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24 & 2 Part 3: T.G.I. Fridays

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T.G.I. Fridays, a.k.a. Friday’s, has finally come to CDO! 

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I know I’m a little too late on this announcement but better late than never right?

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Upon finding our seat, I was amused! Here’s le boyfriend with our special guests, Buzz and Woody who joined us for dinner that night.

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Hanging right above my seat are two real guitars. And there’s Bruce, the Legend (as Kato) and Bruce, the shark from Jaws. Real awesome. 

Anyway, for our appetizer, we had Cajun Chicken Salad. 

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Crispy fried Cajun-battered chicken strips served with tomato, egg wedges, grated cheese and some mixed greens coated with honey mustard dressing.  

I’d have to say that the chicken somehow tastes very similar to KFC’s. Not that it’s a bad thing, I do really love KFC myself. 

I love everything in this salad especially the tomatoes (sorry chicken you’re not the star here for me haha). They’re fresh, juicy and sweet. I could seriously eat a bowl of those tomatoes. 

And lemme tell ya, this is one HEFTY appetizer and is practically a meal in itself. I was starting to feel stuffed eating just halfway through this salad! 

And as if that wasn’t enough, my boyfriend had to order Mushroom Onion Swiss Burger.

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Juicy pure ground beef patty topped with tomato, lettuce, pickles, caramelized onions, melted Swiss cheese and thick toasted buns. Served with some crispy fries.

I liked it and it is very good but I’ve had better burgers than this albeit just smaller in size. 

By the way, have you ever wondered how to eat a monster of a burger without spilling all over the place? Well, here’s the trick… Grip it tight and turn it upside down! 

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Yup, you read that right. Try it for yourself and be amazed!

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Excuse me while I give this burger a kiss.

Since we had a coupon for a free Mocha Mud Pie, we just had to have it even if we were about to burst at this point.

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As written on their menu, it’s rich chocolate-almond mousse and coffee ice cream frozen in a chocolate crumb crust. Topped with hot fudge and toasted almond slices.

We loved it. It’s not too sweet and it reminds me of one of my favorite desserts, Death by Choco. Too bad we weren’t able to finish it all up. Much to our displeasure. 

I heard their steaks and ribs are very good but we’ll reserve those for another time.

The Irresistable Charm of Chingkeetea

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Recently, tea houses have been blossoming and spreading like wildflowers. And for someone like me who loves tea, this is amazing news! 

I love tea! Hot tea, cold tea, blended tea, iced tea, you name it! 

I have already been to a few tea houses but so far nothing quite compares to Chingkeetea (or maybe I’m just a little biased).

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Chingkeetea is a cozy little tea house nestled somewhere in the heart of Cagayan de Oro City.

They serve a variety of delicious milk teas and fruit teas… 
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They also have some snacks that go well with tea like cookies, cupcakes and pasta. All reasonably priced so that students can easily afford.

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My personal favorite is Wintermelon Milk Tea with Tapioca Pearls. 

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The rustic vibe gives Chingkeetea that distinct charm and character which sets it apart from all other tea houses. It’s just so hard to not fall in love with the place. 

It is one of the go-to places for tea and photo ops.

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Look, there’s me just chillin’ out…

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And then, there’s my boyfriend… Swingin’.

Chingkeetea is not only for the tea lovers. It is also a hub for the bloggers, the shutterbugs, the bookworms and the creative youth in general. 

Since I’m pretty sure I’ll keep coming back here (because I can’t get enough of Chingkeetea’s charm and milk tea of course), please expect more blog posts about it some time in the future.

‘Til my next post, have a nice Sunday everyone!

Let Sprockets Cafe Color Your World

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In two separate occasions, I invited my friends and family to a restaurant that my friend Rachel owns…

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Introducing Sprockets Cafe, a colorful restaurant that exudes fun, creativity and positive vibes in Cebu City!
I can’t think of a better place to just chill and camwhore all day. 

Seriously, no Sprockets trip is ever complete without an obligatory photo op with the rainbow lomo wall, camera cardboard menus and pillows!

