a bite of brownie

driving by pizza restaurants everyday reminds me of my craving for pizza. my first attempt to satisfy this craving was getting a frozen di giorno four cheese thin crust pizza from the supermarket. the taste was below average so i had another excuse to try out another pizza. it's like a local pizza restaurant chain here because i've never heard of this restaurant in illinois. i ordered king arthur's supreme pizza (thin crust) which had pepperoni, sausage, salami, mushrooms, peppers, onions and black olives as toppings. i think i waited for at least 15 minutes but it was worth it! the crust was tasty and the toppings were cooked very good. the pizza tastes like shakey's special but better. the restaurant's slogan is 'the last honest pizza'. i don't really know what that implies about other pizza restaurants. =)

i filled my first plate with salmon, tuna, white fish sashimi, mix of maki rolls, ebi sushi, and seaweeds wrapped in tamago wrap. my first plate started well.

Kona Grill is one of our favorite Friday lunchout place. It tops in the number of times we eat here because of their lunch specials or what Kona calls as perfect pairings where one could pick two dishes from a list of delicious choices. Perfect pairings are only available from 11am to 2pm. I chose the mini club (a mini version of Kona's clubhouse sandwich ) and crab crunch (a roll of maki with crab and tempura crunch). I've also tried their sushi combo (contains a piece of salmon, tuna and white fish), lunch roll combo (or california roll) and mini cheeseburger. My friends have tried Kona's tomato basil bisque and clam chowder. Kona's calamari is also among the best. Kona also gives freebies to birthday celebrants who joins their club. Every now and then, they also offer discounts.

Once located at the crossroads near IT park, this fusion restaurant was one of the best places where you can get unique and fresh singaporean/indian dishes at an affordable price.


This restaurant practically makes use of the herb coriander in almost all of their dishes from the appetizers, garnish, and even up to their drinks. This makes all their dishes light and refreshing to the palate.



We had basil pesto pasta, samosas, and naan for the duration of our visit here. The grilled stuffed eggplant was also quite delicious. The toasted naan was served with salsa that fit the theme perfectly with its crisp and hint of spice. Even though they have meat dishes here, vegetarians have the option to order a meatless version of some specific food.

The ambiance was perfect, as the lighting was just right to set the mood for a perfect dinner with the company of your closest friends.


To end the meal, we also ordered a scoopful of homemade green tea geleto, just the right way to end the night.




Coriander
Crossroads





Verdict
A: 4.5/5

I would love to visit this place again, given the opportunity. Staff were courteous and polite.

 

STK Ta Bai is one of those local grill houses you usually go to when you're craving for something to share in a group, be it a business meeting, a casual date or some bonding time with the family. This house-turned-restaurant eatery has quite a lot of religious articles in it, some of which are for sale, while others are displayed as decoration. Obviously, this place has one of the best homely ambiances there is in Cebu. It is packed by the time we arrived here for lunch time, so if you're planning to come in a group, it would be nice to place a reservation in advance.

  

Like several grill houses, STK ta Bai offers unique dishes like Grilled Tuna Jaw and deep fried fried fresh fish roe. I loved their chicken soup hands down as well as their grilled scallops. Bad points of this restaurant would be their famous tuna jaw and their fish roe (served cold and oily, in short, disgusting) nor was I satisfied with their grilled squid plated with raw onions, tomatoes and scallions. Plus the fact that we had to endure the smallest table in the corner, with very poor lighting. The menu is pricey as well.

STK ta bai!
Paolito's Seafood House


Verdict:
A: 2.5/5
I don't see why people rated this place as good. It is average at best, given the reasons I stated earlier. The owner should enforce proper customer service and satisfaction as well as make more room for diners. This definitely doesn't make to my "come back to" restaurant list. :(

Big Mao

After deciding between Chinese food and Thai, we finally chose something that we haven't eaten from before. Big Mao has been in Ayala terraces for as long as I remember, though we were practically avoiding it like a plague since there were other Chinese restaurants that appealed to us more. at lunch time, the place was packed and the attendants were busy like ants, zooming here and there to attend to their customer' needs. When we were finally attended to, we asked to have a plate of lemon chicken, an entree of jellyfish with century egg, radish cake, braised bean curd. We also had fried pork served with plum sauce and assorted dim sum.



I like the crispiness of the jellyfish, above anything else. The softness of the tofu is something to be loved too (crispy on the outside and soft on the inside). Shame the sauce that comes with it isn't even on the same page. The radish cake wasn't as spectacular as we thought it would be, too. But the belly slices (we had two orders of belly, to prove it) and the dim sum are more than enough to compensate for it.



So overall, it's a split decision whether or not we'll come back to the place. Select dishes are delicious while some others are just plain weird with mismatched sauces.

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Big Mao
Ayala Terraces



Verdict:
A: 3/5

Service slow and the food isn't that exceptional.

Don merto's

Don merto's has several branches in cebu that offer delicious meals at affordable prices. But interestingly, their main branch near vacation hotel offers all you can eat tenderloin steak for the meat lovers looking for a new place to satisfy their cravings.

During Mondays, you can avail of the local short ribs meal for 300 pesos per person. It was a good deal, since it was inclusive of a basket of freshly toasted bread, a bowl of soup and small plates of side dishes of your choosing. Each bite was heavenly and heart stopping, and it is highly recommended to order an after meal tea to help digest your food (and unclog your arteries). Mom opted for cannelloni instead, since she was sure that she couldn't finish even a one plate of this rich meal at her age.

This branch of don merto's is a must visit every steak days. You can't imply say no to their mouth watering short ribs!
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One of the best places to relax on a sunny afternoon is at Casa Verde's where you can enjoy their mouth watering rib racks and their sumptuous feasts-on-a-plate. For starters, we had karlamari, shrimp pesto cream and watermelon salad.

The appetizers were followed closely by Surf and Turf, David Dean's Tenderloin and the famous Brian's ribs for the main course. The watermelon salad had a weird butter marmalade that comes with it that's satisfying all the same. The pesto noodles were a bit soggy but it makes up for the abundance of basil leaves included in the dish. Our main course dishes were spectacular, however. The meat was just right and the juices were still intact. Nothing deserves more praise than a steak well cooked just to your preference!

From the outside, Harubang is a peaceful place that offers a number of korean dishes anyone can sample. It doesn't disappoint though, not to mention the affordability and the satisfaction you can get from your dining experience. We arrived around 6:30 in the evening and was seated in one of the few available tables since several other spaces were occupied by groups of merrymaking Koreans.

Other than the noise that they made, we were satisfied by the all you can eat beef short plate that all three of us (my sister, my brother and myself) enjoyed. Surprisingly, it is much cheaper than the cost of the food in Chosun Galbi, the korean resto house we frequent. Perhaps we just visited at a wrong time.

They didn't have that cold noodle that I enjoy quite a lot however. :(


Harubang
IT Park Lahug

Verdict:
A: 3/5

The food is great, but I can't dine in peace with that much noise. It brings down the ambiance that you're paying for, especially if you're used to little noise when you're eating.