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Hello Muggles! I'm back! :D

It's been a year since I did my blog and I've decided to be back.. again.. and.. again.. It has always been like this lately since there are times that I just don't have enough drive to blog like what I used to before and to be honest, it's exhausting mentally since I've used up my brain for blogging years before. Now, I'm back into this wonderful world of blogging where my job is to write for you guys! :D


I was invited by Dianne Luceñara for a event where it's all about Mediterranean cuisine and this is right up in my alley! I love everything Mediterranean especially Italian and Spanish cuisines! They're my go-to cuisines especially if it's authentically made by a restaurateur who has a vast knowledge about Mediterranean cuisine.

This resto just opened last November 2019 and it's still a baby in this gargantuan world of food but they've already made great impressions with their customers who have dined in this resto. Even Dianne couldn't hold the hype about Red Tomato to which we're also excited about the dishes they would serve us on this special day for bloggers.

They're located at the The Woodlanes, Diversion Road, Davao City. They can be easily seen as it's just on the Diversion Road. :)


Interior photos









The FOOD!!


We've started with the appetizers with Hummus. This appetizer has a chickpeas spread accompanied with small pita breads on the side. If you are into strong flavors, behold, this may not be for your palate BUT if you're an explorer of flavors, this might be your first step! :D



Eating Hummus can be done according to how you eat it but I prefer to spread the chickpeas onto the pita bread and eat them. The flavors are not that strong but it's more subtle that I was able to appreciate how light the flavor is which is actually the right thing since I still had to eat more food thus this was a great start to more meals to come!



You may wonder why this soup is a big deal here in Red Tomato where it's just a Pumpkin Soup! Yes, it's just a Pumpkin Soup but this one is at its own league. If you're in this resto, this is a must order since it has a secret ingredient that they revealed themselves and its the reason why this soup really is a big deal! I don't know if I'll divulge here but I'll describe it anyway. :D

When I tasted this Pumpkin Soup, it's something else that I haven't tasted in other restos! I'm not exaggerating here but really, it felt home when I get sick and I was made to take a sip of Pumpkin Soup that has secret ingredients that made me feel better. It's a hearty soup that I would want to order twice and buy again for me to consume in my room.



If there are Onion Rings, they made their own version which is Onion Fries. They told us that since the crumbs of onion rings would disintegrate from the onions, they made their version which is better in taste and texture thus the Onion Fries was born in existence and I'm here for it!

When I say it tastes better, it does taste better than the onion rings and dipped with its sauce, it's in another level! I would love to have a bowl of this Onion Fries and have it for myself.



Pizza Rottola is literally rolled pizza and it's something new to me since I haven't seen a restaurant doing a rolled pizza (well, I dunno about the other restos) and it's still in the appetizers! It does have its greens, caramelized onions and sausage and what to do is to place them on the pizza and roll them. It's described as a sushi pizza since it's rolled just like a sushi.



Even though this is an appetizer, I would say this would be perfect as a meal itself since I love pizza and Pizza Rottola hit the mark of everything that I love: The thin crust, caramelized onions, the sausage, just everything! I would say, the caramelized onions completed the entire pizza and it's perfect! In fact, we were given another plate of Pizza Rottola like, why not? It's just that delicious!



When I say I love pizzas, I mean it 100 percent and this five cheese pizza topped the bill and exceeded my expectations! Ai Cinque Formaggi is by far, one of the best five cheese pizzas I've tried. The cheeses that are used here are Mozarella, Pecorino, Provolone, Fontina and Gorgonzola. The pizza crust has to be made a night before the actual serving or else there would be no pizza served which we don't want to happen. :D



I've tried different five cheese pizzas here in Davao and so far, they tasted great but THIS has distinction over everybody else. The one cheese they've added which was Gorgonzola was the game changer in this pizza as it gave another dimension of flavors.

The Gorgonzola cheese is like the blue cheese which has a mold thus it has strong flavor and smell that may be overpowering to some people but in this case, this cheese blended beautifully and effectively when it comes to flavor. It countered the tastes of other cheeses to the point where it dominated just a bit but I have no complaints! :D



I love paella and I was happy when this was served to us since I have Spanish heritage and everything that screams Spanish is always a good news to me! Paella Roja is actually "Red Paella" and it's served with egg, chicken, mussels, chorizo bilbao and shrimps.

