a bite of brownie

Cool Cafe is a quaint restaurant within the vicinity of IT park complete with a comforting atmosphere where you can relax after a hard day's work. I rushed over here after some business and had a sizzling plate of crispy pata, pork trotter deep fried until golden brown, and a plate of sisig. The ambiance, it seems, feels like an after work drinking haven where most of the dishes there can be paired with alcohol. The music is good, but the place is a little too crowded for my tastes.

We came upon this restaurant after a long time of not even giving it a second look. The place was a little cramped for room, with only a few chairs and really small booths. But regardless of how it looks like, Flame it burgers has got to be one of the best burgers in town, in my opinion. First, their burger buns are firm. Next, they have fresh greens. And finally, the meat itself is spectacular. You have the option to pick between a regular burger or upgrade it to a half pound one, something that makes Champ and Big Mac run away for their money.

Triple V-Saisaki is by far, the best casual Japanese restaurant I've tasted in my life. This restaurant lets you sample several seafood and meat products the way it should be, Japanese style. They have a sushi bar with ample choices of raw fish sliced just right, a separate section for frying meat and grilling things and last but not the least, another section for noodle and soup based bowls.

When this restaurant first opened a few years ago at the ground floor of Ayala center, it became our favorite place to eat since we can choose what ingredients to put in and what sauces to top them with. However, as time passed by, the selections dwindled and the quality sucked until the novelty faded and it wasn't worth it anymore.

Six or so years later I'm back in Cebu and wanted to check out if KK improved since my last visit. They moved their location to The Terraces where all the happening is and they changed the look to some sort of cafeteria like ambience.

The choices were not exemplary and I wouldn't really want to go back here even if they paid me. They chop the meat and tofu to invisible bits like they were spring onion garnish and my dish looked like mixed ground sawdust when it came out. Ok yeah, the taste was ok, after all I chose all the sauces that went with it, but the presentation could be better. Well what can I expect, when their motto is "don't blame the cook, he just put fire". Maybe the minced cuts were done for a reason - so that they would cook fast, but it didn't look very appealing.

Oh well, I gave them another chance, it was a major fail!

Kublai Khan
The Terraces
Ayala Center Cebu

Verdict:

N: 2/5

Our dinner last night was supposed to be sautéed cabbage but when I was chopping the ingredients, there was a power shortage for an hour or less. So, cursing this unfortunate event, my sister and I decided to eat out before she heads off to work, at a restaurant we rarely visit now. AA BBQ is popular for its grilled items; seafood, meat, chicken. They even have roast beef and are known to serve soup based and sizzling dishes too.

Ric's Barbecue is your typical hang-out place when you're working at IT park especially after work, during weekends, or after a grueling overtime. Anyway, this place is located just within The Walk, an area of dining and drinking restaurants with ample parking spaces in one space of land. Known for its special barbecue, many office workers head there to sample their traditional secret blend and recipe.

With its main branch located between F. Ramos Street and Jones Avenue, Casa Verde has gained enough popularity and demand that it was able to expand its territory up to Ayala Cebu. Amidst the long line of well known eateries beside it, this restaurant thrives mainly because of the mouth watering ribs and ample slices of steak that they serve.

Last Wednesday night my sister and I went to I.T. Park to check out restos. We ended up in a resto-bar called Pier One. I have heard many good things about this place from ads and food write ups a few years ago. And now its time for me to check it out.

At the entrance, you will be greeted by a standing guard who checks your belongings for safety purposes. I don't know about you guys but all I want is to eat in that establishment and not to harass or be harassed by other people, so why put a guard to check a patron's laptop bag? Funny thing is, I think it was my first time to encounter a "bag check up" in a dining restaurant. Anyway, after the "security check" we were guided to a table outside, to the resto's balcony. Upon seating, A waiter with a sailor cap approached us to give us the menu and to take our orders. Since I was feeling a little feverish and needed a bowl of soup so we decided to get "Bulalo na Baka" which is beef soup with vegetables, "Tokwa't Baboy" a dish made up of fried tofu and some thin slices of pork and onions topped with soy sauce. And of course, steamed rice. For drinks, I got a glass of " Calamsi Juice" and water ( I really need plenty of liquids because my feverish state is slowly becoming a nuisance cold and fever). After taking the orders, our waiter hurried away to the counter to place our requests. A few seconds later the same waiter placed the spoon and fork together with the plates in front of us minus the place mats. He hen proceeded to get condiments and arranged them in one side of the table.

Around 10 minutes or so later our orders begin to arrive, first were our drinks and then the food. My calamansi juice came which I expect to taste sour like the fruit that it should be ended up tasting like a sugared sweet lemonade. A premonition just occurred to me that this could be a a disastrous evening for me. A few seconds past then a big bowl of heated beef soup (bulalo na baka), towa't baboy, and rice arrived. Te beef soup is a mediocre attempt to imitate a "pochero" or a nilagang baka". The dish itself taste more like a boiled beef cube soup with a mini slap of beef with a bone and some cabbages for posterity. The tokwa't baboy is good. Fried tofu cut into cubes, wit strips of thinl sliced onions and pork. As the orders came I was quiet and observing the people and surroundings inside and outside the venue. Though, a lot of customers eat here. It dawned upon me that this place must be good for people who come together and drink their hearts out not for people who wants to enjoy simple Filipino dishes.