Eating Our Way Through Davao City

I know there are a lot of things one can do when in Davao City, but aside from zorbing...

Rolling Down the Hill

my friends and I wasted most of our time indulging in food related activities.

We first went to the Crocodile Park where there's a row of restaurants that prepare crocodile meat.

Riverwalk Grill

Having had a previous bad experience eating crocodile meat, I can only watch as my brave friends try these exotic dishes:

Croc Sisig

Crocodile Steak

Croco Roast Ribs

Still at the Crocodile Park, there was a line forming for Sweet Spot Ice Cream parlor so we all got curious.

It turned out that Sweet Spot offers unique flavors such as crocodile-durian which had a taste profile and texture that weirded me out.

During our stint in the city, we also went to Abreeza Mall and randomly chose to eat at Ranchero. It was only later that I learned that Ranchero is a popular local restaurant known for its ribs.

Food at Ranchero reminded me how comforting it is to eat good Filipino food.  

Complimentary Starter

Fried Squid

Seafood Soup

Sizzling Sisig

Bagoong Rice

Salted Egg & Chicharon Rice

Baby Back Ribs

Lechon Kawali

Most say that a trip to Davao is also not complete without eating at Ahfat Seafood Plaza. 

While the food was not bad, I would have preferred if we went elsewhere because dining in this local institution felt like eating at any other Chinese restaurant back home (read: nothing exciting or different).  On the plus side, our bill was a whole lot cheaper compared to what we usually pay in Manila.

Shark's Fin Soup

Sweet ad Sour Ribs

Broccoli in Oyster Sauce

Sauteed Prawns

Fried Eel

Crab Sotanghon

Steamed Crabs

If all the eating wasn't enough, we also chose to buy food for our pasalubong needs. Before going home, we dropped by Magsaysay Market for durian and suha....

and Lola Abon's, home of the best durian candy, for our candy fix.

Although Davao is not really known as a food capital, there certainly are a lot of restaurants in the city that make the eating experience worthwhile.

Riverwalk Grill is located at Davao Crocodile Park. For more information, call (082)2219643.

Sweet Spot Ice Cream is located at Davao Crocodile Park. For more information call (082) 225 0184 or 09152071607. 

Ranchero is located at 3/f Abreeza Ayala Mall J.P. Laurel Avenue, Davao City. For more information, click here.

Ahfat Seafood Plaza has 4 locations in Victoria Plaza Compound J.P. Laurel Avenue, Bajada, Davao City. For more information, call (082)2240002 or (082)2262688.

Lola Abon's is located at 23 San Miguel Village Matina Davao. For more information, click here.

Century Never Gets Old

Most Fil-Chi families troop to Century Seafood Restaurant for a no fail Chinese lauriat experience.

Here's what we typically order during a Century outing:

Appetizers

Assorted Barbequed Meat (600php)

Prawn Salad (1,200php)

Vegetable with No Name

Braised Shark's Fin with Crab Meat Soup (2,250php for medium order)

Steamed Lapu-Lapu (depends on market price)

Fried Pigeon (350php per piece)

Steamed Crabs (depends on market price)

Braised Seafood with Assorted Ingredients (450php)

 Coconut Topped Balls

Buchi

Century never gets old and I always look forward to a meal at Century because it has managed to maintain excellent food quality over the years. 

No wonder it's packed every night!

The Century Seafood Restaurant is located at G/F Century Park Hotel, 599 Pablo Ocampo St. Malate, Manila.  For more information, call 5241821.

Last Meal at Mellben Seafood

Singapore Day 4
Toa Payoh Lorong
7:36 p.m.

So little time so much to eat.... that's the motto of our Singapore trip!

Believe it or not, four days was not enough to cover the culinary delights of Singapore. The Lion City is such a food mecca that we have not eaten staples chili crabs, nasi lemak, fish head soup, etc. and yet we were already down to our last meal before flying home.

I truly longed to cap the excursion with nasi lemak but the choice to head to a seafood restaurant was still an easy decision that we made as it would have been a crime to have visited Singapore without having a taste of its national dish, chili crabs.

Mellben Seafood, a popular destination for crab lovers, got the distinction of hosting our last meal in Singapore. Its specialty is claypot crab bee hoon soup which we were silly to not have ordered.

Al Fresco Dining

Steamed Bamboo Clam in Garlic

Light and fresh. Strong garlic flavors complemented the dish well.

Guinness Stout Short Ribs

Meat was very tender though I would have preferred a stronger presence of the Guinness.

Cereal Prawns

The coating was good but the prawns were overcooked.

Salted Egg Prawns

A good alternative for those who like their prawns salty. 

Mantou

Crispy and hot. Sweet bread which I just loved to eat.

Black Pepper Crabs

Meat was fresh and sweet but I was somehow overwhelmed by the very strong pepper flavors. 

