How to Have A Painless Mongolian Barbecue Experience at Green Haven Vegetarian Restaurant

I've always found Mongolian Barbecue to be a misnomer. It is not Mongolian and is not exactly barbecue. It is actually a Taiwanese innovation and involves stir frying meat and vegetables. But the way it is prepared is said to evoke the way Mongolians prepare their food in large, round solid iron griddles.

Green Haven Vegetarian Restaurant in Limketkai Center is the only restaurant in the city that serves Mongolian Barbecue. It has been around a while and markets it as a uniquely vegetarian buffet. It has fresh greens and meats. It is one of the few restaurants in Cagayan de Oro that serves ostrich meat and it is included in their meats selection along with pork, chicken, seafood and veggie meat.

You actually prepare your meal from the fresh ingredients available from the buffet tables. Preparing it can be daunting especially if its your first time, but I have few tips to make it painless.

1. If you want a lot of greens in your bowl, try to put at least twice and then some more than you plan to eat, it shrinks during stir frying and you'll end less than the greens that you planned.
2. Don't overdo the sauces, pick one, I recommend the barbecue or teriyaki sauce. You'd want to have a unified flavor tying your bowl.
3. The meat substitutes (veggie meat and tofu) actually go well with any meat you pick. Also, a little shrimp enhances pork or chicken.
4. You can never have too much garlic.

Feel free to experiment to suit your food to taste. You can return to the buffet tables to refill your bowl. Just be careful to finish all of it or you'll be charged a penalty if you can't finish it all.

This was how my Mongolian bowl looked like:

I think I finally got the hang of it.

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This was how they laid out the ingredients.

The meats section.

Children age 4 below eat for P100. Ages 5 and up for P350.

Google Map directions to Green Haven Vegetarian Restaurant

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Just Desserts: Cheesecakes at Vienna Kaffehaus

One of the best places in indulges sweet in Cagayan de Oro is Vienna Kaffeehaus on the corner of Chaves and Velez Streets in the city. It's been in the city for a while, it has a nice Bohemian ambiance. One could almost expect Maria to come out of the kitchen singing that the hills are alive with the sound of music.

Vienna Kaffeehaus has been around in the city for quite some time that most newer residents or visitors don't really know it is there, but it has been a fixture for almost two decades. Still, it seems that their furnishings are almost as old. The table we had was quite worn and its laminate flaking away.

They still have the best cheesecakes in the city, so naturally, my grad school classmate and I ordered two of them, their Chocolate and Blueberry cheesecakes.

From right, Bluberry Cheesecake, Chocolate Cheesecake
 and a cup of Schwarztee (German for black tea).
They also need to refurbish their furniture.

What I like about their cheesecake is the texture. Most commercially available cheesecakes rely too much on gelatin to smooth and fill it out. This one I could definitely taste and feel the cheese. It's a bit sweet, so to dial down the sweetness I paired it with some German black tea.

This is supposed to be a dessert post but ordered some Bruschettas too, as I was curious on how they would prepare their appetizer and it was glorious! It had the tomato salad in olive oil but it had real olive bits too and it was sprinkled with Parmesan cheese. I just love olives and that just became my favorite appetizer in this cafe.

Olives in my Bruschetta? Win!

So dessert and then an appetizer, I seem to have mixed up the order of my meal. I'll definitely be back to try some of their main courses. I've heard good things about their pasta and would definitely would want to see for myself if it makes my grade.

A closer look at the Blueberry Cheesecake.

Chocolate Cheesecake

Six out of seven of my students
love the desserts in Vienna Kaffehaus! 

Google Maps directions to Vienna Kaffehaus:

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Extra Rice Please, at Hukad

Hukad Sa Golden Cowrie, the chain restaurant that specializes in Filipino cuisine, could not be named more appropriately. The word "hukad" is a Cebuano term that describes specifically to the act of serving rice from the cooking pot to the dining table. In the restaurant, the grain that is the Filipino staple, is served everytime a patron asks for  a refill of it on the plate since Hukad serves unlimited rice.

Hukad has its Cagayan de Oro branch in Centrio Mall. I was able to eat there recently when I went along with a few of my graduate school classmates for a late dinner after an evening class. We ordered some dishes one would consider to be traditional Filipino fare. I'm going to go through them one by one.

Pork Sinigang

First up we have our starters. The soup of choice was Pork Sinigang, which was done quite capably. The savory sour flavor of the soup helped perk our appetites. It could have used more greens though.

Baked Scallops

The Baked Scallops were a delight. Although there wasn't much scallop meat left on the shells, the melted cheese and garlic is one of my favorite food combinations. If it wasn't for the cheese, this appetizer would have looked bare indeed.

Laing

Laing, the dish made of taro leaves and a Bicolano staple is one of my favorites; but the way they prepared this one, it doesn't seem appetizing. There was hardly any taro leaves, which I suspect was pureed. There was some taro pieces  but that doesn't make it deserving to be called laing. This dish was a disappointment.

Sisig

Their Sisig was actually good. The pork head meat chopped finely and cooked with a lot of onions. I believed we ordered another one after the first one was all but wiped out immediately after being served from the kitchen.

Crispy Pata

Crispy Pata was the main course. It was undeniably crisp and the meat wasn't too dry. It wasn't too bad, probably one of the better crispy patas that I've had.

Overall, it wasn't a bad experience dining at Hukad; it was actually pretty good. Their dishes didn't veer too far off from the classic recipes; their food was easily recognizable as Filipino cuisine. Well, except for their laing which was an aberration from all the dishes we had. The unlimited rice was also a draw, as it seem it has become de rigueur among native themed restaurants to have it (Mang Inasal comes to mind, which probably started the trend). It's a nice place to bring family over for lunch or dinner after Mass on Sundays. Just don't ever order their laing.

