Love Life Foodtrips

This photo is the Spice Fusion BTC Branch, Banilad, Cebu City
Photo from - jamiesamui

My hubby and I ate there with my sister-in-law and her hubby, a late lunch last Friday, April 4, 2008. at first it was ok because we were the only ones served. Our orders arrived promptly (the roti, their version of pochero, and the noodle dish) but when the diners kept on coming the service started to change drastically (requests for extra bowls, utensils and plates had to be repeated - to different servers). Late lunch usually takes us about an hour tops(including the check-out, paying, etc,). But for that late lunch, my golly! it took us two hours! Due to the confusion of the dessert and the inefficiency of the server or the miscommunication between the server and the kitchen. I ordered a coconut pudding, my hubby ordered the almond pudding, my sis-in-law and her hubby ordered the crispy pata sort of dish (pork dish). The server came back and said that both puddings are not available. We changed our orders to mango roll and their version of halo-halo. After a couple of minutes the server came back again and said that our first order of dessert was available, .... [read more]

Casa Verde
Photos from the Web

It is an ancestral house converted to a restaurant which serves baby back ribs that are tender and to-die-for! Also try their Callos. For dessert, indulge in their death by chocolate. Prices are reasonable.
Address: 69 Ranudo Extension in Ramos
Phone: (+63 32) 253 6472
- from USC -
http://www.usc.edu.ph/visiting_campus/local_resources_dining.jsp

Went there just last December 28, 2007, Friday, after about a quarter of a year of not having been there. The place was packed and we had to wait for our reserved table.

They have maintained the quality and taste of the ribs but sad to say the beef and mushroom bliss I ordered was not. It smelled of uncooked meat and some pieces of beef were still pinkish. My dish was not cooked well. I lost my appetite after seeing runny pink juices oozing from the beef. I just asked for some of the baby back ribs that my hubby ordered just to finish off my rice. The death by chocolate was better, it was not as hard as a rock, like the one we had the last time we visited the place. The death by chocolate they had is composed of ice cream with a chocolate cookie base and covered with hardened chocolate. Yummy! The baked Alaska failed my expectations. The baked Alaska was composed of 3 flavors of ice cream with spongecake as base and covered with a meringue.The ice cream was not that many, maybe around just 3 scoops of it. 1 for each flavor. What made it look big was the meringue that did not look like one. The ice cream was indeed covered but with a runny hastily beaten egg white that did not even reach its hard peak stage. it was slightly torched and NOT baked. Yuck! Eww! It was disgusting, honestly. We just dug for the ice cream and the cake. I was greatly disappointed with the baked Alaska.

The Photo above shows how it should have looked, but sad to say it did not =(
the meringue here is firm and cooked. which looks very appealing and yummy.

what we had was something like the photo in this link, http://glutenfreecookingschool.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/egg-whites-soft-peaks.JPG , but was torched a little bit.

see the difference?! 0_o

Food - 3/5 due to my order that was quite unappetizing and the baked Alaska that did not meet my expectation of how a baked Alaska should look and taste like.
Place - 5/5 Accessible and the temperature of the room was just right, not hot and not too cold.
Service - 3.5/5 Our reservation was not listed on the reservation list. I still had to look for the person who I talked to before our reservation was honored. We waited and our friends started arriving and we still did not have our table.
Price - 5/5 very affordable and reasonable.

My overall rating for the night - 3/5

Located at the 2nd level I2, Asiatown IT Park
Photo courtesy of the web

Hubby and I went to Holiday for some foot massage last night, because we also wanted to avail of their buy 1 take 1 promo. alas, they already had their last call. So we racked our brains for some ideas and we thought of ALIBYO. this is a newly opened spa located at I2. I think this opened just last month. Off we went to try their services.

We availed of their 2 hour massage. Upon entering the Spa the front desk was all smiles already, Gives a very good first impression. He was also very knowledgeable about the services they offer. He also gave some suggestions on what is good. The spa is also quite different from the other spas, it is well lighted with very old and rustic setting(like you are being transported to the old era). The seats are made out of wood, the table is inlaid with raffia mat. the attendants wear Spanish era type of clothes(filipiniana). air-conditioning is just the right temp, not too hot and not to cold. The attendants are also very accommodating, they are all smiles. I did not see any of them loitering the reception area. When we came out after the massage and they saw us, they immediately vacated the reception area.

