There's this new cafe at The North Atrium Mall in Mandaue City. We visited there just days after they had their grand opening. The cafe has a large area and they also have a function room for meetings or gathering. What's sets this place apart from the other coffee shops in Cebu is their very own Karaoke machine where customers can sing to whenever they are too stoked with coffee.Cafe Begote, calssified as a bar/cafe/restaurant, have acoustic bands during the evening as well. The ambiance of the place is perfect for studying (do this in daytime), business meetings or just plainly hanging out.

We tried their coffee and its really quite good and the best part of it is the affordable price. The pastries were also tasty, Yaya was too excited to eat the mint bar I wasn't able to take a picture of the un-eaten mint bar. Luckily for me I know a little about photo editing.*grin*

I have to apologize for the photos I posted. Since Yaya and I don't have the money yet to buy one of those 8 mega pixel cameras, I just used my phone camera in taking these (yeah, we can afford a camera phone).


-- Boy

Yesterday Yaya wanted to eat outside, she couldn't eat the food they had for lunch because of allergies. We decided to eat at our favorite place in times of crisis. We went to North Atrium, a mall near her place and ate at Andoks. This used to be a take out food stop, but recently they converted it to a fastfood restaurant. We regularly eat here because the food here is cheap, tasty and their servings are big. We usually spend half here compared to other restaurant and every time we eat here we always go out with our bellies bulging and our pants tight.
















Their specialty is there Liempo, which is basically roasted pork belly. Its really tasty but I suggest you don't eat this dish regularly since it is packed with fat and high cholesterol. One dish can serve two persons so we ordinarily order one.

Next is a little veggies to counter the cholesterol. We usually order the chopsuey, aside from the reason that Yaya loves it, they have no other vegetable dish in their menu. *grin*

















I also ordered an additional spaghetti cause I felt my gluttonous mood kicking in. Another specialty of Andoks is there very famous roasted chicken. Its a little obvious from there logo. *smirk* We didn't order chicken cause that was the food Yaya avoided at her house because of her allergies. hehehe

















I would recommend this restaurant for people with a tight budget and big appetite. This wouldn't be a perfect place for a date but it sure would be a perfect place to grab a bite. Another thing you would notice is the lack of diversity of the menu. In due time I think they're going to introduce more dishes in their menu. After all they're still new in the fast food industry so let's just wait and see.

-- Boy

Last Wednesday Yaya and I celebrated our anniversary. I originally planned to eat at The Port but when we got there I was surprised to see that they were already fully book for the night. So we decided to go to a different restaurant. There was a new japanese restaurant that opened a couple of weeks ago so we decided to eat there.

As we were approaching the entrance their staff immediately accommodated us, maybe it was because they only had a few customers that time and competition in that part of the mall is just intense, since there are a lot of restaurants in that area. Anyway when I saw there menu I noticed one thing different with there menu. Unlike most of the Japanese restaurants here in Cebu they didn't have any bento meals in their menu, which is what I would usually order. So I decided to order one of my favorite japanese dishes which is chicken teriyaki. Yaya on the other hand had rice toppings with tofu and pork, I didn't quiet get the name but that was the ingredients. For our appetizer we had tuna sashimi and ordered an additional ebi tempura which is shrimp tempura.

Another thing good about this restaurant was the food was served fast, except for the fried rice which the waiter forgot to tell their kitchen. Anyway Yaya didn't expect that the rice toppings was that huge. I think that was good for two persons, its a good thing I was hungry that time.hehehe There sashimi was also good, but its nothing extra ordinary. The chicken teriyaki was tasty and it was also a dish which was good for two persons. The rice toppings that Yaya ordered really caught my attention. It had a distinct taste and it was really good, they were able to blend the taste of the pork and tofu with an added spice to it. It was actually really good. So good.

For their food, price and service, I would actually recommend this restaurant since they also have a complementary free tea. They also have this Yakiniku table wherein you cook your food on a grill in the middle of the table. They also boast that their tempura is healthy since it contains omega 3 which is good for the heart. I suggest you drop by and try their food.

The other night Yaya and I spent time together after work. We were in the mood for good food but there was just a tiny problem. We didn't have enough money to spend for a fancy romantic dinner together. That night we were so hungry we had an insatiable appetite for a large meal.

I kept on pondering where would be the best place to eat. While I was thinking I couldn't stop thinking about a tasty dish of Baby Back Ribs. Then I remembered that there was a restaurant on the next corner which Yaya always wanted to go.

