Firozian Checkmates Your Hunger

Episode #3: Firozian Indian Tea House

Haven't you noticed? Indian restaurants have been growing out of nowhere.
If you missed the first two episodes, links are here: Episode #1 and Episode #2.

Setting: 

At Don Jose Avila Street in Capitol Site in the city of Cebu lies this little tea house which houses five low tables with little divans and a bunch of pillows, and two chess tables that double as a dining table.

Soundtrack: 

Indian music

Cast of characters:

Ms. Chinni Chicken

Don't let her fool you. She can catch you off guard: she is both sweet and racy.

Mr. Durum 

A hefty, meaty man but is really chicken inside.

Ms. Lassi 

You can call her Rose. She is the best lassi in Cebu.

The Frugurts

Ms Strawberry Frugurt and Mr Mango Frugurt are a smooth couple
who are cold and sweet at the same time.

Little Gulab Jamun

Don't let his size fool you. He can overpower the Frugurts...in the sweetness category.

Capt. Baklava 

A tough man who smells a bit like cinnamon and is a little nutty. Not my most favorite character.

Chips

The extras made an appearance for free.

More characters I have yet to get to know:

 

Especially the Teas. It is their house after all.

Did you know?

The Firozian staff knows how to play chess.

Episode Review:

★★★★★ of 5

This episode has got me screaming for more!

Firozian Indian Tea House
Don Jose Avila St., Capitol Site, Cebu City
0917 990 5897
0932 241 4850
10AM - 11PM Daily


How this episode got Mustachio's wallet screaming for more-der:
Chinni chicken Php 150
Durum Php 80
Lassi  Php 70
Mango frugurt Php 90
Strawberry frugurt Php 90
Baklava Php 40
Gulab Jammun Php 40
Chips Php 0

Wait! What's this?

Fortune telling while you wait?

What's in a (Business) Name? Nueve

Viva Las Naga!

Spotted at Naga City, Camarines Sur

For more amusing business names, please visit Go Random.

One Word for Mae Krua

Welcome to Mae Krua. That small Thai restaurant sitting obscurely along F Ramos Street.

Dragging along my partner in crime and Nori, our newfound Japanese friend who we met thru Couchsurfing, we settled on a table for three and each chose a dish. For me, eating in a Thai restaurant is not eating in a Thai restaurant without tom yam goong. So yes, tom yam goong (spicy prawn soup) plus khao pad joy (vegetarian fried rice), see krong moo thod katiam (pork spareribs in garlic), and gai phad num prick phaw (chicken in thai chili paste).

Soup bowl's almost empty!

I love their tom yam goong's level of sourness! I can probably finish the whole thing but I shan't be greedy. You can order a small one (good for 2 to 3 persons) or the large size.

Lemme swim in that glorious soup!

Their khao phad joy (vegetarian fried rice) comes in small (good for 2 to 3 persons) or large portions. It had vegetables (of course!) and cashew. If you think nuts in rice is strange, please give me all the cashew and I'll gladly eat them... Yummy!

Nori ordered the see krong moo thod katiam (pork spareribs in garlic). It was perfectly tender and... Yummy!

My partner in crime likes chicken and so chose the gai phad num prick phaw. The chicken pieces were cooked just right and... Yummy!

We finished everything and left with our plates gleaming, stomachs smiling. Will definitely come back for more... Yummy!

Mae Krua Thai Cuisine

80 F Ramos St. Cebu City
(032) 236 8946


How yummy to the tummy made Mustachio's pocket holey:
Tom yam goong (small) Php 170
Khao phad joy (small) Php 95
See krong moo thod katiam Php 185
Gai phad num prick phaw Php 135

Rally the Army for Foodpick

Hi there, Mustached Friend!
Can I have a minute with you?
Let's do a simple experiment (really simple).

1. Pick up your cellphone. Make sure it's loaded.
2. Type this:
    search army
3. Send to:
    0922 611 3119 (Sun and Smart) or
    0917 310 8200 (Globe)

What's the reply?

Pretty nice, huh?! It's a new SMS-based food and restaurant guide made for diners in Cebu. The guide includes the restaurant's operating hours, location, bestseller, and more. Can you do reservations via SMS? A big YES. What's better is that the restaurants are updated and new ones are added from time to time. That also means knowing the latest in discounts and promos in the food/dining community (think airline-piso-fares caliber). And by the way, it's FREE!*

Some restaurants that are on the list:
The Gustavian
Red Mango
Oyster Bay
Mooon Cafe
Hungry Juan
and more...

