Wakamatsu Yakiniku Japanese restaurant in Cebu: A Must Try

It's now time to taste some Japanese dishes for a change and I just discovered a Japanese restaurant which you may like. Welcome to Waka Matsu Yakiniku Japanese Restaurant located in Pacific square Building, F. Cabahug Street, Mabolo, Cebu City.

As you enter the restaurant, one could hear Japanese greetings from the waitresses. The ambiance is very Japanese so that you feel you are brought into the set of a Japanese movie.

So it is not just the food which is Japanese. One gets to eat the Japanese way.

We sat on the floor. Wet towels are provided to keep your hands clean.

It is eat-all-you-can in this restaurant and during dinner the cost is around P560 each as long as there are no leftovers.

As you can see from the picture above, the table has grills as the customers will do the grilling themselves of some of the food. To prevent smoke from filling the room, a vacuum and exhaust of sorts is placed above the grill. The grilling add to the unique and fun experience.

I liked all the food that we ordered.

The Ranchi Karubi Yaki (Angus beef) and the Buta Karubi Yaki (Pork short ribs) especially the latter are sliced thinly like bacon. Don't expect the ribs to have a bony part. The bones are removed and what you receive is the meat. and once you grill them then taste them, you will forget the price yu paid for the entire meal.

Angus beef still to be grilled

I am not particularly fond of Japanese food especially the California Maki but when I tasted their California Maki, I tried to get some more.

We also ordered delicious tuna which was grilled as well as scallops with butter (Hotate yaki), also cooked by grilling....

Plenty of seafood choices really with grilled prawn (Ebi yaki) and spicy shrimps. Don't worry, the spicy shrimps are not too hot and spicy.

We got to taste also a sad known as Mango Kani and as the name translates in Cebuano, there really is mango mixed with some vegetables, crab meat and dressing.

The entire meal includes one round of drinks and dessert. The dessert is not their strong point for me but who cares about dessert when you are already on a gastronomic high with the main course?

I also suggest that the establishment makes available free wifi to the customers.

I look forward to eat again in this restaurant and try their soups perhaps. I highly recommend this place in other words.

Krispy Kreme Choco Mania in this Love Month yeah!

February is the month of Hearts and as we celebrate this month, why not give him or her the latest from Krispy Kreme (KK) -- Choco Mania Doughnuts, the Ultimate Chocolate Indulgence.

Makes you wanna open the box, right?

Chocolate Custard, Chocolate Cookie Crunch, Caramel with Toasted Meringue and White Icing with Choco Curls --- Yummy! Just by looking at it, you can say it's delicious. No need to describe here in this blog.

Well, go try it for yourself. I have tried them and I have been craving for more. 

Share a dozen of these (to me, hehe) for only P385.

Happy Valentines! Don't forget my KK Choco Mania Doughnuts!

My Advanced Valentine Experience at Crimson Mactan

Remember the last time I went to Crimson? It's kinda lonely that time. But now guess who is with me this time?

My lovely wife as we took a break from a busy week to relax at Crimson Mactan Resort and Spa.

This time around I got the chance to explore this Cebu beach resort hotel and its amenities and facilities. Checking in, we were welcomed by smiling hotel personnel. It was a sunny day and yet because of the design and structure of what serves as their main lobby and reception area, the breezy and cool feeling of the environment prevailed.

The place is big, a sprawling 6 hectares so that we were brought to our room via a cute vehicle which looked like a golf cart.

The room had electronic key card access, a king-sized bed, a spacious bathroom with bathtub and separate shower. Inside the bathroom iss a 22-inch LCD TV and in the bedroom itself was a 42-inch LCD television. Both TV had cable TV shows.

We were actually in a garden deluxe accommodation and looking outside, there were greens everywhere. I love the landscape which was perfect for taking pictures pretending to be couples yet to be married taking prenup pictures.

Back inside, I asked for the Wifi password. The Wifi was awesome as the signal reaches far distances spanning almost the entire resort. Going online was also fast.

Off we go exploring the place. We went to the 3-tiered Infinity Pool and noticed a section for children and a separate one for adults which is said to be 4 feet deep,

Just within sight of the pool is the CrimZone Active Kids Center which is a playground for kids. We don't have kids but it doesn't stop us from acting like one. We had our pictures taken there.

The sports bar Score is also a nice place to relax especially if you are a Sports fan. One can play Billiards and Chess or watch basketball or tennis games in TV.

We booked a reservation at the Aum Spa for a signature massage. Meanwhile we proceeded having dinner buffet at the Saffron.

Inside was a wide selection of food including cold cuts, seafood, salads in various forms, grilled meat and pastries for dessert among many others. It was one of the best buffets I ever had because of the taste and the choice of food.

After dinner, it was time for the signature spa.

It was really relaxing with the soothing music and the very good hands of their therapists.You are assured that they can carry out the type of pressure you specified prior to starting the session.

The hotel rooms are far from any bars in the hotel so it was a good night's sleep that we got.

The morning was more fun. We had pictures taken taking advantage of the nice view. Korean visitors were playing volleyball.

There are perhaps many activities you can do in Crimson based on the background of the pics.

The breakfast buffet was great! I became confused as to what to eat.

Swimming was also fun! The water is not deep in the pool and the resort will provide you big towels.

Overall, the stay was an experience to remember. It is surprising why the resort gets most of its clients from foreign visitors. Perhaps the locals should try Crimson for a change.

