Abominable affair at Mesa?

Restaurant: Mesa
Branch: 1st Level The Terraces Ayala Center Cebu
Food: Filipino
Type of Restaurant: Causal Dining
Mode of Payment: Cash/Credit Card

It's really a bummer when restaurants deliver lousy courtesy to hungry Pehhgz! It was past 9pm which was way over dinner time. We decided to dine at Mesa The Terraces Ayala Center Cebu. Kapig outs E, Ciege, Edd, Onyot, Greg, Kara , Homer and I entered the door and seated ourselves. There were barely any customers yet it took around 15-20 minutes for the waiter to give us the menu. I have to commend the interior design though for it's classy-homey Filipino touch.

We ordered Bagoong Rice, Baby Squid in Olive oil and Caramelized Garlic Pork.

Mesa Bagoong Rice(priced at 135php, serves 2-3persons). Stir Fried Rice tossed with shrimp paste with shredded Green Mangoes. The rice goes well with the baby squid entree we ordered.



Mesa Baby Squid in olive oil (priced at 220php, serves 1). Baby Squid sauteed in olive oil and seasoned with Garlic and laurel. The taste is superfluously good, too bad the serving size serves just 1 person.




Mesa Caramelized Garlic Pork (Priced at 190php serves 1-2). Pork belly slices tenderized in 5 spices, chili and garlic. Love this sweet spicy dish even though the serving size was kinda small.


And E ordered Mesa Cape Barako Jelly (Priced at 70php) which we shared with the group. It was very Filipino tasting and nostalgical. Coffee Jelly wasn't that barako though but it was enticing nonetheless!

KaPig Outs!

Coffee Substitutes

Just love the new line up of Tazo teas sold at Starbucks. Tried the Tazo Chamomile Blend, Hibiscous Blend and the Orange Blossoms Teas!

Tazo Chamomile Blend Iced Tea is a good drink to comfort and calm your nerves. Light Floral naturally sweet with a smooth finish. With Chamomile flowers, Hibiscous flowers, lemongrass and rose petals.

Tazo Orange Blossoms Tea is a fruity flavored juicy infusion of orange peel, chili, hibiscous flowers, rose petal and ginger. Truly a cup of liquid sunshine!

Tazo Hibiscous Blend on the other side is uniquely full bodied infusion of fruity, juicy and tangy with woody notes. Composed of hibiscous with a hint of lemon and rosemary.

Sold for 90php for tall size, 95php for Grande and 105 for Venti. I would recommend that everyone buy the venti for it comes with 2 filterbags . Also request your Starbucks Barista to have the filterbags be left on your cup for more intense flavor.


Another new drink I have tried over the weekend is Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf's Berry'd Treasure. Sold for 155php for the Large size. It's a so-so drink and very forgettable. A little hint of berryness but doesn't make me happy. I also tried the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf Banana Berry and Mango Flavors and one distinct taste is very strong on the drink. The base ingredient is too strong that it overpowers the fruit flavors.

FIC: Fruits in Ice Cream

Stall: FIC: Fruits in Ice Cream
Branch: 1st Level SM City Cebu
Food: Ice Cream
Mode of Payment: Cash

(Sorry for the Picture Quality, used my iPhone to take the Photos)

Summer is here and the inevitable heat makes you crave for some sweet cold dessert! FIC or Fruits in Ice Cream has a variety of Filipino and International flavors to feast on. Price starting at 130PHP up a pint (Depending on Flavor) it surely is a treat for groupies. A pint serves 3-4 persons! For those on a diet, Low calorie Ice cream flavors are also available!

We ordered FIC Caramelo con Pastillas which was shared by Onyot, Shakey and I. FIC Caramelo con Pastillas is sweet and had bits of sweet milky pastillas! :) Pastillas bits is a bit less though.

Had been going back to taste different flavors every now and then. FIC is less sweet than commercialized ice cream brands and FIC fruit flavors has more real and natural flavor.

Ka pig outs! Onyot and Shakey!

Tandoori: A taste of Persia

Restaurant: Tandoori

Address: Parkmall Mandaue City

Food: Persian, Middle east

Restaurant Type: Casual

Mode of Payment: Cash/Card

(Sorry about the pic quality, used my iPhone to take the pics)

It was before Vito Selma's "Namib" Photo Exhibit when we dined at Tandoori (A Persian Palate sister restaurant) . Shake, Onyot and I had to buy SD Card for my camera since I left mine at home before heading to the exhibit at the Gallery Banilad when we had a sudden urge for something Persian.

We ordered Musaka/ Moussaka (180php). Minced kebab beef cooked in tomato sauce and herbs, onion and garlic with sauteed eggplant topped with cream cheese. I so love this dish and the smell and taste of fresh butter complements well with the beef kebab.

We also ordered kofta (ground Beef and lamb) kebab which came with cucumber slices and grilled tomatoes. This is best when rolled with Naa'n (15php/piece). Yum!

Drinks? Dont ever order Labni! hahaha. its so sour like old milk! really! If your not used in drinking sour yogurt then dont order this!

Making fun with the paintings! hehehehe

Spongebob @ KFC!

Restaurant: KFC
Branch: 1st Level SM City Cebu
Restaurant Type: Fastfood
Mode of Payment: Cash

It was Jorich's birthday and Cebu Bloggers had a lunch out to celebrate at KFC SM City Cebu Branch. We ordered the Spongebob bucket meal for 620php. Well who doesnt love Spongebob? 8pcs chicken in a cute yellow Spongebob KFC Bucket, 4 fixins of your choice (Buttered Corn, Coleslaw, Mashed Potato or Macaroni) and set of four KFC Spongebob Tumblers with Spongebob Squarepants, Patrick Starfish, Squidward and Mr. Crabs.

