Bigby's : Take A Food Trip (part 2)

Bigby's Cafe Location :2/f Entertainment Center, Ayala Center Cebu, Cebu City Tel # : (032) - 2342495/ (032) - 2342395 Cuisine : International/Filipino Menu Price Range : Php 160+ - 300+ Service Charge: none Rating : ★★★★

(This is part 2 of the special 2 part review of Bigby's Cafe. Part 1 here.)

Round 5 : tapa bai!
Price : Php165
Rating : ★★★★
This is a variation of the classic Pinoy Beef Tapa. Beef tenderlion tips sizzling in spicy sauce and vegetables. Also served with rice. The beef was not melt-in-the-mouth soft, but the usual tapa variation, tender but with a sort of firmness to it. The sweet, salty and spicy blend of the sauce mixed well with the meat. The veggies for the added crunch and color. Also served with a generous cup of rice.


Round 6 : Asian Ostrich Skewers
Price : Php210
Rating : ★★★★
This gets a star just for originality. If you feel adventurous, go try something new in the poultry section. Ostrich. This little number has ostrich meat laced with herbs and spices on a kebob stick, drizzled in peanut sauce, raw mango strips on a bed of java rice.
The marinade of the meat is a bit spicy to my liking, but you can still taste the actual flavor of the ostrich. For the many who will be guessing it will taste like chicken, but surprisingly, ostrich is a dark meat variety, and to my taste buds, I think the closest flavor it is either pork/beef tenderloin.


Round 7 : Chicken Samurai
Price : Php179
Rating : ★★
Let's go back to the regular selection of poultry, the Chicken Samurai. Grilled Chicken smothered in Teriyaki sauce over a bed of sauteed greens. The chicken was tasty already on it's own but the sauce overpowered the whole chicken flavor. Leaving me to eat something like a Teriyaki sauce samurai, not the chicken. I didn't need the extra sauce served on the side.


Round 8 : Mango Chantilley Crepe
Price : Php XXX (to be determined later)
Rating : ★★★★
I am not much of a dessert fan but I'm sure is a crepe fan. Their mango crepe is served not your usual way but mango slices on the outside, ice cream flavor of your choice from the selection on the inside (we chose mango) and a pool of caramel sauce of the side. The mangoes were sweet and it seems to match well with the mango ice cream, which resulted into a fixture of creamy and citrus flavors with caramel sauce spooned generously to your likeness. It was a damn shame I was having a coughing fit that day.


Round 9: The Birthday Surprise
Price : Free
Rating : ★★★★★
Like all the themed restaurants with the curious knick-knacks, waiters in creative costumes and whatnots, everybody has their own birthday gimmick. Here at Bigby's I was the victim of the birthday surprise since I treated a bunch of people for my birthday dinner, and up to now, I still don't know who secretly told the restaurant to get a group of enthusiastic waiters to sing me a Bigby's birthday jingle served together with this brownie ala mode cake. When they shouted at the doorway towards where we're seated, I was crawling under the table, literally. Nevertheless, it is an equally wonderful and embarrassing surprise.

Conclusion
A good place to go for good eats with great people. Compared to manila restaurants offering the same stint, its prices are relatively cheaper. So do swing by if you happen to be visiting Ayala Center Cebu, and, like their menu said, take a food trip.

© 2007 wastefulspace

Bigby's : Take A Food Trip (part 1)

Bigby's Cafe Location :2/f Entertainment Center, Ayala Center Cebu, Cebu City Tel # : (032) - 2342495/ (032) - 2342395 Cuisine : International/Filipino Menu Price Range : Php160+ - 300+ Service Charge: none Rating : ★★★★

Bigby's is one of the known restaurants in Cebu City. If you aren't one of the backpacker types that brave to venture the run-downed places or the pongko-ponko offerings in the streets, then this is the right place for you.

Think of it as Burgoo or T.G.I Friday's in Manila (but, cheaper). The ambiance is casual, fun, and very quirky. The walls are emblazoned with a bunch of traveler's memorabilia, ranging from souvenir plates, buttons, pins, mardi gras masks and a pair of skis. Couches are available for a cozy date or for a small group of family or friends and the usual tables and chairs for large parties.

If you glance up on the ceiling, you'll see the crazy spiral lamps and other little surprises which you can check out when you get there yourself.

Bigby's offers a wide range of foodstuffs ranging from appetizers to desserts. So there's really something for everyone.

Now on with the food trip! :D
Round 1 : Appetizer Sampler
Price : Php2XX (to be confirmed)
Rating : ★★★★
I was expecting a hungry crowd over so I knew they will be famished once they arrived, so I had a 2 sampler plates ordered (1 plate is good for 4-5 people) w/ all their popular appetizers: Chicken Fingers, Buffalo Wings, Flavored Fries and the Cheese and Garlic Quesadilla. Honey Mustard Dip and Salsa are also served for the extra kick of flavor. The Chicken Fingers were crispy on the outside, tender and juicy on the inside. But as all chicken fingers served in these sort of establishments, they are a bit bland so the honey mustard is the perfect combination to add a sweet and tangy taste to it. The Flavored Fries are the usual julienned slices of potatoes powdered with barbeque seasoning, best eaten hot or it will be a soggy, oily, mess. The Cheese and Garlic Quesadillas are little bite sized tortillas with a cheese and garlic spread, to be topped generously in salsa so the cheese won't be tiring your tastebuds for the yummy food ahead of you. But for me, the Buffalo wings are the winner of this platter. Smothered in a sweet chili concoction but still having the satisfying crunch on each bite. the flavor sears into the meat, so you know it's marinated well.

