u/ImpracticalDreamer

So nice to finally have a tea room in Cebu that features Japanese teas that’s not just matcha. Don’t get me wrong, matcha is great, but there’s more Japanese greens to explore and I think this place offers just that.

They have a display table where you can check out the loose leaf teas that they offer, very reminiscent of specialty coffee shops you visit in Thailand and Japan. If you order loose leaf tea, they serve the tea in either a futanashi or kyusu and you can brew it together with the hot water that goes with it.

They also have matchas and hojichas in latte format, as well as Filipinized wagashi like ohagi that uses biko or puto instead of the trafitional Japanese version with anko. I got the genmaicha and hojicha latte, paired with ohagi and mizu yokan.

If there’s anything I’d like to see more of, it’s probs extending the loose leaf tea lineup to wakoucha kasi masasarap din naman ang Japanese black teas 😭

If you get to visit Cebu, you might want to try this out!

I used to bake during the pandemic, and one of my favorites was making fruit tartlets. Galing sa YT lang din ‘yung traditional tart shell recipe, tapos layer ng graham powder, mango puree and whipped cream.

I was thinking of going back to baking kaya lang andami ko nang hobbies at andami ko pang dapat gawin sa work hahahaha

Sana may 2-week holiday break din in December ang mga adults, para magawa naman natin 'yung hindi natin nagagawa during busy season 🥲

Salon de Thé (lit. "Tea Room")
📍Ground Level, JMall, AS Fortuna St., Mandaue City, Cebu
🕐 10AM - 9PM
💵 MOP: cash, card, gcash

Disclaimer:
this review covers only the afternoon tea portion of the place, plus some pastry items that we took out. Salon de Thé actually has resto food items on the menu, but since it's named "tea room" by a company specializing in breads and pastries, I was more interested in their special-tea (and pastries!).

Some thoughts:
Right off the bat, kudos to them for using the proper term, "afternoon tea". So many hotels use the term "high tea" (probably because of how fancy it sounds), but high tea = dinner (because it was done on a high table). Interestingly, afternoon tea is usually a British thing (though France also has their own dessert-forward version).

British afternoon tea is composed of 3 tiers: savories (bottom tier), scones (mid tier) and small pastries (top tier) + a pot of black tea. Looking at the food spread, Salon de The is using the British Standard without the middle tier.

The afternoon tea set (₱1,450 good for 3) has the following spread:

🥪 Savories: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
🥪 2 Cucumber with egg: standard fare
🥪 2 Egg and Chicken sandwich: lami ra, standard fare for egg and chicken sandwich
🥪 2 Cucumber shrimp: nice texture with the cucumber, shrimp and what I think is seasoned sour cream, it's like cucumber shrimp salad in a savory dainty. Messy lang gyud siya kaunon
🥪 2 Salmon with caviar canape: surprisingly better than I thought; the roe thingy was salty and tart, and paired well with the salmon (di ko tig-inani gyud guys, sorry na hahaha)

Ok spread for savories. My gripe here is that they could disclose the spreads so that we could know the ingredients. Had I known that there would be seafood, I would have probably asked them to remove those items since my SO is fatally allergic to them. His allergies acted up after eating, and my suspicion is that some shrimp may have contacted with the sandwiches because the savories were presented together on the bottom plate tier.

🍰Sweets ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🍰 1 Madelein: more butter cake than madelein; a bit more dense and tasted similar sa mini bundt cake
🍰 mini bundt cake: on the more dense side as well, and it doesn't have the vanilla icing; paired well with the jam
🍰 1 Pain au chocolat: was not able to eat this, but ok ra with my SO
🍰 1 Swan pastry: best to eat the bread and cream together; lisod lang gyud siya kan-on (how does one eat this? where do you start? the possibilities are endless 😆)
🍰 chocolate macarons: smaller than the usual macaron sizing, more on the sweeter side

🫐 1 Darbo blackcurrant jam: really nice, you don't find Darbos often here
🫖 1 pot of tea of choice: We chose the Bourbon Vanilla just because it's the only type of tea that I haven't tried. They use the Ronnefeldt brand, if the tea wall is to be believed. The menu description says that this is "flavored black tea with fine pieces of vanilla", and the flavoring shines through in this that it tastes a bit artificial. The black tea becomes an aftertaste ⭐️⭐️

