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| Santiago Restaurant Logo. |
There's no doubt that there are many restaurant in Cebu that are booming like mushrooms nowadays, mostly are Filipino Restaurants. But there is also no denying that foreign authentic restaurants today are also making a hit in the Metro and even neighboring cities. Thai, Japanese, Chinese, Indian, name it, Cebu has it. But a new restaurant in town has come to bring a menu the size of a continent, the first-ever South American Restaurant in Cebu- Santiago Restaurant.
Last Saturday, July 2, 2011, me and my other colleagues from the Cebu Bloggers Society Inc. were honored to be invited to a dinner party at Santiago Restaurant. It is my first time to eat at a Latin American Restaurant so I was kinda excited. We were welcomed by the accommodating staff of Santiago. It was pretty amazing because I felt that I'm in South America because of the Latin dresses the ladies were wearing. One thing that also made me happy that night was the free WIFI.
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| Mr. Tambay with Jaysee Blabs and CebuMD. |
I had 2 set that night. The first set was a combination of Arroz con Carne, Boronia, and Anticucho de Pollo.
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| Arroz con Carne. |
Arroz con Carne was the first thing that I tasted. While eating this one, I can really taste the beef and the rice. This food is not too oily so it's safe compared to other rice meals. But there are some moments that it tastes like an ordinary fried rice. Anyways, I suggest you go out and try it for yourself.
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| Boronia |
Boronia might not be that fascinating to look at since it is a vegetable but once you tasted it, you might ask yourself if it is really a vegetable or a pizza. There's a little bit of spice on the first bite but it fades away as you chew more and it is not overpowering.
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| Anticucho de Pollo |
Anticucho de Pollo, for me, is like a plain chicken barbecue. Yes it tastes good but I can't find anything special about it. I do hope they can modify this one because it can be a possible bestseller.
Then my 2nd set was a combination of Arroz con Pasay y Pipino, Vatapa, Tuna Ceviche, Tres Leche, and Coco Flan.
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| Arroz con Pasas y Pipino |
This meal for me is an experiment, but I never thought that the rice-raisin-cucumber trio will work. The rice really blends with the raisin and the cucumber and I must say, this ain't your ordinary rice. This rice is splendid.
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| Vatapa |
Now this meal is like the fish version of caldereta. The texture of the sauce is thick, maybe the chef added some coconut milk to it. The sauce is prolonging but it doesn't work well with the previous dish. It has shrimp in it but too bad I can't eat it due to some health conditions.
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| Tuna Ceviche |
Now this dish, dudes and duddettes, is what I foreseen as the bestseller of Santiago. This fish dish looks raw in the eyes, but really tastes like heaven in the mouth. The sauce really fits to the fish. I salute the chef who made this one.
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| Coco Flan and Tres Leche |
And finally, the desserts. The first thing that I tried is the Tres Leche. This tiny slice of cake gives you a big "yum" in your face. I personally love this! The milk on the top really is the star of the cake. On the other hand, the Coco Flan tastes good but the taste is just like the ordinary leche flan. I can't seem to find anything special to it. For me, I cannot feel the coconut milk.
My overall Latin American dining experience in Santiago was superb, but I leave the rating to you guys. May I just remind you guys that the foods mentioned above are just a sample of their entire menu, so I suggest you personally visit Santiago Restaurant at Days Hotel Mactan and experience a food trip that brings you to an entire continent.
