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!

Nonki

Restaurant: Nonki
Branch: AS Fortuna Mandaue City (Beside SkyCable Bldg)
Food: Japanese
Type: Casual Dining
Mode of Payment: Cash/ Card
Tel. No: 4223159

Father Torvz is going on a vacation so we had a little Japanese send off party just for him. Kara, Tonton, Edd, Ceigey and I met up at Seattle's Best before heading down to Nonki AS Fortuna and meet Father Torvz. E totally missed the fun dinner coz she was busy with law exams!

For starters we had Seafood Kaminabe (Priced at 310php). Kaminabe or Japanese paper steamboat has shrimp, fishballs and vegetables on a broth. We also had the special sashimi(price available by request) with salmon and uni sashimi.



We then had bentos for our main course! Beef bento for me (Priced at 250php). 2 small sized tempuras, big serving of Japanese rice, Beef, eggplant fan and vegetable on a bento. Yum!


A variety of sake or rice wine are available and prices differ depending on the brand. Price starts at 160 per serving/shot. It can be served hot ot cold. Cold Sake makes you taste the full sake's semi bitter taste. You'd trully distinguish a cheap sake from a fine sake when its cold. If your ordering a cheap shot of sake, you can mask the cheap taste by having it warmed to give it a smooth kick!

Kara the Tangera! or mad scientist? hehehe


Mga Kapigouts

Nonki owner with Father Torvz, Kara, Ceige, Tonton
Doyzkie and Edd

Father Torvz, Kara, Ceige, Tonton
Doyzkie and Edd

Canvas Bistro

Restaurant: Canvas

Address: 2nd Level The Teraces Ayala Cebu City

Food: Australian

Type: Casual Dining

Mode of Payment: Cash/Card
Tel. no. 233 0466

For busy people like E, Homer, Edd, Kara and I, we find comfort in food! We had a scheduled get together dinner at Canvas after work and as expected I was the last to arrive at the table. Pardon me people for I work an hour away from the city of Cebu and have to battle traffic! raaawr! hehe

Canvas! You might have noticed the waiters and waitresses showing you the menu while your walking the 2nd level of the terraces which some people find annoying. But for me , I love Canvas! Will definitely go back!

I ordered Pork Medallions with grain mustard sauce, grilled tiger prawn and pesto spinach fettuccini. Entree 195php and Main Course priced at 295php. I love the fresh basil taste on the pesto, the tender & juicy grilled prawn and the taste of the grain mustard sauce on the pork medallions.

Another dish I sampled was chicken wrapped in Pancetta on thyme garlic jus with vegetable cous cous. Price: 270php. Yum!

Pics below are taken by Homer Medici! Canvas Kapig outs!

The gang with Chef Shrimski of Canvas


E and Kara
Edd, I. E and Kara

Fudge

Restaurant: Fudge
Address: No. 888 AS Fortuna St. Mandaue City Cebu
Food: Mixed Ethnic( Filipino, American, Italian)
Restaurant Type: Casual Dining
Mode of Payment: Cash
Tel. No. 4161727
Opens 10am-10pm Mondays to Thursdays and Sundays
10am-12mn on Fridays and Saturdays

The long scheduled dinner with college friends has now been realized! Started the new year with a full stomach as we tried some of Fudge's house specialties! Started the meal with Cream of Corn Soup(Price: 70php serves 1-2) served with Bacon and kane bits. Really creamy and corny, yum! A complimentary Ciabatta bread(Italian Bread) was served with baked fresh garlic clove which we transformed to croutons for our soup.
For our appetizer, we had Lumpia Curry (Price: 120php). Glass Noodles spring roll with Chicken Curry sauce!



We then had Manguava Salad ( Price: 110php). A sweet blend of Mango, roasted cashew and guava vinaigrette. A very refreshing combination!


Adobo Raviolo, priced at 120php, was another appetizing choice. Adoboed chicken liver ravioli on balsamic vinaigrette dressing.

Strip T's are made of soft beef tenderloin drizzled with gravy and served with hand cut fries. Priced at 280php.

Pasta, pasta, pasta! I love crab fats or what we call locally as Aligue. Fudge's version of Aligue pasta wasn't very aligue-ish because of the absence of the crab fat bits. the taste though is very distinct but wouldn't be complete without the Aligue bits. ; ).Dish priced at 240php.

