DAVAO CITY - Here I Come?

I will be in Davao for 5 days next week. Naturally, my goal is to try as many  restaurants, coffee shops, dessert bars, etc. as I can. Unfortunately, I will be there for a seminar so I'm sure I could only try a few. But anyway, I asked a few friends about places they would recommend for me to visit. Here are some of them.

Restos

1. Jack's Ridge. This is what many of my friends recommended. I don't know why but it seems famous in Davao City. It's supposed to be on a high location with a great view of the city.
2. Coco's grill. This one was recommended for the lechon.
3. Spirale. A friend said she had a great time here. I asked what they offer but she can't remember. She just knows she had fun there.
4. Pablo's Steaks and Crabs. You could what the restaurant is known for, right? I was told the food is price-y.
5. Yellow Fin Seafood Restaurant. They must have great tuna dishes.
6. Tiny Kitchen. Same story with Spirale but from a different friend. (What's wrong with my friends? haha)
7. Tadakuma. Being a lover of Japanese food, I had to ask for a Japanese resto in Davao. This is what was recommended.
8. Leafy Green Things. One of my companions is always on a diet. She likes salads so i asked if there's a salad bar in Davao City. Honestly, I was not expecting there is one. But there is one.
9. Crepelato. My friend who is always on a diet also loves dessert. (Shhhh.....she wouldn't admit!) I asked for a local dessert place and I was told about this one.
10. Caffe Firenzo. Would I forget to ask for a coffee shop? Of course not! So here's a local coffee shop for us to try.

Since this blog is named eat all you can, I also asked for restaurants with eat all you can or buffet offerings. Here are 4 of them.

1. Cafe Marco. This is of course at the Marco Polo Hotel.
2. Entree. This is at the Apo View Hotel.
3. Tita D's. This is in downtown Davao. I asked for a cheap buffet because I know those in hotels are very expensive. I was told there are a lot of these cheap ones.
4. CTres. Not as cheap as Tita D's but not as expensive as Cafe Marco and Entree.

I  listed down 14 places to visit in Davao City. I wish I could visit at least half of them. Haisst. Little time and small budget. Haha. Wish me luck guys. I'll post my reviews the soonest.

CHA A - Vegetarian Restaurant

I was at Robinson's Place Manila a few days ago and I passed by this vegetarian restaurant that I know I've tried before. It think it had another name before but I am not too sure. It underwent renovation, that I am positive about. Anyway, I was on a rather tight budget and seeing that they offer something as low as P 89 for 2 viands I, without second thoughts, got in.

For that small amount you get a cup of rice and two dishes from among a wide selection they have. I chose adobo with mushroom and asado. Again, they serve only vegetarian food so the meat for the adobo and asado are just make believe meat.

The asado did taste like asado. It was sweet. I do not like sweet food very much but I must say I enjoyed this one.The adobo didn't taste anything like adobo. But I also liked it. Just forget that it is an adobo imitation and you'll enjoy it too.

adobo with mushroom

asado

I wonder how they make those meat-looking stuff using vegetables. They even have barbecue on their menu.

What I'm thinking about is whether vegetarians are into eating meat looking food or do they prefer vegetables that do not pretend that they are something else? I mean if you are a vegetarian, don't you get disgusted with anything that looks like meat?

Anyway, this vegetarian restaurant is called CHA A. It's at the ground floor near Bread Talk and Razon's. Check it out.

Stoops Ilocos Bagnet and JT Manukan in Makati

Last Monday, my friends and I decided to eat at JT Manukan along Malugay St. in Makati because we wanted to eat something good yet affordable. We've been to this place several times already and we usually order a lot. I usually order 1 quarter chicken inasal and 3 sticks of baticulon (spell check!). My friends usually order the same.

Side story:

[In one of our previous visits I saw Stoops Bagnet restaurant beside JT Manukan. I wanted Ilocos bagnet so I asked the waiter at JT if I could order next door. I figured they would allow me because my friends are ordering from JT anyway. The waiter allowed me. Yehey! He even offered to order for me although I declined.]

Going back to Monday's visit: When we got in I immediately asked the waiter if I could order bagnet at Stoops but i informed him I will also order sticks of baticulon. (I usually ask things like this to be sure that I wont be put in an awkward situation later on.) He said yes then he followed it with "Ay, teka lang, sir! Itatanong ko kung pwede." (Just a moment, sir! I'll  ask if that is allowed.)

Another guy came to our table. He was wearing a different uniform from the rest so he is probably a manager or a supervisor. Anyway, I told him the same things I told the waiter. He said it is not allowed. I asked why. He couldn't answer at once. Then after a while he said they had an experience before when someone brought in bagnet and only ordered rice from them. I asked if they didn't order anything else. He said not. In my mind I knew he was lying. Why would somebody do that? Do they serve very special rice at JT that somebody would do that? He was lying just to  give an excuse for his decision.

My friend got irritated so she suggested we go to Stoops instead.

At Stoops I ordered spicy bagnet meal. The bagnet meal (P 90) consists of spicy bagnet, fried rice and a side dish. I got KKB or Kamatis, Kangkong and Bagoong. I also ordered dinengdeng (P 30).


