Tarakumain sa Tadakuma

I KNOW. “Tarakumain sa Tadakuma” has just got to be the lamest pun title I ever came up with. And yeah, I just had to kinda force it. I bet you must have rolled your eyes. MOVING ON…

Tadakuma is a Japanese restaurant that just opened at Don Ramon Chavez Street, Cagayan de Oro City.

My best friend’s boyfriend, Miguel took my boyfriend and I there for lunch. Sadly, my best friend, Ritz was not with us because she is currently living and working in London (we miss you!).

Originally, my boyfriend and I planned to have our lunch at Kogi Bulgogi (a Korean restaurant that just opened at Lim Ket Kai). But sometimes, things just don’t go as planned. But hey, who said I was complaining?

Tadakuma is very cozy and modern. Actually, when we got there, it was REALLY busy. All the tables were full and so we had to wait for a table for a little while. By the way, the photo above was taken after everybody else already left the restaurant with happy tummies.

Nothing but a cute random bowl. If only I could take one home as a souvenir. Just kidding. Or am I really?

Oh, before I proceed to talk about what we had, can I ask you a teeny favor guys?

Umm.. can you please not hate me for forgetting the names of what we had? I was soooo hungry that everything just went completely out of my mind. I am crossing my fingers that the photos will just somehow make up for it. Here goes…

This is a bowl of plain minced raw fish on top of a bed of rice. And those two tiny blobs that you see on top are wasabi paste and pounded ginger. To eat this, you have to properly mix everything in together so to evenly distribute the flavor. It has just the right punch of heat and that zing of flavor coming from the pounded ginger. It’s like a different take on “kinilaw”. If you don’t have problems eating raw fish, you’ll definitely love this!

A bowl of ramen noodles with three thin slices of meat, a slice of fish cake, a slice of boiled egg and a few greens. It looked like it could need a little more stuff though. However, the soup is like no other. 

So that’s all we had. Blurred in the background is Miguel’s Tempura Udon. For some reason, I can only remember his order. Shoot me.

Tadakuma is a tad cheaper than Ramen Tei. In average, everything costs around 200~300 PHP per dish. The servings are delicious and quite generous so you do get your money’s worth. To the last peso. Give this place a go and I’m sure you’ll love it too!

Z Restobar Revisited

Hello everybody, say hello to Z Restobar again

Since there are so many dishes that we still have yet to try, my boyfriend wanted us to go there again to celebrate our 15th “monthsary”.

So without any further ado, first up was Thai Green Curry with Chicken. 

Although this had chunks of pineapple in it (I dislike pineapples in case you don’t know), it was just too good to not like it! They had me at the richness of the coconut milk and the aromatic smell of the curry. The chicken was tender, the piquancy was just right and it was so hearty that I could have had one big bowl all to myself. But due to gastric problems, I had to control and refrain myself from eating too much of it. Especially since it is my doctor’s advice to avoid anything spicy and acidic for two very long months. Woe is me.

And the other thing that we had (apart from two mounds of garlic rice that were not pictured) was Thai Fried Noodles with Prawns.

I believe one must have an acquired taste for this dish. Its mix of flavors is very unique and can be quite unusual for the Filipino palette. It was sour, nutty and had a tiny kick of heat to it all at the same time. I found the taste to very weird at first… But when my taste buds were finally able to adjust, I realized that I began to like it. Just not as much as the Thai Green Curry with Chicken though.

It was of great misfortune that they ran out of Matcha Green Tea… I would have had that. 

Till the next post!

Lunch at Bourbon St. Bistro

I know it’s been a long month of eerie silence here on blog. And it’s not because I’ve been lazy or I’ve completely forgotten about my blog and my readers…

It’s just because nothing much and too much has been happening at the same time. I don’t know if I’m making any sense but I’ll try to break it down for you ladies and gentlemen. 

First, I honestly haven’t been going out because I’ve been so consumed by the fact that I now earn much less than before. It concerns me to not have savings anymore. I’ve been endlessly hunting for another online job since June. To my dismay, I still haven’t found any. And as much as I wanted to go out and dine, I couldn’t. I was ill and I lost most of my funds to medication. To top that off, my dad was hospitalized and I had to take care of him.

Second, I offered my wardrobe styling skills for free in exchange for an all-expense paid mini-vacation for 3 days. I might get to this soon. 

But for now, I better stop my yapping and you guys better brace yourselves for some food porn RIGHT NOW! 

BAM! Just like that. 

Above were the bad boys my boyfriend and I had for lunch at Bourbon St. Bistro yesterday in celebration of our 14th month of togetherness. 

We were lucky enough to still catch them at Rosario Arcade. I heard that they will move to a different location some time this August.

So anyway, what I like about Bourbon St. Bistro is their AMAZING service. I love it when food servers are polite and attentive, know what’s on the menu, know what’s available or not on that day and make good food suggestions. Plus, they serve food really fast too!

This was our appetizer. A plateful of Beef Quesadillas (you can have it in chicken if you wish) with two different dips. I like the green one better. I believe that’s guacamole? I’m sorry. I’ve never had guacamole before, okay? Don’t shoot. My boyfriend liked the red one more. I don’t know what that was but I know it’s not chili sauce. But if it was, then why the hell was it not spicy? Oh, I must tell you that every bite of their quesadilla is a happy burst of cheesy flavor and that the dips go very well with them. Yum!