Yes. Crimson has regular shuttle service trip schedules to either SM or Ayala. Since we are Cebu residents, we just took a ride on their shuttle service to Ayala Center Cebu going home.

Marc and Mattheau's House of Pastries, A Nice Sweet Alternative

During Christmas time, cakes were a common sight in the dining tables of parties and at the home. One of the cake shops that had many customers because of it's affordable but good quality cakes and food products is Marc and Mattheau's House of Pastries found in Gorordo Avenue along the route going to Lahug before reaching University of the Philippines Cebu. The cakes below range from 100plus to less than 300 pesos.

The cakes are not too sweet and I love the taste.

The moist chocolate cake has just the right texture and the chocolate flavor is rich.

Cake with Pineapple overlay

custard cake

The price is just right for the cake you are getting.

Even the hopia ube sold tastes better than the hopia ube found in the supermarkets. It does not crumble easily when you hold or eat it unlike other hopia.

Why not give Marc and Mattheau's a try?

Bibingka and Budbud (Suman) outside Redemptorist Parish, Cebu

Misa de Gallo is part of the Filipino tradition come Christmas season. And where there is Misa de Gallo, there is Bibingka, suman, puto, etc. nearby.

After the mass, church-goers flock at the makeshift stalls and buy these products from the vendors in any church in the Philippines. The Redemptorist Parish in Cebu is no exception.

P60 is the price of 3 Bibingkas wrapped together in banana leaves. The bibingkas here are said to come from Mandaue so they are expected to be very good.

Unlike the Luzon version, tehre is no margarine or "itlog na maalat" in this bibingka. Note some coconut meat bits. My friend Bjorn has an article on Yahoo Philippines Cebu Kini blog as to how a bibingka  like this is made. This bibingka is guaranteed delicious.

The budbud (made of "pilit") is also good considering that is a budbud made in the city. It can be eaten with or without sugar although not all budbud sold in the Redemptorist grounds tastes the same. For a price of P25, you get 5 budbud if I remember it right.

These two are nice to take home after a Misa de Gallo. You are not only blessed spiritually after a Mass, your stomach also gets a gastronomic treat which is very Filipino.

See you in the Misa de Gallo!

Margarita Family Cuisine: Dining with a View

It's party everywhere this season. If you have got a craving for Chinese or dimsum food but want to eat in an atypical Chinese dimsum restaurant meaning you will be eating in a place with a view of Cebu landscape or seascape, then this may be the place for you, your family or your date.

I am talking about the Margarita Family Cuisine found on top of the 9th Floor of Robinland near Cebu Doctors' University in the Reclamation Area.

It is recommended that you get a reservation before going there as there might be weddings or other events occurring there.

I like their waiting lounge with a large LCD TV and very comfortable sofa.

Like your typical Chinese restaurant, there's the soup with quail eggs and there are some shrimp dishes like the one above. One serving can feed around 4 to 5 which is not bad.

The Patatim is very tender and the sauce was good. I did not feel the Chinese Restaurant Syndrome.

Their version of Chow Pat Chin has more quail eggs than veggies so it seems. But I like the taste though.

The best part really is feeling the cool breeze of the nearby sea as you eat and seeing the city lights.

By the way. On the other side of the building was a birthday party held outdoors also with a view of the city lights.

On another big hall in the same penthouse floor was a wedding party with a band I can recommend -- the Royal Plus Trio band which performs in Marco Polo Hotel every Thursday and specializes in wedding reception performances and musical entertainment for other occasions. They play the instruments so well that even without drums (they have a nice keyboard with a real good sound system of their own and a saxophone, the music played approximates the original. They play a wide selection of songs and can do sing-alongs great for parties..

Expeirnce Margarita Family Cuisine yourself and tell me what you think.

Razon's, the latest halo-halo to open in Cebu

In what was once Grand Majestic Express in the former Belvic/Odeon Theater complex, stands the newest halo-halo in town -- Razon's Halo-halo and Palabok, said to be the best Halo-halo in the country which originally came from from Pampanga. Since the name implies that the establishment's best is in it's Halo-halo and  Palabok, then me and my wife decided to invade Razon's and try both.

I must say the halo-halo here is different from the usual halo-halo served by fastfood chains and other halo-halo specialty establishments. The most glaring difference is the absence of a scoop of ice cream. You have relatively lots of macapuno too and the taste I can compare to a "binignit" served cold. That is the simplest description I can come up with. The ice is very fine unlike other halo-halos where the ice is quite big.

I think when it comes to halo-halo, people have different preferences so I cannot say with certainty how others will react after tasting this particular halo-halo.

Now, let's go to the palabok.

From the taste of the palabok, it seems that one of the ingredients is ground chicharon. The taste is like a typical palabok but the sauce is too sticky for me for a palabok.There seems to be something missing from the ingredients I am looking for in a palabok. Maybe each region has its own style of palabok so I just have to get use of this type of palabok style perhaps.

There are other Filipino dishes offered by Razons and if there is any other "rason"(meaning reason) that you drop by this place, it is their what I consider as a "pasalubong" section where you can buy some native delicacies and other small food products.

The place is air-conditioned and very prominent is the newspaper clippings regarding Razon's in the counter area. They offer free pitcher of service water to help you "push" your food to your stomach.

If you are curious for a different kind of halo-halo, then you may want to try Razon's. Again, it is in the old Belvic theatre just across Gran Prix Econotel near the original Robinsons Cebu in Fuente corner Ramos Street.