Cuarto Hotel Restaurant Lobby

I've been to the Cuarto Hotel restaurant lobby recently and boy was I impressed with the quality of service relative to the price.

Cuarto Hotel is a mid-size, mid-priced hotel at the heart of Cebu's uptown business district along the Fuente Osmena and Osmena Buolevard area. It is located at the back of the NLRC building near Robinson's Cybergate and Chong Hua Hospital.

Cuarto Hotel's buffet restaurant

View of the hotel lobby from the restaurant

My good impression comes from the fact that at P250 per person all-in, no service charge, one could avail of a breakfast buffet meal at the restaurant lobby under a cozy atmosphere for morning client meetings or just spending some alone time to write or work on something.

The breakfast menu choices are modest yet guaranteed to be a good return for the buck. In my case, they served rice, fish fillet, salad, toasted bread, cereal, pasta carbonara, scrambled egg, checken porridge, assorted breads with jam and other condiments. There's also good old brewed coffee to perk up your morning slate.

For me, the most important thing of all is the good airconditioning amid the hot El Nino December weather outside.

Everything Yummy at I.T. Park

We had a good time at Everything Yummy restaurant at EBloc2 I.T. Park in Apas, Cebu City last Monday, April 20, 2015. The food was indeed yummy and the price is reasonable. Parking is a bit of a problem though as is always the case in I.T. Park.

I ordered crunchy shredded salad and chicken in garlic, beans, and olive oil. I agree with Sun.Star Cebu's "The Best of Cebu" and Trip Advisor's top rating for this restaurant.

NAME OF RESTAURANT: Everything Yummy
OPERATING HOURS: 9:00 AM to 10:30 PM, Daily
LOCATION: Ground Floor, EBloc2 I.T. Park, Apas, Cebu City (Google Maps Link)
TELEPHONE NUMBER: (032) 410-6511

I LOVE CEBU RATING:

Ayala Center Cebu New Wing

The new wing of the Ayala Center Cebu opened in the later part of 2013. It has many international-brand specialty shops like Zarra, Muji and the Apple Store. Rustan's Department Store and Supermarket is also relocated to this area from its old place in the main mall. This new wing of the 20-year old mall is Cebu's primary destination for luxurious shopping.

International-brand specialty shops are found in Ayala Center Cebu's New Wing

We await next year the opening of two new large malls, the Robinson's Mall at the North Reclamation Area and the SM City Seaside Mall at the South Road Properties (SRP). This is a welcome development for shoppers looking for ultimate comfort while inside the mall because as one may have observed, old wings of malls in Cebu have deficient air conditioning systems.

Try Ayala Center Cebu and SM City Cebu, and you'll notice only its new wings (ACC New Wing and SM City Cebu North Wing) are the only areas with sufficient and comfortable air conditioning. They should remedy this situation. One of the reasons malls are popular hang out places in this hot and humid country is the cool and comfort air conditioned environments they provide. It's about time they should replace the air conditioning system in their old wings.


LOCATION: Cebu Business Park, Archbishop Reyes Avenue, Cebu City (Google Map Link)
MALL HOURS: 10:00 AM to 9:00 PM (except for patio or outdoor areas which close past midnight)
I LOVE CEBU RATING:

Turtle's Nest Book Cafe and Gallery

Turtle's Nest Cafe and Gallery serves breakfast, lunch and dinner with a moderate price range and superb taste. The ambiance is an acquired taste and this shows in the regulars who spend their evenings and late nights to unwind with friends of similar inclinations to the arts and alternative culture.

Mainstream resto goers may find this place either a little intimidating at first or otherworldly strange, that is because the cafe has unpretentious character and taste that cares less about what the mainstream crowd expect and more about its raw yet deep, and sometimes  abstract, expressions of life and living. 

It takes time to know and like this place, but perhaps soon enough you'll feel its warmth and genuine vibes and get comfortably settled into a corner amid a sensible, authentic crowd of artists and professionals. 

NAME OF RESTAURANT: Turtle's Nest Cafe and Gallery

LOCATION: Gorordo Avenue, Lahug, Cebu City (near Harold's Hotel and Golden Peak Hotel)
I LOVE CEBU RATING:

Matias Barbecue: A Tradition of Smoky-Flavored Excellence (베스트 치킨 바베큐)

Easter Sunday was an occasion to break the fasting of the Holy Week and we chose Matias Barbecue in Banilad, Mandaue City to break our abstinence from tasty, sumptuous meals. Matias is a popular barbecue grill restaurant that has been in the business for many years already. The ambiance is outdoor picnic-type under the shade of the caimito (star apple) trees. There are seats indoors adjunct the grilling station but it's too smokey in there because there is no exhaust fan.