One of my Fudge Faves! Garlicky Beef Salpicao served with Garlic rice! Priced at 280php. Fudge recommends a minty dessert after this.

Grilled pork steak priced at 250php! Pork steak with balsamic sauce served with hand cut fries and veggies.

Mga Kapigouts!

Brasco Pizza and Pasta

Restaurant: Brasco Pizza and Pasta
Address: The Gallery San Jose dela Montana Mabolo Cebu City
Restaurant Type: Casual Dining
Food: American, Italian
Mode of Payment: Cash
Telephone Number: 5057924/5114018

Brian Espina's fondness for pizza made him decide to open up his own pizzeria place . Liking the pizza he had on a trip to Italy inspired him to create his own pizza recipes infused with American flavors. 5 years of planning and finally Brian had launched his own pizza place he named "Brasco" meaning Brian's aspirations and dreams. Coming from a family who had been successful in the food business (Espinas own MyJoy and Butterbean), Brian had all the advice and admonitions he can get to make it big in the food business. An invitation to foretaste Brasco's food was sent for me and Regina of CDN inline with their grand launching.



Brasco Pizza and Pasta wants their customers to feel at home and warm when dining. Freedom Frames are even situated on the wall where customers can write what they think about the resto.

Pasta with tomatoes and Aligue(Price: 138php) was served first. Al dente Pasta in Tomato Sauce and crab roe. This reminded me of my Lola's cooking who loves putting "taba ng talangka" on her garlic rice. That explains my high triglyceride level! LOL. Dish was fairly priced for a crab roe dish. Next on the tasting spree was Meaty Spaghetti with Pepperoni (Price: 147php). Al dente pasta in tomato sauce and Italian sausage.

Pizza! We had 10inch of Marinara and Brasco Pizza. Brasco Pizza(10inch Price: 230php) is made of freshly tossed thin crust topped with tomatoes, mozarella cheese, bacon, ham, pepperoni, sausage and Brasco meatballs. Marinara Pizza (10inch Price: 259php), is made of freshly tossed thin crust, tomato sauce, mozarella cheese, squid, shrimp and crab roe. Best enjoyed when hot.

And finally, La Marea's brownie cup has been dethroned as my fave warm brownie cup! hehe. "Brasco Crazy Bliss" is made of Butterbean "Crazy Brownie" topped with Brasco's "Chewier Vanilla Ice Cream!" A must try! Priced at 90php!

Brasco Pizza and Pasta accepts deliveries within Cebu City with a minimum purchase of 14" pizza. Three available pizza sizes 10"(Price range 119php-259php), 14"(Price range 230php-431php) and 20"(Price range 440php-812php).

Dessert Factory!

Restaurant: Dessert Factory
Branch: The Terraces Ayala Center Cebu
Food: American, Filipino
Restaurant Type: Casual Dining
Mode of Payment: Cash/Card

After a very bad experience at Dessert Factory last July, Edd, Shake and I had made peace with Dessert Factory. Dessert Factory did offer us Gift Certificates after the story was printed on Sunstar Newspaper through Kara's Column but we hadn't had a chance to get it because we plainly forgot to claim them. LOL.

Yeah, obvoiusly we dined again at Dessert Factory. Undoubtly the best mashed potato (Price: 30php)I ever had in my entire life! Smooth, Fine, Creamy and oozing with hot gravy is just heavenly! (Good thing there was no sticker on the mashed potato this time)

My family, specially my bro Reymond and his wife Karla, loves Dessert Factory's Buffalo Wings, Pork Belly, Boneless Crispy Pata, Kinamatisang Kawali and almost everything on the Menu! hahaha. That dinner, I was about to order the Pork Belly, which is another personal fave of mine, but I saw a "new" marking on red ink on the menu and the first entree on the grilled section and thought it's time I try a new dish! So I ordered Chicken Tandoori (Price: 175php). Chicken Fillet marinated in Dessert Factory's home made yogurt mixed with toasted whole spices and grilled Indian Style. I love the taste of yogurt and spice on the Chicken. It's semi sweet and mildly spiced at the same time. Another addition to my Dessert Factory Fave List!