Nothing screams native cuisine louder
than a banana leaf for a plate. 

With a few of my grad school classmates.

Uptown Cravings: Jeannette's Pizza, Pasta and More

I was home alone last weekend and I wasn't feeling cooking lunch for myself. So instead I went out, intent to trying out the food places in my uptown neighborhood. I struck out on my first stop; King's Food and Wine was closed! Their bakery and deli were still open, but they shuttered their diner. Longtime readers would remember that I wrote about their bruschettas here. I guess now would be a good time as any to try Jeannette'a Pizza, Pasta and More at the Primavera Residences building in Pueblo Business park.

Initially I was impressed, the diner had an extensive menu for some of my favorites: pizza, pasta and breakfast! They serve breakfast all day! But for lunch I settled for lasagna, two slices of Hawaiian pizza and buko pandan for desert. They don't carry all the items on their menu though, which I learned the hard way as some of the interesting items on the menu weren't available.

The pasta was good. It was a few layers short of what I expected but it was multi-layered enough to be filling. They didn't skimp on the cheese. The price was good too. Their price range was a lot more affordable than I expected.

They were quite generous with the cheese on their lasagna.

The pizza looked appetizing and they were again generous with the cheese. Hawaiian isn't my favorite flavor but I was willing to look past that because it looked so good. But they lost me with their crust, it didn't tasted fresh, even for it being store bought.

Their hawaiian pizza looked quite goof to eat,
and this was fresh from the oven.

The dessert looked blasted with liquid nitrogen but by the time I was finished with my pasta and pizza it melted enough to be edible. Buko pandan is probably one of my favorite desserts, but looking at it as it was in its cryogenic state, it didn't look appetizing.

And here is their buko pandan fresh from cryogenic suspension.

Although I had was a mixed experience. I still would want to try their breakfast, so I'll probably come back again. Their pizza and pasta hinted of greatness and I wished I had tried them earlier when they first opened for business. But what's past is now gone and I'm looking forward to trying their potato omelet, which sounds positively perfect for breakfast.

Snacking Around XU: Turning Japanese at Tokyo, Tokyo

Tokyo,Tokyo.The first fast food restaurant that has made Japanese food accessible here in the Philippines. I've been waiting for franchise to open in the city ever since I tried it in Manila and got hooked on affordable Japanese cuisine. I was glad to see someone brought it to Cagayan de Oro and it has found a home in Limketkai Mall.

Cagayan de Oro is no stranger to Japanese cuisine. Aside from several standalone restaurants in the city, Limketkai has two ramen restaurants, the high end Ramen Tei and the more casual Rai Rai Ken. However, Tokyo, Tokyo takes a different approach to their offerings. Their menu is a fusion of Japanese and Western fast food fare. From Shogun burgers, wasabi fries and California maki, it caters to a younger clientele who have been fed a regular diet of Japanese anime and manga and curious enough to sample the food they've read or seen on their entertainment media.

It is not authentic sushi, but it sure is colorful.

On my visit to Tokyo, Tokyo, I tried some of their snack offerings. I ordered some Americans rolls with onion rings and a glass of their signature red iced tea on the side. The rice rolls are examples of the Japanese-Western fusion I've mentioned earlier. Instead of raw fish, this is sushi made with ham and cream cheese. Instead of soy sauce and wasabi, it has some sort of sweet sauce and mayo as a dip. It was quite disappointing since It wasn't the fresh taste I expected. It was some sort of fancy substitute for people too timid to try actual Japanese food. The onion rings were better and looked appetizing enough, but biting into it, it didn't had the crisp I was looking for in rings.It would in a pinch but I've had better rings.

I like how their onion rings look but it lacked crisp.

Still, Tokyo, Tokyo has some gems. Their Shogun burger is the best fast food burger I've had in Cagayan de Oro. The bun tasted refresh with actual poppy seeds on it. The beef was also satisfying as was the onion rings that totally made the burger. I had it on an earlier  visit and I would definitely have it again. They still have more menu items that were interesting, especially some rice meals and toppings suitable for lunch, so I definitely would be coming back.

Are you curious enough to try some accessible fast food with a modern Japanese twist? Visit Tokyo, Tokyo on the second floor of Limketkai Mall.

A New Carinderia Opening on Pabayo Street

Update:
The eatery is called Kan-Anan Sa Pabayo (KSP). It is now open for business and also sells lechon at 400 pesos per kilo. Check them out!

Last Saturday, I was invited by the owner of a new eatery, which opening this week at Pabayo Street in the space where Gart's Barbershop should to be, to their soft opening and food testing. Being the omnivore that I am and eager to eat something for free, how could I say no?

My usual lunch option, if it was free.

I ordered my usual lunch fare, soup, meat and some vegetables, to get a feel of how their fare would appeal to the typical consumer. Their Sisig, Meatball and Bicol Express passed muster. I must say that they didn't overdo the monosodium glutamate (vetsin) in their dishes, which is a plus since I try to avoid having too much salt in my food. Their RM (Remember Me) needed a little work, though the proprietor assured that a new recipe would be done for the opening.

Clockwise from top: Meatball, Bicol Express, Sisig.

The Sisig is good and so is the Meatball, which had the right balance of meat and extenders, allowing the meaty flavor to rule despite the starchy additives. The Bicol Express is a real winner, it was spicy enough to be interesting but not too spicy to be inedible.

They also have available the usual lunch time fare, but I was too stuffed to try the rest of them. It has all the traditional Filipino favorites; humba, ampalaya and eggs, menudo, dinuguan and then some.

So for your lunchtime this week, if you would like to try a new place, then this new eatery is for you.

The name of the establishment escapes me for the moment but I will update this post as soon as I get additional information.