It's a heavy meal but it's perfect for someone who loves Spanish cuisine! Also, they have Paella Verde and Azul that it's quite interesting and I'm really curious how they look like. Let me say this paella is also delicious and it's like other paellas that I've tried. I would love more spoonfuls of Paella Roja and walk happily like a little kid. :D



Osso Buco is a braised beef shank in tomato sauce with mixed veggies. It had strong flavors which I expected already based on how it looks and this is so perfect for dinner time like I could see myself eating this with my friends and family and share this dish together. For the meat itself, I love how I can slice through the meat easily and as what I've said, it had strong flavors that is up in my alley.



Pasta Cartoccio is a spaghetti with mixed seafood cooked in a tomato cream sauce. I'm a sucker for pasta and anything that is a pasta dish is already in my list. The interesting thing about this pasta dish is it's baked in an oven which is something unusual although I knew few pasta dishes that are baked in an oven but this is something else.

For the flavor wise, I only ate a few of this as I'm so stuffed with so much food in my tummy but this one is also a delicious pasta dish. Pasta Cartoccio is also one of the dish that's up in my list to eat in this resto. It's just that good! The combination of the seafood and the pasta made up for the flavors of the sea for those who love seafood-flavored pasta. As for those who are allergic of seafood, you may eat just the pasta itself and it's still so good! :)



I love lengua and this dish is just so divine! I've never eaten a savory lengua dish that is literally a melt-in-your-mouth dish and up to this day, I'm still amazed on how the lengua in this dish just melted inside my mouth! Lengua con Setas has an ox tongue with mushrooms and olives served with mixed veggies and mashed potatoes.

If we talk about the flavor, it has this savory taste that I usually fall in love with. It had too much olives which is actually the best thing that happened since I love olives so much that I ate a lot of it! No complaints from this side though! The mushrooms are just perfect and the sauce? A big check and the tongue? No more words.. I just said it. Would love to order this one again. ;)



For those who love kebab or has been familiar with it, they also have it here and it's a Beef Kebab. It's a grilled ground beef with tomatoes, onions, bell pepper served with mayo garlic sauce and butter rice. For the taste test though, they didn't serve with rice since we ate a train of dishes already. It's okay though. :)

If you're accustomed to its smell, promise, you'll love it. For those who'll eat this for the first time, it has this pungent smell that is usually familiar to a kebab and don't hesitate to eat it. It's actually savory and juicy which you'll love later on. If you're into it gradually, you'll learn how lovely the dish actually is. This might not be the shredded kebab you're familiar with but the smell and taste makes up for it as it's really similar to a usual kebab you've known for.



AAAANNNDDDD.. Let's talk about this lovely risotto right here as this dish captivated my dear heart! This Risotto Funghi Porcini is made with arborio rice and porcini mushroom and if I say this made me feel like a kid for minutes, it's legit! Actually, cooking a risotto itself is laborious as it has to be continually stirred for twenty minutes with water or wine (depends on the choice of liquid). When this was served to us, it reminded us of comfort food cooked at home which is actually a comfort food! It's like an equivalent of lugaw here in the Philippines.

We had to mix it first then we smelled the risotto and I tell you, the smell itself made me fall in love deeply into the deepest part of the ocean. I was like hypnotized by its wonderful aroma and I couldn't stop myself from it! (It's like a drug or whatever you think of it!) And the exciting part is tasting the risotto and.... There...

 I.fell.in.love.much.deeper. My inner kid was fully exploded as I was gushing all over this bowl of risotto with so much gusto and praised the risotto on how it smelled so lovingly, tasted so deliciously that it reminded me of home that someday, someone will cook me a bowl of delicious risotto and would eat heartily like a little kid whose only thing to do is to eat more risotto! The word of mouth at the event was the risotto and couldn't stop mentioning in every second! I couldn't stop myself from it and can't blame me because, everyone agreed how delicious their risotto is! It's that GOOD! Whew!



Here we are in this part where the temptation reigns supreme: Desserts! Well, I love a good dessert but here in Red Tomato, good is not an option. They only serve the best ones! Tiramisu is one of the desserts that has all the flavors that you want to get accustomed first. Why? It is because, this dessert is not all sweet. The sweetness is just part of it.

