Skydreamer Dines in Cebu: Tempura Japanese Grill

I'm no fan of Japanese food. I don't eat sushi or sashimi. I just don't like the idea of eating something raw. I once ate sushi and lost my appetite the rest of the night. I'm never going through that ordeal again.

But there's a side of Japanese cuisine that I haven't explored yet. Their cooked dishes - ha! I was so surprised when I found out that they cook some of their dishes too, and they're really delicious!

My husband and I went to Tempura Japanese Grill at SM Northwing last October 23. He ordered one of their Bento Dishes - Tempura Shokuji Buta (whaaat?) and I ordered Shogayakidon (I'm scratching my head here - I have no idea what this means). This dish has pork strips with lightly gingered Japanese soy sauce topped on rice.

I loved the dish my husband ordered. The tempura was great and the tofu - divine. My dish smelled soooo good, but it was too oily. The bottom part of my dish was swimming in oil - eewww.

Overall, it wasn't so bad. The price was ok for Japanese food (their price is similar to Rai Rai Ken's), the food was decent and the place is really homey and elegant.

Here are some pictures:

inside Tempura Japanese Grill

grill in our table

shogayakidon

tempura shokuji buta

Skydreamer Dines in Cebu: Roma Mia

What a night. Hubby and I originally planned to go to Giuseppe Pizzeria and Sicilian Roast in Banilad, but decided to go to The Terraces in Ayala instead because we were so hungry. We still wanted Italian though, so off we trudged to Roma Mia.

Their food is great -- and the price is just right too so we got to save a lot compared to what we could have cashed out had we gone ahead with the original plan.

They have free wifi there, so you can bring your laptop, netbook, ipod or whatever, and update yourself in Facebook or Twitter while waiting for your food. Their service was okay, but not excellent either. (We asked for a doggy bag of our potato wedges because we still had more than half left over, but they didn't give it back to us -- that's not good!)

So anyway, we ordered potato wedges, which has thick slices of deep-fried potatoes with garlic-mayo dip. The patotoes were well cooked, but it was soft. The dip was great, though.

Hubby ordered godfather chops in gravy. The name says it all -- and the picture can tell you what words cannot.

I had bolognes in linguine. It's pasta with tomato sauce, ground beef, and mushrooms topped with parmesan cheese.

The food was great, the service was okay, and the price was the best!

xoxo

Skydreamer Dines in Cebu: Ila Puti

I have always loved Ila Puti's dishes. I love it so much that hubby and I reserved the place for the after-party of our civil wedding back in '08. Anyway, I'm not exactly sure how many locations they have in Cebu now, but the one I frequent is in I1 Building in IT Park (they used to have a branch in Sykes, but I think it's already closed).

Their dishes are a unique fusion of Asian dishes - Thai, Filipino, Japanese, Malaysian, Mongolian and Indian. They also serve pasta - from the uber tasty Pasta Puti (their version of carbonara and my personal favorite!) to the eccentric Triton's Treat -- it's their own version of seafood pasta with bagoong. I mean, go figure. Pasta with bagoong? I'll pass. But all the other dishes I've tasted were great.

My usual order a few years back was always, always, and always Pasta Puti. I wouldn't order anything else. And hubby's was stroganov. Lately, I've taken to trying some of their dishes, and they weren't so bad. Fact is, I enjoyed the unique taste of their other dishes that I have forgotten the taste of Pasta Puti (I haven't ordered that in quite a while).

Aside from Pasta Puti, these are the other dishes I've tried (and loved!)

• Stroganov - tenderloin tips in sour cream sauce with garlic rice
• Peking Pork - tenderloin tips in oyster sauce with Peking style stir-fried rice
• Kari Kulkarni - tenderloin tips in curry sauce with tomato basil rice
• Teriyakatsu - tenderloin tips in teriyaki sauce with Japanese infused stir-fried rice
• Nonihm Thai - Adobo tips with Bagoong rice
• Milkfish in cococream sauce - boneless bangus with coconut curry sauce
• Buffalo chicken fingers - chicken fillet cooked with hot and spicy buffalo sauce
• Grilled Asian Chops - grilled lemongrass pork chop with garlic shrimp fried rice

Their prices range from P110 - P180. The price is without doubt, very affordable!

