Must Try: Kan-anan ni Kuya J

Hey, have you guys been to "Kan-anan ni Kuya J?" Waaaahhh.. it's so lami (yummy, delish, num. num. num. hehe.) I soooo especially love their baked scallops.... sooo sooo sooo goood... scallops soaked in cheesy, buttery sauce.... sigh.... I'm in scallop heaven. Sure, you can get baked scallops anywhere. But what I really like most about their scallops is how the cheese and the butter completely went with the scallop as to actually complement it, and not overpower it. Not too much cheese as to come out too salty and dry, and just enough butter to cover the scallop and keep it soft and moist. Waaahhh... my mouth is watering already.

The scallops cost 100 pesos per plate and there's about 10 of them in one plate. I must have eaten a couple of plates in one sitting... ugh.. I'm so greedy. There's also calamares which you must also try, it comes with a dip that's really yummy too. Costs 85 pesos. And other specialties would be their grilled blue marlin and grilled tangigue (95 pesos each) , spicy scallops with mushrooms (also 95 pesos) and gambas with egg. This too costs 95 pesos.

Best to go there with family and friends as the servings are good for 2-3 people.

You can find "Kan-anan ni Kuya J" at 0391 Orchid St, Capitol Site. Hehe... I got this info off their menu. And they are open daily at 10:45-3:30 pm for lunch and 6pm-930pm for dinner except Sunday. Oh, and yeah, this is actually a house-turned-restaurant. So if you find yourself outside looking at its green gate... yep, that's the one.

This restaurant comes highly recommended. One time, we brought my dad's client, who is from Cyprus, there for lunch... the next day, he insisted on eating lunch back at Kuya J's even though we did business with him at Mactan!!! Whew!

Umm... the two black and white framed photos of their relatives atop their piano though is kinda freaky... but I could always just turn my back on them when eating. =)

My fave!!!! Kuya J's Ultimate Baked Scallops!

Schhhhlurpppp!!!

Sizzling Squid with Veggies...

Dad's favorite... Kinilaw na Bangus. =)

El Gecko Wack-o!

After watching the movie " Stardust " last weekend, Dad, Marc and I were looking for something to whet our cravings for a late-night snack. Unfortunately, the late hour made a quick narrowing down of our choices. Marc suggested that we try El Gecko right along D. Jakosalem Street. I was skeptical at first; I had been to El Gecko before and back then, it had been a loud, banging music club for rock n' roll wannabes trying to break in into the music scene... umm... not really a good place for us to eat with Dad around. But Marc assured me that El Gecko now had no more of those... what they do have are great pizzas at the most affordable prices.

Hmmm... Ok... for pizza, I was willing to give that a try.

Well, whaddya know? Turned out Marc was right. El Gecko still had the club-feel with its lights and eclectic decor, but it no longer had the banging of off-beat cymbals and scrawny guys scratching their throats out. I'd relate it more to an English pub; it was more of a home to a foreign crowd chilling over beer and billiards... or counting over poker chips... hehe. (Yep, they do have a poker table.) But their pizza... mmm..mmm. We got the Mexicana pizza... thin-crust and crisp with a yummy blend of tomato, cheese and ground beef plus a spicy kick of taco spices, garlic and jalapeno. Mmm...mmm... And the price? 220 pesos and that's a family-sized pizza! Not bad! Can we have seconds... and thirds... and fourths please???hehe!

I think Marc and I just found a great pizza parlor! =)

Oh, and if you're thinking what else is on the menu, El Gecko serves Mexican food like enchilladas, burritos, tacos and tostada with prices ranging from Php 140-170-200. They also have pasta like tagliatelle in white or meat sauce (Php 170.00) and for light bites there's garlic mushrooms and chips and salsa for around 100 pesos.

Those I've got to try when I go back there! =)

Here's a view of El Gecko's mezzanine floor... see all those lights and colors?

The place is actually pretty cool to hang out and chill.

Looking down from the mezzanine... you'll see a list of their

Wine Specials on that board over there.

Sigh... I would have taken a pic of the pizza but my Dad and Marc forked it all down before I could whip out my camera... huhu... ='(

But on my next food trip there, I'll post a pic here for you guys! =)

Mad over Guiseppe!