You see, Tiramisu has coffee in it thus you have to get accustomed of the coffee flavor in it which is bitter and it's why, when you taste it, it has a bit of bitterness BUT don't fret, you'll love this dessert as the sweet and bitter flavors are perfectly integrated with this dessert. I ended up loving Tiramisu more and yes, I would order this dessert in a heartbeat! :D


Here are the other cakes that were served to us. 
Too bad, I don't have the names but I could describe the ones that I have tasted. :D


When I hear smores, it is a dessert with graham crackers and marshmallow toasted in an oven. Well, it's turned into a Smores Cake which I was excited to taste! The frosting is thick though but I love thick frosting! When I tasted this cake, it's actually really delicious and to my surprise, it's not overwhelmingly sweet for me. I know my limits on sweetness but this one fitted the bill. If you find this to be too sweet, just eat little bits but if you're a sweet tooth, this will be a great treat!



I'm pretty sure that when I'm seeing something purple, in my mind, it's the Ube Cake and I think I got it right based on how I tasted this cake. But what surprised me is the filling in the middle which it gave a contrast on the sweetness of the ube. Its taste negated the usual sweet filling of the cake which I have no complaints and I usually do like how it controlled the flavor of the cake. I ended up enjoying this cake and the others also loved it! Well, I'm sure my mom will love this too. :D


Here are the other cakes that they've served to us.





I would like to thank Ms. Dianne Luceñara for the invitation to this wonderful event and to the owners and staff of Red Tomato for being such wonderful people around, explaining the food thoroughly to us which we enjoyed listening! I had a great time feasting the gastronomic world of Mediterranean cuisine which I will cherish for a lifetime! If given a chance, I would love to be back again and eat the risotto with the bowl all by myself. No regrets. :D



Thanks for reading guys! 
Until the next food adventure! ;)



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August 18, 2018 - Davao is a melting pot of cultures. From the 11 Tribes converged here in the city, to foreign visitors who opted to stay for study and for good. Well, we lived in harmony to the point of sharing their cuisine from their home country just for the locals to try them out or for those who missed their food back home. This is not an exemption.

We were invited by our friend Jennifer to try out a new Indian restaurant near DMSF. I've tried Indian cuisine and it was so good that I longed to try again! It came true and I was excited to eat Indian foods once again. We were able to eat around 6 PM and this was their 2nd service of the day.

Inside 5S Box Indian Restaurant
The 5S Box Indian Restaurant just opened during the Kadayawan Festival last August 18, 2018. This was also a perfect day for us to try their dishes since I wanted to be in the city for the whole day. By eating here, it's like capping off the day of celebrating the festival and binge ourselves with good food! I can say that this place is big and colorful!


Indian culture is vibrant and vivid with colors all around. With that, it reflected to their restaurant as it is so elaborate in design, usage of colors, and you can really see their culture by just looking at the surroundings. It feels like traveling to India by a jeepney ride.


What I like about exploring different cultures is expanding your knowledge and opening your mind to the reality that we are all different but we're celebrating it! We're celebrating diversity and it's actually fun knowing their traditions, styles, and food! Food also reflects their culture and it's one way of getting to know them a lot deeper. It's also in the food where I'll know what are their preferences, tastes, and its history. It piques everyone's interest and curiosity and I love learning more of it!

Mural painting before entering the rest rooms
Unlike other parts of the restaurant where it only has a blank wall, this mural painting gave more life to the place and this made me appreciate more of the art. It feels good to look at the art before doing the important business in the restroom. My friend just had a picture of himself looking at the girl on the left side and I was dragged to take a picture of it. Well, ask my friend about it. :D


As we were waiting for our food, we also had our own business in our table. Mine was.. sleeping since I only had 2 hours of sleep prior to the festivities thus I was catching up some energy. Just minutes later, the food arrived and I suddenly felt alive because.. Why not? It's food! :D

The first dish is the Buttered Chicken Indian style. Now, it's not the buttered chicken that you're thinking of. It's quite different I mean, it's a LOT different. What they do actually is to grill the chicken first in a tandoor (Indian oven) then right after, they pour in the sauce which gives mouthful of flavors and filled with spices. It's buttery and creamy and best paired with Naan which is an Indian bread.

For the taste, it is really good! Like, I could imagine myself having this dish in our household and finish them all! This dish was good and the best thing is, it's spicy and being paired with Naan made everything better. I didn't mind the hotness of the dish, it's the taste that counts and this one is a must try dish especially those who are into spicy dish. It's indeed creamy and loved the color of the dish! I might order another one if I go hungry again. :D


When one thinks of an Indian cuisine, they would think of curry and biryani. But there's more to biryani as it is a popular dish. The one that is served to us was the Chicken Biryani. This dish is like equivalent to a Paella because of its color but there are differences too! Chicken Biryani is more on the spicy side and I do love it! Underneath the biryani are chicken parts. It's served on a pot and it's definitely good for us three!

