Monday, March 4 84°F 73% Humidity…read more On the way back to Butuan from Surigao, we stopped at the RTR Public Market along the highway. I thought it was to take a break from driving, but my aunt wanted to go to this bakeshop. It was almost dinnertime and I didn't want to spoil my appetite. But I was curious to see what they had. This is Quindala's Bakeshop! The storefront is this greenish, lime color. Can't miss it. There were lots of breads and pastries on display. Most were maybe ₱10 each, or 17¢. I didn't ask if it was cheaper to buy a dozen... but at those prices, no discounts are needed. They sell torta (sweet cakes), kababayan (muffins), pan de monggo (bread with red bean filling), pan de leche (sweet milk bread), cheese rolls, señorita (Spanish bread), choco bread, ensaymada (brioche style pastry), star bread, hopia (mooncake style pastry), pineapple pie, pan de coco (coconut bread), ube sweetheart (purple yam bread), crinkle cookies, patata/paborita (biscuits), otap (puff pastry cookies) and more. I tried the ube twist, which resembles a swirled doughnut. The bread was soft and fluffy, I enjoyed it! There's a generous dusting of sugar on top, make sure you have napkins. Philippines 2024 collection: https://www.yelp.com/collection/DHwKzvo7o_ll8jmXFFU3KA/PHIL-2024

Saturday, March 2 89°F 62% Humidity…read more My dad was born in Hong Kong and grew up in Mindanao. He hasn't been back to his ancestral home since my grandfather passed away in 1999. We have a few relatives that still reside here, so we recently visited for three days and stayed at the Watergate Hotel. This is a coffee shop that's located in the same plaza. It's on the second floor of the Watergate Centre along Jose Rosales Avenue. Next to the Pick Me 24/7 convenience store. The staircase is next to Cake Miss Bake Shop. They typically open at 11:00 AM and close 11:00 PM Mondays to Thursdays (1:00 AM Fridays to Sundays). Pretty late for a coffee shop if you ask me. Sometimes they have events on the weekends that go until 2:00 AM. No outdoor seating, but there's plenty of tables inside. Besides your typical caffeinated menu options, Fulcrum has a surprisingly large amount of entrees and eats. French fries, sandwiches, pastas, and a few other Filipino/Western dishes. Their iced lattes are frothy and creamy. Kind of light on the flavor but still enjoyable! Philippines 2024 collection: https://www.yelp.com/collection/DHwKzvo7o_ll8jmXFFU3KA/PHIL-2024

Monday, March 4 81°F 73% Humidity…read more We ate at our relative's house for the majority of our stay. Since this was our last night in Butuan, my family decided to go out for dinner before our flight tomorrow. Rosario's is one of maybe two decent Chinese restaurants in the city. They are located near Jose Rosales Avenue and T Claudio Street. Across the street from Gaisano mall and within walking distance from the SM City Butuan shopping center. They share a small lot with other businesses but it was pretty empty. By the way, most drivers here prefer to reverse into their parking space. Makes sense to me since I do the same, it's easier to get out. Plenty of tables and booths inside. Our group of twelve had no problem fitting on one round table. I believe the adjourning room can be reserved for large gatherings, and I'm certain there's additional seating upstairs. The Yang Chow fried rice is a classic you can't mess up. The plain white rice was also cooked well. Beef with broccoli had very tender meat and tasty stir-fried vegetables. The slow cooked pulled pork was soft as well. Chicken with oyster (?) sauce was the table's least favorite because it was the saltiest out of the bunch. Doesn't beat a home cooked meal but it does the job! Philippines 2024 collection: https://www.yelp.com/collection/DHwKzvo7o_ll8jmXFFU3KA/PHIL-2024

