Culinary Adventure

There are a lot of food establishments in the city of Ozamiz, may it be carinderias, fast food chains or restaurants. Since I had already a numerous experience in eating on fast food chains and carinderias, this time, I opted to try something new - which is to dine is some restaurants found in the City.

Of course, restaurants aren't very popular to students like us since we choose to dine more on fast food chains. I guess, the primary reason for this is obviously the budget. We students, don't really to eat on restaurants every meal because of our limited allowance. What's important is to be able to eat thrice a day with less expenses, and that's it! Basically, as a tourism student, it is our responsibility not to be ignorant in our own place.

Me, together with my classmates had this what I call "Culinary Adventure". I gave this kind of caption because we were able to eat and try new things which we never tasted before. Primarily, we prioritized to taste the specialty of each restaurant. Indeed, it was an adventure since it is majorly risky particularly on our budget! =P We had chosen 3 restaurants in Ozamiz - Chicken Ati-atihan, Hot Pot & Mooon Cafe.

CHICKEN ATI-ATIHAN

This restaurant is I guess the most famous in the city when it comes to serving Filipino dishes. It has 3 specialties namely - Pochero Espesyal, Lechon Kawali and Crispy Pata.

I choose to eat their Lechon Kawali paired with Buko Pandan shake. Looking at the lechon kawali, I feel so hungry. It seems that it's tempting me to crave for more cups of rice to be paired with it. Looking at its golden brown skin,  I was about to salivate. Basically, Lechon Kawali's main ingredient is pork belly which is chopped at a medium size. It is being deep fried that will result to a crispy and crackling skin with a salty exterior. As I was eating the lechon kawali, I really love the crunch of the skin, it's very crispy! However, with regard to its flavor,  for me it's unsavory (matabang). If the lechon kawali is not dipped into the patis, it will remain unsavory. I was actually expecting a bit saltier lechon kawali since it can gain the apetite. Another thing is that, the meat itself is not tender. Honestly, me and my classmates were having a hard time to pick it using the fork since the meat is hard.

Talking about their services, it was all excellent. The crew were very friendly and accommodating. In fact, as we were going out the restaurant, one of the crews offered us umbrellas for us not be exposed in the sun. Actually, they need not to do that since the door was just very near to the highway, but they still did it. As an overall experience, I can rate this as 8 out of 10. As they say, "a bad meal can be saved by a good service but a bad service cannot be saved by a good meal."

HOT POT AVENUE

Hot Pot Avenue is located in Don Anselmo Bernad Avenue, Ozamiz City. This is one of the restaurants in the city which has very minimal number of diners a week. I was really very curious on that because I guess the restaurant is spending more for the rent but they are not earning much. They always have losses, maybe. Another thing is that, I was also curious of their name "Hot Pot Avenue". I want to know why they called it that way. And so, I take the risk to dine there together with my classmates, not minding the cost.

We found out the Hot Pot Restaurant's specialty is "Hot Pot" - is where the name of the restaurant came from. Now I know the reason behind it's name. Listening to its name, it sounds very special, unique and expensive. Indeed, it is, for it costs P300. I wonder what it taste and I'm very much excited waiting for our order. It took us 20-30 minutes to wait for our order. We were thinking that it was cooked already. But then, the server handed us raw materials on the plate. Those were actually the ingredients of the Hot Pot. The ingredients were pork, beef, shrimp, Chinese peachy, carrots, cauliflower, mushroom, bagyo beans, tanghon pasta, mongo (taogi), spring onion, bell pepper and tofu. The reason why we are served with the raw ingredients is that, we will be the one to cook it. There was a pot with water in the center of our table place on top of the electric stove. Since we don't know what to do, we called the attention of the server to cook the food for us. And it was very easy! She just mixed all the meat into the pot and let it boil. After boiling, she mixed the other remaining ingredients which are mostly vegetables and the tanghon. She covered it and we waited until it is cooked. It took us for about 5-10 mins to wait.

Now, it's cooked already! We took the serving spoon and have a share of our own. There were chopsticks beside our plates and of course, we grabbed the opportunity to use it since there is tanghon in the food. It was quiet a very funny experience really because we were trying our best on how to use the chopsticks on eating that dish. We were really making things complicated that time.  

Well, for me, Hot Pot is just like an ordinary Batchoy. Yes, it is delicious but its taste is just like a P30 viand from a carinderia. The longer you eat it, it is becoming "yucky" especially if it is already luke warm! I find P300 as a very expensive cost. The food is not worth the pay, its nothing new just the same. In my own opinion, Bulalo is better than that. Talking about their customer service, staffs were snobbish and only one is friendly. The others were just staring at us and did not even welcome us. Nakakawala talaga ng gana! Maybe those are the reasons why people do not dine in this restaurant. They still have a lot of things to prove and improve. If I were to rate Hot Pot Avenue, I'll rate it as 6 over 10.

MOOON CAFE

Almost every Sunday, I pass by this restaurant yet wasn't able to get inside nor dine. I heard some feedback about it, both positive and negative. I got confused of that. Which am I to believe? Well, for me not to get confused, I decided to try it in order to prove the exact truth.

Moon Cafe іs а Mexican-inspired restaurant. They served Mexican foods, pizzas, steaks, sizzlers, аnd many more. Their specialty is Baby Back ribs and Mooon Steak. Together with my classmates, we decided to have 1 order of each. It took us 20-30 minutes to wait for our orders. And again, I ordered Buko pandan shake which is really my favorite! =]

Baby Back Ribs

Baby Back Ribs is paired with a vegetable side dish. It is fully covered with sauce which made it look yummier! The meat is very tender and I love its flavor. I've never tasted that kind of flavor ever! It's something new. At first, I was thinking that a Mexican food will not win my taste but it greatly love the food! It smells really good!

Mooon Steak

Mooon Steak was another specialty we tasted. It is still paired with a vegetable side dish. It filled with gravy  Actually, it has a different flavor compared to Baby Back Ribs yet it is still very delicious. As I was eating the viand, it increases my appetite and I was tempted again to add one more cup of rice. 

I don't have regrets that I dine in Mooon Cafe. Yes, most of their foods were expensive but I can assure you that everything you ate are all worth spending. I am quiet sure that after tasting their specialties, you      will be encouraged to go back and dine there again and again. If I were to rate Moon Cafe, I would give it a perfect score of 10.