Salon De Ning is the Peninsula Hotel Manila’s newest bar and lounge concept inspired by the life of the fictional bon vivant Shanghai socialite Madame Ning. There are five themed rooms, the largest of which is The Boxer Room and the venue for our good friend Mary Laguardia’s birthday party where the corks were popping and the bubbly flowing downstream.

Salon de Ning was designed by Henry Leung, the Design Director of Chhada based in Hong Kong. The style of the facade is reminiscent of a Shanghainese “Shikumen” which translates to stone gate house.

The Winged Victory of Samothrace guards the entrance, a replica of the 200 B.C. marble sculpture of the Greek goddess Nike (Victory). It is currently displayed at the Louvre since 1884 and is one of the most celebrated sculptures in the world.

Upon entering, guests will be greeted by an Asian styled elegantly dressed hostess who will lead them through to the main lounge with a DJ booth and stage for the resident band who ensure a steady flow of beats. The main lounge is surrounded by five themed rooms festooned with a collection of Madame Ning’s pursuits and interests.

Mary & Roberto Laguardia

East meets west at this amazingly trendy signature hotspot in Manila and you will enamored by its quaint charm, and exclusive privacy.

The Boxer Room

The Boxer Room is the largest of the themed spaces and offers two separate living rooms with capacity for a group of twenty.

Bea Tantoco and the Sauce – Thursdays at Salon De Ning or catch them on Friday’s at Martinis @ The Mandarin Oriental Hotel

Salon De Ning Cheese Platter

Salon De Ning offers a simple Asian inspired menu that can accompany your choice of drinks. The cheese platter had a generous amount of cheese and assorted crackers and saltines.

Majority of the photos used in this entry are courtesy of Jun Lopez (Jun Lopez Watermark), please contact him directly for your professional photography needs. He is particularly known for covering Industry Monday’s at Opus Restaurant and Lounge, Resorts World.

Jun Lopez
Professional Photographer
09228397419 | 09089935812

Aksana Kalinich and Natasha Chystsiakova

The Massive Birthday Cake was decadently rich and moist!

Whether it be a weekday or a weekend, Salon De Ning promises to be an uplifting venue to begin your evening with . How was your party experience?

Salon De Ning
The Peninsula Manila
Corner of Ayala and Makati Avenues 1226 Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines
Tel: (632) 887-2888, (632) 810-3456
Website: www.peninsula.com

Forever 21 – Dixie Li

On our next post we attend the SM Makati VIP Launch of Forever 21! Please click here.

Soon we will also be posting our Spa and Country retreat at The Farm, San Benito! Please visit again for updates!

Remember life is way too short, don’t let it pass you by. Enjoy Hour Philippines!

Sincerely,

Lord and Aksana
HOURPHILIPPINES.COM
FOOD | TRAVEL | LIFESTYLE
All content is the sole property of HourPhilippines.com, any reproduction in whole or in part shall be subject to prosecution.

Looking for leisurely breakfast in Tagaytay? You could probably have a wholesome buffet breakfast at Josephine’s or Bag of Beans at a moderate price, but considering that you have already made the journey why not indulge and treat yourself to Antonio’s as it is the #1 ranked Philippine restaurant on the prestigious Miele Guide for 2010-2011. Antonio’s new dining hall has finally been completed for their Breakfast area and it has been styled exactly like their main restaurant with a black and white motif. We tried dishes that we haven’t had before and were impressed once again and started to imagine how truly wonderful it would be for this to served in bed. Is Antonio’s Bed and Breakfast the next evolution?

The new Antonio’s Breakfast is built as a separate house within the same compound and has its own separate roundabout for simpler accessibility.

Choose a table along the veranda with a view of the garden or inside with a view of the outlying countryside.

Upon entering, you can’t help but imagine yourself at a spacious South American hacienda with the scent of coffee beans wafting through with the gentle breeze. We were immediately greeted by a host and seated comfortably by the window. Changes have been made to their menu such as the addition of home made yogurt which we could not resist sampling.

Feta Cheese Omelette - PHP 375.00+ ($US 9.00)

Antonio’s has always done an amazing job with beating their eggs and cooking it so gently on a low flame that the end result is an unbelievably fluffy egg. This omelette is unlike any other.

