Bellevue Hotel Bohol - Staycation at its Best!

It was not my first time to stay at Bellevue - a couple of friends and I were there several months ago. It is not a perfect destination mind you - and I'll expound on that in a bit. However, the good points more than compensate for the bad, at least in my opinion. We had such a great time that we had to come back - this time with more friends in tow.

Looks captivating, doesn't it? 

HERE ARE SOME PHOTOS FROM MY FIRST VISIT LAST FEBRUARY

Bellevue is not located in the more popular Alona beach front. As such, it does not share the same "swimmable" waters. This in itself can be a major turn off for a lot of beach dwellers. The water is almost always on "low tide," and there are sea weeds all over the place. The "weedy" part of the ocean is also a breeding ground for sea urchin, so not the best place for a stroll. One of our friends got pricked, so be careful.

The sand is awesome!

But that's about where the "bad" part of the review ends. The beach itself is awesome - powdery white sand on a private area of the province. Perfect for a stroll, some photo ops sessions or sun bathing. There's also an area where you can play beach sports and even aqua sports. If you can live with swimming in the infinity pool and forego the ocean, this would be a great place for you.

Let's play a game of volleyball!

Yes, the pool. It's moderately sized and located in a strategic position that allows for a nice view of the beach. The water is usually nice, but can be almost freezing depending on the weather (it was really cold when we were there last February, but nice and warm this time around). There are sufficient lounge chairs, some with umbrellas and the rest for those who want more sun. There's a small area for kids, but the majority of the pool is around 4-5 feet deep (just enough for those who can't swim).

Exhausted!

The rooms are also very nice. It was very spacious, and more than enough to fit 3. Wifi is good and you can ask for IT support in case of connectivity issues. 

"Wish you were here"

I overused the bath tub (one of my favorites!) and actually fell asleep there a couple of times. Tip - you can use three or four of their shower gels to get a nice bubble bath going. I had some issues with the room that we got last February because of the bathroom "visibility" from the balcony. They used semi-see through blinds that will "expose" bathroom users to to those who may be lounging at the balcony. The room we got this time had a nicely situated bathroom with no windows, so there was not problem.

Cover me! 

Afternoons are great for drinks, and I say this because of the happy hour from 1PM to 6PM (I think). Drinks used to be at 50% off, but this time around they offered it at 30% off. I love a good mojito by the beach, so you'll know where to find me at those hours next time.

Mojito! Pizza!

And then there was the food. Damn. At some point, I must admit, you will get sick and tired of all the bacon served for breakfast. Well, not really, but there are also a lot of other food choices that include breakfast staples, classic "ulams," cereals, fruits and dessert. Drinks are flowing and you can stay from 6am to 10am. We set up pretty early so we can enjoy hours of food while working. You don't have much of a choice when it comes to lunch and dinner, however. It's the same cooking staff cooking the same menu items. But most of the dishes are simply awesome. I say "most" because we did encounter some dishes that were "so-so." The Kare Kare and some of the pasta dishes, for instance, were disappointing. The Humba and the spicy native chicken dish, however, are a must! They sometimes offer dinner buffets (the one we had was for around 900+) to offer variety. Overall, the food isn't as expensive as you would expect from a place like Bellevue. HERE ARE SOME PHOTOS OF THE FOOD SERVED.

Waiting for lunch!

One of the best parts about Bellevue, however, is the service. I was really impressed with how friendly the staff was, and you can ask them to do pretty much anything to make your stay a memorable one. Check in and check out were a breeze - and the crew made us feel welcome from the onset. Sure, there were some minor issues with billing and logistics, but those are normal and what's important is how they were handled. They also offered some freebies like a free shuttle ride to Alona beach at night (in case you want to go there for dinner), free bikes that you can use to go around the city, free use of certain facilities and free airport transfers.

Looking like experts!

We got a pretty good deal for our last trip. Our group was able to avail of a special "pay for two nights and get the third night free" rate, so we ended up only paying around 14,000 per room. We got a similar deal the last time we went, so it's good practice to check their website for deals once in a while. HERE ARE PHOTOS FROM OUR RECENT STAY. Will definitely come back to this hotel someday soon.

