Named after the daughter of one of the hotel's owners, Olivia's Cafe is a full-service restaurant located at the ground floor of Verjandel Hotel along Kalayaan Avenue, Quezon City. The restaurant is still quite new so we did not have very high expectations when it came to the food.
The menu, at first glance, seemed to be put together not with any particular cuisine in mind, but rather simply a compilation of dishes the owners loved to eat. I didn't mind, because I also loved most of the dishes that we tried, with a lot of dishes far exceeding my expectations.
Olivia's Cafe might be the only hotel restaurant in the area where you can have a quiet lunch meeting or a cozy, sit-down dinner with officemates before heading home. If you love food and are regularly around the area, you have to try Olivia Cafe's Honey Garlic Spareribs, a plate of their tender and delicious Roast Beef, or a flavorful serving of Garlic Ginger Salmon. I can assure you none of these dishes will disappoint.
Let's run through some of my favorites from Olivia Cafe's menu...
If you're a regular reader of my blog, you would know that I LOVE Salvatore Cuomo because the restaurant gives us a taste of Naples without flying all the way to Italy. They serve some of the best Italian dishes in the Philippines and is currently my top choice for the best Italian restaurant in the Metro. If you're willing to spend on outstanding Italian dishes, you'll definitely get your money's worth. For more about the restaurant's background, read my review here.
Luckily for us, we don't have to spend a lot of money get a taste of Salvatore Cuomo's signature Italian dishes. They currently have an Anniversary Special Lunch Buffet Treat, which includes appetizers, salad, pizza, and drinks, all for the price of Php 600 (Weekdays) or Php 900 (Weekends and Holidays). The great news is that the special lunch buffet has been doing so well that it was extended indefinitely!
Taking into account that you would normally spend Php 1500 per person when dining at Salvatore, that's a steal! On top of that, you can choose one main course from a list of options (shown below). Now that's just icing on the cake!
If you have been reading my blog for a while, you'd know that I'm crazy about shrimps. I can eat buckets upon buckets of shrimps, crabs, prawns or really any crustacean that can be cooked into something delicious. I recently found out that Johnny Kahuku's Hawaiian Shrimp House started selling shrimp buckets for as low as Php 228 and I'm ecstatic. That's pretty enjoyable considering that affordable shrimps are very hard to come by in Manila, and I only ever enjoy as much of them as I can during buffets.
Here's more on Johnny Kahuku's delicious shrimp buckets and new Hawaiian Trucks.
It's often difficult to get our hands on artisan or gourmet products made by fellow Filipinos. We would often find these products at either bazaars or weekend markets across the Metro, but it's sometimes it takes a bit of effort to get there. Karton.ph has an entire shop full of Manila's finest artisan products that you can have conveniently delivered straight to your doorstep for a flat delivery fee of Php 99 - a lot cheaper than gas money or an Uber ride.
Karton.ph is a one-stop shop for anything and everything artisinal, having all of your favorite Filipino gourmet finds. Enjoy artisan beer from Craftpoint Brewing Company or Nipa Brew, Snacks from Spud Buds and Sikat Potato Chips, or even healthy delights from Greenola or Healthy Monsters. You can read more about all their artisan or gourmet sellers here.
The best part about Karton.ph is that all their products are 100% Filipino made, and all carefully curated to be part of their exclusive catalog.
Shakey's Philippines has always had the knack of introducing innovative pizza creations for a limited time. Following the success of the delicious Scallop Primo Pizza, Shakey's is now serving a delicious blend of East and West with the new Shakey's Cali Kani Pizza - a lovely marriage of classic California Maki ingredients on pizza!
The pizza is loaded wih kani, peaches, cucumber, fish roe, and nori strips drizzled with a generous amount of Japanese Sesame Dressing. If you love pizza and Japanese cuisine, then the Cali Kani Pizza is a pizza just for you.
To be honest I had my doubts when I first saw the ads on TV, but after trying out the pizza I found it to be absolutely delicious. Made with fresh ingredients, the combination of kani, cucumber, and Japanese sesame dressing is mouthwatering. Every bite makes you want to crave a for another one - with the full flavor of crab from the loads of kani strips - without the usual 'umay' factor you get when you eat oily pizzas. It's surprisingly good!