Beef Tapa – PHP 390.00+ ($US 9.25)

This was an excellent beef tapa without any fat, a far cry from Rufo’s on Kalayaan back in the day of Roxy’s!

Home Made Yoghurt with Lemon Curd – PHP 95.00+ ($US 2.00)

Begin by squeeze the lemon wedge and stir it a bit before scooping. This was tangy, smooth and light. We could probably eat a kilo of this and die happy.

Strawberry Blush – PHP 190.00+ ($US 4.50)

You can’t go wrong with a fresh fruit shake to start the day. Refreshing and perfectly blended without any large particles.

How was your Breakfast at Antonio’s? Occasionally there are amazing deals for this restaurant at Deal Grocer, sign up now at Dealgrocer.com.

Breakfast at Antonio’s
Brgy. Neogan, Tagaytay City
Tuesday to Sunday 7AM – 4PM
Tel: +(63)-46-682-0218
Mobile: +(63)-918-899-2866

Related Tagaytay Posts:

Tagaytay Itinerary (2 Days | 1 Night) Romance in the Sky
Tagaytay Day 1 – Ryuma Ramen | Summit Ridge Hotel (Part 1 of 4)
Tagaytay Day 1 – Summit Ridge Hotel |Taaleña | (Part 2 of 4)
Tagaytay Day 1 – Buon Giorno | Fling Yoghurt (Part 3 of 4)
Tagaytay Day 2 – Breakfast at Antonio’s (Part 4 of 4)
Ryuma Restaurant Saturday Lunch Specials
Chateau Hestia Wine and Deli Shop
Amoroma Ristorante Italiano, Tagaytay
Bulalo at Josephine Restaurant, Tagaytay
Antonio’s Breakfast Revisited
Green ATS Bulalohan and Restaurant, Tagaytay

On our next post we have buko a la ube ice cream at Green ATS! Please click here!

Remember life is way too short, don’t let it pass you by. Enjoy Hour Philippines!

Sincerely,

Lord and Aksana
HOURPHILIPPINES.COM
FOOD | TRAVEL | LIFESTYLE
All content is the sole property of HourPhilippines.com, any reproduction in whole or in part shall be subject to prosecution.

Can any trip to Subic be considered a trip without a visit to Meat Plus? This diner style steak house has been serving char-grilled steaks since the Americans were still in control of Subic. Most of us would only recognize the modern mass market reincarnation that has hit Manila as Tender Bob’s. Now join us where it all started with back to basics done perfectly at Meat Plus!

When you go to a fresh seafood restaurant, you get to choose the live crab, lobster, fish or shellfish that you want to consume. The logistics and manpower would be difficult to choose your cow, so the best thing would be to hand choose the steak, level of marbling, fat, bone etc. So what makes Meat Plus so special and satisfying? Consistently cooked medium rare steaks to perfection. Our favorites are the Black Angus Rib-Eye and the salmon steak.

Make sure to choose your Rib-Eye steak out of their freezer and they will cook it to your preference at a fixed minimal cooking charge of PHP 100.00.

Steaks are served with plain rice, gravy in a gravy boat and buttered vegetables on the side. Unfortunately the photos of the cooked items that we ordered were accidentally deleted, however suffice it to say that they were worth coming back for many times over. We will place in the well deserved pictures upon our next visit to Meat Plus.

U.S. Angus Ribeye - PHP 400-PHP 1,000.00
Cook Charge PHP 100.00

Salmon Steak - PHP 255.00

S&R Angus Rib-Eye (Uncooked) - PHP 1399.95 per Kg.

Take note that U.S. Angus Rib-Eye at S&R costs only PHP 1399.95 per kilo vs. PHP 1652.00 at Meat Plus. Nonetheless it would be hard to find a place that serves a cooked Rib-Eye for such a minimal cooking charge.

Meat Plus Cafe
65 Sampson Road
Subic Bay Freeport
252-7091
252-6090

On our next post we visit the best little coffee shop in Olongapo Xtremely Xpresso Cafe, where they offer blended Lavazzo coffee from Italy with generous amount of whipped cream! Please click here!