My personal rating? It's 4 out of 5 (5 being the highest)

It could have been a five if their service was excellent. It's ok, but it's not great. Most of their staff don't know what dishes they're serving, and it's really a hassle if you want to know more about the food you're ordering. They're not very friendly either.

My overall verdict? This is a must-try in Cebu. Skeptic? Visit their site first. Click here and be convinced!

So anyway, that's my review of Ila Puti. The last time I went there was a couple of days ago -- with Ate BJ, Nes, and hubby. Here are some of the pictures. The food we ordered were Nonihm Thai (me), Stroganov (hubby), Kari Kulkarni (Nes), and Milkfish in cococream sauce (Ate BJ). Oh, and we also ordered Buffalo Chicken Fingers to share.

Here are some of the pictures. I'll just make a collage so you won't have to scroll down a lot of times. *grins*

xoxo

Skydreamer Dines in Cebu: Bigby's Cafe

Think: Sicilian Meatballs - 5 cheese-stuffed meatballs tossed with spaghetti noodles in aromatic brown sauce. Yummmm!

Think again: Grilled Chicken Carbonara - fetuccini noodles tossed with bacon and mushroom in a creamy white sauce. Topped with grilled chicken breast.

Add: Grilled rodeo chops - marinated pork chops grilled nice n' easy with cranberry sauce.

Not sold yet?...

Try their Passion Fish or Tuscan Fish Melt.

You'd think you're not in the Philippines. You'd think you were out, touring the world with your tastebuds. Try it! You won't be disappointed.

Guaranteed 100% satisfaction.

Skydreamer Dines in Cebu: Kul Kitchen

I'm all about the pictures for now. I'll post an entry about this restaurant when I have time. Suffice it to say, this is one of my fave restaurants in IT Park - Next to Ila Puti, and Mooon, and Casa Verde, and Da Vinci...

Shicken ala Creme...Creamed ribs...Triple B-Q...Mushroomed Beef...Spaghetti Bolognese...Ultra Hot Sizzling Calamare...and a lot more! I come here almost every night to eat, and I never get tired of their taste!

Skydreamer Dines in Cebu: Jacobo's

Jacobo's is IT Park's newest foodie. Step inside, and you'd see that the interior is all at once intimate, homey, and elegant. Their menu boasts of unique blends of Filipino, American, and what-else. They also have an all-you-can-eat plated breakfast for only a hundred pesos (about 2 dollars).

Impressed, hubby and I decided to check it out. I first ordered pancakes with bacon. I loved the pancake! It had notes of mango in it. Hubby had orange-glazed tocino, which for him, tasted like conventional tocino. "Nothing exceptional" he said.

My next order - adobo hash. It was too salty for my taste, and hubby didn't like it either. I downed it with a glass of water. Hubby's second order was Chorizo Pinoy, which didn't taste so good either. We were going to order a third helping (I wanted to have the pancakes again) but we didn't like their service.

Let me tell you what happened: Nobody explained to us fully, how plated all-y0u-can-eat works. Cebu has a lot of all-you-can-eat places, but most of them are buffet. Hubby had a couple tablespoons of rice left in his first order, but they reprimanded him (the supervisor did!), and they made us wait 20 minutes to be served his second order. I only had to wait 5 minutes for my second order.

I politely asked for a Customer Feedback questionnaire, but they didn't have one. I insisted on a piece of paper, so they gave me one, and when I asked for the name of the supervisor or the owner of the place, no one would tell me! Everyone, specially the manager was unprofessional and the thing is, that's no way to run a restaurant specially if the food is not even that great to begin with.