This innovation is brought to you by Foodpick. Never heard of it? It's a good time to check the site, it's quite visionary. With all the apps and smart phones looming around, Foodpick chose the easiest way for diners to know where, when, and what to eat. As someone who blogs about food and dining, this really is helpful.

Calamari Teaser

There are things that only bloggers understand and share. I truly believe that. And Foodpick deserves to be shared. So save the numbers above, blog about Foodpick, share it on your social media site, and talk about it to your friends.

And when someone asks: "Where do you want to eat tonight?"
Answer: "Let's Foodpick!"


*for those on unlimited text promos

50-50 on District 50

A Groupon voucher for District 50 has been sitting in my mailbox for months and it was time to redeem it (before it expires!). Friends' calendars blocked, reservation made. Day came and when the waitress checked the voucher, she said it has been used. What?! How could that happen? After an hour of talking to the supervisor, thanks to my friend and her negotiating skills, we were allowed to order (albeit not sure yet if they will honor the voucher or not).

 

This restaurant's theme is the 50s. A jukebox-looking maitre d' stand welcomes you at the entrance. The restaurant's interiors are in red and white, of course, and you step onto black and white checkered flooring. I wish they had a real jukebox though that played songs from the 50s (not that I know many songs from that era, just thought it would be nice).

Though Herbie didn't come about 'til the late 60s, he makes a permanent appearance in this diner, as numero cincuenta (50).  If it's just you and a date, you can dine in this little bug.

District 50 offers soups, salads, burgers, pasta, pork/beef/chicken/fish dishes that come with rice, and desserts.

Their broccoli soup is creamy and flavorful. An order is good for 4-5 persons.

Their version of puttanesca is called Chanesca. From the small bites I swiped from my friend's plate, I think this one is sardine-y, salty, spicy. How puttanesca should taste like, I guess.

Pork Paprikash according to their menu is "sauteed strips of pork tenderloin marinated in paprika, finished with creamy yogurt." It is indeed paprika laden. Expect this to be spicy. If you do not like paprika and/or spicy food, skip this.

The Beef Stroganoff was cooked medium rare and my friend couldn't bring herself to finish this. I have had better stroganoff myself.

My Chicken Parmesan made me think of pizza: tomato-ey, a bit sweet, a bit sour. The chicken meat's tender. Of the dishes we ordered, I like this and the broccoli soup.

Their food is served in large dishes, it makes the serving look small. (Plus taken from the wrong angle, I made it look even smaller.) Do not let this fool you. The serving size is actually good enough to fill one hungry tummy.

For dessert we chose Jen's Smore Brownie to share. A brownie topped with six crisp marshmallows and a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side. The best thing about this dessert? The crisp mallows. The rest was just so-so.

I am a water drinker and it kinda ticks me off when you ask if they have service water and they say their service water is from the tap and then you spot a water dispenser quietly sitting in a corner. The dispenser is probably connected to the tap then. Hahaha.

 

 Hello there water dispenser!

In the end, the owner was able to verify that the voucher indeed hadn't been used. There was a mistake in their list (which is a printed list of voucher numbers and ticked off when redeemed). Why did it take so long to verify? Oh just one of the inconveniences of not having an internet connection.

District 50

J Centre Mall, AS Fortuna, Mandaue City, Cebu

(032) 520 6562

10AM - 9PM Daily

How feeding four hungry mouths to lunch bore a hole thru Mustachio's pocket:

Broccoli soup Php 125

Chanesca Php 180

Pork Paprikash Php 160

Beef Stroganoff Php 230

Chicken Parmesan Php 180

Jen's Smore Brownies Php 100

Bottled water Php 35

How much did it really cost Mustachio?

Php 400 for Php 1000 worth of food. Thanks to Groupon. Plus Php 10 for the excess (total bill was Php 1010).

Curryous for Curry

While avoiding traffic on the main road a month or so ago, we passed by this little curry house at Almendras Street in Mabolo and mentally added it to our list of places to check out.

When hunger came knocking last Friday, Indian food pops in my head (probably because I had just recently wrote about Zayka). I shuffle thru my mental list and pick out Indian Curry House.

