u/ImpracticalDreamer

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 🫠