Matias Barbecue Restaurant along A.S. Fortuna Street, Mandaue City

Matias' outdoor picnic-style setting

People flock to Matias on weekdays and especially on weekends where entire families come. The accommodations are spartan and may be quite a bit below the standard to a foreign guest but people come to eat what is arguably the best chicken barbecue in the entire Philippines. I am not exaggerating. I may not have tasted it all but I have gone through many places in the country and tasted their barbecue chicken (yes, including Larsian's and the Bacolod variety - which are both excellent!) -- and my verdict is that Matias Chicken Barbecue is the best!!


Matias chicken barbecue is tender, juicy, adequately cooked from the outside in, deliciously smoky, with a hint of seasoned sweetness; you don't need a sauce to eat it along with Cebu's favorite hanging rice or puso. Probably it took many hours to process the raw meat into this delicious creation and only Matias knows the secret in doing it.


Matias also serves lanciao, balbacua, pork barbecue, pork chorizo, and other grill fares.

Aside from chicken barbecue, Matias also serves lansiao and balbacua.

The indoor section of the restaurant is sometimes filled with smoke from the grill because there is no exhaust fan.

There is one thing about this restaurant that amazes me aside from their chicken barbecue. It's their system of serving the food you order. First, you line up at the display of barbecue fares near the grilling station and choose your order. Second,  you place your order on a plastic plate and line it up along with the plates of other customers.  Third, just leave your order there and find yourself a seat. Yes, leave your order and find yourself a seat. Your order will find its way back to you perfectly cooked in 10-15minutes. The key is to remember what you ordered because your assigned waiter will ask you about it before she will get it from the grilling station. It's amazing how it works all the time.



NAME OF RESTAURANT: Matias Barbecue Restaurant
OPERATING HOURS: 11:00 AM to 12:00 MIDNIGHT, Daily
LOCATION: A.S. Fortuna St., Banilad, Mandaue City (Google Maps Link)
I LOVE CEBU RATING:

Robinsons Supermarket at the Banilad Town Center

A day after Good Friday is a good day to restock our supplies of grocery items after a couple of days of hibernation from the outside world and with most shops closed for the long holiday. We did our grocery shopping at nearby Robinsons Supermarket at the Banilad Town Center or BTC. Robinsons Supermarket is the most convenient for us because it is one nearest our place in Banilad. However, unlike Rustan's Fresh Supermarket at Oakridge A.S. Fortuna, there is no indoor parking area at BTC but their parking is also for free, but only for a maximum of one hour with a charge of 5 pesos thereafter. That is why nothing beats Rustan's when it comes to parking.

 

The counters at Robinsons Supermarket on a Black Saturday

This store scores less when it comes to pricing; there's a much significant difference here compared to the lower prices at Gaisano Countrymall and Metro Gaisano Supermarket. But when it comes to Robinsons grocery shopping, convenience is the key word. Here I can buy medicines and transact at MLhuillier Kwarta Padala in one air conditioned setting of the grocery area. There is also a money exchange shop upstairs at the main mall, GPC Exchange which is known for its higher foreign exchange rates.

The South Star Drugstore at Banilad Town Center

M Lhuillier Pawnshop and Money Remittance Service at the grocery store area in BTC

Since it was a day after Good Friday, it was not surprising to see the fish and seafood section almost empty of items while the meat section still full of pork and beef. Filipinos by tradition avoid eating pork and beef meat during the Holy Week.

Meat so available

No more fishes

One minus side of Robinsons Supermarket in BTC, though, is their bad practice of still putting on their displays rotten or overripe fruits. I had one bad experience of buying overripe Mangosteen fruits last year (one could not tell if they are spoiled or not because of their hard purple body texture). Today, some of the fruits in display were obviously way past their prime, like the the avocados below.

Caveat emptor (buyer beware) when it comes to fruits at Robinsons

NAME OF SHOP: Robinsons Supermarket BTC
STORE HOURS:  7:30 AM – 8:30 PM Mondays to Thursdays; 7:30 AM to 9:00 PM on Fridays to Sundays
LOCATION: Banilad Town Center (BTC), Gov. M. Cuenco Avenue, Banilad, Cebu City (Google Maps Link)
FAX: (032)3467188
TELEPHONE NUMBER: (032)344-1389 / (032)346-8139 [Customer Service]
I LOVE CEBU RATING:

Holy Week Church Visit (성령 주 에 교회)

Every Holy Week in the Philippines we have the tradition of Visita Iglesia or church visits. It is one of the Catholic traditions handed to us by our Spanish colonizers of old, wherein Catholic faithfuls visit 7 churches in observance of the passion and mercy of Jesus Christ who died on the Cross.

