Shakey's and Cagayan de Oro

There has been four incarnations of the Shakey's restaurant chain in the city this past 3 decades and I have visited all of them one or another. In that limited range of qualifications, I could say it is one of the more important metro Manila based stores that have established a brand identity here in Cagayan de 

Oro.

The first attempt in the eighties was a bit of a bust, folding before it could took off. It opened in Pabayo Street, a short walk from my mom's bank on J.R. Borja Street. My dad took me there once when we fetched mom and waited there until she got off work. It was the second attempt in the early nineties when it became known as the go-to restaurant for casual dining and family celebrations. I should know, I worked a weekend there, when I was a lad in grade school for a school project. It was one of main draws for a new concept for the city at that time: a mini mall concept with a bowling alley as it's centerpiece.

The third Shakey's came at a time when the second branch at the Ororama Megacenter started to fall into a bit of neglect and protracted decline. A fire ended its misery but not Shakey's presence. The third branch in Limketkai Mall continued the tradition of its excellent thin crust pizza and other fare for families dining out.

The new Shakey's at Limketkai Center

This year, a free standing Shakey's restaurant opened a few months back while the third one still continued inside mall. The new branch was located outside the mall but still within the larger Limketkai commercial complex. I ate there twice already. Once for a Team 6 comrade's birthday celebration, and my most recent was a graduate school classmate's despidida. I have pictures and thoughts of the more recent meal here.

A despidida or a farewell to one of my grad school classmates who just got into her bank's officer training program. An event like, though generally sad, is a good reason to eat out. Shakey's carbonara happened to be her favorite, so we had that and garlic bread for our first course.

Carbonara Supereme

The Carbonara Supreme and its creamy cheese was okay. I'm not a really a fan of cream pasta though I used to love them. I prefer my pasta to be on the herby side. The Garlic Bread was excellent though. I wish I could make my garlic bread like it. I loved the garlicky butter spread spirinkled with bits of parsley on the crumb of the bread, which remained soft while its toasted outside. It's perfect. I could eat a whole basket all by myself.

Garlic Bread

The second main course was a basket of Chicken 'n' Mojos. The chicken was done fine, I have no complaints but it's the Mojos that's the true star of this course. Potato slice coated in batter and deep fried to perfection. I prefer the individual Mojos order because they come with different dips and not just the gravy that came with the chicken. Still, they taste great even without the dip and plain ketchup works fine too.

Chicken 'n' Mojos

The best reason to go to Shakey's was still their thin crust pizza. Their competitors have tried to imitate that crispy thin crust but they couldn't get it right. We had their Manager's Choice, and this is just how I imagine eating thin crust pizza would be. I've had this same flavor in all incarnations of Shakey's in Cagayan de Oro and biting into the slice brought back all those fond memories.

a large Manager's Choice thin crust pizza.

What's your fondest Shakey's memory?

Directions by Google Maps to the resaturant reviewed are here:

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Snacking Around XU: Sbarro at Centrio

In my last post, I mentioned some awaited stores and brands that made their Cagayan de Oro debut when Centrio opened, Sbarro was one of those stores. In fact, it was one of the first the opened together with the mall. I still remember the packed tables when I first visited Centrio two weeks after their opening.

Sbarro's, the multinational restaurant chain that specialized in Italian-American dishes is one of the few places in Cagayan de Oro where they serve both New York and Chicago pizzas. It is the Chicago Deep Dish pizza that is my priority in any Sbarro's visit. One can rarely find deep dish pizza anywhere in Cagayan de Oro and  a slice here is often enough to soothe any craving for the loaded pie.

So I ordered two slices, a Hawaiian New York style and a Chicago Deep Dish. Actually, the Hawaiian slice was for someone else, I just can't stand Hawaiian, I think it's an abomination to have pineapple bits in pizza. Whole pies are displayed on the counter inside glass panels, as are their pasta. If the Filipino carenderia concept would be used to sell Italian-American fast food, this would be it.

