Fresh Fish, Anyone?

I'm not sure if cooking will ever be for me but I just watched this movie that made me want to learn how to cook even more. Anyway, I'm not going to talk about what happens in the kitchen but about my little dining adventure at Santa Fe in Bantayan Island, Cebu.

We stayed at the island for one a night. First lunch was not good. In fact it was terrible. After four hours of traveling, we got so tired and hungry to think that we went straight to the resort's restaurant and ordered plain Fried Porkchops and Fish Tinola. Tinola is a kind of soup. It's described in Wikipedia but the definition isn't enough. I'll probably talk more about it one day. Enough of sidetracking, the pork tasted as if it was marinated in detergent and the fish in the soup didn't even seem to amount to a quarter of a kilo like the waitress said. We wasted a lot of money for that.

So when dinner came we decided to go on a tight budget and just ate Chicken Inasal (roasted chicken) instead of dining in the expensive restaurants in the market. The next day we skipped breakfast because we spent so much time watching and taking photos of the sunrise and just swimming in the ocean. Just before noon time, we went back to the same place where we had dinner and ordered something more filling this time.

We ordered Fried Calamares and Fish Tinola. Why the same dish? We were on an island of fishermen and it would break my heart to be not able to eat fresh fish at my satisfaction. We got to choose which fish we want and here are photos of our dear fish friends before they hit the skillet. FYI, the dotted fish (rabbit fish) is locally called danggit.


I was nervous about the Calamares. I have tasted several different kinds but there are only a few I honestly liked. The cook didn't make it very good looking but it tasted really good. No rubbery feeling, none at all!


This is becoming the longest and most boring food entry here but hey, I'm just thinking loud. The Fish Tinola was just superb. It tasted like fish but didn't smell like fish. I should learn using appropriate adjectives here but I'm sure you got my point.


Santa Fe market had a row of restaurants but I should be grateful to that guy who gave us a tip about this one. The place actually didn't look like a restaurant at all. Just across are vendors selling goods such as dried fish.


The place was called "Arjaymay." Here's a shot of the restaurant and their menu. The menu was limited but you can have fish cooked anyway you like it. Right now, this is one of my "must dine" places in Santa Fe market and I recommend it to anyone who wants to enjoy fresh seafood without spending a fortune.

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Calamares only cost us PHP120 (approx. USD2.4) while Tinola at PHP180 (USD3.6). Four guests were satisfied at that price so it's safe to say it is inexpensive. And no, they paid me no dime for this post. ;)

Check here for all photos.

Fredoccino

Starbucks may have coined the term Frappuccino but that doesn't mean they have the best blended ice drinks. I am not really good at discovering food on my own. Most of the time I rely on my friends' recommendations and here's one drink I tried a week or two ago. They call it Fredoccino.


So is this some kind of frappe? I think it is but the ice granules were so fine that they went down my throat smoothly and almost freezing it. My first impression was, it must be a milkshake, but I ordered mocha and you can taste the coffee and chocolate in it.

Since we were planning to have a drink and chat at the same time, we decided to order potato wedges as well. I'm not really fond of potatoes but this one didn't disappoint me. After trying their crisp wedges, I would never think of potato the same way again. Sounds cheesy but true.

It took me about twenty minutes to consume my Fredoccino. I could have taken much more time if it weren't for a timed break. Now I have another place to go back to. Thanks to Brennan for introducing me to Fredoccino and for this new perspective here. I always shoot up close and it's nice to view food from the top this time.


To anyone interested in Fredoccino, check out Mocha Blends in Skyrise Building, Asiatown IT Park, Cebu. Everyone must think I frequent this park. Yes I do! I go here to work everyday. :)

Mango Sushi

Mango Sushi is not rice sushi in any way. Instead, it's mango wrapped in a crepe. I never heard of the unique name until a colleague introduced me to this restaurant called East West in The Walk, Asiatown IT Park, Cebu. This is the same place where Figaro, the coffee shop I talked about from my previous post, is located.

I loved the dessert since the first time we met. I went to the restaurant again with a close friend and my camera. The goal was to eat this fancy crepe but it was dinner time too so we ordered some rice meal.


Citrus chicken sounded attracted so I had it while my friend had her favorite hungarian sausage. Both were served with rice and a side dish. I have to admit I wasn't crazy about the chicken. Meat was tender but it wouldn't be as tasty without the sauce. I have to say the fresh tomatoes were a good complement. I had a bite of the sausage too but couldn't think of anything to describe it except that it's the same spicy sausage everyone loves.


Finally, dessert was served. Fresh mango slices neatly wrapped in crepes were topped with a huge scoop of vanilla ice cream. Mango syrup went trickling from the top which made the dessert even more tempting. The taste exceeded the presentation which was good I think. Now this seem to be the next best thing to Mango Float for me. They served the dessert with fork and knife which I didn't find so useful. If I don't need a spoon for this then someone needs to educate me now.


The restaurant has several ways of serving crepe and I plan to try everything. Overall, dinner satisfied both me and my friend and I recommend the place to anyone who wants to have a not-so-expensive dinner and a delicious crepe.

Figaro

An old friend and I went to this cafe called Figaro in one of Cebu's fast-developing business districts, Asiatown IT Park. We preferred this place because they had free Wi-Fi and my friend needed to do some research while we catch up. The place seemed like the perfect spot. It wasn't crowded at all and park right across was so green.


Food was good though it wasn't the cheapest. We tried a few of their cakes. I'm not really good at remembering names that is why sometimes I keep the receipts to remind of the stuff I just ate. I think we had something like a brownie that day. I would have failed if I've gone to culinary school.


We pampered the sweet tooth too much and so we decided to order something that would trigger the rest of the taste buds. For some reason, sandwiches always taste good to me as long as it had all the right fillings. We were served with a fat clubhouse sandwich with lots of tomatoes, cheese, lettuce and everything else you could imagine in between two slices of bread. What more could I ask for?


I always prefer tea but this was one of those days when I had to try something different. It wasn't the sunniest day but the coffee latte warmed up my heart.

Sweet Night

Eating is always a guilty pleasure but then who wants to stop eating?

My friend and I went to this cafe called Postrio after a long day of walking in the park and dinner. It was an instant decision and everything ordered was the most attractive pieces on the shelf. I rarely eat my brownie with ice cream and hot fudge on it so that night we tried some.

Of course, we also had the always coveted chocolate cake. I love how they spent a little more time to decorate it. Good looking food is always interesting and tempting.

We finished the night with some green tea though we didn't want any more perking up. We eventually spent the rest of the night talking about life and just feeling happy about it.