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L to R: Ferocious Brent, Bombshell Erica, Quirky me, Drop-dead gorgeous Rachel

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Oh hello there, Gluttony. Nice to see you again.

By the way, I accidentally spilled my wintermelon tea so… Let’s just rave about their food, shall we?

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Moby Fish and Chips. Don’t belittle this seemingly simple dish. I enjoyed it very much! And yes, the dips do go very well with both the fish and fries.

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Crispy, crunchy nachos topped with savory salsa. I swear I could finish a bucket of this deliciousness. Yum yum yum! 

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Fettupasta in Pesto Cream. One word: NOMS. Pesto cream sauce is, well, creamy and the pasta is al dente. *finger kiss*

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Oreo Crepe on the house! Crepe topped with a dollop of vanilla ice cream and then drizzled with caramel and crushed Oreo cookies. There is nothing else I can say except that this is, by far, the best dessert I’ve put in my mouth! ‘Twas gone in a flash! 

I am a self-proclaimed certified Sprocketeer and I highly recommend that you try any of the dishes I mentioned above. I promise you’ll thank me! 

*My boyfriend took the first photo
**Not all photos here are taken on the same date

Zubuchon’s Boneless Lechon

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If there’s one thing not a lot of people know about me that would be how much I abhor lechon baboy (roasted pig). 

I do eat pork, okay? But that “distinct smell and taste of lechon” is just something I can’t quite take because it makes me a bit sick in the stomach. 

Yeeeeah… I know, I’m weird like that. I can’t really explain myself why. How I wish I could though. 

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Yet, surprise surprise! Many moons ago, I suddenly found myself standing in front of Zubuchon (Escario Central branch) and walked right in with my family and plus-ones.

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L to R: 
Angelito (Genelyn’s boyfriend fiance), Genelyn (my maternal 1st-degree cousin who is like a sister to me), me, Yobz (my boyfriend), Nadyn (my sister’s friend), Anna (my sister and only sibling), my mother and my father

And yes, that is a meme photo you see superimposed on my cousin’s fiance’s face. Because I hated looking at his grim face (he totally looked like he didn’t want to be there with us plus I just don’t like him in general), I had to do something about it by plastering a happy face. Ta-da! Problem solved!

I digress… Zubuchon is known for their most sought-after dish, a.k.a. “best pig ever”, boneless lechon. Instead of preparing lechon the traditional way, they take the best part, season it with herbs and spices, spray it with some fresh coconut water and then roast it over charcoal with bamboo poles. 

Does that sound good to you my pork lover readers? I believe I heard a resounding “AMEN”! 

But for those of you who do not eat lechon like me, worry not! They have other things in their menu like… 

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FRUIT JUICE! HAHAHA! Kidding! Of course they have other food like… 

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Kalabasa soup (pumpkin soup). With all honesty, it’s the best pumpkin soup I’ve tasted so far. It’s rich, creamy and, of course, delicious! You guys have got to try it yourselves! We kept fighting over the last drop. Trust me.

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This is also a very interesting dish. It’s fries topped with crushed chicharon (pork cracklings). Nothing extraordinary. But definitely not your usual fries I say.

I believe we had more food on the table but I was too hungry to take photos of them… Sorry. You can check what other food items they serve by clicking here.

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And finally, the V.I.P. (“very important pork”), boneless lechon.

I was definitely hestitant to give it a try but after a few sniffs and not detecting that “distinct lechon-y smell” which I find foul, I digged in. You know what they say, “Never say never!" 

As I was prodding it with my fork, I observed that it has passed the ”lechon standard test". Crispy skin, check. Tender meat, check. Juicyliciousness, check. 

They may say it’s a different spin on the traditional lechon but I could almost say it’s just glorified liempo.  

My cousin made an odd comment about how the boneless lechon reminded her of Century Tuna. When she said that, I can’t pretend to disagree. Funny but true!

