Long Weekend at Home.

M and I got to visit home (Cagayan de Oro) last Holy Week. It was another good chance to indulge on food we miss.

As soon as we arrived, we found ourselves at:

Hungarian Sausage with mashed potatoes
at Vienna Kaffeehaus. 

This Cebu franchise which serves Austrian dishes will always have a special place in our hearts. Wink. I ordered my usual Hungarian sausage and M ordered a cheese weiner with mashed potatoes too.The sausage and spuds have decreased in size. That was sad. The price increased too. Inflation is a heartbreaking thing.

Turon

This huge crispy and sugary banana-langka wrap is found in the streets of CdO. I don't know of anyone who makes Turon the way this particular street vendor does. No scrimping on the sugar, wrap, nor of the bananas and langka. When you bite into one, the coating breaks in sugary shards. You can actually see the shards in the photo. It's so big, so we cut it in half and share the calories. For less than P20--winner!

We also chanced upon the opening of a new branch of Chicken Charlie along Borja Extension, CdO. Now, we haven't tried this here in the metro because it was always so full at that time we tried. With the advent of all these crispy fried chicken craze that is Bon Chon, Manang's Fried Chicken and even Chowking's Chinese Style Fried Chicken , we had all forgotten to try Chicken Charlie. 

with Soy Garlic Sauce & Hot Sweet Sauce (with the sticks)

These were big pieces of drumsticks. I think I like the Soy Garlic sauce much better than the kimchi flavored foreign counterpart. But the foreign counterpart has crispier chicken.

Cheesestick Dynamite- cheese and jalapeno rolled in lumpia. A hit.

Since it was nearing M's birthday, we were treated to dinner at another Cebu franchise- the Filipino specialty restaurant Cafe Laguna. Everything's always good here. We had-

Adobong Kangkong

Pinakbet

Kinilaw (Cebu style)
They put mayonnaise. Not my thing.

Maja Kalabasa

This is so creamy, light and refreshing. 

I like that it uses a vegetable to highlight the coconut cream based flan,  so I can imagine all the beta carotene coming into my system while I eat dessert. 

I forgot to take a photo of the yummy Kare Kare and the Sizzling Bangus. Next time.

That was a good dinner. And a really good home visit. :)

Until next time, Cdo. Have a great summer.

No Rival Sans Rival

I've heard a lot of stories saying that high school life is the best time of one's teenage life. But I beg to disagree, because I had the most fun in college. I had the most fun because I was able to spend more time exploring the world - even if I had to be home before dinner.

I developed a new set of friends composed of old friends from high school, and their new friends, and classmates from college. With them I got exposed to eating out, extra-curricular meetings, volunteerism, student politics, and of course, boys. I learned a lot from them, since they were more adventurous. I usually stayed on the sidelines, absorbing as much information as I could. With them, I learned how to control my temper, to deal with different kinds of people, and to discern what I want in life. I guess you can say I'm a late bloomer, since they practically knew all of these way before I did, or so I think. :)

During the holidays, I met with only two of our original group of around 10 girls. The others have since gone to greener pastures. We update ourselves via the online social networking sites most of the time, but nothing beats sitting down together for a meal. :)

We had dinner at Bigby's Restaurant at the Rosario Arcade, then proceeded to nearby Candy's Cafe for dessert. We shared a slice of the Almond Sans Rival, along with our cups of hot beverage. I think this was one of the best desserts I've tasted so far.

Almond Sans Rival

You know what they say,
there's nothing like girlfriends to make your day :)

The First Date

Happy Heart's Day everyone!

In light of this romantic (or romanticized :D) day, I am reminded of this very special cafe in CdO where were had our first dinner date. Mark wanted to treat me for my birthday. He made me choose between Vienna Kaffeehaus and another place. I picked this place from the other one he mentioned, because it was near my school, and because the place is cozy but not cheesy. Hehe.

It was a fun first dinner date. It helped that the place exuded a cool ambiance, and really good food. Vienna Kaffeehaus is another Cebu original, and they serve a Viennese-slash-German inspired menu , such as different kinds of sausages, pastries and coffee.

However last Christmas, my high school girlfriends- Grace and Janice, and I decided to spend our annual year-ender date at Vienna. I'm so glad they liked the place as much as I did. We had a fun time talking and eating!

And every time I go there, I never fail to order the house specialty- The Hungarian Sausage ...

The Hungarian Sausage, with coleslaw and a choice of a side dishes.
You may choose between rice, noodles, or mashed potatoes. I chose the latter. There isn't so much for every serving, but the price is not expensive either.

Gracie ordered this- a Cheese Sausage.
It wasn't as spicy as the Hungarian, and it's I think she liked it!

For desserts, we ordered three different kinds of pastries. My favorite is the Blueberry Cheesecake, but it wasn't available that evening. Their cheesecake is so intense and dense, just
the way that I like it. I ordered the plain cheesecake instead, Gracie had their chocolate cake, and Janice had the brazo mercedes.

This is their Moist Chocolate cake. It was so dense and intense!
I just love the heaviness of the chocolate.

This is The Cheesecake. So plain-looking, but so heavy in flavor. The cheese base is not cloyingly sweet, or light creamy, but was actually sharp and intense, with a tad hint of saltiness. I like it very much, although some fruit sauce would have balanced out the cheese.

Doesn't this array make your heart beat a wee bit faster? Hehe.
They have other lovely pastries too, and I quite remember that their Cafe Au Lait is really good.
The coziness this place exudes reminds me of that eventful first date,
which has lead me to where I am now
---wonderfully married. :)

I hope you all enjoy celebrating this season of love.