New York style Hawaiian slice

A customer would choose a slice or two from their available pies for the day and they would heat it in the oven. The slices then are served with the deep dish slice slathered with tomato sauce. Sbarro's also has a loaded condiment counter where aside from the ubiquitous salt and pepper shakers, one could elect for dried basil or garlic powder instead.

Chicago Deep Dish slice

I sometimes think that the oven was not hot enough or it just needed a little more time. Maybe I came in at the wrong time, instead at late afternoon, I should have went at lunch. But the pizzas, even when reheated just didn't tasted fresh. The New York slice was okay but the deep dish was not.

Google Maps directions to the Sbarro at Centrio:


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Dining Like the Godfather at Italianni's in Centrio

My posts on Centrio Mall restaurants continues. I've been to Cagayan de Oro's fanciest new mall a lot lately; so expect more of my thoughts on the restaurants found in that mall. The second of what I expect to be a multi-part series is the Italian-American chain restaurant Italianni's.

Italianni's is known for its large servings as well as the quality of their Italian-American menu. A regular serving is large enough to be shared by two but and can be pricey as well. A regular sized main course item could range from 450 to 795 pesos. There is a lunch-sized option though, so one need not break the bank to dine in Italianni's.

The reason I was able to eat at Italianni's despite my budget or lack of it, was that my dad wanted to try his new Premiere card which gave him 30% off the food bill if used on a Monday. So that was how my folks and I went on an Italian food trip.

Starters

One could not expect to have the full Italian dining experience without some starters like soup or salad; so we ordered Minestrone for soup and Insalata Rucola for salad. We also had a coupon for an additional starter and had Mussels Lombardi. The romaine and arugula lettuce salad and tomato soup were as good as expected. This wasn't the first time I've had Italianni's; I've been here before but still, the mussels were a pleasant surprise. I'm not sure if mussels were in season but it was one of better mussel dishes I've had.

The mussels were a pleasant surprise;
with rice they could be a meal by themselves.

Main Course

We all ordered three separate main dishes. I had the Spaghetti and Meatball, my mom ordered Roast Pork Ribs - Italian Style and dad had his Flatbread. Actually, it was mom who ordered the flatbread and dad wanted it instead so they switched. 

The flatbread with arugula. Not quite pizza but very close.

The flatbread was like pizza, only that it had a thinner and crisper crust, almost like cracker bread. The ribs were tasty but I had a lot of fun with my pasta. This was what I imagine dining Italian style was, a plate of al dente pasta and one huge meatball.

The winner! I just love their pasta
and this Spaghetti and Meatball was no exception.

We went into Italianni's looking to try the best Italian-American cuisine in the city and we came out satisfied and stuffed. It was expected since it was a six-course meal. The course we didn't had in there was dessert, which is another post for another time.

Inside, with vintage photos
celebrating Italian-American culture.

The salad was as good as expected.

The pork ribs looked good but I wasn't in a rice-eating mood.

Google Map directions:

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Uptown Cravings: Mrs. Hudson Pizza by Yellow Cab

It's a limited edition. How can one not want it?

Mrs. Hudson's Pizza. The name evokes Sherlock Holmes' landlady of his 221B Baker Street bachelor pad. That's in London though and Yellow Cab is known for their New York-style pies. Actually, it's the name of the limited edition pizza conceived by Yellow Cab Pizza; made with their large, wide, thin, foldable yet crispy crust. It differs from their regular offerings in that it's a sauce-less pizza and made with premier ingredients prosciutto and herbed boursin cheese and reinforced with caramelized onions, tomatoes, tarragon and other quality cheeses.

It seemed too irresistible not to try and the fact it is limited edition made it a bit urgent that I do before it is withdrawn from the market. Plus, pizza are my kryptonite; my will is easily suborned with the prospect of eating pizza.

And it smelled good out of the oven too.

The Good.