Happy Burpday Jorich!

Another Bad Experience at Spice Fusion!

Restaurant: Spice Fusion

Branch: Sm City Northwing

Restaurant Type: Casual Dining

Food: Asian

Mode of Payment: Cash/Card

(Sorry for the picture quality, used my iphone to take the pics)

Spice Fusion is a blend of several Asian cuisines from Malaysia, Thailand and etc. My college friends Kansah, Dexter, Pipo, Jill, Boboy, Hannah and Ronald loved their BTC (Banilad Town Center Branch) and had frequent dinner meetings there because of good food and service. On the other hand, my family and I had several bad experiences with their branch at SM City Cebu Northwing and had another during dinner a few hours back. After work ing out, Shake, Edd, Nike, Greg, Onyot and I were starving and had Deep fried lapu-lapu craving and decided to dine at Spice Fusion Sm City Cebu Branch. Since it was a bit humid inside we decided to sit at the al fresco area of the resto. After the waiter took our orders, they had the placemats, plates and utensils placed at the side of our table and left , making us set our own table as they mingled with each other.

We started the dinner with roti (90php), a malaysian flatbread (roti tastes like crispy crepe) dipped in curry. I find Spice Fusion's roti better than Banana Leaf's roti.

We then had the Vietnamese Beef Noodle(180php) which serves 3-4 medium appetite persons. Pho style beef noodle soup and rice noodle with thin beef flakes served with basil and bean sprouts!

For our main entree we had Chicken curry (200php), Malay curry infused with coconut milk.


Deep Fried Lapu-lapu (280php), Canton fried Lapu-lapu topped with sweet and chili sauce with mango cubes and veggies. We always order this everytime we dine here and what we all noticed is that the serving was too hot(Chili hot)!


And in the middle of our dinner, we were given the bill because they said their counter will be closing. I think this is rude. Dined at Cafe Laguna, Don Mertos, Gerry's Grill and other restos at the Northwing after 9pm but never had been given a bill while we were eating. After we paid the bill we asked for 6 glasses of house water which never arrived. So much for customer service! Shheeeesh!

Maiden Bites

Food food food! Having new items on the menu is one of my great joys as a food lover! Below are new chow selections that I came across for the past few weeks! Welcome to my Maiden Bites!

(Sorry for the pic quality, used my iPhone to take the pics)

A.) Am frequent MOA rat! When am in Manila, I stroll MOA almost everyday to dine and shop. From my recent visit, I get to try a new dish on the Chowking menu. Chowking Orange Chicken. Chowking had always been a family favorite, specially my dad who is a Congee Addict, and Chowking orange chicken would definitely be added to my Chowking faves. Mini Chicken strips drizzled and bedded on Sweet & Orangey sauce and topped with a tiny piece of Mandarin orange. The sauce resembles like the sweet and sour sauce but instead of it being a little bit sour, it's zesty (Orange Zing) and sweet. Chowking Orange Chicken is served with a big bowl of rice and priced at 84php.

B.) A new addition to Harbour Dimsum (SM City Cebu Branch) Menu is the chili steamed rice. Priced at 65php, I find it overflowing with sauce that's too chili for me to handle. Would not bother to order this again and stick to the same old same old yummy steamed rice!

C.) Call me a looser for discovering Shawarma Rice just now, hahahhaa! But yeah, my first spoon and I instantly fell in love with it! Leylam Shawarma Rice is available at Parkmall Mandaue City priced at around 60php. The rice was beefed up and topped with a generous amount of cabbage, carrots, beans and beef then drizzled with special Shawarma sauce. yum!

Tsim Sha Tsui

Restaurant: Tsim Sha Tsui
Address: 1st Level Terraces Ayala Center Cebu
Food: Dimsum, Chinese
Restaurant Type: Casual Dining
Mode of Payment: Cash/Card

(Sorry for the pic quality, used my iPhone to take the pics)

Tsim Sha Tsui is a major tourist hub in metropolitan Hong Kong, a great place to shop and dine!On the other hand, Tsim Sha Tsui restaurant is trying to capture the authentic Hong Kong taste that is unique to urban TST, a great challenge indeed for the restaurant. Once you enter the restaurant, you'd notice the TST designed wall and the conveyor belt that is commonly seen in Japanese restaurants. The well lighted restaurant has a motiff of vibrant pink and green which reflects colorful TST living.


It was past 9 and after a 2 hour workout, I was hungry as a bull! Shakey, Edd and I ordered dimsum favorites Shao mai Quail Egg (60php) , Empress Roll (60php) , Ha Kao(65php), Fried Hainan Spring Roll (60php). What you'd notice in the taste is that they use less MSG than the leading dimsum place in Cebu.

Hainan Spring Roll or chinese vegetable spring roll resembles more like the Vietnamese spring roll at Lemongrass which has glass noodles and veggies.

TST Steamed Rice (65php) has more meat but is of smaller serving size than the usual dimsum serving. TST Steamed Rice is also unique among other steamed rice for it has liver bits.


Drinks are as happy as the interior. Ordered the Kiwi Iced Tea(50php), Lemon Iced tea with Kiwi Syrup at the bottom. As for my brother Edd, he had the Strawberry Fantasy(70php) which was a fusion of strawberry and pineapple. Both yummy drinks!