What to Eat in Davao: Syrian Cuisine!

As you all know, Zabadani is one of my favorite restaurants in Davao. It is along Ponciano Street and serves authentic Syrian Food. They have started offering new food in their menu. Here are some of my favorites:

Beef Kebabs

Samboosak

Kabsa is kind of like paella, but it is made with a Syria flare. It has peanuts, a lot of spices, some Onions and some Chicken.

They also have authentic youghurt Lassi

However, the Belgian Choco is still y all time fave drink in Zabadani

What to Eat in Davao: Pinipig Suman

We went to Cagayan de Oro last month and stopped by at Seagull Mountain Resort along Buda Road (boundery of Bukidnon and Davao) and had some breakfast there. they served the best suman ever! Their suman was chocolate flavored and was served with some pinipig and a sprinkling of sugar. We ate it wih some native hot chocolate. Yummy!

What to Eat in Davao: Korean Food!

My friends and I truly enjoy Korean food ad it seems like every time we get together, we choose to eat in a Korean Restaurant. Our fave is Kim Chi restaurant at Bajada, right in front of Victoria Plaza. It is pretty easy to find, just tell the cab driver where you want to go.

Right after you finish ordering, the waitstaff gives you a set of six appetizers. These appetizers vary with every visit but on this day they served us with some traditional Kim Chi, some egg omelets, some water Spinach with a sweet and garlicky sauce, steamed clams with chili sauce, some seaweed salad, ad Korean Potato and Scallion Pancakes

As our starter, we ordered some Kimchi Chige. This is a sour and spicy soup with tofu slices, cabbage, pork, onions,a nd other greens. it is very savory and has just the right amount of sourness. We asked our Kimchi Chige to be served with Mild heat (my Mom insisted), but I personally like the spicier version.

Kim Bap was then served to us. Kim Bap is the Korean version of a Maki. It is made with slices of raddish, crab stick, carrots, ham, cucumber, egg, and yellow radish, all wrapped inside some sticky rice and Nori. They served it with a dusting of Sesame Seeds

Japche is (i think) Korea's national dish. I am aware that most people think Korean food is always spicy, but Japche is anything but. In fact, it is a little sweet and is very savory. It has a lot of Umami goodness to it. I heard that the noodles they use for Japche is made with Cassava starch. it is definitely more glutinous than the noodles I'm used to. It had some scrambled eggs, bell peppers, mushrooms, pork, and some veggies

Bulgogi is another one of my favorite Korean dishes. It is made with beef that is super tender and (rumour has it) has been marinated ad boiled four different times to ensure that it tastes super yummy and super tender. They serve it with some veggies and some noodles. I read though that they add some pear juice...But I doubt that the one at Kim Chi Restaurant has any trace of pear.

Emerlad Tea Garden Again

Emerald tea garden is a Chinese style resto my family and I frequent. Their food is really really good and i looove the laid-back set-up

Below is a photo of one of my fave fod: jelly fish! oh, and century eggs! i soooo love these...especially with chili-garlic sauce and some soy sauce

pata tim
my all time fave: lemon chicken
beef steak
minced pork with hoisin sauce and lettuce leaves

mapo tofu

Margie's Pastries

margies is one of the patisseries I do not really frequent, but when I do, I really enjoy their food.

I especially like the brownie thins. These are quite pricey, at seventy (i think) pesos for this little package but they are really addictive. They are basically super thin and super crunchy pieces of brownies which are oh-so-good.

This cake was also really good. Although the ame of this cake escaes me, you must try this the next time you visit Margies (there's a branch near SM Davao and one in Torres)

The profiteroles were kind of disappointing though. Profiteroles are basically choux pastries (the same pastry that you get with éclair and cream puffs) with chocolate icing and cream. However, their version had a thinner chocolate liquid that almost tasted like a ganache. They also served it with some cream. However, the dessert wasn't sweet AT ALL. And i love sweet desserts... so i was terribly disappointed...

Their red velvet cupcake was quite good though. I loved how sweet the icing was. Hahaha. Oh, and their chocolate truffles were a bit too bitter for my liking. :D Dust off some cocoa powder before actually consuming the product. Was it as creamy as I expected it to be? No.

Harley's Burger

Harley's is this quaint little burger place near Ateneo jacinto. i think it's at juan Luna street..maybe... Haha

But it's in front of Better Components. It is really affordable and really good too. Below is a photo of a serving of "chili cheese fries" which is a serving of freshly fried french fries topped with a slightly spicy meat sauce, and some grated cheese. It was definitely very satisfying and really comforting.

Their burgers still did not disappoint (this is my second time dining there) for around 60 pesos, the patty was HUGE and was still perfectly cooked, although I really hope they make it a wee bit more flavorful.

Cafe Marco Buffet at Marco Polo Davao

Although the spread at Cafe Marco has decreased considerably, he food is still quite spectacular. I actually like their food, unlike in most buffets. :D

Below is a photo of some Lam Ragout, Some Chicken with Cashews, and some stuffed pork loin...plus some roasted 'taters...

Below is some potato wedges, some cherry tomatoes, some onion rings, fried squid, and some veggie gratin, and some other appetizers

Maki galore with natto (fermented whole soy beans)

desserts, desserts, desserts,

and my all time fave: mango with cream and pandan (screwpine leaves) jelly

Piesta (Gen San)

Piyesta in Gen San is one of my new favorite places to visit in the city of tunas. It is a quaint resto bar (with videoke) in Robinsons Gen San. I loooved their Kura-sticks (kurat is the vernacular for "surprised). These sticks are made of chilies that were previously de-seeded and then stuffed with ground beef. the stuffed chilies were then wrapped in spring roll wrappers and deep fried to golden perfection. Loves it!

My friends and I also sampled their "gayuma" which is the vernacular for "love potion". This potent mix of rum, tequila, and vodka (im guessing) with strawberry juice goes down very smooth and is actually very tasty for something so packed with alcohol. Plus, they serve this shots of potion in little test tubes which i found cute

I chugged down seven gayuma shots without batting an eye lash. I LOOOOVE it!

Rai Rai Ken

Whenever we do not have food at home (because we were too buy or too lazy to cook) we go to Rai Rai Ken. The food there is lovely! We especially love their Jurassic Maki. It is kind of like a California Maki roll but with some roasted eel on top and some tempura in the middle. It is super yummy!

We also ordered the Chicken Teriyaki Bento It includes some steamed rice, some sauteed veggies, some tempura, dipping sauce, and some chicken teriyaki pieces. It was soooo yum-o!

My cousin ordered his all time fave: Katsudon. This dish is made with deep fried pork cutlets with onions, scrambled eggs, juliened Nori and some Katsu sauce that is all laid on top of some perfectly cooked white rice.

I think the dish below was called Mapo Tofu. I'm not so sure, but it was really good. It had minced pork, some sweet and spicy sauce, and some deep fried tofu squares. It also had scallions, chilies, and garlic.

we ordered their Yakiniko rice (i think). Haha. actually, i dont remember what it was called, im just guessing thats what its called. anyway, it had a lotta bacon on topic..and i looved it

we also had some deep fried squid teriyaki

and some traditional prawn tempuras