A Flaming Start

Proudly homegrown in Cebu, Flame It! was founded in 2002 by three sisters with a love for the quality gourmet grilled burgers and a dream of a socially-responsible business. It was this passion for good burgers and spirit of the entrepreneurship that brought Flame It! to life.

Never one to compromise on ingredients, Flame It! believes in using only the freshest and best quality ingredients. A better and healthier alternative to the greasy fast food offerings, Flame It! has grilled its way to the hearts and bellies of the Cebuanos with three stores around the city and counting. From a tiny restaurant in Escario that could only accommodate 15 customers at a time, the store went to open more high-profiled stores in the city’s biggest malls. You will always find a showcase kitchen that reveals every step of the grilling process until the food is served to your table. This unique feature assures every customer freshness and sanitation as well as entertainment in seeing open flame grilling within the stores. In December 2002, the first mall store opened in no less than Ayala Center Cebu. Years later in February 2007, Flame It! launched their second mall branch at SM City Cebu. After almost a decade of concentrating on mall operations, the owners decided to revive the concept of a stand-alone independent restaurant. So on February 14, 2014, they opened in Juan Kuna, Mabolo was born.
With more and more foodies searching for a hassle-free, convenient and accessible dining option, Flame It! continues to expand in key locations around Cebu City with a bigger and bolder design featuring Cebu and its people while still serving the best flame-grilled, hand crafted burgers in town.

Flame It! burgers is owned and operated by Cebu EIV Ventures Corporation.

FLAME IT! Pop-up Kombi Store

This restaurant has recently launched a new store. This store however has no permanent address. Flame It! took inspiration from the popularity of the food truck concept and gave it a vintage twist.

Introducing Flame It! Pop-up Kombi, this mobile store has been drawing attention from the general public of Cebu. It is the first Kombi mobile store in Cebu that is actually running and drivable anywhere. It makes use of restored 1976 Volkswagen Kombi van using all original engine, accessories and mechanism. The vintage feel and look brings you back to the age of peace, love and rock ‘n roll.

The kombi van brings together all generations. Those who feel nostalgic of the good old days, the millennials who find fascination in anything vintage, and those in between who just have plain curiosity but everyone having one thing in common... sharing real flame grille burgers freshly prepared right before their eyes.

Visit their Facebook page at facebook.com/flameitbugers and their Instagram page @flameitburgers to see the entire rave about Pop-up Kombi store.

IRASHAIMASE!

I love Japanese cuisine because it is usually fresh and healthy. Japanese are very particular when it comes to their food. Most of all, I like their sushi a lot. Sushi is a Japanese dish of specially prepared vinegared rice, usually with some sugar and salt, combined with a variety of ingredients, such as seafood, vegetables, and occasionally tropical fruits. Its looks mainly captivate me to like it and most of all, its taste. There are some Japanese restaurants that have got under my skin and that I love to return to. Restaurants that instigate me because of the place, the people, the light and often if not always, the food they serve. In this post, I will talk about Rai Rai Ken. It is the number one in my list and that is why I reserved a space for it in my website.

What is RAI RAI KEN?

Before going into the core, let us define what these words mean. (Yes, I did my research. You are welcome. Wink!) 

Rai Rai is an old Chinese word for “welcome” and Ken for “restaurant”. These words are enunciated especially if someone wants to go to an appealing, fascinating and scrumptious food place. In the Philippines, it was in 1993 when Benjie (the owner of the restaurant chain) decided to put up his own restaurant at Bautista St. in Makati City, Manila.  It was named Master Chow before and was serving Filipino breakfast and other Karinderya foods. Then they started to offer Ramen or Japanese noodles in their menu.  The success story started there.

As of 2018, Rai Rai Ken blossoms into a fresh upgrade. These can be noticed by looking at their logo design. A much fluid and ascending stroke signifies the brand direction of delighting their customers into higher level. The color schemes are much stern, calm and fresh which transcends to their interior design and feel of the store bringing the customers to a much engaging but relaxing mood that compliments to their improved product offering. Talk about Millennials and Generation X! Most of all, they adjusted their menus to capture the taste buds of Filipinos.

Chefs preparing my food.

What are my favorites?

When Rai Rai Ken is mentioned, it is usually associated to Ramen. Well, their Ramen is pretty good at least for an Asian girl like me, but apart from that, they also serve other menu like ippinryori, teriyaki, teppanyaki and many more. Some of them give me hard time to pronounce properly, lol. The following are my picks.

