a bite of brownie

Fairly new in SM City Cebu, Rodeo Grill is located on the second floor just beside the Bingo hall. This restaurant takes its inspiration from the wild west, particularly in areas predominated by cowboys and cattle. Aside from the eye catching display of uniforms worn by the staff, the ambiance of the place is tailored to fit the intended theme.

We were ushered into the spacious dining hall that featured brightly lit tables, where the hanging lights were fixed with metal buckets to give the whole restaurant a country look. I noticed that there were large posters of picture quotes decorate the walls. Meanwhile, their personalised radio station streams tunes in the background. After we pried the menu for our orders, we finally decided to have the following: a large rack of arkansas tender ribs,  a plate of Geronimos sizzling buffalo steak, half a kilo of rodeo grill lechon, a heaping serving of black stallion crispy pata
, a serving of lone ranger talong, a medium plate of delicious crispy hay noodles, a bowl of flavorful cactus kangkong, and a hot serving of their deputy short sizzlers.

The food itself was okay, many of them are comparable to main stayers in the food industry. My sister mentioned that Rodeo Grill is a possible counterpart of TexRex, minus the smoky goodness of the grilled meat there. The ribs were tender and delicious, while their own version of lechon was surely delectable with hints of lemon grass and spring onions. Their crispy pata was also exceptional, having been tasted a great number of crispy patas out there, I could certainly say that this is one of the best.

To end the meal, we ordered 38 caliber brownie almond, which was technically just like La Marea's warm brownie cup, only smaller.



Rodeo Grill
SM City Cebu



Verdict:
A: 3.5/5

While most of the most served here are repeats from other restaurants, i believe that that strongpoint of this place is their price. Where else can you find a 300peso worth lamb chop?

At first I thought of this place as something like the typical food stops beside UP (Royal Cafe and Brown Gate to name a few) but I was proven wrong when we finally visited this place after watching The Hobbit at Ayala Cinemas. The place was small, somewhat dingy from the lack of windows, and a wee bit cramped for space. Even though that was the case, we were fortunate to come here at a good time when there were still a few patrons. In fact, we were the first to enter the diner in hope of sating our appetites.

Their menu is expansive, mostly composed of grilled meat and fried seafood and a few more vegetable dishes like chopsuey and pakbet. Among the restaurants here in Cebu, I believe this is one of the few that serves bagabay and bihod, or fish fat and fish roe respectively.

The ambiance was pleasant enough, with chalkboards hanging from the walls with fancy design drawn on them paired with some random quote about sharing meals with friends and family and the type shadows they added to the letters in their menu. We ordered several dishes here, minus the roe because they ran out of it when we visited. For appetisers, we had kinilaw, fried fish bagabay, and chicharong bulaklak. After that, for the main course, we had garlic chicken and pork sisig.

Once we had our fill, we sampled their famous desserts, two cups of creamy brazo and a serving of leche flan.

In short, the experience was worthwhile, and we'd like to come back one day to sample their fried bihod sometime in the future.


Orange Karenderia
Salinas drive, La Guardia



Verdict:
A: 3/5

The food is a bit pricey for the amount they served to us. The notable mentions here would be the soy garlic chicken, the chicharong bulaklak, and the fish bagabay. The sisig seems to be lackluster and too chunky to be called sisig. It does look like chopped up fat with sweet sauce with an optional fried egg, minus the usual liver in it. The fish kinilaw tasted like it was overcooked from the vinegar that was in the bowl. Their desserts are top notch, though, and I can easily say that these are part of the best sellers.

What bothers me is the lack of space in the restaurant, which, in my case isn't normally a problem. But when you place a garbage can almost level your wash basin, you'd take a trip to the washroom and puke your way too. Of course, if you haven't already from the stinky smell of the bathroom.

