Sugar rush in Cebu, part 1

To continue my sugar craving blog, I am presenting part 1 of my own dessert faves in Cebu. From old time comfort foods to recently discovered treasures, they are an indulgence to any sugar lover.

the dessert buffet at the Café Marco

Wanna reward your sweet tooth but can’t decide which dessert is your calling? Hit the buffet in the Cebu’s first 5-star hotel, the Marco Polo, formerly the Cebu Plaza. For less than P600 (lunch) or P800 (dinner), the buffet at Café Marco is a treat of sumptuous proportions. My tip: keep enough tummy space for dessert. From mixing your own halo-halo to ordering your combination of French crepes to stacking up your fancy pastry plates, you are limited only by your own appetite.


Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/25s, f/1.8, 50mm, ISO 100, -1/3EV
chocolate mousse tart, Café Marco, Marco Polo Plaza Hotel, Cebu City
phototip: If the table top is jazzy, clear the clutter around and shoot a simple symmetrical image. This was not easy as the table was full of plates!


pastries of Gloria Jeans Coffee

My wife and I were visiting the Cebu Doctor’s University Hospital one day when we chanced upon Gloria Jeans. I don’t drink coffee so pastries are the only reason I would visit any coffee shop. When I saw the choco ensaymada, I knew I gotta have it. I forgot how much it was, it should not be more than P35. The reward is the same comfort goodness of the ensaymada I know: puffy bread with almost melt-to-the-mouth lightness and sinful cheese (the original local bakeshop variety I am used to only has table sugar and margarine). The twist of rich chocolate flakes did not hurt either.


Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/80s, f/5.0, 39mm, ISO 400, +2/3EV
choco ensaymada, Gloria Jeans Coffee, Osmeña blvd, Cebu City
phototip: I was in a hurry to eat this, so I did not bother cleaning up the specks of cheese and chocolate from the saucer. Hey, a little mess on the saucer can be construed as art.


La Marea

Perhaps the premier dessert place in Cebu is La Marea at swanky Crossroads, Banilad. The “it” place of the self-proclaimed high society of Cebu, La Marea is as impressive as its reputation. Its array of imaginative cakes and pastries is not exactly cheap fare (the range is probably P50 to 120), but to be confounded is bliss. You really can’t do any wrong.


Canon EOS 350D Digital, 1/5s, f/1.8, 50mm, ISO 100, +1/3EV
raspberry trifle, La Marea at the Crossroads, Banilad, Cebu City
phototip: Lighting is low inside the café so I used a gorillapod. To show off the beautiful presentation, I propped up the cup with the teaspoon. A second look will show the off center balance of the cup on the saucer but you did not notice that at first glance didn’t you?

up next: Sugar rush in Cebu, part 2