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Bellini: The After-Dinner Hangout in Cebu

After dinner in Abaca, we were debating on where to hang out in Cebu on a Friday night. Most of the cafes closed early and we wanted to lounge in a place that is uniquely Cebuano with a good line-up of desserts. We found our answer in Bellini!

Bellini is a chill-out and dessert bar with live acoustic music. It is located in Lahug, overlooking Nivel Hills. It has the same owner as Anzani New Mediterranean restaurant. It is the latest high-end, fine dining establishment in Cebu.

Abaca Restaurant, Cebu

Some say, Jason Hyatt's Abaca is one of the best restaurants and boutique hotels in Cebu. Abaca is famous for its flat bread pizzas and steaks. The place is named after the indigenous material abaca, which is predominantly used around the resort.

I first heard about Abaca from Jason Magbanua, who was raving about it as one of the best wedding destinations he has ever filmed. Some Cebuanos would often go to Abaca just for the flat bread pizza and eat it with a view of the awesome sunset.

Is Abaca really the Best Gourmet Restaurant in Cebu?

The BEST of Cebu City Series:

• TAVOLATA: La Trattoria di Abaca - the BEST Italian Restaurant in Cebu?
• MAYA, Cebu: My Birthday in the Best Mexican Restaurant
• ABACA Restaurant in Mactan, Cebu by Jason Hyatt

Edge Coaster-rific!

Edge Coaster is the first coaster in the world where you can literally look down at the edge of the building you're on. In this case, it's the Crown Regency -- the tallest building in Cebu.

We visited Moal Boal over the weekend, and a side trip to the Edge Coaster was one of the highlights of our trip. :) Check out the Photo Essay of our Edge Coaster experience...

Abaseria, Spanish for Sari Sari Store [Cebu Culinary Adventures #1]

Tofu with Organic Mushroom (P175) accented by Jewelries :)

I'm coming out of my hibernation and share with you my Cebu food trip adventures. We went to our friend Gilbert Go's wedding in Cebu last weekend and we took the chance of exploring the Culinary hideaways in Cebu. If you are in Cebu, most of the time it is either you eat in the Ayala Mall restaurants or in Sugbahan's like AA BBQ, STK (shoot to kill), Tong's, etc. If you ask Cebuano's, what is a typical Cebuano food, they would often say it is simple grilled dishes complimented by interesting sauces. Definitely, if you are in Cebu you should try one of the Sugbahan's. But after fulfilling your thirst for authentic Cebuano grills, you would often find yourself searching for more creative restaurants.

I was determined to explore the culinary secrets of Cebu, and our first stop was Abaseria. The ambiance reminds me of Fat Michaels except that it has a Jewelry store. I know this was perfect for my wife and friend, jewelry shopping in an exotic restaurant hidden in one of the Villa Aurora residences in Cebu City. Abaseria is spanish for Sari Sari Store; the concept of the restaurant is that it is home to different food delicacies and cuisine from Ilocos Norte, to Manila, and to the different provinces in Visayas. It was great to see prices way below Manila levels and it ranges from P100-200 pesos per dish. The jewelry store is a sale area for export overruns from Cebu Shinand Jewelry (same owner as Abaseria). The jewelries are branded Mia named after the daughter of the owner.

Overall, ambiance is great, the food is OK but sometimes has an identity crisis, and jewelry shopping is a bonus. I would recommend this place for people visiting Cebu. Don't be surprised if you ask around and only a few Cebuanos know about this place. We almost gave up but then we saw the light to this restaurant.

[Bantayan+Malapascua #8] What to do in Malapascua?!

This is the final post on the [Bantayan+Malapascua] Series and Malapascua is such a nice place for enjoying beach and nature. In this final post, I would leave you with some visual ideas on what to do here in the charming island of Malapascua. I'm starting to miss this place everytime I look at the photos. Enjoy and share this post with your friends special those planning to go to Malapascua this summer!

Beach, Cebu City, Philippines

[Bantayan+Malapascua #7] La Dolce Vita! Authentic Italian Restaurant -- can you believe it?

I can't imagine how an authentic Italian restaurant exist and able to survive in an island called Malapascua. When the first time I visited here, 4 years ago, this place does not exist-- it is only about 2 years+ old. This is run by two Italian couples who fell in love with Malapascua and spends 6 months in the Philippines each year. La Dolce Vita, also boast of a sugary fine beach sand that rivals Boracay's station 1 beach sand. All of us were surprised at how good and authentic the food really is, in this far far away island of Malapascua. Although, this is located at the south beach and you have to walk all the way to the end of Malapascua's main beach (there are alot of signs along the way). After eating here, we decided to extend one more day in Malapascua -- we just fell in love with it!

Beach, Cebu City, Philippines

[Bantayan+Malapascua #6] Leaving Bantayan and a Wet Boat Trip to Malapascua!

It was tough leaving the island of Bantayan. As much as we want to savor the serene ambiance of Kota beach, we have to leave as early as possible so that we don't catch the big waves enroute to Malapascua. The boat trip took us 2 hours+ and it was a rough, wet boat ride. Also, the biggest banca in Bantayan is small compared to the banca in Malapascua. It was just enough for the six of us to seat under the trapal covers. One of the problems I had was it costs us P4,000 for the one way boat trip and I know that this is too much (should only be around 2,500+) if we went from Malapascua to Bantayan. Check out this photo tour of the trip from Bantayan to Malapascua trip.

Beach, Cebu City, Philippines

[Bantayan+Malapascua #5] Videoke ala Bantayan!

This is one of our favorite videoke place in the island. One of the advantage of being on the island on a weekday is that you can expect that you'll be the only group in this restaurant. Marisquieira O Portuguese have a unique system for their karaoke: You have to buy a bottle of beer which would be equivalent to 2 songs. If you buy a grande size it's equivalent to 5 songs. Coming from the chinese dinner @ Santa Fe, we decided to hang-out in this popular pub which is known for its pizza. We tasted them earlier in the day during merienda, and it was a home made pizza delight :) This is communal videoke style and oh boy, we are glad that we are the only people in this resto-- as if we rented the whole place for P500 sing-all-night! I was inspired to take a lot of pictures while we were singing because of the cool ambiance of the place -- check it out!

Beach, Cebu City, Philippines, Restaurants