When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie... that's amore... Ooohhh... I just love Italian... especially when it comes to pizza and pasta. And while we're on the subject of pizza and pasta, guess where Marc took me for our anniversary dinner last Sept. 3??? Giuseppe!!! Yep, that same Giuseppe pizza restaurant that I've been itching to go to since Noel Flowers told me about it... what? 2 years ago? Oooohhhh... I just love the place! Their pizza is soooo fantastic! And it's reasonably priced too. You can get a 12" family-sized pizza for around Php360-420. And we're talking about real Italian pizza here... real tomatoes, mozzarella, Italian sausages... Parma ham... ooohhhh...

I had a hard time deciding what to eat! There were sooo many good stuff that I wanted to try! For pizza, we finally settled on Gregorio; the waiter suggested it was their specialty. It was gorgeous... simple... classy (not a hodge-podge of toppings thrown haphazardly together.) It looked like real home-made pizza. I love it! The tomato sauce... light and flavorful, the sweet mozzarella, the thin dough that's perfectly balanced between crisp and chewey... and ooohhh...long thin slices of prosciutto right on top!!! (that's Parma ham, by the way.) I love it! I love it! I love it!

And of course, the pasta. Since I'm more of the white-sauce pasta fanatic, we ordered Penne Martina, or penne in four cheeses (sauce). Penne Martina, and most of their pasta dishes, costs Php360.00 but it's a huge serving of pasta that's good enough for 2-3 persons. The four cheese sauce was thick and creamy; I love the burst of nutty flavor by the Parmesan cheese when I covered my penne with it... Marc though, thought it was weird to eat pasta with just simply pasta and sauce (he's used to the more meaty American spaghetti.) I laughed and said, "That's Italian, beveh. Less is more."

Jokingly, I took a slice of prosciutto from the pizza, cut it up into bits and tossed them in the penne. "Here. Now you've got meat on your pasta!"

Hahahahaha!!!

Oh, we did have some pizza and pasta left over. Guess what I did with the penne? I heated it up in the microwave, tossed some olives and bacon and a sprinkle of basil (i love basil!) and ta daaaahhhh!!! Mmmmmmm!!! Now that's what I call a leftover-makeover!!!! =)

A real beaut of a pizzeria tucked in Ma. Luisa North, Banilad...

Top to bottom glass windows give you a great view of the outside yet maintaining that feel of intimacy for a... ahem... special date. >=)

There in that big hot oven lies the heart of Giuseppe's pizza goodness!

Giuseppe's Gregorio Pizza... sigh! My camera just couldn't do it justice! ='(

A huge plate of Penne Martina... penne in Four Cheeses (sauce) sprinkled with Parmesan cheese. Hehe... I accidentally gave the pasta a quick toss before I remembered to take a picture of it. Whooops!

Lotsa olives, loads of bacon and dashes of basil dressed up my leftover Giuseppe pasta!

Yum! Yum! Yum!!!!

Buon appetito everyone!!!! =)

Everything Shawarma at The Shawarma Place!

I remember the first time I ate shawarma at The Shawarma Place along Mabolo street; I couldn't stop gushing over it. Sure, you can probably get shawarma anytime in food carts inside the mall, but hey, if you truly want to get into the experience of eating shawarma, you absolutely have to try eating one at The Shawarma Place. Loads of chopped beef and veggies tightly wrapped with pita bread oozing with garlic sauce and barbecue sauce... ooohhhh... Think nothing different? Think again. Shawarma Place serves their shawarmas thick and full, not like the skinny, half-filled ones you get for 35 pesos. Ok, so their shawarma does cost 45 pesos apiece but you do get what you pay for... that means tons of beef in your sandwich. Don't you just sometimes hate how some shawarma stalls can be too skimpy on the beef???

Oh wait. It gets even better. You absolutely have to try their Sizzling Shawarma... it's an original-- and their specialty... and it's great for those who like shawarma without the pile of veggies. It's Shawarma served sizzling-sisig style... mmm...mmm... Try it; you'll crave for it. I swear. And I like the fact that they've totally jazzed up the whole concept of shawarma as just being a sandwich. This time you get to enjoy shawarma ala pica-pica. Get some beef, pile on a quarter of a pita bread, squeeze on loads and loads of sauces (unlimited garlic and sweet bbq on the house) tuck them all in (and as best as you can! Hehe!) then eat the whole thing up! Hehe, does get your hands covered in sauces but hey, that's what makes the whole thing fun! =) And the best part? A whole plate costs only 50 pesos. YEAH!!!

