Spice Fusion

Ground Floor, Banilad Town Center, Banilad

Food:
Ambiance:
Service:
Parking:

First of all, the food is not so spicy. So if you are in the mood for some spice overload, do not be misled by the name and come here.

Spice Fusion serves Asian food. Do not expect you will find individual menu items from specific parts of Asia. Instead, you will find dishes using distinct tastes from various Asian countries combined. That means their Chili Lapu-lapu will not give you a taste of India as much as the local escabeche. As far as delicious goes, Spice Fusion is surprisingly above average. For something that can pass for gourmet food, the servings are quite generous.

I will recommend the Chicken Satay: it is very good, it can do perfectly well without its peanut sauce. Also noteworthy is their Pineapple Rice. If you like simple food, try Taiwan Pechay.

The ambiance sucks. There is a guard who will literally hold the door shut like a bouncer until you tell him how many are dining. Only until a table is free will he open the door, glad to have finally disposed of you. Once you get passed him though, English-speaking staff will wait on you. You can speak to them in Cebuano but they will still reply in English.

10 Dove Street

10 Dove St., Sto Nino Village, Banilad

Food:
Ambiance:
Service:
Parking:

Sto Nino Village is a residential area in Banilad with bird names for street names. Dove street is a bit far from the main gate, and unless you don't mind walking amidst rows and rows of other people's houses, you will need a car or cab. 10 Dove is actually a residential corner-lot, half of which is turned into a cozy little cafe with the most darling decors.

The menu consists of sandwiches, cakes, salads and soups. They also serve popular white and red wines. For Php 60 per sandwich, it's actually a good deal considering you get to dine in a cutesy place.

My favorite is the Pilgrim's Harvest sandwich. An order will get you generous servings of ham and cranberry jam. Unfortunately, you will hate the bread. It's suppose to be toasted wheat bread but it crumbles all over you.

The service is fine. The waiters are attentive without being overly solicitous. They, however, are prone to mispronouncing half of the menu items.

Parking is difficult because you have to haggle with the neighborhood yayas to let you park on their driveways.

A little warning though, last time we checked, we could not get an official receipt. Turns out, the place does not have a business permit! It's a little unnerving, really.