Before the massage the First thing they do is they wash your feet with ground coffee and water. Upon entering the common room for the massage area, You can smell the incense burning. On a side note, I like the comfort room, it is clean and nice with a little touch of zen. We were ushered to the couple's room, unlike the other couple's room that we've been to, this room has no divisions. It is a room with two beds and its own air-conditioning unit. The bed is quite firm and when i placed my head inside the hole of the bed, my nostrils were greeted with the scent of potpourri. a very wonderful smell, light and relaxing not intoxicating. Their kind of massage is quite different from what we have been used to. Good massage for the night which gave me a good night's sleep afterwards. (*thumbs-up*) =)

After the massage, we were treated to a glass of drink of our choice and some home-baked cookies (the extra service they give when you avail of their services). I had the Alibyo signature drink, which is iced tea with a hint of pandan leaves. My Hubby got the Salabat with honey, hot ginger drink with a hint of kalamansi and honey, Wonderful concoctions they have. We also availed of their 50% off coupon for the next visit. Well, the front desk gave us a choice: 20% discount for the services we have availed for the night or 50% discount on the next visit and we chose the latter. =) (this is their Christmas special promo, valid until the 31st of the month only).

over all rating 4/5. hubby found his therapist quite slow with his massage but the pressure was consistent though. He had a comparison with the therapist that massaged me. =)

for the 2 hour massage - P600 per person. just reasonable for a 2 hour pampering. =) They do have other packages that you can choose from.

Our Abaca Experience

Photo by: Pidz

After reading a lot of hullabaloo about abaca (nasty comments about the management, the chef, the manager, and the food… though i have also read quite a lot of promising entries that makes Abaca something to try for) my hubby and I decided to try it out for ourselves and see if there is any grain of truth to what we have read.

Upon invitation by our good friends and foodtrip buddies, Benjie Ordoñez and his charming wife Magene, we didn’t let the chance pass by. 7PM we started our long journey towards an adventure that we are used to doing… our favorite pastime…EATING!

So it begins, our adventure at Abaca… It was an experience worth the memories! Right from the gate when we entered all the way until dessert. Upon stepping into the place, one would really see and feel the exclusivity. It is not your usual garden setting of a restaurant. There are a lot of foliage that surround the area, right from the parking area up to the pathway leading to the tables. It makes you closer to nature and how i wish i could see its beauty during the daytime. Just thinking of how near we are to the beach makes me feel the breeze as it caresses my skin.

As we approached the dining area we were greeted by Glen, a very charming person. He showed us to our table. I love the cute shells used for the table napkins. The ambiance was so very relaxing, it has a homey feel to it, dim lights with jazz music, makes you think you were somewhere else special.

For the ambiance: I’d give it a 5/5. I was swept off my feet with how everything looked. It was dreamy. My Hubby gives it a 4/5, He found the music quite loud.

We were met with very courteous attendants, always with a “it’s my pleasure” after every “thank you”.

For the management and staff: My hubby and I both agreed on this aspect, 5/5. Very attentive and very charming.

For the appetizer or tapa’s, we had homemade bread with olive oil, corn chowder, chicken liver paté with vegetables and homemade bread. The homemade bread tasted like a “REAL” homemade bread that lets you feel warm inside. I love the crunchiness of the crust and the softness of the inside part (I don’t know what else to call this particular part of the bread… ^_^) of the bread, a perfect pair for the chowder. It had no “yeasty” taste as what most of the breads have. The corn chowder was creamy but the creaminess did not overpower the other ingredients. The corn was so crunchy. My verdict on the chicken liver, VERY delicious and a must try for those people who are squeamish about liver. I for one am not a liver-eating person. But when I tasted this dish, I was at a loss for words on how to describe the fusion of tastes inside my mouth. I almost missed out on this dish, but I gathered enough courage to just dip one tine of the fork and tasted it. It tasted bitter at first, without the bread and the vegetables. But when I mixed everything and piled it up on the homemade bread, the taste was a sensation! Bread with vegetables that had a hint of vinaigrette, topped of with a little mustard and a little of bignay spread which was capped with the chicken liver. One mouthful led to another and each bite had me adding the paté on the bignay spread. The experience was awesome! My husband was so surprised that I actually ate and relished the dish. He was used to me NOT eating and NOT even touching any kind of food that has a hint of liver.

We had Mesclun salad and cheese pizza after all of the fusion of tastes that I have savored. The mesclun consisted of various greens that were all fresh. It had a hint of balsamic vinegar, not overpowering the other ingredients, just right to make everything taste just right. The Cheese Pizza had fresh basil for toppings and i love the cheese and the crust, oh! so crisp and crunchy.

For the main course, we had whole roasted chicken with mashed fresh potatoes and bouillabaisse. The chicken was another experience for the taste buds. The chicken skin was crisp and had a hint of what was rubbed on it to give it its distinctive taste, salt and pepper with thyme. The meat was cooked just right, tender and moist. The chicken juices complemented well with the mashed potato. The bouillabaisse, a mixture of seafoods, salmon and shellfish. The salmon cooked just right and the soup tasted a bit spicy.

