FOOD - La Maison Rose

I have heard of La Maison Rose for quite a while but given my lack of interest on French cuisine (first hand experience here), I have always shrugged it off.  This changed though when I drove one of my bosses here.  Sure looks like a good place to have a date so a week after, I surprised my wife with a lunch date...

La Maison Rose is a tough place to miss given its pink exterior.  It's just along Gorordo Avenue right beside the Mormon temple.

This building used to be a residence of the Velez family until Alliance Frances de Cebu rented it in 2012.  Ground floor was turned to a restaurant while the 2nd floor, a culinary school.  What's really impressive is they managed to maintain the "classic" feel of the area despite these changes.

Now for the food...which you can order/ choose from using iPads...

For starters, they offer the usual baguette slices but to our pleasant surprise, they gave a complimentary sampling of this dish.  It's a combination of truffle paste, smoked salmon and my favorite, bread puff with cheese (which justifies how cheap my taste bud is).

For our main appetizer, we ordered the goat cheese salad.  The combination of bacon and goat cheese together with their signature vinaigrette sauce is a sure way to build up your appetite.  My only caveat here is the goat cheese inside the crust is mixed with flour of some sort.  

For our refreshments, we just ordered their lemonade.  There's nothing really special about it other than the hint of mint and cucumber which is more than enough to satisfy our taste.  

For the main course I had the black pepper steak.  I mistakenly ordered it as medium well so the texture is quite hard for me but nonetheless, it packs a lot of flavor which more than compensates it.  If there was a disappointment it's the gravy that came with it as it doesn't really complement how the steak was cooked.  A steak sauce would've been a better option.

My wife in the meantime ordered their fish papillote.  In contrast to the sauce of my black pepper steak, the one that came with this dish was great.  It's a ginger cream sauce which complemented even the potato wedges.

Aaaaaaah...dessert...no date with my wife would be complete without one.  We had the very safe chocolate coulant which is very simple but baked to perfection.  Crunchy on the outside yet the inside is really moist.

Note though that La Maison Rose change their menu on a daily basis.  They also offer set meals (appetizer, main course, dessert) for ony P500.

If you plan on dining here, it is recommended that you make a reservation as seats are limited.

So that's it, another culinary treasure in our Cebu restaurant checklist.  Really loving life in Cebu!

La Maison Rose
info@lamaisonrose.ph
632 2685411

FOOD - La Lagrima Taqueria

I have always been a fan of Mexican food but the lack of options remain to be one of my frustrations staying in Cebu...until NOW.  There are actually options in Mooon and Maya but the former is too "commercialized" (can't even consider it being Mexican food) while the latter "ultra expensive" (albeit quite good).  Then we came across this Mexican restaurant thanks to our new friends Chiqui and Luna.

Name of the restaurant is actually La Lagrima Taqueria.  But don't look for any signage showing this as it's nowhere to be seen. Mexican food is all you need to look for.

I actually had friends who have seen this (me including) but opted not to check it out.  The missing signage might be a factor but I think the bigger issue is it being always empty.  Which is both good and bad.

On a supposedly busy afternoon, we were the only customers (albeit 2 just left).  It actually doesn't look like a taqueria at all as even the cashier table, wherein all the ingredients, etc should be on display to entice our taste buds, is very bare.  And the chairs...not comfy at  all.

BUT all these issues doesn't matter...let's dwell into their menu...

For starters, we had their Super Nachos.  What can I say...if you're a fan of Man vs. Food and is craving for the Nachos Adam Richman is munching on...look no further!  You actually have the choice of what kind of meat to put and we settled for beef...which unfortunately for some parts, takes a lot of effort to chew.

Juvvy in the meantime, sticking to her so-called "diet", just had a soft taco (she almost single handedly finished the Super Nachos though).  Nothing special but the salsa, beans and beef are really authentic in flavor.  

I ordered the regular burritto and I was not disappointed at all.  Nothing special as it's just rice, grilled chicken and salsa but it packs a lot of flavor and is way way more authentic in taste compared to that of Mexicali. 

Drink choices are very much common except for this.  Make sure to order their Aguas Frescas.  It's a "rice" juice of some sort with a twist of vanilla.  It's a little rough in the throat so make sure to drink it while cold.

Our companions ordered the Flautas (photo above) and Quesadillas (no photo...but just think of the usual Quesadillas in steroids).  Flatuas are just like Juvvy's soft tacos with the main difference of this being deep fried.  Wasn't able to test it but they finished it easily so it should be good also.

Doesn't look like much but these two are the difference maker.  Hands down best sauces I tasted...EVER!!!  The beige colored sauce is the hot sauce while the green one their mild sauce.  I hope I can decifer the ingredients but it was so good, I opted just to enjoy as much of it as possible!

So there you go.  Price wise, it's not cheap but to which I can consider good value for your money.  Authenticity is it's main selling point together with that amazing sauce (can't really get over it).

As an added tidbit, the owner/ chef has his own chain of taquerias in California.  He fell in love with Cebu and decided to put up one here as well.  Life is good isn't it?

La lagrima Taqueria is located at the GF of RCDC Building, located along Banilad, Cebu (right beside Banilad Town Centre).