Other item we got to-go
🥐 Paris-Brest (₱128): smaller than I was hoping it would be. A traditional Paris-Brest is made of choux pastry and filled with a praline-flavoured cream, covered with flaked almonds. The cream on this one unfortunately is not nutty, more milky-ish like whipped cream. Visually, it does have the almonds and the sugar on top, but it looked kind of deflated. Lami ra man siya, but pareha sa line sa song ni Katy Perry (🎵"comparisons are easily done once you've had a taste of perfection"🎵), if you compare it to the real thing—an authentic Paris-Brest like the one offered by French Mood—it kind of pales in comparison. However, for its price point, I think this is a decent flavor profile. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

🥐 Strawberry mango danish (₱147): my f--ing favorite, seriously. Flaky, buttery, shiny and very visually appealing. Kulangan lang ko gamay sa cream cheese center, but gibawi ra sa fresh mango and berries. Tastes so good overall. I like this better than the Abaca Danish and I would come back here just for this. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Other things to note:

🖊️Service: Only 2 staff were around for the restaurant so it took some time to get to us. ⭐️⭐️⭐️
🖊️** Pricin**g: You get what you pay for, but the danish is very good value for money. ⭐️⭐️⭐️
🖊️Aesthetic: Very aesthetic with the Bridgerton blue color palette and French country chairs ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Verdict: The afternoon tea set is good for an experience, but I probs won’t get it again. Would definitely come back for the viennoiseries, though!

Blouse and hat: Shein, Ombre maxi skirt: Shopee, sandals: Cora & Bear, earrings: jean jaquet

Kalipay!
📍Astra Lifestyle Center, 2/F, AS Fortuna St., Mandaue City
🕐 opens 11am
MOP: cash, card, Gcash
Parking: naa sa Astra mismo
Cuisine: Filipino

Quick thoughts just to get this out of my head. Kindly note sad nga bag-o pa ni nga resto so that may be the reason why the food is as will be described.

What we ordered:
🍛 Crispy Kangkong (₱250): overflowing, crispy with good mayo. Portioning was so big I could probably make a laundry business out of it. Bidli lang kadugayan. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🍛 Baked Scallops (₱330): butter to scallop ratio was very imbalanced; mas nagdaghan ang butter and gamay ra ang scallops. Mura'g ang butter ang akong gisuwa lol ⭐️⭐️⭐️
🍛 Lechon kawali (₱380): Standard fare in that the skin is crispy, the meat is juicy. Flavor-wise, ok ra man siya. My gripe is gamay lang gyud siya for the price we pay. Mas daghan pa man siguro sa Chikaan. Five slices of lechon kawali for ₱380? That’s ₱76/piece! ⭐️⭐️ naka-order na lang ko'g lain, which leads me to —
🍛 Sisig Baboy (to share at ₱390): Worst order of the day, I fear. It smelled very gamey, even with the kalamansi and the egg mixed in. Nagdaghan ang tambok when you taste it. We all just tried a spoonful and left it alone. ⭐️
🧋Agua Fresca: per my sister: it's trying to be too many things at the same time that it's all over the place ⭐️⭐️
🍨Halo-halo grande (₱290): Lami ra ang ube ice cream but the tapioca pearls were not cooked ⭐️⭐️

Did not taste the following but anah akong sister and my dad nga lami ra:
🍛 Tortang Talong (₱195)
🍛 Pompano (₱550)

Other things to note:

🖊️Service: Staff were attentive, food was served on time. They served us mini pnadesals while waiting for our order. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🖊️**** Pricing: Mahal for its taste and port**ioning. ⭐️⭐️
🖊️Aestheti**c: Very modern Filipino. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🖊️ menu is on their IG page

Verdict: Wa kaayo mi nalipay sa Kalipay. It's probably because they just opened, but we're not going back anytime soon.

Had the chance to try the winning beans in the recent Philippine National Brewers Cup at The Good Cup. Sir Gio himself brewed both beans walked us through the process of brewing them. Also had a glimpse of the singularity dripper, but I won’t be disclosing info as respect to the designers.

Here are some thoughts:

Finca Maya
☕️ Lost Origin Gesha/Slow Cold Fermentation
☕️ Ripe Mango, honey, blood orange, orange blossom
☕️ Honey and mango on the nose. More sweet and honey-like when hot, then mango takes over as the dominant note in the warm and cooldown stage. Not bitter at all and did not collapse.

Finca Nuguo
☕️ Gesha 1039-N-NF/Natural Fermentation
☕️ Notes: Jasmine tea, Guava, apricot, mango, mandarin orange
☕️ Jasmine tea on the nose. Also very fruity and juicy all throughout.

NGL, I liked the Finca Maya more, but Finca Nuguo was also quite pleasant. I'm glad I was not a judge because damnnn it was hard to choose from such elegant, out of this world beans.

Excited to watch what happens next year!

Sunglasses: Sunnies, earrings: IG, ring: Etsy, dress: shein, sandals: Cora & Bear

Mifan Kitchen - Dimsum & Chinese Restaurant
📍2/F, AKU INN, beside Yolo Spa Massage, 3 Archbishop Reyes Ave, Cebu City, 6000 Cebu
🕐 7am-10pm
MOP: cash, card, Gcash
Parking: limited parking in front of AKU INN
Cuisine: Chinese (leaning more on Cantonese)

Disclaimer: I am not Chinese, not Chinoy, and not even that much of an enthusiast, so just wanted to give a heads up that I am writing this from the perspective of a Filipina with limited experience with Chinese cuisine. Cannot vouch for authenticity kay di ko Chinese lol

Per Google translate, Mifan (米饭) means "Cooked Rice" or "Heaven's Mansion". Mifan identifies as itself "authentic Asian cuisine", which is quite broad, but if you look through the menu, it does have some Filipino dishes (like patatim), and then it leans heavily on Chinese, particularly on dimsum and Cantonese cuisine. There is some Sichuan (like málà XLB), and Cantonese (clay pot rice) but the menu does not have Hainanese-style items.

What we ordered:

🥟 Beef and Wonton Noodle Soup (₱280): tender beef, rich and flavorful broth, with noodles that are a bit stringy/bouncy. Dumplings were very filling. Really good combination of flavors, anah akong SO mao daw ni ang iyang dugay na gipangita nga beef and wonton noodle soup ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🥟 Mapo Tofu Claypot Rice (₱260): Ordered this kay mapo tofu got featured sa shokugeki no soma 😂 Topping is made of tofu, minced meat and veggies. Lami ang toppings but it's not as spicy as I thought it would be (mapo tofu is from Sichuan cuisine, salamat shokugeki no soma for the crash course lol). Sakto ra ang rice to toppings ratio. Also, some people may not be a fan of the texture of the rice kay soft siya sa taas but slightly dukot siya sa ilawm. Dukot is a preference of my mom, but not mine, unfortunately. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

🥟 Lotus Bun (₱150 for 3): this is the sweet version of the lotus bun which is a traditional dim sum bao stuffed with lotus seed paste (as opposed to the folded savory lotus bun version). Bun was soft and the filling was sweet but not too sweet. I'm rating it high kay lisod ra ba kaayo pangitaon ang lotus paste dinhi sa Cebu 😭 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🥟 Xiao Long Bao (₱180 for 4): good soup, tasty meat filling. We also really like the vinegar used! Lami pareha sa XLB sa Fung's ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🥟 Asado Siopao (₱180 for 3): smaller size but it comes in a set of 3. Good meaty filling, no pork fat that I can see. And it has quail egg! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🥟 Calamansi Juice (₱120): generic

Other things to note:

🖊**️Service **: generic service, neither outstanding nor poor. Kindly note though that we came here a bit early. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Their Google reviews indicate that they do have some problems with service when it's busy, though.

🖊️** Pricin**g : It's more affordable than I thought. General pricing can be compared to that of Eat Fresh, though some items are even cheaper (and a couple of items more expensive!). ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🖊️Aesthetic : Ok lighting but everything else is not a standout. ⭐️⭐️
🖊️ menu is on their FB page

Verdict: A hidden gem and another resto I can go to if Fung's or Eat Fresh is full. Actually, I'll probably check this one out first before I go to either Fung's or Eat Fresh. 😆

All Season Taiwan Bakeshop
📍Aku Inn, beside Yolo Spa Massage, 3 Archbishop Reyes Ave, Cebu City, 6000 Cebu

Quick thoughts.

We were supposed to go to Fuan Cafe in Talamban to try it out, but we found out that it recently closed. My SO suggested that we try this one instead since it's also a Taiwanese bakeshop.

I haven't visited Taiwan so I can't vouch on how near they are to real Taiwanese bread, though I have had inputs from my SO who has gone to Taiwan and has explored food there.