1. Ramen

I love sipping its soup. Ramen soup is made of the soup base as well as the added flavor. A soup base is almost always from pork bones, shellfish, beef bones, fish, or even vegetables. It was said that for ramen craftsmen, original flavors were produced after doing hundreds of trial and error experiments in combining soup base and the added flavors.

What is your choice?

2. California Maki

I love sushi! Just look at the picture! :P

Yum!

3. Tempura and Gyoza

…because who doesn’t love shrimps? (Except to those allergic to this food.)

4. Mungbean Sprout

Tawgi is one of the Filipino foods I always choose because of its high potassium content plus it tastes like very fresh noodles. Crunchiness in every chew.

Tawgi mo diha :D

5. Beef Teriyaki

The meat is broiled and glazed with soy sauce and little bit of sugar. It is the sauce that makes the taste mouth-watering and delicious for me.

Quickfacts:

Rairaiken is the first Ramen House established in Japan in 1910.

In the Philippines, Rairaiken started in 1993 and has been the Market Leader for 20 years.

Know more about them at rairaiken.com.ph

Cheers! :P

Let me know what are your favorite Japanese cuisine as well!



Who loves food? US!

Who among you considers FOOD as everything? Of course, I know you do! It is almost the default answer to everything. Take it from me, I can’t live a day without indulging my food, lol. May it be in any special occasion, celebration, promotion, or even during breakups and when in depression, you name it! FOOD - there is always be food ready to fill your inner needs, heart’s desires and self’s emptiness. It catches you if life’s rhythm is a little bit unsteady. Okay, enough with the cheesy tickly lines, hahaha. 

A lot of my friends have been asking me about new food destinations in Cebu. They are under the impression that since I am an online influencer or a blogger, I should know everything. That is funny. Are you kidding me? *insert blank stare here* Trust me, I don’t. I am just a normal (well sometimes, above normal) person in this city trying to find my true calling and I don’t know everything, but I can share some places I have been into and can narrate my experiences and observations. There are heaps of restaurants in this city that you probably already know so I am going to mention the following destinations that are new to me (and I think new to you, too).

Okay, here we go!

1. Cafe Egao
If you are wondering what “Egao” means, it is actually a Japanese term for “smiling face”. Expectedly, you will see staff’s smiling friendly faces in this place. Café Egao is Filipino-Japanese café located in Nasipit, Talamban, Cebu City just in front of Adolfo’s Furniture shop. This is a cozy and homey place where you can spoil yourself with dishes, desserts, pasta, salads, snacks, teas and lattes. The outside view of the café is a cool sight of green shade where big trees and bushes grow thick and free.



Yeah, that is a happy "me".

It was so funny finding my way here because I thought it was very far. Gosh gracious, it was the very opposite because it was just a 15 minute walk from my place (near USC-TC). Okay, this seemed to be one of the signs that I should start exploring cool places near my private place.

What are my personal favorites in this place? Takoyaki, Baked Penne and their signature no artificial sugar added drinks. I sometimes needed to surrender sugar in my diet so this place is just perfect.

If you want authentic Filipino dishes, then head to this restaurant. Mind you, it will really be worth it! This is located in M.C. Brioness St, Cebu City, just in front of Plaza Independencia. They have all-Filipino-staff so if you are a Filipino, then how about “mang-spot tag chix” kind of conversation with them? Nah kidding! If you are a foreigner, then this is the perfect place to know how Filipino foods taste and what they look like.

I’m not really a guru when it comes to Cebu City's specific places. I might be living in the City for eight years already but I still don't know all the road mazes, shortcuts and whatnots. Jeepney conductors, Google maps and Uber/Grab are always my friends when I'm going to a specific places. They are a big help in getting me out from the labyrinth kind of feeling I always get. So when I went in KKD BBQ +STK restaurant, I was lost. I entered in Plaza Independencia. Very funny! Well, I saw couples dating, kids playing, dancers practicing, group of friends lying on benches and then there’s me - a lost puppy, huhuhu. I messaged my co-influencer friend and he picked me from there.

Pak na pak ang awra!

This place was once a garage but the owner transformed it to something more worth visiting for... thus, a restaurant. They have nightly live band that a music addict like me enjoyed very much.

What are my personal favorites in this place? All, because hello I am a Filipino. Manok Bisaya, Pork Nilaga, Scallops and Leche Flan are worth-mentioning. Okay, I’m drooling now.


Baked Scallops in Butter

Pusit / Squid

Manok Bisaya. Messy looks but tastes good.

Pork Nilaga. Hello cholesterol :)

Crispy Pata

Leche Flan with Manggo

Prices are affordable that range from 100 to 300 pesos.

