Davao Delicious

Handuraw, a restaurant chain from Cebu, is now one of my favorite pizza places in Davao City. Their thin-crust pizzas are expertly made and they have various toppings that are flavorful and adventurous.

Since last year, I’ve been thinking about featuring Dabawenyo delicacies on DavaoDeli.com. And selling them here. The other night, I had a breakthrough. A Filipino celebrity, who has now made Davao his second home, has agreed to partner with me in this little venture. My dear friend Wency Cornejo has in fact been quietly establishing [...]

The area in Davao City called Barrio Obrero is fast becoming commercialized, what with its proximity to Victoria Plaza Mall, and a university right in the middle of it. I’ve been noticing that a lot of different types of businesses have been opening up in Obrero — Internet cafés, massage clinics or spas (on one [...]

Kami Nabe is a very tasty dish at Izakaya Nonki. It’s interesting, too, because the ingredients are served on a paper pot and burner — you watch the food being cooked on a piece of thick paper. This dish is a must-try!

In the past few weeks, I’ve tried some of Davao’s new restaurants, although I haven’t even come close to covering half of them — quite a few have opened for business since late last year. One of the things my friends in Manila envy about Davao is the presence of eat-all-you-can-crab restaurants here. If I’m [...]

This delightful little restaurant is a proud addition to Davao’s culinary landscape. Their paella and pasta offerings are highly recommended, and they are also well-known for their bread and pastries.

Romano Venuti, of Swiss Deli and Picobello Ristorante Italiano fame, celebrated his birthday this year with panache at the Waterfront Insular Hotel last Sunday. The highlight of the event — in the culinary sense anyway — was his pescatorial gift from one of his business partners of one whole dayana or opah (a.k.a. moonfish). When [...]

Claude’s Café will be transferring very soon to its very own space, just across the street to the Oboza ancestral home on Rizal. I was quite thrilled to learn of this, because I had long wanted to see the inside of that enigmatic house. It’s one of the few remaining pre-War-era residences in the city, and it’s welcome news indeed that Mr. & Mrs. Claude Le Neindre are going to preserve it and open its gates to Davao’s restaurant patrons.

Ever since it was first introduced to my palate, I’ve always been self-indulgent when it came to Claude’s Pâté de foie gras. It’s my all-time favorite hors d’œuvre at this excellent French bistro that’s been part of Davao’s dining scene since 1996. Some of my less gastronomically-inclined friends would tease me about it, saying it’s [...]

A few pizzerias have opened up in Davao since last year, and I’ve tried them all, but I’m afraid to say that none of them have made the grade, so to speak. When I ate pizza at those new places, I felt like I should’ve gone to Pizza Hut instead… But there’s one, which opened [...]