Oh, and sizzling shawarma over a drinking bout with friends? Perfect. =)

Beautiful, beautiful sizzling shawarma... mmm... mmm...

With the egg tossed and pita on the side. By the way, you can get the pita bread at 7 pesos apiece. They'll cut them up in quarters for you.

Yeah, that's right. Pile 'em all in and pile 'em high!!!

Drizzle 'em sauces... oooohhhhhhhh...

Man, all this food writing is making me hungry. Time to eat a little smackerel of something... hehehehe!!! =)

Crepes-a-Go-Go? Crepes-a-No-No

There were three things I couldn't get over from my recent trip to sun-kissed Boracay... the exquisite beach (super fine sand... huge crashing waves) the Flying Fish and of course, the absolutely delicious Crazy Crepes... huge tasty crepes filled with luscious toppings of your choice, rolled into a cone like one gigantic ice cream cone that you can walk around with. It was a novel way of eating crepes; I like the fact that they had completely stripped off the crepe's image of being a fancy treat served in just-as-fancy restaurants. I, in particular, fell in love with Crazy Crepes' blueberry-vanilla crepe overloaded with blueberries in syrup, vanilla ice cream, oh-so-yummy whipped cream and corn flakes as well as the peach-vanilla (same thing minus the blueberries.) I couldn't decide which one to have so I had Marc get the blueberry while I ordered the peach (I ended up eating both of them...Hehe! >:p)

You could just imagine the savory experience... we were in crepe heaven. So when Chinx, Marc and I saw a poster of Crepes-a-Go-Go on one of Ayala Cebu's surface parking lots boasting of something akin to the Crazy Crepes that we fell in love with in Boracay, we were all out of our pants itching to give it a try. It also helped that the crepes cost an average of 35 pesos (+ -)apiece, waaayyyy lower than what Crazy Crepes cost in Boracay (around 75-100++ pesos.)Chinx, in particular, couldn't wait after we had dinner; she ordered one right away, ("One strawberry crepe please... so we can taste it first, " she reasoned out.) We were glad she did though because it proved to be a disappointment.

The crepe was a mess, as if the staff making it hadn't had much training on the proper way of making a neat crepe. One crepe took a very long time to make and the crepe cook could make only one crepe at a time despite the fact that they had 2 crepe makers and there were two persons in charge, in the first place. While one cooks, the other one simply just stands there and giggles as if she's embarrassed to do anything. When the crepe was done, they gave it to us so hot on a paper cone that Chinx ended up tossing it to me and I ended up tossing it on the table. So much for presentation. We didn't know what to say. The crepe was too floppy, it couldn't be held in a cone, which totally ruined the concept of crepes to go. I know crepes are supposed to be made thin but if it can't even hold its shape enough to be held by hand... I mean, why bother? I think it would be better served in a nice plate instead. Taste-wise... the filling was yummy but I didn't particular care for the crepe itself. It was chewey and tasted bland.

It was a far cry from the Crazy Crepes that we fell in love with in Bora. Maybe it's because Crepes-a-Go-Go was recently launched and the staff was new to the whole crepe making thing. Maybe in a week or two, we would see some improvements. But I don't see myself craving for any Crepes-a-Go-Go anytime soon. = (

Sweet Treats from Boracay... Crazy Crepes!

Mmm... mmm... Check out all those crepe flavors!

Couldn't wait to dig in! Counterclockwise from top: Apple-Vanilla Crazy Crepe, Blueberry-Vanilla, Peach-Vanilla and Mango-Vanilla Crazy Crepe



The new Crepes-a-Go-Go in Ayala Cebu's Food Choices

Crepes-a-Go-Go's Strawberry Crepes costs only 35 pesos... but I would be willing to pay 100 for 100% satisfaction

Gaga over Go Nuts Donuts!

