De Bonte Koe European Restarant

On with the Davao series, after we had a really tiring day and decided to take a nap, Tom woke me up to say that his Tito Bong and Tita Bebot will be taking us out for dinner.

They took us to De Bonte Koe european restaurant. I can't remember exactly where it was except that it's in a compound where one can also have Mexican food  and Margaritas. 

At first I though we were going to have Margaritas which seems perfect since I still felt full. Although I found it interesting that we entered a small restaurant with European stuff all over the walls and most of them were cows!

Henny, the Dutch owner greeted us once we were seated at our table. Tito Bong said the house wine is excellent and we got a bottle of the no name house wine. The wine bottle was so cute also. It has cows printed all over it.

We though we were only going to have tapas but we also ordered the large Paella Negra. It was just too good to resist even if you are already full. The squid ink just made everything tastier. This is really worth the wait.

While we were waiting for the paella, we had the cheese platter to go along with the wine. The blue cheese was too good to pass up. We ordered a second platter as well.

Now what did I learn from this dinner? Turns out I am assertive (hahaha). Tito Bong apparently is very good at guessing your birth order depending on your attitude. So there it was...an obvious first born. Also, turns out fish from the Netherlands can be packed and shipped to the Philippines..interesting. Although I have started to love the "cultured European lifestyle" that I joke around with my friends whenever I have a glass of wine. Thank you Tito Bong and Tita Bebot Vega for this dinner.

 

Eden Nature Park and Resort

During our Davao Trip last November, I insisted to my friends that we go to Eden Nature Park in the foothills of Mount Apo. My mom never stopped raving about their salad when they visited. I was able to ask my mom's friend, Tito Lito to let his driver drive us to Eden Park since we might have a hard time if we hire a taxi.

When we got there, we were still a bit early for the buffet lunch so we joined the tour first to get us all pumped up and really hungry for the lunch buffet. The tour costs 75 PHP each. They showed us the different cottages and villas they have, the different venues, the garden where they plant the veggies and herbs they serve hydrophonics style. I suddenly remembered one of the geeky projects of our high school science class when I saw the hydrophonics facilities they have. They allowed us to sample some of the herbs as well and we were just tempted to take it back to Manila so Tom can make pasta for us. 

I really loved it when they told us that the view from Lola's Garden is of Davao City which proved I was wrong for my first guess that it was Gen. Santos City and Saranggani Bay at the back (toinks!) 

We arrived for lunch just in time. We were really hungry and looking forward to it considering how big our appetites are. The buffet lunch costs 450 PHP per person and it also includes 1 free drink.

They served Mandarin Chicken, Penne with Pomodoro sauce, Pork ribs, Salmon Provencal, Fried Rice and Mushrooms. Each dish tastes so good that I could barely describe each of them. My favorites were the mushrooms and the chicken.

What is Eden Park without their salad? They have a whole section dedicated to the fresh choices of vegetables and dressings just for it. I got the mixed greens and several juicy tomatoes with Asian dressing (highly recommended by my mom). There were chunks of suha as well which Davao is famous for. The vegetables were really fresh and crisp and you know you can't go wrong with these since they are organic as well.

We had fresh fruits for dessert but one can have the pastries and balck sambo that they prepared.

I also loved the fact as well that there was a white peacock in the dining area. It was just beautiful. Too bad it did not open it's tail.

After lunch, we just enjoyed ourselves in the Indiana Jones, a mini version of the zip line which you can enjoy around Davao. Eden also have this attraction. 

We also felt like we were kids again just going at it at the playground. Tom and Sans finally got my camera so I have decent pictures (haha).

There were other attractions we could have enjoyed as well if only we had enough time to do so. The whole time I was there, I had this crazy though of wanting to have my pre-nup shoot there...dream on! I know right!!!

The Good Stuff in Iloilo

I miss Iloilo. I crave all the good stuff in the city. Here are some places to eat when in Iloilo City.

Tatoy's Manokan and Seafood (Villa, Iloilo-Along Villa Beach)

Allan's Talabahan (Oton, Iloilo)

Joy-Joy's Talabahan (Coastal Road, Dumangas)

Carlitos (Lopez Jaena st. Jaro Iloilo)

Ramboy's (Boardwalk, Diversion Road, Iloilo)

There's more but I have to take pictures when I get home.

Sonya's Garden: the place to heal a heart

I'm a bit late with blogging about my food, travel and whatever adventures I've had and this is one of them. Sometime last year in the middle of my "I'm heartbroken" drama, I went on a road trip with three high school friends to Tagaytay. At that time, I was craving for breakfast food at Antonio's but everyone wanted to try Sonya's Garden. I didn't really mind since I heard a lot about it and wanted to see if I'm happy with what they can give.

A friend told me how Sonya's came to be. She basically started gardening because her heart was broken and eventually decided to open her doors to the public when her friends convinced her to do so because of the great ambiance that she has created and the good quality of food that she can cook wherein the greens and herbs comes from her own garden.

Whether the story is true or not, I'm glad to have come to this place. We had their eat all you can menu but failed to make a reservation beforehand so we did not have any meat during our dinner. For 650 PHP, the dinner includes:
 -Unlimited bread with 6 kinds of spreads and pate
-Green salad with house dressing
-Pasta with Marinara and Mango Sauce
-Unlimited freshly squeezed Dalandan juice
-Chocolate cake and Turon

We loved the bread and the tomato and garlic spread as well as the salad. The mixed greens were really fresh and crunchy to the bite. For the pasta, I found the marinara sauce a bit sweet and hopefully they can make the mango sauce tastier. For chocolate cake, my only request is to make the servings bigger. 

I liked how they furnished the place and the lighting was not too bright but not to low either. I love the plants all over the place and the seats in the garden with with the white sheets hanging. I believe this is a great place for dating but for someone who went there with a broken heart just like when I did...I just felt good vibes all over.

Here are some of our pictures:

 

 Sonya's Fresh Green Salad

 

 Turon

 

 The ambiance at Sonya's Garden

 

 Some furnishings

Some pictures of us at the garden and the gift shop: