Best of Cebu Food Part 2

Fine Dining Setting at Anzani

BEST MEDITERRANEAN in CEBU
Anzani

There is simply no competition.  A definite must try.  Enough said.

Anzani is in D'Address right beside Bellini at Nivel Hills, in Lahug Cebu.



FAVORITE BEEF IN CEBU
Olio

Somewhere at the Crossroads in Banilad is a less-popular (at least to tourists and short-term visitors to Cebu) fine dining place called Olio.  It is a 2-storey place just like many at Crossroads.

After frustrations from other Steakhouses in Cebu on the cut of their beef to their questionable definition of Rare and Medium Rare, Finally!  a steakhouse worth mentioning in Cebu.   We were obviously attracted to visit because of their Anniversary Buy-1-Take-1 Steak promo.   And we were just happy.

Major difference of the beef at Olio is that it is not masked.  No extra and  fake flavourings, you get the best beef plain and simple.

Olio is at the Crossroads in Banilad, Cebu City.   It is walking distance from the Cebu Golf Club and a few minutes away from BTC.


BEST PASTA in CEBU
Cafe Elysa

Hidden between the tourist spots in Parian and the barangay basketball courts is a gem of a restaurant in Cebu.   It is very difficult to find for a non-local, so finding it is a like a treasure.

Rather ironic that the Favorite Pasta in Cebu is not from an Italian Restaurant, but your opinion will change once you have tried the Pasta Bolognese with Basil and Grana Padano Cheese.  Consistent with all of the dishes at Cafe Elysa, the pasta is not greasy, seem simple, but exploding with lots of flavour.  And at less than 200Pesos a plate, this is a must try dish.

Another interesting pasta dish is the Bolognara Pasta at Cafe George.  The chef combined Bolognese and Carbonara sauce which conceptually could be trouble but actually blends really well.  For those who like their pasta sauces on the rich side, then this one is for you.  There is beef and tomato from Bolognese and Musrooms, Bacon and Cream from the Carbonara.  A pure delight.

Cafe Elysa is in Parian Cebu.  It is walking distance from the Cebu Heritage Park.
Cafe George is located in Banilad, right after Crossroads and before BTC.  You can also try Oh George, which is a restaurant-cafe on the Marina Exit side of Ayala.

Anzani in Cebu

A year living in Cebu, and I have not been back to Anzani Restaurant.  What usually happens is what happened.  Places that are close to where you live, you try to avoid.  You go very far to eat, drink coffee, or hang-out but seldom at the place near your house.

You see, Anzani is 2 minutes away from where I stay, as both are in the bottom part of the Busay Mountains.  Anzani is in D'Address together with Bellini and Belle Fleur.   Bellini is a fantastic bar, which I have visited maybe 20 times this year.  Belle Fleur is a fine coffee place, which I have been to also around 20 times.  But Anzani, the fine-dining Mediterranean place is often skipped.

Now that I am about to move to another place to stay, I suddenly realize I miss Anzani.   And I remember the one picture I have where I ordered some of the best-tasting Gnocchis I have ever had (outside Italy).

Definitely one of the best Mediterranean restaurants in the island, and maybe the whole country.  Anzani is a must try.

How Far? The elusive plane legroom

Is it just me, or are the airplane legrooms shrinking?  This year, I had been flying crazy - a grand total of 105 flights this year alone.  Majority or domestic 1-hour flights.  But still, the cramped space seems to be bother me more and more.

Cebu to Manila via AirPhilippines.   AirPhil was my favorite budget airline, and I even took it when I traveled to HongKong in 2009 and to Singapore in 2010.  But I could not imagine the legspace to be this cramped before.

Well, Philippine Airline tickets cost 50-70% more than Cebu Pacific or AirPhil.  At least, you get 50-70% more legroom in domestic flights.

This is Alaska Airlines from San Francisco to Alaska.  Definitely one of the better legrooms in a domestic flight.

Delta Airlines from Tokyo to Detroit.  Over the past 20 years, the legspace of NW/Delta has shrunk considerably.  Their service also reflect that.

The Exact Cebu Taxi Drivers

Many tourists and expats who come to Cebu from Manila are surprised by the Cebu Taxi Drivers.  For one, Cebuano cabbies are more polite even considering the language barrier.  It is not rare to be greeted Good Morning Maam or Good Evening Sir.  Secondly, Cebuano drivers are more honest, I think it has something to do with having pride for their work.  Lastly and more glaringly, here in Cebu, Taxi Drivers give exact change.  This has to be the differentiating factor.

Yes, taxi drivers in Cebu actually give change.  And mind you the exact change.  If your cab fare is 82.50 and you paid 100, expect to receive back 17.50.  An occurence that never happens in Manila.  Manila cabbies have assumed keep the change, and in most cases they expect some sort of tip.  For example if your cab fare is 95.50, they expect 120 pesos, a tip for navigating the hellish traffic of Manila.  Maybe that's the difference.  Traffic in Cebu even in the city is more tranquil especially compared to Manila during rush hour.  

I live in the boondocks of Busay, and I often feel guilty of paying the exact cab fare.  Considering the extra gas it takes to climb up the mountain, plus the extra factor of "will Mr. taxi driver have a passenger out of the mountains"?  So, sometimes I still pay extra.  Much to the chagrin of my local Cebu friends.  One of the first things they told me is to never give extra to the Cebu cabbie. They do not encourage vagrancy among themselves, and they don't want the cab drivers to be like those from Manila.  I am trying, but having lived most of my life in Manila and a frequent taxi customer, this is hard.  Still learning...