Just to clear things out, it does NOT tastes like tuna but somehow Zubuchon’s boneless lechon and Century Tuna have similiar seasonings I should say. 

My verdict? Well, Zubuchon has made me a reluctant convert. I can now, in fact, withstand the taste of lechon once again. Even for just a-teensy-while. And coming from someone who abhors lechon, that means a lot. I have to give them props for this. 

So is Zubuchon the best lechon then? Nah, I don’t think so. But it is more than your average lechon and, does in fact, deserve a try!

Oyster Bay Seafood Restaurant

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I never realized how much I missed blogging till now. Please excuse my month-long absence. It’s been the holidays. A belated Merry Christmas by the way to you my dear readers (if you don’t celebrate it, Happy Holidays) and have a Wonderful and Prosperous New Year ahead of you!

Anyway, I have been to Cebu twice this year actually but I never really got around to blog about it. Why? I really don’t know. 

Now, since I haven’t been posting a lot of food stuff lately (in fact, I haven’t even blogged about some of the food that we had in Manila)… I think it’s about time to share to you again some of my food adventures.

Without further ado, as the title of this post suggests, I’ll be talking about Oyster Bay Seafood Restaurant. 

This Cebu-based restaurant serves you the freshest selection of seafood. And when I say fresh I mean swimming-in-front-of-your-face kind of fresh. 

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You can just point at what you want to have for dinner and they’ll prepare it for you. That easy.

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Normally when I look at any live creature I don’t think of them as food but these crabs… HO HO HO *tents fingers*

Kids will love it here! My two nieces were gawking, smiling ear-to-ear as they were pointing at all the food, urm, fishes…

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This is one of my two nieces, ‘Lienne. This was her first encounter with eels. You can definitely sense the amazement in her eyes.

Also, you can feed sharks. Pretty amazing right? 

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That’s my cousin Gen on the left and my sister Anna on the right by the way.

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Feeding is free of charge. Without even asking, we were given a bowl full of fish to feed the sharks with. 

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Look at me! I’m feeding! Those two tiny “shadows” you see in the water are the sharks. Oh, I’m sorry. Were you expecting this? 

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Dinner time with family, relatives and the boyfriend! Click here if you want to find out what’s on their menu.

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We had two servings of nicely seasoned steamed oysters served with a slice of lemon and topped with a sprig of parsley. The texture of the oysters were very soft and almost creamy. I could never have had enough of it. Really, really good! 

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Here’s is a small tray of crunchy Chicharon Bulaklak. Basically, it’s pork rind that has been cleaned, salted, dried and then fried. I don’t think it was the best chicharon bulaklak that I had but it was also good nonetheless.

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This is a dish of fried soft-shelled crabs. Both delicate and crunchy. I enjoyed it very much. From the photo above, you can tell that at this point the table was getting crowded (you can see a piece of cutlery peeking at the left hand corner). And since everybody was getting hungry (me included), getting “artistic” food shots was the least of our concerns. 

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Delectably fluffy crab omelette. I was never a fan of omelettes but this has made me a convert.

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And finally, “Kinilaw na Tangigue”. That’s Mackerel Ceviche in English (I think). I love how it had a refreshing twist on the traditional kinilaw. The freshness of the fish, sweet notes of the vinegar and citrus flavor of the calamansi blended perfectly together with the other ingredients. I’ve never had kinilaw like this before and I think, by far, this has got to be my favorite! 

Oyster Bay Seafood Restaurant isn’t only a great place to enjoy a great meal but it’s also a perfect place to just hang out and chill.

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Três Marias reunited once again.

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Please don’t mind the photobomber behind me.

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Same spot. And yes, that is sand.

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I invite everybody to come and try the food here at Oyster Bay Seafood Restaurant! Located at Bridges Townsquare, Plaridel St., Alang-alang, Mandaue City, Cebu. Great dining experience is definitely guaranteed!