CHECK THIS OUT: 6 "Non-Traditional" Things To Do In Bohol

Italliani's - A Steak to my Liking

Been very busy the past couple of days and I was unable to post some of the (relatively decent) meals I had. They were mostly from previously reviewed restos like Wee Nam Kee and Ichiba anyway, so you guys have an idea how those meals may have gone.

 

A must blog, however, was my latest Italliani's dining experience. It's no secret that I frequent this resto for the yummy pasta and pizza. What makes me come back, however, is the huge discount that I get from using my Bistro card. At least 20% off on top of the vouchers. Sulit na sulit!

 

This time, for a change, I was craving for steak. It's been a while since I got one from this place and I totally forgot what it tasted like. I was in heaven when I finally got a taste of it. The USDA Ribeye (P1450 in all its 10 oz glory) was heavily seasoned which is just how I liked it. Turned out to be a little over cooked than expected but it was moist, marbled and tender. Steak is best eaten shortly after being served, but I enjoyed mine even when it was already slightly cool. A far cry from the poorly seasoned steaks of neighboring restos. 

 

I must confess that I made a rookie (and idiotic) mistake when I ordered the pasta. I had Chicken Alfredo in mind when I got the Fettucine Alfredo (P325). So I was shocked and kicking myself when I got a plate of pasta with white sauce and nothing much on it. What a waste. I ended up using it as a rice substitute for my steak. Ok na rin.

 

A couple of other things that I love about Italliani's: the bottomless iced tea and the "bottomless" bread basket. I can't get enough of the dip. I won't mind coming here for "dinner" and just get a fill of this bread/drink combo.

 

My Bistro card is about to expire in a few months, so that's a bummer. I usually end up getting another one after serious haggling with the marketing person. It's a good buy, but I can be a hard sell sometimes.

Buddy's Restaurant - Pinoy na Pinoy!

I'm not 100% certain but I believe my friends and I used to eat at a place called Buddy's somewhere in Makati. It wasn't much - just a small spot on the side of the road with a few tables. But we must have frequented that place for a reason - either good food, cheap price or both.

 

The Buddy's restaurant in Eastwood is much bigger and had a fiesta theme. It was almost embarrassing to go in - just too many things going on. Plus, the waiters are trained to shout "Welcome to Buddy's, dito parang lagging fiesta" when people come in. Like I said, embarrassing.

After ordering from the counter (fast food style), we took one of the benches. It only took a few moments for the food to be served. Impressive!

 

The specialty of the house is Pancit and Longganisa. I wasn't really in the mood for pancit, so I decided to try the Longganisa Lucban (P120) instead. To be honest, there wasn't anything special about it. It was good, but tasted like any other longganisa from that area.

 

The Pork BBQ (P155), on the other hand, was really good. It had the typical pinoy sauce brushed on it. You can never go wrong with BBQ, IMHO. I can live on BBQ alone.

 

I also really liked the Sisig (P155). It found its way to the top of my list, along with Gerry's and Aysee's. It's not crunchy (a bit soggy actually) but it  was really good. Extra hot sauce please!

 

And finally, we got the Hardinera (P120). I had no idea what it was, but was told that it's like embutido or everlasting. Had to try it, and wasn't disappointed. I think I still prefer the Everlasting cooked by my friend Sexy's mom, but this will definitely do.

My apologies for the tacky title and the rushed content. This review has been in my queue for a couple of days now and I'm just writing this down while waiting for my food. And now my steak is here :)

Eastwood's Very Own Gloria Maris

Gloria Maris is probably best known for its Greenhills branch - the one that used to be somewhere in the old part of the mall but eventually moved to a new building near the Promenade area. It has always been a family favorite and we have celebrated one too many events in that Chinese resto. Since then, they've branched out and found their way to an area of Eastwood Mall that used to be deserted.