SHOCK DOCTRINE

One of the best books of the decade is Naomi Klein's Shock Doctrine.  It is well-written documentary that is as insightful as it is controversial.  In one sentence:  It is a controversial expose on how people in power use Shock and Fear Tactic to advance personal interest to gain power and money.

It takes the reader from Chile to China, from Argentina to Europe and then tackles the many issues impacting the US with its many military country affiliations.

This copy is a gift from my sister in Singapore.  I went to National Bookstore only to be disappointed that it is not available there.  Maybe try Powerbooks or FullyBooked.  This is Naomi Klein's second full-length book after what I consider to be one of the best books - No Logo.

Frustrations from PAGCOR Casinos

To PAGCOR's Defense I think their declared expenses for coffee is not too exaggerated.  For strategic reasons, coffee is readily available in most PAGCOR casinos - they need people to be awake.  And many people at Casinos drink coffee.  Maybe only Casino goers really understand.

Another thing casino goers understand is the highly INEFFICIENT manual process at most PAGCOR casinos - everything is still painfully manual and that includes cashing out.  All Cebu Casinos are unfortunately run by PAGCOR.  The worst part of winning is claiming the money.  In some machines, if you win less than 3,000 pesos coins come out.  Still coins in 2012!   But actually, getting all your prize money in coins is the better part.  The worst part is that >50% of the time, coins in machine run out which means the dreaded HOPPER EMPTY message comes out at your machine's screen.  Which means, you would need to call the attendant to put money on the machine.   This takes forever.  First, the attendant needs to check the machine, then fill-up a requisition order, then the manager approves, then the attendant hands the paper to the cashier, then the cashier prepares the coins, before the attendant refills the coin hopper.  The worst part this whole process can take 1 hour on peak times.

If you win more than 3,000 pesos then it requires paper processing.  This means the attendant need to check the machine.  Go to their station and check the winnings.  Print a paper to document the winnings.  Then have supervisor approve.  Then go to your machine to reset.   After that, you will be called to line-up at the cashier to get your winnings.  So obviously, every step of the way can be delayed.  What if all attendants are busy on peak hours.  What is the supervisor is available.  What if you are in the far end of the casino and no attendants are walking by?

The worst part is the arrogance of many PAGCOR machine attendants.   They know how important they are in the winning process, and they make sure you realize this.  Many take their painstaking time to do their job.  In fairness, many of them seem very busy. Doing what? I don't understand.   Whenever this happens I sincerely wish that PAGCOR automates very soon so we can get rid of all inefficient attendants.  RW in Manila was able to do it.  Some casinos (like SLLP in Carmona and to an extent Hyatt) were able to implement a semi-automated card reading mode, so why can't the rest of PAGCOR casinos.

Please please PAGCOR, it is 2012 start automating.


A nice win.  A 45 peso bet (around 1$) wins 15,000 Pesos (~ 320 $).  Of course at Resorts World Manila.  Hope RW builds one in Cebu soon.

Pink Treasure of Cebu - La Maison Rose

Along Gorordo Avenue is a pink gem.  Right beside the enormous Mormon Temple is an authentic French Restaurant called La Maison Rose, with the subtitle The Pinkhouse Restaurant.  It was our first time to be in a restaurant where the primary theme is a color.  So we were very excited.

The menu is in an iPad.   So really impressive, until we realized there were only 3 iPads available.  So ordering can mean waiting for the "menu" to be available.

Nevertheless, the menu is quite impressive.  I had to try a lot.  Knowing the chef is French, and the restaurant is beside Alliance Francaise I felt comforted that we will be savoring real French dishes (not just the names)

For starters, I was intrigued and ordered the Soup Trio.  And then the Foie Gras was beckoning so I ordered one as well.

This is the waiting area.  Obviously very pink.

Apart from Pink, the La Maison Rose also is Indochine inspired.  So the decors were Western European and Asian inspired.  Worked for me.

I was looking for the men's restroom and told it was outside the main hall of the restaurant.  I was uncomfortable to enter first, because well it was too daintily pink.  I had to ask again, if this was really the men's room.  Upon receiving confirmation went in and took pictures.

The door is very French and very pink =)

We were talking and talking about work, about the decors, and about recent comic events at the office for a good 10 minutes....then our orders arrived.

This is the soup trio.  The leftmost is a Spinach & Ham Soup.  I used the spoon at first, but decided to try sipping from the glass itself.  The yellow middle is a Scallop Bacon Soup, one of my favorite dishes of the night.  The Red soup at the right most is Gazpacho.  My least favorite, but the heck I finished them all.

The pictures of the Foie Gras were not visually delightful.  The taste was OK.  Not bad, but not very good either - would not rave over it.

Main dish is the Truffle Pasta.  First bite was overwhelming.  The earthly flavor explodes right away.  I didn't think I could eat half the serving but ended up finishing the whole plate.

A friend order the French Lechon.  It was served with Mashed Potatoes and Carrots on the side.  Very interesting dish.

After the main course, I had to order the cheese platter.  The cheeses were fantastic, but the grapes were overriped.  And I didn't mind the salad that went with the platter. 

For dessert, I ordered their special espresso.  Which later I found out to be quite expensive at 125 pesos.  Taste was just OK.

But the biggest delight of the night was the very rich Chocolat Coulant.  It was everything you wanted in a cake - very moist, chocolatey but not sweet.  

For 1Soup, 1 Starter, 1 Pasta Entree, 1 Cheese Platter, and 1 Dessert I paid 1,500.  A little pricey for Cebu but just about right for the quality of food (not to mention ambience).

La Maison Rose at Gorordo St. Lahug, Cebu CIty is highly-recommended.   Just a tip - reserve ahead.  Friday is packed so we had to simmer at the table outside for 15 minutes, before we were transferred inside.