From outside it looks small... because it is small! The place can only accommodate 20 people plus four outside. They have five tables of 4 indoors and two tables of 2 outside. I do not recommend sitting outside since it's by the road plus there's a construction site next door (unless you want to pepper your food with dust and breathe in some fresh exhaust gas).

Tables of four

Not an expert at Indian cuisine (or any food for that matter), we ask the waitress what their bestsellers are. She rattles off some alien words and my brain only registers samosa. Since we don't need appetizers (our appetites don't need stimulating), we look over the menu again and settle on three dishes.

Menu. Click on photos to enlarge.

We try one of their vegetarian dishes, the mutter paneer. No, this will not make you mutter to yourself, or maybe it will because of its portion size: it's one small bowl of cottage cheese and peas in curry. And yes, spicy.

We've got vegetables, now we need some meat. We skip the pork and the lamb and are left with chicken. They have about ten chicken dishes and because we like yogurt, we choose the chicken tikka which is chicken marinated in yogurt. This dish is spicy, too.

What's a meal without rice? Not this meal! The vegetable biryani is rice with...drum roll please...vegetables! Yup, spicy.

Because I loved the strawberry lassi at Zayka, I decide to try their lassi too, but they only have three: mango, sweet, and khari. I choose the mango and my date, wanting to try something new, orders khari lassi (yogurt with salt and roasted cumin). The waitress warns us that drinking khari lassi is like drinking the sea. We say, "It's okay, we are adventurous people" (haha). She goes, "Are you sure?" And I know in her mind she's saying you've been warned.

Mango lassi and Khari lassi

I could not taste the yogurt in the mango lassi. It's just like mango shake in my opinion. As for the khari lassi, my date finds it okay (it's more yogurty than my mango lassi) but I find it rather revolting. It's a taste I couldn't quite well describe.

All the above dishes are delicious and a bit spicy - a plus since I like spicy food (they can adjust the level of spicyness at your request) but the portions are a big disappointment: it is as tiny as the place. And what about the drinks? Well, I've been warned about khari lassi and I took that warning to heart.

There are still some things to improve. The hospitality is warm, but service is slow. The food is great, but the serving is disheartening. I love vegetarian meals and how I wish there could be more restaurants that serve them here in Cebu. But with Indian Curry House, I did not come out singing "Aal izz well."

Indian Curry House

No. 57 Almendras, Mabolo, Cebu City

0927 383 9546

email: thefamousindiancurryhouse@gmail.com

Mon - Sat 6PM - 11PM

Other branch:

Soon to open at APM Mall (across SM City Cebu)

(032) 268 9145

How a little piece of India tore a large piece off of Mustachio's pocket:

Mutter Paneer Php 130

Chicken Tikka Php 150

Vegetable Biryani Php 145

Mango Lassi Php 50

Khari Lassi Php 50

At the Corner Bakery

Tucked away in a quiet residential area in Mabolo is Corner Bakery Company.

Does the word bakery bring to mind bread? Cookies? Brownies?

 

How about cakes and cupcakes? Wait! Where are the cakes and cupcakes?

Turn that frown upside down. Though the chiller is out of commission, they have cakes and cupcakes ready for (the buying and) the eating.

Oh what to pick? What to pick? What to pick?

They showed me just four kinds of cupcakes: red velvet, blueberry, Belgian choco, and I forgot the other one. I'm glad they did not bring out the whole shebang or else I'd have gone cross eyed trying to decide which to have with the little money I had in my pocket.

After a 20-second drool check, Belgian choco cupcake and a slice of Creme de Rose takes my pick.

 

The Belgian choco cupcake is just melt in your mouth goodness.
Creme de Rose? Hmmm...I can't say it tastes like a rose since I haven't tried eating a rose, but if a rose does taste like this cake then I'd go eat all the roses I can get my hands on.

No preservatives added. Must consume asap!

If asap is what you want, you may have your cake at the shop and eat it too.

Corner Bakery Company

44 Pres. Roxas St., Villa Aurora, Mabolo, Cebu City

(click on map to enlarge)

 (032) 238 3508 

email: mng.cbc@gmail.com

How Mustachio was cornered into shelling out some money:
Belgian Choco cupcake Php 40
Creme de Rose Php 50