The last and most awaited part of the dinner, DESSERT, the dessert platter has 7 different kinds of sweets: tiramisu, chocolate pudding, lemon cheesecake, apple turn-over, chocolate cookie, oatmeal cookie, créme brulée. The first of seven parts of the dessert, the lemon cheesecake. It had a refreshing taste and a melt-in-your-mouth sensation. Everything on that platter had that effect to the taste buds and the palate. It was so soft and the lemon taste is really there, real lemon taste. 2nd part, the créme brulée, the caramel was flamed so perfectly. I told myself, this is the real deal, a real créme brulée at last. I have tasted a lot of créme brulée’s and nothing comes close to what i have just tasted. So creamy and with just the right sweetness. 3rd part, the tiramisu, soft cake and yummy coffee taste. 4th part, the chocolate pudding, soft with the real chocolate taste. 5th part, the apple turnover, soft puff pastry that highly complemented the apples inside. For the last 2 parts, the cookies: the oatmeal and the chocolate, soft and chewy, not so sweet. There were also 2 sticks of puff pastry on the platter, soft and it melts in your mouth.

Food: If I were to judge the food alone, I’d give it a 5/5, I enjoyed EVERYTHING. The fusion of tastes that complemented each and every ingredient of each dishes was so wonderful that I am at a loss for words. But my hubby’s taste buds has a strong bias towards the “sweet” spot and he thinks that the desserts weren’t sweet enough, he gives it a 4/5.

The Bill: Price range per person for food and drinks, around P800 to P2,000. It all depends on what you order.

We really enjoyed our dinner. Good food with good company makes everything wonderful. =D Makes us want to go back there, one of these days (if our schedule permits ^_^)

Moral lesson of the review: don’t listen or believe anything about a place until you have tried it out for yourself. let yourself be the judge =D

For more info about Abaca, visit their website at http://www.abacaresort.com/

Located at the mezzanine of the I2 Building in AsiaTown I.T. Park Lahug, this kiosk franchise from manila serves cereals in more than just milk. They have found at least ten ways to prepare breakfast cereals all with movie-based names.

Being a fan of breakfast cereals, i was eager to try Cerealicious' The MA_TRIX. A concoction made up of Nestle Trix , marshmallow, bananas and milkshake. Each ingredient complimented the other, the fruity flavor of the cereals with the taste of banana and the marshmallows made the milkshake a bit more creamier.

Should you need a cereal fix, Cerealicious should be your next stop.
- by Benjamin Ordoñez, Read here -

I took Benjie's advice and my hubby and I tried Cerealicious. They have two bowls to choose from: the Blockbuster (P75), a big bowl for the very hungry; and the Trailer(P40), a small bowl for those who would want to just satisfy their curiousity. If you add ice cream for the topping, you add P10. Both of us ordered the Blockbuster Bowl. I would have wanted to try Nutting Hill which consists of Koko crunch, Marshmallos, nuts and choco Kisses; My hubby's choice was Mint Joe Black (Koko crunch, mint cookie and chocnut) alas, they were out of Koko Krunch. The K after Tomorrow (special k, mango and granola) was my next choice, they were out of mangoes. It was not a fateful day for us, so we asked them what they have that is available and... we ordered Cashewblanca (cocoa frosties, brownies and cashew) and Charlie and the Chocnut Factory (milo balls, banana and chocnut). Our verdict...can fill up the hungry stomach.

photo by: Benjamin Ordoñez
This review was made by a friend (Orange77).

Ambiance: At the gate you already feel the exclusivity of the boutique resort (even if its not finished yet)…as expected its fancy
at the same time easy and casual…cozy.

Service: The manager took good care of us, from reservations up to the time we left. Service
was good (it wasn't perfect…king prawns served Russian style fell on my friend’s lap!) but over - all, unobtrusive at the same
time attentive, we were served on time given that we were a big group, and they waiters are actually adept at serving wine.

Food: Excellent. I highly recommend the short ribs w/ gremolata (or gremolada), pappardelle pasta w/ wild mushrooms, and their flat breads.

Price: (P1400-P2000 nett / person)

If you don't mind the long drive and if you are willing to shell out some serious dough for a single dinner (that could buy
my entire grocery supply for a whole month!) then I would highly recommend Abaca Restaurant in Punta Engaño.

- http://www.istorya.net/?p=53 -

The Forum, a 1,000-square meter commercial complex is owned and developed by Jo Realty Corp., the owner of Ultra Vistarama and Seven Arts theater.

What I love about this place is the Kenya Kaffe Lounge. The food is very healthy and well-balanced. The ambiance is very nice. Dining out nowadays has become about so much more than the meal but in the end it’s a relief to find a cafe/restaurant that gets your food to you in 15 to 20 minutes at the most. Kenya Kaffe Lounge in The Forum is one of our favourite because of the great value for money, main courses range from around PhP150+ to PhP250+ and are served with your choice of soup (backyard greens or chicken soup). They also serve various cakes, bibingka, suman with hot chocolate, and coffee.

The Ngorongoro Chicken Breast comes highly recommended and so as with the Apple Crabstick Salad…their peppermint iced tea concoction goes well with this meal.

- http://www.istorya.net/?p=5 -