Related Subic Posts:

Subic Itinerary (2 Days | 1 Night)
Subic Day 1 – RK Hotel (Part 1 of 6)
Subic Day 1 – Texas Joe’s House of Ribs (Part 2 of 6)
Subic Day 2 – Meat Plus (Part 3 of 6)
Subic Day 2 – Xtreme Xpresso Cafe (Part 4 of 6)
Subic Day 2 – Zoobic Safari (Part 5 of 6)
Subic Day 2 – Ocean Adventure (Part 6 of 6)

Remember life is way too short, don’t let it pass you by. Enjoy Hour Philippines!

Sincerely,

Lord and Aksana
HOURPHILIPPINES.COM
FOOD | TRAVEL | LIFESTYLE
All content is the sole property of HourPhilippines.com, any reproduction in whole or in part shall be subject to prosecution.

What makes the Sofitel such an amazing hotel is that aside from the truly tropical resort experience, there is also gastronomic discoveries awaiting at their lobby restaurant Spiral .

Spiral undoubtedly offers one of the best buffets in the Philippines due to its unbelievable amount of open kitchens and dishes to choose from that it becomes imperative to save space for the good stuff! So stay away from the carbohydrates such as bread, pasta, pizza and rice as this is just an evil distraction to keep you satiated from the higher ticket items!

Being part of the grand lobby of the Sofitel brings a spaciously lavish dining experience with pool and Manila bay views. Space is extremely important in any buffet, as there is nothing more annoying than competing with the hungry mob to get first dibs at the scrumptious offerings that lay ahead. Even with a seating capacity of three hundred, there were no long lines of inconvenience during this visit.

Where to start? Why not at the cold appetizers section comprised of steamed and chilled slipper lobster, shrimp cocktail, mussels, and oysters! You could easily just spend your entire time in this section especially with an icy cold beer! Also the Japanese section is right next door so a few pieces of salmon and mackerel sashimi would be a nice add on. If you are willing to be more adventurous they also have octopus. Unfortunately no salmon roe!

Next, how about Hong Kong style dimsum from the Chinese kitchen such as shao long bao, steamed shrimp dumplings, vegetarian dumplings, radish cake, fried meat dumplings. We focused on a few pieces of the steamed shrimp dumplings as hot appetizers.

While you are at the Chinese section, may as well have a few slices of roasted Peking duck and Macau lechon. It is great that you can just ask the chef to cut directly from the breast or any preferred part of the duck. Holy cholesterol, but as this is a buffet there is no harm in a few sinful bites!

At the Indian kitchen, there is an ample array of tandoori and curries to revitalize the senses. Their lamb curry is worth a few scoops as it is so tender and flavorful with some mango chutney and coriander mint sidings and a crunchy papadam.

The Indian chef also personally informed us that they do not use any powdered stocks in their curries, just fresh vegetables and spices.

Roasted Prime Rib

At the carving station is a roasted prime rib and if you hover close enough you will be able to hear the crackling of the crispy exterior fat as it is perpetually blasted by the immensely powerful heat lamps. Add a few scoops of the red wine sauce, horse radish, and mustard before scurrying back to your table before the jus dries up!

There is also crispy ebi tempura and an assortment of cheeses and cold cuts but if you have a sweet tooth you may want to save half of the room for dessert as the selection is quite extensive. They have chocolate and white chocolate fondue, a variety of cakes (including tiramisu), mousses, pastries and crepes. What makes their sweet section unique is the ice cream teppanyaki where you get to choose various ice creams and toppings that they mash together on a cold teppanyaki table!

The Spiral buffet offers a full range of cusines from Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Filipino, Indian to Continental and all remarkably at a world class level. We will cover this buffet in more intricate detail on our next visit this weekend! What are your favorite dishes at Spiral?

Sofitel Philippine Plaza
CCP Complex Roxas Boulevard Pasay City
Tel: 551-5555
Website: www.sofitel.com

Accor Advantage Card
Tel: 832-6948

Related Sofitel Philippine Plaza Posts:

Sofitel Philippine Plaza – An Oasis Within the City
Sofitel Philippine Plaza – The Club Lounge
Sofitel Philippine Plaza – The Lavish Spiral Buffet

On our next post we indulge at one of the best Japanese restaurants in Manila and perform a Wagyu taste test at Inagiku located at the 2nd Floor of the Shangri-La Hotel, Makati. Join us for a Shogun’s Feast! Please click here!