 

The Eastwood branch is not as grandiose as the Greenhills branch - no high ceilings and countless round tables. But it looks stylish in its own way and also has an aquarium/display area. They tried their best given the limited space that they had, I would say. But hey - if the plan is to give access to people from the Libis area, then the plan definitely worked. I've never seen this part of the mall as busy as it is today.

 

The food is generally good - one of the reasons why families keep coming back. We ordered the staple Steamed Fish Fillet with Soy Sauce (P350) and it was great paired with my very own chili/soy sauce concoction. Not as good as the fish fillet from Hap Chan (yum yum), but good enough. This coming from a guy who generally does not order fish dishes.

 

The Siomai is yet another staple when ordering food in most Chinese restaurants. This dimsum looks really simple but can taste explosive depending on it was prepared. The one we ordered tasted good and would have held on its own even without the other dishes. Siomai rice, anyone?

 

Finally, the waiter recommended the Fried Spareribs with Salt and Pepper (P400) with confidence. I was leaning towards the Kingdo Spareribs but he interjected and made his suggestion. Fine, Mr. Waiter. I'll take your word for it. It did taste good and was surprisingly a good fit with the other dishes we ordered. 

 

There are a lot of other dishes to try, and you can ask them to cook one of the live fishes from the aquarium. I'm sure this place will see me again soon as it seems to be on the "favorite list" of several people that I know. 

My First Rodic's Experience

I must confess - while I was "raised in Katipunan" (or at least that's where most of my "real" life experiences began), I have never been to the UP haven they call Rodic's. I've heard about it, I've read about it, but I never made the effort to find out where it is exactly. I mean, why bother searching the unknown for tapsilog?

 

So it came as somewhat of a thrill when I saw that UP Town Center has a (presumably) "sosy-er" version of this all time Isko favorite. Now is my chance to experience what I have been missing all these years. The tapa MUST be fantastic! After all, people seem to be raving about it. And sadly, my expectations once again got the better of me.

 

The Tapsilog (P99) was relatively cheap though I can imagine that the original version is much cheaper (correct me if I'm wrong). It doesn't look appetizing at all - just a bunch of corned beef looking strips on rice covered by scrambled eggs. It does taste ok - but I think I would have preferred it if there was a little more beef and a little less rice. The meat is tasty but chopping it in a million little pieces and "drowning" it in rice reduced the flavor.

 

The Beef Caldereta (P99), on the other hand, had a curious flavor. I was expecting a cheesy taste, but got a "Gata" flavor instead. The meat could use a few more minutes in the slow cooker. It wasn't bad, actually and I actually kinda liked it. But preference wise, I still like my caldereta with a lot of cheese. 

 

But don't get me wrong - my review may sound a bit harsh, but let's not forget value for money. And the food was actually okay. I would have gone for a plate of Sisig if I had even the tiniest of spaces left in my stomach. For P200, I got a full belly and a happy smile on my face. After all, I have finally dined in one of the mysterious UP places that used to be alien to me. To sum it all up, it was "sulit" and "swak sa budget." I did go the mall with only P500 in my pocket.

EG's Birthday @ Balducci

Once in a while, I like to pretend that I'm classy/cultured/European/all of the above and try out things that I don't normally do. Like drink wine served in room temperature ("chilled? But that destroys it!"), order things that I don't fully comprehend ("Macche what now?") or eat cold cuts served over greens ("where's the American bread?"). Thanks to "sosy friends" I do get to indulge. Ok fine, I try to sound more jologs than I really am but let me try to poke some fun here.

 

Thanks to EG's birthday, this group had another reason to meet up. The invite was sent to a larger number, but only 3 of us were able to make it. All good - we got a chance to talk about more people behind heir backs. We talked about a lot of things, including the "taboo" topic of politics. We just couldn't help it I guess. No matter how much I try to steer the conversation to more interesting topics (like Rose's lovelife and EG's ulterior motives), we somehow find ourselves talking about extrajudicial killings and Twitter trolls. Go figure.

