Water? Ice? Or Both?

               Every mall has a food court right? Ayala Center Cebu has one called Food Choices, located at the top floor where the cinemas are. A particular food stall that recently opened a few months back amused me when it first appeared. It was a totally different concept from its neighbors because it was a new brand and it had the setting of an American fastfood chain. The owner himself, an American (I guess), was even at the helm of the grill line, manning the operations himself. 

              Ayala is very familiar to everyone in Cebu but I don't think this stall has caught much attention yet. It's called A Taste of Philly - Flavors from East 2 West. The first sight of this made me curious.  First thought: philly cheesesteak sandwiches or maybe the owner's name is Phil? But I inquired to see what else they offered. They have a variety of pita pockets, sandwiches (including philly cheesesteak), deep fried pizza, flavored pan fried chicken, shakes and Uncle Rich's Real WATER ICE for  dessert. 

                The water ice picture on their menu looked like shaved ice or snow cones. I like icy stuff so I wanted to try this. These come in several flavors that change from time to time and in serving sizes at Kids (P35), Big (P40), Bigger (P60) and Biggest (P80). A menu board for this tells you the flavors for the day. For that day, it was:

from upper left (clockwise): bluer blueberry, "pina colada", dippy banana chip, dreamy orange cream

            There was one that wasn't mentioned though. Some kinda pina colada-ish flavor that was recommended by the counter staff. I wanted to try the blueberry but the deep blue color kinda scared me off so I went for the "pina colada" in Kids size. I'm not into heavy artificial coloring. 

pina colada Kids size  P35

             The texture was reminiscent of granita because the ice was pretty fine. The flavor was well balanced with the pineapple and coconut blending like they grew up together. The lady at the counter actually gave me a free taste of the orange one like how gelato shops give out free tastes and I think I prefer the orange over this one. Whatever your preferences are, I'm sure there's a flavor for you. ;)

          So here's one place you can get a quick and cheap cool snack on a hot day. Cebu's hot even if Christmas is here. I wanna try their pita pockets sometime.

Taste of Philly

4th Floor (between Tokyo Joe's and Quickly)

Ayala Center Cebu

Contact: +63 928 763 2887

Facebook: facebook.com/TasteofPhillyCebu

"To know Cebu, eat Cebu!" :D

oink oink,

Babe for Food

- your BFF in Cebu dining! :)