Ultimate Guilty Pleasure: Food Coma

I will never get tired of talking about food, cause it's part of my top three most-loved things in the whole world. Splurging on food is certainly one of the best activities one can do to spoil himself. The other two that equally dominate my world are fashion and music. As you've noticed, this personal blog is mostly flooded with thoughts under those three subjects. That's exactly the reason why I find it hard to focus on a specific niche. Maybe if I get a domain for all those three, I'll definitely become as poor as a rat now.

It's been more than a month since I last shared something here in this blog series. I almost forgot about it, cause I got so preoccupied with other matters. I have to apologize for that. To refresh your memories about Ultimate Guilty Pleasure, let me do the recap. The first episode of this series was about my love for Pizza, and the second one was about my Blog-hopping hobby where I featured five blogs I frequent to the most. So for the third episode, I will be talking about my food trip adventure.

Break a leg Mystic Nymph.

BIGBY'S CAFE & RESTAURANT

I have only dined here once, and it was when we celebrated Maxine's 20th Birthday. We ordered the Food Trip Platter, Grilled Burger, Classic Valentine Cake and Creamy Carbonara. I wanna come back here again to try their Strawberry Shortcake, Chix Ahoy and other delish Platters. They say its Torres branch is better. What do you think?

CAFE MEDITERRANEAN

I haven't visited this resto again, cause I want to try all the food spots in Davao City before I go back to the other. When we went here, we ordered their Lamb Kebab Pizza, Yummy Turkey and Cheese Melt, Gourmet Triple Decker Sandwich, Grilled Burger with Egg and Baklava. For the place, it's cozy and comfortable at the same time. You and your friends can be informal.

CALDA

I've been here four times already. I've tried their Calda, Calzone, Etna and Milanese. My favorite would have to be the Calzone which is a close-baked pizza. The only thing I don't like about Calda is the place. It gets too crowded especially at 3pm onwards. It's hard to move around cause the place is not big at all. I hope they consider renovating it.

COCO's SOUTH BISTRO

We only tried their Healthy Combo Pizza when we went here. We got full already just by having four slices each, how much more when we had a lot more orders? They have big servings for the items in their menu. This resto is definitely good for groups. I love the place although it's slightly appalling. One thing I don't like is the service. The waiters are snobs!

ZABADANI CAFE

Dined here twice already with friends. I wanna treat my boyfriend here, cause we still didn't have a date here. I love this place a big deal cause it's not intimidating. The carpeted platforms invite everyone to just stay relaxed while digging in their Middle-Eastern cuisine. Their Pita Shateerah, Kebabs, Belgian Choco Drinks and Layered Coffee are a must-try indeed!

LA TOSCANA

Truly one of my favorite restaurants in the city! The service, the place and the food are all good. They're all superb! They definitely won't fail to feast your eyes and your stomach. The prices of their menu items are also not that bad at all. They're very affordable, I should say. There's no reason not to go back to this place!

PICOBELLO

It was my first time there when we dined there last month. We ordered Con Salsiccie and Quattro Stagioni. My favorite was the first one. I don't like the place cause it's not clean that it gets smelly sometimes. It's also crowded. But I could attest to how good-tasting their pizzas are. If you ask me if I ever want to go back to Picobello, I'd say I don't think so.

That's it for now folks. Check out my new food blog series. It's called Gastronomy (to replace Copy Kat). In that blog feature, I will be sharing you some scoops of the most remarkable food experiences I have. My pilot episode will be about my boyfriend and I's latest food adventure in this cool Cafe at Torres. Watch out for it only here on Mystic Nymph.

Desires of a Mystic Nymph: Food Edition

When I'm broke that's the time when my mind is flooded with so much thoughts of food. Like now, I don't have even a cent left in my wallet. I can't buy what I want to eat. All my extra money for this week all went to school projects and contributions. Fudge! Poor Mystic Nymph, only pictures of delicious meals make her full. And on that note, I wanna scream that I really want to eat something appetizing. I've been craving for food for the past two weeks. The last time I had such a heart-warming and mouth-watering meal was when my boyfriend and I had a Pre-Valentine date at La Toscana, and when we celebrated Maxine's birthday at Bigby's. That was more than two weeks ago. I miss pleasuring my palate with one hell of a.. I mean "heaven" of a gastronomic adventure!

"Without food everything is less than nothing."

- Bunyip Bluegum (The Magic Pudding)

"Amazed at how something could taste this good in the midst of life's being this bad."

- Dolores Price (She's Come Undone)

"It's important to begin a search with a full stomach."

- Henry Bromel (The Big Kiss)

"I am acutely aware of food, and its omnipresence is astounding."

- Adam Scott (The Monkey Chow Diaries)

"There is no love sincerer than the love of food."