 

We were hungry but the first thing we ordered was the wine. Now I seriously have never learned how to choose what wine to order (they all look and taste the same to me), so I left the choosing to the expert - Miss "we don't have water, we serve wine" herself. She swirled, she sniffed and she gave her nod of approval. I can totally do that, I told myself. I'll just pretend that I know what I'm sniffing at and swirling for next time. 

 

For our appetizer, we ordered the Affettati Assortiti Con Cocole E Salsa Al Gorgonzola E Mascarpone. Colds cuts for short. At P410, you'd expect a large platter but it was served on this tiny dish. I guess that's how the elitistas roll haha. It tasted, well, like cold cuts. Only better. It went well with the wine. Wish we ordered some cheese. 

 

The next dish served was the Maccheroni Alla Calabrese (P390). We requested the pasta to be changed to spaghetti, so I guess the name should be changed as well. But it's made of Italian tomato sauce with fresh ricotta and pine nuts. "It doesn't look like much but it's actually delicious," quipped the birthday girl. I'll leave it at that.

 

Finally, there's the Pizza - Margherita-Pomodoro, Mozarella, Basilico (P390). Basically pizza with mozarella, basil and cheese. Not a personal favorite (where's the meat? Haha) but I ended up devouring several slices. I made the mistake of adding too much chili flakes on my first slice, so my mouth was somewhat on fire. 

 

Balducci Ristorante (Serendra) was a great place for food and good conversation. The place was formal enough for people to avoid boisterous laughter, but casual enough to just be ourselves. We would have ordered more if not for the bread baskets that kept on coming. I wanted to get oysters and the grilled mozarella but there was hardly any space left after all the carbo loading. 

 

It was a fun night, though we had to cut it short because Rose's driver has a curfew. We made plans for Rhea's wedding day and other things. I ended up buying EG a pair of gold shoes, but that's a story for another day.

Rocketroom and the Drink That Cured My Sore Throat

We took a long stroll across High Street to find a suitable place for drinks (where did all those bars go?) and ended up in the farthest corner of the mall (we came from Serendra). I've been here before (hence the hope that there will be something waiting for us at the end of the hike) and it's a nice, cozy place to get some drinks. 

The place was quiet enough to have a decent conversation (though I noticed the music got much louder at around 11 pm) and there were a lot of interesting things to see. I loved the eternal candles (just a name I whipped up) which created a stalactite-like wax formation. I also loved how they used candles to light up the joint (with the help of some electric lighting of course). There were also a LOT of options for drinks.

 

I got the Rocket Fuel (P295). It was made of silver tequila, liquid fire and triple sec. And man, did it give my (sore) throat an incredible sensation. It's like drinking a potion that cures throat infections by burning its way from your mouth to your intestines. It was amazing, but not for the weak. I honestly think that that concoction killed all the bacteria that was causing my throat to throb for about a week. I definitely should have gone for a second glass.

 

The rest of the gang opted for the more classic approach - beer for the guys, juice for the girls. Since we were sill full from that Wee Nam Kee dinner, we weren't able to try out the pica pica (except for the free peanuts served). I personally wish I could have ordered more, but I didn't want to risk drinking too much (still a bit sick). More kwentuhan followed, plus an unfortunate breakage/accident that will crush someone's happiness and excitement. 

 

We had to leave and find another place once the music got too loud. Our main goal was to chat and drink, and not to drown our misery in loud music. Tito/Tita problems, I know I know. It also felt a bit warm in there, which could be attributed to my drink (but the rest agreed so it could be an aircon issue).

Wee Nam Kee With My HS Barkada

A couple of my high school friends came home from overseas so it was time for a long delayed "reunion." Planning was far from easy - we started with an overnight stay in Tagaytay, to a day playing golf/swimming in Orchard, and finally ended up with "dinner at drinks, kahit saan, kahit anong oras."

 

We somehow ended up in Wee Nam Kee Serendra, of all the places there. I haven't been to this place in ages so I wasn't sure what to expect. I have a vague recollection of good food and lots of people, but that was years ago. One of the reasons I blog - so I can recall what transpired and how much I liked what I ate. The place was bright, cozy and rather casual. A nice place to have good food and great conversation without the need of being too formal.