I love their bagnet (both the regular and the spicy variety). It really tastes like the bagnet from Ilocos. And the dinengdeng is also flavorful. Hmmm.

The store is small. It is air-conditioned. Some of the food already cooked like the dinengdeng, binagoongan, igado. Others are cooked upon ordering like the Ilocos bagnet and daing na bangus (this is yummy as well). The set up is like a clean carenderia.

The restroom is clean. The floor is clean. The tables are small but you can join tables for big groups.

Creamy Macaroni Soup Recipe

Here is a simple recipe for preparing macaroni soup which I learned from my father. It is easy to prepare so I'm sure you'll love to do it for your loved ones. It is also good to serve if you are on a tight budget.


                                          CREAMY MACARONI SOUP

Ingredients:

• 250 g - 300 g elbow macaroni
• 1/2 k chicken OR pork - shredded boiled chicken OR  ground pork
• 3 cloves garlic (minced)
• 1 medium sized onion (minced)
• 1 large carrot(cubed)
• 1 medium sized lettuce (shredded)
• 2 cups evaporated milk
• salt
• pepper

Procedure:

1. Saute garlic and onion over medium heat.
2. Add shredded chicken OR ground pork. 
3. Stir until the chicken or pork fat comes out.
4. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Add chicken broth and 5 cups of water. (If you are using pork, pour 8 cups of water.)
6. Add the macaroni and carrots. Let the liquid boil until the pasta is cooked.
7. Pour in the evaporated milk. Stir.
8. Add the lettuce and simmer for about a minute.

There are other ingredients that you can add to make it more special. Some of these ingredients are green bell pepper, corn kernels, liver, boiled egg and celery.

Starbucks - Paseo de Magallanes

Welcoming security guard! Pleasant baristas! Honest service crew members! These are the qualities that best describe the people working in Starbucks along Jupiter St. (the one going to EDSA) However, the same cannot be said about the people working in Starbucks at Paseo de Magallanes. Well, the guard when we went in was not very polite. He didn't open the door for us nor did he greet us good evening. This is totally the opposite of the guards at Starbucks, Jupiter St. The guard when we left was good enough to hold the door for us (a different guard) but he didn't say the usual thank you or please come again. The baristas said some pleasantries when we placed our orders but they already looked tired so I couldn't see much sincerity in what they said. The baristas in Jupiter are such happy people, I must say. Then before we left, we asked for water. The crew said, "There is water near the counter!" Like we do not know! The people in Jupiter gladly serve us water when we ask. We seldom ask actually. We do this only on rare occasions like when we are really tired. Besides, he could have said it nicely if he really didn't want to serve  us. Anyway, I hope they try to improve their service next time.

How Do You Like Your Egg Done?

How do you like your  egg done?

Boiled? Sunny  Side Up? Scrambled?

I like scrambled eggs specially if I'll it with rice only. I like it because I don't get to taste a bit boring white and a more flavorful yellow separately. It's nice when they are mixed because the whole thing then tastes great. I like well scrambled with some salt and pepper to taste. It's also nice with onion, garlic and tomato. I also like it when milk and cheese are added.

If it's sunny side up I like it done 'rare' (in other words not 'well done'). I usually put it on top of my rice before I break the not-so-cooked egg yolk. I like seeing the yellow portion slowly flowing down the heap of rice like lava on an erupting volcano. Okay! Fine! That's not an appetizing way to describe it. Anyway, it nice when the yellow mixes with the rice. I like sunny side up with rice and hotdog or ham.

Boiled egg is something that I'm not really fond of. But if do have to eat it I prefer it soft boiled.

How about you?, How do you like your egg done?

Mesa, Filipino Moderne Cuisine

Thinking of where to eat in Greenbelt 5 is always a challenging thing to do. This is because there are so many restaurants there to choose from. There are a lot of restaurants serving different kinds of cuisine. The last time we were there, we spent a long time deciding where to eat. After a long debate we ended up choosing Mesa which serves Filipino Moderne Cuisine.

Since we were really very hungry we decided to order something we felt they could serve fast. We ordered tilapia, crispy boneless pata, tinapa rice and sisig rice. They turned out to be good choices in the sense they did serve them fast.

The tilapia was good. It was crispy. And they give different sauces or dips. The serving was also big so we didn't have problems if we ordered just two dishes.

If the tilapia was good, the crispy boneless pata was a big disappointment. It was not only 'not boneless' but it also has less meat. It would have been more acceptable if they did not call it crispy boneless pata but hard less-meat pata.

The tinapa rice was great. It has that distinct tinapa and itlog na maala (salted egg) taste. The sisig rice was not as good. It tasted like steamed rice soaked in soy sauce. Just to prove to you my point, look at the following picture.

Will I go back? If only for the tinapa rice and tilapia, yes, I will. Besides their service is fast and the waiters and waitresses are very accommodating.

Mesa Restaurant can be found at Greenbelt 5 facing the landscaped garden leading to the Greenbelt Chapel.