last november 4, aki and i bumped into each other in ayala after i watched the boring "skyfall" movie of james bond. yes, you heard me right, "skyfall" is totally boring. its a waste of money watching it. hahai... anyways, aki and i dined at Mesa in ayala cebu branch. and here's our ganap. :)

im impressed with mesa's interiors and fixtures. especially their high back cushioned benches. its very comfortable to sit on. one issue i've noticed though, it takes a long time for the waiters to notice you if you call their attention coz these high back benches, covers the billing area and kitchen area of the restaurant. it was not strategically well thought of. see below what i'm talking about.

below are what aki and i have ordered for dinner. :)

we ordered two viands, the laing cooked in two ways and the stuffed squid. we had bagoong rice as well. my gad, it took almost an hour for them to serve our food! i was infuriated with their service coz its super bagal! what came in first was the laing, so we devoured it first as i was starving to death. then, we had to wait for our stuffed squid again to be served. when the stuff squid was served, i told the waiter, what took this soooo long? the waiter replied, 'ang dami kasing nagpaluto ng lechon kawali'... i replied, 'so its our problem now?... the waiter just apologized... i looked at the waiter with such disappointment. then we continued with our dinner. aki is not the type who complains about service. i'm the complete opposite. i complain about anything and everything that doesn't please me. aki kept on laughing because i'm so hard to please. he tries his best to tame me so i wont flare up. hahaha! i told aki, in fairness to Mesa, they have cute waiters but what is good looks if they dont know what customer service is all about! aki just laughed. lol :) when we asked for the bill, my gad, we had to wait for another 15 minutes, and it took us reminding two waiters for our bill. when the bill was served, i told the waiter, "ang bagal niyo dito grabe, eh wala naman masyadong tao ang restaurant!"... the waiter again apologized...i just snubbed the waiter... i went out of mesa unhappy.. im not going back to this restaurant again! its definitely a thumbs down. very poor customer service, sobra! :(

recalling this dining experience brings back bad memories. hay naku! nakakastress! :(

tight hugs,
AC

Bonchon Chicken, a south korean food chain that recently opened at ayala cebu. located at the second level of ayala terraces. my friends and i decided to dine there last sept 27. 

im not a fan of korean cuisine to be honest. to add,  i tried one before and i didn't like it. this day, out of curiosity, i'll try a korean dish again. just to answer the "what if's" bugging me.

here's our ganap inside the resto. :)

sorry, but i don't have patience falling in line. i had to sit somewhere and found one! hahaha... its comfortable taking pics while sitting down and observe what's happening around. :)

here's their full menu. :)

after ordering, we had to wait for almost an hour for our orders to arrive at our table! kakaloka! we overheard a couple complaining and cancelling their orders due to long wait. hahaha! but then, we patiently waited because we were all curious of its taste. until our orders came. here's our ganap.

im sorry, i don't like their chicken. it tastes like the ones sold in Chosun. the only difference is that its a chicken fillet. the ice tea of korea tastes different but it was ok.

this dish above that looks like a bihon is called "chapchae". this one i really like, in fairness! its semi-sweet and its noodles are thicker than what's being locally sold. i think this noodles is imported from south korea. this one is really a must try! :)

if you'll ask me if its worth going back to this resto. my answer is a "no". hahaha... the chapchae is worth going back though, just that one. lol :)

tight hugs,
AC

last night, sept 26, my team decided to have dinner at Quest Hotel and try out their buffet. we've heard good reviews about it. their buffet costs Php 499.00 per head, excluding service charge. Quest Hotel is located at archbishop reyes ave., cebu city. if you dont know the street, its just across Park Lane Hotel. hehe :) here's our ganap during the buffet dinner. :)

i was caught off-guard with the chairs, they are so wide! notice it?! but its really cozy to sit on. hahaha... i luv it! :) i'll try to describe each section of the buffet table. lol :)

