Romantic Night at Cellar de Oboza

Salutti is one of my favorite Italian restaurants in the city, although I haven’t been there in a while. Just recently, my much anticipated return finally took place, although my favorite resto now bears a new name and is in a new location. The Oboza ancestral house is the new home for Salutti and in keeping with the revamp, the restaurant bears “Cellar de Oboza” as its new name, too.

The ground floor area of the ancestral home is where you will find Cellar de Oboza. The second floor is where Claude’s Le Café de Ville is located.

That particular night of our visit, no one else is in the restaurant. This is a good thing because it almost felt like we had the restaurant exclusively and a personal concierge of restaurant staff, lol. A waiter politely met us at the door and into a table for two. The ambiance sure does emit a romantic feel with its dim lighting and color scheme. 

For the entrée, we had the Caramelized Pork Belly in Red Wine Estofado (PhP 265) and Shrimps in Crab Fat Sauce (PhP 275). On my next visit, I will no doubt give their Fish Sticks in Guava Tamarind Sauce a try – sounds yummy! Anyway, as for our dishes, these were huge servings for its price. The pork belly alone is good for 2-3 people, which is very affordable when you are dining with a group.

The shrimps in crab fat sauce is my favorite of the two dishes, however. I love that you can tell the shrimps are fresh because the meat it still very juicy yet has a bite to it. E also noted how it felt and tasted like the shrimps were just peeled off. The crab fat was surprisingly neither overpowering nor too oily with the olive oil. It was just the perfect complement to the natural sweet-salty taste of the shrimp’s meat.

For dessert, we had the Maja Blanca Cheesecake. This was a unique take on your usual cheesecake recipe because it really does feel like you are eating maja blanca but with the rich goodness of a cheesecake. If you like maja blanca and cheesecake, this is the perfect dessert to have at Cellar de Oboza! At PhP 145, though, I felt this was a tad too small of a serving. Good thing that E & I were both quite full at that time that we did not bother with the serving size. 

Despite having a new name and being in a new location, I love how Cellar de Oboza has maintained the same quality and authenticity that Salutti has delivered in the past. This restaurant is a perfect example of how fine dining does not have to be ultra-expensive.

Next stop: Claude’s. Til then!

Dreaming of Café Del Sol

One thing I love about cafes is that you can indulge in breakfast meals any time of day. Pancakes. French toast. Omelette. Don’t we all have that occasional craving? Comfort food at its finest.

On my recent trip to Boracay, I had a chance to dine at Café del Sol with E and a friend. We needed to give our feet a break from the long hike and also to grab a quick mid-afternoon snack. We ended up in Café del Sol, which is a small restaurant located right at the entrance to D’Mall. Initially, we planned on trying their breakfast meals but we figured we were too full to eat that time. So, we opted for their dessert snacks instead.  

Cafe del Sol Boracay

But I have a confession to make: the decision to dine there wasn’t spontaneous at all. I had spotted their frozen shelf full of drool-inducing pastries that I HAD to sample one (or two!).

And so we did. Here are our orders:

Square Indulgence

Oreo Cheesecake

Mango Cheesecake

I would be hard pressed to pick which of the three I loved best. All of them were equally out-of-this-world! I forgot to take note of the prices but I think each would cost around PhP150-PhP200. But totally worth every penny spent! I’ve been dreaming of that delectable taste on my palate since I tasted their delicious pastries.

Now, if only Café del Sol opened a branch in Davao. The recent surge of new restos (with the opening of new malls and another one due to open its doors to the locals late this year) has given me hope that eventually this will happen. Until then, the dreaming continues.

Lyndon's Worst Rib and Most Awful Chicken

Anyone who has tried Lyndon's will surely find the name of the place a misnomer. Indeed, the rib was not the worst at all, in fact it was the best. The chicken, too, was very tasty and very well seasoned. What I like the best about the chicken is that the marinade was able to reach deep inside the meat, not just on the skin. Hence, it was culinary goodness down to the bones. I could eat it everyday, except that it probably won't be too good for my health!


E ordered their Rib, which is one of the best I had tasted EVER. He tried to cut through it with the knife but realized too soon that it won't even be necessary. All you have to do is stick your fork on the meat and it will fall right off the bones - effortless! I even tried cutting it myself because I did not believe him at first, but it surely did fall off effortlessly from the bones. And the best part? It tasted heavenly - no hype, whatsoever.


Judging by the lack of ambiance (we visited the Wheels N More drive branch), I guess people do come here solely for the food. It was also impressive that there were quite a few patrons that were there on a Saturday night. And it sure is one of Davao's best. I am glad that I was able to try it. I would love to come back though and try out their seafoods.