- George Bernard Shaw (Man and Superman)

I wanna pig out! Just looking at the photo I first uploaded for this post makes my stomach grumble. It's a food (obviously) from Sofitel Hotel in Manila. That luxurious place is most famous for their international buffet. I've known some acquaintances who have already dined there, and I envy them a HUGE deal! I'd love to splurge on it. I would definitely want to try a smorgasboard of food from all the continents. It's good to try all sorts of cuisine even though they look and taste different. I bet that will absolutely be a distinct and extraordinary meal to remember. I do hope to partake of fine cuisine as many times as I can someday -- twice or thrice a week for an instance. I don't mind getting insane just as long as I get to gobble up all the goodies that have been striking my fancy (just kidding).

I've been yakking about food, and it's making me hungry. It seems like I can't contain my cravings any longer. Web-surfing has been my stress-reliever for the past days, and I happened to chance upon some food available in the Philippines that actually give me an eyetooth for. They're so yummy-looking that I end up thinking about them MORE than my thesis proposal defense on Monday. The photos of those gratifying foodstuffs never fail to jumpstart my mood although I've seen them a number of times already. They get me revved up and chillaxed at the same time. The bad thins is, I haven't tried those delightful things just yet. I know it's not the end of everything for me. I know I can devour them when the perfect time comes! Anyway. these are the food I'm talking about.

GOURMET PAO

This is a gourmet siopao. These are also available in different sizes and flavors. I'd love to try their Giant Seven Treasures Siopao! So enticing!

CELLO's DOUGHTNUTS

What do you think is better-tasting, Krispy Kremes or Cello's Doughtnuts? These are also available in Governer Sales Street, Davao City.

JOSE RAFAEL FINE COFFEE's JAFFLES

This is actually called Choco Chip Jaffles. This is available in the said coffee shop in Lanang, outside the entrance to Insular Village Phase 1.

BEEF TERIYAKI BENTO

Need I say more? This is available in Izakaya Nonki Japanese Restaurant located at F. Torres Street, beside Davao Trade Convention Center.

FILLET of MAHI-MAHI

Pandawan or Dolphin-fish. This is available in Swiss Deli-cious located in Lanang, Davao City, on J.P. Laurel Avenue across Damosa Building.

I love food! I'm having a relationship with them, as quoted from Liz Gilbert from the movie Eat Pray Love. I would like to share you this term I learned from my favorite Davaoeño food blog, Davao Deli. It's called FOODNOGRAPHY. They use it as a term for food photography. Good idea, isn't it? So, what food makes you crave these days? Let's talk about them! :-)

PS: Information on the location and details of the food posted have been copied from Gourmet Pao Facebook Page and Davao Deli website. All images used in this post are not intended for copyright infringement.

La Toscana Italian Bar & Restaurant

My boyfriend and I had a Pre-Valentine's Date yesterday. We were supposed to be having it on the 17th. But since we were really so excited to pig out, we decided to do it in advance. It was totally a happy day for both our palate and heart (Forgive me for my mushiness). We've always wanted to dine at La Toscana Italian Bar & Restaurant, and finally our desire has been satisfied. The place and the food were superb! They definitely won't fail to feast your eyes and your stomach. The prices of their menu items are also not that bad at all. They're very affordable, I should say. With a budget of 500, you can have a huge meal since their pasta and pizza are already good for two people. You won't even regret paying a large amount, because of the private, romantic and serene ambiance of the place. Now, let me share you these photos we had there. I hope you enjoy!

Their vintage wines add up to the beauty of the place. I salute their interior designer. We actually felt like we were really in Italy.

We, Davaoeños are looking for a place that offers chic and cozy ambience that makes us feel relaxed. We are not just for the meal, but for experience.


Who wouldn't be captivated by these food from La Toscana? We forgot our names when we tasted these delights. Food Coma!


Davao doubtlessly has an abundant array of good quality food and places that will surely make your life pleasing and delightful.

We ordered Pizza Cappricciosa (P305), Tiramisu Cake (P85) and Chocolate Sundae Ice cream (P75). They also gave us a Salumi Toscani dish as an entree. It's called Soprasatta. We originally wanted to order pasta and pizza, but just having those three made us full. Next time, we will surely try their pasta. That place deserves our return. Now we have another restaurant to add to our top favorite food spots. It's located at Quirino Avenue, Davao City just beside Banco de Oro. Contact them through land line (082-305-6556) for reservation. They're open daily except Sunday from 11am to 10:30pm. And by the way, in time for Valntine's Day Celebration, they will be open up 11:30pm. That's on February 14, 2011.

Change of Plans for Heart's Day

Fleurs pour vous mon mari!

My boyfriend and I are supposed to have our post-valentine lunch buffet at Eden Nature Park, but because of some constraints we decided to just eat at two restaurants instead. The Eden trip will be moved to my birthday. I hope that's final, cause I badly want to go back to that wonderful, scenic paradise. I've been itching and dying to go there again. Seeing everyone's photos there makes me crave for it more. Damn!

I still couldn't make up my mind on our date's final venue. I want him to decide for it, but he keeps on saying he's happy wherever we'll be at. Maybe we'll just go for La Toscana Italian Restaurant and Zabadani or Turquoise. I'm also thinking of dining at Jose Rafael Fine Coffee and Cafe Demitasse. It's too hard to choose just two among the many good food spots here. Help me out! I'm in dire need of it.