a little bit about travel, a little bit about food, a lot of everything in between; as seen, tasted and experienced by different points of view..
Deciding that I should be able to sample this restaurant’s food, my sister drove me and my brother to Crossroads to experience one of the elegant Japanese restaurants here in Cebu.
Banri at a glance is a small store with a modern Japanese feel to it, with several bookcases at the entrance filled with Manga and Doujins stacked carefully on display. There was enough room for people to worm their way to get to their seats, just as we did.
Interestingly, the background music was traditionally Japanese and the displays and the whole ambiance complements the whole place.
Despite the small space, we were courteously seated by one of the staff and were each given a menu booklet so that we may choose from their many dishes.
Naturally, we ordered a platter of mixed sashimi and a plate of mixed sushi to share, while my brother got himself a huge bowl of Yudofu, which looked like a Japanese version of soup stock. I, on the other hand, took the liberty of sampling their cold noodles, hiyashi somen and lastly, my sister had a generous bowl of Chirashi sushi (which wasn’t on the menu).
We were given a small plate of vegetables with japanese mayo on top with refillable house tea.
My somen was refreshing yet filling, and not too cold even if it was served in a bowl with ice cubes inside. My brother’s Yudofu, a tofu based soup was shared between the three of us and was very satisfying. 
The sushi and sashimi that were served were fresh and prepared right. We even had a small sushi roll made of Uni, or sea urchin. It was rich, although it had a strange texture unlike raw Uni. I was thinking that maybe it was cooked or prepared somehow so that it didn’t taste too raw for their guests?
And true to their word, their wasabi tastes great. 😉
Banri Noodle House
Crossroads, Banilad
Verdict:
A: 4.5/5
A little pricey, but what can you expect from a Japanese restaurant? The ambiance is relaxing and the food tastes great. The washroom needs a little maintenance of sorts. Otherwise, I really enjoyed my visit here. I would come back here if I had money to spare to try their other dishes.
I’m going to say this now: This place has got to be one of the most underrated pizza parlors in Cebu right now. Our visit to this place was by accident. Originally, we were supposed to go to Rico’s Lechon to grab ourselves a boneless …
We’ve read an article about this restaurant on the web a few days ago and we then decided to check it out because the place was near our apartment. It was intensely hot that time and we were thankful that there was a little shade …
After a short trip to IT park and a 100 peso taxi fare to get to the place, we finally arrived at Tokyo Table situated at City Time Square.
Tokyo table is among the many establishments in the newly opened strip as well as one of the many talked about restaurants on the net. There were several good reviews about this place according to a friend, so we decided to give it a visit.
I was not disappointed with the ambiance of the place from the get-go; I was captivated by this huge bamboo artwork by the entrance. My sister and I was the third group of the early birds to try the place.
At exactly 11:30, we were ushered inside and had a first glimpse of the spacious area for its customers.
It.
Was.
HUGE.
It’s like the size of two basketball courts combined. I almost gawked in disbelief at the size of the place, and there were several couch seats!
Plus the assortment of food was a fusion of several different cuisines! They had Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Thai, and European.
There was just too many to sample and choose from.
*ahem*
What I like about this place is the fact that they have a separate dispenser for drinks available to every diner who eats there.
Let’s see…
I also did enjoy some dishes on the Japanese section, particularly their sashimi. I’m a sucker for fresh sashimi. The marlin (or that white sashimi fish they had was very delish.) Salmon is a given. I also enjoyed their freshly cooked shrimp tempura. It had this sweetness in it that leaves you wanting for more.
For the Chinese section, I enjoyed the crispness of their Lechon Macao, as well as their orange pork (the inner meat was difficult to chew, however.) Their chill sauce and pickled bamboo shoots were interesting choices too. Oh. Did I mention that I like that pork roast with crispy pork rinds and chili garlic sauce?
Tokyo Table
City Time Square, Mantawi Ave., Tipolo Mandaue, Cebu City
Verdict:
A: 4/5
I think it’s expensive to go here, costing around 750 for an adult lunch diner? Many of their food were hit and miss. The tuna sashimi was a disappointment. The maki tempura is too. The rolls were very unappetising to me, if you ask me.
Most of the Chinese food here are terrible. The dim sums had huge individual servings, probably three times the size of your normal siomai. The sliced salted meats from the koreans are very disappointing too because they were huge.
But hey.
At least the dessert section if well stocked.
P.S.
I like the creme brûlée. It could be a diet version of the one sold at A Cafe.
After a grueling sale day at Mandaue Foam with my mom, her friend, and my sister, we were invited to eat at this far flung restaurant in Mandaue City. In a sense, it was a simplified version of Larsian. There were several tables, with only …
My sister and I visited this place yesterday when we were looking for a decent cabinet for her room. We did find one at Metro and had it delivered to our flat. I skipped my breakfast that time, so by the time we finished at …
It was a year late when we learned of this restaurant situated near the Church of Latter Day Saints. It’s even funnier that we oft ride our way to Ayala and IT Park, while just shooting glimpses of this quaint pink colored house atop …
Among the restaurants that we have not eaten yet in Ayala, Maitré Chocolatier is probably one of the most curious of them all. Situated beside the old space of Healthy Options and below Hukad in Ayala Terraces, this restaurant boasts its use of chocolate in dishes listed in their menu.
Curious as to how they would add the “secret” ingredient to dishes like pork chops and pizza, we checked out the place while there was still very little people inside.
The ambiance was that of a cozy cafe decorated with quotes and facts about chocolates. Not to mention several boxes of imported cocoa products by the far wall of the establishment. The seats were cozy, and were clearly aimed for dating individuals or married mates.
We got the answer to our question when we did get our orders on the table. My sister had a serving of grilled pork chop with dark chocolate drizzles while I got myself a plateful of vegetarian pizza with white chocolate and a bowl of hot chocolate for the cool afternoon.
The service was quick and we enjoyed the ambiance altogether. We spent the remainder of the rainy afternoon to wait it out and chill.
The hot chocolate was good, in my opinion. A bit thick for my tastes, but it sufficed. I’ll give them brownie points for the added chocolate chip cookie~!
The pork chop wasn’t that exceptional because it didn’t even have a distinctive chocolate taste on it.
Oh, I forgot to add. This is where this restaurant shines: dessert. We both had a lava cake to share. It was sweet and somewhat bitter; understandable because of the dark chocolate used in it. It was a balance between hot and cold with a scoopful of vanilla ice cream on top of a biscuit. It also had this screen-like layer of hardened chocolate while there was a generous amount of chocolate all around it. It was really good! 
Maitré Chocolatier
Ayala Terraces, Cebu
Verdict:
A: 3.5/5
The food is still hit and miss. There are some that tastes great, and some that tastes mediocre. I like the concept though!
