a bite of brownie

Most of the food served here are expensive, being a drinking hub with foreigners as their intended audience. For our brunch, we had a plate of hanger steak and a serve of crispy pata. Apparently, they have this secret menu not included in the tagboard they hand out.




The only thing that prevents me from giving this restaurant a good score is the price and the availability of food.

While we were driving around looking for a place to hangout one night, we accidentally came across this restaurant one evening. This quaint coffee/dessert place is located in a semi quiet environment that shies away from the busier parts of the city. At first glance it looks like a mid range establishment where people visit to find some peace and solace so they can read and study.

It was one hectic morning, with so many things to do and traffic running heavily in the background, when we decided to stop by Marina mall to visit a specific branch of Zubuchon near the airport. This particular branch, unlike its brothers and sisters, serve seafood freshly caught from the ports and delivered on the day it was taken.

Of course, what is a Zubuchon branch without its trademark Zubulechon? Yup, the crackling roast pig is still part of its ever expanding range of dishes MarketMan has in store for his customers even for this joint.

We visited this place a little close to twelve o'clock and were surprised that there was a "fish bar" north of the main door. That said, the management mentioned that it's there to showcase the fresh catch of the day. Curious, we were seated and decided to buy our usual order of seaweed platter and a kilo of boneless roast pig belly. To add to that, we also had ourselves a seafood platter and a serving of salmon sashimi.

The seafood platter arrived in a timely manner and there was scallops, tanigue, shrimp. squid and fried fish skin. The squid and the shrimp seemed to be overcooked, and so are the scallops, but the fish and the fish skin was just right.

For once, the seaweed platter that we ordered had the complete set (guso, lukot, lato) as compared to other branches of this restaurant.

The sashimi plate seemed a bit disappointing because of the ginger that was placed under the fish, which ruined the taste of the salmon. In Japanese restaurants, they add pickled ginger sparingly to the dish as a means to cleanse your palate. The ginger placed seemed to overdo it altogether.



Zubuchon
Marina Mall



Verdict:
A: 3.75/5

The food is satisfactory, save for the overcooked seafood and the sashimi plate. It's too far from Cebu city though, for us to go back to this place.

You don't see any American outdoors-inspired restaurant in this city yet, and the best thing you'd find for a good grill is AA's Grill, which is a far cry from this restaurant's . That said, something about Tex Rex makes it different from your regular run-of-the-mill grill houses. It's not about the sauce (well, part of it is, but I'll get back to that later) but the way it is grilled.

Instead of the usual way grilled meat tastes, Tex Rex's meat are infused with this a deep, smoky flavor that emboldens each bite. They have a wide plethora of dishes that you can choose from that keeps you  coming back for more.

We came here upon browsing new eats on the internet and found this neat gem in one of the expat forums we lurk around in. The family has just finished their obligations for the day and we decided to hunt for this place in Mandaue to sate our piqued interest for this "new" restaurant.

The place was moderately sized, with several sets of wooden surfaces laden with condiments in the middle of each table. The ambiance of the place feels a bit western, with horse saddles and animal hides hanging on the wall. There is a huge mirror on the far east of the place, just before the divider that leads to the maintenance closet and the washroom, with a huge imprint of TEX REX in bold white. It is a decent, not counting the on-going construction on the street.

They serve a number of dishes here at Tex Rex. The entrees they serve include ribs, roast chicken, pork shoulder, beef brisket all cooked with their secret process until tender. If you're not feeling hungry enough a large serving of their food, they have set meals with enough amounts for one person. Or, if you're really looking to just having a small meal instead, they have burgers and sandwiches for all.

Tex Rex
888 A.S. Fortuna St., Bercede Cmpd., Banilad, Mandaue City


Verdict:
A: 4.5/5

This is probably one of the best places to go to if you're tired of the local grilled flavor of fresh food. We had pulled pork, grilled chicken, pork shoulder and beef brisket to go with mashed potato and veggies.

Their beef brisket is definitely the way to go and is the best of the food they serve. Quite full in flavor and soft, you'd definitely want to eat some more. I think the reason why people dislike the food here is that they ate it too long and had it to cool down before digging in? Or maybe they just got a bad batch? It would be better to switch a few of their sauces around or completely separate the sauces for their customer's discretion, as the food tastes good on its own.

As soon as I finished the last class of the day, my sister picked me up from school in and had us both visit this fairly new restaurant located within walking distance from Cebu Doctors’ Hospital. It was an open-air restaurant with several tables and chairs for their patrons.

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.

With several banners advertising its opening to the public, the gang and I decided to give this place a visit because we've been hoping to try it since its conceptualization stage. There weren't a lot of customers so we were happily seated on a couch for comfort.

We visited this restaurant after remembering that Grand Convention  Center has once again opened its door to the locals after its very busy renovation that lasted for a few months. The new place had a contemporary new look updated to the times, with several lighting fixtures and a spacious parking lot.



We arrived here just in time before the throng of families arrived to dine at this place. Our timely arrival got us a comfortable couch seat facing most of the tables and a strategic view of the buffet arrangement by the northeast. They had a wide variety of dishes ranging from European, Chinese, and Japanese.



Compelled to sample each dish available at the present, it took me several trips to finally collect a tiny bit of each dish but giving particular attention to the sashimi bar where they serve thick tuna and salmon slices for those who requested.


I could definitely say that i was impressed by their Chinese fare as they had very exquisite tastes that were definitely true to their origins. Their dimsum were top notch, and so were their noodles that used traditional Asian herbs for spice. Alas, delicious their grub maybe, their international food were below the bar as most of them were too dry or over sauced. The desserts were also below average and tasted too sweet and tasted artificial.



Grand Majestic
Grand Convention Center, Archbishop Reyes



Verdict:
A: 3/5

i think the food was half exceptional, as there were several dishes of Chinese origin available for their guests. The price is a little too high for my tastes, and there are other restaurants that are value for money compared to this restaurant. I think the people who eat here are the loyal patrons of old coming from rich Chinese families who transact business at this place.