Round 2 : Belly Sizzlers
Price : Php185
Rating : ★★★
Here's Bigby's variation of Cebu's pork belly. Served on a sizzling plate drenched in special barbeque sauce with buttered veggies on the side. It comes with a generous cup of rice.
If you love the fat, then you gotta love the dish. Each portion of meat has a generous amount of fat which methinks gives this dish it's very succulent flavor. I'm not a 'fat' person myself, but the meat parts are really very tasty.

Round 3 : Deep Sea Pasta
Price : Php160-180(to be confirmed)
Rating : ★★★★★
Soon to be a regular on my menu is this shrimp pasta dish. Generous crab fat and baby shrimps on topped on a bed of sizzling spaghetti with some green onions as garnish. The sauce is not the usual tomato or cream, but a wonderful blend of spices that reminds you of the sea. the pasta is served al dente but expect the bottom pasta parts to be a bit chewy if it's gonna be seated on the hot plate for quite sometime.


Round 3 : Chix Ahoy
Price : Php189
Rating : ★★★★★
Also one of Bigby's favorites is the Chix Ahoy. If you're crazy about chicken and gravy, then this dish is for you. A fillet of boneless chicken fried and smothered in gravy and potato wedges on the side. It may sound like the average chicken and gravy, but once you tasted it, the zing of the garlic flavor will surely get you to ask for another cup of rice.

Round 4 : Passion Fish
Price : Php189
Rating : ★★★
Breaded blue marlin (look ma, no bones!) deep fried served with garlic dip and rice. I am very particular with the methods of cooking fish and I don't like it when I get a fishy aftertaste.
Anyway, this number definitely doesn't have the aftertaste. In fact, it was so crunchy and juicy that I say, it could definitely pass for chicken. (Mmm, taste like chicken).

Stay tuned for the next food trip!

This is part one of a special two-part review of Bigby's Cafe.

© 2007 wastefulspace

Tokyo Café

Specialty: Western food cooked Japanese style
Location: Ground floor (main mall), south wing, Mall Of Asia
Service charge: none
Rating: ★★★

Tokyo Café serves western food cooked Japanese style. I don't particularly see how western food cooked Japanese style would appeal to Asian people (except the Japanese). We like our western food, western style and our Eastern food, Eastern. I would figure that only Japanese people that miss Japan like this particular style of cooking. I could be wrong though, given the number of people dining there.

The Menu
The menu consists mostly of burgers and crepes typical of those found in western themed restaurants in Tokyo. Most of the diners order the pasta or the burger patties. A few have chosen tempura.

As for me, I have decided on ordering one, usually expensive Japanese dish and one oddly named, Japanese carbonara. I haven't tasted Japanese carbonara before nor have I seen one in japan and I've been on a few trips there already.

Iced Lemon Tea
Price: php 60
Rating: ★★★
The iced lemon tea was similar to those served in Tokyo with the sugar syrup separated from the tea. You get to decide how much sugar you put in there. Its not so sweet without the sugar and it actually tastes like hot lemon tea, only its cold.

Hot Green Tea
Price: php 90
Rating: ★★★
The hot tea is served in fine delicate china. It's a little out of place since the place is more casual than formal. The green tea has a crisp clean green tea taste.





Unaju
Price: php 243
Rating: ★★
Grilled Japanese eel. Out of season, it's usually quite expensive. it's been a while since I've eaten one and I'm curious about the appearance of this very Japanese dish in a western themed place so I decided to take it. In the end, the taste wasn't so special and there were a few places where there was still bone on the fish. It wasn't bad. But it wasn't special either. I don't recommend it unless you have a real craving for this dish like I did at the time. Too expensive and too plain.






Japanese Carbonara
Price: php 175
Rating: ★★★★
Curious dish, this one. Its different from what we pinoys are used to. Carbonara with a hint of soy sauce. There is absolutely no presence of bacon or any other meat products in this dish. Finally, it's topped with nori or Japanese seaweed. The taste is OK despite being different but the oil does tend to settle at the bottom making the last few noodles more oily than the previous mouthfuls.

Conclusion
An odd place. The place could possibly hold around 30 - 35 people and seating easier if you come in small groups. A good place if you want to try something new or if you want to know what it's like to be in western restaurant in Tokyo. A good place to reminisce and tell stories if you've already been there. The ambiance is occasionally shattered by oddly spoken, wrongly pronounced Japanese phrases though. It's quite annoying if you hear spoken Japanese regularly. It's not really their fault if they weren't taught by a Japanese teacher, but they could try to remove the heavy gay accent when speaking the language (there are quite a few of them in there, and they are by far, the loudest). As for the food, good enough but not spectacular. I might try another dish sometime, but they better fix that accent before that time comes.