3. MAO JIA Hunan Cuisine
Now that we are done with our Filipino cuisine, let us jump to Chinese cuisine, shall we? Okay, fasten your seatbelt and get ready your milk because this will be a spicy adventure. MAO JIA Hunan Cuisine is located in Crossroads Place, Cebu City besides The Distillery. As the name suggests, this place is serving authentic Hunan Cuisine. Wait, what does that mean?

Hunan cuisine, also known as Xiang cuisine, consists of the cuisines of the Xiang River region, Dongting Lake and western Hunan Province in China. It is one of the Eight Great Traditions of Chinese cuisines and is well known for its hot and spicy flavours, fresh aroma and deep colours. To say it directly, foods here are spicier than my normal preference and taste less numbing and sourer.

My friends invited me to eat in this restaurant during my sleeping hours so obviously, I was still daydreaming when I was on my way towards here. But when I got inside and started gulping their foods, I felt alive and hotter, lol. Their spicy foods did it to me. I gulped chilis peppers! I am not really a big fan of spicy foods. I mean, I wish I am but my tastebuds just couldn’t handle the explosion it will cause inside my mouth (it likes sweets; it always does awe except kimchi of course). Spicy foods makes me cry inevitably. Crazy, I know.

So, for those of you out there that likes spicy very much, this is your place. Get over the processed noodles in Samyang Spicy Noodle Challenge and switch to “real” spicy foods in this restaurant.

What are my personal favorites in this place? Cabbage, Eggplant and the peanut in the chicken dish. I set aside all chili peppers.



Cabbage

Spicy Celery

Spicy Fish

Spicy Chicken with Peanuts. I love the peanuts!

This will be all for now. I still have lots to share. Watch out for more food destinations and my experiences in my next posts. Ice cream? Burgers? I will cover that too. Let us be hungry together.

Bon appetit!

No, this post is not going to be about ghosts or bad spirits as the “Black Lady” words enunciate in the title. That is just far too scary, isn’t it? This is about my sweet and happy experience at Purple Bee Café of course in my wonderful over slit black dress.

Our pregnant blogger mommy friend, her name is Pam, invited us to have a chitchat over sweet treats. She found this new café located at Bridges Town Square, Mandaue City called Purple Bee Shop and Cafe. Since I liked chitchats and sweets, you know what’s next, I said “Yes, count me in”. The name sounded cute and attractive to my ears as well so major plus points! 

It was a hot afternoon and I must not cover my whole self with long thick clothes. I was also on the mood for some outfit twist that day so I opted to wear my favorite black dress with a twist – yes, the slit. It’s always funny and entertaining everytime I wore it because right after the moment I stepped out of my house, most people would look at me from head to toe. I guessed this piece of cloth seemed to be rare in the eyes of many.

It was 4 PM when I arrived to the destination. I was clearly late. I should be there by 3:30PM but ooops shoulder shrugged. I saw my friends having really great time over sweets and conversations. I joined right away without any further ado. Haha!

Purple Bee Shop and Café is a cool and convenient shop with purple and yellow as the main motif located at Bridges Town Square, Alang-Alang,, 143 Plaridel St, Alang-Alang, Mandaue City, 6014 Cebu. It is open daily 8:00AM - 10:00PM serving foods that range from brewed coffee, cakes, frappes, pastries, sandwhiches, wines to native delicacies. One thing that makes it stand out is the HONEY in their menu.  Not only that, you can also avail their natural & organic Purple Bee cosmetic product displayed in a particular corner inside the shop for healthy skin and hair plus various beauty regimen with a touch of honey in each of them. Yes, you read it right. Beauty products in a cafe.

The owner and the staff were very friendly. We were toured inside the shop. We were served with sandwiches, cakes, wines and my favorite – honey (baby so sweet, lol). Our bellies and sweet tooth were properly taken care of.

Yummy as me. Hahaha joke!

Frappe as cold as your feelings, lol.

Cakes for the bitter souls. Huhu.

Wine for the broken hearted. Yay!

It was a two-storey shop and we managed to play card and brick games at the second floor after we ate. Pam brought her smart little girl Asha who just made our moment up there very exciting and fun. She spoke english and I loved talking to her eventhough she would just told me to go away. I was a bit of a naggy tita. Well, I couldn’t blame myself to be drowned by the little girl’s charm.

We also got to bring home some natural cosmetic products such soaps, sunscreen and lip balms.

Soaps that look like candies.

For more information and inquiries, visit them in Facebook and Instagram.
Call (032) 272-9799 / 09088185685 / 09178792968 / 09198317746
Cafe is open 8:00AM - 10:00PM