The Chicken Biryani was indeed spicy and if one can't bear the spiciness of it, they can pair it with raita to reduce its level. But if you are with me on the spiciness, this is not a problem at all. Even though it's a popular one, at least, give this one a try. I recommend this one for those who are curious about Chicken Biryani.


This is their bread called Naan. It's best paired with Buttered Chicken and it's not a complete experience of Indian culture without trying this bread! What we had was Buttered Chicken and I paired the Naan with it! I can say that I've accomplished it since I used my hands for eating the Naan with Buttered Chicken! This is my scale of happiness over the food that I eat. :D


This is also one of the delicacies of the Indian cuisine and it's called Samosa. It has a resemblance of an empanada which is also a delicacy in the Philippines. But this one is different. It has potatoes, spices, green chili, meat (beef, chicken, lamb), peas, etc. Because of the chili, expect its hot flavor coming from it. Samosa must be paired with a tamarind chutney sauce to counter the hotness of Samosa.

I can say that it's as delicious like the first time I've tried but I think I haven't felt the chili flavor of the Samosa. I was expecting it but it wasn't as hot as I've expected. Nonetheless, it was still delicious eating the Samosa. The sauce on the other hand was a bit sour although it's still packed with flavors, I was looking for its sweetness to counter the chili flavor of Samosa. I had no idea what chutney sauce they've made but it still added flavors to the Samosa. I still recommend this delicacy for you to try.


Kufli is an Indian ice cream and this was served in the middle of our dinner. We thought we could just eat this later. But my friend Karen pointed out that it was already melting. I hurriedly ate the kufli and it has this sweet flavor is paired with the cream that bathed the ice cream. It's a sweet dessert that is a perfect finish for a wonderful dinner. I just wished that they could serve this later after the dinner is done for us to enjoy the dessert. It's still delicious though and we've learned our lesson to eat them immediately. :D

More customers!

As the customers flocked in the restaurant, I was thinking if I'm in the right country. It seemed like we were the foreigners trying out the cuisine and it made me laugh since I felt awkward about it. I was careful not to be an embarrassment with the way I eat but they seem to mind their own business and I was just happy seeing them inside the restaurant. We had fun eating Indian foods and this expanded my knowledge even further as I get to eat different cuisines and learned a lot from them.

Our visit to this resto was all worth the travel we did! We were treated with their great service and they were more than willing to share the Indian culture with us and we were the eager listeners as we learn them gradually. I just hope that they will last long as it's rare to find restaurants serving authentic cuisine and this is in my books if ever we decide to eat Indian dishes.

Thank you so much 5S Box Indian Restaurant for the food that we ate. It was a festival of flavors that we experienced and they were like partying in my mouth! I hope to visit this resto again to try more dishes that I haven't tasted. I also thank our friend Jennifer for inviting us to this wonderful resto. This wouldn't happen without her invitation. We had no regrets accepting them and it was worth it! See you soon! :D




THANKS FOR READING!




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August 18, 2018 - Yeees! This is my first entry with this new blog and what would be the new way to start is to introduce this new cafe here in Davao! :D

Food scene here in Davao is just so competitive that they would compete in different criteria: Signature dishes, affordable price, beautiful ambiance, etc. I mean, name a criteria, they're competing for it and this one is no exemption. This new cafe just started its business and is ready to face the competition. What made us visit this new place?

Inside Caffe Hallo
Caffe Hallo just started like few weeks ago and it already captured the target market which are the students or those who are frugal enough to look for what is affordable and delicious. At first, I was a bit skeptical on what they can actually offer to the hungry citizens of Davao since we can be like picky eaters and we're adamant for something that is already generic. But since it's new and an upcoming cafe in town, it doesn't hurt a fly right? :D


This day was also the Kadayawan Festival and of course, as a Dabawenyo, I had to join the festivities because, why not? I love attending Kadayawan Festival! After celebrating downtown, I went immediately to Caffe Hallo and looked for my friend Nicell since she can help us learn more about the cafe and the meals they serve. While waiting, this was also the perfect time to cool down since it was a bit warm outside.

More interior shots



After an hour and 30 minutes, my friend Karen finally arrived! Good thing Nicell was with me while waiting for her and we were talking about things in life (Naks!), about Caffe Hallo, more stuff. We chose what to eat since it was already lunch time and we were hungry too! Minutes later, my friend Rex also arrived and our gang is complete!