below is the Japanese bar. composed mostly of different types of sushi and sashimi. apparently, salmon is not included in their sashimi menu. i would understand coz salmon is expensive, and for a 500 peso buffet, including salmon in the menu is not a wise choice! malulugi ka! hahaha :).. what they have in their sashimi is tuna and crab sticks, which is fine. :) one thing that caught my attention was the ice platter carved to look like a huge clam shell, where the sashimi slices were neatly displayed. i thought it was plastic! when i touched it, it was ice, as in pure ice! naloka ako! it was my first time to see an ice sculpture to be used as platter. bongga! :)

different section/bar for different courses of the meal. that's how their set-up is. so, you'd really be walking around the whole dining place! which is nice coz you get to burn some calories while you eat non-stop! hahaha.

next is the entree section/bar. here you'll see the creativity of their chefs. everything was so elegantly displayed that you'll begin to wonder if its part of the buffet or for display purposes only. hahaha! but i didn't avail this, i went straight to the main course! hahaha :)

they also have the salad bar. lettuce of different varieties! from arugula, to romaine, to red-tip, to radicchio and so on. ang daming choices ha! that goes the same for the dressing, so many choices as well! i didnt avail of the greens coz i drank smoothie prior to having dinner. hehe

just across the entree section is the main course section. this is the 1st section of the buffet that i dwelled into! hahaha... from fish, chicken, beef to pork - its all here! :)

they also have the wine/liquor bar section of the buffet. below is how it looks like. :)

i wasn't able to take a pic of all the sections of the buffet, sorry. but to just give you an idea, they also have dessert section/bar, shrimp and squid tempura section and etc.

below is what i had for dinner.

oops, baka sabihin niyong ang konti ng kinain ko... nope, dalawang beses akong bumalik for the beef wellington and numerous times kong binalikbalikan ang sashimi that i lost count of! plus sangkatutak na dessert! hahaha!

and this is me, the face of a contented consumer after a very indulging dinner! lol :)

to conclude, i HIGHLY recommend that you try Quest Hotel's buffet, as in! you'll be treated with really good food with good customer service. the waiters are all men! kaloka! charot! hahaha!... they have lunch buffet and dinner buffet daily, if im not mistaken. but please really do try to check them out. for inquiries, call 402-59-99 or 402-59-98.

tight hugs,
AC

its just today that i've added this page in my blog. everything i post here will be about different resto's that i've recently been to. to start off, aki and myself tried 30 Kitchen + bar at The Gallery, located along juan luna ave., mabolo proper, cebu. we were suppose to dine inside the resto but the strong smell of the new paint is just not tolerable. i wonder how the staffs of this resto are able to tolerate the smell of new paint! immune? lol 

so, we decided to dine at the open area of the resto, which is fronting their main entrance. in fairness, the tables and chairs were neatly arranged and the furnitures were nice. here's our ganap. :)

here's their affordable menu. i realized that its a gourmet resto basing from the choices of food in their menu. affordable na sosyal! just click on the pics to have a bigger view. :)

we placed our orders and waited. hail and behold, and the food was served, gourmet style! sosyal! :)

i enjoyed the food. its not that great when it comes to taste but only average. from a scale of 1 to 5, i'd give it a 3. but one thing caught my observing eyes, the condiments that were served!

this is so funny! you get to choose condiments from lea & perrins worcestershire sauce (sosyal) , or maggi savor (local) and maggi hot sauce (label removed and local)! hahaha! i suggest they should remove from their condiments line this maggi products. it doesn't fit the image of a gourmet dish. just my opinion. :)

on each table is a "bonsai" center piece. rarely do you see bonsai plants as a center piece in any resto. one tip, in feng-shui, bonsai plants are not considered as auspicious because as they say its stunted growth. this type of ornament shouldn't be displayed in your business establishment nor your home.

do try to visit 30 Kitchen. their customer service is great, and they serve food fast! :)

tight hugs,
AC