Remember life is way too short, don’t let it pass you by. Enjoy Hour Philippines!

Sincerely,

Lord and Aksana
HOURPHILIPPINES.COM
FOOD | TRAVEL | LIFESTYLE
All content is the sole property of HourPhilippines.com, any reproduction in whole or in part shall be subject to prosecution.

When you book a Sofitel Philippine Plaza luxury club room, you will have unlimited access to the Sofitel Club Lounge. Every 5 star hotel chain has a club lounge as it provides an exclusive venue to entertain guests and have intimate meetings so take advantage of it! Join us for their complimentary breakfast buffet.

We woke up a bit late and hence there was nobody – perfect! We had the whole place to ourselves!

While the buffet is simpler and more compact than their lobby restaurant Spiral, there is still quite a reasonable amount of tasty items from east to west.

There was an assortment of berries and muesli, excellent for its healthy anti-oxidant properties and the fresh blueberries were amazing!

We continued with grilled salmon, assorted sushi rolls, poached egg, cherry tomatoes and the japanese egg custard “chawan mushi” with ikura a.k.a. salmon roe = YUM! They also have a decent selection of bottled Dime juices such as tomato, apple and orange as well as Perrier sparkling water.

Up next was the assorted cheeses. They had a decent selection including french brie, camembert, livarot, edam, malagos blush, gruyere gorgonzola, and blue cheese. This was a delight with salted crackers, grapes, walnuts, toasted bread, and a cold bottle of tomato juice.

We also had a sampling of the cured meats such as salami pepperoni, mortadella, black forest ham, air dried beef, coppa and prosciutto as well as liver pate.

For dessert, we dug into a fresh honeycomb and it was exquisite! We never tried this before and the texture was like a fluffy cake which oozed out honey!

Aside from breakfast they also offer high tea at 3:00PM and afternoon cocktails from 5:00PM! Frequent business travellers are often upgraded to a club room for the additional benefits, but it is also quite useful for the weekend vacationer.

Sofitel Philippine Plaza
CCP Complex Roxas Boulevard Pasay City
Tel: 551-5555
Website: www.sofitel.com

Related Sofitel Philippine Plaza Posts:

Sofitel Philippine Plaza – An Oasis Within the City
Sofitel Philippine Plaza – The Club Lounge
Sofitel Philippine Plaza – The Lavish Spiral Buffet

Our next post will continue with an extravagant weekend brunch at Spiral, which we consider to be one of the best buffets in the Philippines! Please click here!

Remember life is way too short, don’t let it pass you by. Enjoy Hour Philippines!

Sincerely,

Lord and Aksana
HOURPHILIPPINES.COM
FOOD | TRAVEL | LIFESTYLE
All content is the sole property of HourPhilippines.com, any reproduction in whole or in part shall be subject to prosecution.

A food trip to Tagaytay is no trip at all without a visit to one of the greatest restaurants in the Philippines – Antonio’s! It was Aksana’s first time to visit this fine dining restaurant serenely situated deep within the rolling hills of Tagaytay.

Just follow the Antonio’s road markers from the main road and after 2 kilometers and a few turns, you will arrive at a large black gate on your left.

Antonio’s has grown over the past ten years from a seating capacity of forty people to one hundred forty. Aside from consistently fantastic food, understated classic elegance that is so atmospheric you feel like you have been brought back in time to an Argentinian hacienda during the golden age of the 1920’s. Just basking in the chic black and white interiors took Aksana’s breath away.  Owner and Chef Tony Boy Escalante must wake up every morning in a good mood as his establishment also serves as the primary home for his family.

Our favorite outdoor table by the pond, watching carp is just so relaxing.

To start off I had the bananarama smoothie with freshly blended strawberries, banana, apple juice, and strawberry yoghurt. Have no doubt, it tasted even better than it sounded.

Bananarama Smoothie - PHP 220.00++ ($US 5.00)

Aside from the anti-oxidants and countless vitamins and minerals it cleansed the palette for the entrees to come. On the other hand Aksana loves brewed coffee so it was gratifying that the coffee was unexpectedly refillable.

Garden Crepes – PHP 220.00++ ($US 5.00)

The texture of the wrap of the garden crepe was light and gentle yet surprisingly crispy. What really shines is the freshness of their ingredients – the filling of white button mushrooms, bell pepper, tomatoes, onion and cheddar was a savory combination. Definitely worth ordering again.

Corned Beef & Eggs - PHP 435.00++ ($US 10.00)

Who has not eaten corned beef in the Philippines? This corned beef however is not canned but made fresh by submerging the brisket in a special brine over a few days then boiling it. The meat was so tender and flavorful and served with horseradish and mustard. If you are a fan of corned beef for breakfast, make sure to try this version without preservatives. The scrambled egg was a treat in itself, it was so fluffy and delicate and must have been whisked to perfection.

Panna Cotta - PHP 210.00++ ($US 5.00)

For dessert we tried the panna cotta, a classic Italian desert that originated from Piemonte in northern Italy. Simply made from heavy cream, milk, sugar and gelatin it was not that sweet but the poppy seeds and rich flavors of vanilla and caramel made it shine.

We left at around 11:00 AM back to the Summit Ridge Hotel to check out at 12:00PM and head back to Manila for the drive home.

The Breakfast at Antonio’s menu has so many dishes to consider and drool over! Did you know that Antonio’s has been the highest ranked Philippine restaurant in the Miele Guide for the past few years? Please find below their full size menu.

P.S. It may soon be a good occasion to take a trip to Antonio’s as their new Breakfast venue will be setup on the same property by end of June 2010.

Frida

Breakfast at Antonio’s

Brgy. Neogan, Tagaytay City

Tuesday to Sunday 7AM – 4PM

Tel: +(63)-46-682-0218

Mobile: +(63)-918-899-2866

On our next post we would like invite you for launch of Kalinka Home Coked Delicacies From Russia With Love at the Legazpi Sunday Market on June 6, 2010. Please click here.

Related Tagaytay Posts:

Tagaytay Itinerary (2 Days | 1 Night) Romance in the Sky
Tagaytay Day 1 – Ryuma Ramen | Summit Ridge Hotel (Part 1 of 4)
Tagaytay Day 1 – Summit Ridge Hotel |Taaleña | (Part 2 of 4)
Tagaytay Day 1 – Buon Giorno | Fling Yoghurt (Part 3 of 4)
Tagaytay Day 2 – Breakfast at Antonio’s (Part 4 of 4)
Ryuma Restaurant Saturday Lunch Specials
Chateau Hestia Wine and Deli Shop
Amoroma Ristorante Italiano, Tagaytay
Bulalo at Josephine Restaurant, Tagaytay
Antonio’s Breakfast Revisited
Green ATS Bulalohan and Restaurant, Tagaytay
Remember life is way too short, don’t let it pass you by. Enjoy Hour Philippines!

Sincerely,

Lord and Aksana

HOURPHILIPPINES.COM

FOOD | TRAVEL | LIFESTYLE

All content is the sole property of HourPhilippines.com, any reproduction in whole or in part shall be subject to prosecution.

The after party for Vanda Fondunaeva’s 2010 Bridal Collection Launch was at none other than the exclusive Members Only at Fort Bonifacio.

Members Only is a highly regarded private members bar and lounge located in between Le Souffle and the Encore super club that offers posh cozy lounge interiors and a highly trained service staff. Its clientele is primarily composed of Manila’s successful and trendy elite personalities.

We joined a few friends of ours and the open bar was composed of Martini Asti, and Gin Tonic. As we were positioned at Vanda’s table we also had Russian Standard Vodka and a classy bottle of Patron tequila.

For appetizers, Salpicao and Calamares were served and Yulia one of our model friends got their special Member’s burger!