Saturday, March 2 75°F 86% Humidity…read more This is the restaurant connected to the Watergate Hotel. My dad had dinner with his childhood friends at Ocean Bounties Seafood across the street, but my mom didn't want to join because of the lack of nearby crosswalks and traffic lights. I stayed with her and we chose to eat at Lime and Zest after taking a quick look inside. The menu is a mix of Filipino and Japanese cuisine. Prices were reasonable, I remember most of the speciality sushi rolls were $5 to $8 U.S dollars. Communication between the front of house and the kitchen was lacking. We initially picked two sushi rolls, the server took our orders to the back, then they came back to tell us that the restaurant was all out of avocados. Seems like something the chef should have made the staff aware of ahead of time since it's an ingredient in most of their rolls. Okay, can it be made without avocado? They don't know, they'll have to go back into the kitchen to check with the chef. Alright then, so we picked two different rolls that don't have it. I kind of forgot the names, the food was some sort of tempura shrimp roll and a baked tuna roll. One of them came with mango, which was not something you normally see in sushi. Adds a bit of sweetness, not sure if I liked it or not. It was pretty forgettable overall, the ingredients were fine but the flavors didn't mesh well together. Philippines 2024 collection: https://www.yelp.com/collection/DHwKzvo7o_ll8jmXFFU3KA/PHIL-2024

Saturday, March 2 85°F 67% Humidity…read more Turo turo is Tagalog for "point point". And that's exactly what you do here. Point at the food you want to eat! Carinderias are typically casual roadside eateries. Food is displayed in serving trays similar to a deli or a cafeteria. Patrons line up at the counter and direct the staff on which dishes they want to add to their plate. All walks of life come here for a quick, affordable meal: locals, tourists, students, jeepney drivers, office workers, etc. D'Home Makers Cafe is a roadside restaurant that emulates the serving style, but adds modern upgrades so that is a more pleasant dine-in experience. The seating is comfortable, food is kept warm inside oval Corningware casserole dishes, they have air con, and there are no paper plates/plastic utensils. It was very busy on a weekend afternoon. Our group of twelve had to stand around for an open table, and we also split up. I'm not the most adventurous eater, so I stuck with the dishes I'm familiar with. The egg rolls (lumpia) were crisp, and the stew (pork menudo) was homey. Eggplant dish was over cooked, and I thought the chop suey (Chinese American sautéed vegetables) was bland but edible. The rice is served in these mini single serving bowls that resemble cauldrons (calderos). It's cute, comes with its own lid and handle. Not a lot of great dining choices in the area, but this was good overall. Philippines 2024 collection: https://www.yelp.com/collection/DHwKzvo7o_ll8jmXFFU3KA/PHIL-2024

Yummy food, good people and air conditioned! It's got the feel of a Pinoy restaurant abroad…read more Carinderia style but clean and really yummy food! And most importantly AIRCON!

