WHEN IN CEBU: SPICE FUSION

Spice Fusion-ing like a boss

           Before I left for Cebu, I got in touch with the Cebu based food blogger known as the "Babe For Food", to ask for suggestions of places that I should check out when I get to Cebu. She gave me a concise and extremely thorough list, that included some very interesting suggestions. Something that she strongly recommended, was the restaurant "Spice Fusion". I kept it under my radar, because I'm a big fan of South East Asian Fusion, which is something that Spice Fusion boasts. But with the short amount of time I was there, I wasn't certain what places I'd be able to visit.

      I was at Cebu for a day, when my mom's good friend asked me where I planned on going. Naturally I said the usual staples, Harbor City, Zubuchon, and Sunburst. 

     She had just brought us an entire from Farley's Special Lechon (which my mom likes more than Zubuchon), so I was aware that she knew a thing or two about food, So when I asked her for a suggestion, she said very emphatically, "Spice Fusion!".  


   So two people whose taste I trust when it comes to food gave a resounding recommendation to Spice Fusion, so I knew they must have something good going on.  
  
  So I left the beach, and decided to take Rina and Baby Rain out on a date to Cebu City, with our first stop.. Spice Fusion!

RIGHT ON 'CUE: MODERN BARBECUE

          Ahh yes.. Barbecue.. Perhaps my favorite food group. I'm going to be the first to admit that I have a weakness for food that is prepared in this highly esteemed method of cooking. From Barbecued meats, to the different types of sauces, it matters not. I love them all. 

      A couple of weeks ago, a childhood friend of mine, Chaveli, posted a picture on Instagram (follow me, pickiesteater!) that showed "Steak & Bone Marrow Tacos" from a Restaurant called "Cue: Modern Barbecue", with the apt caption, "Heart attack on a plate'. Chavs explained to me that it was a new restaurant at Bonifacio High Street that was opened by couple of our childhood friends from Cebu, Jon and Pebbles. 

     Regardless, though, the concept alone, "Modern Barbecue" had my full attention 

QUICK PICK: SUNBURST CHICKEN.. CHICK N' CRACKER'S!

    I've mentioned time and time again that I lived in Cebu during the late 80's to the early 90's.. Way before it became the blooming metropolis that it is now. Back then, TV shows were recorded from Manila, and aired one week later on local stations. 

    During that time, Cebu didn't have Jollibee.. It had "Orange Brutus". It didn't have McDonald's, it had "MacJoy". Instead of Max's Chicken, we had "Mothers Chicken"..

    And in lieu of Kentucky Fried Chicken, we had Sunburst. And I won't lie to you, Sunburst Chicken is quite good. It's juicy, crispy, and very tasty, but definitely notches below the finger licking good creations of the good Colonel. 

    However, there's one thing on their menu that KFC does not.. 

        The Chick N' Crackers.

LECHON LOVE AT CEBU'S ZUBUCHON!

 

       Something I believe I took for granted in all my years in Cebu, was their lechon. In all honesty, I didn't realize that Cebu Lechon tasted different from Lechon anywhere else, because my dad would have Cebu Lechon flown in from Cebu for family events (Trust me, it sounds "Sosyal" but its actually done quite often by Cebunanos). But then again, during my days in Cebu, Lechons were only really available as a whole.. And despite my declarations of love for the animal, there was no way I could finish an entire pig by myself, let alone afford it. Aside from that, there wasn't really a place back then where I could sit down and enjoy a kilo of Cebu Lechon at a reasonable rate. 

        According to my dad (Who spends most of his time in Cebu), two places have risen to the top of the Lechon heap in Cebu.

    One of them has the distinction of having none other than World Famous Chef Anthony Bourdain declared it "The Best Pig Ever".. 

    This is the awesomeness of Zubuchon. 

IT'S OFF TO GRAMS DINER WE GO!

       Just last weekend, my company went on our annual summer outing at Zambales. We had lunch at around 1pm, and after a couple of hours of duty free shopping, we headed back to Manila by around 5pm. And though I absolutely demolished everything that I had ordered during our late lunch, I was building up quite an appetite on the bus ride home. Which was totally fine, since I had promised Rina and Chaikka that I would be treating them for dinner, as a reward from picking me up at the office, with Baby Rain to boot! (Proud daddy showing off his baby girl)


     When they picked me up, they were, of course, expecting me to have set plans for dinner already. Unfortunately, all of my suggestions were rejected because I had forgotten that both Rina and Chaikka have a "No Rice? No Thank You" policy when it comes to restaurant choices for dinner. 


     As we entered Bonifacio Global City, I realized that a Diner that I had been wanting to blog about had conveniently opened near the MC Home Depot area.


     All the two sisters had two hear was the word "Diner", and they were sold.. We were going to have a "Late Night Breakfast" at Grams Diner.  

THE CHOW DOWN AT HOLY COW STEAK RANCH & AMERICAN GRILL

     One weekend, Rina, Baby Rain and I found ourselves in  Megamall figuring out where to eat. After already trying the awesomeness of Yabu, I found myself rather unenthusiastic about the remaining choices. All I knew was one thing.. My carnivore instincts had to be satisfied. I was thinking something really meaty, like a steak or a rack of ribs (Which isn't saying much because that's pretty much what I crave for every meal time, but still) so as we walked around the MegaMall Atrium, it was pretty much a no-brainer for me when I saw the name of the restaurant before me.. 

     Holy Cow Steak Ranch and American Grill.

COOLING DOWN AT SWENSEN'S

                Last weekend, Rina, my brother, my cousin Neil and I trooped over to Eastwood so I could finally watch The Avengers. A movie like The Avengers is something that I would normally watch on the first showing of the first day, however since Rain's Yaya hasn't isn't back from her vacation, we had to nix that idea (Word of advice: In the future, check movie schedules before allowing your daughter's Yaya to go on leave). 


          I wanted to make it a special, relaxing experience for Rina because she's been so stressed out at work and taking care of Rain by herself while I'm at work, so I got her tickets to the Ultra Theater, which is famous for it's comfortable Lazy Boy Chairs. Since it was a blockbuster movie, we got there by 10:30am to get the tickets for the 2:30pm showing, which gave us enough time to eat and go around the mall without feeling rushed.


       2:20pm came along and we made our way to the Ultra Cinema Lobby, only to find out that the cinema kept going through power fluctuations, so they cancelled our viewing. If we wanted to watch, they would give us a refund but we would have to line up once again to get new seats at the other Eastwood mall..defeating the purpose of going to the mall at 10:30am. we ended up missing the 3:30pm showing, and had to wait for the next one at 5:30pm. 


      As you can imagine, I was pissed off. What was supposed to be a relaxing day out for Rina turned into us walking around the mall for seven hours just to wait for a movie!


     Whilst we were waiting for the 5:30pm showing, Rina found out that the international Ice Cream Parlor, "Swensen's" was having their soft opening that day as well. Since I was in a serious need of "cooling off', I thought with how I was feeling, some Ice cream would be absolutely perfect. 

FINALLY.... MOMO CAFE!

Find the hidden Richie

           Sometime last year, our cousin Rosalyn came back from the states for a short visit and asked Rina if she could take us and the rest of the clan out for dinner. Rina was already looking to spend a day with Rosalyn, so having dinner with her was a no brainer. After finally finding a schedule wherein most of the cousins could make it, they settled on Eastwood as the meeting place, since it would be most convenient for everyone. Naturally, Rina said is everyone was asking me for suggestions on where to eat at Eastwood. I told Rina that I had been wanting to go to Momo for quite some time because I've heard some very good things about it. 

        Since it was a weekday and I work in Makati, you can imagine how my drive to Libis was at the height of rush hour. While I was on my hellish ride to Eastwood, Rina called me up to ask what I wanted to order, so that it would be there when I arrived. Since I was busy maneuvering through C-5 traffic, I told her, "Babe, you know me.. You'd know what I'd want to order when you see it." 

       I finally get to Momo and everyone had settled in. Rina tells me that she ordered me the Slow Roasted Herb U.S. Roast Beef Fingers. That would have been perfectly fine and it was definitely something that I would have ordered.. Had I not seen the dish that was listed two items just above it.. 


      3" Thick Sweet Glazed Double Smoked Bacon. 


     I was actually quite shocked that Rina didn't instantly think of me as soon as she read it (everyone else did), but she was just so excited to see her cousin again, that she managed to miss out that item completely. 


     Though I enjoyed the Beef fingers, I couldn't get the thought of the 3" Thick Bacon out of my head. I swore that it would go against every fiber of my being if I wrote a Cafe Momo post that didn't include it. 


     So here I am, true to my word, nearly eight months later.. 


     Ladies and Gentlemen, this is my Momo Cafe post.