Davao Delicious

Wow! December’s turning out to be quite productive for Davao Delicious, isn’t it?? Well, the Christmas season is indeed a time for feasting, so I’ve been finding myself eating out a lot with friends this month.

When Gerry’s Grill opened two years ago, it made quite a splash in the local restaurant scene because it was one of the few franchises (apart from the fast food chains) that ventured early into Davao City. However, I’m ashamed to say I’ve only been there once, and only very recently. Winston, in his eagerness to maximize his stay in Davao while he’s back from Manila for the holidays, called up the usual food trip gang yesterday, and Andrew suggested we go for Gerry’s because it’s one of his favorites. [read on]

Tags: crispy tadyang, Filipino, grilled scallops, kare-kare

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It had been several times that I’d passed by this restaurant by myself, so I’d never walked in before now — I loathe dining alone because, for me, eating out is a social activity. So on Christmas Day, I resolved to finally give it a try and brought along two blogger friends to The Cafe Mediterranean for dinner. I had heard about Cafe Med from friends in Manila, and they were unanimous in their praise.

As I’ve mentioned several times on this blog, I absolutely love Mediterranean cuisine in all its manifestations (Greek, Persian, Indian, Turkish…). Cafe Med is decidedly Greek, judging by the items on their menu and their predominantly cobalt-hued décor. Still, they do have kebabs, which I think are of a more Persian persuasion. [read on]

Tags: Greek, hummus, Mediterranean, moussaka

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To all my readers, I’d like to wish you a Merry Christmas! I hope that the holidays will bring you and your family good gastronomic cheer!

Yesterday, I received a delightful gift from my friends at Pepper & Peppers — an Iberian Chicken in all its fantastic deliciousness. Since my parents are away for the holidays and I’m all alone at home, I shared this with my good friends for dinner. It was so good and tasty that the dinner felt like it was already noche buena.

Thank you, Mike, Bunny, Karloz, John and all of you from Pepper & Peppers for that wonderful gift! It was truly much appreciated.

Here’s to looking forward to more delectable blog posts on Davao Delicious in 2009!

Tags: Christmas, Iberian Chicken

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I remember when Marina Tuna was just a small, unassuming eatery sitting along the highway in one of the sleepy parts of Davao City. But I can also recall how much my friends and I instantly loved their cooking, especially their deep-fried tail of tuna — so crunchy on the outside yet heavenly soft and tender and tasty on the inside.

Since I was always at the Insular Hotel (now known as the Waterfront Insular) back then, I’d often find myself gravitating towards Marina Tuna for lunch or dinner. This was maybe a decade ago, and it was like a well-kept secret among the city’s restaurant aficionados. [read on]

Tags: Filipino, grilled tuna, seafood

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Doubtless, the most common international cuisine present in Davao is Italian. In fact, many restaurant goers here probably don’t consider tortellini or cannelloni or linguine as foreign food anymore. Much less pizza!

So, another addition to Davao City’s Italian retaurant scene is Spirale Ristorante, which opened about a couple of months ago. I was there today for lunch with a friend from high school, Sarah, and we had quite a satisfying culinary experience. Sarah had eaten already, so she just kept me company with a unique-tasting Blueberry Cheese Cake (P110). [read on]

Tags: Italian, pasta, pizza

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The first time I ate at Karlyn’s was in March 2007, when I had barely started blogging about food in earnest. It was one of the first restaurants that I’d blogged about. Reading my old post over at AngDabawenyo.com, I remember how impressed I was with their food.

And I’m happy to say that a lot of people still find Karlyn’s cooking worth the trip. I was there last Sunday with Lyle, Brendel and Ria, where the couple treated us to dinner — their way of thanking me for helping Lyle with a WordPress problem. [read on]

Tags: Filipino

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Doc Jaime is an Apple fanboy, and is my go-to guy for all things iPod. On his birthday, his friends got him not a cake but a box of 20 cup cakes that looked like the home screen of an iPod touch.

The cup cakes were created by Emily, the Cake Monster. On her site, she says: “Baking is my passion. i have turned this passion into a small business. if you are interested in ordering cakes for any occasion, just leave me a message here in multiply and i’ll contact or email you back right away.” [read on]

Tags: cake, chocolate, pastries

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I have always loved Mediterranean food. And I am a food blogger who uses WordPress. Imagine my delight seeing a video blog post of Mr. WordPress himself, cooking a Greek delicacy!

It’s called Tsatziki — a cucumber-garlic-yogurt dip that’s great with pita bread or even good ol’ Doritos.

[read on]

Tags: Greek, Mediterranean, Tsatziki

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One year ago on this day, I installed WordPress and published my first post on Davao Delicious, my baby blog. And what a precocious baby it’s turned out to be!

To my delight, DavaoDeli.com has done rather impressively in its first 12 months. It was the star of the Davao bloggers’ food trips in the summer of this year, and thus became more popular than my other, older blogs. It was hailed as one of the Top 10 Emerging Influential Blogs for 2008 by the DigitalFilipino.com Club. And, it holds a place in the Top 100 Philippine Blogs of 2008, as recognized by Ratified.org. [read on]

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Finally in Davao! A Persian restaurant worth its salt!

Khash Persian Kabab Resto Bar, owned and operated by Persians, no less. Iranians, I mean. One of them, Mehdi, hosted a dinner for a small group of bloggers last Thursday: Chattee, Jaime, Andrew, Lyle, Brendel and me.

The food is not on the level of Ziggurat in Makati, but I did come away satisfied.

Andrew and I each had the Soltani (P199), which is grilled skewered beef fillets and a longganiza-like serving of ground beef. I think the other one’s what they call kobideh. As is our habit, we took so much time on foodnography, the kababs were already cool when we finally started eating — but they were still quite tasty. A tad overcooked, I think, but that should be easily fixed. And I could tell that they took care in seasoning the meats. Also, I love the way they cook their regular rice: the consistency was just right and not soggy at all, like sushi rice. [read on]

Tags: kabab, Mediterranean, Persian, spicy food

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