The facade of the National Shrine of St. Joseph in Mandaue City during Good Friday

Well-lighted church bells at the National Shrine of St. Joseph (St. Joseph Parish) in Mandaue City

This year, I did not see many people in the St. Joseph Parish Shrine in Mandaue City, most likely because we visited the church quite late already around 10:00 p.m. on a Good Friday. Aside from St. Joseph Parish, we also visited the San Roque Parish in Subangdaku, Mandaue City. We did not have anymore the chance to visit five more churches because it was getting late already and some of the churches, like the Peace Adoration Chapel near our home in Banilad, were already closed. So you can say we took a short cut in observing the Visita Iglesia tradition, but we did use the moment to deeply reflect on the meaning of Holy Week and Jesus Christ's sacrifice on the Cross.

People lining up to touch the statue image of the body of Jesus Christ lying at the altar

Door to the church at the St. Joseph Parish in Mandaue City

I noticed along the way to the church and on the way home that there were still establishments that were open even on a Good Friday. To name a few are Chosun Galbi in A.S. Fortuna (I think Koreans do not observe Holy Week), Jollibee in Mandaue City Centro and some business outlets in BPO buildings such as Gagfa building in Panagdait-Subangdaku-Mabolo area. Just a few years ago it wasn't like this. Business establishments placed prime observance to the Holy Week tradition that one cannot see a single shop open.

One thing has not changed though: the city roads are wide open and free of vehicular traffic.

Entrance gate of the St. Joseph Parish with the Mandaue City Hall on the background

Shopping at Rustan's Supermarket A.S. Fortuna (식료품 쇼핑)

There are two new grocery stores that have recently opened along A.S. Fortuna Street in Banilad, Mandaue City. They are Rustan's Fresh Supermarket and Metro Gaisano Supermarket. Residing in the Foodland-Banilad area now gives one plenty of choices when it comes to grocery shopping. Aside from these two new grocery stores, there are the reliable Gaisano Countrymall Supermarket (which for me is still the best when it comes to price, inventory, and arrangement of items), the Robinson's Supermarket at the Banilad Town Center, 7-Eleven at Caltex Banilad Fly-over, Rose Pharmacy grocery at the University of Cebu Banilad Campus, and ThreeSixty Pharmacy grocery at the PDI Condominium building.

I have not yet tried shopping at Metro Gaisano Supermarket A.S. Fortuna because of parking and traffic problems (it is located at the junction of A.S. Fortuna and Hernan Cortes streets). My most preferred new grocery shopping destination right now is Rustan's Fresh Supermarket - A.S. Fortuna which is located inside the Oakridge Business Complex.

Oakridge complex building along A.S. Fortuna St., Banilad, Mandaue City

For one, I like the parking accommodation in this area: plenty of space. There's an outdoor parking area fronting the grocery store and there's also an indoor parking area at the second and third levels of the Oakridge building which houses Rustan's. For those who need grocery supplies at a time the midday sun is still blazing hot, Rustan's A.S. Fortuna is the perfect place to do grocery shopping because it's indoor parking area is immediately connected to the air-conditioned indoor access toward the grocery store. The building also has a spacious elevator, useful for those lugging along large plastic shopping bags and carts.

Rustan's A.S. Fortuna facade

Since the grocery store is a bit on the high end side, items in the store are quite pricier than local favorites Gaisano Countrymall and Metro Gaisano. But the convenience of parking and the availability of hard-to-find premium items make Rustan's Cebu one of my favorite shopping places in Cebu.

My favorite Sun Made Brown Rice for a price of Php80.00 per kilo

For example, there are my favorite brown rice, Kikkoman Less Salt Soy Sauce, Apple Cider vinegar, Korean and Japanese noodles, assorted kinds of imported cheese and processed meats, to name a few.

Premium imported cheeses and processed meat products

Korean and Japanese instant noodles

Before you think it's mostly premium products that are available in Rustan's, there's the usual local kitchen regulars like onions, tomatoes, garlic and many more.

They still have a wide array of local kitchen ingredients in pre-packaged or per weight units.

NAME OF SHOP: Rustan's Fresh Supermarket
STORE HOURS: 8am-9pm on weekdays, 8am-9pm on Saturdays, and 9am-9pm on Sundays
LOCATION: Oakridge Business Center, 880 A.S. Fortuna St., Banilad, Mandaue City (Google Maps Link)
TEL. NO.: (032) 412 4146
I LOVE CEBU RATING: