March 2019

The seven thousand island of the Philippines gave birth to hundreds and maybe thousands of cuisine influenced by different geographical location, culture (the way of living of people) and trade. The search to define Filipino cuisine is an endless adventure but for most Filipinos, and Davaoenos, we would have a generic idea of what it is by pointing out our favorite home cook dishes with recipes handed down by mothers to daughters and to the families thereafter.

Would coffee and wine go together? Can you marry cafe and a bar? The answer is quite simple and its yes. Nowadays, food and beverage allow us to be more exploratory and not follow the tradition in a rigid manner. But contrary to this mindset, Mugshots will both give a traditional and unorthodox dining and drinking experience.

Our second pit stop for the Davao Food Crawl’s search for city’s best homegrown resto this month led us to a humble Japanese diner along Juna Avenue in Matina which serves modern fusion Japanese dishes like maki, donburi, ramen, soba and yakitori–Kitsune. During the visit, we were able to try two variations of maki and ramen which are all new in their menu.

Almost three years ago, I discovered this hole-in-the-wall Kebab place near F. Torres Street that serves one of the best kebab in the city (check old blog post here). So much have change just few months after that post–new location and better than ever menu choices but the same rewarding and satisfying feeling. 

Social media got us intrigue to try new dishes at Chez Nouz by Chippens. We heard about their Italian guest chef Alfredo Rizzo who was trained by a 2 Michelin star chef in Italy. Just like any foodie by heart, we drag our feet and appetite to try their dishes.