Cafe Laguna

Bad publicity is still publicity. So this 'eatery' could still thank me.


On October 31, as a way to celebrate Halloween and our extolling grace at being single still at the glorious age of twenty-four, my roomate and elementary gal pal, Ma. Jessica "Icai" Senador and her duty-mate (upod sa duty) Lexie Joyce Tapispisan, who is my newfound ka-NBSB (no boyfriend since breakup) coerced me into going out with them to the mall instead of going home to Lambunao. There we met with another elementary bud, Myrene Tess Leonida. She's also working with Icai and Lexie at the OR department of Mission Hospital. Myrene and Icai are a different kind NBSBs, though. These three girls have got such wonderful love/sob stories that the world simply has to hear about; but those can wait.

It is not the aim of this current entry to talk or rant about love, lost love and everything else in between. Rather, this entry is all about food and dining and how much one should spend on such things.

Now, in SM City, the four of us ate an early dinner at Cafe Laguna where the food was superb, the place great, the price sky-high and the service not on par with any of the abovementioned. Oh, and have I mentioned the sky-high prices?

And okay, I have to mention this or else these girls will accuse me of suffering from Transient Global Amnesia--Alej Lutero, another ex-elementary classmate, piped in for a little chat while we waited for our order. Some words exchanged, and he's off and finally we had our dinner. Anyway, this isn't about him, as I've already stipulated. This is about the restaurant.

For starters, our drinks arrived. The three of us Lambunao girls ordered a fruit shake each while Lexie, the Hiyas sang Roxas, got milkshake. And then we had pork sinigang, sauteed mixed vegetables with shrimps, chicken in pandan leaves and one serving of rice each.

I have yet to make my research regarding Cafe Laguna, but from what I have heard so far, its other branches, the one in Cebu, most particularly, are very well known for the palatable dishes they serve along with the great ambience. Ho- kay. So they say.

The food indeed equals expectations. It should. Why shouldn't it when each of us shelled exactly PhP250 each? A dinner worth one thousand pesos should taste like one thousand persos. And it did. Congratulations!

As for the ambience, it actually spells "perfect for your picky relatives from abroad of whom you're too 'ilang' to bring to a genuine Pinoy 'turo-turo' for fear of foot and mouth disease and/or salmonella and/or e-coli and/or snatcher and/or holduppers and your own fear of being tagged 'kuripot.'" And it was perfect, what with the cafe's subdued lighting and chintzy green sofas and some light wooden tones, and a number of shiny glass surfaces too. It's quite an interesting choice of interior decor and design for a restaurant serving Pinoy cuisine.

The menu was laid-out well, although there was a bit of deceit in there. I am a sucker for coffee and chocolate and I felt cheated when I saw a well-staged still life of succulent tablets of native 'tsokolate' on the menu, searched for the beverage name, only to learn that "hot choco," according to our waiter, actually just refers to commercial hot chocolate and not the 'tsokolate' I know that comes from actual cacao seeds which were dried and ground using 'lusong' (huge, rectangular, wooden mortar with the hollow part in the middle, either ends are wide enough for you to sit on and have your balls crushed if you happen to be a guy and a very careless one when it comes to using the 'hal-o') and 'hal-o' (huge wooden pestle), mixed with a little sugar and milk, molded on round-shaped cutters, and finally packed by 5's or 7's (depending on the thickness) on white bond paper and ready to be sold or given as pasalubongs to friends.

And to top the uber-superb experience of dining in a new, 'popular with the in-crowd,' chos Cafe Laguna, the beverage bar was racked with an array of both (at that time) currently and a-while-ago dished out, used and very much unwashed shake tumblers, water goblets, and other such stemware. And, along with the crew that is as restful to see as shoppers on a three-day sale, the spectacle was there for us, and the rest of the other customers, to bear.

And oh, the service- I don't know how others see those waiters and waitresses. But for someone who's so used to places such as Pecho Pak and Andok's and all those "happening" eating places for my wee people and I, I could get used to the waiters and waitresses of Cafe Laguna. They're not much unlike those of the two chicken houses I mentioned above. Really. They're just so "chummy." I suppose "class" has already ceased to mean "cautious and careful and prudent." Think: Joining in on diners' conversations. Isn't that lovely?

Point of the commentary: Next time, go to Annie's or Stanley's or, at your pickiest, Tatoy's or Breakthrough or Ramboy's if you're looking for good old authentic Pinoy gastronomic feasts. At half the price of a meal in Cafe Laguna, you can get twice, even thrice, the number of dishes and even get to have a few beers afterwards. Ambience? All these places (except for Ramboy's which is in Boardwalk, Diversion Road) are in Villa. What could be better ambience than a seaside one? Tatoy's and Breakthrough even have air-conditioned function areas for those maarte relatives of yours. And you get to have the nicest, most "happening" persons to wait on you.

Next topic: What PhP500 could get you at Villa. Mmmm-uhmmm!