Chili Crabs

Wished the sauce was thicker and spicier but despite the shortcomings, I couldn't think of  a better way to  end our stint in Singapore but with this dish. 

Looking back, the food trip was a fruitful one with us managing to eat the very best of Singaporean cuisine. It dawned on me however that I need not travel far the next time I'm craving for Singaporean food because in Manila, we are lucky to have Tao Yuan and Wee Nam Kee which are equally good, if not even better, than some restaurants we visited during our great Singapore food binge.

I'll always have fond memories of the food experience I shared with friends during this trip, but I don't think I would ever want to go back to Singapore for another round of eating as if there's no tomorrow.

Mellben Seafood has branches in Ang Mo Kio, Pasir Ris, and Toa Payoh in Singapore.

Yum Yum Chomp Chomp

Singapore Day 1
Chomp Chomp Food Centre
10:25 p.m.

A food trip in Singapore isn't complete without visiting a hawker center. Hawker centers are open air complexes housing different food stalls that showcase authentic Singaporean cuisine at affordable price points. 

We couldn't let our first day in Singapore pass without stepping foot on a hawker center so we headed to Chomp Chomp Food Centre for some late night food debauchery.

Chomp Chomp Food Centre was voted third best hawker center in Singapore so we knew we were in good hands.

At 10 in the evening, Chomp Chomp was still full of hungry diners and we had to wait for an available table given the compact size of the food center. Good thing turnover was fast and we made use of the idle time to scout the stalls. 

I have to admit that Chomp Chomp Food Centre will not win any awards in the hygiene department but all was forgotten as soon as our orders arrived. By the way, I included photos of the stalls where we ordered our food for reference.

Lychee Juice

More water than lychee. At least it was ice cold, perfect for the humid weather.

Our Carrot Cake Stall of Choice

Chai Tow Kueh or Carrot Cake

For those who are confused, carrot cake doesn't contain the orange vegetable rabbits love to eat. It's actually made of white radish mixed with rice flour fried with fish sauce, eggs, garlic, and spring onions. There were a lot of stalls offering carrot cake but I had no regrets with the stall we chose as this is one dish that haunts me still.  The addicting flavors have had me craving for carrot cake ever since I got back, making me want to book a return ticket to Singapore a.s.a.p. The carrot cake had a clean mild taste with bursts of pepper, chili, and crunchy egg taking turns in delighting my taste buds.

Char Kway Teow

Sadly, I failed to take a picture of the stall where we ordered our char kway teow which is flat rice noodles stir fried with lard. Yes, LARD! Lard is used to highlight and bring out the flavors of the noodles which also have Chinese sausage,  chili, bean sprouts, and chives in the mix. The salty/sweet/oily combination was to die for that it took a lot of restraint on my part not to finish the entire plate knowing how unhealthy it was. This proves the point that delicious food is usually not good for us. 

 Beware of this Stall

Spicy Clams

We ordered the spicy clams from Boon Tat, a stall famous for its stingray. The clams were not so fresh but what I remember about this dish is that we got more empty shells than clams with actual meat. Such a ripoff!

BBQ Stingray

I liked the salty and spicy flavors of the Boon Tat stingray but did not appreciate the rubbery consistency of the fish. I'm glad to have tried stingray but I'm not a fan.

Wing Factory

Chicken Wings

The wings took a long time to arrive on our table but it was worth the wait.  Perfectly cooked which made the wings so tender and juicy. The wings actually tasted plain on its own but became something else once dipped in the red spicy sauce provided. A healthy alternative to bonchon chicken.

Porridge Land

Congee

I wasn't able to take note of the kind of congee we ordered but I remember this as having a very thick and creamy consistency. One can never go wrong with congee as this is comfort food.

Convenient Rojak Stall

Rojak

Since a rojak stall was conveniently located opposite our table, we ordered a plate not knowing what rojak was. The prawn paste sauce was interesting with a tangy, sweet blend but I gave up on rojak as soon as I bit into a cucumber. I later learned that rojak does have an odd pairing of ingredients with fruits, vegetables, dried tofu, dough fritters, and cured cuttlefish making the cut. Hmmm....

In hindsight, this meal was one of my favorite memories of our trip because we not only ate simple, delicious food, but we also had an authentic Singapore experience by mixing and eating with the locals at Chomp Chomp.

I wish I could say that Chomp Chomp was our last stop during our first day in Singapore but we actually went to Helipad in Clarke Quay for a nightcap. Helipad offered good views of Clarke Quay but it was too dark there so I didn't bother taking pictures.

Next post will be the start of Day 2.

Finally!

Chomp Chomp Food Centre is located at 20 Kensington Park Road, Serangoon Garden Estate, Singapore. It is open from 6 p.m. until 12 midnight.