General review:
All of their breads are super soft, like the bouncy kind of soft. Apparently this pillowy-soft texture is a characteristic of Taiwanese bread which is achieved through the tanghzhong (water roux) method. It's very different from breads with a crisp or crunchy exterior (like baguette or sourdough bread). The breads also almost always has a filling.

What we ordered:
🥖 Red Bean (₱40): With red bean paste filling; sweet but not excessively so, sakto ra gyud ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🥖 Rousong Roll (Regular) (₱62): a bit disappointing kay my SO thought there would be rousong (pork floss) nga filling but external ra di ay siya. Very savory with the pork ⭐️⭐️⭐️
🥖 Cheese Milk Bread (₱45): very soft cheese bread with cheese inside ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🥖 Cheese Long Pao (₱42): a long version of the cheese milk bread, but somehow still has the same cheese stick size inside ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Other notes:
🖊️24 hours open daw sila per the attendant, but they have fresh production at 9am
🖊️If anything, I was hoping to get more varieties of Taiwanese bread like braided scallion and that pepper bun from shokugeki no soma 😭 (understandably, hujiaobing needs to be cooked in a clay urn to have that crispy, flaky crust)

Other things to rate:
🖊️** Service**: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ kay very attentive ang attendants
🖊️** Pricing**: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ kay barato ug lami
🖊️ Location: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ kay atbang ra sa Ayala and naa’y Mifan sa taas (also bangers, I should make a write-up on that), but limited lang ang parking slots
🖊️Willingness to comeback - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ very nice introduction to Taiwanese breads, it made me curious to try the rest

If manganhi no dinhi, lahos na lang sad sa Mifan sa taas kay lami sad didto. 😆

This will be my 1,000th contribution to reddit and I really wanted it to be something special, so I'm posting about my orange nephew!

About a year ago, Georgie here, a (then) 8-month-old stray kitten at the condo building where my sister lives fell from the 8th floor of the building. Witnesses to the fall said that Georgie had seizures when he landed.

No one took Georgie in, so my sister and her boyfriend decided to help out Georgie and sent him to a pet hospital. Scans showed that Georgie broke 2 of his legs and needed urgent surgery. The initial direction was that an attempt to save his legs were to be made, but they will be amputated should the surgery be unsuccessful. Thankfully, Georgie made it through!

Side note: his real name is George because he was usually found in the bushes (hence George Bush), but my sister didn't like the politician, so he was named George Russell after the F1 player lol.

The last 2 pics are of him now, playing, judging and going back to his old habit of climbing high places. 😆

Chai Tea House

📍0217 Rosal St., Capitol Site, Cebu City. (Landmark: duol ras Chong Hua Hospital), 11 am - 8 pm

Very very quick thoughts ani.

They claim to be an authentic Indian tea stall, and we went to a quick side quest to get these babies. It really reminded me of the roadside tea stalls in Singapore (though those sold teh tarik/"pulled tea" instead of Indian chai).

What we ordered:
🫖 Classic Chai/Indian Milk Tea H/L (₱120): This is Indian tea + milk + sugar. Aroma-wise, the milk overpowers the tea. Texture is very rich and indulgent, taste is more on the milk, then black tea with some spices. It is good, but I would have wanted a bit more tea so that it can balance out the milk. ⭐️⭐️⭐️
🫖 Adrak Elaichi Chai/Ginger Cardamom Tea H/L (₱155): This is Indian tea + ginger (adrak) + cardamom (elaichi) + milk + water. Very aromatic; the ginger and the cardamom are very upfront when you open the lid. Very nice blend of the tea+spices+milk flavors. I would have liked a bit more punch sa the spices, though, since at times the milk overpowers it. But a very enjoyable cup! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Heads up: my sister says diluted-ish daw if ang iced ang paliton. I can’t verify it, but you may want to try it hot kay mas rich ang texture

What I like:
🖊️you get to see the process of how they make tea as they do the crushing, boiling, etc. in front of yo
🖊️ designated labelled utensils for every size and flavor!
🖊️ overall packaging: very cutesy, very bright; the packaging for the hot takeout is hard to pass up! Also, they add in paper and tape for take-outs.

What people may not like:
🖊️ slow service: because they make everything from scratch, it will take some time to make your drinks
🖊️ no parking
🖊️ slow service + no parking space = a lot of backlog during rush time
 
Others:
🖊️** Service**: the attendant was attentive and upfront on the service time. They do have a disclaimer that the drinks will take ~10 minutes because everything will be prepared on site ⭐️⭐️⭐️

🖊️** Pricin**g: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ kay within the P150 range ra each, sulit kaayo

🖊️** Location**: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ kay way parking spot

🖊️** Willingness to comebac**k - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Their aromatic and fresh beverages with real spices have convinced me to try out other flavors gyud. Pero kana lang gurong time nga dili ko magdali 😂

Tian Fu Sichuan Cuisine Restaurant
📍Astra Lifestyle Center, 2/F, AS Fortuna St., Mandaue City
🕐 11am-9pm
MOP: cash, card, Gcash
Parking: naa sa Astra mismo
Cuisine: Chinese (Sichuan)

Disclaimer: This is my first foray into Sichuan cuisine since I don't have much exposure to it. Pag adto nako sa Singapore and Malaysia kay mostly Hainanese man ang cuisine, and even here kay Hainanese ata ang Fung's. When I also went to Hong Kong, it's Cantonese cuisine, and that's the cuisine of Wu Yang and Tim Ho Wan. So apologies if I don't understand Sichuan cuisine much (but I'm trying hard to!).

Per Google translate, Tian Fu (天府) means "Heavenly Treasury" or "Heaven's Mansion". Sichuan cuisine, which is one of the Four Great Traditions of Chinese cuisine, is known for its málà (numbing and hot) flavors. Going through the menu of Tian Fu, you'd find that the items are really more on the spicy side.

What we ordered:

🍛 Kung Pao Chicken (₱380): (tagged as mild + ginger) to the unaccustomed palate, this may be too spicy and numbing, but lami siya nga pagka spicy. The ingredients in the dish (peanuts, chilis and chicken) are enveloped in this sticky glaze that is both sweet and savory. Chicken was tender. The spice does punch, so it may not be for everybody, but you can definitely see the essence of Sichuan cuisine with this. My gripe was that daghan kayo ang chili and peanuts that the plate still looked full even when we already finished the chicken. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🍛 Sweet and Sour Pork Tenderloin (₱480): standard Chinese sweet and sour pork. Not bad, but not a standout either. You order this for your sister who's scared of spice. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

🍛 Sichuan-Style Braised Pork Belly (₱380): This is pork belly infused with its braising sauce that is placed on a bed of... seasoning mix (?). The pork belly itself is so tender, it basically melts in your mouth. I don't usually eat pork skin unless crunchy, but the skin here is basically as tender as the belly. It's so savory yet sweet, and quite aromatic. Not sure what the bed mixture was at the bottom of the plate, but it was kinda salty with umami, very reminiscent of dried fish. My mom loved it so much we had it for take out even though we already demolished the pork belly. Kung kinsa toh kahibaw unsa toh, please let me know kay we’d like to recreate it 🥹 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🍛 Silken Wontons in Signature Bone Broth (₱180): generic silken wontons done right. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

🍛 Red Chili Broth Wontons Soup (₱180) (tagged as mildly spicy): I think same lang ang wontons niya sa silken wontons but the broth is spicy. You can literally see the chili flakes and oil on the broth. It's not the punchy kind of spice, though (unlike sa Kung Pao chicken), so it was more palatable if you're not accustomed to spices yet. (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ kay biased ko sa spicy hahahaha)

🍛 Sichuan Fried Rice (₱320): decent, it's standard Chinese fried rice done well but not a stand out. The waitress said that this was good for 2-3 persons, but gamay siya pag-abot. (⭐️⭐️⭐️ because of the size)

🍛 Chongqing Dan Dan Noodles (₱240): The menu says that this is "wheat noodles tossed with a rich, savory sesame paste sauce, topped with minced pork, scallions and a hint of numbing-spicy Sichuan peppercorns." Very fragrant, a bit herbal and gahian ko gamay sa noodles (slightly more gahi than al dente). The menu says that there is a hint of numbing spicy Sichuan peppercorns (a hallmark of Sichuan cuisine) pero mura'g gipatangtang siguro sa akong mom as she could not handle spices. Would love to eat this again when there's spices ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🍛 Steamed Fish with soy sauce (Pompano)/(₱580): did not get to eat this as I ordered this for my dad, but he did say lami siya. Fair warning though, the first time daw ning-anhi akong mom and she ordered the steamed pompano, it was not cooked (!) and they had to request to have it re-done. That might be something you want to check. This time though, cooked na daw ang fish pag-abot. Was not able to taste this so di ko ka-rate.

Other things to note:

🖊️Service: Staff were attentive, they appoint a staff for x number of tables ata, and their head waiter handles the floor. They let us know the cooking time and food was delivered on time for the most part, except for the pompano. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🖊️** Pricin**g: It's more affordable than I thought. General pricing can be compared to that of Eat Fresh, though some items are even cheaper (and a couple of items more expensive!). ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🖊️Aesthetic: Modern Chinese-ish, but not a stand out. ⭐️⭐️
🖊️ there is a 7% service charge pa
🖊️ menu is on their FB page

Verdict: Definitely piqued my interest in Sichuan cuisine. Would come back to try the Sichuan Cold Pot Skewers and braised beef with tendon. If you're a fan of spices, you can definitely try this one out, but if not... just order the Sichuan-Style Braised Pork Belly.

Edit: formatting

Kaayoo the Filipino Kitchen - Streetscape
📍2nd floor, Streetscape mall,  Paseo Saturnino, Banilad,  Cebu City
🕐 7am-12mn
MOP: cash, Gcash, card
Parking: naa sa Streetscape mismo

Reservations: Best to make a reservation here since they have a lot of reservations daan. We walked in and got lucky that there was still one table available, though they did warn us that we had to bill out at around 7:45PM since there was already a reservation at that time (we got in at around 6PM).

What we ordered:
🍛 Crispy Pork Kare-Kare (₱395): served with peanut sauce, veggies and greens. Sayon rame-chew ang pork, ok ang taste when you mix both the pork and sauce, but di kayo crispy ang skin. My only gripe was gamay ra ang pork as compared sa veggies ⭐️⭐️⭐️
 
🍛 Bakareta (baka caldereta) (₱410): Meat was not very tender. A bit more on the sharp side. Nag-overpower ang tomato sauce over everything else, and while there was cheese to temper that acidity, di gihapon kayo balanced ang dish. ⭐️⭐️

🍛 Fresh lumpia (₱355): Puno kayo ang sulod, lots of veggies stuffed gyud and dako ang serving. Lami sad ang sauce. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🍛 Native chicken tinola (₱499): They pour the soup in front of you. Daghang ingredients, tender ang chicken, flavorful ang broth. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🍛 Bam-i (Guisado) (₱495): very generous serving and lami ang timpla. Even if lami siya, we were not able to finish it (6 mi kabuok) kay dako ang serving. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🍹Fruit juices (₱250 for apple, orange, orange and ginger, ₱100 for calamansi): they are literally unsweetened fruit juices. I really appreciate that since some restos would use the powdered versions. Here, though, you just get the natural sweetness of the fruit and not much else. Interestingly, it was the orange ginger juice that came with a free syrup. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

🖊️Wa ko kakaon sa the following so I really can't rate it:
- Pampano (steamed) (₱599): this was for my dad, so I gave it entirely to him; he said lami ra daw
- Fried Lumpia (₱385): layo man sa ako so wa ko katilaw. In fairness, daghan siya. Nahurot man so I think lami ra.

Others to take note of:

🖊️Rice is priced in cups (₱50/cup). It was only the bakareta that had rice in it, the rest you'll have to order for rice pa.
🖊️ Naa'y corkage of ₱500 ang cake and wine (since they also sell both)
🖊️** Service: Service was quick and the staff were attentive. They told us the food would be served after 40 minutes, but the first tranche of food started coming in after ~20 minutes man. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🖊️ Pricin**g: More expensive than Bayanihan or Chikaan, but not as expensive as Manam or Fina. ⭐️⭐️⭐️
🖊️Aesthetic: very instagrammable. vintage decor + industrial finishes + warm lighting make for a good backdrop sa imong IG post.⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🖊️ I read that Kaayoo sources ingredients from local farmers and fishermen to ensure Filipino livelihood, so kudos to them.

Verdict: Mostly hit ang food, though naa'y occasional misses. Service and ambience is really good. This is a place you go to for special occasions.

I'm an introvert who spends most of my time inside the house, and my hobbies are reflective of this: reading, writing, drawing, (occasionally) baking, and brewing coffee or tea. At dahil I'm usually just inside, I didn't invest much in shoes kasi I did not think it was necessary.