Located within walking distance from JY Square mall, Pino is a spacious restaurant in its third incarnation as an all-you-can-eat hub. We visited this place as we were heading home and we were not disappointed by what we saw. The place was refitted with new fixtures to make the old house look better and modern. There were chandeliers and mirrors and light all over the place. Not to mention the comfort rooms were fitted with modern equipment to better serve the needs of their patrons.


I have heard that the previous revivals of this restaurant were disagreeable: the first being too expensive and the second being too cheap. Apparently, this time around is the best of the three. The ambiance was just right and the appeal of the place had a hint of class and a bit of old refinement. Folk songs played in the background of this homey restaurant that gave extra points for the ambiance.


I was surprised when I found out that the buffet here is more affordable than many others in Cebu within its price range. The taste was nothing to scoff at, each dish offering a unique modern taste on a traditional Pinoy fare. There was Lechon, Ham, Fresh Oysters, Lomi, Laing, Siomai, Kare Kare and many more.



They have soup and salad for appetizer and not to mention a good selection of filipino desserts that range from banana-flan tart, Maja Blanca, bibingka, pichi pichi, and puto among others.










Pino
Lahug, Cebu





Verdict:
A: 4.75/5
Pino is great for its price of 399 per person. The food is delicious and interesting, and there will never be a boring moment. They have unlimited rounds of Iced Tea for their patrons to go with the meal. Majority of their food are addicting, all of which will make you come back for more. Their service is top notch too, so I don't think you'll go wrong here.

No matter how beautiful and pleasant the ambiance of the restaurant is, noisy patrons will always ruin the atmosphere of the restaurant.

This happened to us just as we were visiting this new watering hole just beside Chika-an in Salinas Drive. Brique, the name of said restaurant, was a two-floored hub with that has a unique modernist feel to it. Contrary to the hip design, the background music played songs from the 60s and 70s, as well as mellow ones done by Norah Jones, among others.

 The place was crowded, and we were almost unlucky enough to not have a spot for ourselves if not for the early arrival of our brother who reserved a table for us.

For starters, we had a serving of bread with a steaming cup of cheesy spinach dip. For our main course, we had a plate of pork chops, Angus beef simmered in beer, Filipino beef jerky, and a hearty serve of pork belly strips.

The food in itself were great, even though the serving size was small enough for the hungry souls. The meat was flavorful and tender, offering no resistance as you chew on the strands on your fork.   The garlic rice has a neat accent to the dish that makes the food all the more alluring.

 But you know, even though they have affordable meals compared to other restaurants, nothing prepared me when dessert was served.

The restaurant has a different way of re-imagining dessert as we know it. Halo halo as a chilly shaved ice treat? Nope! This place serves it in cake form. Never thought cheesecake and flan could mix? Here, it's possible! Finally, bibingka Creme Brulee. It's literally Creme Brulee with a very Filipino twist.

In short, this place is a must try for their desserts.




Brique
Salinas Drive




Verdict:
A: 3/5
I love the food even though the serving is on the small side. The desserts are great too. The ambiance sucked when we visited, because there was a group of rowdy customers a few tables away from us. Plus most of the servers were not very attentive to the customer's needs.

A few days after the grand opening of Rustan's supermarket, we visited cafe sarree to check what they had to offer in their menu.

 It was an entirely new restaurant right outside the payment area of our favorite grocery.

 It was a pleasant place, with spacious room for each table and a great view of the outdoors.

We were seated right at the corner most side of the establishment that has the closest view to the landscaped garden.

There were a lot of people for an eatery on its soft opening. I was even surprised, that they have an already complete menu.

For starters, we had gambas as our appetizer, which was generously cooked in olive oil and fresh bell peppers. There was a tangy hint of  spice in it too.

Their callos had a familiar taste of spanish cooking here, but i think they added too many extenders in it.

My sister's salpicao tasted good, but it was too salty for my taste. Finally, to end the meal, we ordered a cheese torta and a medium sized cup of cold soft taho, both of which are satisfactory in taste.