Dessert Dessert! For some reason Dessert Factory supposedly should excel in the dessert area because their "DESSERT FACTORY" but their food is way way much better than their desserts! And another thing about the dessert places here(talking about most of the Dessert Places in Cebu) is that dessert servings are small and lacks the fancy smanchy stuff like drizzles of choco syrup or choco/sugar powder sprinkled on the plate. An "E" for presentation! Epic Fail! hehehehe.

Enough with the rants for the meantime. For dessert we had the "Achocolypse Now!" (Price: 80php). It's a combination of 4 chocolate cakes in 1! Choco Cheesecake, Choco Walnut Ganache, Choco Extreme and Choco Pudding & frosting! It was too sweet for me that I had enough after 3 small fork cut servings. Enjoyed the Choco Walnut Ganache part though!

Japengo

Restaurant: Japengo
Address: Parkmall
Food: Japanese, Filipino
Restaurant Type: Buffet/Casual Dining
Mode of Payment: Cash

Japengo is Japanese infused with Filipino Flavor as per Dan, Japengo's Manager. Regina and I were invited to Japengo's maiden buffet and it was an event shared with media people and friends & family of the owners.

The buffet consists of Japanese dishes like makis, sushis gyozas and many more. There were also salad and blueberry cheese "finger desserts"!

My brothers and I share the same love for Gyoza! and I had a whole serving of Gyoza all for myself! weeee!

And California Maki! Just can't get enough of these yummy Japanese Maki with sweet mango, crabstick and cucumber!

Me sneaking at the sushi table. hehehe

Wasn't able to stay long and taste all the food though because of another shoot scheduled that night. But I will on my next visit! : ). I had fun and enjoyed the Gyoza, Maki and Blueberry cheesecake I had during the opening buffet! Opening Promo of Japengo's Eat All You Can Buffet Price is set at 275php per head.

Sunburst

Restaurant: Sunburst Chicken
Branch: The Terraces Ayala Center Cebu
Mode of Payment: Cash/Card
Food: Filipino
Restaurant Type: Casual Dining

Long before Jollibee and Mcdonalds, Sunburst had been loved by Cebuanos for as long as I can remember. Fried til golden sun crisp, Sunburst Chicken would definitely make you crave for more. I love BIIIG and HUUUGE Chicken Boobs and Sunburst's chicken definitely makes me happy! 2 huge pieces of ribkeel served with rice and coleslaw side dished with 2 slices of french potatoes is priced at 153php.

I also love their Honey-ish Calamansi Juice!

Mga Kapigouts!

Shabuway

Restaurant: Shabuway
Address: Parkmall Mandaue City
Food: Japanese Hot Pots
Restaurant type: Casual Dining/ DIY (Do-it-yourself) Dining
Mode of Payment: Cash/Card
Tel. No. 032-5052598

For those who aren't familiar with shabu-shabu, then it is a must that you read on. hehe. Shabu shabu, which translates to swish swish, is a Japanese hot pot variant which uses thinly sliced meat and vegetables which is served with sauces. This was explained to us by our hostess "Che-che" of Shabuway.

We had the Pork Set (Price: 295php) which comes with a vegetable platter that includes Taiwan Pechay, Chinese Pechay, Noodles, Soup balls, Gindara Tofu, Corn, Gabi, Carrots and Mushrooms. We also had single orders of fish (Price: 70php) and Squid(Price: 90php).

To prepare your Japanese hot pot, put to boil your "dashi" or broth then submerge the meat of your choice into the boiling broth, add some vegetables and egg whites and swish it back and forth!

Shabu shabu tastes and resembles more like Chinese Hot pots. A very good dish during the cold and rainy season.

Nonki

Restaurant: Nonki
Branch: SM City Cebu Fiesta Strip
Restaurant Type: Casual Dining
Mode of Payment: Cash/ Card
Food: Japanese

Another lazy afternoon, Edd, Greg and I were strolling around SM and craved for some Japanese for lunch. It was already 2 and yeap we are used to having late lunches and dinners due to our very hectic schedule. hehe. A good Japanese resto inside SM is Nonki! Service is great and the food is good!

Before starting the meal, we were given wet towels with moisturizer to cleanse our hands. Misu soup and potato coleslaw were also served compliments of Nonki!

I love California Maki! And definitely one of the best Cali Maki I had was Nonki's! Their Bento meals are well seasoned and are gratifying. Their Ebi tempura are whole tiger shrimps unlike some other resto wherein the cut the shrimps into half.