An afternoon of eating at Cafe Antonio’s and Sans Rival in Dumaguete City

There’s only so much you can eat in an afternoon when you’re alone in a new city, so here I’m going to talk about just a couple of restaurants in Dumaguete.

I was immediately attracted to the quaint Spanish-style architecture of the the Spanish Heritage Building, where Cafe Antonio’s is tucked away on its second floor. It may seem dark inside, but I thought it was pretty, with enough Old Filipino design and retro posters to keep me interested.

I tried their hickory glazed BBQ pork ribs and their cookies and cream “frothiccino”. The cold coffee you can do away with, but their ribs is quite divine.

After this already filling dinner, I went back to Sans Rival, where I had (you guessed it) sans rival that is totally sans rival, plus their famous silvanas. I reserved three boxes for me to bring home the next day, right before my flight back to Manila early in the morning.

Then it was time for sunset again on Rizal Boulevard, where I not-so-discreetly (and not-so-successfully) took pictures of people walking their dogs and buying balloons from vendors. Stalls selling kikiam and fishballs had started bringing out monobloc tables and chairs as a crew was setting up a stage for what seemed like a night of concert sponsored by a local beer.

As for me, it was one of the moments when I felt introverted; I went back to Harold’s Inn as soon as it got too dark, and started writing. And who knew? I finished writing my tale seven months later.