My friends and I were just walking around the area when we saw this place. It looks quaint in the outside, and so pretty in the inside. I took a lot of pictures too! The model in the poster is so good-looking it attracted my friends and I to go in.

We ordered the claypot rice which was really awesome. I heard it's popular in Singapore that's why I tried it out. But the best order we've had was the thai glass noodles. The taste was really perfect!

It was quite affordable too I must say!

It was a Friday night, my friend and I wanted to go out and have dinner. Since it was a payday Friday, we thought that restaurants and malls would really get crowded. All we wanted to do was eat and relax.

So we thought of looking for a place, with less crowd and less noise. Only one thing came to mind and it was The Gallery.

Since we have not decided on which restuarant to eat at The Gallery, we decided to go look around first. Luckily, we spotted Jose Maria's Bistro. My friend wanted to dine al fresco, and Jose Maria's has set up chairs and tables outside. It was a lovely night to spend outside.

We were both starving and so we right away orderd. For starters we ordered the Taco Salad, the way its made is that the taco is like the crust under. The lettuce is placed on top of the taco with the beef, cheese, and tomatoes on it. It was good and we wiped the plate clean. We also ordered Calamari, as appetizers but it arrived with our main dish. Their calamari is not like the calamari of other restaurants, I think they used small squids, and don't put much bread crumbs to it. So if you can only imagine the calamari that our moms make at home. Its just like that.

For our main dish, my friend ordered a fillet fish with lemon sauce. And I ordered a pork steak. Both were good. They also have this citrus drink in a pitcher which you can share. The waiter even thought that we were ordering for four people. Because we ordered a lot. The drink was also good I would recommend it.

For all our order we paid almost P800. So more or less, P400 each per person. Overall I think it was worth it.

This is also a perfect restuarant if you want to be away from the crowd. In fact, The Gallery is where you should dine if you want less crowd.

We went to Yakiniku Tajimaya at Crossroads for dinner because it was my papa's birthday! Originally, we had planned to go to this taiwanese shabu-shabu place near Ayala, but it was packed when we got there so my parents suggested we go to Yakiniku instead. It was a new experience, having to go to a restaurant and actually cook your own food. Similar to shabu-shabu places, you cook your own food too, but most of it's (shabu-shabu) already half-cooked and all you need is to let it simmer in the broth. At Yakiniku, you grill your own food-- charcoal barquettes, of course. You're probably getting this image in your mind of Larsian, where it's all smokey and foggy hahaha that's what I had originally expected too, but they used charcoal, instead of the usual "uling" which is typically used for bbqs in the Philippines. It took us a couple of orders to get the grilling thing right, so if you, dear reader, plan on going to Yakiniku, here are some tips I've thought of:

1. You're probably really hungry and can't wait to eat, but seriously, be patient in cooking your food. The Japanese may be used to eating raw fish and chicken (yes, some Jap dishes include raw chicken), but are you? Ever heard of Salmonella? Ecoli? Trichinosis? Ring any bells? Yes? No? Perfect time for google.

2. Don't dump all your meat on the grill at once. We did that the first try, and it ended up being a total fail. We could smell our meat burning, but we couldn't really pick out which one was burnt because there was too much meat on the grill. Place the pieces evenly apart from each other, not too far apart, and not too close, while flipping them over every now and then to evenly cook the meat.

3. Use the tongs provided on the table. Do Not use your chopsticks! They're flammable, remember?

4. Fire's too hot? Ask for ice.

5. Spice it up. Other than the chili sauce they give you, per table, there's a tray of sauces. Experiment. There's soy sauce (i'm guessing Kikkoman?), this green thing that's kinda gingery and garlicy and oniony all in one, this red paste which is really tomatoey, and this other paste that's dark brown. Sauce is free. Abuse it. *Kidding.

6. Mouth feeling too hot? Chill. There's free ice cream ;)

Yakiniku's a bit pricey, but if you're doing it right, it's totally worth it!

See more photos and the original post on my blog:
http://januarygypsy.blogspot.com/2012/03/you-cook-you-eat-you-pay.html

I was the first time I ate at Rai Rai Ken, and it was a big disappointment. Let me start off on the positive note, the service is good. Our server was courteous, attentive and pleasant.

On to the "to be improved" points:

Ambiance:
It's summer, we expect the AC to be functioning, we would have walked out if we were not so hungry. I

Food:
I ordered a bowl of Shark's Fin Ramen and the group ordered a sushi plate to share. I couldn't place the taste of the ramen's soup. I am a ramen lover so I know how a good ramen tastes like. The noodles are stale and the soup is simply a let down. It lacks the authentic Japanese ramen flavor is famous for. The garnishing is comparable to the ones in "mami" you order in local canteens.

The sushi is fairly good, i'll give them that, but nothing special. Big portions though, worthy of the price.

Having spent the whole day swimming in lagoons, beach and pools in Plantation Bay Resort & Spa, we were ready to feed our wildly protesting tummies, fast.