Members Only
For Inquiries please contact Mr. GP Reyes
Mobile: +32-917-853-4747
e-mail gpreyes@gmail.com

You may also be interested in the following:
2010 Bridal Collection Launch of Vanda Fondunaeva and Nicole Whisenhunt (Part 1 of 2)
2010 Bridal Collection Launch of Vanda Fondunaeva and Nicole Whisenhunt (Part 2 of 2)

In our next post we will share with you our stay at the Linden Suites, Ortigas, please click here.

Sincerely,

Lord and Aksana
HOURPHILIPPINES.COM
FOOD | TRAVEL | LIFESTYLE
All content is the sole property of HourPhilippines.com, any reproduction in whole or in part shall be subject to prosecution.

Vanda Fondunaeva, represents her 2010 collection by one bridal dress and six dresses for bridesmaids. The color of the bride’s dress is a traditional virgin white and the bridesmaids were executed in noble purple color with different styles. Here’s a quick rundown.

The show started at the entrance ward and there was a few musical compositions. Unfortunately the beautiful voice of the singer was destroyed by the bad quality microphone.

The arrival of Vanda Fondunaeva and her entourage resulted in excitement from the crowd because the girls looks were unmatched and the image of Vanda brought about a sense and feel of Russian aristocracy.

The actual demonstration did not have a general musical theme, for each defile was played different instrumental compositions. Of course it could be done intentionally to represent individuality of each image of model.  Aside from the different styles of dresses, models had different variations of where to place accessories such as the neck, waist, and hair:

From our opinion there was no point to change the musical theme because the integrity of the show was lost. The final point of the show was the defile of Russian model Kseniya Mineeva.

Kseniya Mineeva wore a gorgeous bridal dress that resulted in wild applause. The dress was executed magnificently, very feminine, and the presence of a long train with numerous short flounces was like a sea foam – light and airy.

After the show all models and both designers were invited to the stage and everybody were able to express impressions and gratitude by ovation. When the show was finished, we had the opportunity to speak with Vanda and Nicole and personally congratulate them.

Vanda has always been passionate about fashion ever since she was 14 years old growing up in Russia. For any inquiries, please find her contact information below:

Vanda Fondunaeva
Forbeswood Heights 16K Tower 5
Rizal Drive, Fort Bonifacio, Manila Philippines
Tel: +63 – 92-0901-0931

In our next post we move on to the After Party at Members Only, please click here.

Sincerely,

Lord and Aksana
HOURPHILIPPINES.COM
FOOD | TRAVEL | LIFESTYLE
All content is the sole property of HourPhilippines.com, any reproduction in whole or in part shall be subject to prosecution.

After our adventure to the Hundred Islands we decided to treat ourselves to a feast at the best restaurant in Lucap Alaminos – Maxine by the Sea! Having eaten there the night before, it only made sense to load up before our journey back to Makati.

We started off with good old San Miguel to cool off from the heat against the backdrop of the Hundred Islands.

Kelawen Talaba – Fresh Shelled Oysters “cooked” in vinegar and calamansi topped with onions, ginger and red hot pepper – PHP 150.00 ($US 3.50)

For appetizers we had the fresh oysters cooked similar to a the Spanish ceviche. This definitely got our digestive fires going for our main entree – Steamed Crab!

Maxine’s did a perfect job steaming this beauty that we chose to perfection that 1 Kilo seemed “BITIN” for a piece of heaven. The meat was so juicy, sweet and succulent! Maxine by the sea gets our vote as Hundred Islands al fresco dining at its finest. How was your dining experience there?

MAXINE BY THE SEA RESTAURANT AND LODGE
Barangay Lucap, Alaminos City, Pangasinan
Tel: +632 75-551-2537
Mobile: +63 921-642-8551
E-mail: inquire@maxinebythesea.com
Website: www.maxinebythesea.com

With our heads in the clouds we were soon in our car on the way back, a 4 hour leisurely country drive ahead of us.

Greeted with a view of the mountains on the SCTEX.

Related Hundred Island Posts:

Hundred Islands Itinerary (2 Days / 1 Night)
Hundred Islands Contact Information
Hundred Islands – The Journey | Maxine by the Sea
Hundred Islands – Governor’s Island
Hundred Islands – Quezon Island
Hundred Islands – Marcos Island
Hundred Islands – Maxine by the Sea

In our next post we will share with you the Top 7 Rules for a Happier Marriage Life, please click here.