Cajun Spicy Wings. I just recently discovered that I love anything with cajun. And no, the wings weren’t spicy to me nor to my boyfriend at all. But the wings are really tender and good. I like that the wings came with a salad because I love salads!

A closer view of the dreamy looking wings with the salad right behind it.

Their I-don’t-know-what-you-call-this seafood pasta. Well, don’t blame me. The dish sounded very French to me and I can’t speak nor spell French. And this wasn’t even in their menu. This was a food server’s suggestion. Not bad. I liked it better than the Seafood Gambero from Pancake House. It’s just the parsley that I don’t like about this dish. I can’t explain why I don’t like parsley. I just don’t. But I realllly want to love it. And I am trying.

Here is a more delicious view of the seafood pasta. 

And I almost forgot to end this post with concrete evidence of us dining in the restaurant…

A candid shot.

Final verdict? NOMNOM. I highly recommend this restaurant and I want to sample all of their dishes. Bye for now!

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

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!

Delecta Diner and Cafe – A Sooo Pinoy Search for the Ultimate Food Blogger Entry

I am a food enthusiast and a shutterbug at day and a blogger at night.

It is the marriage of my passion for food and photography that has developed my love for food blogging.

Blogging about food is definitely not something new to me but it is just lately that I have started to become really religious on coming up with new content every now and then.

To share about all the fantastic restaurants in our humble hometown gives joy not only to me but, apparently, to my friends too.

However, I believe it is about time for me to venture out and go what is beyond my horizon.

It has always been my dream to go to around the Philippines (and hopefully, soon, the world) to sample authentic delicacies from various regions.

For me, this is a different kind of learning experience because it helps me to be more open and appreciative of the unique notes of flavors and tastes from all over the country.

I believe that I am the Ultimate Food Blogger because my passion for food (especially Filipino food) simply runs into my veins and I can translate my thoughts and experiences into words and photographs.

Blogging about food is not only something that I do as a pastime but slowly it is starting to become an extension of who I am.

It is a lifestyle. My lifestyle at that.

Now, allow me to narrate about what my boyfriend and I had for lunch the other day at Delecta Diner and Cafe

We had “Kinilaw” (a classic favorite of mine), Humba (“Pork Adobo”), Smoked Bangus and Halo-halo Supreme.

I like how Delecta’s “Kinilaw” had a wonderful nippy mix of fresh raw fish marinated in vinegar with some spices. The heat from the chopped chilies was perfect. Just thinking about how this dish tasted makes me slobber.

The Smoked Bangus was something I never had before so I really have no clue what to expect of it. I was quite hesitant to give it a try. But curiosity won me over, so I took a bite and boyyyy did it blow me away! I instantly wanted more! I love its woodsy smoke flavor which really elevated the flavor of the fish. Plus, the salad on the side was a bonus.

Here’s a closer look of the Smoked Bangus. Yum.

And there I am looking dead serious. Seriously dead hungry that is. Beside the platter of “Kinilaw” is “Humba”… Another delicious heart-clogging dish which I failed to document due to hunger. Pardon.

Lastly, here is their massive bowl of Halo-halo Supreme which pretty much had every essential ingredient to make heavenly halo-halo. All it lacked was Cornflakes. But I enjoyed it very much nonetheless. The perfect dessert to end a DELECTAble meal. Pun intended.

Closing this post with a wacky photo of my boyfriend showing the enormousness of Delecta’sHalo-halo Supreme. Please compare it to the size of his head. Kthxbye.

Cupcakes from Tedts’

Whenever I’m feeling for some home-cooked meal but not from home, I go to Tedts’. They serve an amazing array of meals, snacks and pastries for prices that are absolutely pocket-friendly.

For this post however, I’ll only be talking about cupcakes. Not just any cupcakes but their cupcakes. And let me tell you that they have the best cupcakes in Iligan. I kid you not.

Here’s some proof…

Yummy.

Nomnom.

But if you had better, well, their cupcakes are the best for me anyway and are forever my favorites. Isn’t it way too obvious that I’m a very loyal repeating customer, yes?

I’m a person who is hard to please when it comes to pastries by the way. Anything that isn’t as good as my Mom’s cooking or better won’t have a second chance in my mouth and into my stomach.

I really don’t like anything airy (you know those pastries that barely have any density), too sweet, dry or just plain predictable.

By far, Tedts’ is the only local restaurant that meets my criteria when it comes to pastry. And for their price, you really can’t argue.

Okay, enough blabbing! I will flood you with a bird’s eye view of the cupcakes that brought my soul to paradise.

Red Velvet. Pretty in red. A personal favorite. I don’t know why this reminds me of Christmas. But now that I thought about it, I must have this for Noche Buena.

Chocolate Marble. Another favorite. Sinfully good in chocolate. Mmm…

Coffee. Just one word: Orgasmic. Miss this and miss out on life.

Banana Nut. Happy in yellow. Took this home, stored it in the fridge to save for later but it disappeared along with…

Peppermint. Joyful in mint green with a hypnotizing carrot orange swirl…

and Boston Cream. Simply tempting. Looking at it makes me think of a chocolate milky way galaxy. No idea why.

I must say that all of their cupcakes taste as good as they look.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to try the last three cupcakes above (not even a bite) due to lactose intolerance but I’m pretty sure that they feel like a party in the mouth as well.

Abrupt end of post. Nothing follows.