A Native Feast

japanese, korean, chinese, mexican - i've munched on a pretty wide selection the past few weeks (there goes the diet) because ivan and darryl are bent on having dinner (practically every night) with family and friends before they fly back to london. good thing i really can't join lunches otherwise it would be an eating binge the whole day.

am just about ready to say "no" the next time they called for an invite but dinner last wednesday was special. you see, they wanted to get together family members and friends in cafe laguna.

local food. i realized i haven't written anything about local restaurants although majority of my favorites are the ones that serve the naytib kind. and cafe laguna is one that no one should miss if they get the chance to visit cebu. the formula is old, the menu a bit of a cliche but it's something you'd want to do again, and again. and again.

start off with crispy kangkong (swamp cabbage leaves) dipped in tartar sauce to whet the appetite then follow up with a slightly tart halaan soup (salt water clam) that has a strong underlying ginger taste. pakbet (local stir fried mixed vegetables) is perfectly bitter and seasoned with bagoong (salted fish / shrimp paste). after getting my "healthy" dose, i got the tagalog bistek (tenderized beef slices simmered in soy sauce, vinegar, garlic, pepper corns and topped with sweet onion rings) and enjoyed the tender meat with every mouthful of rice.

the waiter laid down a dish of laing (minced gabi leaves with green and flaming hot chili simmered and cooked in coconut milk) that is best eaten with a bit of the bistek and rice. it visually looks unappealing but the riot of taste that bursts in the first mouthful is guaranteed to make you dip in again. seafood came next with sugpo sa buko (shrimps with young coconut flesh cooked in coconut milk and flavored with long green chili and just a hint of bagoong).

the animal farm is not complete without pandan chicken and lechon kawali to complete the list of animals parading before our plates. if there's any disappointment, the lechon kawali (pork belly cuts deep fried to a crisp) is just so so with the skin not popping up in crackling bits.

i loved the interiors of the place which is a take-off from the usual native or local restaurants that feature bamboo, nipa and wooden furniture. the new cafe laguna spelled luxury and used monochromatic shades of flesh, white and off white.

this is a recommended place for people wanting to enjoy home-cooked meals in a classy laid back environment. call ahead as this place can get really full (click on read.more for restaurant details)

Laguna Garden Cafe
Garden Row 1
Biliran Road, Cebu Business Park
Cebu City, Philippines
Tel #: 032-2338600
Fax #: 032-2338602
email: lgc@cafelaguna.com

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

the sign

"Lord, give me a sign..." no, i haven't fallen victim to overly melodramatic movie lines. on the other hand, i actually did use these words while attending mass last sunday (Redemptorist, Cebu City). you see, i have been increasingly dissatisfied with matters regarding the church but not necessarily my faith. to a point that i am debating whether i should even attend mass. i was asking myself if i wanted to attend mass given the fact that the church is getting more political. sure, i understand liberation theology and standing up for what is morally right. but that is exactly the same thing that has been bothering me, the moral thingy. the local church is proclaiming that the current administration has no moral leadership. i am not refuting that claim, on the other hand, the church could have said the same thing about itself. except that they rather not comment on anything when it comes to issues facing the institutional church. and there are tons of dirt, make that hun...
Read more

a most unusual saint

Image
the title Black Magic Mary is enough to conjur images of a witch draped in black robes similar to that of the Virgin Mary albeit with a more sinister aura. in Sta. Maria Church in Siquijor, a saint wearing a black habit holds a skull in one hand and an "inverted cross" in another is fast gaining a reputation that is probably influenced by the mystic history of the island itself. locals have speculated that the skull is actually her husband's and that she murdered her husband for reasons that seems to have been lost in history. a bit of research show that the locals refer to the saint as Santa Rita de Siquijor, probably a Filipino convention where we name the Virgin Mary with annexes related to places (e.g. Our Lady of Guadalupe). my own research led me to discover this particular "myth" in an effort to know more about Santa Rita de Cascia who is the patron saint of a church and town named after her in Pampanga. The first thing that caught my attenti...
Read more

Cambugahay, Lazi, Siquijor

Image
CAMBUGAHAY FALLS three layered cambugahay falls, the water invites you to take a dip in its cool embrace Cambugayay falls  is accessible from the main highway of Lazi, Siquijor. a marker with Kris Aquino's face promoting Casino rubbing alcohol marks  the top of the 135 steps that leads to the landing area of the three tiered waterfalls that beckon visitors to take a dip in its gorgeously blue green water. side note, manong nonoy totally avoided the trek down to the pool in the pretext of watching over our car. moderate fitness is required for this one. looks inviting for a jump? some of the locals enjoying a splash in the pool. met a family having an excursion, this is the required "wacky" pose. interestingly, when i got the chance to chat up the family, they told me that while i was doing my "acrobatics" trying to frame my pictures, a monitor lizard casually walked behind me, paused for a bit while looking at me before sauntering of...
Read more