I suggested to Yaya that we eat at Mooon Cafe, yes Mooon with three o's. It's actually an old house which was renovated into a restaurant. There menu consist mostly of Mexican Dishes ranging from Taco's, Tortillas, Chimichanga and Quesadillas. They also have meals which have large servings and are very tasty. There customers are usually student's and yuppies since the place is affordable and has a really good ambiance especially during the evening.


When we arrived there the waiter handed to us the menu and I really didn't need to look at there menu. I instantly told him "one baby back ribs please". While we were waiting for our order to arrive I was already anticipating for that mouth watering baby back ribs. When our order arrived I was in for a shock, I never expected there servings to be that huge. The steak occupied more than half my plate. No wonder there place was always full even during week days. After that sumptuous meal, Yaya ordered dessert which was also a large serving. At the end of the night we both got what we wanted even within the limits of our tight budget. A romantic dinner together and a full stomach.hehehe


Here are some recent photos I took from their branch in The Walk


Cream of Mushroom soup

Salad

Grilled Tuna - (a bit overcooked)

Sisig

Baby Back Ribs

Spaghetti Ala Gambas

Beer Tower
--- Boy

-- Boy

Today we celebrated Mothers day by treating my mom out for lunch. When we arrived at the mall we haven't decided where to eat so we took some time looking for a restaurant which was not full. I was amazed that all the restaurant where we usually don't have that much costumers were actually full. Anyway we decided to eat in Lai garden, when we arrived there we had to take a priority number since it was also full.

While waiting for any vacancy, my brother and I took a look at there menu. I thought that they had the usual chinese restaurant menu, to my surprise they had a lot of different recipes that I haven't seen in other restaurants. I told my brother that we should try some of the dishes that we haven't tasted yet, but he was hesitant since he doesn't wants his moneys worth since the both of us are paying for it. Anyway we ordered the usual dishes Chao Fan Fried Rice, Lemon Chicken, Spare Ribs, Spring Roll, Cold Cuts, Spicy Fried Squid and some kind of soup that I haven't got any clue.

There food tasted ok except for some dishes, but the service was a little bad. Maybe its because the place was crowded because of the occasion but that was no excuse for the bad service. We had to stand and wait for more that 20minutes in front of our table for our seats. The consistency of there food was also affected due to the overwhelming customers. I guess there service will be better during the regular days.

As for the prices of there food here's the breakdown:

Special Roasting Cold Cut Whole - P350.00
Minced B. W/ Po. Chay Soup - P180.00
Lemon Chicken - P 200.00
Lumpia Shanghai - P 160.00
Spicy Squid w/ S. & Pepper - P 180.00
Lai- Lai Chau Fat Chin - P 180.00
Spareribs W/ S. Sauce - P 160.00
Yang Chow Fried Rice - P 130.00

Its a good thing I still have the receipt.hehehe

Anyway all in all we spent P1905.00 including the drinks. Overall the price is fine since this is not a fast food restaurant. This would be a good place to have lunch or dinner together with your family.

-- Boy

The past two days was like de javu for me. The other night I was having trouble choosing the right wine for Yaya's birthday. I was totally dumbfounded when I reached the wine section of the supermarket near my house. I saw a couple of racks of wine sorted by the different types of wine they are selling. I never realized that there are a lot of variations of wine ranging from the places where they are made to the type of grapes they use. I realized that I was so ignorant regarding wine, maybe its because my choice of alcohol consist mainly 70% beer, 10% rum, 10% gin, 5% tequila, 4% vodka and a tiny 1% of wine.hehehe Ok ok maybe thats just an exageration. My point is I really have no knowledge in choosing the right wine, hell I can't even differentiate the taste of different brands of wine. *LOL* Going back to my story, that night it took me around 30 minutes to choose one bottle of wine most of that time i spent staring at the rack walking back and forth and i ended up arriving late for her birthday. After that traumatic experience last night, my dad called me this afternoon and asked me to buy some wine for my uncle. It was just like fate was trying to tease me and put me to that ordeal again. So when I left for work I went to the mall near my office and looked for a wine shop. Luckily for me their wine shop was a lot smaller compared to the one I visited last night. But even with the few choices that was presented to me, there I was again staring at those racks. I decided that I will choose the wine the way I choose it last night. That was to buy the wine which is within my budget, so i picked one which i think was not cheap and not so expensive. After I picked the wine my dad suddenly called me back and told me to cancel the wine cause they were just going to buy cake instead. At the end of the day i finally learned how to choose the right wine to buy.hehehe All I need to do now is to learn how to buy a good wine and learn more about wine. *grin*

-- Boy