Saturday, March 12, 2011

Boracay eats and other things.


As mentioned in my previous post, Boracay's commercialization is depressing. With establishments mushrooming everywhere, I wouldn't be surprised if "keeping up with the times" can be the cause of its downfall. It's just...too much.

I was too lazy to take photos to prove my point, though. Just think Greenhills Shopping Center with a beach. High-end stores and tiangges mixed together (no proper zoning), and the dibidi guys are replaced with "Ma'am, sir, island hopping? ATV? Helmet diving???". I think that analogy will suffice. Would you believe there's Starbucks, Shakey's, and Yellow Cab by the beach?! I don't know, it just seems...wrong. Even the famous Jonah's Milkshakes in Station 1 lost its charm. What used to be a kubo-type setting (with sand on your toes and trees in between tables) now looks like a fast food chain, complete with tiles and uncomfy chairs. Sad. :(

So for the duration of our stay, we veered away from the Manila restos and revisited the local establishments we tried out before. And that became another disappointment. Yung mga dating masarap na kainan, hindi na rin masarap ngayon. Siyet.

Only two restaurants made us happy and satisfied on those five days.

One was Real Coffee in Station 1.

I'm not a breakfast person (I only drink hot Milo on a regular work day) but I like breakfast food. I can eat bacon, Spam and omelettes all day. We had breakfast in this place for two consecutive mornings.

The open kitchen.

This place is owned by an American woman but look, it's sooo Pinoy.

Various coffee mugs with names, recycled plastic containers for storage

Handwritten labels and again, recycled containers. The sugar jar was Lady's Choice peanut butter once.

Spreading happy thoughts

What we had:

Jack's omelette. Two eggs with a mix of tuna, melted cheese, tomatoes, etc. The next day we tried it with pesto (not in photo). Saraaaaaap!

Banana pancake. It's huge. Good for sharing. YUM!

Real Coffee's signature coffee. Mitor likes it with two shots of fresh milk.

Here's another must-try: Calamansi muffins. Think lemon squares but better.

Happy customer

The second one is Don Vito Italian Restaurant in Mandarin Hotel, Station 2.

Loved the ambiance, perfect for a dinner date

Cream of asparagus soup

Baked tahong with mashed potatoes

Baby-back ribs

We weren't very impressed with the food, but the ambiance and the service made up for it. Maybe we should have ordered pasta and pizza, since it's an Italian resto?

Haaaay, I miss the old Boracay.

5 comments:

  1. Maniniwala lang ako na commercialized na ang boracay if may Henlin na don. hahahaha

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  2. Kabbie, I know what you mean!! Naku, first time palang nila sinementuhan yung talipapa, na-depress na ko. There's always the beach though :)

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  3. Vien! Wala pang Henlin pero... merong Siomai House at Master Siomai! Yung Master Siomai ala food cart pa. O dibaaa?!

    Jing! Oo nga eh, yung beach nalang talaga ang kapanapanabik dun. Hehehe

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  4. I ALWAYS eat at Real Coffee when I'm there! Two eggs na lang ang Jack's Omelette? The Jack-O-Lean has three eggs and it's supposedly smaller. I replicate it at home.:) Nomnomnom! I think a mother-daughter tandem owns the place. They're so cute when they playfully bicker behind the counter.

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  5. Tisha! Hahaha, I can't remember which Jack has two eggs, basta both have Jack on their names. Day 1 we had the 2 eggs, then the next day we had the 3 eggs with pesto. YUM!

    Oh yeah, ang kyuuut nung mag-ina na yun. Gusto ko nga sana magpa-picture eh... pero nahiya ako bigla. Haha :P

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