But then I picked up golf last year (dahil sa work) and pickleball recently (dahil sa cousins ko po, and I recently realized that I needed to be more active; pwede na rin dahil sa clout 😂), and I initially thought ok lang if I just used the sneakers that I already had on hand. Nauna pa kasi 'yung clubs and paddle, and I didn't mind anything else.

To the credit sa golf, ok lang naman 'yung sneakers ko IF maganda 'yung weather. Got to walk and work on my swings. Kaya lang came the rain and daaamn I almost slipped and fell. Also almost destroyed the shoes because of all the mud and leaves and water. Ang hirap din gumawa ng swing kasi mas slippery na sa ground.

I bought (surplus!) golf shoes and the experience was very different na. It was waterproof so mas madaling ma-wash off 'yung mud and dirt. There's rubber nubs for grass so mas stable na ako kahit na uneven 'yung surface. Better grip on the ground.

For pickleball naman, I initially used din 'yung usual pair of sneakers ko (a different pair than the one I used sa golf, mas girly kasi since I wanted it to match my outfit). Lateral movement was ok, but the moment I ran forward, ang sakit pala niya 😭 My SO suggested that I buy court shoes since it's flatter and lower 'yung soles. All-around court shoes na lang daw para I can also use it if I ventured to other sports (like badminton or tennis). I bought the ones on discount sa Decathlon and it was more comfortable pala talaga.

As a side note, when I was recently hunting for court shoes and a new pair of golf shoes, I realized din na ang hirap pala nilang mahanap. Almost everything is either running or walking shoes. And may shoes din pala for soccer, shoes for tennis courts if you play on clay, and basketball shoes!

(also, dapat hindi na ako mag venture ng iba pang hobby, ang mahal pala ng mga ito. Just to add din po, I just buy golf shit from surplus stores and caddies kasi ang mahal ng brand new golf gear.)

So yeah, I just realized na you also have to invest in shoes when you have a sporty hobby. More comfortable and more safe. Kaya lang it's not a guarantee for a better performance, kaya ang pangit ko pa rin maglaro 😂

I'm an introvert who spends most of my time inside the house, and my hobbies are reflective of this: reading, writing, drawing, (occasionally) baking, and brewing coffee or tea. At dahil I'm usually just inside, I didn't invest much in shoes kasi I did not think it was necessary.

But then I picked up golf last year (dahil sa work) and pickleball recently (dahil sa cousins ko po, and I recently realized that I needed to be more active; pwede na rin dahil sa clout 😂), and I initially thought ok lang if I just used the sneakers that I already had on hand. Nauna pa kasi 'yung clubs and paddle, and I didn't mind anything else.

To the credit sa golf, ok lang naman 'yung sneakers ko IF maganda 'yung weather. Got to walk and work on my swings. Kaya lang came the rain and daaamn I almost slipped and fell. Also almost destroyed the shoes because of all the mud and leaves and water. Ang hirap din gumawa ng swing kasi mas slippery na sa ground.

I bought (surplus!) golf shoes and the experience was very different na. It was waterproof so mas madaling ma-wash off 'yung mud and dirt. There's rubber nubs for grass so mas stable na ako kahit na uneven 'yung surface. Better grip on the ground.

For pickleball naman, I initially used din 'yung usual pair of sneakers ko (a different pair than the one I used sa golf, mas girly kasi since I wanted it to match my outfit). Lateral movement was ok, but the moment I ran forward, ang sakit pala niya 😭 My SO suggested that I buy court shoes since it's flatter and lower 'yung soles. All-around court shoes na lang daw para I can also use it if I ventured to other sports (like badminton or tennis). I bought the ones on discount sa Decathlon and it was more comfortable pala talaga.

As a side note, when I was recently hunting for court shoes and a new pair of golf shoes, I realized din na ang hirap pala nilang mahanap. Almost everything is either running or walking shoes. And may shoes din pala for soccer, shoes for tennis courts if you play on clay, and basketball shoes!

(also, dapat hindi na ako mag venture ng iba pang hobby, ang mahal pala ng mga ito. Just to add din po, I just buy golf shit from surplus stores and caddies kasi ang mahal ng brand new golf gear.)

