rack with Sides (P365)

We also got their baby back ribs which is another taste bud-tickling item on the menu. It's a little sweet, mostly BBQ-tastic savory, and meaty. But more importantly, I got to capture how nice and scrumptious it looks! You can go easy on the sauces with the Baby Back Ribs though since it's already pretty tasty on its own. But if you want to experiment with flavors, no problem too!

Breads, ramen and sausages


Over the course of the week, I felt more confident just leaving both my Canon and Fujifilm at home. And it's nice to know you can still take great shots even with a camera phone.

Breads from Tous les Jours

I usually don't take photos of breads I buy to-go from Tous les Jours since I can't capture them nicely when I'm holding them to take up for payment to the cashier. Not this time though. Not this time.

Ikkoryu Fukuoka Ramen' Gyoza
✓ Gyoza (P150)
Ajitama Tonkotsu Ramen from Ikkoryu
Ajitama Tonkotsu (P380)

Over the weekend, I met up with the boyf and we felt it would be nice to get ramen, since the weather mostly screams ramen season. It's not our first time at Ikkoryu Fukuoka Ramen, but I had no idea their BGC branch was quite dark. Still, I'm happy I got to take pretty nice photos of my food -- yes, MY food; not ours, despite the limitations on lighting.

Wines at Pocco Deli BGC
Meat Parts (Beef, Pork, Chicken) at Pocco Deli

Late at night, we also checked out the newly-opened Pocco Deli in the area. And as much as I hate to admit it, I have this belief that most, if not all, camera phones do poorly at night. What surprised me though? I was proven wrong.

Sausage Platter
✓ Sausage Platter Single (P500) with Wagyu Sausage (P50)

I really enjoyed the sausages and sauerkraut paired with ginger ale. But more than that, I enjoyed capturing the experience. I guess it would've been cooler if we got ourselves some glasses of wine. But alas, we're not as chic and posh as we would like to think we are. Lol! We're more of coffee/tea/juices enthusiasts. Hah!

Coffee and pastries with Hello Kitty


My sister and I both love cute things. So of course, we've always wanted to check out the Hello Kitty Cafe at SM North EDSA when it opened.

Hello Kitty Cafe captured with Huawei P9

As expected from a Hello Kitty-themed cafe, the space, cakes and coffee all have Hello Kitty's face, name or some symbol on it. Most of the cakes and pastries are colorful, and will totally melt an adult's heart.

Hello Kitty Latte
Cappuccino (P125)
Hello Kitty Cafe Latte and Donut
Pink Choco Drizzle Donut (P85) and Latte (P125)
Hello Kitty Green Tea Cheesecake
Green Tea Cheesecake (P190)
There's honestly nothing green tea about this dense cheesecake.

Unfortunately though, the Huawei P9 captures photos a little too well. Even mediocre (or worse)-tasting items look so good and tempting. Haha! Not that I'm the type of person to recklessly throw shade. But, I'm adding this place to my list of try-once-for-the-experience. If you still want to enjoy here, just order coffee. You're welcome.

Conclusion


With a new camera phone, I'm really feeling that there'll be many, many changes in the way I capture and share not only food pictures, but photos in general.

I didn't delve too much on the specifications that makes Huawei P9 a heavy-weight in the field of camera phones, since I wanted the photos to speak for themselves.

Hello Kitty and Huawei P9

But if you're interested in the technicalities, let me share with you the top five things I love about this new flagship from Huawei.

  • 12MP f2.2 Leica certified dual camera system (Yes, LEICA!!!)
  • Does well even under artificial and low light
  • Has different modes like film, monochrome, wide aperture and professional
  • Professional mode has RAW output for better editing
  • 8MP f2.4 front camera takes nice selfies even in low light

Really, I honestly believe this new Huawei flagship is the phone to consider (or buy, straight-away) if you're heavily into phone photography. Among the number of phones I've had and tried, so far, the Huawei P9 made me enjoy phone-tography the most. Vivid colors, crisp sharpness, and can let in a good amount of light. Of course, it's not as impressive as photos taken with a dslr equipped with good glass. But if you want a handy camera phone which can produce outputs you wouldn't be ashamed to share with the world (or in my case, post on the blog), this is hands down my favorite as of the moment!

I think from now on, I'll always be ready to capture scrumptious food photos even when I only have a small purse with me. ☆⌒(*^-°)v


For more information, visit Huawei Philippines:
Official Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

4 comments:

  1. Hi Ate Sumi, what Fujifilm camera do you have po? We are planning to have one also. I just dont know if itll be the X-T1 or X-T10.

    from Myxilog with love

    ReplyDelete
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    1. Hello! I use a Fujifilm X-A2~ which is actually already good enough for my needs. ^_^ But if I'd have to choose between X-T1 or X-T10, it's X-T1 all the way! Haha! :D

      Delete
  2. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Finally, got the X-T1 with 30% off at SM Megamall. :) Thanks Ate! :D

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