I just looooove Go Nuts Donuts!!! Tra la la la la la!!! The donuts that could make me crow at the top of my lungs: "Insanely delicious!" Haha! And that's exactly what Go Nuts Donuts claims... "Go Nuts Donuts... Insanely Delicious" =)

Chocolate Frost, Strawberry Glaze... mmm...mmm! There's just something about the way these donuts are made; light, soft and fluffy... the way it seems to melt in your mouth the moment you start to bite into it. Incomparable! And the frosting? Don't you just hate the way some donuts claim "strawberry frosting" but it tastes just like sugar colored pink? Not these donuts! Chocolate tastes like chocolate; strawberries like strawberries and peanut butter like peanut butter! They've even got peanut butter donuts!

I wish I could taste all flavors but there's just too many of them to try out... huhuhu... ='( Loops like Chocolate Frost and Strawberry Glaze cost about 24 pesos apiece but if you wanna try their Primadonna donuts like the Black Forest with its white chocolate frosting and choclate shavings plus cherry jam toppings (whew!) they cost 28 pesos apiece. Chinx bought a dozen for the three of us. I got ChocoMallow Frost and a Primadonna donut called Blueberry Stuffits and I would have eaten more if Marc hadn't wiped everything in sight in a matter of seconds! Grrrr!!!

Oh, and you've got to try their Teazzings! too. Hehe, that's just their fancy name for iced tea really but theirs is truly one of a kind (not the usual popular brand of powdered iced tea typically served in most restaurants.) You can go for Lemon, Apple, Melon, Pineapple, Grapes and Lychee... (LAMPGL... yep I think I have them covered. Hehe!) I never even knew iced tea could have that many flavors! And yeah, apple tastes like apple, grapes taste like grapes; both of which we had by the way. =)

Too bad I live too far from Banilad Town Center (BTC) to grab a Go Nuts donut any time I want to. ='( But hey, they do have a take-out counter outside the main entrance of Robinsons in Fuente Osmena, if it's any consolation. Hehe. Although, BTC is perfect if you're thinking about unwinding with donuts over coffee (they have tables provided outdoors to do just that.)

Go nuts over donuts with Go Nuts Donuts!!! Yehey!!! =)

Welcome to Go Nuts Donuts at Banilad Town Center! =)

Go Nuts Donuts array of insanely delicious donuts! Yum!

I was lucky enough to get a pic of these before Marc could eat them up! =) From left to right: Chocolate Frost, Strawberry Glaze and Blueberry Stuffits

Chillin' and Eatin' @ Fisherman's Net

Ok, here's the pic. Where should we chill today? High-end coffeeshops with their AC's were definitely off the list. We needed a place where we could just hang out for a chat and smoke, devour a good lunch without it having to burn a deep hole in our pockets. Then Chinx suggested, Fisherman's Net along Lahug main road would do the trick.

"Where else can you find a tall glass of mango shake that costs only 20 pesos???" Chinx declared. Hmmm... even I couldn't counter that. Fisherman's Net it is.

The outdoor garden restaurant provided just the relaxed atmosphere we were looking for. And what was on the menu? Hmmm... appetizers ranged from the 120-peso-bulaklak, gambas, calamares down to the 30-peso-squid rolls and kikiam. Specialties go from the 130-peso-sizzling stuffed squid, boneless bangus and buttered chicken priced at 110 pesos each down to the 50-peso-French fries. Oh, they do have value meals too. For 55 pesos, you can have either meat balls, chicken bbq, sweet and sour pork, buttered chicken... just to name a few, and that already comes with rice, a side dish of atchara and a small glass of iced tea. I had a moment of confusion though coz they also offered the same dishes at 60 pesos but without the iced tea. Asked whether the 60-peso dish was of a bigger serving, the waiter replied that they were served the same size. So...???

We settled on Pork Sisig (100 pesos, no rice), a chicken bbq value meal and of course, a couple of those 20-peso mango shakes. The mango shakes were great, although I would prefer to taste more mango, less or no milk on my shake though but then to each his own. And for 20 pesos? Still worth it.) Pork sisig? Serving size, fine. Taste? Delish. The chicken bbq meal? Yummy but... I specifically asked for a thigh part and they gave me a teeny weeny drumstick. Hmm...

Great food, slow service though. And you might want to double check your bill first if they charged you with the right order.