Ang Dabawenyo

I was just blogging about Karl’s (my previous post), and I realized I hadn’t written about this coffee shop / restaurant where I am now! It’s called Sagay (named after a place on Negros island, near Bacolod), Casa Leticia’s lobby restaurant. The food here is influenced by the owner’s Ilonggo roots. Try their kansi — it’s like sinigang, which is my ultimate favorite Filipino fare. Ilonggo food is decidedly of the maasim (sour) persuasion.

But the biggest hit at Sagay is their sisig. I know, I know, sisig is originally a Pampanga dish, but so many regions of the Philippines have imbibed this into their own local gastronomical cultures. Sagay’s sisig is so good you’ll want to have rice with it! (To the uninformed: Filipinos say this to express how delicious something is.) And I have my converts to prove this: Rodney, Aileen, Andrew… the list goes on!

And it’s a comfy place, unlike other hotel cafés, where they’re stuffy and cold sometimes. Sagay has a particularly homey ambience, and the waitstaff are courteous and helpful. Free wifi too!

Casa Leticia is right beside Tsuru and Hanoi. And since they all share the same family of owners, it’s OK to order sushi or spring rolls or anything from those two excellent restaurants while you’re comfortably ensconced in one of Sagay’s booths. Oh, and do try the Vietnamese-style coffee from Hanoi. Sagay’s freshly-brewed coffee is good, but Hanoi’s is even better.