 

Let me dispense with the "bad" this early. Getting service was quite a challenge, and it took us several attempts to get the attention of the (busy) waiters. It was a Saturday night, after all. The one who took our order came back saying the platter was not available, only to be corrected by another waiter a few seconds later. The guy sounded like he was new so I give him a pass for this. But that's about it. Everything else was great.

 

To make things simple (we were in the rush to start talking/exchanging news), we just ordered the items on the menu which had photos and that looked good. The first thing that caught our attention was the Family Platter (P888). It's a combination of steamed and roasted Hainanese Chicken, Roast Pork, Barbequed Pork, Century Eggs and Seaweeds. A good way to "sample" what the restaurant has to offer. Not really worth the P888 tag for me but I did like the chicken and pork dishes. I can do without the seaweeds and the eggs.

 

The Sambal Squid (P290) came as a pleasant surprise. I'm not usually a big fan of squid served in a sizzling plate, but this one had tender squid and a delicious sauce. Even the mushrooms and the veggies tasted good. 

 

The dish of the night award goes to the Cantonese Beef Tenderloin Ribs (P375). Or at least that ended up as my favorite. Not a big surprise as I'm a huge meat lover. The meat was tender and cooked just right. The sauce was yummy enough to be an "ulam" in itself.  Definitely something that I will order again next time together with other dishes that we didn't get a chance to taste (like the Cereal Prawns and the Salted Egg Chicken).

 

Overall, dinner was fun and memorable. My barkada and I were able to catch up and talk about all sorts of things - past (shared) experiences, recent events, plans for the future, and gossip (mas chismoso pa ang boys FYI). I realized that time has shaped us to be different and mature individuals, but some things never change. We missed a couple of people due to sched conflicts (seriously Teng), but there's always next time.

Boon Tong Kee - Enjoy It If You Can Find It

Boon Tong Kee in UP Town Center is oddly located in the cornermost portion of the first building of the mall (the one with IHOP and Dulcelin). It's a bit hard to spot and you'd only chance upon it if you happen to use the bridge that leads to the main mall. The place also looks really small from the outside and it's a good thing they thought about placing a standee by the entrance.

 

When we were given suggestions about specialties, I found myself asking for more options. I wasn't particularly excited to eat Hainanese Chicken (not a fan) or Spinach with Assorted Eggs (for obvious reasons). In the end, I looked at the walls and ordered the dishes that looked appetizing in photos.

 

The Cereal Prawns (Small, P375) didn't look like the photo at all. Presentation was a bit messy, and I think there were only 3 pieces of prawns there. But the "damo damo" (I'm guessing the "cereal" part of the dish) was surprisingly tasty and gave an interesting dimension to the otherwise normal tasting prawns. I had a hard time deciding if it tasted better on its own or when paired with my usual chili/soy sauce. I wish there were more prawns to eat for me to come to a more informed decision.

 

The Zhenjiang Pork Ribs (P395) were quite tasty on the outside, a little less on the inside. I had to make sure that the sauce was enough to cover the meat from the inside. A bit on the sweet side, this dish probably won't appeal to everyone. It also doesn't look like much presentation wise, but it's a nice dish to add to your order. The buns were also yummy.

 

We also ordered Siomai on the side (P85), and it was also good. Extra yummy with chili sauce. I'm curious to find out how the other dimsum on the menu would taste like.

 

And what meal would be complete without rice, right? We also ordered a bowl of Yang Chow Fried Rice for the full Asian meal experience. It was a bit on the soggy/wet side but I got used to the texture within seconds. Pwede na. But I guess it wouldn't have made much of a difference if we got plain rice instead.

 

Service was a bit lousy at first - there was only one waiter available, but there were only 2 tables filled at the time (it was around 5 in the afternoon). I had a hard time finding assistance, and it seemed like the waiter was busy doing things (or ignoring us). There was, however, a quick turnaround. He was suddenly very attentive and even offered to slice my ribs for me. Food was served on time and our glasses were always full. I guess he was really just busy when we arrived.