Anyway, here are the dishes that we ordered:


For our lunch, I chose Garlic Chicken since I'm a chicken junkie! Also, I haven't eaten Garlic Chicken for a long time. Upon serving the Garlic Chicken in our table, it's pretty generous to me! This dish also comes with a cup of rice so this was enough for me to have a good lunch. Price: 99 Pesos.


I was expecting like just another chicken recipe in the corner, but this Garlic Chicken was different! It had flavors that would complement well with the chicken and it's pretty tasty! The garlic bits on chicken enhanced the flavor of the dish just because obviously, it's Garlic Chicken! Overall, this was satisfying for me to eat this dish.

Embutido
This is their Embutido and it's one of their Topping Meals which is considerably cheaper than regular meals. It comes with a fried egg on the side and a cup of rice. This is not just a regular embutido, it's a homemade embutido and it's one of their products! According to Nicell, it's really delicious and it's a must try dish. Too bad, I haven't had a taste of it. I might as well taste it next time. This is perfect for students especially for those who are on a tight budget phase of life. Price: 65 Pesos

These Cheese Sticks were recommended for us to try and true to the foodie nature, we accepted their offer heartily like, who wouldn't say no to this? These Cheese Sticks were coated with bread crumbs and it has a dip on the side. When we took a bite on the Cheese Sticks, it was delicious! Like, it's the only word we can describe the taste for their dishes so far! The dip was cold though but it also added more flavors to the Cheese Sticks. Price: 55 Pesos.

Although we were done with our orders, they also recommended us their Calamares. We hadn't thought about it but since it was their call, of course, we would love to try! For those who are not familiar with Calamares, it's a squid dish that is covered with bread crumbs and fried. Since it's squid, it can be tricky cooking them. But with this Calamares, I knew this must be good! Price: 99 Pesos.


This Calamares was packed with flavors that I was even surprised how delicious they were! I didn't expect this Calamares to be this good than the others that I've tried! This is not an exaggeration but it's what I really felt while eating them. As they've said, I recommend this dish for you to try.


Since they were pretty generous to us, they fed us more food for us to try and to blog! This time, they gave us Foot Long and it's indeed long! This Foot Long has Hungarian Sausage which is hot by the way, cheese sauce and other sauces. The lettuce served both as garnish and an additional ingredient to be eaten. For a cheap price, this is pretty generous!

Unlike ordinary foot longs, this version of Foot Long has way more flavors! This was like a party in my mouth that it gave me different tastes and this was really satisfying! No joke here, this was really good! Maybe if I'm game for some snacks to fill my tummy, I would order this Foot Long. Price: 55 Pesos

For their dessert, this is their flagship dessert that they're really proud of! But, why Halo-halo? Yes, it's a common dessert here in our country and many restaurants do have their version of this popular summer dessert. But why Halo-halo? According to them, their version has NO ICE! I repeat, no ice! We were surprised, bewildered with their statement like, What? How? This was like, indescribable.


Yes, it looked like the usual halo-halo that we love, they've explained to us that instead of regular ice, they've used flavored ice. It also comes with different flavors such as ube, mango, buko pandan and strawberry. We were amazed with their idea like, it's really innovative of them to have this kind of flavors in a halo-halo and I've never seen one doing that. I'm sure if they'll think of 'No-Ice Halo-halo', Caffe Hallo would be the first thing to pop in their mind. Price: 109 Pesos
Look! It's Ube Ice Flavor!
The usual thing we do in Halo-halo is literally, mix them all! But here, their ice already has a yummy ube flavor in it! We could already eat this dessert as it is! No need of mixing them and this saves you from spilling all of the ingredients on the table. Besides that, they're pretty generous with their ingredients and still be able to make itself affordable!

Now, what I love about this Halo-halo is, it gets creamier as is melts. Unlike other Halo-halos that I've tried that when the ice melts, the taste fades, Caffe Hallo's Halo-halo gets tastier, sweeter and again, more delicious! I have no words to describe but delicious! Indeed, this dessert deserves to be the flagship dessert.

I just want to thank Nicell for accommodating us. She did her job well of introducing Caffe Hallo with us and we were very satisfied with their food! This was like a hearty lunch for us and since I'm
near to where I live, I could just visit the place again and get some good ol' Halo-halo with NO ICE!

If you want to visit their place, they're located at University Avenue, Juna Subd. across Keepsakes.




THANKS FOR READING!





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