God loves us more than we'll ever know,
and we just have to share all of that love!:)

Steak it in CdO

I love beef, in every form- as burgers, steak, stew, stroganoff, as bolognese sauce for pasta, roasted... or even bulalo ( yum!). Beef satisfies me like no other meat can.

Once, I read in a magazine, that certain foods work best for a specific blood type. I was greatly interested ( and enthusiastic!) to find out that blood type O people need beef for their systems to work at its best. I don't know if this study or theory still holds true... but I find that I am most satisfied with my meal when there's some beef in it! So there goes my excuse for not going vegetarian :) Hehe.

In hometown Cdo, the best steak house is Countryside Steakhouse and is located on the second floor of the Rosario Arcade in LKK Center. The place is nicely done in a Western Cowboy theme, and filled with big wood furnitures. This is also the site of many of our special family celebrations. Some say that the beef they serve are not as tender as the ones served before by Del Monte, but on this particular evening with my family, we had a juicy, yummy steakfest! :)

Whenever we order the steak prime cuts, the meat is accompanied with an appetizer tray of bread, soup, side salad of greens and a choice between potatoes or rice. I forgot though if corn is one of the choices.

Here is their signature placemat. It sure pays to know the part you're eating. :) Hehe

Chicken Squash Soup

This is the salad that came with the steak, with a thousand island dressing.

The mashed potatoes is a dense cup of velvety spuds. Yumm.

Sizzling Sirloin with the gravy

Without the gravy, it still looks yummy. And the veggies are fresh!

CdO Love.

My Favorite Filipino Restaurant

This is the one of the best Filipino restaurants in Cagayan de Oro. Located at the Limketkai Center, Cafe Laguna is actually a Cebu original.

The restaurant boasts of fine Filipino furnishings, with brick posts and wooden furniture. I love their lamps (forgot to take a photo! argh). The place is packed during the weekends, and I think they could use more space to accommodate those busy days.

There's so much Filipino fare to choose from, but on this particular day with my in-laws we ordered the following:

Baked Scallops
Simply delicious. Soft scallops and toasted cheese with green onions.

Crispy Beef Tadyang
This is a pile of crispy, flavorful beefy goodness.

Pinakbet

I forgot the name of this dish- Laguna Express?
It's got shrimps with string beans and cooked in spicy coconut cream. :)

Sinigang na Hipon.

The shrimps in CdO are fresh, so the soup was good :)

Fish Fillet
Fresh fish fillet cooked just right.:)

Together with Mark's family, we shared this food with Mark's best friend Adonis and his new wife Rose. My family eat here a lot too. But my Mom's favorite is the Fresh Lumpia, which she says is just how she likes it- lots of ubod , homemade lumpia wrapper, and lots of ground peanuts. Together with yummy lumpia like that we also have this ......


TADAAH!

Puto Bumbong

This is by far, the best, yummiest puto bumbong that I've tried. I have tasted puto bumbong here in Manila, but I still like this version better- BEST!

The ground, sticky rice is chewy and sweet,
and the freshly grated coconut matches the salty butter melting on it very well.

Happy Lunching everyone!:)

A Birthday Treat in CdO

My brother's birthday treat, that is. Mine is a couple of days ahead of him, which I spent 30,000 feet in the sky for four hours, since our plane couldn't land on the foggy Lumbia Airport. Our plane got diverted back to Manila, and we had to rebook it for the next day. Oh well. At least we got to attend the wedding we were supposed to attend, and my brother's birthday.

We went to Candy's, a modern gourmet restaurant located at the Rosario Arcade of Limketkai Center in Cagayan de Oro City. Candy's has been around for a long time, for its pastries, bread and expensive dishes. But now, it has become more accessible to the younger set since it expanded it menu, and included pizzas and cocktails. Their pizzas have thin crust and are great!

But, on my brother's birthday, we ordered the following:

This is a vegetable panini. I forgot it's exact name, but I do remember it tasting so good! In between the beautiful striped wheat toasts, was a whole lot of pesto sauce, tomatoes and I think also some eggplant in it. My Mommy ordered this, and I think she made an excellent choice for lunch.

Look at all that cheese!

This was my order, supposedly a shrimp pasta in aglio and some scallops topping it. I forgot the name again, but it was okay. I think it tasted better when I added more parmesan. It was a little too light for me.

This is my husband's Gamberetti pasta. It was supposedly full of shrimps, but there were more stewed tomatoes in it, which totally overpowered the shrimps. My Mark didn't like it at all ( and upon tasting it, he's right).

The Tartufo

The Tartufo is a delectable ball of ice cream and chocolate cake, studded with nuts, and drizzled with white chocolate. A fun treat! One order best serves four people.

Fun!


My weekend stay may have been a little to short, but I am thankful I got to savor my hometown's breeze as I enter the third decade of my life.


Thank you Lord for blessings such as these!

Sweet Home

Another pasalubong from my mother-in-law. Sweet, sweet delight. This pastry actually originated from the island of Camiguin. Years of hard work, perseverance, and good quality finally brought the Vjandep Pastel at one of the top spots for Pinoy pasalubongs.

This new box speaks of their stature now.
It used to be plain old, carton.
Now.. it's a glossy box!

Look at it.
Yummy sweet, soft bread.

But what really matters is what's inside, or so you've heard before.

Luscious, sticky custard all over the the little nooks and crannies.

Yummy :)