Ang Dabawenyo

Once again, Chattee and I attacked the streets of Davao at night. But this time, the objective was food. We had planned on joining Chow King’s congee-picture-taking contest yesterday, so off we went to the Bajada branch… but they were out of stock! This branch is open 24 hours, but they wouldn’t serve us congee anymore. The branch in Victoria Plaza had also run out of the stuff. Blasted!!

Each time I go to their outlet in Bajada, they’re always out of congee! And we were craving for it too, after looking at all those scrumptious photos on the Chow King website…

It was not to be a lucky night for us. We decided to try this new restaurant in town, Conching’s, which is a franchise (or a branch) of the original in Cebu. I’m afraid I have to give the place two thumbs down. After all the hype from friends and family, just seeing the place was a let-down. It’s an open-air affair, but was not ventilated well enough, and the service was what you might expect from a cheap barbecue joint, not from a place that supposedly caters to the well-to-do.

Conching’s specializes in grilled native chicken. I like free-range fowl for its tastiness — but it has to be prepared and cooked just so, else it’d be too gamey. Well, that’s how it was at this restaurant (and the chicken barbecue was served cold). Chattee and I ordered a whole chicken, but we couldn’t bring ourselves to finish it, it was just so wrong. And the rice? Miniscule serving and nearly desiccated.

Check out some of the other photos of the chicken in the photo album below — not very appetizing pictures, unfortunately.

Twice unlucky, I couldn’t bear the disappointments anymore. So I brought my fellow student of photography to Kangaroo Coffee Company. When in gastronomic straits, run to your nearest trusted dining place — your safe zone.

Our day’s last taste had to be exceptional to make up for the earlier disasters, so we each had Kangaroo’s special treats. I had a tiramisu and Chattee had a mocha something cake, which erased all traces of our distasteful meal.

This cafe’s tiramisu is something else. It has that bitterness that I love (ground coffee beans in there somewhere), and the slight creaminess that takes the edge off. And it washed down perfectly with the Americano, which is my staple brew.

If you take a look at the photo album, you’ll notice lots of food shots. We did not have all of those! The place was full, so we parked ourselves at the bar, which is where the staff serve the orders and where the patrons claim them. It was the perfect spot for foodies!!

Energized by all those calories, we decided to do another — albeit shorter — night walk, from Tionko to F. Torres. We ended up at Studio Onnie for some laughs and a couple of beers, and went our separate ways.

Along the way, we took pictures of this new commercial building — forgot to take note of the name — on Jacinto Extension, right behind the Metro Lifestyle complex on F. Torres. At the ground floor, there are Bigby’s (an export from Cagayan de Oro) and Antonio’s Grill (export from Bukidnon, if I’m not mistaken).

Chattee’s letting me play with her Nikon D80 (and Sigma 18-200mm lens) only for this week, hence my sudden immersion in photography. It’s a very expensive hobby, so I’m still holding off from plunging completely into it. It’s fun, though, I must admit.

Here are some of the photos from last night’s jaunt. Click on any thumbnail to view my flickr set.