Davao-Gensan Trip Part 11: Tong Yang Shabu-Shabu & Barbeque Restaurant

On the fourth day of our vacation, we took a roadtrip to Gensan…

image

Located at SM GensanTong Yang Shabu-Shabu Barbecue Restaurant is heaven-sent for all the buffet and hotpot lovers out there.

image

As we came in, my jaw dropped to the floor. We were greeted with long tables filled with a wide array of fresh and delicious food selections all ready to cook and eat. 

I’ve been to some eat-all-you-can buffet restaurants before but I’ve never seen anything like this.

You are given the freedom to choose your raw ingredients for cooking which can be a little overwhelming especially if you’re a first-timer like I was. They have vegetables, seafood, meat, noodles, sides, broth, sauces, condiments… You name it, they have it all – from appetizers to desserts!

One of the great things about Tong Yang is you can always come back for more food if you want to. Yes, everything is eat-all-you-can within the given three-hour time frame. 

For only 299PHP/person for lunch buffets from Mon-Fri and 399PHP/person for dinner buffets from Mon-Fri and lunch+dinner buffets on holidays & weekends. Where else can you find a great deal as such this??

Too bad we were prohibited from taking close-up food photos though. Boo. Sad panda 🙁

It is also worth mentioning that they have unlimited tap beer (just add 65 PHP for beer-all-you-can), soda and fruit juices.

image

Please excuse our cluttered hotpot table. The left side of the table is for grilling and the right side is for stewing. I really like how you can make two stews at the same time. Really cool.

image

We were given sticks of butter for grilling. Don’t be shy to ask for more if needed. The butter complements the food well and makes everything taste richer. Genius. 

By the way, a shoutout to our official tour guide and photographer for that day, Jed Reyes. Thanks for the treat Kuya! By the way, he’s an awesome photographer. You can check out some of his amazing shots here.

image

Kuya Jed observing my boyfriend as he makes sinigang for the first time. Thank God for Tong Yang’s free WiFi. None of us knew how to make sinigang so we just googled for recipes online and made it on the spot.

image

WADAYAKNOW. It was delicious-o!

image

We really had an amazing dining experience at Tong Yang. I definitely would love to come back here when I can. I suggest that you come here famished. And do bring friends and family with you because food is always better shared 🙂

Papa Mai’s Grill

I have been raving about Papa Mai’s Grill for the longest time already. Yet I did not have the opportunity to actually blog about this what-was-once-a-hidden-gem-in-the-city.

I first heard about this eatery ages ago when a friend of mine was blabbing about how delectable their grilled pork belly is. Tales of their grilled pork belly delight was only a word-of-mouth sensation then. Having heard so many good reviews about their specialty, I was not able to resist the temptation any longer…

And you don’t have to guess if I loved it… I simply did and I still very much do!

In fact, whenever I’m feeling for some grilled meat, I head straight to Papa Mai’s Grill.

Tip: Dip those chops of grilled pork belly in a mixture of soy sauce, crushed chilies for some heat, some calamansi extract, and Papa Mai’s special ground ginger-garlic-spices sauce thing. Match made in heaven.

Obviously, grilled pork belly isn’t the only thing in their menu…
You should try their “Halang-halang” (The soup only is free! Who doesn’t want free stuff?) and “Papaitan”.

Originally, they were located in the anus of somewhere and it was really tasking to get there especially since they didn’t post any signage outside of their building.

Trust. I’ve been there a few times and every time I was on the way there…
I still wasn’t sure if I was heading in the right direction or place!

Certainly, the only ones who knew that Papa Mai’s Grill even existed were only the people who already ate there previously or was brought there by a friend. Hence, word-of-mouth.

Thankfully, just recently, they managed to get a space at Pasillo so they are now totally accessible to everyone. I promise to link a map location whenever I remember how to do it again.