Sincerely,

Lord and Aksana
HOURPHILIPPINES.COM
FOOD | TRAVEL | LIFESTYLE
All content is the sole property of HourPhilippines.com, any reproduction in whole or in part shall be subject to prosecution.

We spent another beautiful morning at the beach after our breakfast at 9am.

As we had sampled the cuisine at practically all the restaurants on the Sta. Fe strip, it was due time that we gave the Hard Kock Café a chance for lunch. While the name may have a double or in some case triple meaning, the interiors were quaint, charming and humorous.


First Aid box – notice that it is already lacking a few bottles, somebody must have been in an emergency!

Similar to a Russian proverb – It is not that women are ugly, just not enough vodka

The well stocked bar and friendly staff

We had the opportunity to meet the Australian owner and found out that the Hard Kock had been open since 2005 and that one of the bestsellers was their pork schnitzel.

For lunch we decided to order the special of the day which was a chicken burrito served with draft beer and the pork schnitzel.

Chicken Burrito with draft beer – PHP 140.00 ($US 3.50)

Pork Schnitzel - PHP 125.00 ($US 3.00)

The food was a pleasant surprise considering it was more of a happy hour place than a restaurant. We have decided to give the Hard Kock the comfort food award for Bantayan. The pork schnitzel did not have any fat on it and was very tender yet crispy on the outside. The chicken burrito was deliciousl and gentle with a sufficient amount of chicken and a generous lathering of melted cheese that complemented the beer perfectly.

After a short siesta at the resort we decided to go to the Ogtong Cave, located within the Ogtong Cave Resort towards Bantayan town a short 15 minute drive away. There is a large sign on the main road that leads to the Ogtong Cave.

We arrived at the Ogtong Cave Beach Resort at 1:15pm and paid the entrance fee of php 50.00 (US 1.00) per person to swim in the Ogtong Cave a natural fresh water cave located within the sprawling property of the resort.

The entrance to the Ogtong Cave – upon entering the cavern stretches over 20 meters and is lit by natural lighting and a few light bulbs. It was a beautiful natural formation and the water was crystal clear with a few small fish residing. We were lucky that there were only a small amount of visitors that day, so that we could enjoy our private pool in privacy.

The Ogtong Cave Beach Resort is a massive and well funded property and while it is beach front, there are only a few spots to go swimming.

The pool, though old was a respectable size and clean. The resort also had a Chinese restaurant that had quite an extensive menu. For afternoon snack we only had French fries and steamed fish with black bean sauce and tofu.

We then went back to CouCou for the 5PM happy hour and then Blue Ice bar for dinner where we ordered baked scallops and a second round of grilled prawns that were quite memorable.

Baked Scallops with Cheese and Garlic – PHP 200.00 ($US 4.50)

In our final Bantayan Island post we will provide more pictures of the beach, please click here!

Related Bantayan Island Posts:

Bantayan Island Discovery Itinerary (5 Days / 4 Nights) – Adventure | Romance | Tranquility (Part 1/2)
Bantayan Island Discovery Itinerary (5 Days / 4 Nights) – Adventure | Romance | Tranquility (Part 2/2)
Bantayan Island Discovery Itinerary (5 Days / 4 Nights) – Adventure | Romance | Tranquility (Contact Information – Hotels, Restaurants and Shipping Lines)
Bantayan Island Day 1 – The Journey
Bantayan Island Day 2 : Part 1 – Fresh Catch of the Day
Bantayan Island Day 2 : Part 2 – Bantayan Nightlife
Bantayan Island Day 3 – Madrilejos | The Blue Ice
Bantayan Island Day 4 – The Secret of Ogtong Cave
Bantayan Island Day 5 – Just Another Day in Paradise

Remember life is way too short, don’t let it pass you by. Enjoy Hour Philippines!

Sincerely,

Lord and Aksana
HOURPHILIPPINES.COM
FOOD | TRAVEL | LIFESTYLE
All content is the sole property of HourPhilippines.com, any reproduction in whole or in part shall be subject to prosecution.