Since we were in Mactan Island, famous for its succulent seafood, we decided to try out Fiji Restaurant. The ambiance was pretty straightforward for a high-end resort restaurant, with classy wood furniture and fixture. Considering that the resort is relatively pricey, we were a bit wary to go on an order spree even if we feel like eating food by the truckload. The server recommended the Grilled Seafood set for the three of us, saying that the set is good for four. So there's more than enough if we decide to pig out a little. Best of all, the set is no more than Php1,500, a true bargain for tourists on a budget like me!

The set was composed of servings of lobster, shrimps, mussels, salmon, pork barbecue, salted eggs, tomatoes, and sidings of atchara, green mangoes and bagoong (shrimp paste) served in a large bilao (winnow).

Every bit and morsel is so yummy, juicy and flavorful. The seafood was definitely fresh and grilled to perfection, no frills. The three of us managed to finish the whole thing, save for a small bunch of parsley. If they can manage to include the beverage in the set, it would be more wonderful.

By the way, the "No Tipping Policy" is enforced, but the service remained excellent.

You might have heard of Dong Juan. No its not your neighbor's sari-sari store. Its one of Cebu's very own famed restaurant.

It started out as a hole-in-the-wall type of restaurant, but now it has grown into several franchised branches. Wondering whats making it famous? Of course its the food!

They have good set of menu from appetizer to dessert. Whats good about Dong Juan, is everything listed in its menu is a favorite of any Cebuano and even non Cebuanos.

My personal favorite is their version of ribs, their gourmet burger, beef tadyang, and cream brulee for dessert is a must-try! And they have this ice tea with special container, you should try it too.

Even if the food is good, the price is really affordable. If you are with a group you can share the bill and you wont even feel that you have spent.

Cafe Uno has always been my favorite. My friends and I dine here when we want to indulge. Its quite expensive but I think its worth it.

Uno restaurant both at the Waterfront Hotel Casino and Waterfront Airport have a good spread of different cuisine. If you want Chinese, you can have any Chinese food you like from noodles to any type of siomai.

If its Japanese you want, you can have all types of maki, sushi and sashimi. Uno also has mediterranean spread, so you will never ran out of options.

And the dessert area is haven for me! It has all my favorites! Even wasabe ice cream! I so love it!

Just a tip: Dine early specially if you are there for the buffet. If you're late, they really dont refill much so you would end up with a few choices or you would have to ask them again and again to refill!

I never get tired of eating at Larsians. Whenever I go to Cebu, I always look forward to visit this place. My boyfriend and I went to Cebu and I introduced Larsian to him. Sad thing because Larsian was under renovation during our stay so we didn’t enjoy much the place. There were only few stalls but still the affordable foods were still there. We ordered barbeque, chorizo, chicken wings, squid, fish and puso rice. We were 12 in the group and our bill was only 1000 pesos. Very affordable right? My boyfriend was happy and excited to try Larsian on his next visit. I’m sure by that time, it’s bigger and beautiful.

Before going to Taoist Temple, we had our lunch first at AA BBQ. This is very famous in Cebu that’s why we don’t want to missed the experienced. There were many tourists dining in at that time. The place is simple and big that can accommodate big groups. We were only three that time. My boyfriend and my cousin. The set up here is that you will be the one choosing which food that you want to be cook. There are many choices from pork, chicken and sea foods. We tried pork and chicken barbeque. We also ordered a very refreshing mango shake. We really full that time. The barbeque was tasty and was well cooked. We really had a great dining experienced at AA BBQ. We’ll surely go back to this place. It’s affordable and enjoyable.

During our stay at Cebu, my cousins brought us to Mango Avenue. This is where the night gets exciting. This is the ultimate party destination in Cebu. There are lots of clubs and bars located in Mango Avenue. This time we tried Casanova. The place is small. If you want loud music and dance all night you can go inside of the bar. There were people dancing and partying inside. We don’t want loud music so we chose to stay outside. We ordered Red Margarita for the ladies and San Miguel Apple flavor for the boys. We really enjoyed that night. We just chilled and boozed around and enjoy sharing stories and laughing throughout the night. It was an unforgettable experienced for my boyfriend and me. Thanks to my cousins because we experienced Partying in Cebu style. The next time I’ll visit Cebu, I’ll try other bar 

My boyfriend and I had our Pre-Valentine celebration at Cebu. We stayed there for 3 days and 2 nights. I brought him at Ayala and had our lunch at Moon Café. This restaurant is very famous in Cebu. This is a Mexican restaurant. The place has an orange and black theme. The interiors and decors are cute. My boyfriend tried Moon Café Steak served with garlic rice. This is a best seller. It comes on a big serving. The sauce was tasty and perfect partner with the steak. The meat was soft and tender. He really enjoyed the steak. Mine was fish fillet served with vegetables and garlic rice. It was served hot. The fish fillet was crispy and tender. The dip was perfect partner with my fillet. I also enjoyed it. It was enticing and satisfying. For our drinks, we ordered watermelon shake. It was really refreshing. Overall, we really had a great dining experienced at Moon Café. It’s affordable and enjoyable. I’ll definitely recommend this place to my friends and family. So if you guys visit Cebu, don’t forget to dine and try Moon Café.