Kagay-anon Restaurant – A Sooo Pinoy Search for the Ultimate Food Blogger Round 2 Entry

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This beautiful solid wooden staircase directly leads up to Kagay-anon Restaurant, a restaurant that serves great and delicious Filipino dishes. It is located at Rosario Strip, Lim Ket Kai Complex, Cagayan de Oro City.

This restaurant was actually selected as one of the top ten restaurants in the Philippines with the best “Pinakbet”.

Naturally, my boyfriend and I don’t want to miss out on any of the best foods that the Philippines has to offer and so we really had to scurry on our way there to see it for ourselves.

Because of the vibrant colors of the vegetables, I can absolutely tell that only the freshest ingredients were used for this “pinakbet” .  

The presentation of the “pinakbet” was definitely something new to me. I love how this dish of mixed vegetables with bits of pork meat and a decent amount of “bagoong” was carefully and uniquely presented inside of a fresh squash gourd. 

And for someone who isn’t really a big fan of vegetables, I am surprised that I like it. It’s really good actually. No wonder why it’s the best!

Another item that we picked out from the menu was sizzling “sisig”. 

Oh my goodness… I’ll tell you what, this is the BEST “sisig” I have ever had!

I don’t know how they managed to elevate the taste of what seems to be just an ordinary dish (popularly known as a “pulutan”) but this is certainly how “sisig” should be done! 

Notice that even after we mixed the egg in, you can tell from the photo that the “sisig” still had that creamy texture even after the carryover cooking was done. Really a delight!

A plate of grilled prawns with lemon-butter sauce was another thing on our table. I was absolutely guilty of having most of the prawns. I wasn’t able to stop myself.

And finally to top off this feast for two, we had this stellar “halo-halo” for dessert. Served in a carved coconut shell, without a doubt, this monster is a head turner. This had almost everything that a “halo-halo” should have; The cherry on top was just a bonus. Absolutely irresistibly stunning!

I do recommend this place and I can’t wait to go back there to try all of the good stuff that I missed!

A Two-day Pre-Valentine’s Day Celebration: Ramen Tei and More

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Remember this blog post that I once submitted as an entry for a food blog contest?

Well, I am very proud to announce that both my boyfriend and I made it through the first round of the Sooo Pinoy’s Search for the Ultimate Food Blogger Contest!

Just imagine how ecstatic and excited we were when we found out that we are actually contenders for the second round! The moment we got hold of the news, we immediately prepared our own food trip itinerary set for the weekend.

So fast forward, Friday came and off we went to Cagayan de Oro as planned. After what seemed to be an eternity in the bus (the ride was wayyy longer than usual due to road repairs), we were finally able to take a taxi from Bulu-a Bus Terminal to The Mallberry Suite Business Hotel so we could leave our bags and book us a room for the night. 

FYI: Our food trip was actually a two-day thing because that’s how we roll and, also, we wanted to experience the “Night Cafe” together so that explains why we had to stay for the night because it’s more convenient that way (sadly it wasn’t until later on that night when we found out that it has actually been discontinued since Sendong which is pretty disappointing).

It was already way past lunch time by the time we were able to secure a room. Absolutely famished, we decided to put something Filipino on hold for lunch because we wanted something that would really make both of our grumbling tummies happy. Through a friend’s recommendation, we had our lunch at Ramen Tei. 

Ramen Tei serves authentic (and I must add really awesome) Japanese food. The place is really consistent with the Japanese theme. Even the waiters kinda look Japanese! Insane! Bet Ramen Tei’s management screens all of their staff members aesthetically first before proceeding to hire them… 

Nothing but a tray of Japanese condiments. There’s something different about their vinegar. It has some sweet notes to it. It’s the kind of vinegar that doesn’t have an overpowering taste; Instead, it complements the food perfectly. I wonder where I can get that…

A dish of assorted mind-blowing sushi. The best sushi I had ever!

A delicious battalion of mixed maki. I couldn’t stop helping myself to these! They were just really, really good!

A closer look. Gah, I am missing them right now!

I hate to abruptly end this post right here but… Surprise! This is just sort of a teaser of what we had. Expect another post within two days.