So yeah, I just realized na you also have to invest in shoes when you have a sporty hobby. More comfortable and more safe. Kaya lang it's not a guarantee for a better performance, kaya ang pangit ko pa rin maglaro 😂

Commonly Uncommon

📍 Astra Lifestyle Centre, A. S. Fortuna St, Mandaue City, 6014 Cebu

🕚 10 AM - 9 PM

MOP: Cash, GCash, Card

I did a review on Commonly Uncommon about a year or so ago, and I wanted to see how the new branch would fare. Here's a quick review so far:

What we ordered:

🥪 Tater Tots (₱250): Perfect. Crispy on the outside, very soft on the inside. Sauce was ok, not very memorable and you can have the tots even without it. Also a very helpful serving. You can't fuck this up. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ⭐️

🥪 Suntory French Toast (₱350): thick bread with crispy edges, perfectly toasted cinnamon-y sides, and a very fluffy core. I deducted some points from the Suntory French Toast in the Crossroads branch because it looked... sad, but honestly the overflowing suntory syrup for this made up for it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🥃 Citrus Mint Tea (₱170): the descriptor says it's honey citrus and mint tea, and you can tell them apart when you drink it. The lemon-y flavor hits you first when you drink it, then it transitions to a refreshing mint taste. Very refreshing. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

⚠️ Warning, word block ahead.

☕️** Not an Espresso Martin*i (₱220): Ok, so this is the hard part because I was looking forward to the coffee signature beverage here and this one... fell short. The descriptor says that this is Espresso, Cold Brew, Cacao, Peach, Ae*r. I'm not familiar with aer, but google says that it's a flavor booster designed to elevate cocktails. Flavor-wise, it's... very confusing. I think there were too many elements here and they go against each other, if that makes sense? Like the peach was supposed to be a sweet and refreshing ingredient, but it's so jarring against the cocoa and the coffee. ⭐️⭐️

I'm so sorry, but I could not finish it and had to order another drink, which brings me to the next item—

☕️** Pinky Latt*e (₱200): The descriptor says this is House Real Strawberry Milk, Espress*o, and I ordered the cold version. The coffee was a bit too astringent for me, and the milk did not diminish the unpleasantness. The frozen strawberry garnish, I suspect, added to the sharpness because when we removed it, the drink was a bit more manageable. When the ice melted, it diluted the drink, and the bite petered out.

There was a limited edition sig bev that Risk released named "Hot Girl Summer" which featured similar ingredients (espresso and frozen strawberry) and it was very sweet, balanced and refreshing. I had thought the Pinky Latte would have a similar taste profile to that but just with milk, but I was disappointed by the astingency.

And that's the thing, there are so many places in Cebu that offer really good coffee sig bevs, including Risk, Good Cup, 8th of September, and Three Two Brew, and comparing the new sig bevs from CU... oof, the flavor, balance, and fresh takes are lacking.

⭐️⭐️

I will give them the benefit of the doubt, though: perhaps it's because it's a new branch, perhaps it's because it was so early in the morning and they have not yet calibrated. If you look at the menu, it does have the disclaimer of: This menu is temporary. We are just so swamped. Not enough time to make a nice one yet. Some may not even be aligned. Send help...

This is just one part of coffee (sig bevs), and there is still pourovers and espresso-based milk and I would probs come back to see how their other coffee offerings would fare. There's no pourover yet, but I will probs come back when this becomes available.

Other things to rate:

🖊️Pricing: ⭐️⭐️⭐️ Same reasoning as in my last Commonly Uncommon post. To their credit, there was no price increase in the one year gap when I made my reviews.

🖊️Service: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ cheerful and helpful waiters

🖊️Aesthetic/Instagram-ability: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ So new, so cutesy, so pink. Their electric pink + pristine white color combo is weaved into the overall design of the place, which reminds me of the bright yellow + teal design of Punched which was also very present in the interiors of their new branch.

🖊️Location: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Very accessible with ample parking. Also near Oakridge and along a major street connecting Mandaue City to Cebu City.

Verdict: Classic Commonly Uncommon food offerings were consistent, but coffee sig bevs fell short for me.

Willingness to come back: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for food, but not for coffee.

May stall sa Sunday market na nagsesell ng mga ceramic plates and cups. They don’t appear every Sunday naman pero when they do, may nabibili ako. Parang Watson’s lang, walang planong bumili pagpasok pero may dala na sa paglabas 😆

They weren’t there last Sunday but this stall lives in my head rent-free 🫠