It smelled so good straight from the oven and the crust is done the way I like my pizza. No pizza sauce and instead, tomato slices were there. I couldn't believe I was eating whole tomato slices, since I usually avoid them. The toppings blended well, giving it a sweet-salty taste that is rarely found in pizzas I often eat.

The Bad.

I miss the tartness of the pizza sauce. I was almost tempted to pour ketchup all over the pizza. I also miss the gooey melted mozzarella. There isn't much meat in this pizza. I could taste the prosciutto but I wanted more meat in it.

The Verdict.

This is great a pizza if you tastebuds prefer the Filipino taste; which is a preference for sweet and salty foodstuffs.  I enjoyed it, but not as much as I would have enjoyed their pepperoni pizzas. I want the sour flavor of pizza sauce in my pizza. This is just too tame for me. Granted, the overall taste is almost exquisite, I guess I'm just too accustomed to pizzas prepared the regular way.

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: Alberto's Pizza

CDOmnivore just had its first online contest and I got to accompany the two winners on a food trip to the second of the three Cebu pizza franchises with branches in the city. Alberto's Pizza has its eatery in the Marfori Compound, accessible by a gate in Corrales Avenue. It was an open air pizzeria flanked by two high rise dormitories. I could see immediately that this would be a better experience than the one I had at Biano's. Though a scorching noon sun was high, at least it was al fresco with the air circulating. The Biano's branch near Xavier University unfortunately didn't have windows and though it had an open entrance, it got sweltering in there.

The lucky CDOmnivore followers were Dan Comandante and wenchorok. It was their first time to eat at Alberto's, though they've availed of their delivery services before. I was able to get their honest assessment of the place, to which I concur. The place was simply to warm to eat there at noon, although the open air was circulating above and around our heads, the lack of air conditioning, and the short walk in the open sun from school made it a sweaty experience.

I ordered two of their 11 inch pizzas for the three of us and  I saw that they have a better selection than Biano's. It is at a slightly higher price point but the variety of their offerings made up for that. I wanted to try everything. But for this taste test, I went with their Pizza Supreme and Full House.

Pizza Supreme

I really like how Alberto's is generous with their cheese, compared to Biano's that is. The toppings cover almost all of the the crust, up to the edge. The crust itself is crisp, though a little soggy in the middle, which made it floppy straight from the oven. Among the two flavors tested, Pizza Supreme was the clear winner, as for Alberto's Full House, it was just full of finely chopped onions which the cheese didn't hold so well.

Alberto's Full House

This is a better pizza than the first pizzeria I reviewed. Although the price point is slightly higher, the taste more than compensates for it. However, I wouldn't recommend eating there at noon, it was just too hot to be comfortable. Order it for take out or better yet, have it delivered.

Google Maps directions for Alberto's Pizza:


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Snacking Around XU: Biaños Pizzaderia

For this week's Snacking Around XU, I went with an old reliable, a pizza joint just a stone's throw away from the main school gate, where the pizza is good; and when I mean good, I mean good and cheap. Biaños Pizzaderia is the place I go when I have a hankering for pizza but just don't have the budget for Yellow Cab or Shakey's.

Biaños at the corder of Corrales and Hayes Sts.

I usually order their Beef and Mushroom which I did on this particular visit. I usually buy  their regular size crust but I elected to go with their medium because they included drinks. The free drinks is their promotion for the entire month of May and I may just visit them again within the month because of it.

The pizza is nothing spectacular, they don't even use mozzarella and instead apply a variety of quick melt processed cheese but the crust is crisp enough to keep me interested. I really do like how they carpeted the crust with the toppings. This branch of Biaños is generous with the ground beef, but I wish the toppings were spread it more evenly so my slice won't sag.

I remember my first visit to this particular branch, it was a bit hard to find. With the price, you can't expect air conditioning, but at least the drinks are cold. Still, it is a dependable place to go for a quick pizza, just don't mind the heat, especially during this summer.

Their medium size Beef and Mushroom, it came with 2 free bottles of soda as part of their May promotion.

Directions to Biaños Pizzaderia on Corrales Avenue:


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