I first heard about this establishment through a friend's post on social media. I had the…read moreopportunity to be invited then by one of my close friends to try the place out last Oct 20th. Its location is in a corner in the heart of Butuan city. When we got there the place has this chic atmosphere to it. I couldn't wait to try this place. So here it goes... You can feel a slice of history by just looking at the walls of the cafe. The antiques and artworks are part of the collection of the owner's family. The table and chairs are not your typical cafe furniture. It complemented the decor perfectly. I can still vividly remember my friend enjoying the antiques all around the place. The cafe doesn't have a WiFi connection to encourage patrons to have a better connection with each other through physical communication. My friends ordered americanos while I tried their cappuccino. I am not a huge fan of coffee because I dislike bitter beverages, hot or cold. Now you must be thinking why am I even reviewing the cafe if that is the case. My friends managed to convince me that I can lose weight faster by removing all the sugar and sweets in my diet and to try sugar less coffee without cream. I wasn't ready for that yet, so I ordered the one with latte but at least try it with no sugar. To my surprise the coffee I tasted was smooth and only slightly bitter. My friend explained that flavorful and delicious coffee is not bitter. I'll take his word for it since I'm not an expert. But this experience definitely changed my whole outlook on coffee. Coffee can be enjoyed if the cafe ith came from, expertly made it. I am now a fan. We also ordered some desserts, the Arroz Turrones, a dish served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and (pilit) sticky rice rolled and fried (I'm not really sure of the process I just describe it as I see it). I'm sure the dish is fine and delicious but I'm not a fan of sugarless sticky rice, but that's just my personal preference. We also ordered "palagsing", a brown, sticky suman, made of sago starch (Unaw), young coconut meat and sugar. The dish was served on a small plate, there were 2 pieces of heated palagsing sprinkled with grated cheese and coconut. The palagsing is not made in-house but ordered from a maker in Banza, Butuan city. It was the first time I enjoyed palagsing since I always prefer the suman made from sticky rice (budbod). We enjoyed the coffee and desserts as well as the excellent customer service that the cafe provided. The servers are alert and service was always with a smile. The owner/manager takes the time to visit tables to ask direct feedback from the customers. This shows us the degree of dedication, passion and professionalism of the owner. Their prices are slightly expensive compared to other coffee shops but that is to be expected since we can see, taste, and feel the excellent quality and service that we paid for. We had an amazing experience, but don't take my word for it, try it yourselves. P.S. Since the writing of this review I have been back 3 times, the third time being this morning but only for take out since I was in a hurry. Rating: Taste: Excellent coffee and desserts. Their coffee is heaven in a cup. Price: Excellent; you get exactly what you paid for Decor: Excellent; I'm not expert in interior design but the decor really adds to the appeal of the place. Ambience: Excellent; you can truly enjoy chatting with friends or even alone sipping a cup of coffee while enjoying the decor.

I was there last October 15, 2017 for their anniversary promo 1-day 50% off on all food items…read moreexcept drinks. Sadly, I wasn't able to eat their signature dish since it's already sold out so we ordered their tapsilog (beef strips with garlic rice and fried egg) and chicken mami. 50% price but still 100% delicious.

The food is good as well as their service very friendly and accommodating. The ambiance is also…read moregreat, natural and simple.

We have been dying to try this place for a while now. We love their burger branch located at…read morePietro's Square, Butuan City. The food is fine. For more details why we scored a 3 here's our experience: Ambience: 3.25 It was a bad idea to eat there on Mondays through Saturdays around 2pm to 4 pm in the afternoon because their neighbor is a warehouse of a brewing company whose trucks are busy going out and in and honing their horns. Since the location is by the road it is quite busy during rush hour. The best place to dine there would be at lunch or dinner. Decor: 3.5 The place has this laid-back feel where you can relax, chill and enjoy the food at your own pace while enjoying acoustic music. They have a freedom wall where guests could write anything they like within reason. It might have been good at first but it doesn't look too appealing now. Sort of like a wall with lots of graffiti. Food: 3.5 I may or may not rate it higher the next time I dine here. But our first time enjoying the food wasn't that enjoyable as I had hoped. To be fair we have yet to sample all there dishes just two for now (since we really can't eat that much). Buffalo (spicy) chicken wings: 3.00 8 reddish golden brown chicken parts (well to be honest I got a serving of 6 wings 1 drumstick and 1 half a chest part. The taste was good but the flavor was overpowering (sa bisaya pa lami pero bidli). I could still see the specks of spice powder on the skin of the chicken. Not all of the chicken parts were cooked. The drumstick I got was still slightly bleeding. That usually happens if you fry not-so thawed food. How did I know it was frozen? I asked the staff. Crispy Bagnets with rice and side of green mangoes = 5.00 Bagnets are slices of deep fried pork. It was cooked to perfection. The meat and skin just seems to melt in your mouth. It was also served with a condiment of vinegar with chopped onions and cooked (bagoong) fish paste for the mango side dish. Price: 5.00 Reasonable prices and reasonable portions. Overall rating: 3.80 Our overall experience was good. We're not planning on coming back right away but we are coming back to try their other dishes.